nesting: nursery ottoman, burp rags, and diaper changing station

hello friends!

well, i am less than two weeks away from my due date and feeling fabulous. i was certainly prompted by that little trip to the hospital to get some things prepped for baby! we installed the carseat (and i met with a city police officer to have it inspected), packed a bag, narrowed down the pediatrician options, and finished a few more things around the house. ben said before he felt underprepared, but i think we are both feeling more ready now! i'm going to share a few little details of fun things i've been working on for baby.

first, a pretty easy before and after. we bought a comfy glider, but the ottoman was $200+ so we decided against it. i found this guy at a neighbor's estate sale a few months ago and paid ten beans for him.

i borrowed a paint sprayer and found enough foam, batting, and fabric in my stash to make a new cushion and cover. so the total cost for this redo was just the cost of the ottoman: $10! love it. and it makes a nice little extra seat, too.

i haven't had the chance to do much sewing for baby girl, but one afternoon i got a hankering to make something. i was inspired by my friend tiffany's lovely gift at one of my showers——she added fabric and ribbon to embellish a cloth diaper for a burp rag. i liked her method better than the one i had used before, so again, i dug around in my stash for pretties and added them to a pack of diapers/burp rags i had received as a gift.

 

these will be the pretty ones i'll take to church. ;)

and finally, today i put together a little diaper changing kit to keep in our main level living room——i received this suggestion from a few people. i'm not sure how i'll feel about climbing the stairs to the changing table in the nursery in the days after delivery, so we'll use the living room floor for a while. diapers, wipes, a changing mat, and some soft burp rags and blankets in a small basket make me feel a little more ready.

hopefully i'll find time to blog some more projects from the nursery in the next week or so. and i'll keep you posted with any baby news! 

enjoy your weekend!

false alarm!

i haven't shared a lot of the nitty gritty details of my pregnancy on this blog. i have been super blessed to have had such a wonderful pregnancy. on the whole, i have felt great and been able to keep pretty active with house renovations, walking, and other activities. there have been a few tough things, like a cyst on the umbilical cord and a low-lying placenta, but by God's grace these are no longer issues and i am learning the power of prayer and to trust Him in new ways!

i'm a bit embarrassed to write this, but i did want to briefly share the events of last night. something happened yesterday that made me call my clinic's after-hours line, and the doctor suggested that i go in to maternal assessment to get checked out. so we did.

after an hour or so with belts strapped across my tummy and a negative test result, we were sent home with the news that baby and i are both fine, but i wasn't going to be admitted. on the way home, we stopped at mac and don's supper club for some fries and a shake and discussed what a blessing it was that this happened. it was the jolt we (i?) needed to help re-prioritize. i need to get the car seat out of its box and installed. i need to decide on a pediatrician. and i didn't even have a bag packed for the hospital! (yes, i am 37.5 weeks along.) although it is fun to work on the house and decorating the nursery, it is not my highest priority, even though i want to keep working on it. and i will. but after i take care of these bigger things (which i got up at 5:00 a.m. today to start tackling!).

also, i learned that i have been having contractions. i feel like such a dunce, because i didn't really notice a big change physically, but there they were on the monitor. hello, amy!

God is good. ben is patient. i am blessed. and Lord willing, baby girl is coming soon. thanks for reading!

well, where have you been?

hello internet friends!

the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of trips to the cabin, baby showers (not just for our little one!), and working to finish our upstairs renovation. strap in and prepare for a lot of pictures!

we'll start with the cabin. we went up memorial day weekend and this past weekend, which will be my last until baby comes. 

time with nieces and nephews!

 

some sillier than others. ;)

 

 what a smile.

and what a pose.

 speaking of poses...

most of our small group was able to make it up this past weekend. john and cindy (who are also expecting——more on that in a second!) are from florida and we were happy to introduce them to minnesota cabin culture!

 ben even tried a few tricks on the wakesurf.

now on to baby showers. my sister kristen and s-i-l lauren hosted a beautiful shower at my parents' house. i had such a blast! here's the dessert table.

i held out on telling kristen our baby's first initial, so she used all sorts of initials to decorate the delicious cheesecake bars. there were also coconut cupcakes, chocolate-covered pretzels, and banana puddin'. kristen married a southerner and she says you have to say it "puddin'" without the "g." otherwise it won't taste as good. just kidding.

 here we are! the hanson women. well, most of us.

here's the invite, and they sent us all home with these cutie favors. so special.

three of the five ladies in our small group are pregnant. we are all due within five weeks of each other, and one is expecting twins! yippee! our small group planned a couples shower for john and cindy. they are expecting a little boy so we gave the shower a sports theme!

 i got crafty to make the football-field tablecloth. super easy.

 abbie and lorna beth decorated the cupcakes. aren't they awesome?

 the table.

 marco and abbie (pregnant with twins!) gave some words of wisdom to the expecting couple and prayed over their little one.

the couple of honor opened all sorts of goodies!

it was a blast. i loved doing it. on the way home i thanked God for the sweet fellowship and that abbie and i were able to be active and on our feet with our due dates coming so soon. (although both of us were waddling by the end of the night!)

and finally, house updates.

 vinyl flooring was installed in the bathroom. it's hard to get excited about vinyl flooring, but it is durable and practical for a kids' bathroom. this picture is actually a few weeks old——we are thankfully a lot further along than this. trim is in, puttied, and touched up. vanity and top are installed. final electrical was yesterday, and carpet is coming in just a few hours! i might actually miss playing general contractor. i rather like it.

and our crib was delivered! it was supposedly backordered until mid-june, but it came at the end of last month. it has been sitting in our living room for a while now...can't wait to put it up!

and finally, and out of left field, abbie taught me to make this scrumptious caprese salad. i've been eating this like there's no tomorrow. tomatoes, mozzarella, spinach, basil (from a jar, but of course you could do fresh), pasta, olive oil, balsamic, and salt and pepper. i just can't get enough.

that's it! we'll talk soon, okay? ;) ;)