The Big Checklist: Coming Down to the Wire

I think it's time for another checklist post. It seems that every time I make one, I see in writing all of the things left to be done and I really kick it in gear. I've been juggling many different projects the last week or so. I need to just focus my energy on one thing, get that done, and check it off the list. I feel like I have project/house cleaning ADD! I can't focus on one room/area. I bounce (literally I'm sure) around my house from room to room doing a little of this and a little of that every day. Today I spent a good deal of the day ironing and putting elephants on one of the curtain panels. I have about 4-6 more elephants to add to that one and I'm finished with it! Then I'm going to force myself to work on the next till it's finished. THEN that whole project is done and crossed off the list.

Next I'm going to go about cutting my quilting fabric into squares and get going on that. I didn't get the most accurate of measurements because the crib is still not ready of course. But I think it will be close.



Here are the items left to do from my February 6th post. I omitted the things that are 100% finished:

- Cut and hem curtains and add elephants
- Install curtain rod and hang curtains
- Put crib together
- Paint all picture frames, frame art and hang.
- Make crib skirt
- Make crib quilt (contingent on crib measurements once it's set up)
- Make pillows
- Put up shelves (this one might be awhile, I got the wrong brackets at Ikea)

Here is the list of things still to get:

- Crib Mattress pad
- Moby wrap
- Burp Rags
- Wet bags for diapers (Ordered)
- Newborn grooming supplies
- Non-baby looking diaper bag
- Night light

I have a LOT of updates to post tomorrow and in the coming days.

Rabbit (in da) Hat

Since Baby B is going to be born the year of the Rabbit (Chinese Zodiac) I thought I'd crochet him a little bunny hat. I still have to add the bunny face on it. I just hope it's not too small for him. I guess we'll see very soon!



The fabric that it's laying on is for the crib skirt. I really wish I could get that project going!

Curtains Part 2: Adventures in Elephant Application

As you've probably seen in earlier posts, my generous mother-in-law has taken on a lot of my sewing projects for me. She hemmed the curtains for me and I hung them (without the elephants added) and I LOVE how they look in the room!


Please ignore all the power tools, this was taken last week when the room wasn't as put together.

Some people might look at this picture and say 'what the heck? Why are they sooooo far away from the window? They are basically touching the ceiling!' Observant! If you google how to hang curtains to make a room look bigger, it says to hang them high and wide. By hanging them wide, it makes the window appear so much bigger. I want to allow as much light as I possibly can into the room. The ONE good thing about the mirrored closet doors (see I guess since I have to live with them for awhile I'll spend some time looking for at least one redeeming quality in them) is they are awesome at bouncing the light all around--making for a very bright bedroom! With the room being so small, I'll do anything I can to make it feel not so cavernous! Hanging them high makes the room appear taller. I'm sure some might say that floor length curtains in a nursery is a ridiculous choice, but I'm happy with it. Since I'm totally trying to break the matchy-matchy nursery mold in this room, the last thing I wanted was a generic valance. Not that there's anything wrong with matchy-matchy or bed-in-a-bag-decor nurseries. There are some really cute themes out there. It's just not what I wanted when I envisioned this space. Half the fun for me in this whole thing is hand picking every piece of fabric, every toy, every book, everything really.



So far all I've done is make the elephant template and make a sample elephant on a scrap that was left over after hemming. I have to say it turned out pretty nice! I was afraid the ink coverage would be cloudy, but it's pretty solid. Though it's pretty easy to apply an elephant, it's kind of time consuming, so this is going to take me awhile. I hope to have the finished product very soon!



Judy was just dying to get her Fiddler on the Roof on. Okay, maybe that was me, not her.

I'm Still Here

I've had a few people ask where I've been the past few days. I'm still here. Baby B's still swimming. I've just been really busy around my house. I have a LOT of updates to post and hope to get them on here soon. We are quickly running out of weekends before Baby B is here, so we are using this time wisely and knocking out all sorts of last minute projects. I even have a pretty sweet surprise to post (if all goes according to plan, at least) soon!!

