Nursery

Not sure what it looked like last time I posted, and I'm too lazy/busy to check back in the blog so here is (another) nursery update post!

The only things left are the final curtain panel for one window (seriously JoAnn's, how hard is it to order yellow gingham...) and attaching the bed skirt.

View from the door

The rocker and changing table switched places so that the diaper genie and hamper could be within arms reach of the changing table

Rockin' crib with the rockin' bumpers and the rockin' monogram that Frank selected and applied. I love how this turned out!

The Nursery

The nursery is coming along. Since we thought we'd be moving at the end of April, I didn't put my time into creating a nursery for Little Man. Now that we know we're staying for two more years I'm trying to get it all together before I have to go back to work!

The owl fabric is still the main motif, though I think I'm doing a pretty good job of not letting it overwhelm the space.

Mom and Patrick painted the four owls for Little Man, and they are now hung on the wall! We also have his pennants up along the top of three walls, and the fourth wall will soon be adorned with his monogram.

We bought a dresser for him, and so our final big piece is the crib. After a little more shuffling, I'll be ready for the big reveal - and relieved to have everything finished!

I'm still proud of myself for managing to keep the cost of his room down. We used a lot of things we already had, did some bargain hunting, and kept it simple. Go us!

Status Update

Not the most flattering shot, but it was worth a laugh. Earlier this week I was told that when standing facing forward, one could forget that I am pregnant (granted, I was wearing a hoodie at the time)


But then I would turn to walk away and POW, there it is!


I'm 29 weeks pregnant, 11 weeks until our due date.

We've decided that we're staying put in our house until the end of our original lease, so we'll be here for about a month with the new kid. We've started to clean the house, part in preparation for the realtor's showings and part in preparation for our own packing ordeal and eventual move. The second bedroom will be our guest room/nursery for a month so I have started the process of getting that ready. So far, the walls have been primed, the bookshelves emptied and moved, and I've come to the (slightly painful) realization that I will not be the one doing the painting. My husband has been called in from the bullpen to put the (boring) paint on the walls so that I can then get the room ready for guests, and ultimately, baby Webb.

It has been nice to come to a decision about our living situation, though we will have to start looking for a new place in March. It is nice to know what our timeline is, and it is even nicer to have something to direct all of this cleaning energy toward! While all of the other moms-to-be are setting up their nurseries, I'm cleaning out the basement and purging our unused and underused belongings - lucky for me, I love that kind of stuff!

Status Update

25 weeks, 2 days pregnant. 14 weeks, 5 days to go to due date.


Not much news to report. I'm getting bigger and I seem to tire easily. Frank has been very helpful when I have the urge to clean - we spent hours cleaning the basement, sorting through stuff and getting rid of stuff we don't need. I'm such a lucky woman!

We painted the bathroom back to "boring" since we know we're moving out. I figured it was the easiest place to start, I knew I had enough primer and the right paint color on hand to tackle the task without having to hit Home Depot. It is nice to have that task finished, and we only had a disorganized bathroom for about 24 hours.

I'm Excited About: Moving Again?!

Ok, so I'm actually not excited about moving again but I'm trying to at least not be completely depressed. The owner of the duplex is selling it at the end of our lease and as we're not in a position to make an offer, we're packing up and moving again.

There are good things and less than good things about this news. I'll start with the less than good things and end on the good things!

Less Than Good:

-We're either going to be moving the week of my due date, or one month after the due date. This is less than ideal because I could actually be in labor while we're in transition, OR we could have a 1 month old child during our move. Not ideal, but oh well!

-I'm tired of moving. I enjoy living in a 'home' environment and that takes time and energy to create, while we didn't ever really put our full efforts into our current place I'm not really excited to have to start over entirely somewhere else.

-We're going to be paying more rent and have less storage no matter where we go

-The potential new place doesn't have a fenced yard for the pups, so we're back to taking the dogs out when they have 'business'

-I won't get to 'nest' like I want to because we'll be in transition.

Good Things:

-The realtor who is selling our place is a sweet woman and is working really hard to help us make the transition as easy as possible. She even lobbied to have the owner let us out of our lease a month early so we wouldn't be stuck paying double rent - and so that she can show the house on the market BEFORE the baby comes! (Baby, please don't come more than 14 days early, though you are now welcome to come up to 9 days late)

-We already have a very strong lead on a new home! It is a 2.5 bedroom house that is about the same amount of square footage as our current place, but it is a free standing home - no neighbors through the walls! It is close to church, still in Arlington, an easy commute for me, etc etc.

