32 Weeks and The Crib

Well, look... blogging two days in a row now! This must be a new record for me. Please don't expect this in the future.

Today marks 32 weeks of pregnancy for me and our little Peanut. I'm still feeling great, although it's getting increasingly hard to bend down and pick things up, get out of bed, put on my tights in the morning, pick up Killian, etc. The anticipation of meeting our little guy is just growing, as it's almost every day (it seems) we're adding something to his nursery! Bobby has been such a great sport, and while he contains his excitement pretty well, I can tell he's just as anxious as I am. I think he's secretly picked out all the Oriole's games he wants to take the baby to this summer.

With each kick and nudge in my belly, the due date grows a little closer, making birth more inevitable. I guess it was from the beginning, but still... I've enjoyed every second of this pregnancy, and I just wish I had more time to relax and sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time. While I feel like I've been pregnant forever, I also feel like I have no time to get done what I need to.

Anyway, 32 weeks and going strong. Peanut is a healthy, little kicker, and everything is right on schedule. Praise the Lord.

Today, Bobby and I came home from work to find a giant box blocking our front door. YAY! We both knew exactly what it was: our crib! Thanks to my awesome parents for such a wonderful thing...and a reality check that we are actually having a baby. Yikes. With no hesitation, we hauled (and by we, I mean Bobby) the box upstairs and got to unpacking. The crib was SO simple to put together, Bobby did it in about 30 minutes. It's rather sturdy, too. We picked the Olivia Crib from Walmart (yes, Walmart) because it was made of solid wood, and low-VOC's...important for toddlers who chew on furniture. It also had some great ratings and a good price for the style of crib we wanted. It sits low to the ground, and has fixed sides. It also turns into a toddler bed when that time comes - lots of great features for the price. It fits perfectly in our little nursery, and I just love how the little birds are flying around the crib. I'm going to call it our little songbird cage from now on...since, you know, it sorta looks like a cage.

What do you think?? Next up: to sew a crib bumper and crib skirt. I'll be doing a little tutorial with some guidance from THIS awesome blog.

Bobby is going to kill me for putting this picture up. That's what he gets for never looking at the camera and me forcing him to do so.

30 minutes later....

To The Wall

I keep having this dream. I'm 32 weeks pregnant (just about) and the baby comes... THIS WEEK! Waking up suddenly in a cold sweat is not an easy task when pregnant. I can no longer get out of bed gracefully. I walk past the nursery every morning on my way downstairs, only to have it haunt me.

Thankfully, we're trusting in the Lord that His timing is the best, and He will take care of us no matter what happens or when our little Peanut arrives. My fears are set at ease.

So, this past weekend we kept putting things together - cleaning, organizing, etc - in our little man's nursery. In a frantic fit of "oh-my-goodness-I-have-nothing-ready-for-this-baby," I even went and bought some new pajamas and a robe to wear in the hospital...and a few little outfits in Newborn size for the Peanut to wear. I even began packing the hospital bag. Just in case. You may call it neurotic, but I call it nesting on high gear. So there. Ha.

Our latest project was a big milestone in my vision for the nursery. I had been eyeing a particular wallpaper ("Woods" by Cole&Son), but I know Bobby would never go for it...and my mother would probably never speak to me again ("Do you know how much WORK wallpaper is to take down?!"). In going with our "look" of Woodsy Forest, I had to find something similar.

I scoured Etsy forever, trying to find something that wasn't overtly "baby." The cartoony stuff just isn't what I've had in mind for this nursery. So I had to find something a little more realistic and modern. I came across a wall decal that I LOVED from an Etsy seller (it can be found HERE), so we bought it, stared at it for a few weeks, then decided to put it up. Today.

We were a little intimidated at first, but it turned out to be pretty easy. Since they aren't supposed to look perfect, it made the job a whole lot easier...for Bobby. For those of you interested how decals work, here's a little tutorial for you.

First, each part is labeled, and each tree was cut up into sections. I cut out each section and kept the pieces with each respective tree. I cut out the "free" pieces (birds, extra leaves, squirrels, etc) and left those for last.

The decals are cut out of vinyl, and sandwiched between contact paper and contact paper backing. The vinyl is sticky on one side so it stays on the walls, but still peels off without taking the whole wall with it. We started at the top and just worked our way down. Bobby was very meticulous about making sure each piece lined up exactly so there were no gaps.

Once the decal was on the wall, the kit included a "squeegee," in which you smooth out the decal and apply it firmly to the wall. You would get rid of any air bubbles this way. After smoothing out the decal, just peel off the contact paper and voila! The decal is on the wall.

