Unplanned Front Yard Makeover

Since we moved in, we have had a love/hate relationship with the tree in our front yard. We got it cut back a few times to help control the leaves and acorns but noticed it was still killing our grass. Tim spends an hour every Saturday raking the front yard so we decided to get an estimate to have it trimmed back again.
We called out a new service as we felt like we overpaid last time. The arborist was very nice but he refused to trim back the tree saying that if we cut it back any more, it would die. At that point he told us that it was a mix of two types of trees that grew together. He explained that the tree had another 5 years left to it before the split in the tree would cause the branch over our patio to fall. We got an estimate on the tree removal and after some back and forth, decided to get it cut down.

The man from the City and I had quite the dispute after he denied my permit. He said we should wait the 5 years before cutting it down. Finally he gave in and said " Lady, I don't need you suing the City if this branch does fall on your house so your permit is approved".

I don't think I shared what the front yard looked like in a while. But I know I shared about some improvements here. But this is the difference from Sunday till Tuesday.

Tim spent most of Saturday removing the stone border and scooping out all the mulch in preparation for the cut down. They got everything cut down Monday but came back yesterday to clean up the yard and mulch everything. It looks so bare now. I have been searching Pinterest for ideas but don't want to rush into anything quite yet. I really want something low maintenance so this is what I am leaning toward as of now.

A while back there was a Groupon for an arborist that I wish I bought!  I would love to have someone come out and help me decide what to plant that will go well with what we currently have. I priced a few palms so far and they can go up to $1100 plus a few hundred for install based on the size of the tree so we my be going the DIY route :) 

Charlotte: Month 2

+Getting very vocal
+ Full of smiles, especially in the morning. I am not sure where she gets her "wake up smiling" gene!
+ Sleeps 7-8 straight at night.
+ Started to blow bubbles
+HATES tummy time
+ Becoming  a lot more content these days.
+ Still loves her Ergo carrier and has a new found love for the bouncy seat.
+ Likes to lay on her back and kick her legs.
+ Bath time is growing on her. I can't wait to take her in the pool :)

Have a mentioned I love being this little girls mommy?

Tulle Turkey Wreath

A few weeks ago I came across this pin on Pinterest. I LOVED the wreath and decided I had to make my own. That very day, I loaded up the baby and we went to Joann's. On a side note: The carts at Joann's are not car seat friendly!!

The supplies were pretty minimal: foam wreath form, tulle, brown yarn, a Styrofoam cone and balls, and one sheet of red craft foam. You would also need craft paint if you didn't have any on hand.


Before beginning, I prepped my supplies. First, I painted the cone yellow with craft paint and a sponge so that it would be dry but the time I finished my wreath.

I also did the same for the eyes. I used a smaller foam circle and it worked out perfectly! Since you will be attaching the eyes to the wreath with toothpicks, I went ahead and used those to help keep them from rolling while drying.

Before starting, I also prepped all my tulle. When I first went to Joann's, the only tulle I could find was in the fabric section...the kind that would be used to make tutus. This would work and may be cheaper but I found it much easier to use the spools of tulle ( located down the wedding aisle). It's the perfect width and requires less work.

I purchased 3- spools ( red, yellow and orange) which each had 25 feet. 75 feet of tulle provided me with enough for 2 wreaths! My method for cutting this was also easy. I had a treatment planning book I was using for work. I simply wrapped the entire spool around the book and then cut both edges. Then I repeated with the remaining two spools.

Now that all the prep work was done, I was ready to start my wreath. While watching TV I simply wrapped 1/3 of my wreath form with yard. Very much like my H "wreath" only a lot less hot glue. Next you will start tying the tulle around the remaining 2/3 of the wreath.

I used 4 pieces of tulle before switching to the next color. I used a double knot to tie on the tulle. Keep repeating...

I found the tulle tying to go much faster then wrapping the wreath with the yard. I like to start and end with the same color. I made two of these now and it had worked out perfectly each time.

The last thing you have to do it attach your eyes and nose with toothpicks. Then I just folded my red craft foam in half and cut out a gobbler. That I used hot glue to attach. To be honest, I tried tacky glue first and it did not work so go straight for the glue gun.

Relatively easy to make and adorable!

