That's Just Swell!

I'm not just refering to my fingers, toes, and ankles!  While the hot weather has brought on some serious swelling of my extremeties, it makes a visit to the pool all the more enjoyable!  We have been frequenting the pool (and the frozen pink lemonades) and LOVING it!  My doc says that fruits such as papaya and other melons help reduce swelling naturally, so we are headed to the grocery tonight to stock up.

The other wonderful news is that the nursery is FINALLY FINISHED!  With a few final touches, we are ready to bring this baby home.  I am loving the simplicity of the room and the flexibility that we will have once we move.  The seersucker pillows and crib skirt play such a large part in the gender neutral pallete even though it is blue and white.  It's subtle and sweet - just what we were hoping for. 

 Minus the bag of trash hanging from the cabinet. 

We keep the stroller to the right of the changing table.

The crib! 

I made the blanket draped across the back out of linen, tummy time! 

The crib skirt is seersucker with matching blue bows. 

The bumber has piping detail in the same color. 

And the wall space above still needs something....

The ties for the bumper were in places that didn't quite work with the crib slats, so I used my trusty sewing machine to move them which also made the bumper more secure when tied on.  What do you think? 
We put together our swing and bouncer (oh so cute!) and are learning about the carseat and stroller. Our next feat is to assemble our jogging stroller and set up the pack-n-play in our bedroom.

The swing and bounce seat

Since this picture, we added a white table skirt and moved the bolts of fabric. 

It feels like a room more than a storage area now :)

Russ is excited about Baby Opitz!  Don't you love his festive July 4th Flare?

Yes, we are first time parents, hints the primarily white room.  But before you judge, we are moving in the beginning of November so think of it as temporary until we can get a gender-specific color on the nursery wall. Also, white is easy to clean!  BTW, I just tried Baby Oxy Clean last night on my husbands dress shirt (avacado) and it works GREAT!
I haven't really had any serious cravings for anything in particular through the pregnancy.  I prefer different foods than I used to, like sweets and dairy.  One thing I think about and wish I had is the Green Sauce from Mamacita's in Kerrville.  There really isn't anything like it and I grew up on this fatty goodness.  My parents just brought my four quarts (one is already gone) with Mamacita's homemade tortillas, what a treat!

The Crib Diaries.... 
Unless you are interested in refinishing a piece of furniture, or paint, I might bore you here...   feel free to skip this section.  After a painfully long debacle about the crib we tried to paint ourselves, which our family had given us, we ended up purchasing a new one.  The bottom line is, if you want to refinish a piece of furniture that has any detail to it, it should probably done professionally.  I'm all for a DIY project, which is what Matt really wanted to do for our little one, but sometimes it makes more sense to spend your efforts on other things.  If your goal is to save money then consider this: When you figure the cost of paint and tools plus the time it takes to do this yourself plus ruining your favorite old T-shirt, it's less expensive to have a professional do it.  "What Did Ya Learn?"  Don't use Behr paint.  Ever.  Especially the primer and paint in one....  I'm officially anti-Behr and Home Depot recommendations.  The paint guy at Home Depot sold Matt on this product, saying that it was low VOC and great to paint furniture with.  As much as I wanted to use the darling crib that our niece and nephew used, the paint completely ruined the crib.  It continues to peel off in thick layers of what feels like plastic.  I could just imagine walking into the nursery to find flecks of plastic paint in our teething child's mouth from teething on the crib rail.  Instead of Behr, use the Benjamin Moore Natura paint, which is VOC free, dries more efficiently and doesn't chip or peel.  It was a big improvement to the crib, however, the damage by Behr had been done to two sides that now need to be completely stripped.  The good news is, Matt found a darling crib that will grow with the baby by turning into a toddler bed.  SOOO glad to be finished with the crib! 

Here's a pic of the one we attempted to paint... it was really cute.