I worry about everything, but I’m not worried about getting my kids vaccinated against COVID-19

Ten years ago today, I left the hospital with one bundled-up baby, a dozen brochures, and a thousand questions after giving birth to my firstborn – the one who made me a mom.

Photo Credit: Knack Video + Photo

They forgot the handouts on how to parent in a pandemic.

My parenting style can best be described as energetic worrywart. I’ve racked up approximately 917 Internet searches over the last decade, from “kid will only eat yogurt” to “how to function on two hours sleep.” But I’m not worried about them receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

I’m much more concerned about what happens if they don’t.

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiology researcher and professor at UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas who publishes as Your Local Epidemiologist, notes that while morbidity among children ages 5-11 is low compared to adults, it still ranks as a top-10 cause of death for kids in the U.S. right now. And death is not the only outcome – 8 percent of children have already been diagnosed with long COVID.

For 20 months – let’s be honest, their entire lives – every decision I have made has started with, “How can I protect them?” There are plenty of things in life I can’t control for, or can’t make happen. Ensuring my entire family is protected from COVID-19 through vaccination is one small step I can take to regain the control we’ve all lost. It’s the only way I can control what happens next.

That 7 lb., 6 oz. baby I left the hospital with now stands eye-to-eye to me in his stocking feet, still loves yogurt, and can describe all 700 different dinosaur species. Why does he want to get his COVID-19 vaccine? “So we can go places,” he says.

For him, this isn’t difficult or dramatic; it’s a simple step he can take to safely return to community. My hope for my children is that they go all the places, big places – for the next 10 years and beyond. Being protected against COVID-19 will allow that freedom, and understanding the role they play in contributing to collective good will give them the compassion to make their journey matter.

Just like a decade ago, today is both monumental and mundane. Clothes were put on, teeth were brushed, shoes were retrieved from under the couch. But much like those first steps we took out of the hospital as new parents, as my children offer their arms and their trust to get protected against COVID-19, I know this: helping my children be the safest, healthiest, most caring versions of themselves is the only thing I need to worry about.

Audrey is the mother of two sons, ages 6 and 10.

Rethinking perfection

Serving in the Junior League is an experience like none other. I am incredibly appreciative to the women who believed in me enough to place me in leadership roles and give me opportunities that have forever changed me for the better, in ways I couldn’t have predicted.

Being able to attend an AJLI Annual Conference reminded me that we are one part of a larger whole; that all across the world there are thousands of women leading change and transforming communities. Some days, it might seem like we’re only saving one starfish at a time in Dayton; but collectively, we are moving oceans.

Participating in Leadership Dayton, and specifically walking through the justice system and doing a police ride-along, made me more compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others. The challenges our community faces are not small, but having an extraordinary amount of empathy – not just sympathy – is what sets Dayton apart.

But mostly, Junior League has forced me to slow down even when everything else is speeding up; it has taught me to rethink perfection. For a certified Type A, left-brain personality, I assure you, that is no small feat.

For most leaders, if you ask them what their measure of success is, they’ll respond, “No problems. No surprises.” And I probably would have agreed to that a year ago; it sounds great, right? Predictability is good. Calm is good. But what the past year has taught me is that not only is this kind of perfection unrealistic; it’s also not helpful.

We don’t have to be perfect as a League; we don’t have to be perfect as a city; and we especially don’t have to be perfect as women. The only person expecting perfection from you, is you. We often give others grace that we’re not willing to bestow on ourselves, and I am especially guilty of this.

Junior League helped me understand that leadership is as much about celebrating successes as it is acknowledging weaknesses (like taxes, which no amount of time as Junior League president would ever help me understand).

The effect of my Junior League leadership ended up being counter to everything I envisioned (in a positive way). It finally forced me to put into practice something my mother has been telling me to do for 37 years: relax. Because when you suddenly have 300 women, and countless community members, who all have ideas and dilemmas and worries and achievements and projects and events to bring to you, all at the same time, the only thing you can do is triage the big stuff, trust the women around you, and let the small stuff go. But the best leaders aren’t perfect; they’re just the ones who can readily admit their imperfections and be willing to relinquish control to someone else (like accountants who handle taxes) who can fill in those gaps.

And, as an organization, I wouldn’t want us to be perfect. Because if there are no problems, if there is nothing to discuss or debate or critique or think about or improve upon, it means we’ve stopped being.