-The landlord at this potential new place is a wonderful woman and we have it on good authority (our friends have lived there for 1.5 years now) that she is a fantastic landlord and appreciates good tenants. This is a perk that is priceless to me. I'm tired of distant owners, management companies, and corporations that really don't care about you and your family. This would not be the case at the house, quite the opposite really!

-We now have the reason and opportunity to cleanse our lives of more 'things.' You know, the stuff that accumulates because you have room for it and you 'might use it one day for something?' Yeah, we're getting rid of that before the move - if we've moved it 2 times and not used it or even thought about it, we're not moving it again.

-It looks like we'll be getting a dishwasher! new baby+bottles+dishwasher=yay!

-Walking the dogs twice daily will be good for them and for us. And with the potentially reasonable landlord, perhaps some sort of temporary dog-run can be installed over time.

-We're looking at signing a 2 year lease, which means we'd stay put for more than 12 months! Something we have yet to do since we got married. (When we move in March/April we will have been married for 3 years and we'll be settling into our 4th home.)

-I'm hoping that all of my 'nesting' instincts will make the packing, sorting, donating, life-cleansing an efficient process. When it hits, it is strong, so as long as I have somewhere to direct the energy I think I can get a lot accomplished before I'm too big to move around comfortably.

Goodness, what a life!

I hope that I'm not coming off as whiny, we really are trying to take all of this in stride knowing that God knows His plans for us and He won't give us things that we can't handle. It won't be easy, He never promised that, but it is possible and it will work out somehow!

Mostly for now this means that there won't be any more "look at this room" posts because starting this weekend it all starts coming down and getting boxed up. (Even though I did just hang three pictures upstairs, oh well) Just think, next time I have a "look what I did to decorate" post it will likely be a nursery in a new house! Isn't that exciting?!

Christmas!

I LOVE Christmas! It is my favorite holiday, by far.

I've decorated our house slowly since 11/28, because while I am a major lover of all things Christmas I am also a firm believer that Christmas doesn't start until after Thanksgiving.


We're still building our decoration stash, and I try to be a frugal shopper and only add to it during post-Christmas sales. Tough to do when you love the holiday as much as I do!

Luckily I have some Christmas-loving relatives that have pitched in to help out over the past couple years, so it isn't all left to me.

This year I'm hoping to pick up a few things: mistletoe (we have a great archway between our living and dining rooms that is BEGGING for mistletoe), a stocking for Rutledge, and maybe a couple of throw pillows.


I'm willing to wait for post-Christmas sales for all of it except for the mistletoe. I've already started shopping for some on Amazon!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Forgot to give this one a title

1. I started to clean yesterday (inspired by my husband who cleaned his side of the room on Friday!) and ended up taking pictures off of walls, patching holes with spackle, doing touch-up painting in the dining room/living room, and cleaning out space in the basement.

Two full trash bags and three trips out to the recycling bin later...I wasn't near finished. I vacuumed, resisted the urge to clean out the coat closet (might do that today), and did my laundry. The combination of house guests coming and being pregnant has hit - it took all of my strength not to paint the stairwell and REpaint the bathroom. Not kidding.

2. The Colts lost to the Patriots last night. Not only that, but they lost because Manning threw 3 picks in the game - that is for a season total of 7...he almost doubled his season total during this game. Not fun, especially when your husband is a Patriot fan. Ick.

There is always next year - yes, I'm writing this year off already - and maybe Manning should take it easy for the rest of the year and we'll come back 110% next year when half of the team isn't hurt.

3. My smaller hound is having issues, which is causing me to have issue. R wakes up at 6:56am every day, no matter what and begins to FREAK OUT as if someone is stabbing him in the face. Then, once let out to 'do his business' he won't go back to sleep. If he keeps this up, someone might give him a reason to FREAK OUT...

The amount of exercise he gets is more than the average hound, and it doesn't matter how much water he drinks, or what time he goes to bed. There aren't even any noises that we can pinpoint that would wake him up. THERE ARE ALSO TWO OTHER DOGS SLEEPING PEACEFULLY BESIDE HIM WHO SEEM TO BE FULLY CAPABLE OF SLEEPING PAST 7AM.

