Rentervation Update: Nesting Mode- NURSERY REVEAL

After months of planning and hard work, the nursery is done! You will have to bear with me because there are like 30 pictures here but for an out of work interior designer, this is a big deal to me.

The wreath on his bedroom door.

This mirror is such a small part of the room but I think really brings it all together. It perfectly matches the main fabric we used for the curtains and crib skirt.

The wall over his changing pad/dresser.

Chalkboard hoops

His mobile and name over his bed. Mom made the birds, which turned out great. I made the letters over his bed and it was my first sewing project. I know it is small but I am still proud.

I obviously had a bird theme going on and wanted a bird cage, but they were all huge and expensive. I finally found this one at Joanns and watched it until I had a good coupon. It is the perfect size.

I made smaller embroidery hoops to hang on the wall but this one has padding behind it to use as a memory board.


This is Minnen Groda. Ben and I bought this guy on one of our first trips to Ikea 4 years ago because he was so cute and on clearance and we thought our future child might love it. His mouth unzips and he has a pouch in there, so we pictured our kids hiding things in there and carrying him around. He has lived on our couch this whole time so we were excited to finally be able to put him in our sons nursery.


His little library is started.


Of course he has to have something Tennessee related, because even though he will be born in Georgia, he is a Tennessee boy.


Another bird item I had to have.

The diaper cake that is no longer assembled but was so cute. You can also see one of the silhouette pictures that I made from our wedding pics.

The pottery that our friend Tracy made for Pumpkin. It is perfect!


Remember all that fabric I posted a picture of months ago? Well they were mainly used to make all these pillows.


Some friends that we babysit for have this vase in their bathroom and I loved it. I thought, no way could I find it but after a quick search on-line, voila!


Again, the wall over his changing table/dresser. You might notice there are some blank frames. I figured that once he arrives, I would want to put pictures of him up there so why waste the time in filling them in now with something that will get replaced soon.

His lamby and seahorse in his crib, just waiting on Pumpkin to come and keep them company.

The crib skirt that Heather made for us. It is gorgeous!

Here is a shot I took of the crib with the new bumper on. It was not in the original pictures taken because my mom had it so she could sew the border on it. It is just a basic breathable bumper but we wanted to add a little something to it.

The glider with two of the pillows we made. I love this chair, even though we paid way too much for it!


Another shot of the mobile and name banner but this time you can see the tree decal that I made. I kept looking online for one that would go with what I wanted but never found one I was happy with. I made this one out of contact paper. Let me tell you, being 6 months pregnant, on my hands and knees cutting out an 8' tree was no fun.


Now some more general shots. This is looking from the door towards the windows (obviously).


His changing table area.


Looking into the room from the doorway.


From the windows.


From the bathroom door

The bookshelf between the bathroom and closet doors.

Here is a picture of us back in late June when my parents came down to help us paint and we officially started putting the nursery together.


Here is us now. 4 weeks from our due date and all done with the nursery. I grew just a little (okay, a lot).

I will probably do more posts about each individual project either on here or over on my crafting and baking blog Trusty Gal in the near future.

I hope it was worth the wait. I just could not bear to post pictures of half completed projects so I am glad I waited until it was all done. I am a complete whore for comments so I would love to hear what you all think if you would care to share (as long as they are nice comments).

* You might also notice that I never refer to the babies name on here but if you did not already know, you do now.

Weekly Update: 36 weeks

Very little has changed this week. No weight gain, my measurements have actually gone down. No labor progress. The big deal is that we finished most of our projects around the house. I will be posting the big nursery reveal on Thursday but for now, there are some spoilers below.

How far along: 36 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Still 38lbs. I have not gained anything in 3 weeks and I am shocked.

Maternity clothes: I have no idea what it is like to wear clothes that do not have a lot of elastic in them. I packed my hospital bag this week and while I know I will still be bloated and stretched out for a while, picking out my outfit to go home in, got me excited about fitting back into my old clothes.

Stretch marks: None. I wonder how much of this is genetics, the cocoa butter I use at least once a day, or the fact that since I used to be heavier, my skin was already stretched out.

Sleep: I have been really bad the past week and stayed up way too late trying to get stuff done, so I was absolutely exhausted at night and slept great, except for the few times I woke up with heartburn.

Best moment this week: It took a lot of time and energy and late nights, but we got this house in pretty good baby shape. There are a few things I would like to get done still, but if he came tomorrow, we would be ready. Including a nursery that Ben deemed done (because his say on that matter was what mattered).

