A new TV... for safety reasons, of course

A couple of months back, I became slightly concerned (read: obsessed) with the idea of Ryan pulling a piece of heavy furniture over on himself. A couple of recent news stories, combined with a heart-wrenching story I read on Facebook really got to me, and I began insisting that Mike mount the little guy's dresser to the wall.

I also became concerned about our TV and entertainment center. I actually still really loved them both (the TV was getting up there in age, but still had a great picture). But the TV is one of those big, older, heavy models. Also, the bottom of the entertainment center was damaged years ago in the move across the country, and although we had rigged it back together to make it stable, I don't trust its ability to withstand the yanking of a little Rhino.

Meanwhile, Mike has wanted a flat screen HDTV for quite a while. I have fought it because I have a hard time getting rid of something that works perfectly well. (And those things are pricey!)

Usually when I mention my newest crazy child-safety obsession, Mike is barely able to contain his amusement at what he deems to be an overreaction. (i.e., "We're not going to leave our son in a hot car, Meg... We do not need to buy the baby-sensing alarms for our cars.") Yet, when I mentioned my concern over the TV, he immediately agreed and began researching new TVs. Very curious.

After much shopping and price comparisons, we chose a new, smaller stand and a pretty awesome (bigger) TV that is much lighter and can easily be secured to the wall. Of course, we had to completely tear apart our condo in the process. The old TV and utter destruction:


The new look:


The new TV and stand, along with the new painting we bought (above the couch) has inspired me to do a bit more redecorating in the living room, hence why the walls look a little bare right now. I'm hoping to go shopping this weekend to finish the room off.

And it's kind of hard to see in the picture, so this is what the new stand looks like:See the sacrifices we make for our little guy? ;)