Maddie's room - Wall art and clothes!

Two weeks ago, my mom came into town and we spent the day shopping for the nursery. We ended up with picture frames, curtains, and a few more goodies. The only curtain rod I could find that I liked was black, so it is still waiting on a coat of spray paint before it can be hung in its new home. I also bought some picture frames to use with the wall art I bought on etsy. These are hanging on either side of the crib (her name will go above the crib). Shawn is still trying to find the best way to hang the letters, so the photo of the finished wall will be in the next post.

The window wall is still waiting on curtains and the bookshelves. The bookshelves are about a quarter of the way complete. I started them and then Maddie decided to start making me very uncomfortable.

My last few projects are in the garage and at 31 weeks pregnant, I am waiting for a little help from the hubby to finish. Madelyn has been measuring exactly the right size every week, which makes me think she is an average sized little girl growing inside a slightly smaller than average person! Sitting straight up has become very challenging and so has walking/standing for long periods of time, and bending over. Luckily, I have a fabulous husband who put my shoes on last week when my back hurt too much to bend over.

I did find an idea for the dresser/changing table wall and luckily it doesn't take much effort on my part, so hopefully that will be in the next post as well!

Last week I got a surprise text from my friend Katie who has a 15 month old daughter. She told me that she had boxes of clothes for Madelyn that her daughter had grown out of. Since we were in Vegas last week, I went over today and picked them up. I spent the afternoon washing/folding/putting away lots and lots of little clothes! Shawn and I are so grateful for the clothes and Madelyn will be one well dressed little cutie!

The clothes were mainly 3-6m, 6-9m, and 12-18m, so I tried to organize them in her closet/dresser accordinly. The 12-18m clothes I put in a labeled bag at the top of her closet since she won't need them for awhile. If you remember from the first nursery post, I wanted to do a closet organizer, but Shawn wasn't quite on board. Well with grad school, his new position at work, our trip to Vegas, and other house projects, he still is not on board with the closet. I may look for a hanging organizer, so that I have a place for her little shoes, etc.

Right now the bottom of her closet is filled with the million diapers that I have been stocking up on. Since I found out that I was pregnant I have been on the lookout for sales. If the diapers are $0.10 or less a diaper then I go ahead and get them. I have managed to get a 4 month supply of size 1-2s for $100, which is $6.50 per week!!

I am still looking for some ideas on how to organize her bibs, hats, bows, socks, etc. Please let me know if you have a good idea for that!

Still on the list:
Organize the little things in the room
Hang curtains
Finish and hang bookshelves
Hang name
Hang wall art for the dresser wall
Finish toy chest

Since the last post, I registered Maddie for daycare. She will be starting at the Ladybird Academy on March 12th. Besides getting organized for her arrival into the world, I have also been trying to organize the things she'll need at daycare. I got my diaper bag a few weeks ago and just a few days ago I picked up a few bags to help her and I stay organized on a daily basis...very important for this type A working mom!

Nine weeks to go until this little one is here! I can't believe how fast things are going. I only have 30 more days of work before I go on maternity leave. In those 30days I have 4 concerts, 1 field trip, a fundraiser, and planning for my maternity leave. So many things to do, but seeing my little girl in just a few short months will be so worth it!


Here are some of the latest pictures:

House Updates

When Shawn and I moved into our new house in August we had an understanding that besides the nursery and a few decorations here and there, we would be waiting quite a while to fill all the rooms and put up too many decorations. Our house is brand new and we picked out everything in it, so there aren't that many things to do.

During the past few weekends, I was reading some pottery barn catelogs and looking online for some ideas on wall decorations. Since I had many of the materials to put everything together I went ahead and decorated 1 1/2 walls.


The first wall is in the kitchen/entry way. Our plan is put a buffet/wine rack on this wall, but it still needed something on the wall. The idea came awhile ago from another blog and I had everything that I needed in the closet. I put a curtain rod on the wall and used it to hang a wreath I made out of tissue paper. Above the curtain rod is a sign that I had in our old house...it reads, "And they lived happily ever after". On either side of the wreath I added hanging picture frames. The frames have baby pictures of Shawn and I in them, which may change once Madelyn gets here. Until we get a buffet, I put our small half table underneath.