My husband is an Army veteran, and he frequently repeats a saying from one of his drill sergeants: “If people have stopped complaining, that’s when you should be scared. Because it means they don’t care enough to complain.” And I know our League to be full of passionate women who frequently raise their voices, but do so for the betterment of each other and of Dayton.

You can’t grow without challenges; you can’t learn if there are no struggles. Ultimately, it turns out, my favorite part of the Junior League is that it is a living, vibrant group that is constantly developing itself as an organization while it develops the leadership potential in us. Are we perfect? No. But am I proud of that? Yes.

I would be remiss if I didn’t issue a few specific thank-you’s: When I first got the call from Nominating asking me to serve as president, knowing this was a significant commitment in terms of time and energy, my first conversation was with my husband. It’s worth noting that I take campaigning and goal-setting seriously, so I may or may not have drafted a PowerPoint presentation for this conversation.

But I didn’t have a chance to show it to him, because he stopped me and said, “You told her yes, right?” And I said, no, I wanted to run it past you first; big commitment, lots of meetings, and so on. And he said, “Well, of course your answer is yes.” And I said, “Why? How is it that simple? I have a PowerPoint!” And he said, “It matters to you.” That was it. It matters.

I work every day for an organization that empowers women who often don’t have a single person in their lives who can tell them “it matters.” That what they think, what they want, what they are passionate about, what they enjoy, matters, even if – especially if – it only matters to them. So to have a partner who is willing to put his own leadership opportunities on hold, temporarily, so that I could give back and grow and model servant leadership for our children in this way; that matters. And I am humbled and thankful for that. (And if there is a bar still open, he drinks bourbon, straight up.)

To the women who walked in these shoes before me and are picking up the torch in years to come – you have mentored me, answered my phone calls and text messages at weird hours, responded to my emails at even weirder hours, brainstormed with me at 1 a.m., laughed with me, troubleshooted with me, offered much-needed humor, and at every turn reminded me that our work in the Junior League may change, but the friendships we make aren’t going anywhere. When I joined the League, I wanted to meet new people and make an impact; instead I’ve met people who made an impact on me, and for that, I’m forever grateful. Thank you.

Original speech at 2016 Junior League of Dayton Annual Dinner

Hello everyone 🤗

Oh, elementary school. A time of learning, and growth, and feisty parent email threads.

It all started when our local district emailed a strategic planning survey out to the parent/family listserv.

Ok, cool. I like surveys. Surveys are fun. Let me just click this survey link and…

[Ding! You’ve got mail.]

This? Right here? Is exactly why BCC is a thing. #amateurs

Whatever — this Grumpy Gus had their moment, let’s all move on and…

[Ding! You’ve got mail.]

Perfect. The sanctimommies have also found Reply All.

[Ding! You’ve got mail.]

Yep. What they said. Oh, look, here’s someone to provide a helpful tutorial:

Says the person who somehow managed to reply all and attach the previous respondent’s meme AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT.

Oh, snap. But doesn’t anyone have a sense of humor anymore?

SNORT. Hug emoji for the win!

Oh, finally. These. These are my people.

[Ding! You’ve got mail.]

Annnnnnd there’s always someone in the outfield playing a different game, isn’t there? Bless their heart. We stopped talking about the actual survey when Mr. Quack Pack Learning Shack began the Reply All revolution.

And then, there’s always someone trying to shut the party down.

Alright, which one of you gets to explain how email works? It’s not like that wine-fueled Facebook post you made about your boss in 2014. You can’t “take it down.” Just like you (clearly) can’t prevent someone from hitting Reply All. The person who figures out that hack will earn a well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize.

Got it, that guy won’t be explaining this concept. That guy’s all, “You go, Glen Coco.”

[Ding! You have (new) mail.]

Ummm…why is this showing up as a new email thread? Surely, this person didn’t create an entirely new email chain but still INCLUDE THE ENTIRE LISTSERV, right?

Cue the Go Noodle: I can’t. Why not? I just can’t.

We get it. Hitting “delete” is incredibly hard.

Bless.

Alright. If you need me, I’ll just be in the corner, cutting and gluing Box Tops like a deranged Bingo player. #PTOlife But I promise not to Reply All and tell you about it.

Landing gear

“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask, “What if I fall?”
Oh, but my darling,
What if you fly?”
~Erin Hanson

Wall of flight in Dayton Children’s new patient tower.

“Recalculating” is not the command you want to hear while you’re making a major life change.

Or when you’ve been driving for nine hours on an interstate riddled with seemingly permanent orange cones and your copilots are a 95-pound Golden Retriever and an 11-month-old baby, both with a tendency to drool.