Movement: He is doing lots of stretching. Saturday and Sunday he went through a few spurts that were pretty uncomfortable for me. I am hoping he is working on turning. The worst is when I am standing or walking, the pressure he puts on my lower abdomen. It feels like I need to empty my bladder but when I go to the bathroom, that does not fix the problem.

Food cravings: I have just not been into food lately. I still love dessert and milk, but I have to remind myself to eat.

Food aversions: Nope. I even made something with my old friend turned nemesis, bell peppers, and I was fine. I have been having heartburn but that seems to come from everything!

Gender: Little man

Labor Signs: He is still snug. My cervix was still closed at my OB appointment last week.

Belly Button in or out? Not moving, just have an itchy scar.

What I miss: I look back on my old bump pictures and I cannot believe that I ever thought I was fat. I like being pregnant, but I am excited to not have this 38lb bump to dress around. I guess I miss feeling cute.

What I am looking forward to: At this point I should probably put holding my baby in my arms (which is definitely true) but I after all this work this week, I am looking forward to hopefully a couple of weeks of resting.

Weekly Wisdom: Sleep!!!!!!!! (I know I should but I just want to get things done while I can).

Milestones: We reached a month to our due date yesterday and 4 weeks today. Getting close!

Measurements: Chest- -.5”, Waist- -2”, Hips- +.5”, Circumference- same

My husband on most days.

A sneak peek of some maternity pictures that my great friend Heather took. I should also mention that she took all but two of the above nursery pics. Love her!

Knoxville Shower

Last weekend I had my shower back in Knoxville with my family and friends. I was so excited to see people that I rarely get to to see since I live down in Georgia. A couple of people I have not seen since my wedding 3 years ago. My aunt Tine hosted and she did a great job with the planning. As she said at the beginning of the festivities, normally I am the one to do the party planning in our family so it was a big deal for her to do so good.

Here is my aunt Tine and I.

My mom and I.

My sister in law Becky, niece Annemarie (also, the girl version of mini Ben), and me.

My friend Elizabeth and I. Look how huge I look next to tiny little her.

The super yummy cupcakes. There was a jungle theme which was super cute because my aunt knew I hated baby blue and wanted to avoid that.

I love the diaper cake! I still have not disassembled it.

The favors, colored M&Ms. Ally and Tine actually went through and separated out the colors.

Just a warning that you will see my child in lots of tie dye for a few years.

Katie, my awesome cousin and Pumpkins godmother, sat next to me and wrote down who the gifts were from. She also doubled as my comic relief from the awkwardness of everyone staring at me.


Mom also loves the diaper cake.

We had such a great time catching up with people. It makes me sad because who knows when we will get to see some of them again. It is good to know that everyone is super excited for Pumpkins arrival, just like we are.

Atlanta Baby Shower

Last weekend my amazing friend Lindsey and Heather threw me, and Pumpkin a fabulous shower. It really is amazing, the amount of time, energy and creativity that the put into planning this.

This is the homemade "chandelier" that the girls made.

The guests were told to write a wish or thought for Pumpkin or I on these leaves.

This is a guest thumbprint tree to put in his baby book.

All the awesome gifts.


Ben came and helped me open presents.

Weekly Update: 35 weeks

We just got back from our long weekend in Knoxville. We had a great time, just busy!! We had our shower on Saturday and got to watch our UT Vols kick some butt in our season opener. Sunday was spent running some errands and that evening mom and I went to a bar to hear a friend of hers band play. It was a wild night for this pregnant gal! Ben unfortunately spent most of the weekend working but it was good that we still got to get away for the last time before Pumpkin makes his arrival.

How far along: 35 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: Break until my doctor’s appointment this week

Maternity clothes: I am trying to wear the cute things I really like before this is all over and/or the season changes

Stretch marks: None, even though if you look at my bare stomach, it looks really veiny.

Sleep: I still sleep pretty good but this past weekend we were at my mom’s house and that bed was too soft and I kept rolling on my back. Plus, it is only a queen and we are used to fitting the 3 of us in our king.

Best moment this week: We had my shower in Tennessee this weekend, and we had some amazing family, and friends come in for it. We are so blessed to have so many people who love our little guy (and I guess us)!

Movement: He has been pretty active. Mom even saw his foot kick out from a few feet away. He has done about a quarter turn and is now transverse so hopefully he is working his way down. This morning I was spooning Ben as he slept and I was listening to the rain and Pumpkin kicked Ben. He said, “Ow”, and I reminded him that is coming from inside me and I deal with it ALL the time.

