Our new (old) dresser

As promised, I am going to post our dresser refinishing project (totally inspired by Young House Love) complete with a play by play by yours truly. Excited, yet?

Here is our Craigslist "before" pic. $50 and it was ours. You remember this beauty:

After sanding the veneer and painting the top, we had this lovely piece (the lighting and gorgeous accent lamp from college doesn't help). Neither does the dry wall that's just hanging out in the background. But we were getting somewhere.

Next up was the staining process which started early Saturday morning in our "work room", the back porch in 95 degree weather.

Hey! There's Matt! I know it doesn't look like it, but I swear he has pants on.

Hey! There's my belly and me staining away. Cute angle of the baby bump, huh? Actually, I've included this pic because of the prominent dog tounge featured in the background. Boone makes yet another cameo. Who knows where Java was - probably off with Duck Baby (who is alive and well).

The finished product! I skipped the rest of the process because I don't want to lose what little readership I have. Behold my new mod dresser! It's even better than I hoped it would turn out. Matt added some legs to give it a lighter look and to match the crib, but he forgot I am only 5'3" and it's a little too short. So, we'll have to take it down a couple of inches.

Things are starting to come together!

Busy Bees

This weekend was super busy. We started to refinish the dresser, Matt finished the trim in the baby's room and I finally finished registering. My sister and Mom met me for the registry blitz and it was pretty overwhelming! Like 5 hours of overwhelming. I am so glad they donated their time to helping me figure out all that we will need, but I am pretty sure they wanted to do a little Baby P shopping, too. It was hard for us to stay focused on the big stuff and not get sidetracked with the cute clothes. One thing is for sure: between two Grandmommys and three Aunties, I think Baby P is not going to have a shortage of lovely ladies who want to spoil him! Oh and add Mama in there, too.

I can't wait to show everyone the finished dresser! My back was paying for it this weekend, but it's really going to look great. It's exciting to see the room coming together. I keep looking at the crib and thinking, "my child is going to be sleeping in there soon - so surreal!"

In other news - I am 23 weeks today and my baby "bump" is now much more than a bump. I am still feeling great but it sure is hard to get out of bed in the morning. Oh wait, that was pre-pregnancy, too. Baby P is moving around a lot and Matt can feel it every once in a while, which is fun. But due to the anterior positioning of my placenta (non-Dr.'s terms: it's in the front), it might be a little longer until he is getting the full force kicks. He's still a papaya!

And since Matt doesn't get enough love on the blog, I will post some pics of his handsome face working on our various projects. I really don't know how any of this would get done without him. Here's a secret - sometimes I say "WE did this" or "WE did that" - well sometimes it's really "MATT did that". I gotta give him his props. I am one lucky lady. Maybe I can even coax him into modeling with the new Baby Bjorn Leigh got us! That would really be something worth checking back for.

a little sneak peek

In design school - and with work - we come up with mood boards in order to visualize and create a certain look or feel for a project. Textures, colors and inspiration all make up an overall theme. So when I finally started to get a more concrete idea of the nursery, I wanted to throw together a little mini-mood board. Bonus to you, readers: this will also illustrate to everyone what a dork I am.

 

Week 22 - Papaya

Watch what you say -- baby is now able to hear outside noise from down in the womb. Studies show that baby finds gentle music and your own voice most soothing. Nipples are starting to sprout, and that little face is fully formed. And, baby's starting to settle into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. It shouldn't be hard to figure out when -- just pay attention to those kicks as they start and stop. * the Bump.com

Baby P made his first trip to the beach this weekend - although it was in utero. We went to Tybee Island for Keeb and Taylor's wedding. We stayed in a little cottage close to the beach with Steph, Bryan, Jack, Kim and Ryan. Little Steph and her husband, Hal hung out on Saturday night. It was so fun to have everyone together, even though I turned in around 11:30. I can't hang like I used to! I will blame it on Baby P, not my age or the fact that I wasn't drinking.

Sunday was Matt's semi-Father's day and since his parents were in town visiting Ben and Tessa, we met up with them for a yummy Father's Day lunch in Savannah. It really worked out well that we were able to spend some time with Matt's mom and dad and it's always fun to see Ben and Tessa. I wish we lived closer!

In other news - the crib is being put together and I am having a bedding dilemma. Stay tuned for updates. I know - it sounds so exciting.

This Baby is Bananas, B-a-n-a-n-a-s

And if you are cool, you get my reference in the title of this blog post.

So much has happened this past week! We purchased a car and got rid of Matt's legendary old Blue Truck. That deserves it's own post.

We painted the nursery and finally ordered the crib! Pics to come. The nursery is "Silver Threads" and we used the non toxic paint by Olympic which is awesome! No fumes. I would highly recommend it for anyone - knocked up or not.

Now, I am just waffling on the bedding. I  had to have my resident interior decorator and lover of all things fabric and prints, Leah, over to help advise. Thinking I would do custom, but now leaning towards something easier and more wallet friendly (did I mention we got a new car - this does wonders for a ballooning nursery budget). And once Matt reminded me that, "Ann, the baby is going to poop and spit up on whatever you put in there", I started to rethink some things. Baby P can still be stylish no matter of budget, right?

Hope to get some photos up before we leave for Keeb's wedding weekend at Tybee Island! It will be a much needed break for us.

Here's what Baby P is up to this week (beside dancing around and kicking me in the bladder after every meal). Big fan of spicy foods - or maybe not?

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, if baby is a girl, her womb is now stocked up with her lifetime supply of six million eggs (the number will drop to around one million by birth).

It's a........

BOY! 


I guess my mother's intuition was right. Sorry I have been late on my weekly update but we have been so busy this weekend - car shopping = not fun. Plus, we were really in the clouds with finding out we are having a little boy yesterday morning! We are so excited and I think everyone else is, too. Matt hasn't stopped smiling since yesterday at 8:40 AM. For those of you who don't know, he had convinced himself it was a girl. So, it was a great reaction that had me laughing and crying at the same time. Think: "hit by a bus but really happy about it".

I'll update with photos later and a little synopsis!


By the way, we are a cantaloupe this week! And I am starting to look like it.

Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch. *From The Bump.com

 

Nursery progress - just a little bit...

So, I am feeling a little down today and I'll blame it on the hormones. I thought I would cheer myself up by posting some updates to my new favorite design project - the baby's room! We can't wait until Monday at 8:30 am to find out the sex so we can get to painting!

Check out my new rocking chair. I found one I was in love with a few months ago for $400. My criteria: upholstered, not too puffy and modern-ish. I loved the exposed wooden rockers (this pic doesn't do it justice, really). After some bargain shopping, I came across this beauty for under $200 at WalMart. Score! The slip cover needs to be ironed, but you get the idea.

Next up: the dresser/changing table. I really didn't want to do a matchy nursery and most of the furniture I came across was too traditional and "serious", too baby-ish, or too expensive. After reading this awesome entry on Young House Love, I was inspired to do something similar. Ok, very similar. Thus began my Craigslist search for a retro looking dresser with semi-straight lines and a touch of funkiness. I found this for $50:

Now it looks like this:

But after a staining job, some paint and adding legs to the bottom -
It's going to look like this, sorta:

(photo from Young House Love- this is not our dresser - yet)






















Ok and seriously, how awesome is this stuffed wiener dog from Etsy? Might be making an appearance in the Baby P nursery. Stay tuned to find out the color scheme ;)