Playset

Jackson is now the proud owner of his very own backyard playset.  To those of you who think building a playset might be in your future...you have been warned.

This project is a beast.

Here is what it looks like prior to assembly.

Notice those little green pieces of tape on each board? 

Those are there because Drew labeled them.  Himself.  One at a time.  After measuring the pieces and matching them up with the parts list.  You didn't expect that the seven bazillion pieces would actually come labeled did you?  Ha!

He even sorted the screws, bolts, washers, etc.

I like to think it's because my freakishly organized tendencies have rubbed off on him, but I think the user reviews he read online probably had more to do with it.  In any case, don't skip this step.  It will save you a million headaches down the road.

Once the parts were labeled and ready to go, Drew got started one Saturday afternoon with expectations of a completed playset by the end of the weekend.

It's a nasty project.  The instructions are vague (and this is coming from a guy who's totally awesome at this stuff), there are a bazillion pieces to sort through, not everything is perfectly square, etc.  I had a hunch it would be a pretty tense scene so Jack & I made ourselves scarce running errands while Drew got started.  It was a frustrating project, no question, but he was making good progress.

Then he reached a step that calls for two people.  As I mentioned, Drew is a handy guy.  He's tackled countless projects on his own that are technically two-man jobs.  So he threw caution to the wind (pun intendend) and forged ahead. 

That's when disaster struck.  While attempting to conntect two sections of the tower unit, a huge gust of Kansas wind started tipping the unit over and Drew's two arms weren't enough to keep it upright.  Down it went breaking 2 pieces of wood as it fell.

SCREEEETCH.

That was the sound of project playset coming to a screetching halt. 

There's no need to relive the painful moments that followed.  Suffice it to say, it was a sad afternoon at the Elser house.

By Monday morning the wounds had been licked and tempers had calmed down enough to call customer service and speak with the manufacturer of the playset.  It turns out replacement parts were available and would be shipped to us from their factory in Canada immediately.  Whew.

For the next 3 weeks (while we waited for parts to arrive, were delayed by a business trip to Texas followed by a weekend of rain, and hosted a family celebration for Easter) Jackson's playset looked like this.

Finally, the stars aligned and Drew was able to get a couple of hours of help on a Friday afternoon.  The result was this.

As far as Jack was concerned, Drew could have stopped here.  Upon arriving home that afternoon Jackson stopped dead in his tracks at the first glimpse and shouted, "Whoa!  Mom, it's awesome!"

Lucky for him, Drew kept going.  It took the better part of Saturday to finish, but our backyard is now equipped with one heck of a playset!

Jack was awfully proud of his Daddy.  For days, every time he would play on the playset he would say, "My Daddy built this."  He also threw in several "Daddy Rocks", just for good measure.  Can you tell he was one excited little boy?

It's been up and running for almost 2 weeks now and I've got to agree with Jack, it's pretty awesome.

Easy for me to say, since my role in project playset was keeping Jack busy and bringing Drew an occasional glass of water, but I think in the end even Drew would agree it was worth the huge headache that it ensued.  I know a little boy who sure thinks so.

Here's to a summer full of climbing, sliding, gliding and swinging. 

And no strains, sprains or broken bones.



By the way, if you ever need help building a playset, call Drew.  He's an expert now!

The Mercedes of Toilet Seats

Despite it being his birthday, last weekend Grump arrived bearing gifts.  In his words, "We brought you a toilet seat."

A rather strange gift you might think, but this isn't just any toilet seat.  This is like the Mercedes Benz of toilet seats.

Upon first glance, it looks fairly normal.

However, as Jackson will demonstrate, it is anything but normal.

Secured with a magnet and settled in flush with the lid is a kid-sized toilet seat. 

Simply pull it down and your run of the mill toilet becomes kid friendly.

What on earth will they think of next?

