“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Nursery Progress

So I'm a little over the top and I have pretty much come really close to finishing the nursery. Small details left but the big stuff is done!

I know, I know...I've still got what? 4 1/2 months to go? But I must say I am glad we got on top of it when we did because I can't imagine doing everything we have done and being much more pregnant than I am now. I was able to move around pretty easily which I know won't always be the case here in just a few short months.

But this room had a lot of steps we had to take before it could even begin to think about being a nursery.

After much debating, Wes and I decided to not move to Yukon before this baby arrives. We did toy with the idea for a few months but eventually had to be realistic and realize we have some saving we need to do before we can make such a huge decision.

That being said, we then had to determine which room we wanted to use for the nursery. Our house is right at 1000 square feet with three bedrooms, including the converted garage.

Therefore, with three bedrooms, it seems logical to have our bedroom, guest bedroom, and the nursery, right?

Well, if it were only that easy.

My mom will be staying with us to help out once the baby is here. So she will need a place to sleep and I want her to be comfortable and feel like she can stay as long as she or I want her to. :) Getting rid of the spare bedroom was not an option for me at this point.

Soon after Wes and I got married, Wes claimed the converted garage for his "Studio B" so he could work on music and mixing whenever he wanted without having to always go out to Yukon to the studio. This has worked great and he has learned to actually work better in this room than his own studio!

Okay, so here is the before picture of Wes's music room:



The spare bedroom is right across the hall from our bedroom so most people would think there wasn't much to debate about which room to put the baby in. But...after discussing the amount of moving of furniture and painting that would have to be done if we moved one room versus two rooms....we decided that the spare bedroom would stay"as is" for my mom and Wes's beloved music room would soon become the new nursery.

This was hard to convince Wes of let me tell you. We discussed this for a good month before he finally gave into the idea and just went with it. I have promised him that once my mom is not staying with us, we can move his desk into the spare bedroom in place of the bed and he can have his music room back.

I'm sure he will continue to remind me of this every day until that day comes, trust me.

I am pretty spontaneous with home projects. I usually don't plan on when I am going to do what, it just happens. So one Saturday, I asked Wes if he wanted to do some "spring cleaning" and starting cleaning out the shed, closets, maybe his music room, in preparation for starting the nursery.

Well once we got started, we didn't stop! We started at 10 AM and I don't think my feet came off the floor until 10 PM that night. Whew!! I was one tired momma!!

We completely cleared out the nursery, cleaned out closets, took a ton of stuff to Salvation Army for donation, and moved Wes's computer to the spare bedroom. Doesn't sound like much just typing it, but it was a ton of moving stuff around which really takes it out of you!

And here's what the rooms looked like after this phase of the process:

Not all of Wes's music equipment could make it to the desk. There just isn't as much space on this desk. He has added two speakers that take up most of the rest of the desk, but it's all about compromise. :)


My mom's "home away from home" come September!


And the new nursery!


I got this glider for FREE from a girl I work with.
 I was pretty excited about free and it's in great shape!


The room stayed this way for a few days before I decided on what I wanted to do with the color scheme of the room. Now you have to remember that this was two weeks ago before I knew for sure if he were having a boy or a girl. So I really couldn't do too much with the color and I was not allowed to by Wes or my mom to paint any pink until April 11th. :)

I knew I wanted green and then planned on bringing in pink or blue.

See why we ultimately chose this room instead of the other? The room was already green! Maybe not quite the exact color green I would have chose but it will definitely work just fine.

So I picked out an accent wall for the pink (or blue). One wall to paint versus four....yes please!!

I may have been told I couldn't paint any pink, but nothing stopped me from getting the wall primed and ready! :)

After the ultrasound, I figured I would be painting pink walls that Wednesday evening because I'm just weird that way. But my mom and I ended up really busy running around to various doctors appointments and of course baby clothes shopping.

So believe it or not...the painting wasn't finished until that Saturday. Luckily the pink covered great in just one coat unlike the primer which took two coats to cover the green.

PINK! "Lauren's Lulliby" to be exact. :)

My parents bought the crib for me for my birthday so after cleaning up and clearing out the room, we put the crib together. I have always heard stories about dads-to-be having trouble putting the crib together but it was super easy and really fast! Probably one of the easier pieces of furniture we've put together.

And the finished product.....

Crib ended up coming from Wal-Mart and we are very pleased with it. It's not the most high quality wood, but it will definitely work for us.

This diaper caddy came from Target and cost only $22! I read reviews online and most people said it worked really well considering how inexpensive it was. So far, I like it. It was almost harder to put together than the crib!

I have yet to mention the HUGE deal I got on this crib bedding! I got the blanket, crib bumper, diaper stacker, mobile, big hamper, trash can, two sets of valances and curtains, and a lamp for only $100! I got it at a local consignment store and it is by far my favorite place to go now. I have even bought several onsies and a few other pieces of clothing for very cheap.

I ended up adding a little more pink to the little nook area just to the in-set and left the sides green. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I love it! It brightens up the area quite a bit just by adding the color.

