dex and the baby.

Baby C will be here in five weeks or so... I can't believe it. I had my shower this last weekend, which was fabulous... Thank you, friends, who made it so special. :) The ladies in my life are going to be awesome friends & influences on our little girl--I can't wait for her to meet them!

We have set up our Pack n' Play in our bedroom, which baby will be sleeping in for the first couple months with the bassinet feature... Dex likes the owl mobile and was pretty intrigued when he discovered it played music, too. (Uh oh.)

I asked him if he's ready for the baby. This is the look he gave me:

I'm pretty sure he'll realize baby will be a fun buddy to hang out with, after she learns not to pull ears and such...

It's strange to wake up and see this little bed there, empty and waiting... I get a little jump in my throat when I walk by each morning. This baby business is finally feeling tangible. I already feel over the moon and she's not even here yet.

Friends have made us some absolutely beautiful baby things, and I want to share these with you. Get ready to see some awesome knitting, crochet, and sewing to the max... :)

serenity now

My mother-in-law B loves the color red. I think for the last five or so years, I've given her something with red for her birthday, or Christmas... and I was wondering if I was pushing it by making a huge red afghan for her birthday this year, but decided to go for it anyway. I'm glad I did. She immediately recognized that I had made a scarf for her out of the same yarn a couple of years ago, and she wears this scarf a lot, so I was hoping she wouldn't mind more of the same. She didn't. :)

This pattern, #19 from the Big Book of Afghan Knits, was super easy to figure out, but time consuming. It's one of those patterns where you are psyched to begin knitting, and then you realize how long it takes to do just one row, and before you know it, you're rolling your eyes and throwing your head back, murmuring "serenity now!" Which is ironic, as this pattern is called "Serenity"...

I began this back in October, and just finished it last week. Despite the slow-go, I really enjoyed knitting up an afghan for the first time in my life... I'd love to make another one, now that I know what to expect. There are 24 patterns in this book, all of them lovely, and they vary in complexity. I think I chose the easiest one to begin with!

I used Simply Soft's Autumn Red on size 17 needles. This, and all the patterns, calls for doubled-up yarn, so you need about 12 skeins to make a full size afghan. I only used about half of that to make this throw, however.

I hope you are well and warm where you are. I have some fun posts to share with you this next week; hopefully baby will let up a little on zapping my energy so I can play catch up!

in a pickle

So, I feel like if I purchase something in a cool container, it's a major bonus. I have the item, aaand now I have a new place to store something. Pickle jars may not be fabulous, but they are extremely useful... and you know how much I love useful things.

I'm glad my mom loves pickles, because she has been saving a plethora of jars for me for little one's room for awhile. You can bet I had bug eyes when she handed me a sack full of jars!

I am going to put these on a shelf in the baby's room and fill em' with cotton balls, q-tips, and whatever else baby needs... Maybe some fun things, too, like pins or pacifiers or hairbands. Do you get this excited over jars too, or am I just a little nutty...?

I bought some acrylic paint, which matches little one's bedding, and went to town on the lids, which took a couple of coats, but I think they turned out all right.

AFTER

I swiped a couple of the jars painted with white lids for our own bathroom to hold odds and ends... R is pleased as everything now has a place. And what better place than a jar?

happy new year!

Happy 2010! It's a new year: a fresh start, new goals, and new adventures. I hope you've had a nice holiday season. R and I spent some time writing today about this last year, and it's pretty amazing how much you forget over the course of 12 months... It's nice to conjure up the year and reflect on how the time was spent.

Questions I like to think about are, "How have I grown over the last year?" and "How am I different than I was from this time last year?" It might help to ask the hubby or friends these questions more than myself. I still have more thinking to do on this... May 2010 be a year of fruitfulness and healthy changes!

Now to totally switch gears, a list of favorites. Every year brings new ones...

