rooms

I love sitting in Sydney and Max's rooms while they play. I love all the details in their rooms, each one with a story or a memory attached to it. I know things will change...colors painted over, a crib turned to a big kid bed, baby toys replaced...so I wanted to document our little spaces at this point in time. I'm still wondering the best place to put the new baby in October, because I don't want anything to change. Like hearing Max and Sydney knocking on each other's joining wall as they're supposed to be falling asleep.

Sydney's room has so much light and serene colors, it's one of the most peaceful places in the house. I love the view into her room from the hall, especially as I spy on Tommy putting her down with a story and a song every night. It's their special time together. Afterwards I always hear her little voice calling "Mommy, will you scratch my back and sing 'Don't Wake Up the Baby' song?". Every night is the same. I love these routines.

Sydney is a lot like I was as a kid, sleeping with mounds of stuffed animals on the bed. Sometimes I try to sneak some of these furry friends to her closet to minimize the clutter, but I always find them back on her bed.

left: our garage sale-find antique phone that she uses to call her cousin, Mason, several times a day. I hear her giving him important updates: "Hi Mason, well, me and Max are having a tea party right now. I love you. Goodbye."

Is there anything more fun than a mural? Just wait until I post pictures of the play room's big mural! All done by the amazing Dustin Baird

Every morning Sydney climbs into my bed around 8, and we usually have a few minutes to stay curled up under the covers lazily until we hear Max's high-pitched chirps and the sound of his crib springs as he jumps and jumps on his mattress. Then Sydney always says, "I get Max!" and races to open his door before I get there (as I pretend to race after her, groggily). His big grin brightens our morning and helps us start our day off right.

Max loves storybooks. He grabs one off his shelf, runs to your lap and plops down with all his weight, like a seat-drop on the trampoline. As soon as you close the last page, he gets up and bolts to the bookshelf and returns with another book in his hand and a big smile. It's hard to say no.

It feels like just yesterday that I was 9 months pregnant and feeling a sudden urgency to furnish Max's nursery before his arrival. I remember bringing my sister, Malinda, to IKEA a couple times to help me choose and haul out all sorts of "needs" for his room (every newborn needs a slide, right?). At the time Sydney seemed like such a big girl and was ready to switch to a real bed and move out of the baby stage. But with baby #3 coming in just 7 weeks, I can't imagine Max moving out of his nursery and onto toddlerhood. I think we'll just have to have two babies in the house for a while.