New Bed

Maggie's crib converts to a toddler bed and then to a regular double bed as she grows. We decided she was ready for the switch a few weeks back and this weekend we finally went for it. Let me tell you, she has loved it from the first time she saw the new setup. More than the "new" bed, she loves the new bedding and the idea of laying with a sheet over her. It's such a fun novelty that throughout the day on Sunday she climbed in and would pretend to sleep. So far naps have gone OK and bedtime has been great, so fingers crossed that sleeping well in this bed continues.

Activity table

For Christmas Maggie's great grandma (GG) gave her this super awesome activity table. We decided to put it in our breakfast nook/casual dining room area since there is plenty of room. We had to rearrange a few things and overall are happy with the result. Obviously now we need some new large art for the wall and I have a feeling it won't be long before Maggie makes us something for it. Anyway, here are some photos of Maggie today after we set up her table. She tried out each stool and thinks it's pretty cool having something her size in that area. As you can see, she really likes it. Thanks again, GG!

Cubicle Farm

For Christmas Maggie got this cubicle bookcase from my parents. She can now look at her books and toys without having to dig around in her closet. So far she's enjoying it and I'm loving both the functional and aesthetic aspects of it.

It's Cold in Here...

...because we got a new refrigerator! It's been a long time coming (our old fridge was mine from LA and the cheapest one on sale at the time) and we are now the proud owners of an energy efficient French door fridge. Finally we have room to put food in the freezer!

Dining In

One of our Christmas gifts this year from my parents was money, and with that gift came the stipulation that we had to spend it. Bummer for us, don't you think? After studying our wishlist for a few days we ultimately decided what we most wanted and, put together with some holiday money from my grandma, we ended up with a new dining room table and chairs. We've wanted to upgrade for a while now and we're so excited to finally have a grown up set. Thank you Dad, Mom and Grandma!

Rockin' Out

My parents bought me a glider rocker for my birthday. There are lots out there to choose from but I decided I wanted one that was contemporary so we could put it in the living room and not compromise the style or the overall look of the room. Here is the one I picked. USA Baby gave us a binder of fabric swatches in lots of colors and fabrics and we ultimately decided on green. Our brown living room is accented in green and orange so the chair fits well in there and in the baby's room if we later decide to put it there. We ordered the chair the first week in April and were quoted 8-12 weeks for it to be ready. Well, less than four weeks from the order date we got the call that it was ready for pickup. Yay--talk about fast ordering, assembling and shipping! We brought it home on Saturday and I'm already loving it so much. The fabric is super soft and the chair is really comfortable. Thanks Mom and Dad!

And Now for the Dresser

Today we got the dresser for the baby's room. It was ordered the same day we bought the crib, but USA Baby (where we picked it out) didn't have the dresser in stock. We waited patiently for it to arrive and finally got the call on Thursday that it was ready. Now we figured it would be too big for either of our cars so on Sunday when my parents were here with their truck they picked it up for us. Chad and my dad brought it in the house and we all spent a little time getting it out of the box and into the right spot in the room. Fortunately it was already assembled with the exception of two parts: the drawer knobs needed to be secured and the two shelves for the right side of the dresser needed to be put in. Easy assembly if you ask me!

We love the dresser and it matches with our crib perfectly. A BIG thank you to Dad and Mom for buying it and delivering it to our house.

Our Entryway

Well, I finally have the entryway to our home how I'd like it. After over a year and a half of living here the front area feels complete and I'm really happy with it. The missing piece was art for the wall, and that we put up last night. I found a print online that I wanted but was too stubborn to pay for shipping to get it here. My parents surprised us by purchasing it at a store in their local area mountains. Pretty neat, huh?

Please ignore the floppy plant. It doesn't look that pathetic in real life!

Vintage Furniture

Here are two great pieces of furniture for the baby's room that were recently painted. The first is a rocking horse my grandpa made for me when I was a baby. You'll see originally it was black, white and red but this week I painted it green, a shade darker than the walls in the baby room. I sure hope the baby likes it!

Also, the baby now has a dresser from the late 1940s. My grandpa also made this, but not for me, for my mom before she was born. All the women in the family have used it for their babies and it's been painted a few times. You'll see the last paint job was white, yellow and blue, but now it's green, brown and white. Thanks, Mom, for doing the hard job of painting it this past week. It's so cute and looks perfect in the room.

Paint-O-Rama

Yesterday Mom arrived to help me paint the baby's room. Earlier this month I chose the color green I wanted for two walls of the room and she brought the paint and the supplies so we could get started. We painted the first and second coats yesterday and then finished the detail painting this morning. The details included a few lighter spots on the walls and the areas around the ceiling and doorway.

It took some work but we got it done and love how it turned out. The avocado green walls with the dark espresso wood crib work well together.

Productive Baby Planning Day

A couple weeks ago my mom came up to help me look at baby cribs. By the end of that day we were more confused and overwhelmed than we were when we started. It's hard finding a crib when there are so many to choose from out there. I was looking for a crib with a particular style, in dark wood, quality craftsmanship, coordinating dresser--and one that didn't cost a million dollars. Since it had been a couple weeks since our first shopping trip my mom and I were ready to try again. She came up this morning and we were successful! We picked out a crib and matching dresser, brought the crib home and set it up. The dresser is on order and should arrive in the next 12 weeks. I can't wait until it gets here! We also picked out a paint color for the baby's bedroom. We chose a sage green and I think it's going to look great. Here are a couple photos of me with the crib we picked out.

Chip Off the Old Block

This weekend I woke up early and hit some garage sales. Most of the sellers had crap but at one of them I scored pretty well. Here's a photo of what I found. I got Chad a metal garage rack for $5 (don't ask how much we paid for the other ones we have from Lowe's), a long skinny folding table that's perfect for buffets or crafts, again for $5, and a box of books that I'm going to try to resell.

The brown table is much older and junkier than the new one we got from Grandma for Christmas. Plus, the one we bought today is 6 feet long and really skinny--not conducive for sitting at and eating a meal. With that said, for $5 it was too good of a deal to pass up!

Oh and there's something in that box for my dad for his birthday next week. Don't get too excited Dad--remember it came from a garage sale!

Card Rack

Look what I found! This weekend Chad and I went to the Pottery Barn Outlet in Southern California--what a store! They had furniture that matches our new entertainment center from Pottery Barn but at a much cheaper price. Too bad we didn't need the extra stuff in our living room because their prices were good. Anyway, as I was walking through the store I noticed this card rack and went right for it. The original price was $129 but at the outlet it was $39. I was not letting this one go and now it's in my room. I love it!

Patio Furniture

After weeks of searching for the perfect patio furniture we finally bought this set on Sunday. It has everything we wanted except for one thing: the color of the frame. I was hoping to find a set with a darker brown metal frame but finally realized that after searching everywhere I was going to have to compromise. Since this set had all the other elements I wanted (metal frame, glass top, decent price, comfy chairs) we went with it. I think it's going to work out just fine.

Media Center

On Saturday Chad and I finally bought the media center we've been eyeing since Thanksgiving. We decided on the large center console and one side media tower. The set looks really great in the room - so much better than the rickety table we had our TV on before. It was delivered earlier today with just a little trouble from the delivery company, but it was worth it. It's exactly what we wanted for this room. Now all we need is a monster flat panel TV to complete the look, right? Someday...

Thanks once again to Mom and Dad. We had extra money left over from Christmas and we put it towards this purchase.

Unfortunately my camera is being stubborn and won't take a photo that looks good from any angle in the room today. Hopefully you get the idea from this shot. If you really want to see what it looks like I can send you the link from the company.