We Love Gymbee.

We started Joshua in Gymboree classes when he was about 15 months old because there is a Gymboree location in walking distance from our house, so great..And it has been just amazing for him, he has blossomed so much!

He went from being kind of timid with kids because he was never around many and kind of shy, to one of the most active and vocal kids haha. 

We just love that 3 times a week he can have interaction with kids his age...and he has even made a few good friends! And I have so much fun running around with him watching him go!

He asks me every afternoon after he gets up from his nap if we can "Go Gymbee Please Mama!" He sure does love it.

                     He is nonstop action and mommy sure loves it... he sleeps like a dream!

And daddy joined us on his half day last week, we had a blast! 

We love Gymbee!

Fernbank Fun.

I have been wanting to take Joshua to Fernbank Museum forever since it is right down the street from us...but I just knew he wasn't going to really enjoy it all until he was about this age...so when it was yuck and rainy this past Friday I decided it was the perfect day to pack up and head to Fernbank for the afternoon! Oh man did we have too much fun! We decided to absolutely buy a annual membership, it's such a great deal and I can see us coming at least twice a week he adored it so much! And it has so much educational stuff too for when he's a little bit older he will love!

(I ended up having like 90 of my 100 pics I took come out completely blurry..I am still figuring out my new camera and yes I forgot somehow to put my flash up so all my pictures are out of focus...and I got some great one's too, sigh haha go mommy!)

They have the most amazing kids play/explore room he played and played and didn't ever want to leave...we went to have our snack break and he said "no mama, want a' play!"..he was climbing up and down ladders, running back and forth across the bridges..he would say "oh mama loook at me!"...oh it was so fun watching him just explore! 

 The little shadows of fishies swam through the ground he loved chasing them all around!

                              He ran across these bridges 100 times!

He was so independent he just ran and explored and would look around for me every once in a while and tell  me to "hurry mama!" haha!

                                       

He talked to the baby crocodiles haha he loved them...he would say "oh hi baby croceedile!" He wanted to get them out...haha.

I wish I had better pictures to capture all the expressions of joy he had but oh we'll we'll be back soon, and I'll remember the flash next time!

Chair Swing Love.

Ever since we saw it at Ikea last year we've wanted to put this chair swing in the playroom for Joshua...but we wanted to wait until we knew he was old enough to understand how to use it and how to be careful in it...So now that he's at that point, we took a family trip to Ikea (a.k.a the best store ever haha) to get the chair swing this weekend! We knew from reading the reviews that it was going to be a pain to hang, so my handy father-in-law came over and he and the hubs spent a good 2 plus hours hanging it...and the finished result...well look at his face... :)

It is so much fun for him and he absolutely loves it...we hung it over by the reading corner so that he can sit and read his books in it, but it also faces towards the tv so he can watch from it!

He's the perfect little size in it too it's so cute, he just lounges back in it!

He loves mommy and daddy pushing him in circles he laughs so hard...

I think this playroom is going to be a never-ending project...I have way too much trying to add to it to make it the most fun place I can for my little man ;)

Preschool, Already?

Really where did my baby go!? I think this starting preschool in the fall is the first realization he's full blown toddler now! We have two wonderful preschool church programs near us we are deciding between and I can't wait for him to start in the fall...The tours and doing all the paperwork is hitting me hard, but I know I still have a half a year until I have to share him ;)...I know he is going to love it so much, he adores his Gymboree friends and asks to go every day...he loves being around kids and I know he'll do great..I can't wait to buy him a little backpack and snack box, so crazy!..I know I will be that mom that sits parked in the parking until he gets out the first day, it's so going to happen...But I have to remember it's just 3 short days, I can do it!

Joshua is really blossoming so much lately I just can't believe it...he's saying things like "mama look at the blue ball"...the talking is coming more and more every day I just love it! I sure loved the baby stage but it's so much more fun being able to really communicate with him now..His Gymboree teacher yesterday called him the life of the class, and that just made mommy so happy because he really is just a sweet little personality...and nonstop energy too  :).. He is so amazingly coordinated and can scale anything it's crazy...And he doesn't know a stranger, he hugs everyone in the class and sits in the teachers lap instead of mine ha ...I just hope he loves preschool and adjusts quickly, I know it might be a little strange for him at first because he has been with mommy all day every day since he was born...but I think he's going to do great I'm excited to see what the fall brings!

