Where is Baby L going to sleep?

For the short term, in our room in a more accessible kiddo containment device. (The master bedroom is on one end of the house on the ground level. Baby's room is on the 2nd level on the other side of the house.)

Then, after, baby starts sleeping for more than what will surely feel like 10 minutes at a time, Baby L will sleep in the kiddo room I've been working on.

A little background:  I have had my eye on baby bedding for awhile to know what was out there. The other half and I know too much about nature, but we knew we wanted an animal theme. Specifically, a woodland stream theme. I also didn't want a bumper, and I'm not a fan of super matchy matchy bedding for kid rooms. One of the sets described as "woodland" even included a giraffe. This just wouldn't fly for me or my Eagle Scout hubby.

The mission to create a room from scratch had launched.

We came up with some "art" from AllPosters.com (I think.) This photo demonstrates that a couple of frames need to be straightened. Feel free to disregard--I'll get out the level tomorrow. This is also the only photo that sort of shows the ceiling fan--see the light reflecting in the top center frame?

I like the raccoon. Here's a close up of the top center item. I created it with some items I had around the house. I thought it added some fun texture.

Here's a look the other direction. My brother insisted we include an otter.  Here he is:

The blanket won't stay on the side of the crib like that so Baby L can breathe.  Also, one of our Halo sleep sacks is already in the crib. A friend of ours will hopefully be proud. Also pictured here are the crib skirt and blanket I made. The crib skirt has tiny blue dots all over it. Here's the blanket...

Here's another view of the room:

We found the dresser on Craigslist and updated the finish to make it darker to fit with the crib better. The green on the closet is a baby sling a good friend of mine made. It's drying at the moment.

Here's the mobile above the dresser. I've been collecting little creatures over the last several months to turn into a mobile.

Due to the odd angle, I'll fill you in.  There's a songbird, two hedgehogs, an owl, and a squirrel.

We are planning on adding Baby L's name over the crib--once we find out who he or she is!

Who doesn't love a good road trip?

At the moment, I don't. Usually I truly do. However, the other half caught a wild hair a few weeks ago and took off on a whirlwind of a trip. It was about 26 hours from start to finish and involved a lil purchase. Forgive the photography on this one. It is a combination of Android, iPhone, and DSLR--and all on auto mode.  

Remember that trip to Ikea in Portland from the trip over the summer? We had been trying to order our couch for several weeks. We had no luck finding the couch in stock. Next thing I knew, I received a call on a break at work.  

"Hey, whatcha doin?"

"Working."

"Have a minute?"

"Sure.  What are you up to?"

"I think I'm driving to Portland tonight."

"Oh?"

"The Karlstad is in stock, and I have 4 days off.  I can make it there and back by tomorrow night."

"I'd join you, but at 32 weeks, I'm sure my stops along the way would add several hours to both ends of the trip. Um...make sure you take a break if you need it!" (I may have also made a comment about not wanting to wear Depends, and I had an appointment on Friday that I needed to go to.)

I arrived home in time to see him hitch up the trailer and take off. Keep in mind we had a house guest who was staying with us for a few weeks. She'd known us for about 4 days at this point. I'm pretty sure I saw her think about packing her suitcase to leave us looney birds to our couch fetching.  

The other half spent the night at a rest area near Portland.  

How cozy is this?  

He then drove the rest of the way (about an hour) to get his breakfast. Truth be told, I'm not sure he didn't make the whole trip for this. A warm breakfast was a welcome sight for him after a cool night in the car. Not bad for $1.99. 

He had a good drive, no rain, and no car issues. Then he arrived home with....this...

Don't worry, the entire vehicle was full in addition to the trailer. See the cinnamon rolls? I grew up with Amish cinnamon rolls from Yoder. These aren't from Yoder, but they are quite yummy. No, also not as yummy as those that my mother in law makes, but I'm not really supposed to have any of them anymore anyway. Once in awhile a little wheat is ok though--I just can't overdo it. 

There might have been a few other smallish things on the list that just didn't fit in the Civic when we were in Portland in June. I'm sure pictures of those things will arrive someday on the blog. 

Then the living room looked like...

and this...

...and this. 

The joys of assemble it yourself furniture with Swedish instructions: individual covers for each piece.  

The joy of 3 friends joining us to assemble it while they split a bottle of wine and I had a mocktail...priceless.  

We had it together before bed. The next morning after a quick accessory trip, this is what we had. (Disclaimer: I had the dog toys out of the picture. Then I walked upstairs and two of them had appeared. Apparently the large bone and horse needed to be in the picture.)

Result: much better! (Ok, you know there have been some pillow switches, but this is the picture I already have that doesn't involve walking back upstairs to take another one.)

As for the upstairs, we had some serious improvement in the bonus room over the last few weeks too.  

Yes, that is in fact a roll of painter's tape for a door stop. 

This room is still in need of some love, but for now it is functional for reading, chatting, and storage. The TV from downstairs is moving upstairs with a tv upgrade to go with the sectional downstairs later this fall too. I plead the 5th on the reason there are already Christmas-type decorations appearing. 

Whew!  Next up? A much needed kiddo room post! 

To the coast...and IKEA!

We took a real vacation this summer. Just the two of us.  Everyone we know out here in Idaho talks about going to the Oregon coast, so we figured we should join the crowd.

We took off and spent an evening in Astoria to see a friend.  There's a big bridge that's pretty neat to drive across.

Here's what is on the other side.

Wait.  What did that sign say?

Yup.  We read it correctly.


