New Art

I totally made this!
*Note: I just found this post and apparently never published it. Oops.  It should have been posted around this time last year, but hey...better late than never right? Right.  So, check it out.*

Saw the idea on Pinterest...and decided we'd try it for the nursery.  It was actually messier than I anticipated, but relatively easy to do and we are really thrilled with the results.  It now has a home in the nursery :)

If you decide to try this be aware; 1. lining up the crayons so they are straight is more difficult than you'd think. 2. Make sure you use a hair dryer that blows perfectly straight out (see all the crazy splatters going diagonally across the canvas?...yeah, they also went on the walls) 3. Cover the area you are working in REALLY well (see note 2.)  The hair dryer I used had a tendency to blow multiple directions causing hot wax to fly off the canvas and on the bathroom wall, floor, counter, mirror, my hand and foot, the rug...Most of it cleaned up pretty easily except for the textured wall.  Fortunately I was able to do a quick touch up with craft paint over those spots so you can't see it.  We will end up painting the bathroom again at some point because it needed a second coat anyway.  But, be warned...hot wax is HOT. :) 

I used an old canvas I had laying around and had to paint over something, but taking time to paint the canvas, pick out colors, line them up, glue the crayons down and melt the wax it probably only took me 1-2 hours which is pretty good.  Cleanup took a little bit, but would have been much better if I'd thought ahead a little more.

So, Happy Crafting!

37 Weeks

I know it is a crummy up shot.  

That is because the camera was sitting on the edge of the sofa.  

You get the idea though. :)

Nursery Time

This was given to us by Ryan's sister.

It's so wonderful!  It matches our mural.

 This is hanging above the crib.  You can't see the detail, but it's much prettier in person!

 This cute little replica of our mural was made from craft foam by a family friend.

It is now secured to the wall with the fun little yarn hedgehogs using the shelf.

 And this is our completed mural.

I think our little girl will know her name!  It's plastered everywhere in her room. Hehe.  We are so thankful to have been so blessed by our friends and family helping us prepare for her arrival. Sometimes I just sit in the nursery and stare at all the pretties we've received.  It is an amazing blessing!



Childbirthing Class...really?

A few months ago my OB handed me a folder with lots of information in it to read when I got home.  I saw a flyer for Childbirth and Breastfeeding classes offered by the hospital at no charge and was thrilled.  I knew we needed to go to these and was excited to get tips on things we could do to prepare for birth, as well as excersises to practice for labor. 

At the beginning of November we went to our first class.  There were 3 classes scheduled for Childbirthing, and 1 for Breastfeeding (we'll attend that one tomorrow).  We went to our first class and to my horror arrived 2 minutes late( I HATE being late to anything.  I'd rather be 20 minutes early sitting there twiddling my thumbs than walk in 1 minute late.)  Sure enough the instructor was already well into her lecture.  I never did learn her name.  I don't even know if she actually introduced herself.  It still bothers me that I don't know her name. 

Well, everything I expected class to be was wrong.  This was not meant to be a hands on experience where you practice techniques for getting through childbirth.  Nope.  This was a full on 'what they should have taught in sex education' class.  Let me tell you, if they taught this in sex ed in high school or middle school, or both, the teen pregnancy rate would decrease dramatically!  I was already pregnant and somewhat prepared, and kept thinking; "REALLY?  I have to do WHAT?  Can we turn this car around?  Is there any way to take it back...maybe we can press pause and do this whole baby thing in 10 more years."  Don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED we are having a baby, and it's something we knew we wanted....but holy cow graphic videos batman.

So what was class?
Night 1: Well, the first was a powerpoint about the stages of labor, what happens during/after delivery, and a video of a live birth.  On the first night.  Two hours.  I watched a mucus covered baby come out of a woman's vajayjay.  I could have gone my whole life without watching that.  I don't want to see my own baby coming out of me, much less someone else's.  Also, there was a table with about 30 different props sitting at the front of the room.  I thought, well, at least we'll have SOME hands on with all that stuff....nope.  It just sat there.  I think she picked up one thing on the table the whole time. Well, actually two things.  She used a baby doll and a skeleton of a pelvis to show us how the baby should be positioned and move through the birth canal. 

