Even More Color

As I mentioned earlier, I'm working on making Baby's room a little less "bleh" by slowly adding more color. And even though this isn't a permanent fixture for just the Baby's room, I  think this quilt from Aunt June gives us a running start at some bright, beautiful fun in there.

June gave Aaron and me this quilt for Christmas and there's a fun story behind it. Believe it or not ... apparently I made the blocks circa 2002-ish, but gifted them to my cousin Meghan because they were "too bright" for the sweet dorm quilt I was making for my extra long twin bed at the time. Well, yesterday's giveaways are today's treasures because now I love them and they will be perfect for an everyday play quilt with Baby! 

It's fun to have a combination of blocks I actually made arranged and quilted by Baby's great aunt who knows far more about the actual hard part of quilting than I do. That of course goes for all my aunts and mom who are domestic geniuses!

June says she hemmed and hawed over what to do with the blocks until she eventually decided to make the quilt "on point" and add in other bright solids to complement them. We absolutely love how it came together and that it's a great size for all kinds of activities down the road with Bergill. 

And even though June told me this "isn't a baby quilt," (and I agree because we're already using it for just lounging around), I still think I'm overall most excited to enjoy this with Baby and be able to set it out on the floor for some play time, wrap up in it to keep us warm, or maybe even use it outside, though at this point I like it too much to be ready for getting it dirty. Perhaps a few rounds of spit-up on it and its sanctity will be a bit less intact. :)

So thank you, June, for turning something familiar from the past into a new treasure for us to enjoy with Baby!

33 Weeks

33 weeks and sporting my snazzy new maternity shirt from Motherhood Maternity. I had thought I could make it to the end with what I had, but, well, some of my "non-maternity but bigger and longer" things just weren't working as well anymore. And Motherhood came out with their spring line ... how's a pregnant lady to resist!? Picture was taken January 25.

At 33 weeks we're definitely in the home stretch and things got even more real last night when we attended our first childbirth class. "Labor and What to Expect" at Sanford was GREAT and we're both really glad we went. The nurse who taught the class was one of those people you just want to take home with you. Nicest lady ever and she seemed genuinely excited for all of us expecting couples. She answered questions we had - and questions we didn't even know we had - which eased both of our minds even more. Class included a video (yikes, but you gotta see it!) and a tour of the labor and childbirth floor. That part was of course great because it was nice to be able to see the rooms and the tools that might come out on D-Day. Prior to the class I think I had visions of some sort of torture chamber with people screaming everywhere. You won't believe it, but that's actually not how it is! Rooms are comfortable, tools aren't scary, and I heard no screaming. Breathing easier every day ...

This week Baby is the size of a durian. (Seriously? What is that?! These comparisons are getting weirder.) Anyway, he or she weighs about 4 pounds (wow!) and measures about 17.2 to 18.7 inches

"Star Pupil"

We had our 32 week appointment today and I puffed with pride as Dr. Dangerfield told me he was going to start calling me his "star pupil." :)

Blood pressure great, measurements great, weight gain perfect (ok, I was the most excited about that one), and oh yeah - head is still down! He said it was unlikely that Baby's position would change at this point  though it's not impossible, so we'll continue to keep our fingers crossed. Heart rate is still in the 130s.

My biggest physical change/feeling is an increased awareness of gravity when I stand up. My pelvis feels every ounce of Baby and uterus when I stand up and while it's not painful ... it's a dull pressure that is growing stronger all the time. It seems it has reached new heights in just the last day or so, so I'm still getting used to it. Like the back pain, I'll likely just be able to ignore it soon enough. It is strongest when I get up in the morning (or the middle of the night) which is presumably because my body goes from completely horizontal to completely vertical and everything is making its biggest shift (seems logical...). This probably explains my aforementioned waddling debut as well. Ahh, pregnancy. Just hanging on tight for where this body will take me. To a cute little baby and it will all be worth it!

32 Weeks

Amidst all the nursery updates and crib hullabaloo, I forgot to mention that, oh yeah, I'm 32 weeks now! Picture was taken January 18, 2013.

Baby is the size of a squash and should be taking up permanent residence in the 'head down' position soon. We have our doctor appointment on Wednesday, January 23, so I'm anxious to hear if Baby is still cooperating. As there becomes less and less room for Baby to move around, now is the time to root for head down so he or she will stay there. While there are some things that appeal to me about a C-section (like perhaps less screaming), natural birth still wins out as my preference. I guess you pick your poison - do you want to suffer for 12 to 24 hours during labor or for 3+ weeks of surgery recovery while caring for a newborn? I say bring on the pain and 'get it over with.'

The most exciting news of 32 weeks is that I'm pretty sure I officially waddled for the first time. I am up more and more regularly in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and as I was halfway there the other night, I distinctly noticed my walking method was quite waddle-ish. I was half asleep and didn't make any efforts to change my approach, but I did roll my eyes to myself and thought, "here we go..."

