Vacation from Painting/Nesting

I type this post while gazing out onto the Lake of the Ozarks (Missouri's version of Ocean City, Maryland, but without the ocean, the city . . . or the Maryland). However, it's still pleasant here, and very relaxing. Just rewards for spending 6 hours painting our bedroom Wednesday evening (but it's done!!! yay!).

I wanted to also post a quick sneak peek at the nursery project. Here ya go:
Finally, a gigantic shout out to Chris and Imran for their fabulous work so far in planning what will be our final baby shower here in St. Louis. Sweet invitations!

painting, painting, painting

Yep, that's the rule of the day: painting. This past weekend, I finished all the painting in the nursery-to-be, especially completely re-doing the closet (which I don't think had EVER been painted in its 103 years of existence -- there was so much bare plaster and wood). Pics to come soon.
And as if painting the nursery wasn't enough, I (maybe stupidly) have decided to repaint our bedroom tonight. WHY DO I THINK UP SUCH THINGS!?!? Well, I guess if we're ever going to do this, it's got to be now. Besides, nesting doesn't only mean getting the infrastructure ready for the Short Stranger; it also means allowing ourselves to primp up our part of the nest (even though that doesn't really fit the bird metaphor, since they don't sleep or live in their nests . . . but we do!). With the bedroom being painted, we'll need to stay with my parents for a night, then we're off to the Lake of the Ozarks to continue letting the paint fumes dissipate. Staying with the parents . . . not sure; but the Lake should be nice and relaxing.

We're approaching 30 weeks (73 days to go, or less), which is crazy. Are we really ready? I suppose you can never really be ready for something life-changing like this. We start our first birthing class next week, so I think that will help us be ready for the non-nesting-related part of having Short Stranger arrive. More updates to come (if I survive painting tonight).

the nesting continues...

. . . especially if our child plans to live outside:

Finally, the 1904 wrought iron gates (claimed to be from the World's Fair) are installed and the garden beg is planted. Big project done.

Now onto the inside of the house, with lots of projects ahead of us. Bryna's parents are heading down this weekend to help work on the house and the nursery. One thing Bryna has been prepping for is finding fabric patterns that would work for curtains, pillows, etc. (first in the nursery, then elsewhere). Here's a sampling of patterns we liked (colors are a bit off, though).

Updates coming soon on the Nursery Project (the real nest).

Project Nest Update: in progress

As "mommy-to-be" is out of town for over a week (sniffle, sniffle), I have tasked myself with trying to get as much done as I can on our house. This past weekend, I was able to knock several items off the list:

1. installed new Garbage Disposal (old one broke) -- this was not quite as easy as it sounds. There should be a big warning on the new disposal box about the knock-out plug (I know, that's a little insider "This Old House" speak or something).

2. moved c. 1904 wrought iron gates from our garage and have begun process of mounting them to our fence. This required significant help from some friends -- these darn gates must have weighed 200-250 pounds a piece, and covered in rust and spider webs. Once they are stably attached to the fence posts, they should make a really cool trellace for some climbing plants (TBD).

3. cut the remainder of the retaining wall stones (a project that has lingered now for officially more than a year) -- this also done with the help of some serious Trailers (friends who also trailed their grad. student spouses to St. Louis for Wash. Univ.'s art history program), and a circular saw with a carbide blade (and it still took more than an hour to make 3 cuts).

4. cleaned out 3/4 of garage (the other 1/4 still needs to be done).

5. picked up new baby-related acoutrements from my brother's place, including swing chair, smaller vibrating chair, and an infant car seat with 2 bases (for 2 eventual cars). After about 5 seconds, Fred jumped into the car seat to test it out . . . no, I did not strap him in it.

As more tasks get done this week with MTB out of town, I will update.

New Baby Building Project #1 (out of 87)

Well, creating a baby blog isn't the only thing we've been late in getting done. We also have a lot of work to do on our old house before another human being can live here permanently. And that includes fixing our 103-year-old closets (hey, at least they built closet in our house back then during the era when you might as well be a Communist if you have large closets).



So I was hard at work last week cutting, painting, and installing shelves for Bryna's office closet (which will allow room for us to free up the Short Stranger's eventual closet for baby-like stuff). After a couple goofs on measuring the wood (which can be such a pain in an old house where not a single wall or floor line is straight), I think it turned out pretty good (just remember, function over form!!!).