Nursery Part 2 - Fabrics and Crib

So, here's our crib for Trey (stock photo for now). I'm a big fan. It's a convertable, 3 -n-1 something or other, transforming into a toddler bed and then a full bed...I think. I honestly can't remember. The crib shopping was a bit mind-dizzying. There are a gazillion options, and pretty much the consumer ratings are none existent since it's basically a furniture purchase and all about aesthetics, preference, and style. That makes it difficult for a girl who likes to go with the highest rated product and check it off the list. But I do love this style. I knew I wanted white to go with the shabby chic/french county/antique mix-matched look I was going for in his nursery. I'm not sure we'll ever use the bed as anything other than a crib considering other kids down the road that will need to occupy it probably before Trey hits the toddler bed stage, but it's nice to have the option. And I do love the solid wood back on the crib.

I am so blessed to have a very talented and very giving/serving/loving mother-in-law who is custom making all of Trey's crib bedding in addition to his drapes, a pillow or two, an extra blanket and possibly a few other items like liners for baskets. The fabrics I hand-picked with lots of advice and help from both Robert's mom and mine. I think it will look great and can't wait to see it all together. It's kind of a preppy little boy meets classic navy/sailor (minus any sailor motif) look. You'll probably just have to wait and see - as I will - it all together to get the full effect, but nonetheless, for your blog viewing pleasure, here's the fabric swatches we're using. I personally adore them!

Light blue/navy argyle (where the "baby boy preppy" comes in)

This is for the corice boards above the two windows, inside crib bumper panels, and bottom edge lining of the crib skirt. Also will cover the chandelier lamp shades and one side of a blanket (if I'm remembering correctly). Sweet mother-in-law has it all down.

Navy Kimono print (where the classic sailor-ish looks comes from)

This is the front of the bumper pads and a few other places to accent. Used minimally because it's such a fun, bold pattern.

Navy Linen (more classic look)

Using this primarily for the window panels and crib skirt. Also for the inside third of the back crib bumper, which will have his monogram or name in white (surrounded on either side by the argyle panels). Also, the crib skirt in this will have a bottom edge lining in the argyle as a little accent punch and to tie in the top and bottom of the bedding in a nice argyle package.

Grey Minky Dot (aka, the baby fabric)

This is our crib sheet. Super soft. Should tie in nicely with the grey walls and grey rocker/glider.

Here's the rocker/glider we ordered - Little Castle Capri Glider in "Bliss Putty" fabric. Originally intended to go with the grey twill fabric in the pic below of the glider, but after going to Storkland for the third time (ok, my third time; Robert's first) we opted for the heavier, higher quality damask patterned fabric in bliss putty, which looked nicer and sturdier and better at hiding spit-up stains, which will inevitably come despite the fancy "ultrashield" (sounds rather superhero-esqu, doesn't it?) fabric protectant we ordered on both the rocker/glider and ottoman. Also, the nicer fabric will work later in a den, living room, etc., since this baby comes with a 10-year warrenty, and we're hoping it lasts a while through many different family stages. It's about the most comfortable thing you've ever sat in, and considering we're going to be doing a lot of sitting, we knew this was the one nursery purchase we didn't want to skimp on. Scheduled to deliver in 6 to 8 weeks, so we're looking at the end of May.

Fabric for the glider/rocker - "Bliss putty"

