Nursery Room Decisions

Who knew that designing a nursery room could be so difficult?! The process is definitely fun but at times can also be overwhelming because of all of the possibilities and/or barriers. We're working within a very limited space that has no closet so we have to be smart with our furniture, choosing pieces that give us the most storage capacity within a minimal size while also being budget conscience. My goal is to design a soothing and comfortable room for the baby without sacrificing our own personal style.

But what kind of furniture would work best? What color of furniture should we go with? What will we like for years to come and not regret before baby number two gets here? What will Max not kill me for buying and subjecting his unborn child to living in for the next year or two?

Initially I wanted a "chocolate mist" crib, a deep brown tone that was absolutely gorgeous. I do still love it but finding coordinating furniture that doesnt cost two months salary is proving to be hard to come by. I altered my thoughts to cubbies, in lieu of regular dressers, but those too are limited. I was about to throw up my hands and vow to live out of Rubbermaid containers.

Then, the heavens opened and angles started to sing as I recalled some furniture pieces I had admired at Hobby Lobby for quite some time. If my memory served me correctly, and in my current stage of pregnancy induced absent-mindedness I couldnt be too sure, the pieces were distressed white bases with solid tops. Not chocolate tops but perhaps I could modify my crib choice. Thoughts of this furniture had been swirling in my head for the past several days, enticing me to go take a look. So tonight, after dinner, that's what I did. And oh how I love it when a plan comes together! I think these pieces are "the ones"! Now I just have to figure out which finish and particular pieces will work best in the room.



Even though I still have to decide on which particular pieces to get, I am at least a little bit relieved to know that we have some viable options...and they're just down the street!

Wake Up!

My cat has a terrible habit of purposely tipping over glasses of water that sit on the nightstand next to the bed. She does it for one of three reasons: she's thirsty and needs a drink, she wants you to get up and either feed her or let her outside, or, because she's in a mischievous mood. Sometimes, its all three. Just this morning, in fact, she tipped over a glass of water at 5:00 am...causing me to sit wide awake for 40+ minutes before I was forced to go downstairs for a cupcake and a glass of milk. What? The baby needs calcium...

Maybe you need to be a crazy cat lady like myself to appreciate this, but I found it hysterically true.

Nursery In Progress

We've officially started the nursery! And by "we" I mean, I tell Max what to do and he does all the work! He doesnt let me lift anything heavy or be around any paint fumes. What's a girl to do?

The nursery is right beside our bedroom, Im still undecided as to if that's a good thing or not. When I want to check on the sleeping baby 24 times in a 15 minute time span, it'll be good. When its screaming its head off at 3:36 am, Im not so sure.

The room technically isnt a bedroom, since it has no closets, and it used to be our office/Mandy's room. Mandy and her couch got booted out a while back and we recently migrated all of the office equipment into the craft room. I cant seem to find a "before" picture of the room, that particular flash drive has been lost in transit, but it was dark and the carpet had seen better days. This pathetic picture of Mandy shows the moss green walls...which prior to that were a hideous cobalt blue color (we know this because previous painters weren't so meticulous). Since we dont know if this baby is a boy or girl, coming up with a nursery theme that wasnt hokey, took some time. An unsuccessful search for neutral bedding resulting in my decision to make the bedding myself... Stop laughing! Even then, the color pallet changed a few times, especially when I ran across this fabric at the quilt shop. So I decided to paint the room (and when I say "I", I mean Max)a robin egg blue. Blue enough to be boyish, but trendy enough to easily transform to girly. The fabric patterns incorporate lots of blues, greens, and pinks, though I'll use the pink patterns sparingly just in case. I dont want this quilt to be the reason for years of therapy in the event we have a boy.

After picking out the perfect shade of blue, which was actually called Kiwi Splash, Max got to work. Primer, first coat, second coat, and a few drips and smudges in between...not that Im keeping track, and Max was done in a matter of days. Then, sometime during all of his mental negotiations, Max had decided that it was necessary to rip up the carpet. *gulp* Que picture demonstration.
The carpet wasnt terrible, but who wants to subject a brand new little baby to dingy, spotty carpet? And dont get me started on the possibilities that lurk within the confines of those threads. Okay, good choice to rip up the carpet!