37 Weeks 3 Days Pregnant

I'm just full of updates today! It might be hard to tell just by looking at these pictures, but if you compare them to past weeks, you can see just how LOW this baby has dropped. I hope he doesn't fall out! Haha.





I've gained 46 lbs so far. Oops! Still no tummy stretch marks though, so that's a bonus. I'd have thought for SURE I'd get them. Thanks again Megs for the tummy butter. You're still as awesome a friend as ever!

Thanks Grandma Dunn!

My mother-in-law got us some much needed items. How sweet! I love being able to cross things off my list!



Now if I could just get the crib figured out and dealt with I'd be sooooo happy!

Closet Divider Project

This was a quick little project. This was more for Ryan than for me. I wanted to be able to hang a lot of the clothes in the closet and it seemed like a good idea to have dividers between the different sizes. Nothing fancy, but it works.

I just got some closet dividers pretty cheaply on ebay, 4/$1 scrapbook paper, and used my Mod Podge that I already had.

Off the Deep End: Deep Cleaning Fun

Not. Okay, there's every day cleaning and DEEP cleaning. I've been doing a lot of the latter the past few days and it is NOT fun. I think Ryan must think I've gone crazy, but I'm cleaning and re-cleaning cupboards, corners, nooks and crannies. It's so hard with a big ol' belly in the way. There's still so much clutter all around and I just want to get rid of everything!




I've been pretty exhausted this past week, so that doesn't help my "need to clean" at all. Saturday I took a five hour nap. I didn't even know I was capable of doing that! Normally I can get tired in the middle of the day, but when it comes to actually shutting my eyes, forget it. Just talking about napping is making me tired. I still have a lot to do around here, I haven't even really touched the tip of the iceberg. I feel like time is running out so fast and I just want to at least be able to have a clean house before the baby is born. Only 19 days till my due date, and I know it's going to fly by.

Little Truck Project

I have a few small little projects going on right now, and I finished this one.

Since this truck is going on his shelves and not going to be something he plays with, I used the same gray paint that we painted the wall. Add a ribbon and a little b and we're all set. It's crazy what a little paint, dollar store wall stickers and ribbon can do!

Before:


After:

More Crib Drama

My husband is what I like to call a "fixer". He hates to see those he loves sad or stressed. I'm sure I've been exuding a lot of the former and the later the past few weeks because of this crib debacle. He does anything he can to help fix situations and resolve problems. I can tell it's been hurting him to see ME hurt over this whole thing. He decided that today he'd do whatever it took to get the pieces that get this crib put together. I was up in the room looking over the assembly instructions and kept seeing the word "stabilizer bar". I looked at the parts list and huh, looks like we're actually missing two pieces of crib that I didn't even know existed!

From all of the pictures I've seen of this Annie crib all put together it just looked like the bottom of the side rail, then the drawer. But nope, there IS another part between the bottom of the side rails and the drawer. It's the stabilizer bar, and we're missing both of them!



Okay now, if I was going to sell something, I guess in the excitement of getting it sold I might somehow overlook making sure it had the hardware to put it all together. But not realizing TWO other boards were missing? Hmmm, not sure. It really makes me wonder WHY she was even selling it! A lot of the parts and pieces are missing. Could she really not have known she was selling me something I couldn't even put together, let alone get use out of? Again, if I'd known that for the price I was getting something I couldn't use, I would NEVER have made the trip all the way to Seattle for it! I'm sure if she had sold it locally, she'd have had to either give them the parts they paid for or their money back. With my being so far away, I guess she just figures she can be done with it, without making it right.

I'm a very trusting and forgiving person and(some might say I'm too forgiving, that I let people run all over the top of me) I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt in all of this. But really, the fact that she's still avoiding me after all this time tells me that she most likely knew she was cheating us out of parts we paid for. Again, I was too trusting. I was too excited while she was dropping it off, that I didn't see that we could be headed down a bad road. Maybe I should have asked to keep some of the money till I got the rest of the parts? And now to find out a month after she dropped it off to us in the parking lot we're missing 2 actual pieces of the crib and not just the hardware she said she'd send.

