Nursery

I've spent a lot of time "pinning" ideas for baby girl nurseries and have been agonizing over deciding on just one.  Normally I make decisions very easily and go for it without second-guessing myself.  This has, unfortunately, not been the case with Baby Girl's nursery.  The only thing I knew was that I wanted to make a Chevron quilt to go with whatever decor & bedding I chose.

However, when the Pottery Barn Kids magazine arrived last month, I fell in love with this nursery!

I decided to use turquoise for the rocker (instead of the wall) & pink for the bedding.  I love how the paisley sheet will tie it all together.

After ordering the sheet, bumper, curtains, and quilted sham, I began making my Chevron quilt.  I am so thankful to Mary from Country Threads who drew out the pattern for me.
 Yesterday was the perfect day to sew - it was cold, blustery and very, very wet.

 I put Aidan down for his nap, turned on White Horse Inn and got to work.

It didn't take more than a few hours to sew the squares together.
I just LOVE the final product:

It's exactly what I was hoping for.  And it's a perfect size for a crib quilt.  Mary is having a big sale this Friday & Saturday so I'm hoping to find some turquoise fabric for the backing and binding.

My parents bought me a fabric rocker from Walmart that I'm having recovered in this fabric:

I am so excited for it all to come together.  Target has a huge sale this week on their Graco items so we were able to order the white crib for a real deal!  This is so fun; I told Brian this morning that this room will probably be my favorite room in the house.  Now I just pray that the LORD will keep our baby girl healthy and safe so we can meet her in July.  I'm also praying that God will help us give her the perfect name - we are having just a terrible time agreeing on one.  ____ Jane Lund is as far as we've gotten.  Any ideas?

Quilting Update

I'm still quilting!  Although I don't have much time to do it at home, I meet with my church ladies once a week.  My favorite parts are chatting and being out on the farm.  So fun.

I made this little tablerunner for Brian's grandma.  She turns 80 next week.

I think it's one of my favorites so far.

Mary helped me plan out a Chevron quilt (Pinterest inspired) for Baby Girl.  I just need to confirm nursery colors...such a huge decision!  Pink for sure!  Maybe with gray or turquoise.  Pottery Barn Kids came in the mail today so I'm going to peruse that for some ideas this afternoon.

Garden #2

With the weather so beautiful, I couldn't resist the desire to plant my garden this morning.

Aidan and I lathered up in sunscreen and headed outside.

 

  

The only thing missing was Grandpa Richie - I thought about him a lot this morning as I planted.

Mostly because my dear grandpa is a perfectionist.

And he would've died seeing how imperfect my garden went in this year.

Why is it so imperfect?

Because of this little helper.

 

He was constantly on the move.

At first he stayed in his own "garden".

 

I could keep an eye on him from my garden.

I also had to keep an eye on Nuisance.

He only appears innocent here - he's playing with this frisbee after getting a spanking for eating my gardening gloves.

[Aidan picked out this pink frisbee for Leo.  He also tried to pick out pink tennis balls.  Brian says he hangs around me too much.  I heart pink!]

 It didn't take long for Aidan to become bored in his "garden".

"Yes, Aidan, you may help Mommy put seeds in the ground."

"I dump."

"Yes, you may dump them..."

(Thinking: "Hmm....not in that spot!")

 "I help."

 I really did enjoy Aidan's help.

It was fun talking to him about the seeds and showing him the pictures of the veggies that they will soon grow into.

After I explained it all, he replied,

"I EAT!"

 

 I'm very glad my mother-in-law gave me another digger for Easter - Aidan didn't want to share.

Soooo helpful!

 When Aidan started asking for "fissssh", I knew it was snacktime.

 Aidan even made sure Leo ate his snack.

 

 Dirty face!

 

 

I adore these chubby legs. 

[He didn't want to wear his new sandals today.]

