If nesting were an olympic sport, I'd be a gold medalist.

I haven't blogged in over a month.  I've either been too tired, or too busy. My job has been keeping me super busy and I think I'm in a bit of denial that I may not be able to keep up with it for a few weeks after I deliver. I'm due two weeks from today, and as the title of this post says, I've been gathering my twigs and lint and organizing this nest into a frenzy.  Instead of rambling on and on, I will show examples in photos. I also have a couple leftovers from my previous room makeovers that I still want to share.  Enjoy!


Let's start with some lame/ who in their right mind besides a Type A pregnant lady would take pictures of this organization photos.  The following pictures are in the new nursery.

I spotted this little gem at Garden Ridge for 6.99.  I snagged two, as I am a firm believer in basket storage for babies.  They really look like they were part of the nursery set!

Who organizes by putting smaller baskets in bigger baskets, and then takes a picture of it because she's so proud of it? And, then rudely politely asks her husband to "take the few extra seconds to return the items to their corresponding baskets"? THIS GIRL.

Accomplishment here = TONS of completed laundry and more clothes than any not yet born child should have.  If you're interested, Buy Buy Baby sells the little size dividers for closets like they use in stores.  And, so, yes, this closet is organized that way (only going up to 3-6 months right now).

Loving the changing pad cover shower gift! Although, placed right next to the wall, it really highlights the off-ness of the shade of yellow paint in certain lights.

We've also completed a few small projects that I've wanted to get done forever.  I love how small changes can make huge impacts in the appearance AND value of the home.  For example:

Every door in our house was brand new when we bought the place.  But they all had this dated brass hardware.  It pained my eyes to look at.  My first inclinations was to go with a brushed nickel type finish... until I discovered Oil Rubbed Bronze.  And started seeing it in all the new build homes.

I sprayed a couple a few months ago, and then the process stalled out.  I was just leaning each knob one by one onto the surface and then spray painting.  Then I had this idea, as seen above.  So I asked my step dad to fashion some sort of cardboard contraption with doorknob sized holes to stick the knobs in, so I wouldn't have any marred "lean" spots, and I could do several at one time.  And, voila! He had the "doorknob" drill bit for his drill, and there you have it.  Only Josh wouldn't let me spray paint anymore because of the fumes, so he finished all of the knobs in one evening! It really makes a huge difference!

Now that I'm looking at it, perhaps a wider shot of the door would've been more effective.

And, there's been another eyesore in this house that has plagued me since we moved in.  The dining room and hallway had coordinating brass/ glass/ couldn't be more 1980's if they tried light fixtures.  We replaced the dining room one immediately upon closing with an updated and necessary ceiling fan.  We just never got around to replacing the hallway fixture.  We actually bought one at Lowe's a while back, and then it sat in the garage for a few months.  (Which is one of my major pet peeves, and one of my husband's most predictable traits, bless his heart). So, I put the pressure on by giving him a deadline and making him believe that if this baby came and we still had a brass/ glass chandelier hanging in our hallway, her upbringing would somehow be negatively affected by it's presence.  It worked.

His blurred face makes me crack up.  A lot.  As he was taking the fixture down, I remembered that I wanted a "before" shot, so here it is.

Here's the after.  Nothing fancy and only about $17.  This light originally came with a more detailed ORB piece around the bottom surrounding the (for lack of a better word) nipple.  But, I didn't love it, so we removed it before installing the light. Looking down our hallway now, with this and the updated knobs, it adds so much value to the style of the house.  Win!

I've also taken on some DIY projects.  The yarn wreath has been making it's way through Etsy and the Home Decorating blog circuit all season.  Initially, I picked one out via Pinterest that I LOVED, and it was $42.   I'm pretty sure the hubs would've given me an extended stink eye if I did that.  So I read some tutorials online, realized there was no sewing involved, and headed to Michael's.  Wouldn't you know, it's super easy, and surprise, surprise I'm addicted to making them.  And it's not $42!  So, at night after Sofia goes to bed, I bust out one or two, and people like them! Everyone wins! I'm pretty sure I'm going to open at Etsy shop for them, and I've got TONS of ideas up my sleeve- like designs and give aways, and incorporating some of my other hobbies, like photography.  But, I want to wait until the baby arrives to take that on, to make sure that I can handle it.  I'll definitely let everyone know as soon as it happens!

And, since I was on this DIY kick, and I was spending an hour or so a week at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, I thought I'd try my hand at another project.  Etsy is jam packed with Ahhhh- dorable "Big Sis/ Little Sis" shirts for new siblings.  I had two cute ones hanging out in my shopping cart forever.  Then I got to be about 36 weeks and worried that they may not get here before I have the baby.  And if we've learned anything from this entry, it's that NOTHING can possibly wait until after the new baby arrives.  It MUST BE DONE ahead of time. To be fair, I'm not as bad as I was with Sofia's impending arrival, where I literally stockpiled toiletries like I wouldn't get to go to Target for at least 6 months postpartum.  

So I picked up some iron on letters on my next craft store trip and some cheap-o onesies at Walmart and gave it a shot.  Here's my tip if you're interested in doing this: For the first few projects, at least, buy extra letters.  They aren't the easiest to peel off, and I tore several.  But once they were finished, I adored them! The set I had in my Etsy cart was $36.  By making them myself, I paid less than $10 per shirt- with the multiple packs of letters included.  Granted they're not as fancy or perfect as the Etsy ones, but I made them, so they're doubled up on special.