The next wall is a very large wall in our dinette area. It is only half done right now, but just having a few things up there adds a lot. The idea came from a pottery barn catelog that had the word "eat" in the kitchen. I decided to get two shelves for the wall with one holding the word "eat" and the other for some pictures. I may add a few other things to make it more like a gallery wall, but I'm going to let it sit for now. The word "eat" is currently white, but I have the spray paint to paint the letters a brown color. When I came home with all of this stuff and asked Shawn to hang it, the first thing he said was, "Eat? Why do I need to be reminded to eat?". I think he just kinda goes along with whatever...such a great guy! :)





Besides the two walls, we bought two rocking chairs for the front porch. I don't have a picture on this computer, but take my word for it, they are adorable and add so much charm to the front of the house. I can't wait to sit and rock Maddie outside in the rocking chairs!

There are a few other things in the works before Maddie gets here. I have plans to organize the office and possibly hang some curtains in there. I also picked out curtains to hang in the family room. After that it will be all baby for a long time!

Nursery Updates and full name reveal!

I have actually gotten a few things done since I last wrote, but I didn't post about any of them. A few weeks ago I finished the letters for above the crib. I bought white letters at JoAnns and spray painted them pink. I also found some buttons and ribbons that matched the pillow and glued them on once the paint dried. I was looking for something a little more unique instead of just plain letters.

Shawn has a very busy October with midterms, travel to New York, our trip to Vegas, a trip to Niceville, and a presentation at work. So needless to say, thigs will get hung in November and I am totally okay with that!

While searching the internet I had found some artwork for her room and finally ordered it a few weeks ago. It's coming from someone on Etsy and when it gets here I will need to frame them before I put them up. The pictures are both 11x14 prints. One of them has all 26 alphabet letters and the other has the numbers 1-10. Both are super cute and I can't wait to get them up. The plan is for them to go on either side of her name that will be above the crib.

Last weekend I ventured out to one of the local shopping areas and searching all kinds of stores for unique treasures. While in World Market I found the perfect lamp shade for her room and it was on sale...score! The lamp has a new home on the end table next to the rocker.

Shawn and I did go out to Home Depot last weekend before he left for New York and bought the materials to build the bookshelves. I spent one afternoon this past week sanding them and adding a coat of primer to them. Throughout this week I plan to head out to the garage and finish them up, but I'm not in a huge hurry.

We are off of school this Friday and grandma is coming over to Orlando (Maddie's grandma...not mine!). One of the Friday plans is to go to Ikea and find curtains for the room. I have been looking at lots of stores and the internet for the perfect curtains. A blackout shade or curtain is a must, but the problem comes in when you try to add a cute curtain. Not all shades go with every curtain. The more I look, the more I think that I may need to go with more function and less style. My original idea was a white eyelet curtain to go with the crib skirt and a shabby chic curtain rod, but I haven't found anything like that to also match a blackout shade. We'll see what I find on Friday...I'm leaving my mind open to a new idea.

Grandma is also coming with my old toychest from when I was little. The toychest is in great condition, but it's made of oak and doesn't really match the rest of Maddie's room. The plan is to sand it down, prime it, and paint it the greenish color from the pillow. I am also going to make a seat cushion for it once I find some fabric.

A few weekends ago I washed all of the stuff that we had for her...the crib sheet, changing pad cover, crib skirt, a few clothes/blankets. With the crib sheet and changing pad cover on the room looks even more put together!

Here are some pictures of what the room looks like now.

The rocking chair with side table and new lamp!



The crib with the sheet and crib skirt.



Madelyn's name for above her crib.



The changing table with changing pad, cover, and a little bin for baby stuff. There are also some clothes on there that she has gotten from various neighbors and Shawn's co-workers.





Last but not least, our baby girl has a full name now. Keep in touch to view the new room for Miss Madelyn Claire Hart! I know you all are just as excited to meet Maddie Claire as we are.

Maddie's room - Paint and fan

In the last post I told you all about my inspiration pillow and some of the plans for Madelyn's nursery. Since then we have actullay done quite a bit. The pillow came in a few days after I ordered it and I have been taking it everywhere in my purse. Last weekend, Shawn and I went and picked out some paint colors. We got two samples that we painted on the wall and came up with our color, Oyster Bisque. The next day we got the paint and picked out a ceiling fan. My first choice was to go with a chandilier light in her room, but I had read many articles about ceiling fans and the reduction of SIDS, so ceiling fan it was!

