(Almost) Finished Nursery!

I think the nursery is as finished as it's going to be at this point.  Once Baby Girl is here and has a name, I have a few other ideas for things I'd like to add to the walls, but for now...

The nursery has truly been a group effort.  Brett's dad put up the ceiling fan, his mom helped me organize the closet and shower gifts, my mom made the adorable window valance and tablecloth, and my dad hung the valance and the big lamb over the crib (FYI- I'm pretty sure that short of a bulldozer coming through the 2nd floor of our house, that lamb is never coming off the wall).  It's been so fun putting it together, and I'm really happy with how everything turned out!

Now, all we need to complete the room is a baby! 




It's hard to tell in this picture, but the crib sheet is white with pink lambs. Instead of using the lambie bumper in a traditional way on top of the mattress, I tied it under the mattress in place of a crib skirt. I think it turned out really cute.

 



The bins on the bookshelf look really pink in this picture... they're a little more subdued in real life.  We also still have two shelves to hang over the bookshelf ... that's on the agenda for today hopefully!

 

A close-up of the window valance.  Mom did such a great job.  Aren't the little lambie details adorable?  The tablecloth on the side table next to the chair is made from the same fabric- white with pink dots. 

We got the dresser from a local handmade furniture store, and they painted it for us.  We matched the paint to the bedding- I absolutely love the shade of pink.  The knobs are hard to see in the picture, but we got them at an antique store in Franklin and I think they make the dresser look a little more girly :) - as if the pink wasn't girly enough! 



36 Weeks

Exhaustion has hit me like a ton of bricks the past two days... can you tell by the terrible picture??  Yikes!

St. Louis Baby Shower

The second weekend in August, Mom and I ventured to St. Louis for my last road trip before Baby Girl's arrival.  The traveling wasn't too bad, but I don't think I could have made it had it been a week or two later- it's just getting too uncomfortable to sit in one position for any length of time! 

Baby Girl and I were spoiled with a beautiful baby shower, hosted by some of my best friends Kristin, Elissa, and Kim, and our wonderful family friend Stacy.  The girls went above and beyond to make sure every detail was perfect.  Stacy's beautiful home was the perfect place for the shower, and she created two adorable diaper cakes for decorations.  The food was delicious and the girls were sure to include lots of my favorite things on the menu.  Most importantly, we got to celebrate with so many wonderful friends who we just don't see often enough. 

The motorcycle-riding lamb:

 

The other adorable diaper cake:

 

Adorable, delicious cake:

 

For those of you who don't know the story behind the lambie theme in the nursery (and hence the shower), growing up I had a stuffed lamb named Clover.  I had many stuffed animals over the years, but he was always my favorite and the most important.  When I came across the lambie bedding, I knew I had to go with it.  You could say Clover was the inspiration :)  Elissa got this sweet stuffed lamb for Baby Girl and wrote her the sweetest note about how Mommy had Clover growing up, and that this was Baby Girl's very own Clover. 

 

We played two fun games, "Getting to Know Momma Marisa", and "Guess the Price of the Baby Item":

 

My wonderful sister-in-law Jessica came all the way from Memphis to join in the festivities:

 

Krissy and me:

 

Kim and me (with my belly looking like it's about to knock her over):

 

Elissa and me:

 

A special thanks to my talented friend Tera, who graciously took all of these great pictures! 

Tera and me:

 

 

 

That night, we went out to celebrate my 30th birthday at Bar Louie, one of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis.  We had delicious food, great company, and the yummiest cupcakes ever (thanks Krissy!)

 

It was a wonderful weekend and a great "last hurrah" roadtrip.  When we were coming home on Sunday, I was reflecting on how strange it was that I wouldn't be traveling again for several months.  It seems we are always on the go, and always have trips planned.  While it's strange to know that we are settled in for awhile, it's a really good feeling too!  

 

 

 

34 Weeks

Getting so close... and so big!  I will hopefully catch up this weekend and add some pictures from my showers and the nursery!

32 Weeks

Please ignore the bad hair and tired look... It's been a long week already and it's only Tuesday!

30 Weeks

Hard to believe we're down to less than 10 weeks to go.  Also even more hard to believe that I will be considered full-term in less than 7 weeks! (7 makes me feel a little panicky- 10 I can handle.)  I was 30 weeks on Tuesday.  Here's the belly pic:

I'm still feeling pretty good.  I'm not sleeping great, but I feel good besides that so I really can't complain! 

We are officially back to work now, which means summer is officially over.  While part of me wishes it would never end (as I always do), it is good to get back into a routine.  As great as vacation is, I've decided that I really need to be in a routine to feel like I'm a productive member of society.  And since we still have quite a bit to do before Baby Girl arrives, productive is good! 

We are making great progress on the nursery.  We picked the dresser up yesterday and will hopefully get the bookshelf put together this weekend.  My mom is also getting ready to make window treatments, and we got the fabric for those picked out this week.  I promise I'll update with pictures soon, but it's a mess at the moment! 

I have a big birthday coming up this week, and then Mom and I are headed to St. Louis next weekend for my shower and a little birthday celebration with some of my favorite girls.  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone, and this will definitely be my last trip out of town before Baby Girl! 

28 Weeks