The Nursery!

All the baby showers have been had, and oh boy, were they fun and amazing and a reminder to me of how God provides beyond our needs. With not only "stuff", but with the love and support of so many wonderful women, who have encouraged me in the faith and in the future journey of being a mommy. I am forever grateful to these women who allow God to use them as faithful stewards in the home. They are true servants.

Ok! So here are some pics of the nursery. D and I finally got everything put together (at least for the moment. I know you moms are thinking, "HA! Put together! Enjoy THAT while it lasts."). So the room is set up, semi-decorated, diapered  and wiped out, and ready for occupancy! JUST in case Baby DJ decides to come a week or so early...which mommy wouldn't mind;)

The crib we got from craigslist that matches the changing table. I love the finials on the posts- stars and moons:)

My rocking and nursing corner. Rocking chair was 15 dollars at a garage sale! What a steal. Might get one of those fancy gliders later on, but in the meantime, we are going to try this beauty out.

The bookcase containing most of Baby's toys, swaddling blankets, books, and a cute piggy bank that CiCi bought. Gotta start saving early, right? College is expensive!

Changing table, baskets of diapers, super soft changing pad, polka dotted Boppy pillow, and a Diaper Champ that a wonderful friend from church is letting us borrow:)

My dad had this white dresser when he was little. We had my aunt paint flowers on it when I was little, and I recently added the funky green and zebra knobs. It's got a sound machine, clock, cute little monkey shoes, and a picture frame just waiting for a cute baby face to go in it! On the door hangs a super cool matted print that says simply "Love". Cuz that's all you need, right?

Bought this curtain from Pier One recently after getting married. Thought I would use it (plus it was on SALE! haha), but never did. Well, it came in handy finally. Mom and D hung this up to cover the closet (we took out the super-hard-to-slide-doors), as well as the soft and sheer dotted curtains over the windows.

The baby bedding was made for me by an amazingly talented friend (not the sheets). It is so soft and just what i was looking for. The sheets say "i love mommy. mommy loves me. I love daddy. daddy loves me"...we are starting early on the subtle subconscious mind-controlling. The bear is from Meme (great grandma) and the giraffe is from CiCi (grandma). The hat was made by another amazing friend. She's in med school and planning her own wedding, so i'm pretty amazed she had time to make such a cute owl hat!

can't wait to put a picture in that frame and little feet in those shoes!

As full of a picture as i could get.

Three more weeks and this room will never look this clean again! So enjoy it while it lasts, right? Now, onto filling the hospital bags and writing the birth plan...(Plan??)

Upholstery 101- Challenging and Fun

we received this wonderfully comfortable chaise lounge chair from my parents for our new home. But as you can see, it needed a makeover.

Enter Upholstery 101 at the Sedgwick County Extension office~

First class was spent de-stapling...definitely the easiest job. Only got harder from here on out...

Second class, mom was out of town, leaving me up a creek without a paddle, the paddle being sewing skills necessary to do ANYTHING else in that class. So i waited....

Third class, got the bottom cover on!

Largely due to mother's sewing skills.

Batting and Padding. Neither of which are done on a baseball diamond or in the middle school girls' locker room.

Pre-sided.

Naked backside. We stripped a lot of it down, but we didn't have to re-tie springs. Praise God!

This is looking like a chaise lounge...a pReTtY chaise lounge

Plusher. We finished OVER half the job in one class period.

the LAST class period, when everyone goes home and says Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas, we are saying, "can someone help us move this monstrosity?"

clothed backside.

Whew, are we done?

a million thousand (approximately) staples and headaches later....tada!

This was a really fun class and i am sure the next time will be better when i don't feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off. One thing's for certain, if mom wasn't there by my side, this thing would still be the tan-gray beauty it began as.

The ladies in this class are HILARIOUS and it's very worth taking. However, make sure you have the time (6-6hour classes) and the moola for the resources (staple gun, compressor, fabric, sewing machine, all the knick knacks....another thing i'd be unable to do without my mother). Great bonding time, though! Highly recommended!

Thanks, Phyllis and Frances and all the other helpful and entertaining ladies at UP101!

Pickin's

 We had the delight and opportunity to go apple pickin' this Autumn at a friend's orchard. It was SO FUN! They even made their own cider press, where D and I pressed a gallon and a half of pure unadulterated cider! I've never tasted cider so good. In fact, i mourned for a week when the cider was gone...which was like 3 days after we pressed it. I also saved some of the apples to make homemade Cinnamon Applesauce. Another wowser treat. Gluten-free recipes, such as in "Babycakes" Recipe Book, use Applesauce as a liquid and much healthier substance, as opposed to oils, butters, etc.

How do you like THEM apples?

We all see ourselves as bigger than we are.

Agave nectar, cinnamon, and baked apples is all you need for some yummy applesauce.

had a little fun with some cookie cutters on this one.

We had in when the in-laws were in town. Nothing but the best in show for Dave and Deb!

Ohhhhh it was divine.

One should always have a silver colander.

Petie Mae Jewelry online exclusives!

Will be open to the public in 2011 (don't quote me on that though:)!!!!!!!