Night 2: This was a video of a c-section.  Could have gone my whole life without watching that.  A second video that showed a number of women in labor.  I think this was an attempt to teach us birthing/relaxation techniques.  I didn't get much from it except that a lot of women in the video used a birthing ball and one sat in the shower a lot.  Being in the shower sounded like it could be useful.  I logged it in the back of my brain.  Then we took a tour of the hospital.  This was quite useful and reassuring becuase she told us about some of the many security measures in place to keep baby and mom protected from crazies.  I felt a lot better about that after hearing what lengths they go to for protection.  The tour was good, but there is a large part under construction so it was a bit disjointed.  What I took away from the tour was that the showers don't drain properly (which means the ONE thing I thought would be most helpful as demonstrated by the video was probably the ONE thing I'd be least encouraged to use to cope with labor).  Awesome.  Oh well. 

Night 3: A pediatrician came to talk to us about what happens once baby is born.  She told us some of the things they check for in baby and gave us a timeline of checkups/vaccines during the first year.  That was helpful.  And we got to leave early. On the way out they gave us some free diapers and wipes.  Not many, but it was a nice freebie from Huggies who donated them to the hospital.

Tomorrow we go to a class about breastfeeding.  I have no idea what to expect after what we got during the childbirth class. If anything significant happens you'll hear about it.


Although the class wasn't what I expected or hoped for, it did present some useful information.  My initial OMG after the first video or two has subsided and I'm at peace with whatever happens.  I'd still like to take some sort of class that teaches actual excersises for during labor, but I don't think that is going to happen.  I managed to find a handful of resources online that gave me some ideas, but I figure my body will tell me what I need when I need it and we'll just figure it out as we go. 

Adventure; HERE WE COME!!!!

Nesting?...Maybe.

About 2 weeks ago I finally ordered a shelf to get the garage in better order.  This is something I've wanted to do for quite some time, but could never manage to part with the money for the shelf, so I used some birthday money and made it happen.  Last Friday I came home from work fully intending to take a nap, after I brought packages in off the porch, but then had the sudden overwhelming NEED to clear the cabinets in my kitchen and reorganize.  (This was most likely spurred on by the other things I purchased when I bought that free standing shelf.  Things like an in-drawer knife block, a cookie sheet organizer, and some on the door pantry shelving for baggies and aluminum foil.)  So, I did.  I sat down in the floor with all my pots, pans, lids, cookie sheets, and baking stones and completely rearranged the cabinets surrounding the stove.  I even wiped out the cabinets.  It felt nice.  Until I stood up....then I was in some pain from sitting on the hard wood floor for so long.  But, I was proud of the progress.  Then I went to the living room and decided I had earned some rest time, sat down to read, and about one whole minute later jumped back up and went back to the kitchen.  I started staring at the pantry.  It just made my skin crawl.  It had been bugging me for a number of weeks, but hadn't had the energy to deal with it....so now that I did, well, it had to happen immediately.  I took everything I could reach off the shelf.  Then, I stood and stared.  There was an entire shelf I could no longer reach because I'm not allowed on the step ladder at this late date of my pregnancy.  I thought I'd just wait for Ryan to get home and help me, then after 30 minutes staring at it I remembered I had a long pair of tongs with large rubberized ends that I use to reach spices over the stove.  I found them...and started yanking things off the shelves.  I had to tip toe a bit and really stretch to reach some things in the back...but eventually I got it ALL!  Triumph!!!  I cleaned the shelves I could reach and put in contact paper I found for $1 at the Dollar Tree, then started restocking the shelves in a completely different way.  It was wonderful to finally have things in a better order, and to clean out old canned goods that had gone out of date.  I pulled all canned goods out of the pantry, because in our kitchen they go on a wire rack on the cabinet next to the stove so they are in better reach.  They only sit one deep in the rack so you can always see what you have, and they don't take up any extra space that way because the space was completely unused before.  I took the gadgets and machines I don't use very often and put on the higher pantry shelf(using my long tongs) so they wouldn't take up precious counter or cabinet space anymore.  I even cleaned out my pot holder drawer, utensil holders and made some extra space in upper cabinets next to the stove for things like olive oil, salt/pepper mills, and other food items used often near the stove.  It was a phenomenal accomplishment.  I didn't touch the cabinets with dishes, glasses, or glass bakeware, but I still managed a LOT for one afternoon!  I was so proud, and was finally completely worn out enough that I went and sat down for about an hour.  Then, after that my husband came home and put together my garage shelf for me.  Guess what?!  Another wave of HAVE TO hit me.  And I cleaned the garage too!  It's not perfect, but there is a definite floor space now.  Instead of having a one foot walkway from the kitchen to the drink fridge and workbench, we now have an almost empty floor aside from some furniture and larger trash items that need to be hauled away.  :)  YAY.  Do I have before pictures?  No.  :(  I'm partly glad because it's a bit sad how horrible I'd let things get these last many months, but sad too because you can't really appreciate the progress that was made.  However, I am THRILLED with the results.  There is still more to do in the garage in way of cleaning out and organizing, but wow is it ever better...by about 1000%.  So, when I told my mom about my wonderful cleaning out she said I needed to be careful because when the clean bug hit her it meant it was time for baby to come on home.  I told her I didn't think that was the case for me, but I'm being careful anyway.   When we went to our birthing class the next Thursday they said if you have a sudden burst of energy, and the need to clean everything in the house, baby might be on the way.  Ryan and I just laughed.  We think it will still be a while before Lila gets here, but at least some of the cleaning is done. :)  Pictures to come later.