I am not the most patient person when it comes to paint and to be quite honest it's probably my least favorite thing to do. My impatience with painting just frustrates Shawn, so he wanted to do it himself -- fine by me! He worked little by little through the week and finished up Friday night with both the paint and the fan.

After work on Friday I stopped off at JoAnn's to get some of the things to make the letters for her name. I got most of them painted this weekend and hope to finish that project up this week or next.

On Sunday I cleaned up the room and put her furniture back in the right place. We got all of our furniture from one of my colleagues for a great price. It's an entire set from Pottery Barn kids and we paid a quarter of the retail.

We had gotten a target gift card for Maddie a few weeks ago, so I decided to venture out today and pick up a few things for her. I almost have her crib all ready and her diaper changing station!

I took some picture this morning of the paint, fan, and furniture. In the next post you can see the crib and diaper station.

Crib, Paint, and Fan...



Dresser/Changing Table (Noah likes the room, too!)



Chair and end table... The window will have curtains soon and the end table will have a lamp. Can you see the inspiration pillow?



Future bookshelf wall...



Crib again...This is where her name will go and some additional wall art.

Maddie's room is underway!

Before we found out that Baby Hart was a little girl, I was searching the internet for different nursery ideas. I had found bedding that I loved for a girl at Land of Nod, but the problem is that now they say no quilts or bumpers on the cribs. This left just a white eyelit crib skirt for the crib, which doesn't help much in the color department. Since Shawn is gone on a golf weekend I decided to spend the morning searching for a plan. I looked at the quilt again at Land of Nod and thought I could just hang it on the chair and use for decoration, but I just couldn't justify $99 for a useless decoration. Instead I came across this cute throw pillow and decided it would be the inspiration for her room. I'm very indecisive and I didn't want to go with one color or theme type room, instead I just wanted it to be fun. I want to be able to find things as I go and know they will all coordinate. The throw pillow will be used on the rocking chair and I will pull colors from it for my other ideas. I also bought the white eyelit crib skirt. I plan to get eyelit curtains to match and some sort of light blocking curtains as well (thanks Kara).

I found an online promo code for free shipping on the pillow and it is set to arrive in 10 days or so. When it comes in I will head out to the paint store and work on that part (my least favorite decision!).

Here is the inspiration...


Here are the things you can look forward to in her room:
Paint walls
Make bookshelf wall like her cousin Kalia's room
Re-finish my childhood toybox made by Maddie's Papou and make a seat cushion for it.
Hang name letters for little Madelyn
Handmade picture artwork
Frame fun artwork I found on etsy for a gallery wall
Possible magnetic info board
Some sort of closet organization (Shawn is not on board with this yet!)
Curtains
Ceiling fan

Stay tuned for more updates on Maddie's room. :)

Baby Shower Cake

In February I took a Wilton Cake Decorating class. I have always been interested in cake decorating and this year was the best year to learn. I graduated from grad school in December, so I have new found time and I have lots of exciting events in my life this year, so cake decorating seemed like the perfect new hobby.

Here is a picture of my second cake that I made for my SIL's baby shower. It was a vanilla cake with strawberry filling, almond butter cream, and it was covered in a marshmellow fondant. Yum!



A friend of mine has been keeping up with my cake decorating and has asked me to make a cake for her cousin's baby shower this weekend. I'll try to take more pictures and write a tutorial post when I'm finished with that one.

Have a great Monday!

Christina

Baby Shower on a Budget

Last summer my best friend, Kelly told me the exciting news that she was pregnant! I immediately started planning her baby shower in my head and I couldn't wait to make all of my creative ideas a reality. Myself and three of our other friends began planning the shower in December/January...we wanted it to be nice, but also wanted to stay on a budget.

Our final cost for the shower....$160 for 16 guests!

The favors. Round homemade cookies decorated in royal icing and wrapped in cellophane bags with blue/brown ribbons. Cost: Approx. $10 for 25 cookies



Personalized Water Bottles. Small bottles of water on sale for $2. I make labels on my computer, removed the old labels, and added the new ones! Cost: $2 for 24 bottles

The Cake!


Diaper Cake


Everyone had a great time and I'm so glad that we were all able to do this for Kelly and Brayden!