4. I am hungry all of the time. We need to finalize our Thanksgiving menu, we then need to go to the store to purchase the necessary items. This could be disastrous. I may have to send Frank all by himself for fear that I'll forget to buy a turkey but remember to buy cookie dough.

5. I've never been one to have dry skin issues or use lotion on a regular basis. This has changed, and now I am applying generous amounts of lotion to my belly every night before bed and every morning after I shower. My legs and hands have also decided that they thirst for lotion, so that is a fun new routine for me.

6. That is all for now, maybe there will be more insanity later...stay tuned.

Status: 22 weeks, 2 days pregnant. 17 weeks, 5 days to due date.

I'm Excited About: Owls & Apples

I decided to make my own nursery bedding after fruitlessly looking for a set that appealed to me (that was not insanely expensive). So far I've chosen the fabric, purchased the bumper pads, and gone over the pattern for all of the pieces.

I was originally looking for a bright green gingham to be the complimentary fabric, but after scouring three different fabric stores I decided to go a different route. I chose yellow gingham! I even took a picture of it next to the main fabric, but somehow I deleted it just now. Cool.

Since our housing situation is still somewhat up in the air, the only plans we're making for the nursery involve the items that would move with us if we moved. I'll paint the walls back to a neutral/sand color to satisfy both the colors in the nursery and the possibility that we'll be moving again in early 2011.

The owls & apples will be the bumper cover, with the yellow gingham used for the ties. The yellow gingham will be the bed skirt, possibly with a line of owls & apples a couple inches up from the bottom (if I have enough fabric). The curtains will be a combination of the two, as will a throw pillow or two (for me in the rocker, not for the crib). And lastly, I've decided to make a ribbon board with the owls & apples - somewhere to keep all of the cards and things we've been receiving.

I Fixed It!

For some reason I really enjoy fixing things and/or putting things together. Whenever we buy a bookshelf or other piece of furniture from Ikea, I can't wait to put it together! Our couch even came in pieces from the distributor and I had a blast working with Frank to get it all fixed up.

I have no explanation for my love of constructing and fixing things, it is just something that is part of me.

There is a bowl in our kitchen that has a chip in it - I have saved the chip and am waiting/trying to remember to buy the right kind of glue so that I can replace it. I'll be so happy when it happens!

Yesterday, I fixed a lamp. It wasn't terribly difficult or exciting, except that in my last two attempts to fix the lamp I've blown the fuse for the entire first floor of our home. Oops. But, I tried it again last night - did a little more thinking, and was able to come up with a solution that accomplished two things: 1. I didn't not lose power on the first floor of our home when I plugged it in. 2. The light came on when I flipped the switch!

I am quite proud of myself, and rode the high of having accomplished this task for most of last night. Yay me!

Now, if any puppy of mine decides to chew on a wire again - my hope is that it will be a live wire this time and puppy will learn his lesson on his own. That is how the first one figured it out, and he doesn't seem too terribly affected by the ordeal!

Visitors

We have two friends staying with us for a little while - one is a person and one is the sweetest, most well-behaved golden retriever you've ever met! We're happy to have both of them here, and I think even the hounds are learning to enjoy sharing their space!

Here is Hamilton (the non-snuggly one) hanging on his bed with Ms Milly (also not much of a snuggler, at least with other dogs) - both being very careful to have no contact with each other. Its like a jr. high dance on that dog bed!


We're hoping the hounds will pick up some of Milly's good manners while she is here. No luck so far, but we've got time.


I didn't want to leave the little dude out, so here is a gratuitous (and weird) picture of Rutledge.

Slumber Party in the basement

We had a family slumber party in the basement last night, all four of us.

You see, we still don't own a lawn mower and that little tid bid of information explains why we had a family slumber party in the basement.

Not seeing the connection? Weird.

Yesterday, Frank listed an ad on Craigslist looking for someone to come cut our grass. We weren't any closer to deciding when/where to buy a mower and the lawn was just out of control - something had to be done. A 19 year old college kid quickly responded and agreed to cut the grass (front and back) for $20. Done!