But – thanks to one stubborn GPS narrator – that’s how my life as a new resident of the Gem City began.

We did (finally) locate our apartment that night; it was an emergency trip to Dayton Children’s Hospital a week later, though, that helped us find our bearings.

It is a generally understood law of the universe that if you have just relocated cities by 300 miles, your child will spike a high fever before you’ve secured a pediatrician. (And said fever will appear at approximately 4:59 p.m. On a Friday. When it’s raining.) The first result in a Google search for pediatric urgent care directed us to Dayton Children’s.

I don’t remember how long we waited, what movie was playing on the lobby television, or how many other families were consoling tired children. I don’t remember what my son’s temperature was, or what I was wearing, or what car we took to get there. What I recall is the doctor who treated my son’s ear infection – and, in the process, allowed me to heal, too.

I came to Dayton for the potential of a new job and its proximity to my Tennessee roots, but in many ways, I came to Dayton to center myself after living in the fog of a community hardened by perpetual winter and declining industry. For my husband and I, moving to southwest Ohio – knowing only each other and nothing about the region save for what we’d seen on a recurring Weather Channel special about the 1973 Xenia tornado – was truly a leap.

My husband & oldest son before his second tympanostomy (aka “ear tube”) surgery at Dayton Children’s Hospital.

I don’t remember the doctor’s name; but I remember her kindness. I remember how I involuntarily smiled when I heard her Kentucky accent, how I nodded when she said she knew no one in Dayton when she landed here, how I was comforted when she mentioned her young daughter, who was just a few weeks younger than my own. I remember her favorite color was blue and that she loved Halloween and – as she scribbled her cell number and a “Call me any time!” on a prescription notepad – that she understood what it is to be somewhat unmoored, but in exactly the right place, all at the same time.

She could have berated us for traveling with a sick 11-month-old or rolled her eyes at our first-time-parent selves for utilizing urgent care for a mundane ear infection. Instead, she reassured us that all three of us were in exactly the right place.

And, indeed, we are.

 

Click HERE to see some of my favorite elements of Dayton Children’s new patient tower. If you’re in the Miami Valley, be sure to check it out in person at their Community Open House, June 11, 1-4 p.m.

Note: This post was written as part of Dayton Children’s new patient tower grand opening, for which participating bloggers received complimentary tours and a few hospital goodies. All thoughts and opinions (and genetically problematic ears) described here are my own.

Above and beyond

Two milestones occurred this week: one of my city’s longtime institutions, Dayton Children’s Hospital, held its grand opening of a new, state-of-the-art patient tower; and I was officially called a “mommy blogger.”

I’m thrilled about the former; still processing the latter.

As a supporter of Dayton Children’s from almost the moment I arrived in the Gem City (read our story HERE), when a call went out to help elevate the conversation around their new building, my hashtag-loving heart responded. In the grand opening program, hospital staff said they wanted to create a space worthy of the children of the Dayton region. It shows.

Here are my favorite highlights from Monday’s tours.

Not your mama’s hospital gift shop

I never thought about how much gift shop purchases help fund hospital services, so I love that they’ve emphasized that. Also — this is seriously not yo mama’s hospital gift shop. This can only be described as a whimsical boutique. They have some seriously cute stuff! It’s not just bibs and balloons.

Snazzy technology

The amount of thought, research, and discussion with staff and patient families that went into this new tower is evident and impressive. Every corner resonates intentionality and a desire to, as they explained in the opening program, always be reaching for the stars for kids close to home:

• Computer keyboards in the patient rooms are — wait for it — dishwasher safe. (I need these in my life)
• There are separate parent/guest TV’s in each room (for everyone who has a limit on how many times they can hear Mickey and crew sing “Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog.” Which is all of us.)
• Dedicated space for both a NICU milk bank and lactation rooms for employees. YES YES and YES. I had an oversupply with my second son and loved the idea of supporting other moms in this way, and for all of us who have pumped in closets/bathrooms/cars/open cubicles — praise hands.
• Disinfecting UV-light robots (umm, what?! I need to know how to install one of these in my house. #boymom)

Innovation top to bottom

I LOVED the soft rooftop play area. Clearly a safe and secure structure, it will give patients, staff, families, and visitors a chance to get a literal breath of fresh air and run out some energy while still remaining close to hospital rooms. And I love the innovative spirit here — most people would have overlooked the potential in this space instead of asking, “What can we do with it?”

