Nursery Decor

What better way to pass the day at home not-so-patiently waiting for the arrival of our now past-due little boy, than to share pictures of his nursery?  This may be the last time it looks this clean and organized, so take a good look.

We are so lucky to have this sitting room right off of our bedroom.  It has doors if we need them, but I can see the crib from our bed.  Doesn't get better than that!

Chris made this beautiful ruler using all of his favorite power tools, and thanks to our friends, we have a whole shelf of books waiting for story time.

We decided to decorate with an animal theme and picked out three prints to compliment a little turtle we found on our vacation in Bonaire.  A big thanks to our friend Diane for the quilt you see hanging on the crib.  It's a perfect fit for the room, and so SOFT!

Chris also made a shelf from some leftover redwood we had in the garage.  Decor items from our shower dress it up nicely.  Did you know, one queen size sheet set can be used to make a crib skirt, a chair slip cover, and two changing pad covers?  Well, now you do.

The dresser drawers are packed with cute little cloth diapers, tons of adorable outfits (not all grey, Mom), and lots of other baby goodies.  A local baby store rents the newborn size diapers in a variety pack so you can try them out with no commitment.  Don't worry... we have a few packs of disposables on hand just in case!

William is one lucky little guy!

Baby Quilt 3.0

Those of you who are long-time readers of the blog will know that I've been down the baby quilt road twice already for my brother's sons (first here and then here).  When Chris and I found out we were expecting our own little boy, I thought it was only appropriate that he get a quilt too.  Fortunately for me, Chris was more than excited to help out!

We decided to use a variety of animal prints and rainbow colors for the quilt.

As per usual, I decided on the most difficult and fabric-consuming pattern possible.  Anyone wanting to try a durnkards path pattern, it's not that hard, just make sure you use one that's actually reversible.  Unlike mine (notice awesome CAD drawing).

Once we had the pattern and the fabric, we cut out all the pieces (not pictured - awesome curved templates made out of beer boxes - always classy around here).  Then, Chris spent two nights pinning everything together while I was out of town for work.

I got everything sewed together; then, we worked through several layout options before settling on this one.

More sewing, and some piecing together for the back, because I never get the backing fabric quite big enough,

and we were ready for quilting.

We are both really happy with how everything turned out.  I'm sure you'll be seeing the quilt in action over the next few months and years!

(ignore my toes... just be glad there's no belly in the picture.  It was a challenge!)

Now, we just have to wait for our little William to make his grand entrance!

Bonaire - While He Was Diving

So... It's been an extraordinarily long time (even for me) since I've posted here. I figured having vacation pictures was a good reason to get started again. This year, Chris and I decided to take more of a "vacation" and less of a "tour" like we normally do. And when I say we decided, I mean Chris begged and gave me sad puppy eyes until I agreed that a low-key week would probably be more manageable this year. The only catch - we decided to go the Caribbean dive haven of Bonaire while I'm pregnant. And can't dive (I say as Baby B kicks me in the gut). Fortunately, we found good snorkeling (more on that later).

Our second day on the island, Chris signed up for a get reacquainted with diving after living in a desert for three years class. While Chris was out, I took a walk through along the shoreline near our condo. There's lots of fun stuff to see above the water. You just have to be willing to brave the heat and the sun. Neither of which I'm really cut out for. People spend a lot of time in the water here for a reason I learned. Enjoy the pics!

 

Camera Bag

I've been eyeing my friend Amy's camera bag for several months now and, when I saw the price tag on the "new and improved" version on the manufacturer's website, I decided I would just make one for myself.

Chris helped me pick out fabric that he would be willing to be seen holding and I got to work, measuring, cutting and sewing.  Nothing like trying to make something out a pattern...

In addition to plenty of padded removable panels on the inside, I also added two zippered pockets to the outside and made sure the handles were long enough to wear across your body - much more comfortable for all day carrying.

I finished it up just in time to give it a test-drive on our weekend getaway to Washington DC.  I think it was a hit!