Ramblings about baby stuff, yet again

(whoops, this is a long one. Come back later when you have time if needed) :)

My sixteen week appointment went well on Tuesday and apparently I've gained a total of six pounds now. So yeah, five of those pounds snuck up on me from week 12 to 16 but I suppose it's not that bad. I'd be lying if I said my eyes didn't pop out of my skull a little bit when I stepped on the scale because I really didn't think I'd gained that much with my puny bump but whaddya know? I'm pregnant and going to see numbers on the scale that I've never seen before. Nothing like pregnancy to make you feel both proud and frightened of weight gain, right?

Also, I spent a better part of my appointment discussing the hot topic of flu shots with the doc. She made me feel a lot better about the seasonal flu shot and I went ahead and got one before I left the office. Of course now my arm hurts like a mug and I've felt very worn down and yucky all day but whatever. She convinced me with her 'social responsibility' speech considering that I'm in healthcare and exposed to lot more with my now weakened immune system that regular pregnant folks will see. (And for the record, washing my hands and being smart about health hygiene is a given either way since I probably wash my hands about 20 times a day at work....but there is still nasty stuff in the air and spewing in my face as a part of my job. Jealous, aren't you?) Plus, she tends to follow the guidelines of 'smart people' who do actual research like the CDC and the ACOG over hearsay on the internets. I'm still not sold on the idea of the H1N1 vaccine but we shall see....I compromised once and maybe that is enough for one flu season.

Hearing the heartbeat again was awesome and it's crazy how much my uterus is expanding. She found the ticker about half way down from my belly button this time and at 12 weeks it was a whole lot lower. And in case you are into the old wives tale about heart rates predicting gender, mine was right at 140 bpm. So since the cut off IS 140 (anything higher supposedly means girl and lower means boy) I suppose I'm out of luck with this one. Ah, only 4 more weeks and we shall know which private parts await us. Did that sound creepy? Sorry.

Enough about the appointment, the real reason I wanted to post today is because of boring yet necessary 'adult' stuff. You know, having babies isn't all about nursery decor, belly pics, dreaming of names and snuggling and baby laughter. No, really, there are some heavy-duty reality concepts to embrace even before little one arrives. The dreaded finances are a big part of it.

In the real world--one apart from daydreaming about smelling my baby's little head--I'm going to have to work after the baby is born. In case you haven't heard me discuss this at great length in the past, I am the sole breadwinner in our household while my handsome hubby attends full-time graduate school. Whatever paycheck I bring home is what we have to work with and let's not forget about my health benefits I hold for us---those are pretty freaking important these days. As a side note, when trying to select our benefits for next year we wanted to gather some price info on having a baby at the hospital. Maybe this isn't shocking to any of you but seeing it in numbers was jaw-dropping to me---easily $15,000-$20,000 or more in hospital bills for labor and delivery plus the hospital stay. Can you IMAGINE if you didn't have health insurance and birthed a child for that price tag? Makes me cringe a little bit even with insurance....geesh.

So yeah, if I decided to work just one or two days a week after the babe is born not only would we have practically no money but we wouldn't have health benefits covered anymore. Not going to happen. I knew this before we got pregnant and although I'm obsessed with the concept of being a stay at home mom one day, we decided that sacrificing that goal in order to start our family sooner would be worth it. Sure, we could have waited until Nate graduates (May 2011, baby!) to have a kiddo but I know we can make this work now and the old biological clock would not be ignored. Apparently we like to do things in unconventional ways in this marriage:)

I'll need to work full time to provide the most inexpensive health insurance for us and also to make us the most money, obviously. Currently I work five 8 hour shifts plus some weekends which is all fine and dandy except that we do not have the luxury of having family to watch our baby. It seems like almost everyone I know (or maybe it's just 90% of people at work) has one, if not two, sets of parents that willingly offer to watch the baby FOR FREE. If you are one of these lucky people in the world please give your parents or in-laws big fatty hugs in gratitude. My parents live 8 hours away and are not that close to retirement, still working full time. Nate's parents, although they conveniently live right below us, both work full time as well. Bummer on our part, right?

So our baby will be a day care baby. No, it's not the ideal situation but plenty of new families have to go this route. I can be level-headed enough to see that sending a child to day care is not the end of the world...right? Hopefully it's somewhat temporary and I'll be able to work less and less as Nate gets his degree and works his share of full time hours (right honey?) One problem: day care is disgustingly expensive. For instance, one of the places near our home is $57 per day. That is almost $1200 per month and it's not even THAT expensive for day cares. So much for our amped-up savings for a house, right?