Run, jump, play

There are people who appreciate kids; then there are people who understand kids. Dayton Children’s has installed interactive spaces throughout the hospital, acknowledging that kids are always curious, imaginative, and in motion. From the custom-built Windtunnel leading into the gift shop to the accessible hands-on Dragonflyer (you can move the wings and change the colors!), these are the little details that help families focus on individual moments even in the midst of difficulty. You know you have a gem in your backyard when you see a children’s hospital and immediately want to bring your kids in to experience it. (Come on — who wouldn’t want to measure their wingspan?)

Note: This post was written as part of Dayton Children’s new patient tower grand opening, for which participating bloggers received complimentary tours and a few hospital goodies. All thoughts and opinions described here are my own. If you’re in the Miami Valley, check it out for yourself at their Community Open House, June 11, 1-4 p.m.

How to register a 5-year-old for Kindergarten

March 13-18, 2016
Notice Kindergarten registration is happening. Add reminder to phone to check on 2017 schedule in late February. Congratulate self on organized process and systems.

Feb. 16, 2017 | 7:30 a.m.
Drive past future school. Glance at marquee. Notice Kindergarten registration ends in 32 hours. Have panic attack. Attempt to un-teach future scholar new curse words. Anticipate curse words to surface again only during Kindergarten readiness assessment.

7:38 a.m.
Use smartphone to Google and locate school registration forms. Realize forms must be printed out and completed by hand. All 15 pages. Because 1952 was an especially efficient year for office personnel.

8:06 a.m.
Find list of additional required documentation. Call to confirm that we are applying for public school entrance, not entrance into the US of A.

8:08 a.m.
Call pediatrician’s office to get copy of immunization records. Enter the dreaded first-hour-of-the-morning-everyone-call-the-ped muzak. (Thanks, Flu ’17. You can go now.)

8:13 a.m.
Attempt to find car keys. Fail. Message husband re: meeting to exchange. Decide it will be first and last time I ever use the phrase, “Meet me in the alley.”

8:37 a.m.
Connect with a human being in pediatrician’s office. Request immunization records, this afternoon if possible. Am asked why I wasn’t aware of Kindergarten registration before today. Commence internal screaming.

12:05 p.m.
Begin completing paperwork. (Side note: Explain to me why we’re eliminating handwriting from the school curriculum when all of its paperwork still has to be done by hand. Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think? #earworm #yourewelcome) Learn that falsifying your address on Kindergarten registration paperwork is a first degree misdemeanor. Finally understand where our justice system jumped the shark.

12:07 p.m.
Student Cell Phone: ___________________ Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha no.

12:08 p.m.
Dude. Daytime phone and cell phone are the same thing. But you would know that if you lived in a universe called 2017. Also? 47% of U.S. households don’t have landlines. So please stop asking for my home phone like you can’t make like Drake and just call me on my cell. #earworm #trackchange #yourestillwelcome It travels with me. That’s why it’s called a mobile phone. Because it’s mobile.

12:10 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 15: Does your child recognize some letters of the alphabet (first name)? … Seriously? That’s our highest expectation of Kindergartners? That sometime in the last 1,825+ days they managed to learn 15% of the alphabet??? Sweet mercy.

12:11 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 18: Does your child hold a book correctly? … I can’t even.

12:12 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 25: Does your child sort objects by attribute (color, size, or shape)? … Damn straight he does. He eats his M&M’s by color the way the universe intended. Want him to show you how to work the labelmaker? #TypeAalltheway #likemotherlikeson

12:13 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 26: Does your child show understanding of general times of day? … Yes, except for: on Christmas Day, on any day when mom is running 21 minutes behind, or every.single.Saturday morning.

12:15 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 35: Name three things you would like your child to be able to do in one year. …
1. Recite the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America (while copies are still available).
2. Participate in clinical trials for medicine that causes five-year-olds to sleep past 6 in the a.m.
3. Successfully place socks inside laundry hamper without them being balled up.

12:15 p.m.
Parent Input Form, Question 37: Right now I am most concerned about: …
1. Your lack of a comma after “now.”
2. The carpal tunnel in my right hand from filling out 15 pages of repetitive paperwork.
3. Where I’m going to keep the magical leprechaun I’ll need to hire to watch my child during the 1,780 business hours he won’t be at school but the rest of the world still needs me to produce stuff. (Note to self: Ensure leprechaun can teach handwriting.) (Side note: Half-day-only Kindergarten, we in a fight.)

