Painting the nursery

Well it was a big weekend for the nursery. First we had to take everything out of the guest bedroom in preparation for painting. Second we had to repair some old paint that was chipping off the ceiling. We don't want our daughter eating paint chips. We scraped the old loose paint off and sanded down the edges. Next we had to put a good layer of Zero VOC primer on the walls and ceiling. By the time that was done we were pretty much exhausted already. We let that dry and then started the paint. We painted the ceiling a slightly gray/white color called, "distant gray" and the walls we went with a neutral color called, "toasted almond". The nursery is really starting to come to life. Below are some pics of the progress from this weekend.

We tried a bunch of colors before settling on "toasted almond". Elvis even got into the action.

Christine had to clean up some of her stuff before the painting could begin.

The paint pealing off the ceiling was not a fun task and set us back on time.

Goodbye old color! Primer is never fun. It's so much work and it makes the room look worse.

  

Finally the new color on the walls.

The new furniture and posters are going to look great with the new paint color. It was a lot of hard work but well worth it.

Doc's visit

we had our 24 week doctor's visit yesterday for Christine's glucos test. while we were there we were able to sneak into the sonogram room to try to get a shot of baby's face. she was shy last time we tried and wouldn't show it. well, she must be growing out of her shyness. she not only showed her face but also stuck her tongue out at us. it was hilarious. I think baby boo's personality is starting to show, and i'm pretty sure she is going to be just as sassy as her mother. i'm in for a wild ride.

Big weekend

So it's heavy construction this weekend in the nursery. We've finally decided on our paint color for the nursery and it's Toasted Almond. We are going to use a low VOC line of paint from Ben Moore. Christine did a great job "as usual" picking it out. We're also refinishing a old dresser. It's going to get a new paint job and hardware. I hope it's not a male dresser and appose to a bright pink, because I think that's what it's getting. We'll post photo's along the way.

Graphic Pillow

Christine came home with the coolest pillow last night that she bought from a local boutique called, "The Beehive" in little five points. It's has a graphic print of a duck on it and is going to look great in the nursery. She picked out a spot for it on our glider that we bought for $50 and repaired. Thanks Ashley for the great deal. We love the glider... and the new pillow.

She's active!

Over the pregnancy I placed my hand on Christine's stomach in hope of sharing the movements she continues to feel, only to be let down. I keep hoping that I'll place my hand on her stomach and baby will do a huge kick as if she knows her daddy is there and wanting to communicate with her. Finally, over the last few days, I've been able to feel the baby move for the first time. And it was as cool as I had hoped for. I felt two really strong kicks or summer salts last night. And then two more when we were going to bed. It's really cool to finally experience a piece of the pregnancy. Although it does remind me a little of the chestbursters from the movie Aliens. Fortunately, I think our kid will be a lot cuter, and hopefully not have acid for blood.

Mom's Birthday Dinner

Well, baby and mom had a great dinner at JCT Kitchen last night. That place never disappoints. Mom and baby had fried chicken with bacon mac n cheese and garlic green beans. I had the quail with corn pudding and bok choy. They were both great. If you look closely on the photo above, i'm pretty sure you can see a smile on our baby's face.

Baby's new furniture

my mom got her grand-daughter a gift that keeps on giving. she kindly bought her a crib that converts into a toddler bed and twin sized bed. she also bought her a beautiful matching dresser that should last until she can buy furniture of her own (as far as i'm concerned anyway). they both are really modern and made by a Canadian company called Mother Hubbard's. they are made from Canadian maple and stained in a dark expresso color. i'll post actual photo's of them when we finally put the crib together and as the nursery develops. i found the above image on the internet, so it's not our actual crib. but you'll get the idea. Thanks mom! Baby boo thanks you too!

Mother's Day

well our baby was very thoughtful this year. she instructed me to buy her mom a couple of baby outfits. baby boo was very clear that she wanted these outfits to reflect her personality and love for her mom. one simply said, "I Love Mommy." while the other showed some personality and said, "Mommy's Little Alarm Clock". i'm pretty sure we will be seeing and hearing more of the second on a daily basis pretty soon. the good news is, i've never liked my alarm clock anyway. i'm sure the sweet cries of our daughter will be way more pleasant.

baby's sweet bed

Christine has been working her interior design magic lately. she's picked out some really cool and colorful bedding from pottery barn kids. we think it's going to look great in the new nursery. i'm starting to get jealous actually. our daughter's room is going to look world's better than ours. anything for our little princess I guess.

Pops of color

we decided that we wanted to go with a baby-chic theme for our nursery. we're not going to paint the walls pink or have a over-babied room. we wanted to do something that looked sophisticated but also fun. we want to do more neutral colored walls, with dark wood furniture and pops of color from various objects in the room. because of advertising, i'm constantly sent self-promotional work from paper companies. these colorful kid posters where given to me by French Paper Co. which happens so be one of my favorite paper companies in my industry. there paper products are beautiful along with these posters. Christine and I have held on to these posters for about 3 years now in hopes of using them for our nursery. we are basically basing the entire nursery on them. I sure hope our daughter likes them as much as we do.

baby's first fishing pole

we just received what's soon to be our daughter's favorite toy! of course she is going to make her daddy proud when she reels in that big one. get your head out of the gutter, i'm talking about a fish! thanks Angela!

new kicks

we received the cutest pink chucks today from our friend Whitney that I work with. it looks like our baby girl is going to be stylin' and she doesn't even know it yet. thanks Whit!

it's a girl!!!!

the ultimate "i told you so" to Christine. I somehow knew it would be a girl. we are both really excited. and just look at those long legs. we're in trouble for sure.

12 weeks

12 weeks and we get a thumbs up from the doc...

say hello to baby boo

the first pic of our new baby girl. of course at that time we had no idea what the gender would be. i'm pretty sure I had already started calling her, "Little Johnny". i guess i'll have to apologize for that when she get's older.