Just a peek!

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! I am so thankful for all of my wonderful blessings & for this exciting time in our lives =)

Work was closed for the majority of the week & we were able to get SO much done in the nursery. It is as this point...complete & ready for baby bean!

I thought I would show you just a peek of what it looks like now. Hopefully when my mom comes & stays for awhile we can finish the decorating part. There isn't much on walls, other than what was already there to begin with (when it was a guest bedroom) so I am excited to have her here to help with the final touches.

I still want to get a nice big rug for the floor & still need to buy a clothes hamper, but for now it will do!

Here is looking in from the doorway

Side view

I wanted a recliner, swivel rocker more than anything! SO I had to sacrifce some space in order to get it. Because of that, we had to put the changing table in front of the window. It actually worked out quite well! However, I'm afraid my roman shade will turn into a "canvas" for baby bean to "do his best work" on! haha

My mom found this changing table on Craigs List & got it for $10. I had looked & looked for one that was reasonably priced that had drawers or an old dresser that we could turn into a changing table. NOTHING came close to this bargain & since Matt said we didn't need one anyway, I figured this was as good as it was going to be! =) We even painted it to match the other furniture in the room & distressed it too. I got the baskets at Hobby Lobby on sale as well so I KNOW I couldn't have found anything cheaper & we LOVE the way it turned out!

This is the other side of the room & as you can see, not quite all oranized & the dresser is definitely getting an update on decorations soon. Most of what I have on it now are odds & ends that will end up finding another place sooner or later. I also have a pile of things on the floor that need put away too!

For now we had to put Matt's toy box in the attic, but when we no longer need the changing table, we will switch that out.

I can't believe there is only 1 week left until my due date!

Other than a FEW issues, I have felt really great right up until NOW. I really do thank God for allowing me to make it this far without being too entirely miserable. I mean, I had my moments...sometimes the difficulty of doing things just got to me, but nothing was really painful or sore (NOT counting the kidney stone episode!) 

I noticed over Thanksgiving that the baby must have begun to drop, because the pressure on my pelvis & hips started REALLY hurting! Sleeping is so hard & I never knew it was going to be that sore trying to turn over & get out of bed. Plus I have started having a lot more contractions this week. Not just the little stuff that I called "warming up" Braxton Hicks, but MAJOR hard, can't walk until it's over, contractions. They have never gotten completely consitent (even after lasting every so often in a 2 hour span) but I just have this feeling I "might" go earlier. I will find out at my Dr.'s appointment Dec. 1st what my progress will be & hopefully we will know when baby bean plans to make his arrival!!

Since it could be "any time", I have had his bag packed & sitting in the crib for a couple weeks now. My mother in law got him the most adorable going home outfit & little shoes. It is a big deal to have a "going home" outfit that is more like a keep sake in the long run. Lela has all 3 of her boys outfits in a shadow box with other momentos so I plan to keep that tradition with our kids. We thought about getting Matt's little outfit out of the box for Greyson to wear home, but I think having his own will be special to keep too.

I just love the little shoes!

Close up showing the little train!

Here is his bag all packed & ready to go!

Now I know there is some controversy about having the bumper pads in the crib...however, when we took our parenting class at the hospital, the nurse told us that it is really just a preference & she had them with all of her kids. Of course our crib is also outdated & supposedly not up to standard either, but they have safety latches now that can be used on older cribs to make them meet all the regulations. SO with all of that taken care of, we should be good to go!

Mobile Project

Most everyone has heard of Pinterest these days...if you haven't you are really missing out on a fun website!

http://www.pinterest.com/

It is a really neat site that allows you to pin pictures & fun ideas onto boards so you can do fun projects at home. I have gotten lots of decorating ideas that I have used & have even accomplished a couple projects as well.

This is a project that I found on Pinterest using paint chips to make a mobile or really just a fun decoration for any room. I wanted something different that would have the accent colors in it for the nursery & what better way to do that than to use paint chips! You can match those right up to the colors in your room!

So I went to work on it & thought I would share how it went.

Step 1:

Go to any store that has paint chips & grab a ton!

My brothers girlfriend Richelle & I took on this mission...I'm not sure just how "complimentary" the paint chips are but between the 2 of us we gathered several different colors & had stacks & stacks when we got home! haha

Step 2:

Gather supplies

I bought some wooden dowel rods, stick glue, some metal rings & twine. I already had a creative memories circle stencil with the cutting utensils, the mat board to cut on & of course the paint chips.

Step 3:

Cut out the shapes

I have seen lots of other cute shapes that you can punch out or cut, but following a specific pinterest project, I just did the same thing & of course I had it on hand. I chose the paint chips that I thought matched the best & just put the others away for something else.

Step 4:

Glue the circles together

If you were using paper cardstock or something along those lines, you most likely wouldn't have to do this step, but because paint chips are not the same color on both sides, you just have to glue 2 circles together. Paint chips are just a fun way to get some "free" easy to match colors for your room.

Step 5:

Connect the dots!

I didn't use a hole punch because that would have been too big & a regular pin punching through wasn't big enough! So I ended up taking a sharp pocket knife that Matt had & made my own holes. I just put the tip of the knife in the spot I wanted the metal ring & the twisted it enough so the ring would fit through. Probably more time consuming, so if you have a nifty little tool that would work better, by all means!

