Growing Up...

I snapped this picture earlier today as I lay Emerson down for a nap...in her crib...for the first time.

For her long nap I usually put her in her Rock 'n' Play Soother in our room, where she sleeps at night.  But she's been napping so well that I thought I should try out her crib.

I fully expected her to wake up immediately.  Or at least the first time she twitched and realized she was flat on her back, that she wasn't held in at all sides like normal.  But Baby Girl slept for two hours.  Peacefully. 

I think she's more ready for her crib than I am.

More

When I last mentioned the nursery walls, I told you there was something in progress...

Auntie Krystle painted these for Emerson...and they bring such joy to my heart!

In my husband's family, each child is given an animal to go with their name.  Sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they begin with the same letter...Our little girl is Emerson Elephant.  And Scott and I knew that her nursery would need a tribute to the adorable animal.  Lucky for us, my best friend is an artist...so there was no question about who would be painting them!  And I shouldn't be surprised (I've been a fan of her artwork since kindergarten) but Krys hit the nail on the head with these paintings.  The colors and feeling of these paintings are exactly what we were hoping for!

The view from the glider is so lovely! 

And, lest you think the nursery is "finished," here's the other side of the room.  I have plans for a sweet collection of frames and artwork, including the "e" that is in front of the changing table.  This is also the wall for the little flag garland.  But despite my nesting instincts, this wall will be a work in progress for awhile.  It takes time to find the perfect shapes, sizes and colors to make an eclectic collection work.

Sweet baby girl, come soon!  There's so much we have to show you...

A Peek into the Nursery

There's the pretty little crib.  The bedding isn't quite complete, and the flag garland will be on the wall eventually...but since Emerson will be sleeping in our room for awhile, we've got time.

I absolutely love the way the closet turned out.  Someday we'll have more permanent baskets on the top shelf...but for now matching gift bags from baby showers look cute and conceal the things we won't use for awhile...like cloth diapers, toys, and sippy cups.

Next on the to-do list is art for the walls.  There's something in the works that I'm so excited to show you.  But since it's not in my possession yet, you'll have to wait.

Story of my life...

Painting the Closet

Since the nursery is a very small room, there's not a lot of space for furniture.  So we have planned on using the closet for all of the baby's clothes storage.  Since we won't have a dresser, we want shelves and baskets to hold all her cute little baby things.  And for easy access we won't have any doors on the closet, so of course, I want it to be pretty!  Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for ideas!

Source: Uploaded by user via Bethany on Pinterest

Source: projectnursery.com via Bethany on Pinterest

As I found closets that I liked, I noticed that most of them had some kind of wall treatment to add a little interest and give the closet a finished look that really made it feel like part of the room.  So Scott and I went wallpaper shopping!  We found a darling green wallpaper with a nice gold print that was exactly the accent we wanted in the closet.  And then we found out the price.  It was going to cost $100 to order enough wallpaper to cover our tiny little closet.  And, my friends, that was just NOT in the budget.  So I moped for awhile, and then started looking for plan B.

I remembered this post by Centsational Girl where she showed how she painted a lovely trellis pattern in her master bedroom.  So I searched for "painted wallpaper" on Pinterest...

Source: jonesdesigncompany.com via Bethany on Pinterest

Enter this blog post from Jones Design Company.  (This is the same blogger that wrote Twirl.)  I printed off the free pattern she shared, cut it out of some stencil plastic from the craft store, and recruited the help of my best friend Krystle.  After Scott and his brother had removed the closet shelf and hanging rod and given it a fresh coat of white paint, Krystle began tracing the pattern...

Then when she had traced a big chunk of wall space, I would take over that spot and start painting...

It was a little scary at first...my brush strokes looked amateur and the spacing wasn't perfect...

But we persevered...and something lovely began to take shape!

(Side note: I had the most terrible time finding a shirt to paint in.  None of my grubby clothes fit over the bump, and my husband is so slender that even his biggest t-shirt barely worked.)

In the original tutorial, Emily offset her stencil to make a gorgeous double lined image.  Krys and I kept it simple.  And I'm glad we did.  Even with our simplified version, we worked from 11:15 to 3:30 with only very brief breaks to eat (or in my case to pee...thank you sweet baby that sits on my bladder...).

At the end of the day, we had spent $7 on the stencil plastic and a bottle of acrylic craft paint...and we took the little nursery closet from this:

To this:

This is the new view from the glider in the corner of the nursery.  I know that soon, much of our handiwork will be covered by shelves, baskets, and pretty little baby clothes.  But I think that this pattern showing through will make all the difference in making our closet feel like part of the room.  I love it!

