The baby's room...

Ok, I couldn't find a way to add this picture lower down, so here it is. I embroidered this for Seth, and I wanted to show it, so here it is. I was lazy, so this came from a beginner kit and took a couple of hours, maximum. But, hey, I liked the bear, and it's made by me, even if the eyes did turn out a little scary. =) Now, scroll down for the story of our decorating job.

Last night, I decided it was time to decorate "the baby's room." This is actually a wall I left empty in our bedroom. For those of you who don't know, we live in a one-bedroom apartment. Don't feel too sorry for us; we're paying more per month in rent than many of you suburbanites pay for your 4-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath houses. That's the nature of the housing market up here, especially for Metro accessible properties. But, the long and short of it is that we couldn't afford a bigger place and still live where we do. So we're going to have to get creative with baby sleeping arrangements for a little while, at least until David's clerkship is over in July. Anyhoo... I had all these big ideas for making the baby wall cute without a. painting it (who wants to repaint in six months? not me) or b. damaging the walls in any way. I wanted a splash of color, so I had this bright idea that I'd make a ribbon that ran around the top of the wall with blue paper tablecloths. I'd cut long strips, tape them up, and then make a big bow out of paper to put in the middle. It looked good in my head. =) Well, one long suffering husband, a couple of hours, and no poster tape later, it looked, well, not like I'd imagined. We'd ended up kinda slanting the first "ribbon" down a little, and we couldn't reposition without tearing the paper. And the edges were kinda jagged where I'd cut it, and the bow was just not working because they paper wasn't stiff enough... so I decided this needed to go in the failed experiments pile. David good naturedly peeled it off the wall for me (see picture above). That's actually the best looking part of it, so don't be deceived. But... I think we ended up with something pretty good looking anyway.

This is the finished "baby room." Some of the things in it were handmade by me. I really love making things for others. It's a way that I show my love. I know that it's not everybody's way, and some think it's a waste of time, but I really enjoy doing it when I'm able. I feel like doing this myself for him is a way for me to tell him that I really appreciate him coming to join us.

I really like vintage baby things. I picked up these two prints a couple of years ago at an antiques sale in Birmingham. They're vintage Methodist Sunday school prints that had already been framed. I've been waiting for a chance to put them up. The name I got as unfinished and unpainted alphabet letters from Michael's, and I just sanded and painted them with blue paint. I think it all turned out surprisingly well!

This is our cradle. I bought this cradle about two years ago when we started fertility treatments. I'd always wanted a cradle, and that was part of my baby dream. So we bought it, and David put it together, and it sat, staring me in the face, for many, many sad months of failure. It's lucky I didn't throw it off our balcony and set it on fire. =) The thought was highly tempting. But here it is now, finally being put to it's intended use. It will no longer be a symbol of hope and failure for a childess couple. Praise the Lord. That's my diaper basket underneath. Since we don't have room for a changing table, much less a full size crib, this is my solution. I'm pretty proud of it myself. I've got a changing pad in there, diapers, wipes, an aspirator, comb, and diaper rash cream.

This is our first "baby," sleeping in her chair in the bedroom. I think she's thinking about getting up. I couldn't leave her out. We adopted her right before we got married, 5 1/2 years ago. She's traveled the world with us, but she's an eastern NC kitty cat. Our new addition is going to be a rude awakening for Aravis, so pray for her little kitty nerves. =) Well, I hope you enjoyed your tour of the baby's room. Y'all come back now, y'here?