I'm sure most people are sick of hearing about this already. All I want to do is get this resolved. I'm not sure if I should even bother emailing her one last time before talking to Craigslist about what I can do about the situation. Ugh it's all just so frustrating.

The Big Checklist: Progress

Here are the items from my February 6, 2011 checklist:

- Clean closet doors and window sill and blind.
- Paint inside the closet Upon further inspection aka: Ryan taking down the existing shelf and hanging bar, it appears the previous owners just painted around things, so YAY (NOT) I get to paint all of the closet now!
- Install the closet system
- Line the dresser drawers
- Dye the curtains again (one bottle was decent, I just want more saturation)
- Cut and hem curtains and add elephants with fabric paint
- Install curtain rod and hang curtains
- Put Ikea bookcase together Thanks Ryan!
- Put crib together (maybe a miracle will happen and the lady will get me the hardware and stabilizer bars? maybe not?)
- Paint all picture frames, frame art and hang.
- Wash all clothing and fabric
- Make new cushions for the rocking chair
- Make crib skirt (contingent on crib measurements once it's set up)
- Make crib quilt (contingent on crib measurements once it's set up)
- Make pillows



I still have quite a bit of work to do to finish off that list. Most of the things I have left to do involve the crib though, so not much I can do to get those accomplished right now anyhow. Now I have a new list. We still have quite a few things left to buy, so I'm making myself a purchase list so that I can remember them all!

- Changing pad and covers
- Baby Socks
- Crib Mattress pad
- Receiving blankets
- Moby wrap (Ordered)
- Wet bags for diapers (Ordered)
- Newborn grooming supplies
- Non-baby looking diaper bag!

Wooo! Now I know why most people have baby showers! So. Much. STUFF! I'm sure I'll think of more as we get closer so I'll add as I think of more.

My Week in a Nutshell

My doctor appointment this week wasn't like the others. My blood pressure was up. It wasn't high for a normal person, but it was high for me. I tend to have very, very low blood pressure usually. We also got another ultrasound so we could see how the baby is positioned and that everything was fine with him. It was. But she was a bit concerned with the low level of amniotic fluid he had around him. She threw out the term preeclampsia and had Ryan and I about half scared to death.

She sent me down to the lab for some blood work and scheduled another appointment for the following day. She told me to take it easy and stay well hydrated. Which I did. The next day we go in and right as we sit down another couple is coming out from their appointment so the doctor saw us and had a big smile saying that the lab work looked great. We went back and she went over the labs. Nothing that would indicate anything serious. We got another ultrasound and the amniotic fluid was much better. She did say that the day before, Baby B's bladder looked full. The next day it wasn't, so that might have been where a lot of the fluid was hiding. I still think it's so funny that babies drink their own pee!

I didn't make a big deal about it or really tell anyone anything was wrong because we didn't know if it was or not and the last thing we wanna do is worry our families unnecessarily. So if this is the first you're hearing/reading anything about this, it's the first we've told anyone.

We had planned to make one last trip up to Libby before baby this weekend, but the doctor wants me to stay close to home. She thinks he may come a bit early. After the slight scare on Tuesday, I'm really trying to get things in order around here (without over doing it, don't worry). That and the fact that it's supposed to snow all weekend, we're staying home.



I think a lot of the reason my blood pressure was a bit high is a mixture of the stress of trying to get everything ready in time, the crib not being functional, and Lady dying. She was such a special part of our family, and I miss her so much.

Today I washed every bit of baby clothing and blankets. I ordered the detergent I need to wash the cloth diapers. We have pretty big plans to get some things checked off our list this weekend. We have a newborn education class on Saturday, that we would have had to miss, so it's nice to be able to go to that. We have to get the closet system, figure out what car seat to buy, and make a few other purchases.

My mother-in-law was so nice again and hemmed the curtains for me. All I have to do is get the elephants on them and get them hung up. I have a few small projects I'd also like to work on this weekend.

I have another doctor appointment next Wednesday.

Crib Sadness

I've been up since 2:30 AM trying to figure out what to do and I think I have my answer.

