mommy in the midwest: nursery and play space tours

I'm participating in Mama G's Toddle Along Tuesday Blog Hop once again. Today's topic: Your child's room and/or play spaces. Hmm. Disclaimer: No rooms were cleaned in the making of this post. (Maybe I moved a couple things around in Dexter's room, but the tornado that is Theo's room was left as is).

First of all, what part of my house isn't a play space? This post will make it all too evident to everyone else why I have been complaining that WE HAVE GOT TO MOVE. Stat. It was never our intention to raise two babies in this house. But yeah - ya know!

Here we go.

Behold: The area of the living room where all things baby are shoved. The Jumperoo which Dexter refuses to use anymore. The pile of blankets we no longer bother putting on the floor because he crawls right off of them. (Hello, kitty!) The basket of toys that Theo dumps over at every opportunity. The giant red Target bag full of extra fake food for Theo's new (used) kitchen that we literally have nowhere else to hide. The bouncy seat that Dexter uses as a jungle gym.

The aforementioned play kitchen that now plays a starring role in our real kitchen. Theo's little step stool. Hiding behind the step stool, you can see Dexter's booster seat that we will start using ASAP (as soon as he quits leaning forward to take a bite, therefore requiring us to recline his Space Saver High Chair seat). (Oh, hello there, Elmo. Cooking dinner tonight?)

Dexter's room. We're using the old old old telephone cart for the humidifier right now. I'd love to get rid of that dumb thing altogether.

Oh, hey there peanuts!

Little bit better view of Dexter's room. Small clear tote on the floor holds a few toys. Dresser is overflowing with baby clothes, size 6-9 and 6-12 months mostly. Sigh...the baby boy is getting too big! The glider/rocker to the right in this picture has gotten lots of exercise. It has been on loan from my mama for a couple years now and I'll be glad when we can free up the space that it takes in the next few months.

I couldn't resist sharing - Dexter got some rad new shoes for Christmas! I can't wait til these fit.

Another view of the dresser corner. Why, yes. We are still rocking the baby Christmas tree.

Dexter's bed, complete with handmade blankets, Twinkle Twinkle Little Scout, Lamaze Northern Lights Soother, and Kimberly Grant Zoom Zoom Bedding.

Finally, the changing "table." This is a super old, cheap, and junky dresser that I've been using for years because our closets are so small that I have to keep my clothes in a separate room. Well, I gave up the top two drawers for Dexter's burp cloths, receiving blankets, extra wipes, diaper genie refills, etc. The dresser originally was too low for a changing table, so my awesome father-in-law whipped up the nifty platform that the dresser is sitting on to make it the proper height! He's amazing. The small tub on top of the dresser hold diapers, lotion, and ointments. Diaper Genie to the right. Rolling plastic storage thingy to the right of that for blankets, extra diapers, and the like.

See? I told you...he is awesome.

Moving on to Theo's room...

I told you I didn't clean anyone's room for this post. Here's the proof. I do it from time to time, because the fun of playing is apparently the process of dragging everything out, but it proves to be a futile effort if I ever do it for any other reason.

Ahh, yes. The room we actually decorated in great anticipation of our baby boy's arrival. Sorry Dexter, we will hang something on your walls someday. Maybe.

Theo's bed, complete with Pillow Pets, Fisher Price Projector, a couple of Elmos, and Migi Alphabet Bedding.

The dark blue ITSO cubes hold quite a few toys, but not enough obviously.

Theo's changing table could use some re-organizing. We just don't use it for the things we used to use it for (burp cloths, receiving blankets, etc.) so we could probably make better use of the space.

Ah. I just realized I forgot to take a picture of our giant bookshelf, full of baby/kid books. First thing you see when you walk into the living room. Yes, it is time to move. And when we do move, we will have a playroom where so many of these things can be tucked away. Oh, I can't wait for that day.

If you want to know what my "dream play space" looks like, just flip through the pages of a Pottery Barn Kids catalog. Have you ever seen such rooms!?

Here's a taste.