The Art of Arranging a Bookshelf

I don't know what the art is but there has to be one. The final furniture piece of the nursery was purchased and built, the bookcase. This was an important aspect of the room because I needed something that would hold as much storage as possible. This is actually my main priority for any piece of furniture we consider buying. We're in a 1925 bungalow and apparently our generation hoards more ‘stuff’ than the Roaring Twenties? Crazy, I know. The only real storage we have is the closet in the nursery, the closet is the width of the door; it’s small. In the two years we’ve owned the house this room started as a storage room, then Nate’s office, a TV den and now the nursery.

Although I think I’ve done a pretty good job at being a minimalist this closet is still half full so there’s not much room for baby storage. I’m trying to figure out the most strategic way to store everything within the room, including S’ books. Have you ever tried to organize books on a bookshelf? It’s like the task of arranging flowers, you assume it’s a brainless task but it becomes a drawn out activity where you feel clueless.

Do you line the books tallest to smallest? This was my obvious first choice but then it looks awkward when you have extra long books that over power the spine of the narrower books. Do you separate these different sized books? Color-coding the spines looks really neat but confusing when you actually try, and what color comes first?

I’m a Google-r. I couldn’t take rearranging the books and having them all fall like dominos any more, nine months pregnant or not. These are a few of the most common styles I found so if you ever find yourself needing to arrange a bookshelf, hopefully this gives you a good starting point!

Stacking vs. Standing: Standing is second nature and easier to remove and replace but stacking can look more aesthetic. In my case I had a couple extra small shelves available so I pulled my favorites out to stack. The more baby stuff I buy in the future I'm sure these will end up with the rest of the books.

Alphabetically: This isn’t something I would normally spend time doing but this does sound like a GREAT idea when your child is learning their ABCs and how to properly alphabetize. Let them put away their own books on the shelf!

Color-Code: Since I don’t have a ton of books, the color-coding part wasn’t difficult. Deciding if I should include the extra wide books is where I was stumped, so I attempted the color-coding but needed to stick with the sizing of the books. 

Besides the books, the rest of the shelves are still a work in progress but I at least found a way to store the stuff I didn't know where to put. The upper grey box is holding all extra diapers and wipes and the lower grey box is holding all the extra swaddles and bed sheets. The colored box is storing all her toys and the mason jar has pacifiers. The glider is being delivered this week which is LAST major piece of furniture so a full nursery update will be coming soon!!

Nursery and Baby Shower Countdowns

The Baby Shower

Our non-traditional selves are planning our own baby shower with our host Nana Fran. We wanted to do a blind (craft) beer tasting event last Fall but never got around to it so while our friends are all together the baby shower seemed like the perfect occasion. This weekend is a planning frenzy since this event is happening next Saturday! 

Baby showers can be fun but we wanted to make it extra fun by getting our friends drunk. I'm kidding. We love beer, good beer, trying new beers and visiting our favorite breweries so we wanted to share one of our favorite activities with our dearest friends. So, even though this shower isn't really all about 'us' it's about sharing the things about us. Maybe it's just because I miss beer so much? As long as I remember to take photos of the tasting and decorating process I'll share a post on how we organized this event :)

Our invites were designed by our talented friend Chris Kelly! 

Her name is grayed out because we're not ready to tell the world so she's Baby S for now :)

The Nursery

We're finally able to 'build' the nursery! The walls are painted (thanks to Grandpa Walt), we chose a dresser (previously holding our bedroom tv), a crib and artwork. The glider and rug are ordered and should arrive in time for Baby S as long as she doesn't come early :) Most of the art work is planned to be above the dresser in that empty grey area and we're still not sure where the crib is actually going to live; we'll probably wait until the glider arrives and we choose a bookcase. 