Snowday! Or...Snow Week!

School has been out for an entire week due to a winter storm.  I've been going crazy cooped up in the house with six weeks until baby comes and no way to really prepare!  To ward off cabin fever I've been sewing....a lot.  Thank goodness I've built up a stash of fabric and notions!

First off, I made a sweet little flag garland for the nursery.  I'm not sure where it will go, but it will be darling hanging somewhere.  And, by the way, that's the crib it's hanging from at the moment...I'll post a full picture of that once the nursery furniture is in place (we're painting the closet right now...)

Then, it was a little gift making.  One of my cousins is having a little boy--due two days after Emerson!  And since the baby shower is coming up, I had some work to do!  Little guy will have a few cute jungle bibs...

And a handmade elephant softie!

Of course, Emerson needed one as well.  I love that my cousin and I both picked elephants for the nursery...It won't be super theme-y in ours, but this cute animal will be making an appearance:-)

I also tried my hand at garment sewing.  Not too bad for a first try!  This cute crossover pinafore and matching diaper cover will be perfect for this summer when we visit Nana and Papa in the Eastern Washington sunshine! (I need to find the right buttons for the straps...right now they're just pinned in place to show off the look!)

And finally, my favorite.  This is a tiny little newborn size dress that I made for my baby girl.  Since she'll be born in the winter, I need a long sleeve onesie and some baby tights to keep her cozy.

So now, I'm off to take a shower before I return to the sewing room.  Who knows what project I'll find this time!  And stay tuned because tomorrow we're attempting to paint a beautiful pattern on the closet walls.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Update: The Nursery

Scott and Uncle Kyle spent some time over Christmas break finishing up the walls in the nursery...They look so much better!  And just in time since I finally ordered the crib and we'll be picking it up sometime in the next 10 days!

Nesting

Christmas Vacation has provided a nice opportunity to check some items off the "To Do Before Emerson Comes" list.

During the break I have cleaned out every cupboard in the kitchen and reorganized all dishes, cookware, and pantry items.  Scott has worked on the trim in the nursery (pictures soon!) and shampooed the carpets upstairs and down.  The guest/craft room has been reorganized after the Christmas gift making frenzy, and multiple boxes have been dropped off at the Goodwill.  We even cleaned our bathroom top to bottom!

This nesting instinct is bringing out my tendency to hyper focus on random tasks...Today I've been obsessed with organizing my jewelry amidst the clutter that covers my dresser.  I have to complete a DIY jewelry hanger first!  I'll share before and after pictures when the project is complete.

And all the lovely Christmas cards we've received lately?  I cannot rest until I have the perfect address book to record the addresses of these special people.  (I will, after all, be sending birth announcements soon!)

The last project that haunts me day and night is the curtains for the nursery!  Mind you, the trim around the window must be completed first, then the blinds and curtain rod purchased and installed before we'll ever need the curtains.  But I have this pressing need to buy the curtain panels and embellish them NOW.

I was inspired by these adorable curtains from the Land of Nod.  I love the ruffles, but want white curtains for the nursery.

My plan is to buy white curtain panels and embellish with pink, green, and chocolate brown ruffles at the bottom.  I know that curtains will have virtually no impact on our life with baby, but somehow I will rest more easily once the ruffled curtains are complete!

I will try to post more regularly on this blog now that we're starting to accomplish some things!  Stay tuned for a new belly pic and pictures of the recent projects!

The Nursery

As soon as we found out that Emerson is a girl, her daddy picked out paint colors for the nursery!  And then we took advantage of a visit from her grandparents...her Daddy and Papa had the room painted all in one morning!  As you'll see from the pictures below, the walls are indeed pink.  Over Christmas vacation the hope is to replace all the yucky old trim and get the white chair rail up!

The only other piece of the nursery that is done at this point is the glider.  My dear cousins gave us their glider and ottoman when they moved.  It is seriously the most comfy chair ever.  But after rocking and comforting multiple infants...the cream colored cushions were looking a little worn...and I just can't do white trim with an ivory rocker...

Before

I spent hours over a long weekend pulling off the old fabric....and sewing on the new stuff.  Whaddya think of the new look?

As I leaned back into the chair to relax and enjoy a finished project, Emerson started wiggling around enjoying the rocking already!  I love to imagine the hours we'll spend here...