3:26 p.m.
Pick up immunization records on way to work meeting because everyone totes has nothing else to do between the weekday hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. SO WE SHOULD ALL OPERATE UNDER THE EXACT SAME WORKING HOURS SO NOTHING GETS ACCOMPLISHED. Suggest the penalty for picking up a virus in order to complete Kindergarten registration also be a first degree misdemeanor. Spray all the things with hand sanitizer. (Really, Flu ’17. We’re done with you.)

3:36 p.m.
Stop at house. Apologize to confused dog for interrupting Nap #29347. Locate all documents needed for applying for green card Kindergarten. Can’t remember passcode to husband’s super-secure-spy-level-Army briefcase. Throw entire briefcase into trunk.

5:15 p.m.
Pick up children from preschool. Explain impending adventure as “Visiting The Place That Hasn’t Heard About Google Forms Yet.” Ask Siri to tell five-year-old what “bureaucracy” means.

5:43 p.m.
Turn in forms. Intend to take obligatory picture with building sign but forget. Ask Yelp to find closest family-friendly establishment with wine on draft. Ignore husband when he says that’s not a thing.

5:54 p.m.
Call preschool and ask about permanent enrollment. PTA not scary there. Computers from this century there. Complex childcare system not needed for before school/after school/we’re-closed-because-theres-a-snowstorm-in-Kansas days there. DON’T LEEEEEEAVE USSSSSS.

6:12 p.m.
Ask five-year-old if he has any questions. Confirm that, yes, he may get a Minion lunchbox and, no, he will not be driving himself to school. Yet.

Sob. Sob sob sob sob sob.

The End.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

  
What I’ve accomplished the past three months:

Enjoyed the holidays with my family 

Started a new (fast-paced, demanding, but exceptionally rewarding) job

Survived the baby’s first winter in daycare with only three trips to urgent care and two pediatrician appointments

Established a freelance editing business (find me on Fiverr: aestarr)

Coordinated a full-office move for my favorite volunteer organization

What I haven’t done:

Sleep

Tackle house projects

Blog

So, I’m taking some time to get the first list in order, then I’ll be back! Enjoy the archives & find me on Instagram (@sensibleaudrey) in the meantime 🙂

Always thankful

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Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Since it goes without saying that I’m thankful for a family that loves me (neuroses and all), the world’s greatest children (if not the world’s greatest sleepers), a warm house that welcomes both (vintage-home wear and tear included), and so on, I thought I’d list a few of the smaller luxuries I’m grateful for this year.

White noise apps. If I ever meet the genius who designed this sweet, sweet blessing, I’m buying them a lifetime supply of coffee. I’m pretty sure 85% of the sleep I’ve managed to convince Starr Baby 2 to take so far in his young life has been due to the lull of heavy rain/sprinkler/chimes/fan noise in the background via someone’s iPhone. Life. Saver.

Plentiful amounts of good coffee. Despite item number one, we have not been blessed with a strong sleeper as of yet (I’m hopeful he’ll get there in time — his older brother has been a fabulous sleeper since about 12 months), and thanks to some updated research noting that breastfeeding mothers can, in fact, indulge in a cup of coffee a day no harm done, I’ve taken advantage of this delicious elixir to power my days. Thank you, good people of Starbucks/Panera/McDonald’s/Keurig for giving this mama some early-morning sanity.

My Kindle. I’ve managed to read close to a dozen books since my maternity leave started, thanks to the flexibility of holding a Kindle with one hand while nursing or seeing my iPhone screen in a darkened nursery or flipping through virtual pages on my iPad on my lunch break. While I’m still a fan of the feel and design of hard-copy books, there’s no way I’d be able to get through them in this stage of life; having an electronic repository that follows me wherever I am, and is easy to hold and navigate through, makes a world of difference.

TV on demand. I’m not a huge follower of the latest TV, but for the shows I do watch, I’m on a small children schedule, not a TGIF lineup one these days. Having the ability to dial in to the show I want, when I want (even if that’s not until 10 p.m., and requires three pauses to replace a pacifier/change a diaper/rock back to sleep), helps make me feel like a semi-relevant adult.

Preschooler conversations. Oh, how much fun this stage is! The mind of a preschooler can be frustrating, but mostly it’s hilarious. I’m one more funny convo away from installing a Cash Cab-style dashcam in our car to record the backseat musings of Starr Baby 1. “Did you get to have Thanksgiving lunch in a special conference room today?” “Yes, mommy.” “What was the most exciting part?” [My expectation: Getting a special outing, eating a turkey dinner, seeing me in the middle of the day, going on an elevator…] “We saw a HOLE!” [Instead: Referring to road construction on the way to the event.]

