Chug-a-chug-a-chug

Our most recent completed project was not so much a decorating project (although, we did take design into consideration) but building a giant toy for Dmitri. Dmitri is obsessed with trains. Honestly, I was not expecting this to happen until he was a bit older. But ever since we took him to the Barnes and Noble's children's section, he has loved playing with trains and saying "choo choo!" He enjoys reading books about trains, and he especially liked last week's family yoga class, which was appropriately train-themed.

We try to keep Christmas gifts simple and keep the focus on other parts of celebrating the holiday, but we wanted him to have one special present from us: a train set. After hours of researching different sets, I decided on the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wooden Railway Set (which I got for a steal on Amazon- well over 50% off retail which is $129.99). I was more excited than a 33-weeks-pregnant-lady-in-a-cupcake-shop when it arrived (and I would know). I had hoped to set it up while he was sleeping on Christmas Eve. But since we did not arrive home from our crazy-visit-every-family-member-within-driving-distance-that-we-can tour until 1 AM Christmas morning, we ended up waiting till nap time. One of the wonderful things about toddlers: they have little expectations on Christmas- just pure happiness! David and I put together the train set while he was napping, and Dmitri woke up just as excited to see the "choo choo"!

And then, it happened. Dmitri, like Godzilla in Hong Kong wiped out the train set. Epic fail on the part of the parents. Of course a 17-month-old will knock over and destroy the carefully assembled track! Little did I think about the fact that the Barnes and Noble track was industrial screwed and Gorilla-glued to a table. In fear of losing the pieces, I packed up the train set, majorly bummed.

I researched train tables and ways to secure train tracks, but we did not have the money to spend on an expensive table, nor did I like how cheap most of them looked. So my brilliant husband designed and built his own train table for a fraction of the cost (and I think it's pretty damn-good-looking too!)

Here it is in the BOYS' playroom/nursery: 

But I have to be honest, it was really difficult to get a picture, because there was a lot of this going on:

 
We still have some major re-arranging to do in the nursery, so it won't be as cramped when we are finished. Look forward to several more nursery projects next week. I'm feeling the need to finish it up before baby # 2's due date gets any closer. Ack.