We had no problem with the decals peeling off. We also had no problem moving the decal once it was on the wall. If you do need to move it, they recommend using a Blow Dryer to heat up the decal and reapply it. I would not recommend doing this more than once though, as it will lose it's stickiness the more you mess with it.

Once all the trees were on, we then placed the loose leaves, birds and squirrels. I love how they are flying around randomly, and how all the birds are different... more natural. You could order the decal in any number of color combinations, but we chose white and brown to go with our nursery colors. I love the contrast!

And... the finished product! Overall, it took us about an hour and a half from start to finish. WAY easier than wall paper, and in the end, you get a similar effect! The crib will be on this wall, so Peanut can spend his waking hours staring at the birds and falling leaves!

What do you think?

My Valentine

We woke up at 8:27am. Late. But it was Saturday, so it didn't matter. It was the first weekend in almost 6 months that I had a break from photography jobs and I was determined to spend the entire day with Bobby doing not much of anything.

I rolled out of bed - my moves are not so graceful these days as my belly grows - and opened the blinds in our bedroom. Delicious sunlight. Once Bobby was up, we both moseyed downstairs and headed towards the cereal. I hadn't gone grocery shopping lately, so we were limited on breakfast selections. Cereal has been my go-to food since I've been pregnant. We quietly turned on the TV and sat on the couch. Four hours passed and we hadn't moved. It was glorious. I couldn't remember the last time we did that.

I can just hear all the Mom's now... "just wait until that baby comes!"

And let me tell you, Mom's... I'm enjoying every second of alone time before baby comes. Over the past few months since I've been pregnant, I've reveled in every opportunity of silence, peace and alone time with Bobby. I won't take it for granted.

But let me just tell you. I cannot wait for our little dude to get here. He's our little Valentine this year, and I couldn't be happier.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Little Love

A few of my favorite things for Valentine's Day:

Ranunculus Bouquet: Good Luck. Anything other than Roses or Carnations, please.

A dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (and don't worry... they ship): $29 + Shipping

Tiffany Key Necklace: $200

Silver Bracelet by Elephantine: $30

Nesting & 30 Weeks

This post serves to document all the ways in which I am nesting.

I should be editing. But instead I'm nesting.

In the past 2 weeks, Bobby and I have completed the following:

- Refinished a set of dressers to go in the baby's room

- Installed and connected recessed lighting in the basement

- Finished (with the exception of one little part) the framing in the basement

- Powered through 2 boxes of cereal and 3 gallons of milk

- Painted our master bedroom

- Hung all the art taken down from our little week-before-Christmas incident (which I did NOT blog about...more later)

- Hung gallery wall of canvases in my office

- Culled and Edited 3 weddings

- Ate 4 Frozen Pizzas

- Changed around our Baby Registry 3 times

- Swiffered the hardwood floors twice

- Called my Mom 5 times

- Compiled an inspiration collage for upstairs bathroom

- Restored wireless internet in our house after a touch-and-go 3 hours without internet

- Woke up a record of 3 times during the night to go to the bathroom (ok, this was just me)

- Painted my fingernails because I can no longer reach my toenails. I need a pedicure. I've never had naked toes in my life

- Ran 12 loads of laundry

It's been an eventful 2 weeks, to say the least! I can safely say that nesting is in full gear right now, and there's still more to be done.

Today, I've "officially" hit 30 weeks of pregnancy. Our sweet boy is kicking tons and successfully restricting airflow to my lungs. I love every minute of being pregnant and thankfully, I still feel fantastic. I may want to go to bed at 6:29 every night, but still... feeling great!

Bobby has been the most wonderful husband and hasn't complained once about any of my strange requests. Some nights, he also only gets fed cereal for dinner. He's started doing P90X again in the basement before it's all finished, and I can tell how much better he feels. I wish I could do it with him, but after baby, he tells me it's "Go Time." Yikes!

No new symptoms and I've been receiving very good reports at the Doctor. I start appointments every other week now, until I reach 36 weeks, when I'll have to go every week. We also start birthing classes this week, which I'm looking forward to. Bobby and I have committed to the Bradley Method of childbirth (basically a drug-free and husband-coached birth) and I cannot be more excited! My sister, Christina (who is about 21 weeks) is also taking the classes. It will be fun to learn everything together. Only thing that's changed as of late is my sleeping. I have been waking up several times a night to use the bathroom, and wake up feeling completely drained and not rested at all. I suppose this is preparing me for something...

