Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner.

Well I must be somebody then, because, Bam.  There it is:

Our house has two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs.  Ellie is still sleeping in her crib in her nursery, and we are not rushing her out of it.  SOooo, without a room of her own, we made the front half of our (pretty long) room into the 'nursery nook.'  It has always been a pretty empty space.  Pete and I had always figured if we ever wanted to put a television in our room we could have some armchairs or a chaise lounge in the front of the room with a t.v., but we've been pretty happy only having the one t.v. in our house, so we have designated this special space for Baby Sister.

We want Ellie to feel like she is welcome when I am nursing and caring for the new baby, so we bought a loveseat that all three of us can sit on at one time.  The loveseat has been a great addition to the room over the last few months - we read books here, sit here to put on shoes, and generally use it as a place for group hugs and snuggles.  (we have a lovely Cassidy Dawn family photo winging its way to our house for that frame above the loveseat)  We also still need to buy a side table and lamp for the left of the loveseat, but it will work for now.  It's not near as dark as it is reading in the pictures, our bedroom has the most light in the house.

I made the pillows from tutorials online, here and here, and the crib skirt was made following the tutorial on Young House Love, here.

For a changing table I painted a buffet we bought off of Craigslist several years ago.  It was never the right size for the space we had originally intended it, so we parked it up on the landing and I used it to display family photographs and house all my grad school binders.  Our basement renovation provided a place to put all my binders, and I've relocated the family photos to my new desk and shelf downstairs.  A few new coats of paint and a changing table pad - and presto change-o:  a boldly colored changing table!!

 

For the bunting I used the same fabric from Ellie's pillows and crib skirt, and used a tutorial from Craftiness is Not Optional, found here.

We moved the glider from Ellie's nursery into another corner of our room.  Ellie has not minded being sung to and rocked here before bed and naps one bit.  She says of the move, "I share rocker with Baby Sister."  There is another pillow to go on the glider, but it is currently being monogrammed :-)

Pete hung a second rod in Ellie's closet for Baby Sister's clothes.  Again, Ellie is pretty happy about sharing this space, for now at least.

It's too bad neither of them have anything to wear.

So that's our Nursery Nook!  A little sneak peek into the things we have prepped for the arrival of our newest baby, hope you like the way it looks!!

Birthday Weekend. (Mine.)

Last Saturday, I turned thirty-three.  We had a pretty low-key day, just spent it together as a family.  Typical Saturday morning:  trip to the farmer's market, a walk by Sunrise Bakery, plus a birthday caramel macchiato on the way home.

Neither Pete nor I really remember what we did in the afternoon before lunch, it was a cool day, so we think we just played with Ellie in the backyard.  :-)

For lunch we swung by the Woodland Art Fair to pick up some Athenian Grill lamb gyros and lemonade - they did not disappoint!

After lunch and Ellie's nap, it was time for to open my presents!!  Ellie and Pete had made me a wonderful homemade card, and Pete got me a pretty new sweater to wear after the baby comes and a new planner.

We went out to dinner at Bonefish, then came home for my favorite cake - Martine's pistachio with buttercream frosting.

A kiss for Baby Sister.

Thirty-three started out pretty well - a day with the fam is a great day in my book - and it is sure to bring many more adventures (in as little as two weeks)!!

Visitors!

Last week my brother, Pete, and his family stopped by our house for a day-and-a-half on their way home from North Carolina.  Ellie was VERY excited to have Cloudy and Ben coming to her house for a visit.  I only told her a few days beforehand because I knew it would be all she would talk about as her grasp of time is still in the early stages. 

Pete and Jenni and Ben last visited for Turkentucky in 2007 - so it's been a LONG while - and two kiddos and a new house - since they've been to the Bluegrass State. 

We didn't do anything super-exciting, just hung out around the house or at a local park, and watched the cousins get to know each other a little bit better.

Ben and Cloudy wasted no time trying their skills on the pinball machine.

It was fun having the dinner table at capacity for two nights in a row.

Thursday we went to the park to feed the ducks and play on the giant playground.

After lunch and nap, we just stayed around the house.  So happy the Carters brought their own hammock!  We're going to get one for the exact spot they used.

 

Ellie was glad to have other children to play with all the time, and is still waking up each morning asking to play outside on her playground with Ben and Cloudy.  Thanks so much for coming, guys!  It was great seeing you!!

Birthday Weekend. (His)

Pete's Birthday was on Friday.  We both worked in the morning, then went out to lunch, and picked the Mousse up from daycare right after nap.  Then we got to celebrating!  First, we went to the pool and had our typical hour-and-a-half of playtime in the water before hunger struck.  Next, we headed out to dinner at the birthday's boy's venue of choice:  The Local Taco. 

An after-dinner smooch.

Then we went home for presents and pie. 

This one had a hard time waiting for her piece of pie.

The birthday boy in his custom-made crown.

Saturday morning was our friend Stella's 2nd Birthday party at Boyd Orchard.  Ellie had a great time playing with all of her friends on the playground and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. 

She was very brave when it came to going down the big slide by herself.  She was NOT into the hayride, and clung to me like a little koala during our tour of the orchards.  

Then, Saturday night, we had a HUGE milestone for Ellie - her first race!!!  A Midsummer Night's Run is usually the weekend of Pete's birthday, and this year, we registered Ellie for The Fastest Kid in Town.  She was SO excited to run a race with her daddy.

Getting her number pinned.

A few warm-up strides.

Not having any fun at all.

On your mark, get set,

GO!!!

Finish line!

YAY!  She did it!!  That is one proud papa.

Afterward, Ellie and I shared a celebratory italian ice before heading home for bath and bed.  Pete's race was at 8:30pm and he ran the 5K in 18:05, coming in 32nd overall.  

Pete had a work-event this morning, but we squeezed in another trip to the pool this afternoon.  August is just getting started for us - up next - visitors!!