He came over in the afternoon and did a good job. He also mowed over a cord running from our outdoor AC unit to the house. And then the AC stopped working. Strange.

So far, we've paid $20 for the grass cutting, $80 for wire repair, and we still don't have a functioning AC so another repair guy is coming today...cost is tbd.

This lead to two things:

1. we will be purchasing a lawn mower, asap.

2. we had a family slumber party in the basement because it was cooler down there, and throw in an air mattress (read: heat syphoning device) and everyone wins!

Hopefully the AC will be repaired sometime today, fingers crossed!

(**UPDATE** The AC has been fixed! Hooray!)

Landscaping

I've decided that I want to build some flower beds in the back yard. I have decided this for two reasons:

1. My puppy eats flowers that are on his level, so I need something raised and/or protected in which to grow things.

2. I'd like to block off a part of the yard and somehow train/bribe/beg the dogs to use that space for their 'business.'

I saw a picture of some nice looking raised beds, but now I can't find it again so you'll just have to follow me on this. I'm thinking of those oval-ish, long pieces of wood that I could stack on top of one another for the sides. I'm also thinking of two or three flower boxes across the back of the yard.

If this ever comes to fruition, I would most likely try to grow herbs or veggies in one of the boxes while sticking to pretty flowers in the other one or two.

Anyway, it is a dream I have - a dream to have a pretty yard, clear of puppy landmines.

But first, I need a lawn mower and I need it to be less than a million degrees so I can A) mow the lawn without dying and B) take care of the insane weeds that are currently climbing the outer walls of our house (aka, maintain the current landscaping).

Dear Home Depot, any interest in sponsoring my ventures? We could call it "If she can do this, truly anyone can!" I think it would be a big hit for you.

Bedroom Update

I finally got around to updating our bedroom with the new color palate, and I absolutely love the result! Originally we had the black and white theme going, but with the move we added hardwood floors and a rug that has browns, navies, and deep reds so I began the slow process of making our bedroom fabrics match our new rug.

This is the new bedding and headboard. One benefit of changing up the bedding is that I won't go crazy over the perfectly white duvet not being perfectly white! The decision to go to a khaki was made with great joy on my part.


This is a closer look at the headboard. It is a khaki material (apolstrie fabric) with navy palm tree embroidered in rows. Had this project taken any longer, Frank was going to steal the fabric and find a way to make shorts out of it.


This picture includes the rug, which was the starting point for the new colors. Because a good rug is both very expensive and very hard to find, I decided that we would make everything revolve around the rug.


The new sheet set is navy, and to keep from there being too much neutral I ordered the bed skirt in navy. I really like that the hardwood floors keep the room from being too dark, even with the dark rug and bed skirt in the room.

I also added curtains. These were less for aesthetics and more for function. Our wonderful old house isn't very good at maintaining livable temperatures, so these lined black-out curtains should help keep the upstairs from heating up too much during the day. There are three windows, each with one panel, and each with one hook to the side for the times that we do want natural light to come in.


And to round it out, here is my lovely dresser and the door to our room.


...and a picture hiding behind the door because I don't think we'll ever be finished moving into this place.

Stay tuned for updates on the living room and basement - big changes are coming!!

A New Living Room!

Frank and I went furniture shopping this weekend and we decided on a new couch and a pair of chairs. The couch has been ordered and will be ready for pick up in a couple weeks. We chose the one pictured below, in "chocolate" leather. We're hoping the leather will be easier to keep clean and will hold less dander for our dog allergic friends.

And I ordered two of the chair below last night - hip hip hooray for Overstock.com and their $1 shipping! - so they will be here in 5-10 business days! The plan was to maintain or increase seating (check), maintain the current color scheme/no painting or new rug needed (check), and stay within the budget (double check).

I can't wait until it is all in place! I'm really glad we were able to find what we were looking for, and we'll even be able to keep some of the couch pillows that we already have. A side table for between the chairs and curtains will be the final touches for our living room, and then it will be complete!

I'm Excited About: Home Updates

We have had a couple of updates to our lovely home in the last week or so, and I couldn't be happier with the results!

I found a hutch on CraigsList that matches a lot of the furniture we already have, and the price was perfect! We managed to get a wall shelf in the deal, too, and two small corner shelves!

