Nesting

As the third trimester of this pregnancy quickly approaches, I’m feeling both eager and apprehensive about having baby Margot join us. Pity us first time mothers, because we really have no clue about what we’re doing, but we’re super excited about it!

I’ve purchased nearly all of her baby clothes for her first three months, all second hand, might I add. Paying $1 for a gently used onesie instead of $5 really frees up some cash for us to put into more important (but probably not so important) things like really cool wall art, and materials to refinish our old furniture to use in her nursery. Those are the things that she won’t outgrow, I figure.

I should mention that since the moment I laid eyes on Heather Mattoon’s Cats in Clothes series, I’ve been a huge fan. I’ve been waiting for the right time to pick the perfect print and order away; this baby kicking in my belly persuaded me to finally click ‘purchase’.

‘Elise’ is the print I landed on, mainly because she’s the youngest cat in the series with an adorable bio:

Elise is 3 years old. She likes to eat clovers from the back yard. She says “I love you clover!” and then gobbles them up, she says it tastes like lemon.

Heather also sent a greeting card of her ‘Morris’ print thanking me for the purchase and for making her art a part of Margot’s room. It was genuinely touching. Please check out her art on Etsy if you have the chance!

To add height to the otherwise washed out room, I went with a mosquito net to hang over her bed; it also does a great job of framing the fabric pom ball I made to function as a mobile. Those will probably need to come down when she starts standing up in the crib, but for now they look pretty neat.

I’m also elated to report that the old mid-century desk I used in college is no longer coated with scruffy white paint and gone are the stripped pulls that failed invariably when I tried to open the drawers. I spent a couple of weeks in the garage painting and sealing away, in hopes that the new silver coat would breathe new life and new purpose to the piece.

We’re planning on using the desk as a changing table, and eventually Margot can have it as a desk of her own. I’m in love with it, especially when paired with the stool we got for it at an antique mall for $11. I’m also head-over-heels for her vintage Bulova clock.

There are still a few items coming in the mail for her room, and we haven’t hung anything on the walls yet, but I’ll be sure to share the final product when I settle on arrangements for everything. That’s the most time consuming part of the entire nesting process, I think.

Happy Holidays!

Hello Friends and Family,

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We gobbled ’til we waddled with fellow military families in our neighborhood. It’s great having my husband’s co-workers as neighbors, let me tell you. It’s also really nice to meet other military wives who know the stresses and demands of our lifestyle.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we are 100% geared up for Christmas. We wasted no time in picking up a Christmas tree and decorating it. I took a few photos of the occasion, since it’s a first for us. Last year, on December 23 Isaac and I were busy eloping in downtown OKC. It left little time for us to set up decor for a proper Christmas.

This year, we’re in our brand new home, and expecting our first child (due March 8th). With all those big events behind us, and on the horizon, it was only natural that we go all out on Holiday this year.

Enjoy the decoration animation while we cozy up by the tree and countdown the days ’til Christmas.

Cheers!

Settling Into the 360

Happy Halloween, Friends and Family!

This post is coming to you from our new house in the suburbs of Olympia, WA. We closed on our house Friday, and absolutely couldn’t wait to move. We picked up the keys and a moving truck in the same afternoon and got to work.

Let me tell you, this is the first time during this pregnancy I’ve felt rather useless. At five and a half months, I wasn’t really in a position to pick up heavy boxes or help lift large furniture. The combination of a shifting spine and a large belly limited my activities to packing and unpacking only. Somehow, it worked out.

Unpacking in a home with ample storage and a two car garage was absolute paradise. It may be something most people are used to, but trust me, we’re in luxury mode here.

Our kitchen is huge in comparison to our previous kitchens, and our oven HAS A WINDOW! That means I don’t have to open the oven to check the status of our meals! We’ve only been here a few days, and I’ve already broken the oven in with a tasty lasagna.

It’s also really nice having a half bath downstairs so guests don’t have to use our personal bathroom. Lord knows we have so many guests around here. Sarcasm.

But really, hint hint. Family and friends, it’s time to come visit again and baby Margot will be the perfect excuse next Spring.

Home Decor

What I most love about moving is re-decorating. I use the same items to decorate every place I live in, but  there are always variations in paint color and flooring which require a bit of creativity. Our house now has the same sterile, builder beige throughout, which I was not very excited about. I was hell bent on painting, but after that move I couldn’t ask my husband to do that (since again, I wouldn’t be able to assist). So, as a compromise, we bought a new duvet cover for the bedroom, and new bathroom linens to add more color and character to each respective room. It worked out really well.

Our yard is tiny, but with parks and a labyrinth of running trails in the immediate area, we won’t miss it.  And thankfully, a small yard means less maintenance.

Now that we’re almost entirely settled in to our new place, the next project is taking on the baby room.

So far we’ve accumulated a bit of clothing, and a crib. We’re hoping our generous friends and family back home will have fun kicking in for baby Margot as well.

I’d really love to see her book collection grow, but we also need a lot of those baby essentials like a first aide kit, bath, receiving blankets etc. Who knew babies required so many things?

Wish us luck on that new venture, because as first time parents, we’ll need it.