As those that follow my blog know, I've had my eye on THE DREAM crib since around August. I searched high and low and finally found it on craigslist in Seattle. We planned a trip all the way over there just to get this crib. I had a few things to get at Ikea, but I would have found other options closer to home if not for this crib. I was counting down the days till the crib was actually MINE! I was so beside myself with happiness when the crib was dropped off to us and dreamed all the way home about where in the nursery it would go, how it would look with the other furniture, how it would look with our baby boy sleeping soundly in it. Like I've said before, I've NEVER been so excited about a piece of furniture in my life!

When we picked it up, the lady we bought it from said that her ex husband had the hardware to put it together and she'd ship it out first thing Monday morning. I was so excited to finally have the crib in my possession that it wasn't even a big deal at the time. We got home after that exhaustively long trip and the next morning unloaded everything. I think my husband probably thought I was crazy because of the perma-smile on my face because I finally had this crib. A few times he even joked, "the things I don't do for you".

All the next week my heart would beat just a little bit faster as I walked out to check the mail, and each day I got a little bit sadder, still no hardware. The next week I emailed the lady and asked if it had been sent. She assured me it had and was surprised I hadn't received it. She said she had contacted the crib manufacturer for replacements, which I didn't understand. Why did she do that if she knew they'd been sent to me? Well, that's the last I've heard from her. I've sent her a few emails and messages since, just asking if the package had been returned, was there a confirmation number on the sent package, etc. I don't want to be a bother, but I'm due so soon and I want this crib set up in the worst way! I bought the crib and I thought that included the pieces to put it together! Had I known there would be no way to put it together I wouldn't have planned a trip in the middle of winter so very far away. The crib has been set up in the room like this for weeks:



I leaned a few pieces of it together so I could see the space it would take up and I tried to get rough measurements so that I could buy the material I'm going to make the bedding out of. I am due in 24 days. Every time I walk into the nursery now I actually feel sad instead of happy. There is this HUGE unfinished project staring me in the face and there is seriously nothing I can do about it at this point! $170 (plus the big expense of the whole trip) is a lot to pay for something that has no function. If I could just go down to the hardware store and get all the little pieces I need to put this together that would be great, but they don't sell what we need. There isn't much I can really do with this crib at all. I can't even give it away, because someone else would have the same dilemma. It's been rendered pretty much useless, and that is so, so sad.

As much as it kills me to do it, at this point I think I just need to let it go. This whole dilemma has caused me a lot of stress and worry. I'm quickly running out of time and I need to figure something out and fast. I hate to have to spend more money on a new crib when I HAVE the only crib I've ever wanted!!

I'm beside myself with sadness over this whole thing. It would have been nice for the lady to at least acknowledge my emails. She got paid for the crib and never looked back it seems. It really isn't fair to pay good money for something and think your silly little dream has come true, only to have it ripped away. The important thing is I am very blessed to have what I do have and Baby B will have a bed one way or another. I just wished it could have been this bed.

**UPDATE**
Ryan contacted the manufacturer and this is what they said:

At this time the hardware for Crib/Beds is not available for purchase. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please check back for further availability updates.

So I think we're screwed--pun intended.

Rocking Chair Finished

This project is almost complete! My terrific mother-in-law was nice enough to make the cushions for me and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! They are so bright and fun! She is still making the arm rests, but they won't be like the original ones, they will just go around the top of the arms. This chair sure has come a long way!





And because I know you want to see them. The before and afters:





It's cute and it's comfy to sit in. I'm sure it's going to be getting a lot of use in the next few months!

Lining Dresser Drawers

Ever since getting the dresser, I knew I wanted to line the inside of the dresser drawers. Being an older piece of furniture, the drawers were pretty rough on the bottom and I didn't want anyone getting any slivers or anything to get snagged. I searched everywhere for the perfect paper to line it with. None of the contact paper I saw online stood out to me, and the actual selection of it in stores is a joke--so I opted to use wrapping paper.

