Rubber Ducky, You're the One!

We purchased our home in February of 2010, a week after we got engaged.  We started working on it right away.  We painted the kitchen, living room, master bedroom and bathroom.  We decided to leave some things to work on as time went on.  Last summer, Mom rocked things again and came and helped me paint all of our kitchen cabinets.  It was a job and a half, but it looked so great when we finished.  I also chose a new paint color for the living room: a light gray.  However, what we never did was the dogs room or the guest bathroom.  As you saw, the dog's room was turned into the nursery and looks awesome!

When registering for bathroom items, Alex of course loved anything with ducks, so I decided that I would do a rubber ducky theme for the bathroom (word of advice: don't tell people you are doing a rubber ducky theme for your bathroom, you'll end up with 4976 rubber duckies in all shapes and sizes...seriously).  I picked out a real pretty blue color that looked like water and the search began for a shower curtain.  I couldn't quite find anything I liked so I kept dragging my feet.  I wasn't in a huge hurry; the bathroom was 100% usable, just not pretty at all.  Mom promised she would come back and help get it ready, but I, again, wasn't worried at all, plus I was more than thankful for all the work Mom and Dad had already done.

Fast forward to me coming home from work Monday afternoon after Spring Break.  First thing I noticed was the dresser we were going to use was painted and put back together (yes, the dresser I still don't have a picture of, although there is a pic on facebook).  I thought that was the surprise.  I knew Alex couldn't have done it, he had been at work all day.  Out pops my friend Lauren recording my reaction (I have asked for that to remain between just us).  I was so impressed.  Again, I thought that was the surprise, not quite.

I walked in and saw the bathroom, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bobble head ducky soap dispenser = awesome.

When I say the room was in rough shape before the transformation, it really is an understatement.  Old faucet, sheet rock putty on the walls, half hanging light fixture, ugly switches.  It was bad.  I found out Lauren's dad came and painted the dresser and watched Sarah Kate while Lauren TRANSFORMED my bathroom.  I could only cry.  My parents, husband, in-laws, everyone was in on it.  I'm not an easy target to surprise and Lauren outdid herself.  Jim helped replace the faucet, light fixture, and switches.

We received a ton of great gifts from friends and family, but this was probably by far the best (in addition to all the work my parents helped us do).  I can't describe the weight that was lifted off my shoulders that I did not have to do anything to get the bathroom ready.  I also cannot express my gratitude to Lauren, Jim, and her dad Tim.  Thank you so much for everything you did, have done, will do for Alex, myself, and Kiff.  I know Kiff can't wait to meet his Aunt Lauren and Sarah Kate.  Thank you for always being there for me, especially when I'm being ridiculous and hormonal!

Nursery Debut

When I found out we were having a boy, I knew (according to Alex) we had two options for nursery decor: baseball or outdoorsy.  If you know me, you know I do NOT like baseball (I know, un-American) and therefore was not an option for Kiff's nursery.  We decided to go with an outdoor theme, specifically what I call "woodland".  There were things I knew that I did not want.  I did not want cutesy, baby, bundled bedding set, tall back crib, and I could go on.  The harder part was trying to decide what I did want, so I did what any girl would do: I turned to Pinterest (check out my nursery board here). You'll notice on the board, I had TONS of owl things pinned and most of those did not end up in the nursery, but I do have a few of them!  Without further rambling, here are pictures of Kiff's nursery.

View from the door.  I would try and pick one or two things from this pic that I'm in love with, but really I love it all.  The crib is perfect (Alex found it).  I love the branch (found in the woods next to our house) with his name hanging.  I love the bright green furniture, chair, and curtain.  Both the dresser and nightstand were pieces we already had that we decided to refinish.

You can see here that we also used a branch as a curtain rod.  I love the cubed bookshelf with the burnt orange cubes.

Delilah trying to figure out what happened to her room.

The rest are some details of the nursery.

These are the silhouettes of woodland creatures I made.  There are five: squirrel, deer, fox, duck, and raccoon.  These hang above the dresser (which I just realized I didn't take a picture of, I'll update later).

Duck lamp

 My dear friend, Lauren, made this for Kiff.

I would say Kiff has plenty of clothes; I seriously doubt he will even be able to wear them all.

I really love the glider, our biggest splurge for the nursery.  I picked this out before we were ever pregnant.

I love the wipe container that was specifically made with Kiff's name we received as a gift.  

(And yes, that is a pee pee teepee in the shape of a baseball)

That's all of the nursery (except for the dresser which I will add later).  I hope you enjoy.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I really wish I would have taken a before picture.  This room was the dog's room for 3 years.  Where the dresser is sitting there was an additional closet that we tore out.  Macy had her puppies on the carpet, so that had to be ripped out and replaced.  There were holes in the wall that had to be filled.  The closet shelving had to be replaced.

If it were not for my parents and my husband the nursery would still NOT be finished.  My parents took a week off of work to come and close in our back porch to make a sun-room for our dogs (pics to come).  While dad, with Alex's help when he wasn't working, did soooo much work on the sun room, Mom was working extremely hard on the nursery.  I tried to help with painting, but I couldn't be around the fumes.  While everyone else was working hard, I was piddling around in the house, feeling completely useless.  I will never be able to show the amount of gratitude I have in my heart for my parents and all they did to help us get ready for Kiff's arrival.  I know he will right at home in his nursery.

Coming soon** to the blog:
- Kiff's/guest bathroom (tears will be shed in the writing of this post)
- Sunroom
- Update on pregnancy (35 weeks!!!)