I'm trying to get creative and figure out ways I can still work 'full time' but not 5 days per week....maybe four 9 hour days to give me 36 hours per week would be enough, then we are only paying for 4 days of daycare. Luckily my job is pretty flexible but I need to figure out what works best for our little family. And unfortunately it doesn't include me being a stay at home mom just yet.

So here I am, attempting to prepare myself mentally for returning to work full time and sending my precious babe to the care of strangers. Also trying to prepare for our bank account hemorrhaging in the process. But in the name of being Pollyanna, I can find some positives here: I have a career that is stable, that I enjoy, that allows me to make a difference in the lives of people. It pays well, it supports our growing family, and it's ONLY 40 hours per week (could always be more, right?) My husband took the plunge and is going for his goal career in grad school--which will in turn, make him happier and ready to contribute to the work force in a career he will love. How could I not support him in this decision?

I guess I'll just have two full time jobs: being a PT during the day and a Mommy at night and on weekends. Sounds freaking exhausting, doesn't it? I hope I'm good enough at both jobs, switching my 'hats' efficiently, without feeling too stretched.

Thoughts and advice welcome. And if anyone knows of a cute little old grandma who is just DYING to watch a newborn for a reasonable amount of money, let me know! I'd love a tiny in-home set up to begin with and will continue to search out all of our options.

**Update: Quad screening came back normal. No worries there, whoo hoo! I didn't think I'd hear back from the office for a whole week so hearing back after two days freaked me out a bit. All is well***

Sixteen weeks

Sweet sixteen, a full four months, and something that makes me crave guacamole:

Mmmmm, avocado. Why does every fruit comparison make me hungry?
And the belly shot, straight out of a rain storm:


Eh, still not that impressive, if you ask me. Especially for four months. I thought I would have popped by now. Yes, compared to my 4 week shot this is a big time pooch but I think if you didn't know me you'd just think I was a little more round in the gut region.

Nate has said at the most random times, "I really can tell you are pregnant, down low mostly, but it's a real bump. Plus you are still moody so you must be knocked up." Gee thanks, hun. He also accused me of sucking in my belly for our pics. So I decided to show him a few extremes to prove that I just stand there and don't do anything different to my gut when he snaps away.

First picture is me letting it ALL hang out, no abdominal control at all so that I'm practically sticking it out. It's quite uncomfortable. Second picture is me proving that I can, indeed, suck it all in and there are some ab muscles buried deep within. It was challenging to flex my lazy tummy muscles, hence the face and the vein in my neck:

So that proves that I don't push it out nor suck it in for my pictures, it's just sits there like normal with a little ab control...but I kind of wish my regular belly looked like the 'sticking it out' shot. I'm guessing that might be more like 20-24 weeks for me?

Big news this week? We bought a crib! And let me just tell you about the most amazing deal of the century. I've been stalking Craigslist on a regular basis to search for a diamond in the rough with a gently used crib. Everything was totally hideous and not at all our style.....until Friday night when I found an adorable white 'Jenny Lind' style crib. They sell these brand new at Target and Walmart and retail for about $180 without the mattress (another $75 or so). So the ad went something like this:
"White crib in excellent condition, only used occasionally at Grandma's house. $40 for crib and also mattress."

Say what? Forty freaking dollars for the whole thing? So I emailed back and forth a few times and decided to go for it. Sure enough, it wasn't a fluke and is in great shape---just needed a little wipe down and voila! Good as new.



Henry loves the 'spindle' style of the slats on this baby and I am quite fond of the white all-wood look. Nate loves that it is very easily assembled....without tools! It fits the bill for being rather traditional and yet a little funky, plus it's not ginormous but in our small room it still takes up a surprising amount of space. I even like it more than the $100 Ikea crib we were leaning towards and considering we almost plunked down $300 for the Walmart crib, the $40 spent here seems like a dream come true.

I could get used to this Craigslist hunting thing! Or maybe now we'll be able to splurge a little more in a different area.

On an adorable website called Pixie Dust Decor I found numerous pictures of our crib dressed up in amazing bedding. I love the idea of a bumper, fitted sheet, and dust ruffle pulling off patterns similar to this:


I just can't wait to get this crib all dolled up in fancy colors. We are getting somewhere, you guys!

