Update: Jude's Room

I have been slowly attempting to update Jude's room for awhile now.  I have wanted to make a gallery wall and have slowly been buying and collecting prints off of Etsy or at Casey Jones Train Museum or who knows for seriously like the last 2 years.  

For my birthday this year, Joel gave me a picture of a British phone booth from his visit to London.  I was pondering what to do with it when I realized it would be the perfect addition to the wall I had been storing up and planning in my head.  

I was determined to get that done as part of my summer projects this year.  It took me until August to buy and return and buy the right frames for this.  But thankfully, it's done.  

The most exciting part of this is that Jude was so excited about it, which I didn't expect.  I sort of kept him out of the room while I was working.  As I've said before, my child is wild, so him in the room I'm working in is chaos- at least volume wise.  He loves to make noise.  I can't think in those conditions, much less work.  Suffice it to say, he stayed out of the room.  When I did let him in, he was so excited. I'm so glad I decided to capture his face with my camera.  He was just so excited.  1000 gifts!

He LOVED it!!!!  He told me over and over again how much he loved me and how thankful he was for his new pictures.  Along with some of the biggest hugs ever.  Talk about melting my heart.  He makes it so fun to give him things because he really gets so excited.  Sweet boy!

Here's the gallery wall I made.  It's a combo of the vintage train pictures from his nursery room, a few more modern looking train pictures, some Beatles references since he's named after them after all, and lastly the phone booth.  One day, I want that area to be a reading nook, but we aren't there yet :)

The license plate and Pullman car picture were originally going to be part of the gallery wall.  The Baltimore & Ohio and New York Central pictures had already been in different places in his room.  I decided to pull those and make a mini gallery wall over here, which I am glad I did.  And of course, Jude loves the concentration of trains.

I had also thought about adding this 1 year old photo set to the gallery wall, but decided to put it under his shelf when I moved the New York Central pic from under it.  I ended up liking having it separated out and divided into categories.  I have also added the midshipman hat that my brother passed down to Jude after graduating this year.  I updated the letters of his name awhile back, but am not sure if I ever posted about that.  The baseball is from when the Navy made the regional NCAA baseball playoffs a couple years ago.

The view when you look into the room.

And this night light.  I got it on zulily (actually the Beatles prints are off zulily too...).  I love this night light.  So much!

Anyway, I really like how it turned out.  As with all rooms in my house, they are constantly being updated or changed, but this is a good start I think to transforming it for a preschooler :)

Too Cute- Bibles, Zoos, Easter

First off is my edition of 'Too Cute Tuesday'... see my linking tab to visit Megan and Kenzie.  I forgot about this afternoon until I was loading photos.  They are sort of fuzzy because Jude didn't know I was taking them through the window.  But it allowed me to capture him in action.  He's sitting in his car with his baseball bat in the trunk and he's reading his Bible.  He sat there just reading for at least 5 minutes- and however long he was there before I started watching.  And I love this bottom photo.  For some reason it reminds me of old pictures of Christopher Robin, which I adore the classic stories of Winnie the Pooh.  Just the sweetest pictures to me.

Here is classic Jude.  He makes more cave, fort, bed contraptions that any other child I know of.  Except maybe me when I was little ;)  This is how he slept one night- bunched up in a corner.

We went to the zoo again with my friends and their kiddos.

Jude and I rode on the train- you know he LOVED that.  Even though it literally goes 2 mph and you just ride around the parking lot basically.  Thanks to Rachel for getting the bottom pic of us.

Here is Jude's Easter basket, along with the present in the back from my parents.  Pretty low key.  I bought him a bunny via The Sara Jane Project, which I love love love.  Check it out.  Here's Jude checking it all out.  The bunny is now named 'Clover'.  The wrapped present is a pirate puppet named Bart.

And last is Jude in his Easter gear.  It was a pretty yucky day here.  And of course Jude never cooperated for a cute pic, which seems to be the theme :)  But I have a theory that when I am 60+ these 'imperfect' pictures are going to be my favorite!

Too Cute Trains and Pirate Hooks

This is week 2 of Too Cute Tuesday with Megan and Kenzie.  And as promised it is going to consist of me showing you how Jude has done things that are too cute this week.  

Exhibit A:  Train tracks.  Jude builds his tracks all over my dining area.  All over our living room.  All over his bedroom.  Basically anywhere (especially anyway I am highly likely to walk over and trip ;)  I adore this shot of him with the tracks, laying down staring off.  It is just Too Cute!

I'm not sure this is Too Cute.  More like Too Funny.  But the other night, I had put Jude to bed.  As usual I heard lots of rustling.  He plays about 30 minutes before going to bed.  Anyway, it'd been about his usual 30, so I walked in to check on him.  And I saw this.  Apparently that nights rendition of 'things to do Besides sleeping' included opening the entry table with a pirate hook.  I mean.  Naturally.

I love my little boy.  He's just too cute.  He makes me laugh.  And sometimes, I need that :)

I got my Paxton dude!!

Yesterday, Jude and I went to ride the train in Grapevine.  Every year they turn the train in to a Thomas the Train.  There are lots of other events.  We took a special momma boy date to go take a ride.  It was a lovely spring day- great for a walk down Main Street and to the train station.

We hung out with some friends of mine who live down from Main Street beforehand.  I don't see them enough, but they are the loveliest family.  And some of the angels in disguise God sent me in the midst of divorce.

We got to the station in enough time to get our tickets and get in line to board the train without being at the end of the line.  Perfect timing.  Jude was mesmerized by the whole thing.  He didn't have much to say, but he contentedly stared out the window.  It was mostly a really pretty ride through the Texas prairies.  I don't know if it's because of my obsession with Little House on the Prairie as a kid or that we spent 7 weeks teaching about the prairie in second grade, but I feel so alive when I see prairie grasses blowing in the spring.  So lovely.

After the ride, we tried to do some of the other things they had for the kids.  There are tons of events, but Jude was too tired.  Most resulted in tears.  So we got a Salty the train tattoo, bought a new train named Paxton, and called it a day.

This morning right after Jude woke up he told.  "I got my Paxton.  I got my Paxton dude!"  So all in all it was a great day!

Conversations

Conversations with a Toddler....

Ashley:  Aww man, Jude.  Now I remember what else I needed at Target!

Jude:  a train?

Ashley: Uh no.....

PS- sorry for the photobooth quality photo.

Freight Train

One of Jude's favorite books is Freight Train by Donald Crews.  It was one of the very first board books he got.  At first, I think he liked it because the pictures were so bold and easy to see.  Now he just honestly loves trains.  (Convenient since his nursery is decorated with vintage train things...)  Anyway, it's funny because he really just likes this page.  Oh sometimes we will read other pages, but pretty much it's just this one page.  I sound like a broken record "red caboose at the back, orange tank car next, yellow hopper car".  In fact, I just typed that from memory.  Today I kept repeating this and Jude just smiled in sheer delight.  I guess he likes warm colors.  I'm not sure why else he would be that interested in this page and none others.