Project Playroom Finally Complete.

So we started to transform our bonus room into a playroom last year...it was a long process getting new carpet and paint put in and then getting every last touch done here and there, but it's finally complete...we absolutely love having this space to let the little man roam free and go wild...and the best part, is the clutter and toys stay in one place! We decided on a Seuss theme because of all the bright colors, and he loves the Cat In the Hat and all the Seuss books...and i mean how cute are all things Seuss; bright colors, books, phrases and all! This room has become our favorite place in the house and we just love spending all our time in here!

                        Here's a look into our Playroom!

                  I found this pair of four Seuss paintings on Etsy, i just loved the bold colors and characters! I had the striped pillows made from fabric I found..And I had Cat in the Hat pillow made from blue jean fabric, a Cat in the Hat decal from Pottery Barn Kids that was sewn on, and then red trim!

 The reading corner! The bookshelf is the "Madison" from Pottery Barn Kids...the red chairs are P'Kolino little reader chairs! And the lamp is from Pottery Barn Outlet!

 Giant Cat in the Hat decal from Amazon! And the shelf is the "Collector's shelf" from Pottery Barn Kids!

                   This quote is just one of my favorites! It's also a peel and stick on decal from Amazon!

 The chalkboard wall. I had the entire wall painted with chalkboard paint so the little man can go crazy with his chalk!

The blue table, stools and chairs are from the Mammut line at Ikea...and the lazy susan and red tins are from Pottery Barn Kids!...They're so durable and crayons and markers wipe right off!

                      The valence is "Seuss's ABC" that I ordered off Amazon!

And my favorite part of the room...the storage unit!...I constructed this storage piece to look like one I found off the Land of Nod...I used ClosetMaid storage cubes from Target and glued together! (And it cost about a third of the price!) We then mounted it to the wall...The colored pull out fabric bins are also from Target!

                                                We love Mr. Cat in the Hat!

Above the desk! The red tins are from Pottery Barn Kids and the shelf and brackets are from Ikea!

           We put in a magnet board and the 1,2,3 number bins are from Ikea.

And that's our playroom! We sure had a blast transforming it into a fun room for our little man!

My Little Talker.

As soon as Joshua hit 25 months he started talking up a storm  all the sudden...at his 24 month check-up I was wondering when the real talking would start and his doctor kept telling me it will come soon, it will come...and of course I was looking at her like okay...and then as soon as he hit 25 months he started talking like crazy out of nowhere...As of this month he is saying 3 and 4 words together all the time...his favorite phrases are "help me please mama", "mama, i do it myself" (that's my favorite), "put on my shoes", "it's a good dinner" etc..I am just loving that he can communicate so well now and now knowing what's going on in that cute little head.

He definitely loves the word no right now and is definitely showing his i can talk back side...but he now knows that it's off to timeout if he talks back or does something he's not supposed to..he is good about staying in timeout until we tell him time's up and he says sorry for what he did. He is QUITE the personality, oh my.

Joshua loves his animals he knows them all and will say their names and sounds they all make...he's really good at it he's mastered them all now...Joshua is also counting by himself from 1-5 and almost 1-10..he counts 1-5 and then if i say "then six" he says 7, 9, 10 yay!  he skips 8..i love it..he says every number great except for number 6 can sometimes sound like s*it, yes we try not to laugh...I am just so happy that he can talk to me now, it's so fun to see how excited he gets telling me things now too...I can't believe he will be 27 months at the end of the month...And I really can't believe I am filling out his preschool paperwork for him to start this fall...I know it's only 3 short days a week, but I'm just not ready to share him yet! 

My Top 10.

I was going back over old albums of my little man and just had to share these precious pics...these are my very favorite top 10 pics...

    Okay I know I'm biased, but isn't he just adorbs!? :)