I also have buckled down to face the inevitable and the unknown by finally reading the "labor and childbirth" chapter of my pregnancy book. Some of my nervousness from the 30 week mark has subsided by taking in the information, so that's good. I guess it's sometimes scarier to be in the dark so finally reading about what to expect eased my mind a little. Not to mention a few wise words from a good friend who reminded me, "We were made to do this." That might have been the most consoling thing I've heard yet - so thanks Emily! :) And really - there are billions of people on this Earth and most even have siblings, so there really is no reason I can't join the ranks as one of the people who brings them here. 2 or 3 that is ... not billions.

Color me Happy

Baby's room finally has a little color, thanks to getting busy with some DIY.

I made the valence out of foam core board, duct tape, staples, fabric and some batting and I am quite pleased with the results.

I can't technically credit Pinterest ... I just found a tutorial online. But I like that it's pretty simple to put together and can be customized to any width of window. Window treatments for this room were tricky since there is a ledge right beneath the window and electric heat below that. So full length curtains were out. In order to keep it safe but still add some color, this valence is perfect!

Aaron always gets the glory in DIY action shots since I am the one who takes them. Well, now I'm the loser who posed for a self-timer picture while cutting the foam core to prove I really did make this myself. Millie is obviously a witness! 

 

But after I got it all stapled together, I flipped it over and ... oops ... the duct tape lines were visible!

So back to JoAnn's Fabric I went and bought some darker orange fabric to add to the mix and keep the tape from showing through.

That did the trick so I finished it up by hot gluing some "D Hooks" to the back in order to hang it.

So there she be! The bonus of this valence is that it hides a few of our "sins" from the blind installation. I'm not even going to mention what they are because now that they're out of sight they are out of mind and I'm going to tell myself they don't even exist!

I'm glad Baby's room finally has a splash of color. Lots more to come as the room evolves!

Blinded by the Light

I couldn't resist the corny title ... we put up blinds and a new light so, well, 'blinded by the light'. That's as exciting as this post is going to get.

Baby's room went from no blinds at all to a roller shade that will block light and slatted blinds that are a little prettier than just a roller shade. This picture sequence is intended to show how the roller shade improves the "blackout" effect which was a very intentional, functional decision. 

Friends wiser than me suggested this approach to accommodate Baby's sleeping, especially during naps and summer bedtimes that happen before it's dark outside. The roller blind makes a huge difference in how dark the room gets so we're hopeful it will help Baby sleep better. We're just trying to be as proactive as possible in increasing our odds of that. It can't hurt, right?

But we don't always want the room to be blackout dark, so in the light department we updated our original-to-the-house brass fixture with a newer, still-boring-but-at-least-not-brass light fixture. I didn't even get a chance to snap a 'before' picture since Aaron jumped right on this after the crib assembly was so easy. Action shots are as close as I got because I wasn't about to stop him to take a silly picture.

I will not rave that installing the blinds or the light fixture was as easy as the crib. Not even close. But they are done now and Baby's room is ready to start accepting some more fun things. Like color for starters! So far it is lots of gray and white  but now that these necessary evils are taken care of, I'm excited to start decorating at least a little. We won't complete the room until Baby arrives and we know if it's a girl's room or a boy's room. But a little color other than gray would be good. My plan is orange for now and add in some pink or blue after Baby is born. But really, any bright colors will be fun at this point!

Crib = Baby's Room

Our crib is assembled and our little baby room actually looks like a baby's room now!

Next to our unborn child, I think I'm in love with this the most.

She is simple, white, sturdy and the perfect height. Here's a trifecta of angles. How bad am I going to be when there's a baby in there if I can't stop taking pictures of an empty crib.??

We assembled it on Sunday (January 13) and I have to thank bad weather (which cancelled some Aaron's basketball games for the weekend) for Aaron having time to tackle it. Here's the disaster we unwrapped. Styrofoam everywhere!

But I'm not complaining because it was really simple to put together. (Even Aaron would vouch for that). Literally five pieces - four sides and a bottom. 

When Aaron saw this assembly kit, he knew it was a good sign. So simple!

10 minutes into the process and we're almost done ...

 

Completed! This changed up the arrangement of the room with the crib now residing where the dresser was before. We are limited in our arrangement options (this stuff fills up a room fast!), but we know the crib's placement is the most crucial for safety and we want it free from any danger zones. So on a big open wall it sits!

We're thankful to Grandma and Grandpa Hill for gifting us this crib ... I think it was the first thing they said they wanted to do for us when we told them we were expecting! Baby Bergill will stay safe and sleepy in this lovely crib for years to come ... not to mention any little brothers or sisters that will use it in the future too. But it's too soon to talk about that...

For now - thank you G & G Hill for Baby's crib! Thank you Aaron for assembling it! And thank you Pottery Barn for making a crib that is classic, quality, and easy to assemble!