The La-Z-Boy of Car Seats

Jackson has officially outgrown his infant carrier car seat. At 22 lbs. he matches the weight limit for his seat. Not to mention his body filling up nearly every inch of it's width and his feet hanging over the bottom. So Friday night we were off to Babies R Us, a dreadful yet necessary place, to buy a new car seat.

This was not a purchase I was eager to make. For one thing, car seats are expensive. And chances are, we'll end up buying 2 of them - 1 for each vehicle. For another, it is just one more reminder that my baby boy is not such a baby anymore. Seems these reminders have been coming quite often lately.

I had done the usual research (consumer reports, parent reviews, NHTSA) and knew exactly what I wanted. And luckily, Babies R Us had that very model in stock. We were in and out in no time at all (after a slight detour through the furniture section for a toy box).

I didn't realize until we got it home and out of the box how massive these seats are. But I must admit it looks pretty comfy.

Fortunately, we have a good-sized 4-door sedan. It's no wonder mini-vans have become so popular. It's as though you're strapping a miniature La-Z-Boy into your back seat!

So here's my big boy taking his first trip in the new car seat.

It was a bitter sweet moment for me. I won't miss lugging around a 22 lb. baby in a 10 lb. infant carrier, despite the rather impressive biceps it gave me. But it seems like just yesterday he was a 5 lb. 12 oz. preemie who needed support from a rolled up blanket to fit in his infant seat.

Where does the time go?

Man Room Makeover

The "Man Room" got a bit of a makeover this weekend.

It started with an innocent desire to get a toy box. Jackson's toys are beginning to multiply and it seems we are constantly pulling out or picking up toys. A toy box (with a lid) seemed like a great solution. It would keep the basement in order - something I very much desire. And it would protect Jack's toys from Ruby - who has a habit of finding his favorite ones and proudly toting them around the house. (Thankfully, she's not one to destroy toys, she just likes to carry them around.)

As I began my search for the prefect toy box, I stumbled upon this play mat which quickly moved to the top of my list of desires for Jackson.

We then decided to experiment with rearranging the furniture. After all, it's been exactly the same since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. We were ready for a change.

It all came together at Babies R Us this weekend when we stumbled upon the perfect toy box. And it was even on clearance! Clearly this "makeover" was meant to be!

The result is what feels like a more spacious man room, complete with an entire corner that looks more like a "Kid Zone".

Pretty cool, huh?

I doubt this was ever part of Drew's vision for his "Man Room" when we bought this house, but it seems to suit him just fine!

New Furniture

I have a hunch it's going to be a long time before any new furniture in our house is for me.

In this case, it is a new highchair. Although, I have to say it's a pretty cool high chair! (The best part of all, it required absolutely ZERO assembly. Thank you Graco!)

While he has yet to eat in it, Jackson tried out his new chair and gave it the seal of approval.

And it even coordinates pretty well with the rest of our kitchen.

I can't wait for the dropped food (leading to an increasingly fat Laboradiva), sticky hands and messy meals that will accompany this chair over the years!

Have a Seat

Jackson loves to sit up. He can't do it on his own quite yet, but he definitely prefers to be upright (the view is better, after all). So, last weekend we added 2 items to the growing number of baby paraphernalia in our household to assist Jack in his desire to sit.

Here he is in his Bumbo and Exersaucer. (And yes...having a child requires a whole new vocabulary that you never knew existed.)

Babywearing, Part II

I've posted before about my love for the Hotsling I received as a baby shower gift from my Nana. After a slight shipping delay, I finally received my 2nd sling (a nest ring sling) last week. It too is dreamy!

I'm still getting used to the new one but I love it's versatility. The tummy-to-tummy position in the picture above is fantastic. It is also very comfortable and quite pretty - which is important. :) At this point, I can't say that I have a favorite. I like them both and will wear them (based on what matches my outfit of course) interchangeably. That said, for gift giving I would definitely suggest the ring sling as it is one size fits all.

As you can see, Jack is a fan as well.