Max and my brother laid hardwood in our living and dinning rooms last year and I thought we had enough left over to at least get us started in the nursery. That would be a negative. We went to the store to get more of the same stuff, good news, it's on sale! Bad news, it was still going to cost us mucho dinero to get what was needed. So we went from dark cherry hardwood to a very cost effective, blonde laminate. We picked it out, picked it up, and installed it all in one day! Again, using the term "we" loosely. This is several rows into the project but I would like to add that on row TWO, I came in to offer my services. It took me approximately five minutes to screw something up and I was asked to leave. Politely of course. He didnt need my help anyway, he managed to get it all done without me.
And it helps to have furry foreman watching over things. Wshew! That was a lot of work!
At 10:00 pm, it looks pretty darn good! And first thing Sunday morning, it looks darn near heavenly! Once we finish with some quarter-round around the trim work, we can begin filling the nursery with all things baby! The crib that "we've" picked out is called "chocolate mist" or esspresso as I like to refer to it. So I pulled out these old frames Ive had for years, which I intend to use in the nursery, to get an idea how how it would look. The furry feline foreman approves!

So that's the latest in our baby world. All three of us are making progress!

Baby Registries

Greetings! Just a quick post to let you know that we have gift registries available at the following locations:

Babies R Us
http://www.toysrus.com/ControllerServlet?target=viewDetails®istryNumber=99414006

JC Penny
http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/GR2_RegistryList_View.aspx?storeRegNo=00537531&CmCatId=21476|21675

Land of Nod
http://www.landofnod.com/gift-registry/guest/viewRegistry.aspx?grid=4344081

Target
http://www.target.com/registry/baby/1K18YEBZB0MVB

The baby's nursery will be robin egg blue, green, and pink with espresso colored furniture. We do not know what we're having so the pink will be minimal unless it comes out a girl.

Riding for a Cause

This past weekend, Max and I met up with my brother and his friends in Indy for the 2009 Miracle Ride, a motorcycle rally to benefit Riley Hospital for Children. Seeing that I am 21 weeks pregnant, I realize that hopping on the back of a motorcycle isn’t the wisest choice a mom-to-be can make. But a) it’s the one and only ride I’ll be taking all year long and b) it was for charity!

As if a pregnant chick on a bike isn’t funny enough, I had to wear my maternity capri pants because I don’t have any jeans that fit right now. A total no-no in Max’s biker rule book but I didn’t have a choice. Unfortunately, it was chilly that morning, like 60 degrees chilly, so Max made me wear his tall black sports socks with my capri pants. I was a sight to behold! They kept me warm for the ride down but I promptly took them off as soon as I could. Luckily, it was an absolutely beautiful day with warm sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect riding weather!

Thousands of bikers participated in this ride, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Riley Children’s Hospital. Whether it is a group of hardcore bikers, or the quilters club of America, it is amazing to see that many people come together for one common cause. A good cause. A very worthy cause.

We were able to ride past Riley Hospital, the true highlight of the day. Several children and their families were waiting for us along the hospital sidewalks, thanking us for our support with waves, smiles, and posters. It was heartbreaking to know that they were sick, but was such a realization as to how much they needed our support. Thousands of bikers from all walks of life, from all areas of the surrounding states, pulled together to help these kids in need. What a moving experience!

Our ride continued on and we headed to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a lap around the track. I have no idea what our top speed was, and I probably don’t want to know, but it felt fast. It was a cool feeling to be on the opposite side of that fence, to see the rubber hit the track as the professionals do. And to see so many bikers in front of and behind us, enjoying the same experience.

Here is a slide show of pictures I took during the event:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So we had a great day with great weather, great company, all for a great cause! But there was one little thing that turned out not so great. That beautiful sun… We all applied our sun screen while waiting in the staging area before taking off, as we know how easily you can get burnt while riding. Except I forgot about the small portion of my legs that were exposed and I failed to apply protection to that area. (Never mind that I have paper white legs that haven’t seen a lick of sunshine yet this year.) By that evening I noticed that they were a little “pinkish”. The next morning I could hardly walk, and by the end of the day, my legs and ankles were swollen. For two days, my ankles were invisible, my toes looked like little sausages, and wearing heels to work quickly proved to be a very bad idea. Tylenol, cold wash cloths, and elevation have certainly helped and things are starting to look a little bit more normal now. Though Im sure to have a freaky tan for quite some time. Lesson learned? Check!

Week 20

What an exciting week of our pregnancy! Beginning around week 18 or so, I began to feel the baby’s movements. I first noticed the little flutters late at night when I was scrunched up at the computer. Apparently Baby needs its space! The next night, like clockwork, I felt it again. As the days progressed, the movement grew a little stronger and more frequent. I never knew when it was going to happen but I anxiously waited for it to tell me it was there. I would be in meetings at work and the flutters would come, making it hard to pay attention! I feel them more regularly now and they are most definitely stronger than before and more noticeable.