All this came about after months of searching what seemed like a ton of nursery decorating options and checking out so may fun websites with custom bedding, fabrics, etc. I would recommend http://www.polkatotdesigns.com/ based out of Mobile, Alabama. Lots and lots of great crib bedding sets that help you see what fabric selections looks good together. You can browse to just get ideas, or order a set they've already put together, or even work with them to make your own. View crib bedding sets for boys, girls, or even gender neutral patterns. Even though Robert's mom is making Trey's bedding, this site helped me a ton! Also the Carousel Designs website (http://www.babybedding.com/) which lets you custom design your own crib bedding using this really cool online tool to select fabric for the bumpers, skirt, etc. Once you've selected one, it even recommends other fabrics that match for different parts of the bedding. They have a decent mix of cute fabrics for boys and girls, but the best part is the online tool. If you're a "need to see it in person" kinda girl (which I recommend to ensure you like what you're getting and to check the print size, etc., - BUT order online because 9 times out of 10 it's cheaper that way) then go to the Becker's booths at Homewood Antiques Market or Greystone Antique Market. She's got lots of great matching nursery fabrics paired together, but much much more for little girls than little boys. (Unfortunately, this is true everywhere.) I also checked out local fabric shops King Cotton Decorator Fabrics on Greenspring Highway, Calico Corners in Hoover, and even JoAnne's, where we scored the classic navy linen fabric at half off. Use coupons if you have them and shop for the best prices online after checking out what you want in the store. And, make a nice fabric swatch inspiration board. This helped me immensely. I went ahead and paid the $1 swatch plus shipping to order dozens of fabric swatches from http://www.warmbiscuit.com/ and other cute online retailers that have prints you just can't find in stores. It's well worth it to make sure you love your selections before purchasing by the yard. Also, it saved me from going with my original choice of bedding (which I thought was a pretty cornflower blue and yellow stripped pattern) that ended up being all gray and yellow with no blue. I just couldn't do that to my little boy. Actually, that gray probably inspired the gray motif that we're going with now, some you never know where you get inspiration. When I was feeling nasty and pregnant during my first trimester, what I was most excited about was getting to decorate a new room in the house and put together a custom nursery. It's been so much fun. Lots of work too, but so exciting to prepare for the arrival of a new member of the family. Can't wait to see it all come together! Still have a few items on the to-do list (purchase rug, chandelier, paint armoir, etc.), but we're getting there.

Nursery Transformation - Part 1

Thanks to our families, the past two weekends we have made gargantuan leaps forward in getting ready for Baby Trey. I mean huge. I've kind of had this frustrating feeling that we were behind the game in our nursery room prep. That, coupled with a (probably ridiculous) fear that he might come a month early, were just causing needless stress and worry. I'm sure it would have been fine if we had gotten around to everything next month, but it sure does feel good to be pretty far along on the nursery progress, and we're so grateful to both sets of our parents and my brother who helped us get this far!

So Trey now has a nursery, and it actually looks like a nursery for a sweet little boy rather than an office/man cave/catch all room. There's still work to be done, but there's no mistaking his room is "his room." Robert very kindly gave up what was his designated room in the house for our son. With the nursery, the new guest room now double-functioning as a guest room/office, and our master, our little 3/2 Homewood bungalow is working nicely for this growing family. I mean, the larger house the more to clean, right? I think we'll be content with fitting nicely in our space because goodness knows I don't have time to clean - as much as I love too (type A neat-freak true confession).

I didn't do a great job of taking before pics of the office, but let's just say there was a mix of furniture and random items we had collected over four+ years of marriage and even during college for which we found new homes in all parts of the house (attic, etc.) or in donations to my brothers' college apartment collection or to Hannah Home.

So here's your before pic - aka mental image because I didn't take a before pic - lots of stuff, gray walls, nice hardwoods, and need of a good de-cluttering and then just a good cleaning in general.

Our plan was as follows: new paint for walls and ceiling, add crown molding and chair rail molding, replace light fixtures and wall outlet/light switch covers, clean hardwoods and blinds, put together crib, paint antique armoire. I'll save my color scheme/fabric selections for a later post, but suffice it to say we decided to go with a neutral pallet that would work well if a baby girl later occupies this space, and that also would work as an office/third bedroom if we ever have the house on the market. Didn't want any potential future buyers to be turned off by a room that screamed nursery.

We picked out paint colors on a Thursday night after I mostly finalized fabric selections and painted the ceiling (that was actually all Robert) and top half of the walls on Friday night, which was actually St. Patty's Day. Surprisingly, it was honestly more fun getting ready for Trey than going out for a green beer and night on the town. Saturday morning Robert purchased the molding and borrowed a nail gun from a handy and generous friend while I started on the paint for the bottom half of the room. Later that morning my parents and Kyle came over to help, and we honestly couldn't have gotten it all done without them. Mom and dad helped me paint (don't worry - the room was well ventilated) while Robert and Kyle measured, cut, and installed molding. There was lots of nailing and caulking and touching up and painting, and after burgers and more work that afternoon we had made major progress.

We finished painting the molding, cleaning blinds and hardwoods, and other touch-ups on Sunday afternoon with just enough time left in the weekend to put together the crib. It was so neat to see it in the mostly finished room. We definitely slept well that night after a long weekend of satisfying hard work (aka physical labor). The next morning it was so strange, but exciting, to see Trey's little room (almost) all ready for him.