Charlotte: One month

+ Sleeps on average 6 hours straight at night. I am a lucky mama!
+ LOVES the carseat and moving: walking, running errands, etc.
+ Only takes cat naps during the day unless being held
+ Loves to eat
+ Loves the Paci but cannot keep it in her mouth. Cries when she loses it every time.
+ At her 5 week checkup, she weighed 9lbs, 9 oz ( up three pounds from birth weight).

Charlotte's Birth Story: Just Born

I started writing this post 6 weeks ago and just wrapped it up. Clearly having an infant changes how you can spend your time :)

On Friday (9/20) when I left the office, I tried to make sure things were as wrapped up as possible. The state of not knowing was really starting to get to me. I made sure I had a backup for all my scheduled appointments on Monday "just in case".

Friday night, Tim and I went to Bealls to return something. My upper thigh cramps were SO bad because baby girl's head was putting pressure on my femoral artery. I could barely walk around the store. Even though I had wanted to go to 3rd Friday, we decided to come home. I took a bath, something I never do, which did help the pains in my thighs. I fell asleep rather early, maybe 10ish? However, I woke up at 2am with mild cramps. I was up and down with irregular cramping most of the night. Tylenol did nothing to alleviate the pain and I knew this was "prelabor".

Saturday I took it easy. Still irregular cramping. I went to Publix and tried to go about my normal Saturday routine but I was tired. I did wrap up a bunch of work stuff, confident that I would not be at work on Monday. Around 4pm, my pants felt slightly damp but I had been outside walking so I didn't think too much of it. Tim and I had dinner, straightened up the house and packed any last minute things for the hospital, knowing we would be there before morning. I took a shower around 8pm, laid down and when I stood up, I knew I was leaking fluid. We took our time getting ready and made it to the hospital around 10:30pm.

Once we were checked into Labor and Delivery, I was advised to put on a gown so that I could be checked before determining if I would be admitted. I was SO excited that one of my favorite OBs was on call for the weekend. As soon as I put the gown on, my water officially "broke" and the nurse declared that I " wasn't going anywhere". I was disappointed to learn that I was only at 2cm, as I did not want to come to the hospital before I was at a 4.

The Doctor came in and they went over my timeline. Since I hadn't slept much the night before and they suspected my water broke at 4pm, they decided to let me rest and see how I progressed until 3am at which time they would start Pitocin. At 3am I decided to get an epidural. Contractions were pretty regular and I simply could not get comfortable in any position.  The epidural was FABULOUS and Pitocin was pushed off till 6am. Tim slept on a cot beside me and we both got some rest.

Shortly after starting Pitocin, we had the 7am shift change meaning I got a new nurse. Before introductions could even be made, she was rushing into my room throwing my bed back into a flat position and putting oxygen on me. Apparently, baby's heart rate had dropped when they increased the Pitocin. After her heart rate went back up, they reduced my Pitocin back down to the lowest level until the doctor came in. Right before 9am, the doctor was monitoring me, they increased the Pitocin and sent Tim for breakfast. Immediately, I was again flat on my back with oxygen and I even heard the doctor say " We need to get dad back in here". At this time they began talking about a C-section.

I was not ready to give up just yet. I was removed from the Pitocin completely. If I continued to progress on my own and everyones' heart rate remained stable, I could still go for a vaginal birth. If I did not progress or a we had any more dips in the heart rate, I would need to have a C-section. Because my water broke at 4pm Saturday, they wanted baby born by 4pm Sunday as she would be without amniotic fluid too long which increased her chance of infection.

I progressed well on my own. My mom got to the hospital shortly before 12. Baby girls heart rate dropped and I was put on oxygen permanently. The nurse checked me and I was at a 10. My epidural had worn off and they did not want to give me any medications until the doctor came in and it was decided if I would be pushing or having a c-section. I was in A LOT of pain. The contractions felt like they were one on top of the other. The nurse told me to tell her if I felt pressure to push. Baby's heart rate continued to drop on and off. The doctor came in and told me she did not feel comfortable with me pushing due to the unstable heart rate. They began prepping the OR for my C-section.

Waiting for this was THE worst part. Not only was I in pain, but I began feeling the pressure to push...which I was told not to do. I was also SO thirsty and they would not let me drink. There were numerous C-sections going on that day but eventually I got down to the OR. The whole thing is kind of a blur... Tim was taken into another room until they were ready. I remember them prepping my stomach and then someone accidentally touching it and they had to start all over. I remember having a death grip on Tim's hand the whole time. Then we heard the sweet sounds of our baby girl. Turns out her cord was wrapped around her foot, making her like a little bungee jumper every time she decided to come out, hence the drop in heart rate. Despite this, Charlotte Grace was born perfectly healthy on September 22, 2013 at 2:37pm weighing in at 6lbs, 9 oz and 20 inches long.