Another interesting find? Non-alcoholic red wine. I know, I know. It sounds too good to be true but yet again, it's surprisingly decent.

It basically tastes like grape juice with a dash of All Spice mixed in or something. Nate had a glass of the real thing and I had my pretend vino, and because my sense of smell is still superhuman I could smell the alcohol in his glass and it made mine all the more satisfying.

But back to the baby...
Little avocado is still moving around and I'm getting better at noticing it. It still feels like a light tapping sensation and I really only feel it when I'm staying still but holy cow, what an awesome feeling. We get to hear the heartbeat again on Tuesday at our 16 week appointment and I can't wait for a little musical affirmation that all is still well.

Also have to do the dreaded Quad Screen blood test but I'm trying not to think too much about that one. And I wonder if I've gained more than my measly one pound from my 12 week appointment. All of my regular pants still fit and I'm not even unbuttoning them yet, although at the end of the day some of them feel a little snug. I know everyone is different with when they show and switch to Bella Bands or maternity pants, but it just seems odd that my body hasn't completely morphed into full-blown pregnant lady yet. I'm thinking that my regular running three times per week might help but who knows.

Baby can hear this week which is fabulous because that means I'll probably start talking to my own abdomen in a high pitched baby voice. So annoying, I know, but come on....he can hear his momma!

So that's life at 16 weeks. A semi-belly, cribs, and fake wine.

{As a side note, does anyone actually read these weekly posts? I know I still have readers but these posts in particular lead to very few comments. I don't write posts just to get comments but if they are totally boring for the general public I can just send them right to my album and skip the blog posting. I'm sure Mom and Memaw would be the main objectors to that idea but just throwing it out there. I always have more random stuff to talk about anyway}

albums, computers, and shots

Today I was off work since I will work this Saturday. I spent a large majority of my day at the computer getting caught up on two of my current albums for my easiest client....myself! I say that I'm easy because I know exactly what I like and don't like, and plus I can just throw pages together in a hurry and not worry too much about if the client will like it.

So what two albums, you ask? Oh, just my pregnancy album and my everyday 2009 album. I am so freaking happy to announce that as of right now, this very moment, I am fully caught up with both albums. We are talking hours and hours of work to convert blog posts and 5000 pictures since January into nicely contained digital layouts. What? I got a new camera this year. You didn't think I'd just have a few hundred pics to sort through, did you?

I would like you to guess how many pictures are in our 2009 album thus far. Remember, beginning in January until present day, this album holds all of my self-proclaimed relevant blog posts and favorite images from the year. My 2008 album had 88 total pages from January through December. Do you have your guess?

Because it's only September and I have exactly 100 pages....and that does NOT include any pregnancy posts or pictures. Holy geez! Here are few randoms I thought I'd share from this album:






And then the pregnancy album? It's something I've always wanted to do and it's why I've tried to stay diligent with my posting during this amazing and thought-provoking time. I think I'll love looking back on my thoughts as a first time pregnant lady and I'll probably laugh. Maybe the baby will like to read what Mommy was thinking someday, too. But for the book itself I decided to keep it very simple and plain...all black pages, nothing fancy at all. Can't wait to add more pages to this bad boy!







Speaking of albums, I haven't mentioned much about J.Lorene on this blog for many many months. It's not that I haven't been working on gorgeous albums this year, because I certainly have and continue to upload all of my recent work to my site under 'examples', if you are interested. (I'm a total sucker for Chelsea and Jide's wedding in Cabo and could stare at this one all day long, but that's just me).

I'm still taking new orders but I'm really struggling with whether or not I will continue to go full speed with my little side biz. I still love it and enjoy the extra spending money but I'm starting to feel like I will need every free moment to prepare for the baby. Once baby comes in March I'm absolutely certain that I'll need to take a break from J.Lorene to focus on my new job as a mommy....but then what? Do I continue fun hobby that in all honesty is purely a labor of love because I really don't make enough money per hour to justify spending time away from my new baby consistently? Or do I just limit my new clients to allow for a more laid back time frame and less pressure to perform quickly? I don't know. I'm torn. For now I'm just thinking of continuing on until I have a stronger opinion one way or the other.