May your holiday be filled with too much food, too many blessings and plenty of time to enjoy both.

BIG Birthday Bash: An Elephants On Parade Party

Annnnnd I’m back! With something worthwhile to show for my blogging absence (aside from having a house that’s messy but still standing and a family that’s busy but still happy). Last week, I hosted a birthday party for our oldest, who is now a big four-year-old. In honor of his love of elephants — and his bonafide BIG-boy status — we held Owen’s Big Birthday Bash: Elephants on Parade.

It was a BIG hit. (He. He.)

DECORATIONS

I found so many baby shower or first birthday elephant party themes online, but nothing for older birthdays, so a lot of what I invented was a new frontier. The party’s color scheme was navy, light blue, light gray and white, with chevron and large polka dot accents.

I found a fabulous graphic design shop on Etsy, Paper Clever Party, to custom design the invitations, which I wrote the wording for:

Our BIG boy is turning 4
Wait ‘til you see what we’ve got in store!
Please join us for a TON of birthday fun
[Party time/date/location]
This party will be HUGE So don’t be a Scrooge
[RSVP details]

They also created matching water bottle wraps, favor tags, buffet cards and thank you notes. I was also able to use the polka-dot invitation backing as the background for station signage I created myself in PhotoShop (see Tolsby frames, below).

The tables received navy blue tablecloths with a gray-and-white chevron runner, which I made in about 15 minutes using fabric from JoAnn’s that I used peel-and-stick hem tape on. You could certainly get all formal and fancy and sew them, but I don’t have that kind of time these days. On the main table, I used a light-blue-and-white-polka-dot runner for variety. Full disclosure: I didn’t even hem that one. I just folded it over. #sorrynotsorry #keepingitreal

I found navy and gray paper pinwheels from Dress My Cupcake on flash deal site Pick Your Plum (note: They were super cute and easy to assemble, but the adhesive they were manufactured with didn’t stick at all, so I ended up using hot glue to keep the pinwheels fanned out.) I hung them with clear fishing wire over a plain blue twin-sized flat sheet from Walmart, which was attached near the ceiling with heavy-duty Command hooks. In a perfect world — or at least one where I am sleeping more than 3 hours per stretch every night — I would have ironed it, too.

I chose two of my favorite Owen pictures from the past year, edited them to black and white, and had them printed at 16×20” via Shutterfly, using several promo codes and $20 off coupons I’d saved up, so they were only about $5 shipped. I used spray adhesive to mount them on thin white foam board, and also hung them using clear fishing wire. The white elephant in the middle is freehand cut from plain poster board, and in retrospect I would have made it bigger and/or added a circle around it. Ah well. We threw some DIY helium balloon bunches on the side as well.

For centerpieces, I made DIY elephant topiaries after seeing something similar on Etsy by way of Pinterest. I bought the gray poms from PomVillage on Etsy and cut out the ears/trunk from a paper plate elephant craft template I found in a Google search HERE. The eyes are stick-on google eyes I found at Michael’s. I hot glued everything together, then hot-glued it to a wooden dowel rod I spray-painted gray. (I bought two of them at Lowe’s and cut them to size.) The whole shebang is stuck through a styroforam half-ball that’s sitting in a small terra cotta pot (also from Lowe’s), both of which were painted like the dowel. I found the most adorable paper mache elephants at JoAnn’s and spray painted them gray and light blue for both the main table and one of the side tables.

I used the ever-popular (for a reason) white Tolsby frames from IKEA to display station signs. Overused? Maybe, but I still love, love the clean look and ease of use (and re-use).

I got the guest of honor’s T-shirt from Doodlebug Embroidery on Etsy, and was able to customize the elephant’s fabric to match the party’s chevron scheme.

FOOD

We kept the fare simple since we were feeding a crowd of out-of-town visitors (and have I mentioned the not sleeping thing?) Lunch was a DIY sandwich bar, complete with an elephant-shaped sandwich cutter and juice boxes disguised as elephants (based on a Pinterest find). The dinner lineup included Jumbo Ravioli Bake (Three bags frozen ravioli, covered in two jars sauce and baked for about an hour at 375 degrees; I added Italian seasoning, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves on top and broiled for 5 minutes on a friend’s recommendation. We’re still enjoying the leftovers!), Gigantic Family Salad and “Elephant Ear” Bread.

