Dots

I finally got around to painting the dots on the our "accent" wall (to use an HGTV term). They are far from perfect up close, but I do really like how it came out! It took far less time than I thought it would, too. The trim of the bed skirt and the quilt have the same color polka dots, which is where the idea came from.

(If you are confused by the perspective, I am standing next to the glider when taking this photo - the crib is to the right of the door you see.)

We still need some more wall art, then again we need more wall art in almost all our rooms. I would also like a new lamp - I find the one in there a tad too bright, and short for the space.

We acquired an extra camera for our video monitor - it is pretty cool. We can now switch the channels to see each kid's room. Given how loud Jack is, we rarely need his anymore, but it is nice to check up on him now and again. We also find it useful to be able to see if he is standing and whining in his crib, or still lying down and whining.

Really looking like a room now..

Coming together...

After a foible with our new crib mattress (thanks Magic Beans for amazing customer service!), baby #2 now has a lovely place to sleep. Of course for a variety of reasons he most likely will sleep in our room in a pack n play bassinet at night for a few months. I am pleased to have this ready to go and organized though!

The crib came in even nicer than I had expected - the wood & finish are of such high quality.

Nesting - continued

Jack's room is substantially different too. We removed the glider to nursery #2 (see previous post) and in its place we put his train table (a hand-me-down from a coworker of Steve's!). Strangely the trains always spend more time on the ground. Oh well.

We also got a red chair from Ikea that works perfectly for reading bedtime stories. Not quite as luxurious as the glider, but at hundreds of dollars cheaper, it more than meets our need.

We also hung a Curious George/alphabet poster which he seems to enjoy (the monkey part, not so much the letters:)

Nesting - 1 month to go

Steve and I made great progress (Ok, mostly Steve) around the house this weekend preparing for baby #2.

#2's nursery has all the major stuff in it, except the crib which is ordered. The big boxes are actually Jack's birthday gifts (from a variety of people) so ignore those in the second picture below.

We have a new armoire (the room has no closet), new window hardware and new curtains. Misc. accessories and the rugs are to be placed soon. The radiator cover is drying in the garage from its last coat of paint. The lamp in the picture is, in theory, temporary. All of the tiny baby clothes are washed and in the armoire. The rest of the bedding, if you don't recall, looks like this:

I am going to be painting large polka dots on one accent wall that mimics the trim on the bedding. The crib blanket (on the chair in the photo below) will be hung above the crib.





Jack's room (pics to come) has a new chair (since the glider moved) and now has some toys and his train table in it.

Fenced

We had been thinking of tearing down the fence in our backyard as it was a) an eyesore and b) about to fall down. Luckily for our wallets it turns out the abutting neighbors actually own the fence and knocked it as an add-on to removing an ugly shed they had in their yard. (This family just moved in last August and inherited the 2 lovely features.

The good news is it is gone. The bad news is that a small part remains (the remaining piece is obviously not on their property, but lord knows who actually put it up) and there is a big mess remaining in the spaces that used to be hidden by fences.

That said, once we get it clean and de-poison ivy parts, it will be, effectively, about 2-3 more feet of yard for us along the back. Also nice, they have 2 boys, one 2 1/2 and one 3 months, so I am sure there will be many playtimes to come now that we have easy access to their yard! Jack is already eying their basketball hoop.

Postponed...

Due to everyone's feet dragging (ours and some of the contractors) we have decided to delay the basement for least for 6-8 months. With baby #2 looming soon, and a busy time at the office (and out of the office) for Steve, construction would be too much chaos right now. We are going to clean out the "finished" part of the basement and see how that works as our office area for awhile. Given how much we learned from living in our old kitchen before renovations, this is likely going to change our plans down the road (for the better) anyway. So, no fun pictures of demo are impending I am afraid.

That said, a new armoire for the nursery should be here in a week or two and I hope to get going on painting some polka dots or stripes in that room too. More modest, but changes are still on the way.