On a different note, my beloved iMac aluminum keyboard protested the number of hours it was hard at work to complete my personal albums. All of a sudden in the middle of typing a comment on a friends blog I couldn't type the word 'that'. All that was coming out was 'ha' which was totally frustrating and confusing. Then I realized that my letters B, G, and T were all not working along with the letter 5. If you look on your keyboard you see these pesky letters are all in a diagonal line. CURSES! Have you ever tried to type anything without these letters? Totally maddening. I didn't spill anything on the keyboard and I hadn't done anything to tick it off besides work the crap out of it all day long.

After some research and a quick trip to the Apple store it was official: the 1.5 year old keyboard gave up on life. It was broken and not repairable. So we basically HAD to buy a new one unless I could figure out a way to work the English language without the letters B G and T. Ugh.

But failing economy my left cheek---the Apple store is always hopping with people who are dropping mad cash in there like it's no big deal. Seriously. Every time we go in we are of course drooling at all of the new Macs and iPods but also staring in astonishment as people wheel out gigantor iMacs in multiples. Who are these people and how are they spending this money?

I suppose I shouldn't talk since we do technically own two Macs and a few iPods but still. 'Tis craziness in there.

And finally, the topic of flu shots is always a fun one, right? You see, I work in a hospital which is full of very sick people. Those sick people are my patients and thus I am literally inches away from their faces as they sneeze and cough and do other nasty bodily functions. Anyone in health care should automatically get the flu shot, right? Plus, I'm knocked up so that puts me at the top of the 'must get flu shot' list even more than before. BUT....

I've never gotten one before and I've been fine. I realize that I'm totally lucky to have never gotten the Flu and people tell me that someday, when I do get a real respiratory Flu bug, I'll be begging for the vaccine every year afterwards. I mean, the shots are free at work and they literally wheel around carts through the halls ready to plunge the needle into your skin. I asked the nurse and she said that the shots they have at the hospital are the preservative-free kind, which is what us pregnant ladies should get.

I'm just not sure I want to deal with it. I have heard of people getting sick after the shot (even though it's not one with a live virus) and of course, many times 'they' pick the wrong Flu strain to guard against so the shot is totally pointless. I know it can't really hurt the baby to get the shot but I still have a hard time committing to it....don't ask me why. My doctor's office recommends it, my work recommends it, and yet I'm stuck with this one.

Any advice? Let's not even get into the topic of H1N1 though. When that vaccine comes out I'm going to do lots of research there, too, and I know they'll push for pregnant peeps to get it but again, I'm torn. I know of some preliminary reports that show a startling correlation to the vaccine and Gullian Barre, so of course that makes me a wee bit nervous.

So that's that. More miscellany coming at you just in time for me to watch The Office. Oh, Jim and Pam. How I've missed you.

Big Time Miscellany

1. I decided to treat myself this weekend and bought a pound of decaffeinated Alterra coffee for my own personal pleasure. I also bought this amazing mug and voila....I'm enjoying coffee on weekends again! Still decaff, and only on weekends, but my how I missed this ritual. There is nothing better than lounging around and sipping on a cup-o-joe, even if it doesn't pack the punch:

2. Speaking of weekends, let me whine for a second. I knew this summer was going to be freaking insane with traveling for showers, weddings, parties, visiting friends and believe me it is worth every second to see amazing friends/family who live so far away. But remember that I also have to work weekends for my job, usually 5 or 6 weekend days in a four month period. So I counted it up and from the beginning of May until the end of September, I have had exactly 6 weekends out of a possible 22 that did not include work or travel. Six, you guys. Isn't that a little pathetic? I was so looking forward to this past weekend because it was going to be #7 but alas, I am a softy and went in to work for 3 hours because they were absolutely swamped and nobody else could help. Eh, the overtime pay won't hurt and I talked myself into being okay with it mentally, too. But seriously, in my next life I'm going to keep nearly all of my weekends open without travel or work to just get caught up on everyday life. Sounds like a brilliant plan to me!

3. Is anyone wondering how Henry is doing with his training? The answer is pretty much fabulous but not yet perfect. The last time his trainer came to the house we purchased one of her Canine Genuis toys which houses food and treats. It's like an amped up Kong that keeps the little bugger mentally stimulated and boy does he love this thing. It's so cute to see him figure out how to dump it upside down and see the kibble spill out. Nate and I cannot stop laughing at him when he's Mr. Smarty Pants conquering the Canine Genius.




(If Henry was a human child, I would want this to be his school picture. Don't you think he looks so cute here?)


