The nursery - nearing completion!

This last week my Mom has been staying with us and helping me get the nursery in order. After day two, this is where we stood.

Mom and I found this great side table at Target and it matches the furniture that we had purchased perfectly!




We got all the bedding out and decided that we would use the blanket as a wall hanging so that it can be displayed.





Here's the crib with the bedding all in it. I'll have to snap some better pics of it.





I added some of my wall decals to the wall too. They are so darn cute and really make a difference to the room.





Here's one of the shelves that we got at Ikea. Unfortunately we had a bit of a mishap with the other one and shortly after this Shooter got it put back up. Also, you can see the cute sign that we had made for Parker's nursery.




It's coming along and actually looks sooooooo much better today. I will snap a few pics and definitely post them.

Later!
L.

The Mini Man-Cave - now we just need a baby!

This weekend marked the culmination of the work we had set for ourselves to get done by the end of March. Amazingly we're done ahead of schedule. I have to give my wonderful husband kudos for this. He really worked his booty off getting his man-cave ready to turn into the mini man-cave.

Here's Shooter with the first pieces of the crib. We were mightily impressed with how well the crib was packaged.



It also didn't take all that long to put together - I think maybe an hour from start to finish, if that. It didn't have scads of screws and stuff either...this was it!



We got lots of help from the pups...



As you can see, Morey's very excited and Leah's her usual stern self. :-)



It's coming along!!!



This is the only part of the crib setup that gave Shooter problems. One of the screws was messed up and wouldn't go in smoothly. Luckily we had some extra screws that are to be used in the conversion to the full sized bed. They worked perfectly!



And now for the final product!!



I can't even begin to tell you how impressed we were with the quality of this furniture. It was packaged amazingly well and had not one single scratch on it! It's an amazing crib that we will have for many many years.



Now we're just need a baby to sleep in the bed - but not too soon!!



We also got the dresser/changing table into the room.



Here's an up close shot...


We purchased Simmons Kids furniture from Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory. Again, I cannot say enough about the quality of this furniture and the packaging of it. We're so excited!!!

L.

Nothing like a little supervision!

This is where the dogs and I supervised the nursery re-do. We're very helpful and offer lots of decorating advice.

Side note - poor little Morey, the one laying down with floppy ears, was suffering from a "raging" (doctor's words) urinary tract infection in this photo and we didn't know it. Poor dude started peeing some blood late on Saturday and we took him to the vet immediately on Sunday. The doctor said she had never seen so many crystals in a dog's urine sample before. He's doing better now that he's been on his antibiotics and drinking lots of fluids (a mix of chicken broth and water...he's frickin' spoiled rotten).

L.

The nursery - during (Part I)

Shooter decided that I didn't need to be anywhere near the nursery while he was painting...so he relegated me to house cleaning duty. I didn't mind, really! That meant that I got to clean the kitchen, mop the floors, sweep the rest of the house and then play on Facebook and watch cooking shows. :-) I'm pregnant after all!!!

Shooter plugged in his iPod and went to work. I have to say that it was pretty cute hearing him singing from the living room. :-)

He really worked hard in getting it all done and by the end of the day had trimmed out the ceiling and gotten two good coats of paint on the walls.

While I came in to take pictures, the dogs took a moment to give everything a good sniff test.

Doesn't the taupe give it such a warmer feel? It's going to look so awesome when it's finished!

Shooter has been working on priming the baseboards, trim and doors - and that's finished as well! I helped out by taping the wall by the baseboards and the trim so that we can put the final touches on it. We're getting there!!!!

L.

The nursery - before

The nursery was previously Shooter's man cave. He reluctantly graciously offered up his room for Baby Parker. Here he is working on the last bits of wallpaper border remaining on the walls. There was a really bad nice mint green floral border that the previous owners had bequeathed us and unfortunately it had to go because it just didn't go with our nursery bedding.

This is the light fixture in the room, it's coming down and will be replaced by a nice new one from Lowe's!

Here's Shooter...preparing to get to work! He's getting some help from Big Ed. Oh...and a side story...if you are ever in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge, Tennessee area you HAVE to go to Big Ed's for some pizza. It's a local landmark and has been around for decades. My parents used to go there when they were in high school.

Here are the blank, drab, oh so minty fresh walls of the nursery before the wonderful, warm paint hit them. You can see that this room is BEGGING for a makeover!

I mean, look at that sad bamboo shade! Shooter had a sheet hanging from parachute cord to cover that window. We're so redneck. Oh...and see the magnanimous outlet on the wall? Yea, the previous owners had a super duper outlet put in so that they could put in a tanning bed. Yea........

Well, you've seen the nursery before....over the course of the next week or so I'll show you the transformation!

L.

No way you're getting pink bedding!

So, last weekend my parents came in for a visit - my Dad for a short one day and my Mom for several days so that she could go to the ultrasound appointment. On Sunday, after my Dad had headed home, Mom and I went out shopping for baby bedding.

I should say that I had previously picked out a set but had only seen it online. While we were out crib shopping on Saturday I got to actually see it in person and boy was I glad. If I had actually gotten that one I would have been so dissatisfied. We got a dark wood crib and we have decided to paint the walls a neutral khaki color and this bedding would have been so dull in the room. The colors were not as vivid as I had imagined and it just wasn't "right". Here's a picture:

After looking at it in the store for a good long time, I decided that it wasn't going to work. Cute as it was, it just wasn't what I was after. I decided I wanted something more vibrant.

So Mom and I went to Babies R Us and looked around. We added tons of stuff to my baby registry and then went and looked at the bedding. One immediately stood out to me because of it's bold colors and striking patterns. I knew it was what I wanted. Here is a picture:

It's going to be absolutely striking in our nursery with the dark wood crib and neutral walls. I cannot wait to get it all set up! Oh...and when Shooter looked at the picture online he thought the block in the bottom right corner was pink, hence the comment about his son not having pink bedding. After zooming in I showed him that it was a red and white check pattern that just looked pink in the photo. He was noticeably relieved. ;-)

I actually have a timeline for me and dear old Shooter. Our goal is to have the room finally cleared out, painted, carpets cleaned and the crib assembled and furniture in the nursery by the end of March. It's a pretty lofty goal, but I think we can achieve it if we really push ourselves. I'm feeling great these days so I think we'll make it. :-)

L.