The staff were great about taking lots of pictures for us. They called Tim away to cut the cord while they began "putting me back together". I felt A LOT, not sure if that is normal. The whole time I kept saying "ow, ow". The anesthesiologist stayed by holding my other hand the entire time. Because my pain was not under control, they opted for staples at my incision site in order to get me into recovery faster.

At this point, I was handed my little baby girl. I remember feeling drowsy and having to concentrate to hold onto the baby as they took me back upstairs. Once I was back in the room, I threw up but immediately felt better and was ready for skin-to-skin with my little one. My parents and Tim's parents both were invited back one by one for a quick visit. The nurse then suggested no more visitors until the next day which was a blessing as it gave us lots of time to bond as a family of three and get to know our sweet Charlotte.

We were moved to a "mom and baby" room and we were lucky enough to get a water view room. I was still not allowed to eat or drink as they didn't want me to get sick again. It wasn't till after midnight on Monday that they FINALLY let me have juice and ice pops... my first "food" since Saturday. It was phenomenal! :)

I was pretty much bed bound so I just spent lots of time snuggling my baby girl. At 4 in the morning, I was finally allowed up. It was painful but not unbearable. I was still hooked up to all sorts of wires which made it more difficult but those got removed later that day. I really pushed myself because I wanted nothing more than to go home with my baby. Monday was full of lots of visitors and doctors. I was told I was one of "the best C-section patients" by my nurses, so much so that we got to go home a day early! The next few days were filled with lots of "firsts" and it has been such an amazing adventure so far. I LOVE being this little girls mom!

Since I love having the weekly updates from my pregnancy, I am going to being photographing baby girl monthly and writing up a post to document her growth. Here is the first photo, taken the day we got home from the hospital.

I hope to get her one month post up this weekend so I will be all caught up going forward :)

Week 39

+ I was rather disappointed at my 39 week check-up to find out I was still not dilated. I was told that should things remain the same at 40 weeks, my induction would be scheduled for 10/3. The doctor tried to reassure me saying " I don't think you will go into labor in the next two hours but things can change fast so that doesn't mean you can't go into labor in the next two days".

+ The upper thigh cramps came back full force, stopping me in my tracks. Tim and I wanted to walk around third Friday in Downtown Safety Harbor but when I couldn't walk around Bealls, we decided it was best for me to come home.

+ Work was becoming increasingly difficult because I didn't know how to plan from day-to-day, not knowing when baby would come.

+ At 39 week, 3 days (9/22/13) Charlotte decided to make her debut. We are completely in love...

Week 38

+ Week 38 has been a bit of a challenge. It is hard to get comfortable and when I do, I have to go to the bathroom every 1.5-2 hours! I also feel puffy so I am sure I must look it.

+ I know pregnant women always complain about the comments they receive. Some women get comments like " Are you sure there is only one in there"? I on the other hand receive the comment  " There is no way you are due in two weeks, you are too small". This isn't just once or twice either. Its pretty much every single time I go out in public. Some people have no filter.

+ In other news, I was checked this week at my 38 week appointment. While I am "not dilated", baby girl's head is supposedly " right there" and my cervix is thin. She anticipates that I will still pregnant this Thursday at my 39 week check and I am starting to agree with her. However, she said if I am not dilated this week we will need to discuss our options. I have a feeling they will try to get me to go ahead and schedule my induction for 41 weeks, regardless.

+ Its been really hard to plan for work. I always said I would " work until the end" assuming I felt fine. And since I really haven't had too many complaints this pregnancy this hasn't been an issue. But I am finding that now I am in this weird limbo. I hate to schedule appointments outside the office or make promises to outside providers who don't know I am pregnant, for fear of not being able to keep the commitment. For example, I am scheduled with one provider for a meeting Thursday.... in Bradenton... I have major anxiety about being that far away while we are in single digits till baby's due date. I have asked for them to allow me to conference in so we will see...

+ Tim and I put out the sleeper and the swing this weekend in an attempt to get the dogs use to things. Lola is afraid of the sleep and tries to tip-toe quietly past it. I am so curious to see how my pups are going to adapt to having a little one in the house!