It was very hard to find something in the color scheme. Most papers you find have HAPPY BIRTHDAY or something like that written all over them, or they are so themed they scream birthday party. I wanted something modern looking like this:



But at $3.00/sheet measuring 19"x27" it was just too much money!

I finally settled on a baby wrapping paper from Target. I know, I know, I said I didn't want anything in the nursery to scream BABY! But for the price it was the cutest thing I could find. Some might say it's even a bit ahem, girly, but really it's not something that will be seen by many people.





To adhere the paper to the drawers I used Mod Podge.


I layed the paper print side down and traced around the drawer onto the paper. Of course there was some extra, so after cutting the piece out, I put it into the drawer and creased where it met the edge and cut off the excess to make it fit. Then I used that paper as my template for the other five drawers.



I put the paper down in the drawer and folded part of it over, applied the Mod Podge to the drawer bottom and smoothed the paper over it, then did the same thing to the other side.

After doing this the paper looked pretty wrinkled, because of course it was damp on the underside, but as it dried the wrinkles and ripples disappeared and it was flat and smooth. I let them dry 2 hours then brushed the top of the paper with a coat of Mod Podge to seal it into place. Wait 2 more hours then one more coat.





How cute is that? I'm glad I lined the drawers. Mod Podge is water based and non toxic, so it won't ruin or stink up the baby's clothes.

Crib Bedding: Crib Skirt

I can only venture a guess as to how much fabric I'll need for the crib skirt. To get some measurements, I set the crib up as best as I could without the hardware and screws. With one hand I leaned the pieces together teepee style, whilst holding my camera in the other. One of the sides crashed into the mirrored closet door (hate those!) as the other simultaneously came down on my shin leaving me with a nasty bruise and it HURT! If only I could have the darn crib set up!

Based on my very rough measurements I wouldn't need more than 2 Yds of fabric, but since I can't judge how high the crib mattress will sit at it's highest point, I added an extra yard to my purchase to be safe. So I purchased a total of 3 Yds of this lil beauty:

I'm sure the colors will be brighter in person.

Photo from Fabric Guru

And again the quilt fabrics.


I decided to forgo the crib bumper pad. It is recommended not to use them anymore, SIDS and all that. So besides the quilt and the crib skirt I'm making, the only other things I'll need are a few different crib sheets and a few more sleep sacks since I won't really be using the quilt for him to sleep with, more for rocking him and playing with him on the floor.

Curtains Part 1: Adventures in Curtain Dyeing

I'm not exactly a newbie when it comes to using RIT dye. I dyed my wedding crinoline (the thing that makes your dress poof out)pink. My first attempt at using their "color recipes" didn't work out so hot for me though. I wanted the exact color you see in the picture below, but on my first attempt I mixed the dusty rose and a yellow color I can't remember the name of. It came out tangerine orange. It was a gorgeous color and would have been the envy of all if it were a fall wedding, but since it was in May and my colors did NOT include orange I was horrified. To fix it, I got another bottle of dusty rose and it finally came out perfect.



I've dyed a few other things like our 500 thread count bamboo sheets we bought with our wedding gift certificates to Bed Bath and Beyond. They were an uglyyyyy off white that looked more faded and old than anything, so I dyed them dark brown to better coordinate with our other bedding.

We went down to Target and bought the king size sheet that would become our curtains. At first I wasn't sure if I should go Lemon yellow, or a slightly more orangey golden yellow for the curtains. I figured I'd start out lemon because you can always easily go darker, but not as easily lighter in color.



Now that we have front a loading washer and dryer, I didn't quite trust my old system. So I opted for the 5 gallon bucket method. The curtain came out looking great while it was wet. I threw it in the washer and dryer to finish it off. It was much too light. It was a few shades darker than a yellow legal pad, so I made the decision to get all golden on it!



Here's my little dye shop. Looks fun doesn't it? Gotta love the creepy gloves that look like they've been dyed too.


Because the sheet kept coming up out of the water I filled a pot with some water to weigh it down.


When all finished I threw it in for a tumble.


That concludes the dyeing process. I'll be posting the steps to the final product soon.

Let the Nesting Begin!