Since Bobby isn't around to take my 30 week picture, I had to rely on my self-timer to get my own picture this week. I'm starting to realize that my house has terrible lighting. Hmm... Also, there are a few pictures of some changes to the house, which you may not have seen, and some awesome Etsy finds I just had to share with you!

Tick-tock...tick-tock.

Yup. Feelin' huge.

Baby's room! My cherished wood slices now hanging on the wall. That dresser will be moved into the closet and there will be a bookshelf there instead. The most adorable Owl lamp will be going on top!

Here's the dresser/changing table. There will eventually be a gallery of different prints above it, but I'm still collecting things from Etsy and different places. The dresser set was passed down to Bobby and I and they fabulously 70's, so we gave them a fresh coat of paint and new hardware. They will make the otherwise, neutral and natural room feel a little more edgy and modern!

In the nursery again... our little bassinet. The crib and bookshelf are the last big pieces left to get to go in here!

Can I just say this: I am so glad this project is done. This has been looming over our heads for over a year now and it's finally finished! I got the idea from THIS hotel. They have a similar plate wall, although a bit more random. My OCD couldn't handle the randomness, so ours is a little more symmetric. It makes me so happy to have this up... it's my favorite thing in the house!

After our little week-before-Christmas incident I mentioned earlier, we had to have the downstairs re-painted. It was a great opportunity to tweak the colors a bit. Most everything else is the same, but we deep-sixed the "Cornflower Blue" we had in the dining room. The top part now dons a chic Navy Blue, which looks way better with the rest of the house. I will be re-covering our dining room chairs a fun shade of yellow in the next few weeks for a little Pop of color in there. But wait... did you notice that on the wall there? Let's look a little closer.

My sweet friend, Lindsay, from high school is a fabulous artist and now lives in Hawaii! She recently opened up a shop on Etsy and is selling her art. She was kind enough to do a custom piece for me based on my color choices/descriptions, etc. As soon as we hung it, Bobby and I stood back and said simultaneously, "I love it." It's so cool and funky... we just love it! I love that it's also one of the first things you see when you come in our front door! Linds, you are incredibly talented. If you are looking for cute and modern canvases for your house, a nursery, a children's room, or anything... Lindsay is your girl (HERE is her awesome blog). She'a also painting two more smaller canvases that we're going to hang in the baby's room. I can't wait to get them!

I found these awesome International Boat Code Flag prints on Etsy. I love the meanings for the flags and how they can relate to marriage. My favorite: "Stop Carrying Out Your Intentions and Watch for My Signals." Frames are from Target.

Ok, that's all for now... I'm off to watch Glee and then fall asleep early. Carrying around this huge belly all day is really exhausting!

Baby Clothes Woes

Someone help. The Boden Mini catalog showed up at my house yesterday, and I - without hesitation - ripped this page from the catalog, ran up to Bobby and said "I MUST have this outfit for our son." He proceeded to roll his eyes and continue his P90X routine. All-Star Jumps. *Shudder*

Anyway, as soon as I saw this picture, all my fears about boy clothes went away.

Explanation of fears: I was in Kohl's the other day, which I never visit (they are the only place that sells maternity leggings with a full panel for not a lot of cost), and happened to walk past the children's section. It's size was rather impressive, but I was noticing that there was about 500% more girls clothes than boys clothes. And the boys clothes? Horrific. Well... not my style. They had things written all over the clothes like "Daddy's little Champ" or "Chick Magnet" or other (in my opinion) rather tacky sayings. I prefer my clothes mostly without words. Anyway, out of the whole section, which consumed about one whole side of the store, I picked out a 2-set of onesie pajamas. One white and one blue, with little, modern elephant silhouhettes on them. Ugh. Disappointing.

So, I was rather encouraged to receive this Boden Mini catalog in the mail, where I LOVED almost all of the clothes - right up my alley. Even the graphic T's were cute and (for the most part) did not contain silly sayings.

Anyway, I've had a lot of luck on Gap Baby and Old Navy Baby clothes for the same reasons. I've also seen a TON of cute things for baby boys at Marshalls/TJ Maxx - think Ralph Lauren or Polo for baby. Classic preppy. Stripes. Polo shirts. Primary Colors. Adorable. These stores will have to keep me busy until our little boy can fit into CrewCuts at size 2T :)

Now, if only Boden's prices would go down eeevvvverrrr so slightly. This outfit (which I'm determined to stalk until it goes on sale) runs about $60. I can just see out little Peanut running around on the beach in this little outfit. Shaggy, brown hair with curls and all... his mama close behind him with a camera!

If Only...

...If only Bobby would let me cover the walls in Grasscloth Wallpaper, our child's nursery would look a little like the picture above. (SOURCE)