+ I hope in my week 39 post I can say " Charlotte was born"... Wishful thinking! :)

Week 37

+ Had my doctor's appointment last Thursday. We officially have a full term, in position baby!

+ I thought it would be fun to mix things up this week! 

• How far along: 37 weeks, 5 days.
• Total Weight Gain/Loss: I officially hit the 20 pound mark at my last appointment :( 
• Maternity clothes: To work yes! Home it is yoga pants with the band up and regular work out t-shirts ( just in a larger size). 
• Stretch marks: None yet! I am hoping this doesn't change in the next few weeks. No linea nigra either!  
• Sleep: In between bathrooms breaks :) 
• Best moment this week: Hearing my OB say " See you Thursday or before" after last weeks' appointment. 
• Movement: TONS! I often have a baby butt or foot visible from my left side. 
• Food cravings: Baby girl LOVES watermelon and it always gets her moving! 
• Gender: GIRL! 
• Labor signs: Tired, feeling baby much lower, being able to breath and contractions although not consistent. Yesterday I felt really off and Tim was convinced it was THE day. 
• Belly button - in or out? In- again hoping this doesn't change! 
• What I miss: Having energy, being able to sleep on my stomach, and exercise. 
• What I am looking forward to: Baby girls arrival ( although nerve wracking at the same time) 
• Wedding Ring: Some days on, some days off. 
• Milestones: Baby is full term!! 

+ Tim and I also spent some time looking at our old baby photos. We laughed a lot. Well, I laughed a lot. I always make fun of Tim's " fivehead" which I assumed was due to his receding hairline. Nope, it was present at birth! Here is a side by side of us around the same age complete with the same 1980's background. 

Meghan ( L) & Tim ( R) 

Week 36

+ I went to the Doctor on Friday and am now on weekly checks. I was up 2 lbs from two weeks ago. I met the last OB doctor in the practice ( there are 8 doctors in the practice, 6 of which do OB). They want you to meet all 6 over the course of your pregnancy because they obviously can't predict who will be on call when you go into labor. I LOVED her: she was very patient with me while I asked 100 questions. Charlotte has switched sides ( she is now on my lower right) with her head "down and low". The doctor was very happy with her position.

+ I have continued to have Braxton Hicks. Nothing unbareable just tightness. I am getting shooting pains in my upper thighs when I walk. The doctor said it is completely normal and due to increased blood flow: one of our body's ways of preparing for baby.

+ I think my nesting has kicked in. I want to clean everything and be prepared. Tim installed the car seat the other night. However, I still want to get in inspected. On my agenda? Packing a hospital bag.

+ Oh and my employer threw me a surprise baby shower the other day. It was incredibly sweet and unexpected!

A fully functioning guest bathroom...finally!

Two and half months ago, I purchased a new shower fixture for the guest bathroom. I mentioned it here but didn't really get into details. Basically, I wanted to swap out the shower fixture for something detachable: both for the dogs and for the baby. Detachable shower fixtures are not cheap, especially when you factor in the Oil Rubbed Bronze. Back in June, Save-A- Lot had a promotion of Home Depot gift cards where you got a $25 gift card for $15. When the promotion ran, they didn't have a limit so Tim and I bought a bunch of them with the intent of purchasing a new shower fixture.

 I came across this Glacier Bay fixture on the Home Depot website. While Glacier Bay isn't the best brand, it was virtually the only one that matched our current set up and would cover the pre-drilled holes in our tile. We went to one of the local Home Depot's and they had NO detachable Oil Rubbed Bronze Shower Fixtures. We walked the store as we had a few other items to get. I randomly stopped at the clearance section near the shop vacs and found one of the Glacier Bay fixtures, box still sealed marked down to $84. SOLD!

The next day we took everything apart. Turns out we had to replace the ENTIRE shower valve to make the unit work. Since that is beyond the scope of our knowledge, we had to call my dad. He of course knows how to do this with his eyes closed but we have both seen so busy that my shower has looked like this for the past 2.5 months.

In my own defense, we don't use the shower in there much. Mainly for washing the dogs but I also have a slop sink in the garage so we weren't in any huge rush. But with my due date in approximately 24 days, we decided it would be best to get it done now. Saturday, my dad come over and we went to remove the access panel inside my linen closet. Turns out what we thought was a wooden " panel" was really two layers of drywall.

