I Sense a Blog post coming...

This is what Jason said to me last weekend as we worked away on the nursery. He's very intuitive. The crib and the mattress arrived as well as some prints and frames we ordered so we got a lot of the space together. It was still a bit messy last Sunday so I waited until I had done some final clean up to do the photo shoot. We still need to change out the light fixture and hang a shelf in the closet but I think we're in very good shape overall.
This will be diaper changing central. We painted an old bookshelf we were planning to donate to the Salvation Army and bought some fun canvas bins. (Martha Stewart Collection at Home Depot.) We'll store her diapers and covers in the bins along with sheets, burp clothes and receiving blankets. At least that's how i envision it now.
Jason bought this print for me on Etsy. It's called "Mister Numbers" the artist is sugarfresh. I love that the numbers have mustaches.
The prints over the crib we ordered from The Animal Print Shop. Sharon Montrose is the artist.

I love these little farm animals. Even though our baby will be a city girl, I don't want her to grow up with out at least a little bit of country in her. This way she can study up before she visits Grandpa on the farm.

My Mother's Daughter

No one would believe I was related to my mother and sisters if I didn't make a couple of things for the baby myself. Knitting is more my genre than sewing. Electrified needles are outside my skill set.
This spring I took a class at my favorite local knitting shop to tackle the art of fair isle. Multi-colored patterns in the same row are something I struggle with so I was happy to learn some tricks to make it easier. I made this sweater in a pattern called Ella Funt. This weekend, thanks to the heat and my desire to stay indoors, I got the buttons purchased and sewn on.
A few weeks ago a came across this pattern for a little romper and hat and I decided it would be a great coming-home-from-the-hospital ensemble. This one also got the finishing touches this weekend due to the heat wave. My favorite part about it is that you knit the back so there is extra fabric in the bum area for diapers. Our baby can be as bootilicious as she needs to be and still fit in her clothes.
The pattern knits up pretty quick so if all goes well I'll make her another one for her Christmas Eve attire. I'm not very optimistic about how much knitting I'll be able to do once she arrives, but maybe...

Handmade By...

We got so many wonderful gifts at our baby shower in June. It was great to have so many people there with us in the rain and the gifts were of course a wonderful bonus.
Some of our favorite things we received were the handmade gifts. Little Blueberry will be very lucky to have such talented people in her life. There are so many great things that I have to show them all off.

My mom and Aunt Judy (Morris) gave us this beautiful quilt that they made together on the sly. This is the first quilt Judy has made, making it even more special. I foresee a lot of tummy time on this beauty.
The stool that matches was made by my mom as well. This is a great design that is built around coffee cans. I think that Melissa had one made by our neighbor and mom made her first one for Amanda when she was a toddler. Now Graham and several other little ones have stools just like it and I am sure that our munchkin will love it just as much as her aunts and cousin love theirs.
Judy also made us this adorable stuffed elephant and changing pad. I love all the pink and green they used. The fabrics are so much fun and that changing pad is going to come in very handy, I'm sure. The other Judy in our lives (Dimatteo) also gave us a wonderful handmade gift. This is an adorable blanket crocheted by her mom, Anita. It is so soft and cuddly. I'm definitely going to try to sneak under this one with the baby. And as Judy said, it is both classic and feminine, making it perfect for our sophisticated lady.
Melissa sent us these great burp clothes. They're made out of a flannel, so they are very soft. I love the fabrics she chose. Jason and I will be the most fashionable parents as we burp our baby. Jim also got into the handmade gift game and created this wonderful growth chart for our growing family. It's a full 6 feet tall with all the inches marked out. I can't wait to get this set up in a special place in the house where we can watch our family grow and grow.
I'm sure we'll be getting more wonderful handmade gifts over the years knowing the talented people in our lives. Thanks for starting us out with such a great collection.