This was yet another great deal my mom and I came across from the same consignment store. A Chicco Key Fit 30 car seat with THREE bases for $120! Did I mention how much I love that store?
(Lexi doesn't quite know what to think of this new nursery, ha!)

The other wall stayed green and I actually think the existing color green works well. This dresser was the most expensive purchase we made but so worth it. We are going to use it as a diaper changer.

As you can see it has two small slide out drawers which I thought will work perfect for putting wipes and diapers on. Plus three larges drawers. This piece is real wood and very good quality.
The best part: it came put together, in the box! All we did was cut the box off and stand it up. I was so excited not to have to put it together! Worth the money!


That's about all the pictures I have so far. We still need to figure out what will hang on the walls, put up the curtains and hang a new ceiling fan, but we have definitely made a lot of progress.

This is where I have to brag on my wonderful husband. :) Right as we were leaving the house for the ultrasound on my birthday, UPS pulled up and handed me a ProFlowers box. I was shocked that it was there so early and right on my birthday!

This is what I found inside from Wes:


And yes, he planned the green vase and pink and green flowers to match the nursery. :) It's always the little details that end up meaning the most. <3

I am blessed!!!

Weeks 18 & 19: Ultrasound Pictures!

Pregnancy Highlights


How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby is now 5.6 inches, 6.7 ounces. The size of a sweet potato! At the ultrasound (19 weeks) they told me baby weighs an estimated 12 ounces which is the size of a soda can! Whoah! How fast they grow!! No wonder my belly is growing, growing fast!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

16 weeks and Other Family News

Cast your vote on whether you think baby DeWitte is a boy or a girl! (Just to the right of this post, at the top) We will see how many voters get it right come April. :) Vote now!! ---------->

Well, it's been a long time since I've talked about anything other than pregnancy since the New Year so I am going to mix it up and give everyone a little of pregnancy news and other news that's been going on with Wes and I.

Since becoming pregnant, Wes and I started discussing the need for him to find a part time job while still continuing to work out at the studio to bring in some extra income for baby. Now finding a job that has flexible enough hours to allow him to do both was where we didn't know what might work best.

Ever since Wes quit the post office back in July, he has been applying for a different position within the post office called an RCA, or rural route carrier. These positions are somewhat like his previous position as a TE where it is a temp position with the chance of getting a full time position in the future.

The difference: it's a driving route not walking (thank goodness!) and they don't work you to death. He would be subbing in for full time carriers on their days off so therefore they only guarantee one day of work a week. But depending on the need, it could be as many as five days a week.

The pay is the same but the hours and demand is much, much less which would still allow Wes to work in the studio in the evenings.

So he kept his eye out for any new openings and when they showed up, he applied. He even had to go take a test that would determine how eligible he would be for a position.

He did really well on the test but never heard anything back about the position being filled or not. So he just continued applying for anything that looked promising, hoping something would come through.

Much to our surprise, Wes got a phone call in February to come in for an interview for a position in Edmond.

Yes!! Finally!!

The interview went really well and after a week of waiting for the final word, he was hired!! 

God is good!!

He was able to move quickly through the orientation process since he has just recently went through it all with the previous position. While he hasn't worked many days yet, he hopes to learn as many routes as he can so he can sub in as often as possible.

Either way, this was the perfect job opportunity for our family and will continue to be the case once our little one is here as well. It will allow him time for the studio and more importantly, it will allow him time with his family.

We knew God had it all planned out. :) Why would He not?

I have been doing some baby registering online lately. Gosh it can get pretty overwhelming! More so than registering for wedding gifts. Mainly because I don't have a clue what is a good brand, bad brand, safe, not safe....We're talking about a human life here not just a toaster oven that will sit on the counter in the kitchen! A little bit more weight to these decisions. :)

Any of you that read my blog and have mommy advice on baby gear, PLEASE, let's hear it!! I want as many mommy opinions as I can get. Cribs...strollers...carriers....swings...diapers..wipes...anything! What do I absolutely need and what things do registry's say I need but don't really matter yet?

Either comment directly on my blog or you can email me at: mjwd12@gmail.com

I appreciate all of your input!!

Now for the weekly pregnancy update!! 

Pregnancy Highlights



How Far Along: 16 Weeks


Size of baby: Baby is now 4.6 inches, 3.5 ounces. The size of an avocado!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Week 15

Pregnancy Highlights



How Far Along: 15 Weeks


Size of baby: Baby is now 4 inches long and weights about 2.5-3 ounces. Compared to the size of an orange. Grow baby grow!

Here is a picture from an ultrasound I did at work last week.
 If you look close (and know what you are looking at) you can see a little smile, nose
and even a hand. :)
So precious and such a miracle to watch this little one grow.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Sill no drastic weight gain. Maybe 1-2 lbs but that can also vary depending on the last time I went to the bathroom, ha. The joys of pregnancy.  

Maternity Clothes: Luckily, my work clothes fit perfectly during pregnancy. Gotta love scrubs. Otherwise, I'm always in my materniy jeans. Love!

Gender: "Official" gender ultrasound has been scheduled for April 11th but...I just might have to sneak an ultrasound in at work here in the coming weeks. :) I'm trying to patient!