All we did Saturday was to open up the wall, check the connectors and make sure we had everything we needed to switch out the valve on Sunday. Since I am HUGE and not very helpful at this point, Tim and my dad worked on this project. First we had to cut the boards to have access to the valve. We later reattached them. The whole process went fairly well. We did end up have to cut out a small piece of tile which made me extremely nervous! This is how things were looking about half way through...

Aside from the whole drywall incident, we only had one small glitch. After we were all installed, we had no hot water. First we checked that we flipped the breaker back on and we did. The new shower valve has a anti- scald feature that comes enabled. It was an easy fix once we realized the cause.After that we switched out the drain (the one item we had to purchase separately). And here is the new fixture all installed.

While we are on bathroom upgrades, we made one more minor addition to this bathroom as well. If you remember I painted the bathroom ceiling a few months back. I still love the color but always felt like something was missing. After completing our Kitchen Tray Ceiling, I realized what it was... moulding! So we picked up a couple of pieces of mini crown moulding and installed it where the gray paint met the ceiling in the guest bath.

So much better! It really is amazing to me what a difference it can make! I think that officially wraps up the list of " To Do" items for this room! :)

Oh this morning, I tested out the new fixture by giving the dogs a bath after their walk. It was so much faster than rinsing them with a cup ( the way I used to). Lola however was not amused!

" What is this thing"? 

Week 35

+ This week I am feeling VERY pregnant. Everything feels so compressed.. Like Charlotte has officially run out of room! Oh and I am pretty sure I am waddling...

+ We got our maternity pictures back this week. I purchased a Groupon deal for Constance Avellino Photography and am really pleased with the way our pictures turned out. Here are a few of my favorites from the session.

+ I have been dealing with HR trying to work out my leave. It is way more complicated that I originally thought. Hoping to have things sorted out by the end of the week.

+ This week we are attending a breast feeding class at Morton Plant. I have been reading  "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding". I find that the information is good but agree with a lot of the reviewers who found it a bit judgemental. Hoping that the class will present a more open minded approach.

Guest bedroom

This  post originally was just going to be about the fact that we added Crown moulding to our guest bedroom. Then I realized that I have never posted about our guest bedroom before. See we don't really have that many "guests" but I was sick of having two empty rooms on that side of the house (we would literally just dump stuff that didn't have a home). So maybe 6-12 months after we moved it, I decided to make one of the rooms into a guest room. My parents were in the process of converting my old bedroom into a "man cave" so I took the bed, sold my old bedroom furniture and decided to make it work.
Since the room doesn't get a ton of use, I didn't want to invest a ton of money into it. I selected three coordinating fabrics from Joann's for curtains, pillows and a headboard. I ended up using the fabric sample to have Lowe's color match paint for the walls. I made the headboard using pegboard. I used this tutorial and picked out a fun zebra print and used solid black fabric buttons for the tufting.

I made the curtains myself using fabric and hem tape. It was very easy and they have held up surprisingly well. I simply hemmed all 4 edges and attached them to the rod using curtain clips.

I purchased all the furniture at Ikea. The dresser and two nightstands are both the Hemnes collection in black-brown. The two side lamps are Magnarp table lamps. The floor vase in the corner is the Havtorn collection and is available in two colors, we went with the black.

The mirror was actually a Kirkland's find. There was one right by our house that went out of business. I think it was under $20. 

The bedding is a duvet set from Ikea. The trunk was  moved in from another room and currently houses my sewing machine. The black pillows were handmade but the red center pillow was a Kohls find. The pictures over the bed are from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

 The room remained 90% done for the past year. The only recent addition was the Crown moulding. Because of the texture of our ceilings, we didn't really have a nice smooth line where the wall met the ceiling. This is probably the best example.. notice the right side of the wall.

While we were doing the nursery moulding, we bought a Pro-pack of Crown and realized we would probably be able to get both rooms done with the one pack. We did end up having to buy one additional piece to account for the cuts around the closet but its DONE. And its amazing how much crisper it makes the room feel.

Week 34

+ 34 week check went great! Baby is head down.

+ No weight gain since my last checkup! Belly is still growing so no one is concerned.

+ For the past several weeks I have been feeling kicks in my ribs and it has been difficult to breath at time. I think Charlotte "dropped" some this week. Not only has breathing gotten easier, I feel like my bump looks lower.

