Big Girl Room Preview

When I was pregnant the first time I wanted to keep the nursery neutral so we wouldn't have to redecorate if we had a boy after Olivia.  And (we think) we're having a boy after Olivia, so the planning paid off and we just need a picture to replace her paisley one.  In the room next door Steve's home office has moved out and we're creating Olivia's big girl room.  (Much more fun for me than decorating a nursery.)  I've gone back and forth on how to do this. I don't want anything too juvenile (i.e. princesses) that will have to be redecorated in a few years.  I'm not really into themes (i.e. princesses) because I get tired of them.  I don't want pink or purple because there's enough of that in her clothing and toys.  And until she's old enough to care, I generally don't ask what she wants.  (I know that sounds awful, but if you've been privy to our pre-lunch conversations you'd understand.  "Do you want a peanut butter sandwich or grilled cheese?"  "Grilled cheese." And 3 minutes later... "No, I don't want grilled cheese!"  And then I get out the PB... "I want grilled cheese!")

When Steve was in grad school something we enjoyed doing in our precious spare time was poking around the antiques stores the towns around State College.  We couldn't paint the walls in our apartment (or replace the awful brown carpet), but we could buy furniture.  This dresser was one of our early aquisitions, and although it needs to be touched up I still love the color.  It has been living, largely unused in our guest room because it fit well, then my mom suggested we put it in Olivia's room.  It has carved wooden bows in the upper corners, so that makes it even more appropriate. 

I'm not a huge fan of matchy-matchy furniture sets, although I like this blue vanity, so I planned to paint different pieces of furniture different colors in this palette from Pottery Barn. 

Green dresser, blue* bedside table, maybe a stormy purple headboard, and off-white walls.  (Although I hated having off-white walls growing up.  Sure, the living room was blue, sewing room apple green, and my parent's room was pink peach, but everywhere else was Navajo White or wallpaper.)  *This grayed teal reminds me of the mountains... swoon.

I scoured thrift stores and for $50 found this bedside table (manufactured the same year I was born)...

...and this headboard.

I apologize to those of you who equate painting over stained wood with killing a baby deer, but this is a girl's room and I think dark wood is either dated or too sophisticated for that.  So this week during OJ's naptimes I've been priming and painting.  One more hint of what's to come...

Are you at all surprised?  I love birds.  And my friends would say I'm nesting, but I call this GO TIME!  If I don't get things done now they'll never get done after the baby comes (7 more weeks).  I still need to paint the walls, but after that I'll show you the Big Girl Room.

Kimono jacket

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us a girl.  They are so fun to dress. 

JoAnn's is having great sale this week, so I've been back several times as I keep thinking of new ideas.  (Expect to see Olivia in lots of corduroy this winter.)  I bought materials to make a little jacket for Olivia, obviously giving myself plenty of time before she'd need it. 

Originally I was going to use gray fleece for the outside, but I told myself Olivia will have her entire adult life to choose conservative colors if she wants.  (Probably what my mother told herself before she sewed me what would later be dubbed "curtain pants" at the bus stop.) 

I found a pattern (from this seller on Etsy) and decided to give it a whirl even though I had no experience with taping together a PDF pattern or following non-pattern-company instructions.  Turns out the pattern designer left out all the stuff that makes professional patterns confusing to me, so it wasn't hard at all.

Next time I'd probably place the button hole closer to the corner and may still move the button toward the right shoulder because it is supposed to be kimono-style, but otherwise I'm happy with the outcome and Olivia didn't want to take it off.  I love that the hood looks like a Kewpie doll.

Look at those knees!  So cute.

Also coming off my production line is a pair of pink fleece pants that I started last winter.  They were still laying on my sewing table the other day, so I gave them to Olivia to keep her entertained while I sewed.  (She likes to try to dress herself.) 

They still looked like they'd fit, so I sewed a ruffle on the bottom to hem them and finished the waist with elastic.She's wearing these over her shorts because I just wanted a quick pic. (Note to self: the early morning light makes for a grainy photo, next time contain your excitement and wait a couple of hours.)  Olivia and I both benefit from *ahem* tunic-length tops on account of our bellies.  No, I am not pregnant.

Speaking of big sales this week, last night we hit the mall for end-of-summer clearance.  We did the same thing last summer (note the last-season Gymboree stripes) and got some great deals, plus my mom gave me her Gymboree bucks so our stuff there was 50% off the lowest price.  It's really hard for me to guess what size O will be wearing next summer, though.  People are telling me that she won't grow as quickly now that she's a little older, but the line on the growth chart has the same trajectory for year 3 as it does year 2.  I guess we'll have to starve her so she'll wear her clothes a little longer.  Kidding.  I do wonder how she's grows so well while eating like a bird toddler.

Tweet

Olivia outgrew her 0-3mo short-sleeved clothes before she got to wear them, so I embellished this set of onesies to send to my new niece.

Jen picked the fabrics (love that Heather Bailey!), my mom used them to make a patchwork bear for Lyla (like Olivia's), and I used the scraps for these baby birds. Not hard except for stitching around those tiny beaks and tails through only one layer of a tiny garment made from stretchy fabric. (Yes, I used fusible interfacing.)

Next on the docket: a shopping cart (or restaurant highchair) cover to keep our germs off the precious shopping carts. Considering purchasing one from Etsy as I don't really see myself making more than one so it may not be worth all the troubleshooting.

Succombing

I used to have just one blog and I'd post everything on it. Then I started this one for just pregnancy/baby stuff because some people might not want to hear about baby poop. Now I'm starting to realize that it makes more sense to post just jewelry stuff on my jewelry blog and everything else on this one because, after all, childbearing has stolen my brain and I have little else to talk about. I will try to refrain from blogging about the contents of Olivia's diapers.

So for the sake of searching, here are previous posts from my other blog, by tag:
Trips
Food
House
Riley
Swedophilia
Bird fetish
WebStuff
Lazy Series

Other housekeeping stuff... I added a new slideshow to the sidebar for the newest pictures, called "Olivia Now". I'll try to add new pictures in groups, and then move the previous set to "Olivia Then".

Also, I completed an Interview With Myself, answering questions I had while still pregnant.

Nesting

"Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the 'nesting' instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world."

I love birds, I love nests. I am eagerly expecting a baby, counting down the weeks (17 to go). So why do I feel defensive when someone talks about nesting as if it's as "uncontrollable" as a tryptophan coma following a turkey sandwich? (That's a rant for another day.)

I pick out paint colors for the nursery. And then pick them out again. Chair rail or no chair rail? "Oh, you're nesting!" Actually, I think I just like to decorate.

I vacuum the living room for the first time in a month. "Oh, you're nesting!" Really? Most people do this every week.

I do a load of laundry. I clean the shower for the third time since the remodel. (before, after) "Nesting!"

Nesting seems to be just a different name for housework, plus a healthy feeling of imminent doom in the sense of "do it now or it will never get done after the baby arrives." I'll let you know if I have any more severe symptoms, like finally patching and caulking after our countertop swap last year. Until then, don't accuse me of nesting!