We drove a little farther and stayed in Seaside for the night.  We got gas for the car in town...which J prefers not to do in Oregon as you can't pump your own.  Apparently it's dangerous...

The next morning we drove to Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock at low tide.  I hear that the locals say it is the 3rd tallest intertidal structure in the world.  Regardless, of whether or not that is true, it was cool.

The flowers in Cannon Beach were stunning.

We drove down the coast to Tillamook Bay to the cheese factory.

We sampled cheese, bought some cheese, and J sampled ice cream in a teeny tiny cone.

Back into the car on our way out of Tillamook, I said, "Know what I've never seen in person?  A lighthouse."  J replied, "The last time you said that it was about a moose, and then we saw one 20 minutes later."

Well...2 minutes later we saw a sign for a lighthouse.  Look how tall it is!

Ok, I was playing with my phone.  That is actually the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon coast.  It's all of a flight of stairs to get to the top to see the pretty views.

We headed south again to Newport for the night.  We found a yummy Chinese food restaurant, a fudge shoppe, and somewhere stationary for the night.

The next day we headed east and then north to Portland, stopping for a bit of retail therapy at the Woodburn Outlets.  Next time I plan to shop at more than the Motherhood Maternity store.  (We did shop a few other places, but that was for Christmas shopping so we aren't spilling the beans.  Yes, we're planning early, but being that our new addition is due in November, we are thinking we will be a bit busy for too much shopping.)

We ended up at Ikea later that day in Portland.  We had heard, but we'd never seen, and we will be back! We went through grabbing what we liked and thought would fit in the car, checked out a couple of hours later, and loaded up the car.  We also rearranged the car, went back in to Ikea, ate dinner, and grabbed another load of things we couldn't live without.  I should note, we were traveling in the Civic, so we were getting creative with how things fit in the car.  We didn't think these would fit, but we really liked the one with the swirls.

We stayed at a nice hotel (thanks Hotwire) for Saturday and Sunday nights.  Sunday brought a trip to a brewery for J (so this pregnant lady walks into a brewery....and had root beer...), a gluten free bakery for me, a trip to the Container Store for an orange hamper for the nursery, Powell's Books, and a walk to VooDoo Donuts. This, of course, necessitated more repacking of the car, but I still had just about everything in the trunk.

Monday was our driving day to get back to Boise.  Buuuut.....we stopped at Ikea again first and grabbed the light pictured above and a couple of other items.  I wanted to get a mirror, but it wouldn't fit.  J, however, decided it was a good time for a 22 week bump picture.  So...many...angles....

Then it was back to the car for the drive home.  All in all, a good trip with plenty of time for sightseeing, resting, shopping, and watching HGTV.

The student loans are gone in 2 months.  I think I may put cable on my Christmas list....

Kona Magoo

I recently realized that I posted about Java's birthday earlier this year, but didn't mention Kona's adoption anniversary. Seeing as how we will soon have a little person to talk about all of the time, this one is for Kona. Besides, I'm kind of known as a crazy dog lady already anyway, so what's another post about them?

This is the picture of Misty 0869 from the shelter website.  I sent the picture to the other half, and he replied, "We're getting another dog, aren't we?" (To be fair, this was in fact something we had talked about.  Perhaps my timeline was just a bit accelerated compared to his...)

Look at that girl!  

We kept looking for a couple of days, but less than a week later, Java joined the campaign.  She wrote a note, put it on her collar, and went to see Daddy.  (Java really will go to J when I tell her to, so this was the easy part.)

The note read something along the lines of, "Pretty please can we get her?  I'll share my toys and teach her everything I know."  

Java and I knew this would work.  Java helped J propose to me with my ring on a ribbon on her collar.  If we used his own trick on him, we knew he couldn't say no. 

We called the shelter on March 31st, 2012 and this gal was still available.  We piled into the car and headed out. The drive was about an hour, and Java was happy.  The shelter requested we bring Java so the girls could meet.  

We saw those eyes in person and knew she was coming home with us.  She was a puller on the leash, but she walked to the grass and flopped over onto her back for a tummy rub.  

After just a bit of paperwork, she was ready to go.  Java was excited for a play date.  She'd learn later that this doggie wasn't going back to someone else's home!  Misty 0869 was going to be Kona at our house for a good long while.  

We told Java it was a belated 4th birthday present.  I also figured that if we were ever to start adding humans to the family, Java would need a friend after 4 years of being an "only."  Kona was guesstimated to be around 2 at the time of her adoption into our family. 

We quickly added Magoo as Kona's middle name.  It just...fits.  

This was after her first bath the day we took her home.  Seriously, the tongue is a force to be reckoned with. 

And the flopping over on her back?  Definitely a preferred position.  

Smile!

She's a good babysitter for neighbors and friends.  

We call her an aggressive snuggler at times.  

But she does her chores.  She moves my slippers from room to room....

Helps with painting projects....

And babysits.  Somewhat literally.  (We plan to not allow her to actually sit upon the baby once he or she arrives...

She checks baby is still growing too.  

She is Java's friend.  During KU Basketball games....

After getting hosed off in the backyard...

At Halloween...

During photoshoots...

  

(Photo credit to Stephanie Rock.)

After playing hard...

During neighborhood watch meetings...

And when needing to thin the pile of toys...

She's gotten a leaf stuck in her eye and resulting pink eye.  She also fell off the bed backwards and threw out her back which required a week of rest and snuggle time.   

She's a happy girl, and we're glad she's here!  (Seriously though, that tongue!)