Nursery Progress: Put a Bird on It

The infamous crib has been finished! Robin added the final coat of paint and assembled it this evening, and it is GORGEOUS. I am so proud of him and so thankful for his skill! Lydia is clearly very excited about it. I'm trying to soak up her pure elation at the thought of this baby before he arrives and she realizes that life is going to change pretty dramatically; rebellion is sure to follow.

The mobile is a collaborative effort between Robin and me (with some help from my dad gathering the pieces of wood in my parents' backyard.) I sewed the birds from a pattern found here with fabric from Crafty Planet and mounted them on the sticks with a hot glue gun. Robin then hung and balanced them with fishing line and eye hooks. We have a handful more projects on the line, but two involve the baby's name (which is top secret), and we'll see what actually gets done before he decides to become an outside dweller.

In the meantime, I am resting more easily because the basics are pretty much covered. His diapers are washed and organized--yes, we're going the cloth route. His clothes are sorted by size and the newborn clothes are in bins in the closet, which has been cleared of other debris. The Pack 'n' Play is set up as a bassinet in our room, and the car seat will be installed this weekend and inspected next week. If Baby G2 came tomorrow, we'd survive!

Our Victory Garden

For awhile, Robin and I have talked about making a garden. This year, Robin decided to take the bull by the horns, and he had some gardening boxes made. We went to the Natural Gardener, an awesome gardening resource just outside of Austin, and he planted. Our backyard is home to some budding carrots, beets, swiss chard, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and leeks. We will see how this endeavor ends; hopefully we'll be enjoying some homegrown produce in not-too-much time!

DIY: Dining in Style

About a month ago, I discovered the website Knock-Off Wood. In search of a summer project, I immediately was taken with visions of outfitting our home in furniture made by yours truly. I showed the site to Robin, and we picked out two projects to begin with. Here is the first. We have since added a final coat of paint, but I figured my audience would prefer a photo with Lydia to a photo of a better painted table sans child. The link to the entry with the plans is here. The paint color is Enchanted Coach Ride from the Behr Disney series. Lydia chose the color. Seriously.

Getting Down to the Wire

Tonight, Robin and I packed our hospital bag. Our doula had suggested waiting until I go into labor and making this one of my "labor projects," or tasks to do when you are in the early stages of labor to keep occupied, but after my mom reminded me that she was in labor for a total of 6 hours with me, I realized that I might want a labor project that is a little less necessary. 

Between the list we were given at our birthing class and the cushy list in Rock Star Momma, one of my more frivolous pregnancy reads, I feel like we are pretty prepared on the bag front. The funniest thing is that we also have a birthing ball (read: exercise ball) that we are bringing along for coping with contractions. I keep picturing Robin loaded down with my huge bag and the huge ball and me in labor... I'm sure we will be quite the sight. The most fun part about packing the bag was definitely picking out Baby G.'s "Going Home Outfit." We are lucky to have LOTS of clothes for this little girl, so the choice was not easy!

Our nursery is pretty much ready, and we have checked every item off of our shopping list other than a few things that are not necessary to have pre-arrival of Baby G. I've attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

The crib is the Graco Lauren, the bedding, a gift from my parents, is from Restoration Hardware, and the crib mattress is a gift from my grandma. We picked out the mobile, also a gift from my parents, after watching our friends Jessica and Aaron's son Aidan stare at his for a shockingly long time.  Most of the "L"s were custom-made for Baby G. by Robin's dad in his shop at work, other than one that I bought on etsy.com. The "L" idea came up pretty randomly, and I really love the collection on the wall. The bassinet in the corner is a hand-me-down from one of Robin's co-workers; it might be the nicest piece of furniture in the nursery!

Like the mobile, we totally copied Jessica and Aaron on the changing table/shelf combo, even down to the baskets. The shelves are from Ikea, and the perfectly-fitting baskets are from Target. Please note the plethora of books, all gifts--from Robin's mom, from one of my co-workers, and from a very generous gift certificate from Brian and Elizabeth, some good friends of ours in Austin. Also note the shelf of blankets: we have beautiful blankets given to us by Robin's boss and his wife, my aunt Judy, Lynn Ruter, a very special family friend, and Mary Schmida, my Wested coach at school; a few were mine growing up. The piggy bank is from a high school friend of mine and was given to us with the words, "Start saving for college!"

I included the closet photo for two reasons: 1.) to display the sea of pink and 2.) to show off my beautiful diaper bag, given to me by Robin's mom. I am really looking forward to carrying it! I am also pretty pumped about my Maya wrap, a gift from another good friend from high school!

Who will buy???

Ten points to the first person to complete that song lyric!

Robin is busily getting the other duplex unit ready for our open house today. He has been working so hard! I am really hoping that the open house goes well. I plan to stay hidden, in part because I don't want to scare off any potential buyers who aren't baby people. They can find out after they close! ;) I will be on duty to make beer, wine and cheese runs should we run out.