I think a little thing called nesting has hit me! I've been trying to get the nursery together and plan out what else we need for it, but it's been a slow process. I've been EXHAUSTED the past three days. Exhausted and in massive amounts of late third trimester pain. Anytime I have a moment of energy I try and take advantage of it.

I was looking for a pair of nail clippers this morning and after rummaging through a bathroom drawer for at least 5 minutes I finally found some, sweet. Not so sweet: Not being able to close the drawer afterward. I opened a few other drawers and realized, I never use most of this stuff, yet there is so much of it. I better get on top of this NOW. Time to get drawerganized!I emptied every drawer and cleared out under the sink and took everything out to the living room to sort it.

It was a huge wake up call to realize that I had perfumes and lotions from 2001 in that stuff! Why was I holding onto these things? It's not like they carried any emotional attachment. I realized it was because every time I'd move, I'd just pack everything and then unpack everything. Not really realizing that DUH, I don't need it AND it would probably give me some sort of illness because it had rolled past it's expiration date at least 30 times over by now.


Image courtesy of Google

It feels SO good to start out with a new garbage bag in the can and just start chucking. I also had a small box set aside for jewelry and other small odds and ends to donate to Goodwill. The thing that contained the most items bye far was the garbage can, which was good because that's less to haul back into the bathroom and find a new home for.

I know that no one really ever sees inside my drawers and under the sink, but just MY knowing that they are neat and orderly and free of now toxic (because of the whole expiration date thing) substances feels great.

35 Weeks 1 Day Pregnant

Lots of updates today! Let's just say I was feeling ambitious. There's only about 34 days to go! It's so funny how different my belly can be shaped from one minute to the next. This boy likes to STRETCHHHHH. I wonder if he'll be long like his daddy? Ryan was 23 inches long when he was born! So far I have 3 small inch long stretch marks under my left cheek (yeah THAT cheek), and that's it--so far. Not too shabby for being up THIRTY NINE POUNDS! I never thought I'd gain THAT much! It's all for a wonderful cause though, so I can't complain for a minute!

Quilt Fabric is Ordered

Talk about a painstaking task! I've probably spent over 10 hours (or more, eeek) looking for the perfect mix of fabrics to make the crib quilt. I wanted to go for a vintage patchwork looking quilt using some more contemporary fabrics. I compiled a quick little swatch mock up of the ones that I've ordered. The second one from the right on the bottom row is something I already have. It is actually a pillow case.



I can't wait to get these and get started! Now if only I could get the crib hardware and get the crib put together so I know the exact measurements to make this quilt!

Moving Forward

Here's just a quick little post showing some of the things in the room. I never took pictures of our Ikea purchases, so I included some of those things.


Ryan put the Ikea bookcase together for me yesterday. We also got a few baskets to contain toys and things. I know, I know, most people would say I'm missing a basket, but I'm an odd numbers kinda gal. Seeing that there are an even amount of slots in the this bookcase, I wanted an odd number of baskets to break up that look of total uniformity.


I know I already bought a lamp for his room, but when I saw this one at Ikea for $20, I couldn't pass it up. Plus, I'm all about task and mood lighting. This light will be a lot less harsh on the eyes during middle of the night feedings. Isn't this little truck cute? There are magnets on the little shapes so they can be picked up. This is also from Ikea and was $15.


Ikea sheepskin (not real of course!) was only $24. My mom had a real one when I was little and just having a small one sort of like it is kind of nostalgic, don't you think? Plus it's super, super soft and cuddly.


Ikea blanket $3.99, too cute not to buy for that price! And it's ORANGE! Do you know how hard it is to find orange or yellow baby blankets that AREN'T pastel shades?!


And for posterity's sake, the dresser in it's final home under the window.

Rocking Chair Refinished

Here are the pictures of the refinished rocking chair. I threw in a few before and after shots to show what it looked like and what it became.

I love how clean the white looks in the room with the paint colors.




Before and Afters: You've come a long way, baby. No pun intended.





All that is left with this project-that-wouldn't-end is to recover the cushions and make a small pillow.