A Bergen Sized Table

You say you won't be one of those parents that spoil their children...but I'm afraid we are failing miserably at that! I've been thinking about having a kid sized table to put in our office/craft/hobby room. I'm hoping that Bergen will feel special having his own work/play space and to occasionally do a project on his own while we use our space :) While walking around Ikea I saw this $7 end table and BAM, it hit me, it's the same size as the little kid tables that are at least three times as much. Perfect! So we snagged the table and these cute little chairs to complete the setup.

The best part about Ikea is that everything comes in a box ready to be assembled. Something Travis and Bergen just love doing! After chair #1 was put together Bergen knew just what to do on chair #2.

Oh the concentration! It was crackin' me up :)

This was a great buy. I love it (although it hasn't made it into the office just yet because we are having too much fun with it in the living room). This playdoh session lasted 45 minutes! Even Kellene and I were having fun.

Random: Don's know where he got this idea, but he was hard at work trying to get the playdoh between his toes. It was pretty funny and luckily once he succeeded he hasn't tried it again.

(March 1, 2011)

Playhouse

We had a lucky find! The end of January some friends of our were moving and didn't want to take this playhouse with them. So the men disassembled it and hauled it to our house. Bergen had fun putting it back together with Travis in our backyard.

Of course Bergen was all about the tools.

Our available space was different than the original space it was built in, so we had to make some modifications to where the rock wall, slide, and stairs were placed. Our home teacher works for a roofing company and offered his help and supplies for the roof. Travis really enjoyed doing some physical labor, Bergen loved working out there, and I think it turned out great!

Between the trampoline and the playhouse we have spent HOURS playing outside in our own yard.

I just love that we have a "fun" backyard...and now is the time to enjoy it before it gets too hot!

Dresser Top

It's no secret Bergen is a climber. But this one surprised even me! It was quiet so I went looking and here is where I found him. Apparently he stands on the arm of the rocking chair, gets his balance, and then dives onto the dresser and pulls himself over. Crazy! He was very excited to turn the light on and off, and open and close the blinds. I tell you, NOTHING is safe in our house anymore. Especially since he started opening doors the end of February!

(Feb 23rd)

Sunday Best

For months I've been wanting to take a picture of Bergen in this cute Sunday vest. I finally got around to it...just before it's too small :)

He really didn't want to stand there!

But if Daddy was there with him he was just fine.

(Feb 6th)

Winter Storm

This week has been the coldest it's been in 15 years. Schools and most of the area has been pretty much closed down for 4 days. Monday I actually did some shopping in anticipation of the storm and I'm glad I did. Tuesday our garage was frozen shut and there was snow and several inches of ice covering the ground. The airport shut down and so did most of the metroplex. Wednesday wasn't much better, and Thursday we got more snow. Travis did manage to slide to the airport on Thursday so he could head to work. The 25 minute drive took him an hour and a half. It's been pretty crazy out there but I'm happy to say Bergen and I stayed nice and warm inside and have survived 5 days without leaving home.

Tuesday Bergen wasn't taking no for an answer to go outside. So finally we sent him out and he was back in about 30 seconds. Ok I know he isn't well bundled, but we didn't want to be out there so that was kind of the point.

The guilt has been eating at me long enough. Today I spend almost a half hour getting us bundled up and we went out to play in the snow. Glad I did too because it's finally above freezing temperatures and the snow is melting fast! Bergen's got 2 pairs of socks pulled up to his knees, a shirt, footie pajamas, jeans, two jackets and gloves (it was the best I could come up with).

And for footwear...to accommodate the extra layers, a pair of 3 sizes too big Sunday shoes I had packed away in the closet. And a good thing too because nothing else was working. I'm happy to report his feet stayed dry AND warm!

He's got the snowball down. See steps 1-4 below: find good snow, pick it up, bring the arm back, and launch.

Humans must be born with this intuition because I did NOT show him! He did it all on his own! I was cracking up and he thought it was really funny to feed me the snow. After this initial test Bergen would put the snow in his mouth but spit it out. Must have been too cold :)

'No-min" building...

...and "no-min" throwing.

We were out there for almost an hour before he wanted to come back in. So glad I finally got the motivation to get us out there and make another fun memory together!

Mommy sure loves her Bergen!

And just like that I've forgotten all about the food that's been purposely thrown onto the floor, the toys that have been dumped out, the fits over not getting to play with a cup and the water spout on the fridge, and the train that made solid contact with my cheek bone while saying prayer. It's nice to have moments to forget these kinds of things...for however long that moment may be :)

Story Telling

I wish oh wish I knew what this story was about! All I know is that it's pretty funny and if I had to take a guess it was something about driving and maybe an airplane. I grabbed the camera to catch his yogurt face but kept clicking as his story went on. Travis and I just stood there laughing!

January Wrap Up: Makeup - Rice - BIG Mess

This should probably be 3 separate posts, but the pics are already here so we'll just go with it.

Makeup

Sorry future Bergen, yes your mom let you put on makeup just this one time. In my defense, you did it to yourself. It's not like I sat you up and gave you a makeover :) Ok, yes Bergen has makeup on. Naturally he's very interested in my makeup bag and it's a regular occurrence to keep him out. Well this particular morning I just let it go. He sat on the counter while I was getting ready and instead of encouraging him to play with the toothbrushes and floss I let him do his thing. He followed what I was doing very well. I finished using something, dropped it in the bag, he pulled it out, and copied what I had just done. I wish I had a video of him trying to curl his eyelashes. Now that was some funny scrunched up faces :) Voila! This is his transformation. Eyeshadow, liner, and blush. Can you tell he's very right handed :)

What do you think? Considering, it could've been a lot worse!

Rice

Brilliant idea I had! Ok maybe I read it somewhere, I can't remember. It's like a mini indoor sandbox. Some rice, some utensils, a cup, and some toys to burry. It was a very entertaining 45 minutes! I was even having fun. And then he figured out throwing handfuls of rice off the table was slightly more fun. Bummer :) It was good while it lasted. After cleaning up a blanket of rice on the kitchen floor I discovered it was probably less than 1/3 of a cup that we lost...but 1/3 of a cup sure can cover a lot of area!

BIG Mess

Bergen was having a snack when I got a phone call. I was talking where I could see his head, but I never seemed to notice what his hands were doing. It must have been an intense call, except I forgot what it was all about once I saw this. All the goldfish crushed and scatted on the floor. He was trying to get them into the trash can, right? I'll go with that one :) And even though this NutraGrain bar was on the table, he managed to reach it and mush every last piece of it between his fingers. Oh Buggy! You silly boy! Of the handful of words he says, mess is one of them. I wonder why...or do I? :)

Movie Night

I wish I remembered to do this more often! I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Bergen LOVES to help in the kitchen (yes, there was sarcasm there). In fact he's even started pulling out multiple items to be used when making, or when he wants to eat something specific. And he's got all the right items for the job too! Usually I take the hint, although the morning I was getting dressed in the closet and he brought me a pot and a box of macaroni & cheese I held off until lunch to make that. So when I think about it, it works great to make popcorn and spend a few quiet moments on the couch together before getting ready for bed. Bergen sits for a few shows, but without fail he requests to watch trains! So glad I can record them so they are easily accessible for our movie nights :)

I love how he's saying "cheeeeeese", but still watching the TV.

He does excellent with a cup now. Unless he's confined to his seat I still prefer water in it though...just in case. He looks so grown up!