The real hutch has replaced the bookshelf that I turned into a hutch. While I loved that shelf and it held everything well, it was a little wobbly and the puppies made me nervous every time they ran by a shook the shelf.


I love that it still has the top shelf where I can display some of the more decorative pieces, while keeping other pretty things in the glass cabinet where they won't get as dusty as they were before.


And it has lights under the glass cabinet over middle shelf (with my cook books and set of mixing bowls).


We're still undecided on where the wall shelf will go - a tie between the dining room and kitchen, and I'm starting to think it would work in the living room, too.


And what to do with the little corner shelves. Those may end up getting resold or given to charity, but I'm so happy with the hutch that I don't mind!


Another big win is that I finally recovered our headboard! It is no longer white and black, it is now khaki with navy palm trees. Now I need to get moving on a new duvet and curtains....we'll see how long that takes.

Outside

By special request (mom), here is a photo essay of the outside of our home! It is a busy suburban street, lined with pre-WWII brick duplexes. Everyone's layout is the same, all of the yards are identical, and everyone has little patio in the back.

Ours is the white door on the right. If it were my house, I would paint the door red.

I would also add shutters.

This is the side of the house, it gives you an idea of the size inside.

The back yard (freshly cut, thank you frank!) is a great size! Enough room for two tables (about 20 people), bocce, and a dog all at once. This view is from the driveway.

Our friends, the Alexanders, gave us their grill because they are moving to Kansas (yay! and boo! at the same time)

So there is the external tour of our home. I hope you enjoyed it! Maybe some day there will be flowers and such somewhere around - I'll be sure to let you know if I ever get around to that!

Back to Decorating

I've taken a little break from decorating. I ran out of steam with painting after the dining room, and I've been working on the curtains for our bedroom for a month.

I'm trying to get motivated to take care of a few things:
-paint the living room
-finish and hang bedroom curtains
-add a second coat of paint to the bathroom

Maybe this coming weekend I'll manage to find time.

Here's hoping!

Basement: Ta Da

We have a basement! Yay! I've always wanted a basement because I have such fond memories of my grandparents' basement in Kentucky. Our basement is the full length and width of the house and I've decided to divide the space a little to give it some functionality beyond storage and laundry.

First, at the bottom of the stairs (coming from the kitchen) you'll find this - our "pantry." Due to a lack of storage space in the kitchen, a lot of our pots, pans, electronics, and dry goods go in the basement on these shelves. It is an odd angle to take a picture, but for scale this shelf is about 6 feet tall.

Hamilton's new home is also in the basement - he has his own little corner with his food, water, bed, and crate. He likes it, and he has enough room to run around and play down here, too. In the summer he is really going to love the floor - it will always be cool. Our 'beer fridge' is down here, too. It is currently stocked with Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero...no beer.

Frank's old desk (thanks, Frank!) is now my sewing and crafts table. I'm thinking of using the storage bench to hold my fabrics, notions, projects, etc. The rug is one we bought for Frank's office but the color wasn't right, so now its mine! What is all over the floor you asked? Well, it is painted cement...so, paint chips.

The striped thing hanging behind the bench is a shower curtain. That is currently serving as my 'divider' between the pantry/sewing side and the laundry/storage side.

This is the area under the stairs. Storage.

The washer and dryer are along the back wall with a tiny window looking into the back yard - kind of on level with the ground, so not much of a view. The washer and dryer are newish, and actually the same kinds we had at the old apartment so I didn't have to learn anything new! You'll also notice the sink on the left, possibly my favorite feature of the house! It has been great to have a 'basement sink' for washing out paint brushes, rollers, and pans. I never realized how convenient it is to have a deep sink like this, now I'm not sure I can ever live without one.

This is across from the washer/dryer, backed up to the bench and 'divider'. It is for our out-of-season clothes and is a real life-saver since we're low on closet storage space.

After: Dining Room (and other musings)

It has been a few weeks of ups and downs here in Casa de Webb. Frank and I have both been dealing with various illnesses that seem to drag on, almost go away, and then come back for another round. Frank is not sick often, but even he had quite the fever going earlier last week.

We haven't let the crud get us completely down though, we attended our third and final Barrister's Ball (prom for law school) and Frank looked quite handsome in his tux

That is the only picture I took that night - but isn't it amazing how he manages to look so handsome when he is rearranging his wallet?! I'm so lucky

We also got some more work done around the house. The bathroom got the shelving unit it needed and now I feel a little more sane. Still looking for something under the sink, but at this point it can wait.