I ordered sugar cutout cookies from my favorite local baker in the shape of elephants and number 4 in the same colors as the invites, and an 8” double-layer cake also based on the invite design. Both lasted a day or two after the party, which pleased the birthday boy to no end. Bottled water with custom elephant wraps completed the menu; we also created a signature cocktail, Pachyderm Punch, that consisted of cranberry Sierra Mist and vodka, for the really big kids :).

ACTIVITIES

The crafts and games were my favorite part of this party. I found printable elephant coloring pages by searching Google, and even found create-your-own-story pages featuring Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie characters. I got some elephant-shaped crayons from Diddy Colours on Etsy, too.

There was a make-your-own elephant mask station, and a Pose with a Pachyderm photo booth where partygoers could snap a selfie with an elephant. The prop lineup included famous pachyderms like Babar, Horton, Willems’ Elephant (and Piggie), Jumbo, the elephant from Jerry Smath’s But No Elephants, and Dumbo.

I also made a few quote cards featuring sayings from those books/movies, as well as some hashtags, because it’s 2015, my friends. We had story time with books featuring these characters as well.

Owen opened his gifts by playing a version of the White Elephant Exchange game, where I assigned each gift grouping a number on an elephant sticker and let him choose which number he wanted to open first, and so on.

The most popular game, though, was my Elephant in the Room scavenger hunt. My dear husband crafted nearly a dozen colorful origami elephants (using THIS YouTube video tutorial), which we then hid Easter-egg style around the house. It was such a hit that we’re (a) still playing it nightly, and (b) have already given it some twists, like find-the-elephant-in-the-dark-using-just-a-flashlight. I made hunt checklists (download mine HERE; or, just Google elephant silhouettes and drop into a Word doc), where you could either color in the elephants you’re hunting in advance and check them off as you find them, or have kids take crayons with them and color them in themselves as they locate elephants. Last, we played a couple rounds of Memory, playing off an elephant’s impeccable one.

The final touches were mini notepad favors — which I found in white and gray in the dollar section of Michael’s and packaged in cello bags with gray chevron ribbon — because “an elephant never forgets,” and a new Elephant and Piggie book — I Am Invited to a Party! — for guests to sign with a birthday message.

I have a feeling there will be elephant detritus around my house through the holidays — there will certainly be party toys strewn across my floor long past then — but I have one happy four-year-old. With a new baby in the house, it was about time he had a day (ahem, weekend) all to himself.

Even if the baby did try and steal the show with a “Mommy’s Little Peanut” shirt :). (The elephant jokes…they just keep coming.)

You can also check out this party on Catch My Party!

Little lamb nursery reveal

[This room was featured on Honey We’re Home as part of the HWH Loves Bloggers summer room series. Check out some of the other amazing nurseries HERE!]

What happens when you mix one part back-to-work-post-maternity-leave with two parts up-three-times-a-night-nursing-schedule and three parts work-crazytown-thanks-to-major-events-and-coworkers-with-personal-turmoil? A blog that doesn’t get updated, that’s what.

But one thing that did receive a major update this year was our nursery for Mr. Emmett, transforming it from a makeshift toddler room that we never decorated into a sweet, serene space for all things baby boy. Save for one small cross-stitch sheep that I have yet to finish and hang, the room has been complete since shortly after he arrived. Which is more than I can say for his baby book. Or photo albums. Or my mom’s one-line-a-day journal.

But we all remembered to brush our teeth this morning, so there’s that. #winning

The before:

And, here are the “after” highlights:

I wanted a classic baby-blue and white color scheme and fell in love with Restoration Hardware’s sheep line; the bedding and upper wall color (Cloud Blue) are from it. The sentimental side of me loves that both boys had RH Baby & Child-themed nurseries (check out Owen’s chocolate-and-sage nursery HERE). I don’t know if they do this every year, but RH had a big blowout sale right around New Year’s that I took advantage of.

The crib and changing table are holdovers from Owen’s nursery (Taylor line by Baby Cache) and have both held up very well. There are a few nicks — and a small rust-colored scratch that I suspect was caused by Woody from Toy Story dive-bombing off the mattress — that could easily be filled in with a paint pen. Or, I can just call it vintage-y and move on. The knit pillow (with sheep buttons — squeal!) was made by my awesome mama. She also made the knit baby blanket you can see on the ottoman. (Sorry, she’s mine.) The plush sheep is from Pottery Barn Kids.

