"Nursery" Pictures

So, we don't really have a nursery, exactly. We do have a second bedroom, but it's on another floor in the house. While I know that having her sleep in another room could be a good thing, knowing myself, and how I'd react to a baby monitor, I'm sure that I'd be getting up for every single little whimper, running downstairs to check on her, realizing she's fine, and then running upstairs again to sleep...only to hear something else to run back down again.

Just thinking about it is tiring.

Now, I'm sure that I'll do a similar thing with her in our room--but at least this way, I can check without stairs, at least until we're a little more used to her being around. Also, if you want to stay with us, we've still got a room for you.

So, the nursery, for now, is part of our room. The paint and the curtains came with the room--not awful, but we probably would have decorated differently if it was our house.

This is the rocking chair that we have. I originally wanted a glider, but after looking into prices, and hearing that they actually can be pretty not-useful I went with this rocking chair that I found at a local thrift store for $12. It currently has a sheet on it, because it's ugly, and a little old, and needs to be recovered. We'll see if that actually happens before our baby comes, or if it happens some other time...

This is our crib--it will eventually convert into a toddler bed. The adorable quilt there was made and sent to us by my sister Emily--so cute! In the previous picture, and this one, you can see some little wall decorations. I found some packs of cute shaped paper at Michaels for a dollar each, glued them to some foam board from the dollar store, hot glued some little bows made from ribbons on presents at our baby shower, and stuck them to the wall. The total cost was less than $10, and I think the overall effect is pretty cute.

This is the closet, it's right next to her crib. We stuck a nightstand in the bottom that was already in the apartment, rearranged the shelves, and used a curtain rod from somewhere else to make a place to hang her clothes. Also, not expensive, and now there's a good place for her clothes, and baby accessory-type things.

This is a close-up of the baskets and the nightstand. The baskets were only a dollar each at the dollar store--and look at the cute little butterflies on them. Also, there's a baby book there that's completely adorable (Thanks for the gift card Aunt Lori, Erica and co. :)

Here are some toys that she has, that will likely not stay in the crib once she's born. There's the dog from Kathi Elison and co, and the frog from Diana Elison and Grace. Also, there's the turtle, which was Nate's when he was little. Not pictured in the crib my lamb and a bear rattle from when I was a baby. Tender, eh?

Lastly, there's this picture frame, which is currently filled with the people who came with the frame. It says, "Family Tree" on the bottom, and it will soon be filled with pictures from our very own little family sapling.

Then, One Time, I was Caller #2

Nate and I went grocery shopping on Tuesday night. We both love to grocery shop...it's like a hobby for us. As a result, dinners this week have been fabulous.

In case you're curious, if you love the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce from Brick Oven, this is a really close substitute. It works particularly well if you're over 2000 miles away from Brick Oven and you just desperately want some of that incredibly good sauce. Also, it's only $2.00 at Walmart, at least ours.

Anyway, we started at Giant, bought most of our things, and then headed over to Walmart for a few other items. These stores are about 5 minutes apart. Along the way we were listening to the radio, which happened to have a contest giving away tickets to "She Loves Me." This is the play that You've Got Mail is based off of, and it happens to be one of my favorites--Nate and I were planning on going and seeing it. I decided to call in, just for fun. Winning something off the radio has been something I've wanted to do ever since I started listening to the radio. I used to call in every morning on my way to work when FM 100 did their 100 days of Christmas. They were giving away $100, after all, and I like money. I never won though. I also attempted to win a love sac, but some guy named Steve won it for his 3 year old daughter. Anyway, I called, the line was busy, I decided to call again...the line started ringing. What do you know it? I managed to be caller #2. The radio guy says, "Hey, who am I talking to?" I tell him my name, he tells me I won. I say, "ArE yOu SeRiOuS?!?" He says "I wouldn't kid about a thing like that!" He gives me a chance to promote the radio station, at which point I quickly look over at the car radio and listen to Nate telling me what the station is that we're listening to, since I've never listened to it before that day, and then he tells me how to get the tickets.

And that, is how we got free tickets to a play we were already planning on seeing. This means that now, we can also go out to eat beforehand. and I'm so excited, because this isn't really a date we'll be able to do for awhile after the baby is born. Hooray for contests when most people aren't listening to the radio!

Or for just plain dumb luck. Either way, I'll take it.

79 Days (or so) To Go...

As most of you know, we're having a baby this year. She's due on Christmas, in fact.

This is, occasionally, a fact that I forget. I'm sure you wonder what kind of moron can forget that they're pregnant...but that's this kind of moron for you. Today, I was putting on a light jacket to go and find some fall leaves in the yard. I put it on, and then worked to zip it up. I couldn't figure out why it was really tight around my middle...until I looked down and remembered my somewhat massive belly. "Oh yeah...there's a baby in there."

This isn't the most regular occurance. She kicks me often enough to remind me that she's there, hanging out and waiting for Christmas to come. I think sometimes it's more of a mental coping type thing. The reality that we're having a baby is really difficult for me to actually grasp. How different our lives will be in just a few months! I'm excited, terrified, and pretty clueless. Whenever I tell someone this, I'm always given the same response--"Don't worry, you'll figure it out soon enough." While I am sure that this is true, I would love to hear some anecdotal stories, advice, anything.

Hopefully, this is where you can help me out. I know that a lot of you out there are moms, or know moms, or know everything about children for one reason or another. I am soliciting advice from anyone who'd like to leave it. I'm sure lots of people refrain from offering such advice in the interest of not being overbearing. I would love for you to overbear! You can even leave an anonymous comment on my blog if you'd like to. I'd love your thoughts on cloth diapers v. disposable, baby products you can't (or couldn't) live without, or that you found were a royal waste of money, things you wished you'd known in the first few weeks of baby life, anything! I know that I can find much of this information on the internet...and I've read a lot about most of these topics already--I would just like to hear more from people that I've at least vaguely associated with (and I'm pretty sure that I at least know of almost all the people who read this blog regularly).

Thanks in advance. If you're really not comfortable commenting in public, but you'd love to give me some advice--email me (kobylka at gmail dot com). I would love to hear from you.