As I planted, it was fun to reminisce about the past year.  I thought back to how I knew next to nothing about gardening and about all the wonderful church ladies who offered me advice.  I remembered the different things that I wanted to plant and how I was going to reorganize the garden this year.   I kept thinking of Grandpa Richie and how perfect his garden is going to look...unless we head up to Brainerd on planting day and give him some "help"!  I continuously thanked God for my "helper" - he has grown and learned so much in the past year.

I also reflected on how faithful the LORD has been - He has kept us and continued to sanctify us through another year.  He is so good.  And I praised Him for the creation of grocery stores; I can't imagine having to rely on just my garden for food!  Yikes.

And I couldn't help but notice how different planting was this year from last when Aidan just watched from his walker and Leo wasn't born yet.  (Last year's post: Seeds are In!)

Last year, my extra seeds were neatly tucked into a plastic bag:

This year:

 The seed packets I chased down were ripped to shreds.

And they were empty because my helper planted dumped all the seeds.

And my glove lost a finger.

I even think I planted one row twice - with two different vegetables.

But it was fun!  And I'm thankful for my boy and my puppy.

Now I need the LORD to use His rain and sun to bring my crops to fruition!

May Day

Happy May Day!

My Mommies Group made May Day Baskets last week, and I have been so excited to fill them up with goodies and deliver them.  You see, since we moved here in August of 2010, I've been wanting to bake something for our neighbors as a way to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood.  Well...I keep saying, "I'll do it at Christmas," or "I'll bake something at Easter,"  and STILL haven't delivered anything to their doorsteps.  May Day is the the perfect opportunity, and I was set to take full advantage.  The baskets are complete, I have all the ingredients to make the bars to fill them with, and it looked like a "go" until...

 

my boy woke up in the night very sick.

His temperature is 104.  My heart aches that he has to suffer so.  We've rocked and cuddled all morning; that is a blessing - he actually sits still.

We're off to the doctor soon.

Please pray for Aidan!

Living Room Projects

This is our living room:

 We live in the church's parsonage, and it is newly (& very beautifully) remodeled.

Unfortunately, our furniture we purchased 8 years ago when we got married has had a long life and is used up.  

 And I've been so bothered by the fact that everything is a shade of brown - sooooo blah.

After much discussion, prayer, and advice from others we decided to take the plunge: we purchased new living room furniture during Slumberland's Leap Year Sale in February.  It's due to arrive in two weeks so I've been working like crazy in my free time trying to get ready for it.

Our new couches are a steel gray and I'll be painting the walls next week a light gray (Aidan's going to Grammie's house so I'll be able to paint paint paint without interruption!).  My contrasting colors will be yellow and white.  This is the fabric I ordered from Fabric.com.

 Each of the fabrics will be used to cover the couch pillows - so I'll have a total of 8 pillows.

The yellow fabric on the left will be used to recover this chair from Grandpa Lund.

 I pulled the cushions and binding off.

 Then my favorite helper washed it with me.

After spray painting it with Kilz, I sprayed it white.

Next, I added a black glaze to make the detail pop.

I learned to glaze from All Things Thrifty - what an awesome site!

And from my sweet friend, Bethany, who just glazed all of her kitchen cabinets and they look awesome!

I also painted and glazed endtables after being inspired by this. 

Before:

 After Krylon Sun Yellow:

 Way too bright!

So I purchased Rust-o-leum's Marigold.

Much better - especially after it's glazed.

Love.

This oval mirror was an exceptional find at Salvation Army.  $8!

I spray painted it gray and glazed it black.  This is the before picture.  Once the mirror is put back in, I'll show you the final pic.

My mom gave me this window and while I was in Brainerd last week, I painted it white.

Now Mom is having the windows taken out and mirrors put in - great idea, Mom.  Thank you so much!

This guy was my #1 helper while the other helper was napping.

I also found an awesome picture collage on Pinterest that I'm trying to copy.

(Sorry it's sideways.)

I've painted the frames so they are all white, silver, gray, or yellow:

Today Aidan and I are clearing the living room.

Tomorrow I'll clean walls and tape.

Monday & Tuesday I paint!

Yay!

I hope it all comes together as well as I think it will in my head.  :)

You just never know...