The monogram canvas was an easy peasy DIY project, which I can totally vouch for since I project-managed it and the hubs actually executed because he was afraid of paint fumes around the pregnant lady. I bought the largest canvas available at Hobby Lobby (20×30″ or something like that) and a 14″ unfinished wooden monogram from The Letter Shack on Etsy. The hubs did some sort of math voodoo that made my head hurt and figured out where to tape off the stripes with painter’s tape, then painted them in. We used Restoration Hardware’s Toast, which I got in a sample can for less than $3 during that New Year’s sale. The monogram was painted RH’s Cloud Blue, then attached to the canvas studs using small nails and a nail gun (we painted over the tiny holes one more time). Some wire on the back for hanging and it was done. Definitely my favorite part of the room!

I was a fan of how I laid out Owen’s changing table from a functional standpoint so I recreated it, spray painting the Sara Bear diaper caddy Krylon’s Almond and swapping out his chocolate-brown changing pad covers for light blue ones. I’m a big fan of Carter’s minky dot covers, and found several of them this time around on eBay. The curtain rod is from Martha Stewart’s line for Home Depot, and the curtains are Lenda from IKEA. I also have Matlida IKEA panels that I meant to put up, but bought a single instead of double curtain rod by mistake. I also found THESE stick-on blackout panels to help with lighting (or lack thereof) during the day.

The rocker is Stork Craft Tuscany’s glider with ottoman, an upgrade gift from the hand-me-down glider we had for Owen that was fully functional but a bit tight in width, making it uncomfortable the older he got, especially during feedings. This glider is wider and taller in back (hello, middle-of-the-night dozing) and has covered arms, which I love. The pockets on either side of the arms are super handy, and the cushions haven’t lost their shape at all. I loved the look of upholstered rockers, but when we test-drove them I hated how stiffly they moved and preferred the swinging motion of the gliders.

The lumbar pillow is also from RH Baby & Child’s sheep line and is both cute and functional as a mini-Boppy pillow (which came in handy with a baby who only wanted to be held for naps all summer). I took advantage of a Shutterfly free-poster sale in May and had one of Emmett’s hospital newborn photos enlarged to 16×20″ — the frame was on sale at Michael’s. (True story: I ordered this print during a 3 a.m. feeding from the Shutterfly iPhone app. Seriously, I would have accomplished nothing outside of keeping us all alive this summer had it not been for the good folks at Apple.)

The Threshold Carson bookshelf I found during a furniture sale at Target. Some of its styling pieces:

• The lace runner was given to me by my grandmother;
• The picture frames are Hobby Lobby;
• I used washable light-blue stamp ink to make the footprint/handprint on white cardstock, cut to size;

• The clock I found in an antique store and spray-painted Krylon’s Almond;
• The lamp I found at a thrift store years ago and then added a clearance $5 lampshade;
• The candle pedestal was picked up at Target several years ago;
• The travel sleep sheep was a shower gift before Owen was born;

• The matching chicken-wire baskets I found at JoAnn’s;
• The round picture frame holding baby socks was from my stash and also got the Almond paint treatment;
• The name plaque is just an unfinished wooden plaque from JoAnn’s, painted RH Cloud Blue with cork letters (also from JoAnn’s) glued on;
• And the shelf curtains are made from drop-cloth remnants (ahem) and held up by mini tension rods.

Above the bookshelf is a basic peg shelf found on Amazon and a sheep garland I found on Etsy at The Path Less Traveled.

The Willow Tree figurine was a Mother’s Day gift, and the silver frame was in my little sister’s nursery and then handed down.

The sheep cross-stitch is Count Your Blessings by Country Cottage Needleworks; framing by Michael’s. The baby brush was mine, and I found the silver cup on eBay.

I made the vinyl “The Help” quote using my Silhouette (I think the design was $1 or so) to go above my framed christening gown — find the how-to details HERE. Definitely my second-fave part of the room (other than the baby, natch).

The bottom half of the wall and the doors/window trim were a basic Sherwin Williams white, which we had a painting company come in and do for us. The hubs added the chair rail himself after they finished.

Last but not least, I had to hang up this door sign my grandma made for me. I like to think it has magical grandma-induced powers to encourage sleepy babies :).

New baby, new room — and one more step forward in our ever-evolving quest to make this house a home. That’s enough of an update for me, for now.

{Photo by Kristin Jent Photography}

Check out my other room re-dos:

Turquoise & fuschia laundry

Turquoise & fuschia home office

Shabby chic foyer

Craftsman-inspired chocolate-and-sage nursery