Nursery Almost Complete

I couldn't wait to share some pictures of the nursery. It is almost complete---just a few small items to get . Hubs & I had planned to wait until after Griff's birthday to paint the room, but Hubs....YES, HUBS, couldn't wait to get it done. I think he's pretty excited to be having a baby girl. This room is such a huge change from Griff's nursery.

SO feminine!

We brought the cabinet up from the spare bedroom. Grandpa B. made that for us when we lived in our Washington house. We had found an old window in a shed & he turned it into this pretty thing. I'm glad we were able to put it somewhere where people can actually see it now. The changing table was Griff's. It was an old dresser from Jason's grandma's house.

Yes, the "G" on the wall is the first initial in our baby girl's name.....but I'm not ready to share the name yet. Soon enough!

The bedding came from Land of Nod (one of my FAVORITE stores). I love how the lavender looks with the green on the walls! I sprayed the window above the bed with a sealer to prevent any paint chips from falling into the crib. Pretty sure this old window was painted with lead paint. I then stapled some scrapbook paper to the window to pretty it up. The lamps I had--I just spray painted them white & threw on an inexpensive purple shade I found at Target. I added the crystal bling & the little flowers. Very girlie! The little chandelier in the corner of the room came from a thrift store. I spray painted it white & added some short candles & some little green crystal beads. The shelf on the wall was a wedding gift. I painted it white & accessorized it with some picture frames from Hobby Lobby, & a pitcher & teapot I found at the local consignment store.

The nightstand next to the rocker came from the curb. REALLY! I was sitting outside at the hospital having lunch one day & saw a college student throw it to the curb. I love when the college students are moving out---they set all their unwanted furniture on the curb & everything is free for the taking!!! Stupid girl, couldn't you see it's potential? I guess one man's junk IS another man's treasure. Several coats of paint & new hardware & voila! The curtains came from Target & the finials on the curtain rod used to be blue. I spray painted them lavender to match the rest of the room.

We painted the room green just in case the ultrasound was wrong & the boy parts were hiding....and I did keep the receipts for the bedding & curtains. Hopefully I won't have to pull out the old bedding & boy decor. Now my heart is set on a girl!

Well, I'm actually hoping we don't have anymore BIG projects for quite some time. Time to start focusing on baby's arrival & stocking up on the essentials. I bought my first dress yesterday....oh what fun that was! We can afford to spoil the baby when Children's Place has clothes marked down to $1.99!

The Year of The Tractor

Griffin turns 2 tomorrow! We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with our families. I'm a terrible mom & didn't have a themed birthday party. I didn't send out fun invites. I didn't hang up streamers. I didn't even make a fabulous cake. But, I DID make german chocolate cupcakes from scratch---so I guess that is a little fabulous. OK, not fabulous in the eyes of a 2 year old--but the adults enjoyed them. I frosted a few of the cupcakes with vanilla frosting & let Griff decorate them with M&Ms.

To a kid, M&Ms make everything fabulous!

We've been practicing blowing out the candle for weeks. Griff had no problem doing it. In fact, we lit the candle about 4 more times because he liked blowing it out so much.

Besides M&Ms, the only thing the kid wanted for his birthday was a tractor.

Well, he definitely got his wish.

Grandpa & Grandpa E. gave little man this very cool pedal tractor. Funny thing is, Bubs just learned to pedal this weekend. Great timing! He's a natural. He can't quite reach the pedals yet, but put a couple of wooden blocks on the pedals & watch out! Watch out for your toes, that is.

Grandpa & Grandpa B. gave him his first motorized vehicle. Caution--the kid can't steer yet. He's run into the cars & the house several times.

Good thing the tractor is stuck in the lowest gear!

Griffin also got some much needed clothes, a fancy new chair, a basketball hoop (Keith, the kid needs some lessons!), some legos & some moola!

Spoiled rotten!!

Thanks family for all the wonderful presents & celebrating Griff's birthday with us!

THE BIG REVEAL!!!!

The toy room is 99.9% finished....just need a red frame nailed up around the ABC mural on the wall. There are a few more items to add to the room, but overall, it is ready for some kid action. I'm so happy with how it turned out. Grandma & Grandpa B. helped my vision come true.
I'm most excited about this chalkboard/magnetic board wall. We taped up the lines & Grandpa B. cut all the white boards you see up there. He never complained once....at least not to me. I was planning on painting all of those boards red, but decided there would be WAY too much red going on. I think the white looks good.

Gotta love IKEA shelving. This big unit sat in our basement for almost a year before we put it together. It didn't take us long to get it together & Hubs & I didn't argue once. I think we're getting better at this project thing. The little table was used in Hub's college dorm room. I found the cute chairs at an antique store in Iowa City & the rug was from our Washington house. The owners left it for us....it has almost gone to Goodwill several times. SO glad I hung on to it! Rugs ain't cheap!

I thought I better get some nice pictures before Griffin & his buddies trash the room. I'm so excited for Griff to have a place to play (and store all of his toys!).

We also finished up the big boy room. NO, I haven't touched the nursery yet. I want to make sure Griff is sleeping in his big boy bed before I paint that room. The safety rails arrived today, so I'm guessing this weekend we'll give the bed a try.

The pictures on the wall were in the office in our Muscatine house. I didn't have a spot for them when we moved into this house, but they fit perfect in Griff's room. The dresser & the night stand were in Grandma B's house. They belonged to her grandma. I love how they turned out with the black paint & new hardware.