FYI: My grandma that passed away in July was Marilyn.  Hence, Maya.  I think it's beautiful and it has so many neat little coincidences. Love it, and LOVE the way it sounds with Sofia. Josh gets to pick the middle name and I think he's landed on the one, but you can never be too sure with that guy...

After I shared all the room makeovers, I realized I left out some angles, and I've added a few little touches, mostly in Sofia's room, so here are those:

This is right next to her door.  My sister did that painting before she was born and it's graced her room ever since.  And if you look closely, you can see the Elmo CD in the player.  It's one of those that is personalized to say her name in every song.  Her grandma bought it for her and to say she LOVES it would be the understatement of the year.  

All toy storage, but easily accessible for her to grab herself, and easy for her to clean up by herself.

I've been looking for a cute pillow for her chair ever since I scored it on Craigslist. This is not the style I imagined, but when I saw this adorable pillow at Christmas Tree Shop for 6.99, I couldn't pass it up.  Have you all been to this store? It's in Florence and worth the drive down, for sure. 

I found these little wall decal letters on clearance and bought them before I was sure what/ where I would put them.  I thought this little nook in her room was perfect, and at least twice a day, we play, "What letter is this?" or "Where is the S and what does that stand for?" And, it came with some extras and punctuation stickers (I think the intention of the product was to personalize something on the wall), so Sofia had a blast one afternoon sticking those stickers all over the house.  Then they made their way to the recycling bin. 

 

 

This little guy below didn't land in Sofia's room, but it was love at first sight when I saw him.  I was at Goodwill, and there he sat on the shelf, all dirty and brown.  I snagged him for 99 cents, took him home, gave him some love, and voila.  Okay, okay, maybe I secretly wish that is what happened.  Really, I found him at TJ Maxx with one of those adorable red clearance stickers, and he was in perfect condition.  Now he sits atop our hutch in the dining room and stares at me while I eat.  I really do grin whenever I walk past him.  Yes, him. Not "it". 

He's actually a candle holder.  Swoons. Love owls. Love that color.  Loved the price tag.

And, who can talk nesting in October without sharing some of their nifty fall decor? So I got a jump start on that, with more to come as we haven't made it out to the pumpkin patch yet.  I can't decide if I want to waddle around one 10 months pregnant and risk having my water break on a hayride, or wait until she's here and take her along, or leave her with Grandma while we take Sofia.  I think it depends on when she decides to debut.  Nonetheless, here's what I have so far.

This one isn't so much "Fall" per se, but I love a crisp new welcome mat.  Although I've seen much cuter ones, this was another great deal at Christmas Tree Shop and I buy them every season, so I had to take the deal.  It's actually kind off weird how much I enjoy a crisp, clean new welcome mat.

I think Josh thought I bought dead mums.  I just like the anticipation of waiting for the bloom.

Disclaimer: See that blue sign? It signifies that we are protected by Time Warner's security system.  One of the "perks" of Josh working there is that we get to beta test their new products.  This thing is high tech.  We have a touch pad that controls the entire house and doubles as a digital frame or weather update, or God knows what else.  We can customize the sound that happens whenever someone enters our house, from gunshots to nagging wife to dinosaurs (we each have our faves).  And there's cameras in my house that we can view from anywhere.  I roll my eyes at this now, but when that camera doubles as a nanny cam, betcha I'll come around to it.

As you can see, who has time to blog with all of this happening? Besides, I'm HUGE, so some of these were done at a snail's pace.  Since this post is already pretty long, I'll keep the Sofia update short.  Toddlerhood is an amazing roller coaster ride.  The lows are difficult and she is challenging.  She wants to do EVERYTHING herself.  And she gets downright PISSED if you dare impede on that mission.  She also gets pretty upset, though, if she can't do it herself.  On the other hand, she's absolutely hilarious.  She says the most ironic, witty things.  I think one of her most notable traits right now is her memory.  As in, she remembers every single thing that goes in to her brain.  And then, typically recalls said thing/ event/ emotion at the appropriate time, often times catching us off guard and leaving us staring at each other open mouthed.  For example, when I drive her to my mom's we pass a field. For a few days a couple weeks ago, there was a tractor parked in that field.  Now, whenever we pass the exact spot in the exact field where the tractor was parked, she asks where the tractor went.  We've also learned that this means that we cannot, under any circumstances, ever let her know in any sort of advance of any fun she may have.  For example, if you let her know that she may be going to see the Super Why kids at Whole Foods next week, be prepared to hear about it once every minute until then, included with occasional temper tantrums about why we're not doing it now.  Patience is NOT one of her best virtues (I don't think it is for any toddler).  But like I said, the highs are amazing.  She's so loving and smart and exploratory and curious.  She kisses her baby sister (in my belly) all the time.  She understands everything we say and is an incredible helper.  She lets Pablo in and out, and gives him his dinner.  She cleans up her messes and fetches all kinds of things for us; and takes such pride in it! I've really learned to cherish these times, as they are forever fleeting.  She will make a super big sister and although I'm terrified of making her feel bad by taking some of her attention away, I remind myself that I'm giving her the greatest gift, a best friend.