The Nursery: Revealed!

I have blogged a little bit about some of the work that we have done on the nursery... painting... putting the crib together... getting my wonderful glider.  But it has been several weeks since I last posted anything about the progress of the nursery.  That's because I was doing my favorite part... decorating! =)  And also receiving various items from our friends and family members.

The nursery has been "done" for probably about a month now.  By "done" I mean that, if she came really early, we would be able to make due with what we had in place.  However, now I feel that the nursery is REALLY done... i.e. it looks cute, too! =)

Here are some photos of our little one's room... just waiting for her to show up!

Found this decal at Target.... had to make a few adjustments, but I love the idea!

For shopping lists and "to-do's"

Sitting area... complete with cushions c/o my soon-to-be sister-in-law Jennifer, for some cozy "guest" seating. =)

Dresser/changing area. The frames will be filled with baby photos. There is also a white-painted letter hanging in the hole between the three shelves... but, since we aren't revealing the name yet, you're going to have to wait to see the letter! =)

 

Found this lamp via CL. I wanted something that would give me enough light to see by in the middle of the night, but wouldn't totally freak out my senses! I may still get a dimmer bulb for it.

We really lucked out in terms of furniture and supplies.  The crib came from Jacob's brother, who used it for his two kids.  The dresser and chest we had already in our "guest room" (both came from Jacob's family as well).  The shelves also came from Jacob's folks.  The glider and lamp were both Criagslist finds, and the shelving unit came from Target.  We bought the crib mattress and changing table pad at Babies R Us, and the shaggy rug at Target.  The curtains and cushions are home made.  I'm very happy with how it all turned out... and looking forward to seeing what is going to be needing to be changed to make it a bit more "functional" (I'm sure there will be surprises that I haven't even thought about yet! lol).
Just a little over 3 weeks to go! =)

Craigslist + Christmas $$ = Happy Me!

Now that we have the nursery painted, I can start decorating and adding furniture... Here's the first addition!  Thanks to Christmas money, after scouring Craigslist for the last week I finally found a glider that I liked that wasn't super spendy AND that I was the first one to (it's amazing how quickly people respond to CL posts up here!).

I'm VERY happy with it.  It's comfy and matches our colors nicely.  Plus, it gives Jacob a little more of his favorite color combination. lol

Go Ducks!

Moving on Out...

It's been awhile since I've blogged anything... I have no excuse, so I'm not going to try to make one... I'll just move on and try to do better in the future. =)

Now that the interior of our house is pretty much "done" (or, at least, there are no overly important/desired "to do"s on my list), and the weather is starting to warm up a bit, we have been moving on to the outside of the house and dealing with the yard. 

I've never been a bit "yard work" type of person, but, for some reason the mere fact that it is now MY yard has changed that tune a little bit.  I am having ideas and planning things out, and even, actually, DOING things! lol

About a month ago I started thinking about the vegetable garden that I wanted to plant.  I knew that I wanted a raised bed design.  I looked a bit at Home Depot's DIY kits, and realized (or, rather, reaffirmed) that I am NOT a DIY type of person.  So, I went to my absolute favorite source for this type of thing... Craigslist!  And I was successful!  I found a guy who custom made garden boxes AND delivered for only a few dollars more than one of the kits at Home Depot would have cost me.  In my mind, it was a bargain!  Then, with some help from my brother and in-laws, I dug out the grass and we filled it up with a combo of dirt and horse manure.  I still need to get out there and mix it up a bit, but here's the "finished" product:

I planted some starts a couple of weeks back, and have been anxiously waiting for them to sprout do I can go out and do the actual planting, but, for some reason, they just aren't sprouting!  I really have no idea why, and am starting to get a bit perturbed as I was hoping to get out there this weekend.  I did have a nice little surprise waiting for me when I came home today though:

One little sprout poking it's way through!  And, best thing yet, it's one of the sunflowers! =)

If the weather doesn't suck too bad this weekend, I'm still going to try to get out there and do some planting.  I have a tomato plant to go in and some carrots and onions that I didn't "start", so, we'll see how it goes.

Another outdoor project that Jacob and I started work on this last weekend was taking down the hideous shrub/bush/vine/thing that lines the back of our yard.  You may remember it from earlier photos:

See that monstrosity that lines the back fence?  I wanted it GONE. lol  I hate it, plus, it would give us about 3-4 more feet of yard if it were gone.  So, last weekend Jacob and I went to town trimming the shit out of it! =)

We made a dent (and found that people have, apparently, been throwing trash into it!), but we still have a long way to go... what we really need is someone with a chainsaw and a desire to demolish. =)  If you know anyone in the Portland area, let me know!  And, while you're at it, I have a front yard FULL of frickin' dandelions that we can't seem to get rid of either... so you can add that to your referral list.  *sigh*  This is our next big project I'm afraid.  I'm tired of having the trashiest front lawn on the block. =(

So.... Yeah....

I know I said that I was forced to choose living room furniture over a new dining room set based on our lack of tax returns and budget... but... well... yeah... I found a good deal on Craigslist and couldn't resist. =)

This set looks very similar to one that I had my eye on at Target.... but much better quality!  It does need a little work (some sanding and staining are in order), but it was well worth it.  I'm so happy that I found this and that no one else jumped on it in the WEEK that it took me to find a pick up and drive out to the 'burbs!  (Really don't know how it lasted that long!)

Jacob and I have some night stands for the bedroom on order (should be here tomorrow), but other than that (and the new TV, etc. that Jacob wants to get), our house is now fully furnished... and I can't wait to host a dinner party! =)  I do want to get some art work to hang on the walls in our "great room" (living room/dining room area), but am not sure yet what I want... I haven't had "the vision" yet... any thoughts?