4. It's Packer season in our household which can only mean one thing: Nate screaming at the TV and Henry strutting around in his Packer jersey with pride. Boys will be boys. Please tell me his little chest hair puffing out from the top isn't the cutest thing ever.


Tail wagging=blur of happiness.



And no, we do not mention the curse word 'Favre' in this house anymore. Please do not get Nate started.

5. On my super productive Saturday, before I went into work, I tackled an organization project that has been bugging me for months. I cleaned out every storage area in our tiny bathroom and re-organized the hell out of it. But once I pulled everything out I was slightly overwhelmed...

The end result is freaking fabulous, if you ask me. And I didn't stop there since I went into the kitchen and reorganized a few more cabinets in there. It scares me to think that when the baby comes I won't have the luxury of staying organized. I'm thinking asking Nate or the in-laws to watch the babe while I go to town and clean the heck out of the house might be my best bet. Or maybe I just won't care anymore (doubt it).

6. I'm throwing Hannah a baby shower in St. Louis on Halloween and cannot freaking wait. I really haven't talked too much about her pregnancy but she is due on December 1, was my maid of honor and I was hers, and we were best buddy roommates all through college and beyond. Knowing each other for 10 years means we have gone through a ridiculous amount of milestones together and I am so excited to raise our kids together. They will be about 3 months apart and I'm quite sure they'll be best buddies....especially if they are in the same city and state. :)

But anyway, lots of fun ideas for her shower. I also have a secret project underway that I'm really excited about and here is a preview:

7. I really need some new underwear. I am obsessed with my old school Vickie's Secret 'Body by Victoria' undies because they are the only kind that do not give me a wedgie. But of course they don't make the exact kind that I love anymore. You see, my butt is rather flat and sort of long so I think that all underwear just naturally cuts into my crack....it's so unfair, I hate it. I've spent way too much money on other kinds of undies hoping they are anti-wedgie but so far no luck. I'm thinking of trying those Jockey briefs on TV. You know the one with the chick from Scrubs talking about how she doesn't have to dig into her butt for her underwear anymore? Yeah, those look pretty awesome. Any suggestions? And no, I will not wear a thong for everyday purposes. I've tried some boy shorts but they still ride up on my bum.

8. I'm all about reading pregnancy/birthing/parenting books right now. Well, I haven't actually done a lot of reading besides my What to Expect book and a few other 'Your pregnancy' type books. But I have a long list of books I want to borrow from the library or buy used and want to share them for opinions and other ideas:

-Great Expectations
-The Ultimate Breastfeeding book by Dr. Jack Newman
-Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo
-Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy
-Your Best Birth by Ricki Lake
-The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy
-The Happiest Baby on the Block

Anyone read any of these or have other 'must reads' for me? I love to read books and if it weren't for my book club group at work I would have a hard time finding the time. But I've gotten better about trying to squeeze in some time right before bed lately.

Oh, and non-pregnancy books I want to read or will read for our book club include:
-Middlesex (next to read for the club, I've heard great things!)
-Stroke of Insight (medical people can't get enough of medical stories, you know)
-Still Alice (another medical one about Alzheimers)
-Stori Telling (because I love her)

For those of you who read I really love the Goodreads site. It helps me remember which ones I want to read and which books I already read.

Is that enough miscellany for you? I guess it's been awhile:)

Fifteen weeks

Week-o-the-Orange:


I'm afraid my true bump last week was a fluke, brought on by airplane flights and fast food. Doesn't this week look smaller? Nate thinks I'm just being psycho/getting used to it. But it just seems less substantial now.

I had one of my co-workers grope my stomach without provocation this week and another stated 'Awe, a little beer gut. That is SO attractive' in a way that made me wonder if she was being serious or not. A beer gut? Come on. Don't taunt me with talk of the a-a-a-a-alcohol.

Let's talk about my GI system for a second, shall we? Things just ain't right down there. All sorts of strange musical noises emerge from my gut and they sound like any of the following: screeching, popping, barking, clicking, and my personal favorite.....the Dumb and Dumber gurgle. Not only am I full of enough gas to implode a small house but I'm also constipated like a mo-fo. 'Tis awful to miss out on daily regularities and I almost wish my Dumb and Dumber gurgle would lead to a similar fate as the movie, enough said. Ah, the beauties of pregnancy....let me just finish my bowl of Raisin Bran while I type this.