I finished painting the dining room and I love love love how it turned out. The red is perfect and the soft cream above keeps the room light and airy. We bought a rug for the room, and now I just have to get my tush in gear to get my mom measurements and color samples so she can buy fabric for the curtains! (Thanks mom!)

We put some stuff on the walls, too. Mom's water colors by the table and my StoryPeople in the corner. I'm not sure if that is where the water colors will stay - depends on the balance once the curtains are up.

The rug hasn't been placed in its final spot yet, hence the rolled end by the china cabinet (can I call it that just because that is how I'm using it? I think I will.)

And my new favorite wall hanging - a gift from Nana -hangs over the archway in the dining room, looking into the living room. I love it, and I love how perfect it looks in that spot!

Before - main floor edition

Here is the "before" tour of the main floor of the house. Our living room, dining room, and kitchen make up this floor. I have not painted anything on this level and honestly, there is still some unpacking to be done.

This is the view from coming down the stairs. The front door is to the right and the dining room is to the left. We have the same sage-green couches from the last place and a great rug that matches them perfectly. The couches are comfy and somehow have managed to fit in all of our homes, what a lucky break for us!

This picture was taken from the spot between the couches, in front of the small bookshelf. You'll notice that the TV is sitting on the coffee table. I kind of like it that way, but Frank isn't sold on the 'no coffee table' thing yet so we may come up with some sort of solution for that later. In my mind's eye (which, coincidentally has no budget whatsoever) I see a couple of cube ottomans that can be foot rests, coffee tables, and blanket storage - you know the ones that have a tray on the underside of the lid? Those.

Well, Hamilton is obviously bored with the living room so we'll move to the dining room. I'm sure it says absolutely nothing about us that the only functional piece of furniture in the dining room is the bar, and that it has been functional since day 2. I'm going to say that it is because the contents are so fragile and I just couldn't stand to leave it in boxes on the floor for fear of breaking something. Yes, that is exactly what happened.

This bookshelf-turned-china-cabinet may be my favorite feature (after the chair rail that you can't see in this picture). It will hold all of our dishes and cook wear that we use on a regular basis but can't fit in the kitchen. Lucky for us, as Tina pointed out, our dishes are very pretty and make a lovely display. The not so pretty things that don't stack well will go in the portions with doors for my sanity's sake.

And here is the table and that lovely chair rail that I'm so excited about! Once there is paint on the wall the chair rail will be much more noticeable. Below the rail will be red and above will be cream. I'm hoping for some awesome fabric to fall from the heavens from which I will sew curtains. Right now I'm dreaming of toile, we'll see if someone has a toile sale that just happens to match my paint....don't hold your breath, but intercessory prayer might be nice!

The table will not always be in the corner like that, once I paint and put more things away (like all of the boxes you see) the table will come more toward the center of the room so that there is room to sit. I'm also hoping to find the perfect rug for this room, but I think I may need to decide on the lay out before I know what the "perfect rug" is going to look like. I could go huge and try to cover the entire floor, or I could keep the table pushed toward the back wall and use a smaller area rug underneath to help separate the space. Huh, we'll see.

Now the kitchen. It is tiny, it has no dishwasher, a tiny window over the door, and almost no counter space - but it works! I have no intention of painting the kitchen right now, though I can't make promises for later. Perhaps a fresh coat of paint in a year when I'm not tired of painting anymore.

Past the (gas!) stove top and the fridge are the basement stairs. Sometimes I hoped there was a tiny pantry hiding back there but my dreams were dashed when we moved in and spacial reasoning kicked in. Luckily amazon.com and Prime shipping came to the rescue and we have a lovely kitchen rack at the bottom of the basement stairs that holds our cooking supplies, pots, pans, and assorted kitchen gadgets (the coffee maker, for example, lives in the basement when not in immediate use). Some things have already changed! I put the microwave on top of the fridge yesterday, freeing up a little room on the table and inching us closer to unpacked.

And that is all for now folks, the basement will have to wait! Oh, I have the pictures, I just like making you wait. And I'm enjoying that I am getting so many good posts out of these pictures - an added bonus to having 3 floors in the new digs!