+ This weekend my mom and I made a trip to Buy Buy Baby. The nearest one is in Brandon which is about 35 miles from here. LOVE the store. They carry a lot more variety than Babies R Us. However, I was disappointed because they had a roof leak the night before and half the store was closed. I was able to get most of the things I went for. Baby stuff adds up SO quickly!!

+ I am starting to get a little anxiety about the birthing process. I am really trying not to put unnecessary expectations on myself or think about all the possible medical interventions.

Week 33

+ I definitely feel pregnant these days. This weekend my feet and my back hurt from cleaning the house. I think my feet may even be starting to swell a little.

+ Charley Horses... who knew this was another pregnancy side effect? I had them in the second trimester and they seemed to go away. Well they are back in full force. I have been trying to drink more water, stretch my calves before bed and make sure I am taking a vitamin everyday.

+ This weekend I spent sometime in the nursery, sorting clothes and determining what needed to be washed now versus later. All the newborn clothes and all the bedding has been washed and put away should Charlotte choose to join us a bit earlier.

+ I still have a few things to pick up for the nursery but things are really shaping up and I am hoping to share final pictures soon.

+ Oh and I have to share this adorable outfit I received from a friend a work:

It's from an the Lilmamas Etsy Store. Is that not the most adorable thing ever?

Week 32

+ 32 week check-up last Friday- strong heartbeat on baby. Belly is growing but no weight gain. I also got the TDAP vaccine.

+ We picked up a video monitor at Babies R Us. Tim installed it and we have had a lot of fun testing it out in different conditions. We opted for the Motorola MBP41

+ Tim was gone again last weekend at a bachelor party in Ft. Lauderdale. Typically this would be a non issue for me. But considering the whole 8 month pregnant thing combined with the fact that I had a houseful of dachshund....made for a long, exhausting weekend! In addition to our three, we have a friend's two doxies until Friday.

+ Monday night when Tim got back in town, we went to the hospital for the birth center tour. I use to frequent Morton Plant's NICU when I worked in Child Protective Services. Back then it was the Sarah Walker Women's Center which is where I thought I would be delivering. I found out Monday that they are building a new Women's hospital and Labor & Delivery are temporarily on another floor in the main hospital. The con of this is that the rooms are rather small. The pro? Most of the mom/baby rooms are water view.

+ Charlotte in intruding on my lung space more and more these days. So much so that I often find myself breathless. This happened during the hospital tour simply from walking from the elevator to the delivery room... I thought about asking them to strap the monitor on right then!

Nursery Rugs

I never thought it would be so hard to pick out an area rug. When I first started designing Charlotte's nursery, I fell in love with the Addison Rug from Pottery Barn Kids (PBK).  Tim and I both liked the design and it was the perfect color pink. However, once we hung the curtains we realized it was just going to be too pink.

I LOVE Pottery Barn Kids. I don't love their prices or that they charge a ton for shipping and handling but overall, I think they offer quality products. While I wasn't set on having a rug from PBK, I knew the colors would match perfectly which was a major plus. Their rugs pretty much only come in two sizes that would work in my space 3X5 and 5X8. I was really hoping we could make a 3x5 work, mainly due to price, but when we taped it out on the floor it simply looked too small. So then we taped out a 5 x8 rug onto the floor. At first I was thinking it was too large but after Tim centered it in the room, I felt like it could work.

I looked on the Internet and narrowed it down to several rugs:

1) Pottery Barn Kids' Addison rug- I thought it was a gray but it turns out it is a true tan
2) PBK's Chevron rug in gray
3) Overstock Moroccan Gray rug 
4) PBK's Chevron rug in Pink
5) Overstock Soho Gray Rug

As you can tell from the pictures above, I was clearly leaning toward gray. So last week while I was on my way home from working in Tampa I pulled off at the Pottery Barn Kids in old Hyde Park. They offer "free design consult" so I showed the clerk pictures of the room and she too agreed that we should go with the gray. Then she remembered that she JUST got a brand new grey rug in that day that hadn't even made it to the floor yet. I waited while she lugged the rug downstairs and was immediately sold. They accepted my coupon and loaded the rug into my car and I was off.

Tim was out of town again but I managed to get the rug home and rolled out. Its called Floral Bouquet and while the colors are perfect, I didn't love it.