Nursery Update 8; Mural

A couple of critters at the base of the tree.

On the left we have Ms. Hedgie, a hedge hog who is getting a flower from Mr. Squirrel. You can't see all the detail, but it gives you an idea.

Nursery Update 7; Mural

Blurry Picture, Sorry.

A little peek at what I've been working on.  This is a little bird on the wall...my dad thought it looked like a fish.  Oh well.  It's still fun to look at.  He has some pals in the tree too!

Nursery Update 6

I made this for Ryan for Father's Day.  He loved it, but said if we have a boy I'll need to make a new one that doesn't have glittery pink puff paint on it. :)  I guess it's good we are having a girl.

As requested

This is me at 23 weeks.

Nursery Is Done!

 Here is the mural on the south wall of our nursery.  It is adapted from a set of wall decals I saw online.  This version has a bit more going on, and LOTS more detail.  I'll post detail shots over the next couple of weeks.

 When the door is open it covers part of the right side branches.

You can click on the picture to enlarge.

 We liked using all the bright colors all over.  We have butterflies, little birds, the owls, a squirrel, a hedgehog, and lots of flowers.  There is a little sign on the trunk that says "Lila's garden".

This is a little shelf next to the crib with a jewelry box from when I was little, a little homemade plaid bird, and my pink sock monkey that my mom gave me at Christmas.

I made a curtain for the window with some fabric from my stash.  Really colorful stripes(the picture doesn't do it justice). And to the left is Ryan's teddy from when he was little. You can see the top of the chair peeking into the photo.

This is the closet.  Thanks to Nicole's suggestion we were able to reuse a tension rod previously on the little window and put it on the closet instead.  The little valance is actually vintage panels I found about a year ago at a junk shop and it covers up the linens stored at the top of the closet without blocking everything else.  I found the green hanging storage at target for $2, and re-purposed an old dresser.  To the left you can almost see our stacking cubes which will eventually be used for toys.  

Stay tuned for more details of the mural in the next few weeks. :) 

Guess what!

Lila Kathleen McKee is scheduled to arrive January 10, 2012!

Getting Started; Nursery Update

 This is my husband working very hard to clean and restore the crib I used when I was a baby.  The fumes were repulsive.  Our cat lazily laid by and withstood the smell so she could stay in the shade.

 This is the first look at what we are doing/have done to get ready for baby.  I don't have much to show, but I'll try to give y'all updates every once in a while.

He is quite proud of the outcome, as he should be!  It turned out so much better than I thought it would and he worked really hard to get it there.  Thanks babe!