Speaking of odd happenings in my innards....I'm not 100% sure but I think I *might* have felt the little orange move last night! I know, I know, at 15 weeks it's incredibly early for a first time mom to feel anything other than 'gas bubbles' but come on, when your stomach plays it's own musical instrument made from gas all day long, how in the heck are you supposed to tell a difference between a juicy fart and a baby kick? So I just wrote off the 'flutters' I've felt for about a week as as part of my ever-growing GI issues. Until last night....

So I was laying in bed nearly passed out asleep, when all of a sudden I felt a strong jab in my left lower tummy. I was laying on my left side and it was startling enough to perk me up and wonder 'Holy crap, was that the baby??' I almost woke Nate up but decided against it because it's not like it was constantly happening.....just that one little jab. Perhaps it was just a twitch as I was falling asleep, or a muscle spasm, or another gas bubble. But part of me really believes it was Mr. Orange making his presence known, like 'Dang, Mom...do you have to lay right on my head?' I don't know. Maybe it was nothing but it still felt like something. We'll see if it happens again anytime soon.

Another fun new symptom this week? Acne!! Yipee, whoo hoo, so much fun. I must say that I'm one of the blessed ones in the world who never experienced real teenage acne of any kind and yet I'm fascinated with zits. I love to pick and squeeze and pop anything I find so I guess it's a good thing that I have good skin without pimples. Well all of sudden this week I noticed about 4 or 5 little buggers smack dab on my forehead. Nothing major here, so it's not like I was super excited about attempting to pop them but of course I had to try anyway which left me with bright red and painful dots on my head. Nate immediately picked up on it saying, 'Did you try to pick something that wasn't there again?' to which I had to admit my attempts, but really there ARE actual bumps there. I just made them ten times worse with my picking, go figure.

Another obsession of mine is to feel for my uterus. I'm pretty sure I can locate the top of it right at the 3 finger mark above my pubic bone, which is right where it should be at 15 weeks but then again I'm not really sure. I've heard it described as a water balloon feel and considering that I palpate (poke, feel) with my hands all the time for my job you'd think I'd be all over this one. Which just leads to my endless prodding of my tummy....I'm sure baby appreciates my poking.

On the positive side of symptoms, I have boat loads of energy and even managed to run three days this week with my trophy run being a near 5 miler on Sunday. Of course, when you have to plan your runs around bathroom locations for your pregnant bladder it changes things a bit. And when you have major GI issues it definitely puts a kink into your run but I'm not going to go into detail on that one. Just think of Charlotte from the Sex in the City movie, then picture me, laugh, and move on...

But enough about me and my disgustingness, little orange is able to see light this week. So basically, if I wanted to annoy the heck out of him even before birth I could shine a flashlight onto my gaseous belly and he'll squirm away. He's breathing amniotic fluid which is both fascinating and mind blowing to me....how in the heck can they breathe fluid for 9 months then all of a sudden upon delivery they suck in air and never look back at their fluid-filled beginnings? So amazing but maybe that's the medical freak in me. Baby's legs are now longer than his arms and knowing our baby those legs might be freakishly long.

It's so weird to think I'm almost four months pregnant. Time flies, huh?

inspiration galore

You didn't think I'd only do one nursery post, did you? Come on now. I have so many ideas floating around in this mushy pregnancy brain of mine I simply have to post some of them so I don't forget in two days.

I'm still going for the all bright color look in the room, natural wood and all. But what about the actual pieces of furniture? And the actual decor? So many choices, my friends. And like anything else in life I have very expensive tastes.

I think a crib is one of the most important parts of the room since it's where the babe will spend the most time. I want it to be sturdy and safe yet modern and sleek at the same time. Oh, and just because I have caviar tastes doesn't mean we'll be dropping an obscene amount of money on one piece of furniture that won't fit the baby in a short amount of time. I'm also a big fan of a sturdy rocker or glider in the room which could definitely be an anchor piece for the entire room, but used again in the future as regular seating. But just for a second, let's visit my dreamland, shall we?

Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here are the most glorious, modern, sleek cribs known to mankind. They make my innards quiver and quite frankly, I'm drooling a little staring at their wonder. All of these are from Modern Nursery and part of me wishes I would have never run across this nursery mecca website. Why? Because every single one of these bad boys is approximately $1000. 1k. A freaking G, you guys.

Perhaps we should start playing the lottery?