Once the holes were made, I just fit the tiny metal rings through & squeezed them together, some pinterst ideas have used string & other means to connect the circles, but I liked this look better. At the point of this picture I started out with a color fade idea, then later changed it to a more bold look. I connected about 13 circles together for each line. Tink just HAD to lay on top of anything I laid out.

Step 6:

Put it together

I didn't get any pictures of us actually doing that, but once all the dots were connected, I just chose 2 dowel rods that the metal rings fit around & slid my circles on. I crisscrossed the rods in the center & tied it with some of my twine. I had 2 circle lines (yeah not sure what to call those) per side & then one that hung in the middle so it would look like 5 across each way but I really only made 9. Once that was done, I tied the twine to the end of each rod & connected them to a little clear command strip on the ceiling. I let Matt take care of putting it up.

 It does move around & since the metal rings let the circles dangle & twirl, it can "act" like a mobile, but I'm sure this was probably more for my benefit than the baby's...I just wanted a fun accent decoration for the nursery & LOVE the way it turned out! It's very simple, in that, I wanted to use more rustic supplies so it would match the room better. The rope type twine & wood keep it looking more "boyish" & matches other elements in the room as well. Maybe Greyson will like looking at it because of the colors, but we will have to see!

Here is the finished product!



Like I said, just ONE of the millions of neat, fun ideas on pinterest.com...make sure you check that out & ask for an invite. You won't be sorry! =)

Time is flying!

*Photo taken at 34 weeks

                                          

                             How Far Along: 36 weeks & 4 days

                Size of baby: 18 inches long & over 5 pounds

Weight gain so far: 22 pounds

Maternity Clothes: There are cold fall days that make me pull out the sweaters & comfy closed in shoes...but every now & then it gets warm again & I can still wear my flip flops & short sleeve shirts! I am trying to get as much wear out of my t-shirts as possible =)

Gender: A BOY!!! Greyson Matthew Crawford

Movement: So far he is keeping to his schedule...moving a lot in the morning, mid afternoon & night. He has moved his feet from my ribs to my upper side which has helped me breath SO much better!

Sleep: Some nights are better than others. I am at the point now where it takes a while to get comfortable & have had to stack pillows in the bottom of the bed so I can elevate my feet, while trying to sleep on my left side...yeah, it doesn't work or feel great!

 Symptoms: My feet have really been swelling more lately. It doesn't take much & most nights Matt gets out the foot lotion & massages the fluid around so they are not so tight. I still have a little heartburn & my back has started aching a lot more...but still just the normal things.

What I miss: Energy! While I am still doing lots of things & keeping really busy, I go at a much slower pace since my waddle walk has begun to take over! Bending over is a process & Matt has had to help me put socks & shoes on!

Cravings: Comfort food...thank goodness my mother in law sends lots of food home with us!

Best Moment this week: Getting my nursery a lot more organized & putting out all of our Christmas decorations!!  

 What I am looking forward to: My next baby shower on the 19th hosted by my mother in law! It will be a "cowboy" theme & the invitations are adorable. We are supposed to get the recliner for the nursery in this week too!

*Photo taken at 36 weeks



The Stroller

Just thought I would share a quick post about our stroller! Matt finally got it out of the box & put together.

We love the colors!

 Our favorite color is green & the gray matches 2 of my diaper bags. Of course Matt wanted something he was comfortable pushing around & also wanted the triangle handle on the carseat so it would be easier to carry...since he will probably be doing a lot of that =) I am glad he likes it & we can't wait to use it!

Since these photos were taken, all the gifts & random things sitting around the floor are picked up, organized & for the most part, put away! It's amazing how many things can accumulate over a short amount of time. =)

Baby Furniture

During the last few weeks, we have had SEVERAL projects going on & I seem to keep adding to the list!

When we were up north at my parents house, they sent us home with some furniture for the nursery. This little chest of drawers/armoire was ours when we were little.

I remember playing hide & go seek when we were small enough to fit in the small cabinet =) My parents had moved it to their garage & said if I wanted it, I could do whatever I wanted with it!

That said, we painted & distressed it to match our crib.

{The Process}

*First I cleaned the entire thing, vacuumed & wiped it out w/ a wet sponge

*Matt took the sander to it a little bit & got it ready to prime

 *Matt spray primed the drawers & dresser (it was SO fast)

*I took an evening to sand & clean a little from the primer & put the first coat of "cream" paint on it. Matt was gone & I was tired of waiting on him!

 *After 2 coats of creamy paint applied, Matt put all of the hardware back in place

 *Next was the "fun" part...distressing Matt's wonderful paint job with the sander to match the crib =)

 I didn't go overboard on the distressing because I wanted it to have a clean finish on the top part. It really does match the crib perfectly!

*The finished product! We have a few more peices being done to match, but you will have to check those out later =) we are getting closer to having a functional nursery, but it probably won't be completely finished until after baby bean gets here. In the mean time, he will be sleeping in a bassinet in our room!

I loved folding & organizing all Greyson's little clothes & placing them in this piece of furniture. I have all of his little church outfits hanging in the cabinet & all of his shoes stacked in the bottom of it. Most things are also hanging in the closet, but I am so glad I will get to use this for our kids now & keep the memories of this little dresser in our home!