Even though I had text Tim a picture, he told me to wait till he got home to see it in person before returning it to the store. A few days later I got an email from PBK again with a link to some new rugs... one of which was the floral bouquet I had already purchased. They also had another new rug called the McKenna. As soon as I saw it, I know it would work so much better in the room due to the medallion print: its mimics the pattern in the bedding without being too matchy.

So I had Tim load the rug back in my car when he got home and I tried to return it for the McKenna rug but they did not have it in stock. And of course shipping was an additional $47... not what I wanted to hear. Luckily, the sales people are always so accommodating. They ordered the rug for me, waived the shipping, honored my coupon AND had the rug shipped to my house. It came in the mail yesterday and we both agreed that it works so much better.

Unfortunately, the room isn't looking quite a clean as in the above picture. Its was a dumping ground for baby shower presents that we need to go through and organize. I  also need to buy a no slip mat for under the area rug once we get everything else put away. So excited that the nursery is almost done :)

Week 31

+ I am feeling quite large these days. Charlotte is sitting rather high which often makes me feel breathless and generally uncomfortable.

+ I am still trying to remain as active as possible. The gym is mainly walking/bike and light weights. If I don't make it to the gym, I walk the neighborhood.

+ This weekend my mom, mother-in-law and several of my friends threw me an AMAZING baby shower. Since I was so busy chatting the whole time, I didn't get any pictures on my camera. I am hoping guests email me pictures so I can post all the cute girly details. We we blessed with so many necessities for baby and it was SO nice to be able to see so many people in one place.

+ Tonight we are doing a few maternity pictures. I really wish we could have done the pictures closer to 28 weeks as I felt so much better about the way I looked then! As long as we get one or two good images, I will be happy!

+ I had to move my 32 week check-up to Friday due to a work conflict. Hoping to get a better idea of position and size of baby!

Some Progress

We have slowly been adding one or two things to the nursery each week.... well at least trying to! After we finished the Crown, my next project was to find curtains. This ended up being a fairly annoying process. I purchased the Dahlia pink bedding from Pottery Barn Kids which I love. I knew their "bright pink" window panels would match but they didn't sell them in stores. So I thought I would try to find blackout panels at a few local stores first.

My first attempt was Bed, Bath and Beyond. I was surprised to find they actually did have several different pink colored black out panels in store. Unfortunately, they don't sell them online but they were $24/panel before my coupon. I purchased one to try it and it was too magenta so back to the store it went.

The next day, I stopped by Babies R Us to see what they had. Luckily, this time I brought a crib sheet with me to color match. I found the PERFECT match...

They are the Sweet Dreams Twill Window panel in Bright Pink. All of the Sweet Dreams panels come in either 63 or 84 inch length... except the Bright Pink, that only comes in 63 inches. So unfortunately, this went back to the store as well. I will say, I thought $39.99 for one panel was a bit steep!

So after checking JcPenny, Sears and Buy Buy Baby, I finally just ordered the original curtains I liked from Pottery Barn Kids. Like I said, I originally wanted a curtain with a blackout liner but at PBK's that meant I was paying $59 for one panel. I decided that since I already had blinds on the window I would just get the traditional Sailcloth panel without the blackout liner. That brought the price down to $29/panel. I am SO glad I did not spend the extra money on this as the curtains are nice and thick and the blackout is not needed at all!

I picked up some Oil Rubbed Bronze curtain rods,rings, and tie backs at Kohls with some coupons I had. They also had a buy one get one for $1 sale so I really didn't end up spending much on that.

We also picked up some raw wood shelves at Hobby Lobby. Tim stained them to match the dark wood in the dresser and crib.

While staining them was not a problem, hanging them was a quite the project! Floating shelves always have the same hanging mechanism which is never spaced evenly or centered leading to unlevel shelves. After some trial and error measurements, we finally had shelves!

The only other thing to get accomplished to date are two pictures we hung up Friday night. I picked up two 11X14 white frames at Joann's last weekend. They were matted to fit 8x10 prints and on sale for 50% off plus an extra 25% off during their coupon commotion sale. So both frames with tax were under $20. I then ordered these prints from PrintsbyChristine on Etsy.

We hung them on either side of the dresser/changing table.

Still have quite a things to get/do. I think my last "Big" purchase will be an area rug which has been an ongoing issue for me the past few weeks ( post to come). Everything else is minor so we are on our way to completion :)