Mindy's Favorites from 2009

1. Red. I really got into the color red last year. Orange too, actually. I've always been a purple girl, so this is kind of throwing me through a loop... but a fun one. Our Christmas gift this year to each other was a new camera (to take pictures of Little One), and when R asked me what color I'd like, I immediately said, "Red!"

2. Energel Deluxe Needletip pens, by Pentel. I'm a dork, I know. But a super-fine line, gel ink, AND clickable makes for a perfect trifecta of penmanship. Heart it bigtime.

3. Spellbound (1945). I finally bought this DVD last October, and I've already watched it 3 or 4 times (on top of the few times before that when I got it from the library). Stars Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. This is the perfect flick for a snowy day with tomato soup and grilled cheese.

4. Bienenstich (translated Bee Sting in German), from the Rhinelander Bakery in Arvada, CO. This is the only pastry I have ever ordered from this bakery, aside from a cream horn or two... Bienenstich is pure heavenly bliss. It's comprised of two buttery cookies layers, thick cream, and topped with almonds and honey. I tried it earlier than 2009, but I am officially naming it a favorite as I had it before Christmas this year, and am pleased I did. :)

5. Maternity pants. The most comfortable pants in the world!

6. Ice water (or Canada Dry's Seltzer water in Raspberry).

7. Netflix's Streaming Disc. I think we watched Seasons 1-5 of The Office in two weeks...! I bet when the baby is born, she'll recognize the theme song. Yikes.

8. Pomegranates. So wonderful when they're on sale during the fall. I stocked up and would seed these guys so I could have a snack in the evenings. I also really love pomegranate seeds on salads--they look so pretty!

9. Frothy milk in coffee, chai, or steamers. I wrote about this earlier this year--yum.

10. Baby moving in utero. Hands down, the most favorite thing I've experienced this last year has been feeling our little girl move--it is the most surreal and comforting sensation. I can't believe she will be here in about two months!

What are some of your favorites from this last year?

nesting and dreaming.

We are working on converting my craft room into the nursery. It's a little bittersweet, because I will miss that room... Until R reminds me, "How often did you really use it?" Sigh. This is true. But I miss it just the same. Still, it's been fun to clear it out and move some pieces around to make room for baby things.

Above is the bedding we've ordered--I love the colors, especially the touch of lime green. I also love how old-fashioned yet crisp it is. Nice and simple and girly. We're hoping to add crown molding to the room soon, and besides that, some artwork, maybe a rug... and furniture. We have a long ways to go, but I'll post photos once it's up and running! I can't imagine it being ready and then just waiting for her to arrive... how bizarre and wonderful that will be.

We're going to keep it the same cement green that it is, above (I so love this color still), and I've promised R we will make it look adorable. He's worried it's too boring of a color for a baby, but I think it will look very elegant and sweet.

So. It's no longer a craft room. I've moved all of my craft items to the basement, where it's hiding out for now until I decide how I'd like to organize it. When I first moved everything downstairs, I'm sure I was frowning, because the basement is known to be spiderville, even though it's finished. We even get lots of light streaming in, so its not like it's uber-creepy or anything.

Still. It's the basement. But where else will all this stuff go? Besides buggies, I'll have to share the space with R's ping pong table, an old TV, and a broken treadmill...sweet. I've had this incredible urge to purge our house and organize things and make everything pretty, and I've been a bit discouraged about it as well seeing as how I can barely bend over anymore. I get so tired so easily!

Then I saw these photos today... and my energy is back...

These shots are from Young House Love, the bloggings of an adorable couple who has renovated their 70s home into the coziest place ever. So cute. They added frosted film to their windows for privacy but to keep the light, which I think we could totally do with our basement... and I love the little storage cubby and desk. And, you can't see it very well, but they replaced an old light fixture with a modern lampshade--yup, that's right, it's basically like an upside-down lamp! I think it looks cool.

I won't be able to play with these ideas until next year, probably, after baby is born... but it feels good to be inspired, even if there's not much I can do right now. When you live in a house from the 70s, it feels nice to know there are options for updating. :)