I had a really fantastic work shower at Genuine Joe's Coffeehouse, one of my Austin favorites. We had yummy cake from Russell's Bakery and sat around to chat. It was very low-key--just how I wanted it. I also did very well in the gift department!

Today I am hoping to make one of the final Babies 'R' Us runs pre-arrival of Baby G. The list of things to buy is actually quite small, but includes a big one--the breast pump. For a working mom, buying a good breast pump is really not even an option if breast feeding is a priority. We have decided on the Medela Instyle after hearing some mixed reviews of the Freestyle (their latest, fanciest option). Other items on the list include diapers, wipes, etc... We are getting down to the wire!

Sunday Projects

Robin and I have had a very relaxing Sunday morning! We made breakfast and enjoyed it on the lawn while watching runners in the Austin Marathon go by. We were able to catch a glimpse of and cheer on our friend Aaron, the one and only person we know that was running the marathon and were particularly impressed that at mile 20 (where our house is on the route), he was still able to shout out "Nice house!" Here's hoping to a great marathon for Aaron!

 Weekend projects include:

--Finishing the railings in the house.

--Getting car seat assembled and bases installed. (see note below)

--Getting bottles organized and ready to be washed and sterilized a little closer to Baby G.'s arrival. 

--Mounting the "L"s in the nursery. 

--Trim and other paint touch-ups.

--Unpacking and organizing our clothes. We have a lot of them!

We are also eager to have people over for dinner for the first time in the new house! Friends Brian and Elizabeth (who are expecting a baby boy in April) will be joining us tonight! 

On the car seats:

The statistics on the percentage of car seats that are improperly installed are terrifying! Thanks to Jessica and Aaron, mom and dad to Aidan, we found Safe Riders, a project of the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Department of Transportation. Safe Riders does "Child Seat Check-ups" free of charge, where they inspect the installation of your car seat to insure it is correct!

Moved in and getting settled!

With the indispensable help of Robin's dad, Dale, we moved into our new house on Monday! We have been slowly but surely getting unpacked and settled. It feels wonderful to be back in our old neighborhood in Central Austin! We are so much happier here and have confirmed our suspicions that we are not cut out for the 'burbs.

Robin is working very hard on finishing touches of the house--the second bathroom upstairs, a tile backsplash and hoodfan in the kitchen, medicine cabinets, paint touch-up, and caulk in the master bath, as well as lining up people to come and work on the back porches and the floors in the second unit.

This weekend, we spent a lot of time setting up the nursery, washing clothes, bedding, etc., and trying to get everything organized. We still have a lot to do, but the room is finally taking shape.

More on the baby front, we have our 36-week doctor's appointment on Tuesday. This will include a final ultrasound to check Baby G.'s growth. At our 32-week check, she was measuring as quite a biggie, so our OB wanted to monitor her weight gain. We also met with Kristen, our doula, today to discuss more specifically what to do when I go into labor, and tomorrow we begin birthing classes with Shelly Scotka at Any Baby Can.

Finally, this morning Andrea Turner came over and took some maternity photographs. This is something I've wanted to do since before I was pregnant, and after looking at a few of the shots from this morning on her camera, I am VERY excited to see the rest!

And now, a sneak peak of the new digs...

Getting close!

Tomorrow we move into our new house. Robin's dad, Dale, has been here since Thursday helping us get everything done that we possibly can before we move in. They have been working very hard and tomorrow will find us in an (almost) finished new home. Meanwhile, I have been trying as hard as I can to get our apartment packed. Yesterday, I also assembled our crib and the shelving for the nursery, as well as our crib mobile. Being over 34 weeks pregnant, I am definitely tiring a lot faster and can't get as much done as I would like, but today has been productive.

Pictures of the new house soon to follow!

House Update: Two steps closer...

Robin officially got word today that our house passed all electric and HVA/C inspections! We are two steps closer to the elusive Certificate of Occupancy!

House Update

Robin has been working insanely hard to finish what I began calling our "crazy house project" over a year ago. Long story short: Our little 1940s house was moved in June, leaving our lot empty. We both really loved that house, but realized that, with the rising property values in our neighborhood, it was too small and too run-down for anyone to buy without the almost inevitable plan to tear down. After lots of consideration, we decided to redevelop the property ourselves. Robin did an extensive amount of research and opted to try his hand at designing and then building two modular town homes. The units finally arrived in late October, and we will be moving in at the end of next week. Robin has done a really beautiful job, even with several very frustrating setbacks. 

Now the challenge will be selling the "other half." While our current economy makes this a daunting task, we are lucky to live in a city that, as of December had the second fastest moving housing market in the country and happen to have landed in a neighborhood that still seems to be doing alright, in terms of real estate. The house is on the market, and as the units become finished, Robin will move his focus to marketing them. Definitely keep us in your thoughts and/or prayers, send us positive energy, do whatever it is you do in hopes of getting this house sold!