This black book shelf moved twice with us now. We inherited it from the owners of our first home. I painted it black, Grandma B. put on a nice coat of shine, & Grandpa B. screwed in some hooks. The picture doesn't quite do it justice. It is supposed to be a locker. I'm still looking for a little stool to put on the bottom.

Grandma B. helped me make my curtains. I got the black out curtains from Target, a little burlap & trim from JoAnn Fabrics. With a little Stitch Witchery & my trusty iron, these curtains turned out pretty darn cute. The window is ginormous, so purchasing a blackout curtain to cover the entire window & down to the floor would have been pricey. I got the duvet cover from one of my favorite stores, Land of Nod. The sports throw pillows also came from there. The other bedding came from Target & Kmart. The little lamps were a Hobby Lobby find...love the clearance aisle! I made the sports pictures on each side of the window. A cheap canvas, black paint, some scrap book paper and a little mod podge & you've got yourself some inexpensive art. (sorry about the glare in some of the pics)

This portion of the bathroom got a paint job. We have Jack & Jill bathrooms, so only this sink area got a face lift. I found the Cubs picture at Target & the star hooks at Hobby Lobby.

I know, the bathroom looks pretty dull compared to the other rooms I showed you. I'll spruce it up somehow, but that will have to wait.

I'm exhausted!! Off to bed!

please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors...i'm not quite able to focus right now and can barely keep my eyes open & my fingers working on the keyboard.............zzzzzzzzzzzz

More on the toy room....

Last Friday Hubs & I took the little man to the local pool or "big pool" as Bubs calls it. Bubs only visited the pool 3 times this summer. That is exactly why Mommy & Bubs have such pathetic tans. Oh well, keeping the skin cancer odds a little lower I guess. It is sad that summer is drawing to an end. Golf league is over (still have a couple of tournaments left), the pool closed Sunday, & kids are back in school. Where did the summer go? Just means that we are that much closer to Bubs turning 2 and this little girl popping out!!

The toy room is coming along. This wall needs some more work. The big white spot is where the chalkboard/magnetic board is going (Grandpa B. painted it today....don't have picture yet). The white stripes are going to be covered by red painted boards.

We are reusing the light fixture that was in the nursery. Since I will be working with a new color scheme in the new nursery, & this fixture won't quite fit, I didn't want this fun light to go to waste. It is perfect for this room.

Grandpa & Grandma B. have been working hard since they returned from their Alaskan cruise. Our goal is to have this room & the big boy room done in 2 weeks for the big second birthday party. I think we'll be cutting it close! More pics this weekend.....I promise!

Toy Room Tease

Last night we took Bubs to get another haircut. He needed a serious bath before we went. No, Bubs does NOT have a black eye....he just got a little crazy with the chocolate pudding. It is amazing how much older Bubs looks with his short hair.

So handsome.

I'm so excited to get this toy room done!! I had to throw some pictures on the blog to show you the progress thus far. Hubs has been busy painting. Since there are no windows in the room, Hubs didn't think it was a good idea for the prego lady to paint in such a poorly ventilated area.

Fine by me!

We've got an orange wall & a couple of blue walls.....we've got some stripes & chalkboard/magnetic paint yet to come.

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have some more pictures to post. Grandpa B. is in Alaska right now livin' it up with Grandma B. Once he gets back we're going to put him to work with laying the floor. Still LOTS to do, but it is fun to actually see some progress.

Dresser Redo

I wish I would have taken better "before" pictures so you could appreciate the finished product more, but this is all I got. These dressers belonged to Hub's great-grandma. My MIL was nice enough to give them to us, and nice enough to let me do whatever I wanted with them. They are in great shape---just needed a little paint job.I sanded them down and painted them black. I found some very reasonable hardware at Target. The big dresser and night stand are going to go into Bubs' big boy room. Once the toy room is complete I can focus on Bubs' room. The walls in the toy room are primed and ready for some color...stay tuned!

There was another piece in the set. I have been searching for a buffet, but didn't want to spend lots of money. My MIL wasn't using this dresser either, so she let me have it also. 3 pieces for FREE!!! YIPPEE!! It fits nicely in that space and it gives me more storage for my dish towels & such. I haven't decided what is going to go on top of the "buffet", but I had to throw something up there for the picture.
I had my eye on some pretty knobs from Anthropologie that were $6.00 a piece. I needed 12 knobs & after shipping and handling, well, it was more than I wanted to spend. I visited the local Hobby Lobby and found these beauties for $2.99 each. The sales lady explained that I had just missed the 50% off knob sale. DARNIT! But, she did say they would go on sale again in the next week or two and I could bring my receipt back in for a price adjustment. ROCK ON LADY!

I know it needs a little more color, but I figure I'll be pulling out my fall decor very soon & that will liven up the "buffet". Until then, I've got bigger issues to focus on....off to shop for a big boy bed!

Lazy Days of Summer

This weekend was full of painting projects (will have pictures soon)....smores making......corn on the cob eating.....swimming in the pool.....& just chillin'.Rach & Keith brought her sister's kids over Saturday night for some marshmallow roasting. It was a perfect night. Hard to believe it was the first day of August.
Aunt Rachel wanted a picture of all of her nieces & nephews. They finally sat still for a good picture.

Bubs wasn't into the whole smores thing, but he LOVED the marshmallows. I think he ate 20 of them. No joke.Sunday was a warm one, so it was a good day for the pool....

& just hanging out.

Bubs lovin' him some corn on the cob

& a good cuddle with Daddy.
The busy weekend wiped him out........