Now for the few pics I did take:

Taping for chair rail molding. Room is the old gray. (And, yes, I picked a different shade of gray to paint as the new color, and it's nearly identical. But it's honestly a completely different shade that goes much better with the new color scheme. I love it and am thankful to my husband for seeing beyond the similarities and letting me buy an almost identical (to some) but completely unique shade of paint AND for repainting the room for me.

New shade of gray on top above chair rail tape. You can see if has more silver, blue hues/tints.


With the new white painted below the chair rail.


Lots of help with taping and painting trim work from my parents.



Robert and Dad installing and caulking the chair rail molding.


While Kyle caulks the ceiling molding he and Robert cut and installed. By the way, from this pic you can see the new color we painted the ceiling - a cloud-like, light blue. Robert did it all, and I'm sure it was back-breaking work. Again, much appreciated!



A (mostly) finished product (minus new door handle hardware)!


More pics of the nursery transformation to come. Thanks mom, dad, and Kyle for all the help! We couldn't have done it without you!

Junior League's 5K for Kids

This year was my provisional year (first year) in the Junior League of Birmingham. Our provisional project was to plan and host a 5K race in West End, which we held on March 5 at and around Legion Field. The day of the race and free community fair (think health screenings, bouncy houses, free healthy snacks, and other fitness, nutrition, and community health vendors) was actually the culmination of months worth of planning and also several weeks of nutrition and fitness training we conducted in five elementary schools in West End.

This project was huge, but a great opportunity for me to take a leadership role serving as co-chair of the In Community/Civic Awareness Promotions Subcommittee. I loved working with the many amazing women on our committee and with the other co-chairs and race leadership. We learned a lot from this first year, which I think will be valuable to next year's provisional class when they repeat the project in 2012 - hopefully taking it to new and greater heights. We formed some great community partnerships that will only strengthen in the years to come, and I'm especially proud of the League leadership for embracing and committing to a true, interracial community partnership in an area of town that many over-the-mountain Birminghamians consider dangerous.

Here's one of the promotional pieces we developed.

I only took a few pics (with the iphone) at the event, but despite the rainy day we had a great turnout and lots of fun. It was especially fun to tweet live about all the activities taking place.

Some of my favorites....

Jones Valley Urban Farms Smoothie Bike - Too Cool!

UAB Minority Health Research Center Mural Painting Station

Face Painting!

The kids' one-mile fun run around the inner concourse of Legion Field. Winners got gift certificates for new pairs of tennis shoes.

There was a little confusion about our race name - 5K for Kids - that made it sound like the race was only for kids, when in fact it was for everyone but benefited the kids since proceeds were used to purchase and supply PE equipment to the elementary schools. Something we need to better address next year in promotions to the community.

Robert ran in the race along with his former co-worker, Matt, a big local runner who always races in costume and didn't disappoint on March 5 as the banana man.

Robert ran one of his better 5K times!

My friend Laura and her friend also ran. Thanks guys! Trey and I sat this one out, primarily because I had to work the event all morning with the other provisionals, but the whole family plans to participate next year once we have the trusty jogging stroller!

www.tagxedo.com

Robert found this really neat website that makes a fun word image based on the words (and frequency in which they are used) listed on any particular website, in a twitter feed, etc. The above image is what resulted when he tried it out on our blog. I think this is just the neatest thing. Obviously, based on the word selection, our blog content has taken a turn in the last six months to baby news, which must have influenced the large pregnancy-related words. (I think Robert customized the image to the duck with the blue background, so it's unrelated to content.) Actually, all this would really be based on blog content in the last three months, since we didn't announce our pregnancy on the blog until early January. Regardless it's very cool.

Check it out at http://www.tagxedo.com/, and my apologies to any readers I've lost because of what has obviously become a blog with 90% baby news content. Part of it is just our current stage of life, but I'm definitely going to make an effort to diversify my posts to be more comprehensive of all that's going on right now. I already treat our blog as a family journal of sorts, and right now our family is certainly focused on getting ready for Baby Trey, but still -all this baby news might be a little rediculous. I'll work on toning it down a notch.

Also, as a writer, this image and the words that compose it are very revealing. For one, I use the words "sweet," "certainly," "definitely," and "amazing" entirely too much. These must be my crutch words I go to when I'm lazy and don't want to think of better, sharper adjectives. Another item to work on. Here's the image Robert got for University of Alabama's website: http://www.ua.edu/. I'm pretty sure that he appropriately picked the elephant shape to display it in. Still pretty tight though.

Here's the image from my twitter feed - @tiffanyadams. I think it's a really accurate representation of my feed content.

Try it out and let me know what you think.