Certainly not my own popularity, but this unborn child of ours seems to have quite the fan base--especially among those who are eager to get a look at his new digs. You know, the ones he'll move into once he vacates the good ol' uterus. While the nursery has been complete for several weeks now, I have been lazy and unmotivated to take and post pictures. But with time running short (17 days to go till the due date, but our doctor is doubtful I'll make it that far--head low! 2 centimeters!), I figured the first day of his birth month would be an appropriate time to debut his Very Own Room. So here you go.
This is the view from the doorway, featuring the blackout roman shade which was an--ahem--investment, to say the least. But we've been assured by other parents that it is money well spent, as it pays out in hours of sleep for tot as well as mom and dad. Also seen in this shot is Matt's childhood toy chest under the window, which he refinished and painted especially for our little boy. It's not finished yet--once he's born Matt will customize it with the baby's name and some other cool stuff he has planned. (Don't worry, once the kid is mobile we'll move it out from under the window so he doesn't fall out.)
After much debate over what to do over the crib (Do any other fault-line-dwelling parents out there obsess and fret like I did over hanging framed art over a crib? Of course it doesn't bother me at all that we have three very heavy and pointy-edged pieces of art above our own bed.), I finally found a company that makes decals that work on textured walls. So we chose a quote by William Blake: "Sweet dream, form a shade o'er my lovely infant's head ... sweet dreams of pleasant streams by happy, silent, moony beams."
In these shots is also my current Most Favorite Item in the entire house, which was discovered and promptly purchased on Etsy: This felted mobile handmade by AndreaBeth.
I fell in love with this the moment I saw it, it was the first thing I bought for the nursery, and the bedding and all other colors/decor were chosen to compliment it. And when it arrived in the mail it was even more lovely and precious than I expected. If the kid doesn't like it, it's moving into our room so that I can enjoy it.
Friends for the little one. This monkey is actually mine, but I'm willing to share. For some reason the green in the bedding is coming out kind of dingy in these photos, but it's actually sage and a muted lime. Not nearly as drab as it appears here.
A view of the other side of the room, featuring the ultra-comfy chair that glides and also reclines to a nearly flat position. Matt and I have each already spent one night of sleep in it, and it is cozy. (No fighting--he went in there when he couldn't sleep and I went in recently when I was horribly sick with bronchitis and couldn't bear to keep Matt awake another minute.) Above the chair hang my Next Most Favorite Items in the entire house: These prints from Elizabeth Soule's The Little Zoo collection. I actually saw these first in her Etsy shop at least two years ago and knew immediately that when we finally had a baby I had to have them.
And we end back where we started--at the door. I include this otherwise boring shot just to show you the growth chart--also found on Etsy, this one by a.e. wilder--custom-made and personalized with The Name. Don't get excited, though, as I blacked it out! You sneaky snoops who've been trying to figure it out for months now (you know who you are) will just have to wait a little bit longer. (The blacked-out blob on the bookshelf is this wooden plaque of his first initial from Restoration Hardware. I love that it looks like an old-fashioned typesetter's block.)
This last item technically doesn't go in the nursery, as it will be in our room, but several of you know the saga of how we acquired it and have been curious to see why I was so determined to get it. While we are exceedingly grateful to now have this darling item in our possession, it was a Huge Pain to get this bad boy here from Portland, Oregon, where we initially bought it from Molly. Apparently her Miss Brennan didn't care for this lovely bassinet and barely slept in it, so we happily took the nearly-new item off Molly's hands when she put it up for sale. And then we found out it was impossible to have the darn thing shipped down to us. Seriously, IMPOSSIBLE. Thankfully, B and Mike were willing to hold on to it for us for a few months while we tried to come up with a solution. Then God saw fit to shine His face on us and some friends from church drove it down for us after being up there to drop their own "baby" off for her first year of college. And now it is ours and we can't wait to put our own little bundle in it!
My mind can rest easy now. They're distributed by 
It was a lacy shawl crocheted especially for my friend Suzanne, who recently celebrated her 40th birthday. Thankfully the yarn called for in the pattern came in Suzanne's favorite color and shade of all time! It's 70% fine kid mohair and 30% silk. If you don't know much about yarn, all you need to know for the purposes of this blog post is that this stuff is SUPER fine and light, like crocheting with fuzzy sewing thread. 
It took some getting used to (read: it was a pain in the arse), but was well worth it for the light airy quality and softness it gave to the finished piece. This is quite possibly the simplest and most basic crochet pattern one could possibly follow, but I must confess that it was tedious work. I took it with me on our recent trip to visit BAM in Portland (post on that to come soon) and worked on it nearly every spare moment I had, and yet I still didn't make it all the way to the pattern's recommended 29.5" width. (Seriously? Did the pattern writer really think that last half inch was so important?) I stopped at 25" wide, which turned out to be a good thing. Suzanne is a tiny little thing, and at that shorter width it fit her petite frame perfectly. I finished off the two shorter ends with tiny glass beads, which added a little flair and sparkle. 
In the end I was quite pleased--mostly because Suzanne was so surprised and delighted. Hooray, a successful gift!
So I tore out my blanket and started over on a simple boat-neck (read: no shaping around the neckline, so easy-peasy) baby sweater. I knitted up the front, back, and two sleeves in no time flat. See the sort of wonky stitches here and there? My new BFF knitting teacher at Unraveled yarn store in Monrovia assures me that those will magically straighten out after the first hand washing.
Next came blocking, which is when you pin out the pieces to their correct dimensions and either steam them or dampen them and let them dry in place. As you can see, I went a little overboard and used like a million pins. Because I'm a perfectionistic freak and wanted it to be just right. Then I sewed the pieces together, which required a little in-person assistance (hence my bonding with the gals at Unraveled last Friday afternoon), and voila! A baby sweater! 
It looks sort of drab and plain displayed such, so Henry came down to model for you. 
Look at that perfectly shaped cuff. I made that, people! Henry was especially excited about the next project I'd started--a little baby beanie--so he wanted to give you a preview. 
But then, being the anal retentive obsessive type that I am, I finished said hat a couple of hours later. So here it is, too. My second ever knitting project completed in one afternoon.
How cute is that? After seeing it, Matt asked if I know how to make anything in "normal sizes," so yesterday I went out and bought a big book of hat patterns. For grown up people heads. So if I know you, you can pretty much count on getting a big wooly hat or cap from me sometime in the future. And I don't care if we're in California where it rarely gets below 60 degrees on the coldest afternoon of the year: You will wear it and you will like it.
This is what you get for your daily shot when at 11:00pm you realize you haven't taken a single picture all day.