So let's start at the 'If I were a millionaire' category of inspiration. I would first buy this amazing Oeuf crib:


Followed quickly the the equally stunning Sleepytime Rocker. Again, this puppy is over $900 and no....I don't think it gives you a back massage or makes you dinner. It's just a chair but goodness, she's a beaut.


Moving onto the 'midrange price/ maybe we could pull it off' category. I am obsessed with this crib from none other than Walmart. Tell me this doesn't look scarily similar to the Oeuf crib but only 1/3 of the price at $300:


And Target's deep seat rocker is pretty fab:


And finally the 'supremely inexpensive but still our style' category: of course, we are leaning towards this price bracket and good ole' Ikea is coming through with flying colors for the pocketbooks. We saw this crib in person when we drove down there a few weeks ago and although I was afraid it would be flimsy and cheap in person it really wasn't. I love the rounded top rail and the simplicity of it. What do you think? For $100 you seriously cannot beat it.

I've seen amazing bedding dress this little crib right up and some people will even modify the crib to be less cage-like. I'm not sure I want to go through all of that effort in making extra pieces for a perfectly fine crib, but we'll see. Either way, I'm really not a big fan of the HUGE convertible cribs out there on the market today. Some of them just look like a headboard and footboard to an adult bed smashed together to fit an infant mattress. Not my style, so I'm pretty sure we'll go with either the Walmart or Ikea cribs. But it was challenging to find something different in the market for cribs. Who knew?

For an inexpensive rocker, I'm thinking we'll either use an old-fashioned rocking chair and paint it a fun bright color or maybe just white, then add a nice soft cushion with a funky printed fabric. Or perhaps we'll just get a regular arm chair in the room. Who says babies HAVE to be rocked to sleep? In fact, I've heard if you get them into the habit of always being rocked to sleep they won't be able to fall asleep any other way.


And another Ikea favorite: this pimped out rug. Seriously, this might be my staple piece right here, working everything else off this guy. Love the bright colors since the potential is endless with other matches. And seeing this one in person did not disappoint, either---it's soft and plush and perfect for a little baby to destroy.


Before we move away from Ikea, what if I ditch the idea of a rocker/arm chair altogether and go for a little sofa? More seating, so both Nate and I can sit in the nursery together. Plus, if we got a cute pull out like this one we'd avoid the dreaded air mattress for our out of town guests. I'm still not sold on that idea, but I know we cannot fit a full bed in the nursery with everything else. Thoughts?

I mean, any old chair or couch can be dressed up with adorable little throw pillows, such as this one from Etsy seller ManicMuffin Tote's:


For a changing table, I saw this amazing nursery on Spearmint Baby and cannot stop thinking about having my father-in-law make one of these things.

(photo by Gail, on Flickr)

We'd of course need a dresser of some kind, too, and maybe I'll just plop a changing table tray on top of the dresser. But I really like the idea of this style, too.

And as far as accessories and fun decor, I absolutely want to make fun flags like this (and wish our ceilings were vaulted for the same effect):

(found on Spearmint Baby, photo by ourheartbeat and her flickr page)

Then I'll go over to Etsy and go buck wild. For instance, their nursery prints can entertain me for hours on end and inspire me to make my own baby art. Or at least make some and buy a few pieces, too, since I really want the eclectic look to add lots of character. Here are a few of my faves:

( from seller Ferntree Studio)

(from seller babybyrds)


(from seller prettymod)


(by seller trendypeas)


Oh, and the mobiles on Etsy. Don't even get me started.
(from seller giftsdefine)

So yeah, these are just some of my ideas. I have new ones every day but because it's really too early to get rid of our spare bed and convert the guest room into a nursery, I'll just let most of the ideas marinate for now.

Any other ideas much appreciated. Especially thoughts on the rocker versus glider versus stationary chair versus pull out small-ish couch. I'm totally debating this one to death.

morphed

I'm approximately 4 years behind on this but it's too fun not to share.
Ever wonder what your kids might look like? Go to morphthing.com and try it out.

First I tried to use two random shots that were mostly head-on and with our mouths closed:


And we got this:


Yikes. Nate said, "What the hell is that thing? What's wrong with it?"
I think the baseball cap was the limiting factor there, don't you?

So I decided to take two real-time photos for this specific purpose, just because I have THAT much time on my hands:)
This baby still has a majorly messed up hairline but I suppose she's cute.
Do you find it odd that both babies look rather feminine? I told Nate it's because of his feminine features, for sure.

I guess I can kind of see us in there....what do you think?