hardware and software

We've made some more headway in the baby's room. In both the hardware department, (thanks to Dave),

and the software department, thanks to me!

(Props to Young House Love for the crib skirt tutorial.)

nesting

So I guess this is what they call nesting. Never before have I cared so much about decorating a room. But I'm having fun, so I'm just going with it!

The original baby room ideas are here. The new concept is pretty much the same with some minor changes. (I know, it's ridiculous how serious I am about this.)

So here's the fabric for the crib skirt I'm making - it came in the mail from High Point, NC last week!

And here's the pattern I picked out for the crib bedding.

Do we like it? Kind of gender neutral, but masculine colors. And I think it will look great with the navy blue chair. The bedding is from Dwell Studio. They carry lots of cute but pricey crib bedding sets. So, instead of getting the whole set, I figured I could make a crib skirt, get only the Dwell crib sheets (instead of the entire set) and then make my own matching wall art. 

So how am I making the wall art? I'm pretty proud of this idea... Dwell sells matching wall art for the "Gio Aqua" pattern, but I was poking around on the Dwell site and saw they also sell samples of wallpaper in the pattern for only $10! So I ordered a sample and I'm going to wrap a canvas or two and make a wall hanging! Again, I know, this is really not that exciting to anyone but me, but I'm pretty proud of that idea!

serendipity

It's always more fun when, at the spur of the moment, things just work out perfectly! Dave and I were in NC for a beach weekend with friends and made it back east to the Triangle in time to catch my brother heading west from Greensboro! We watched the game with my bro and then met Mom and Trace for the best sushi on the east coast.

quick beach trip

Let me tell you how tough it is to come back to 35 degrees and rain after this.

And this.

And especially this!

nursery in progress

A couple weeks ago we picked up a dresser, crib, and rocker/glider during our big baby furniture shopping expedition to Woodfield Mall near Chicago.

I took the pieces out of the boxes a while ago, but before dinner tonight we finally took to assembling the crib.

It's just a simple, solid birch crib, but it's heavy and sturdy and I love the way it looks!

The mattress fits and Lucy approves.

Thank you, Mom! We love the crib and we know Half-Pint will, too!

shamrock shuffle

Congrats to Dave for running the Shamrock Shuffle 10k in Madison this morning!
Pre-race - blue skies, but cold temps!

6 miles later, rounding to the finish...

Heading towards the finish line!

Home stretch down State Street!

Post-race, all smiles.

Celebrity sightings!
A leprechaun,

Saint Patrick,

and a great pipe and drum group!

indoctrination

Baby's first "official" Carolina gear from my awesome co-workers back in Chapel Hill!

I will admit, until this weekend I was mostly fired up and frustrated about how Walker's budget bill was going to affect mine and Dave's lives and pocketbooks personally. But at the rally Saturday afternoon, it really hit home for me that this is much bigger than our pocket books taking a hit. Where our money and resources go reflect our values and this Walker's values have nothing in common with mine.

Although I'm terribly disappointed that this guy managed to get into office, I'm proud to live in a community that's not putting up with this crap!

There were tens of thousands of people at the Capitol on Saturday. And I guess there ARE palm trees in Wisconsin!

But inside the Capitol, it was a lot quieter, since you could only enter through one door. A door with a stupid sign out front, by the way. Leave your snakes at home!

We walked around inside for a while before a union group started a chant.

Michael Moore spoke to the crowd and he walked right by us when he left so Dave got to thank him for coming.

It was a great Saturday - time well spent supporting the cause!

weekend happenings

Dave and I had a busy weekend! Lots of happenings including dinner out with friends, shopping the public library book sale, starting a Costco membership, watching a Carolina victory with our adoptive UNC fan group in Madison, joining in on the rallies at the Capitol, breakfast at the Original Pancake House, and a trip to the huge mall in Schaumburg, IL for baby furniture shopping! Pictures soon!

inspiration for baby's room

show me what democracy looks like!

This is what democracry looks like!

Dave went back down to the Capitol last Friday with a group of colleagues.

He got pictures of lots of protest signs. Here are some of his favorites.

baby's first thing

With the other two "baby's first..." posts, I realized there was one I forgot.

This is the first anything Baby Boy Bell ever received as a gift. He got it from Dave, this Christmas, before we even knew he was a "he." Since it was also the first baby thing I'd ever received, it took us a while to figure out what it was! Turns out it's just a super-soft blankie/lovey thing made by Angel Dear. Very sweet.

more baby crafts

It's winter in Wisconsin, so that means you (and by "you" I mean "I") have to keep busy so you don't go insane! At the time I made these in early February, we didn't know if Baby Boy Bell was a boy or a girl yet. So I indulged my crafty desires by decorating some onesies!

In my last post I said a "made" the onesies and "make" is a strong verb. I did not sew these together! Just did the design.

And by "did" I mean freezer-paper-stenciled designs (that I found online and traced) onto the clothes with fabric paint. So, don't be too impressed. If you can trace, iron, and dab a paint brush, you can do this! Here are a couple tutorials:

http://meganmonday.blogspot.com/2009/05/freezer-paper-stenciling-tutorial.html

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-stencil-with-freezer-paper.html

I know I could be doing better things with my free time, but since we don't have the crib yet, this has been keeping my crafty needs met until I can get cracking on the baby's room!