eager little mind

It’s been so much fun decorating Daphne’s nursery. I think little girl things (clothes, decor) are just so much more fun to buy than little boy stuff. This weekend we almost completed Daphne’s nursery (look for pics soon on Flickr). Our theme is “Little Surfer Girl” which has been a little challenging. It’s not like we could just walk into Babies R Us and come out with a complete nursery. But that’s the way I like it, I hate it when things are too matchy-matchy.

We have some artwork and accessories from TJMaxx/Homegoods and Pottery Barn Kids (wall art, surfboard rug, surfboard pegs, the cutest elephant stuffed toy that’s wearing a hula skirt and pink bikini- it giggles in a cute little girl voice when you press its arm). And I bought some hanging lanterns, leis and hula skirts (to use as a Tiki Hut window valance) at Party City. At Target we found the cutest little hula girl figurines (of course they are salt and pepper shakers, but unless you really inspect the top of their heads you’d never know). They came with a tiki hut organizer, which has now been re-purposed as home to my ITZBEEN timer and a pair of baby sunglasses, complete with 40’s rhinestones and glamour. While at PBK we saw a cute photo of a little girl on the beach. We found a similar photo, had it printed on Flickr and now we just need to find a frame. The dresser and changing table have been painted. I still need to decide if I’m going with the original hardware on the dresser, or if I want something cute and colorful to use as knobs instead… decisions.

While I have been searching for room decor I stumbled upon Etsy.com. I had heard of Etsy but never checked it out until recently. I’m hooked! Etsy is a place where buyers and sellers can meet to purchase/sell all kinds of handmade items. Here’s a few shops I really liked: theblackapple (what cute prints, I could definitely see using something like this for Daphne’s room in the future), CiCi Factory (I’m debating on whether to get the personalized surfboard picture in pinks), and PDX Beanies (I love little girls in hats, hopefully Daphne won’t have my ginormous head). There are so many items up for sale that it can kinda be a little overwhelming. I like the favorites feature, because there is no way I’d be able to keep up with things otherwise!

Instant Weight Gain and Saggy Boobs

Originally uploaded by Photo-Mojo.

This past weekend Chris & I attended childbirth classes at the hospital we have chosen to deliver at. Here’s a great shot of Chris trying on the sympathy belly. Note the Jenny-mocking expression on his face.

The class was very informative. I appreciated touring the birthing suites and getting specific info on what to expect/what was allowed at the hospital. Besides the labor and delivery info, we also got a crash course in infant care.  Our practice infant dummy had a Yoda face and a detached leg.

Such a strange feeling that we will be back to deliver Daphne is just a little over 2 months!!!

Since it’s Summer and there’s not much on TV, I’ve started to watch Man Vs. Wild on the Discovery Channel with Chris. I have to admit I’m strangely intrigued/horrified every time we watch an episode.

For those of you that have never seen the show, it follows host Bear Grylls (ex-SAS) as he is dropped (sometimes literally!) into various remote locations all over the world with usually just a canteen full of water, a knife and maybe a flint. He’s got 5 days to find civilization. A camera crew follows, but can offer assistance only in a life or death situation.  He doesn’t remind me of a typical survivalist or adrenaline junkie, actually he looks like he could be related to Prince Charles.  So far I’ve seen him traverse the Rockies, Copper Canyon in Mexico, lava fields in Hawaii, and the Australian Outback. Last night we watched the Australian Outback episode. 130 degrees with no water. And you can tell this guy loves what he does. Me? I’d be laying down waiting for death. I have no survival instincts.

The first thing Bear does in each episode is to get his bearings. Using his trusty watch and the sun he figures out which way is south and starts on his way. Since it’s so blazing hot he soon runs out of water and with no water in sight he proclaims, “I’ll just have to drink my own pee!” At this point I think I said “Oh hell no!” and fast forwarded past the part where they actually showed him peeing into his canteen. He also regularly eats worms, bugs, raw animals… just anything edible he can find for energy. Last night he ate a big nasty spider (again, I fast forwarded).  Once he bit into a fish Gollum-style (yep, fast forwarded, maybe we shouldn’t watch this show during dinner?).  Luckily it finally rained, but all I could think about was Bear washing out his pee mouth instead of talking to the camera.   Even though it grosses me out sometimes, and whenever he starts to rock climb or scale a cliff it freaks me out, it really is a very good show.  The Discovery Channel has been running back to back episodes this week, so check it out!

Dresser Before

This week Daphne’s room should really begin to take shape. The mattress came in last week. The crib should be here tomorrow. This past weekend we started painting the dresser and changing table. Here’s a pic of Chris in action on the dresser. The changing table was simple, just a fresh coat of white paint. The dresser will be a bit more challenging, lots of sanding, spackling, and 3 or 4 coats of white paint. I think I’m going to paint the drawer fronts green (same color as the walls in the nursery) and then keep the original drawer pulls, just paint them white. Hopefully we can get everything done this week, as the clock keeps ticking (10 weeks left as of tomorrow!).

Hamming it up at IKEA Atlanta

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Chris & I ran over to Atlanta for a few hours and hit IKEA, Trader Joe’s, The Varsity and Dillard’s before coming home.

Saturday was my first time at a Trader Joe’s and I have to say I wish we had one in Birmingham. We filled up a cart full (including wine) and only spent $65. So far I’ve tried the asiago peppercorn sourdough bread (really good as a panini), buttermilk garlic mashed potato chips & British style crumpets.. all have been great. I researched their products on traderjoesfan.com before we left. I look forward to trying the gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce this week, and maybe the green olive tapenade. Anyway, my impression of Trader Joe’s was it was kinda like Whole Foods meets Aldi’s. Fun place and we will definitely stop there again next time we are in town. Strange there are no stores in Texas…

We are coming right along with the nursery. The crib will be here on Tuesday. This weekend we are going to get the paint for the dresser and changing table. The mattress is on backorder and hopefully should be here in the next week or two. I can’t wait to start putting everything together!  Check back soon for pictures of our progress.