Food cravings: Really just milk this week.

Food aversions: Nothing that I can think of

Gender: My little boy

Labor Signs: Still none

Belly Button in or out? My stomach is stretching but it is not popping, just itching

What I miss: I am trying to enjoy everything about this pregnancy while I can but I do miss not getting worn out by the simplest task. Taking a shower and getting ready wears me out. I would pay someone to come and shave my legs, and help me get ready.

What I am looking forward to: I am excited about going through all our presents this week and getting everything put away and hopefully as ready as we can be for Pumpkins arrival

Weekly Wisdom: There has been a bit of family drama going on and I am being reminded that I need to ignore it all and try to enjoy this time in MY life.

Milestones: We are at 35/35! 35 weeks down and 35 days to go. This seemed so far away when we started. I was not sure I would make it!

Measurements: Chest-same, Waist- +1", Hips- same, Circumference- +.5”

I promise this week, I will post about both of my showers. Next week will be the big nursery reveal once I get everything situated after our showers.

Weekly Update: 34 weeks

I know the view from the top does not look like much but it actually looks like it changed this week, even though you can tell from my measurements, I did not get any bigger. I compared my picture from the side from last week and the bump just changed shapes I think.

How far along: 34 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 38 lbs at my doctor’s appointment last week

Maternity clothes: I am kind of sad that because since I do not work a normal office job, I have not had the chance to wear a couple of really cute maternity things I have all that much.

Stretch marks: Still none and I love that

Sleep: Ben does have to roll me off my back sometimes when I accidentally fall that way, and rolling from side to side is a pretty strenuous task. For the most part, pretty good.

Best moment this week: We had our growth scan this week and got to look at Pumpkin and he is doing great (measuring 5lbs7oz). We also had our first shower in Atlanta and got so many great gifts from our friends here in Atlanta.

Movement: Some days more consistent than others but still a lot. He was breech at our growth scan but has some pretty big movements so I am hoping he has enough room to move himself in the right position.

Food cravings: I almost wish I had food cravings. Sometimes I have no idea what I want to eat and it drives me crazy. Plus I would love to take advantage of being pregnant and have my husband have to run some crazy errand for me.

Food aversions: No strict aversion

Gender: All boy

Labor Signs: None that I can tell

Belly Button in or out? Not budging

What I miss: Sometimes I wish I could pass the bump to Ben and remember what it feels like to be normal again. I honestly cannot recall how that feels.

What I am looking forward to: We go to Knoxville this weekend for the last time before Pumpkin comes and we have our shower with family. I am so looking forward to seeing people that I rarely get to see.

Weekly Wisdom: At my shower, there were leaves that people would write a message for Pumpkin or I on. My favorites were the ones that reminded me to savor him being so little. The housework can be done anytime but he is only that small for so little time. I teared up reading them and I am now as I think about it.

Milestones: According to my websites, his lungs are almost fully developed and if born now, would be considered a pre-term infant and not premature. I have heard of other girls having babies this early and them being fine to go home after a few days (not that I want that to happen, but it is just a comfort).

Measurements: Chest- same, Waist- same, Hips- same, Circumference- same

Bonus pic of me before my shower this weekend. I will do a post about the shower later this week after I have gathered some pictures from others.

Growth Scan update

We had our growth scan today to see how big Pumpkin is. From all the books and websites I check weekly, I was guessing and hoping for something around 4lbs10oz. Of course, my husband was almost 10lbs when he was born so I know what to expect. Pumpkin was 5lbs7oz. I am thinking that is huge but the doctor says that is just the 66th percentile. His head was almost in the 90th percentile, his abdomen in the 82nd percentile and his thigh was in the 70th percentile. Everything looks good except that he is still breech. Hopefully he flips over which I am know is a possibility. I have felt him doing some large flips in there recently so I know he still can wiggle around that much.

Just for fun. Here is me at our first ultrasound when I was 6w2d. Back then I was just praying we would see a little bean and a heartbeat.

Here is me today at 33w2d. Now I am just hoping he stops kicking me in the pelvis.

Profile of his little lips and nose

You can see his little face and arms. The rest is just squished up parts and movement.

I love this one!


"Okay I am done being poked and prodded. Mom, make the pictures stop".

Hopefully he will flip over but whatever happens happens.