Friday was the onset of week 20 and we have already had several momentous occasions. I went shopping and bought my first maternity clothes! My goal was to make it to 20 weeks in my normal clothes and I did…barely. As I was in the fitting room another new mom-to-be was in the room next to me, excitably chatting away with her family about how big she was feeling, bla bla bla. The mother told her, “Get used to it, you have six more months to go!” I thought to myself, she’s only three months along and she’s buying maternity clothes? Wait a minute…Im five months and just now forcing myself into these things… Shortly after that a little toddler lifted the curtain to my fitting room and showed the store just exactly how big I really was at five glorious months!!

Monday night, as I lie in bed, exhausted from a busy holiday weekend, the baby starting moving. The movements were getting strong enough that I was pretty sure they could be felt from the outside of my belly too. I patiently waited and sure enough, it was strong enough to be felt by hand. I called Max in and he lay down, placed his hand on my belly, and waited. I couldn’t help but giggle and when I did, he jumped back, thinking that my belly laugh was the baby! We tried again, and Max was able to feel the baby kick for the first time. I think he was partly astonished, partly freaked out. He could only take a few kicks before resorting back to his cave.

Tuesday morning we had our scheduled ultrasound and check-up appointment. Our first ultrasound at around eight weeks or so, was pretty amazing as we were able to see the first sign of life and hear its thunderous heartbeat. I was excited for our 20 week ultrasound as I knew we should be able to see our first real glimpse of the baby. The instant she plopped that tool on my belly our baby’s image was right before us. Max later said that he couldn’t breathe when he first saw it…he just couldn’t believe it! We were both astonished with the detail that we were able to see, its brain, heart chambers, of course its little fingers and toes. The funniest thing of all was that the little booger’s legs were crossed and stretched clear up over its head! Within the first few moments of the ultrasound, the baby waved at us! It was plain as day, a little wave of the hand to say ‘hey, I’ll see you guys in a few months!’ It later rested its hand on its thigh, then moved it up to its forehead as if to say, ‘gosh, what a day!’ What a little ham!

We didn’t find out the sex of the baby, but it was oh so tempting. Very few things in life can be left as such a surprise, so we’re waiting. Or rather, I told Max we were waiting! But he swears that the technician referred to the baby with male pronouns and he saw…it’s “stuff”. I saw nothing of the sort. Later, with the doctor, she listened to the heart beat and exclaimed “I don’t know, it sounds like a girl…” I guess we’ll all just have to wait until October to see who was right.

Until then though, enjoy the pictures from our 20 week ultrasound.


Notice how Baby's legs reach up to its head!

Im not sure which way is up in this photo but Baby's legs are crossed.

Baby's legs are still up.


Baby's foot!


Baby's mouth is open. Nurse thought it was taking a drink.

So, we think that the baby's big head is from daddy and the chicken legs are from mommy! Poor kid!

Just for kicks

I recall discussions with family and friends about having kids, getting prepared to have kids, when’s the best time to have kids, all sorts of ‘what if’ types of talks. And what I remember from those discussions is one main underlying point; you can never be fully prepared. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of steps that we feel are appropriate to take prior to making such a big commitment, but the truth is, even after you have all those loose ends all tied up, you’re still not totally prepared.

It occurred to me yesterday, as in, really started to resonate, that we will now be responsible for another human being. Fully responsible…for the rest of our lives…there’s no turning back. We don’t get to feed it buckets of sugar and send it back home with its parents after a weekend at Chuck E Cheeses. We cant send it outside when we’re tired of hearing it whine like we do the pets. Well…we could, but that’s probably not a wise choice until its at least 5 years old… What Im getting at is although we waited until we were “ready” to start a family, and although we knew what we were getting into, nothing could really prepare us for the reality of it when it finally hits home.

Same goes for the whole pregnancy experience. Every day I look at my body, part in awe and part…what the heck happened there?! You just cant quite prepare yourself for what you don’t know is physically possible of happening. Prior to being pregnant, I didn’t know that you could feel the baby move at such an early stage. I always assumed it didn’t happen until later, when the baby was much more developed. At 18 weeks people are just now starting to notice that Im pregnant and yet, I felt its first kicks! Now that I know what it is, I anxiously wait for the little flutter that only I can feel at this point. All of the reading about feeling the baby move, all the ways that people have described it, didn’t really prepare me for what I was about to feel. The feeling of joy!