 

Crib: Babyletto Hudson

Dresser: Bought about 1 1/2 years ago in St. Pete at Paper Street Market

29 Weeks Down!

This morning was my last 4 week appt. so now I'll be going every two weeks. I had my gestational diabetes test this morning along with my 29 week appt. at my birthing center; they don't do the gross orange sugar drink for the test, they have you eat breakfast and then draw blood exactly 2 hours later! You have to eat whole wheat pancakes or toast, a protein with moderate amount of butter and syrup (for pancakes) with an 8-10oz of juice. So, Nate made me an egg sandwich with OJ :) It was actually strange sitting down to eat breakfast before work, who normally has time for that?? At the appt. I was also able to feel her head, which is already down, yay! Hopefully she thinks that's comfortable and stays down. If not, the chiro. is on my emergency list! We also went over the Vitamin K shot and eye drops that can be given at birth, which are standard at hospitals. If we were having a boy it sounds like you need to do the Vitamin K (because of the circumcision surgery) but it doesn't sound necessary unless mini has a traumatic birth (literally...not just a traumatic experience for your vagina). Adding it to the research list! Eye drops... this sounds like a definite no unless I contract gonorrhea at some point in my busy schedule to be mischievous but mini and I are tested up until birth, whew!

The nursery was finally painted this weekend thanks to Walt and Fran (Grandpa and Grandma) as you can see in this weeks photo. We're replacing the pull down window shade to white blinds so i can still let moon/sunlight come in without the neighbors getting a front row seat. Nate had to work all weekend so we still have some touch ups and trim to finish next weekend but the big project is done! Next weekend we also have two photo shoots; maternity boudoir on Saturday and regular maternity with Nate on Sunday. 

Due date: April 8 or 15, 2014 (I'm measuring 28 cm.)

How far along? 29 Weeks (Even though I'm measuring a week behind, I'm staying with my week count from conception but I'm totally prepared to go into labor later than planned)

What fruit veggie are you? Acorn Squash

Total weight gain/loss: 28lbs
Maternity clothes? Only maternity clothes, Nate's t-shirts and on nice days I can wear my regular maxi dresses.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep: Better, the sinus infection is going away!
Miss Anything? Beer.

Exercise: Hopefully yoga Thursday! No one is going to believe me any more but I should have my bike this week. I don't even know if I believe myself on that one...

Movement: So much it feels like she's trying to rip herself out and my tummy looks lopsided with hills when she's really moving around. 

Food cravings: Fruit and hummus. Chocolate. Forever.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: Gal  

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Still an inny.

Happy or Moody: Just tired and this insomnia isn't helping 

Looking forward to: Tonight is our third birthing class about massages during labor, the Chiro on Wednesday, Yoga Thursday, Maternity Boudoir photos Saturday and Maternity photos with Nate on Sunday!
Best moments last week: The 3 day weekend and sleeping in! 

27 Weeks and then onward to the 3rd trimester!

It's my last week in the second trimester. Crazy. Only 13 weeks to go! We've officially, physically started on the nursery! Shockingly, we chose shades of gray, only three :) so I took this weeks photo against the colors to track the progress and remember what our former office turned den looked like. The current yellow-ish color on the wall was there when we bought the house and I'm pretty sure this room was a patio back in its day because of the wood paneling walls, which I love; the house was built in 1925.

Which color do you like!?

I'm leaning towards the middle gray. Oh fun, something else we've chosen is gray :) The swatches are for the glider and I'm thinking the darker gray. 

Oh that gun piece. No, this is not in the decor of the nursery but it's still a pretty cool piece we're not sure where to move yet. It actually has a blue glow that comes through the wood cut outs. This was a housewarming gift from our realtor. I know, that sounds weird. We were actually at a mutual friends/local artists house one evening that was having an art sale and we actually had our eye on it so our realtor bought it for us as a gift. The story around this piece is basically things you see that happen at bars, this was part of a collection and also included a piece of a woman and another with shot glasses.

Due date: April 8, 2014

How far along? 27 Weeks

What fruit veggie are you? Cauliflower 

Total weight gain/loss: No extra pounds, maintaining the 25lb weight gain! So happy the holidays are over...totally not my fault :)
Maternity clothes? Some of Nate's T-Shirts but the essentials are Jcrew Pixie pants, Matchstick jeans and maternity tees and tanks. I was able to wear a non-maternity maxi dress last weekend! Maxi dresses are so much easier than winter clothes.

Stretch marks? No...

Sleep: Great, after I saw the chiropractor.
Miss Anything? Fitting into pants... so ready for the spring to wear maxi dresses!

Exercise: No yoga last week again, I decided to fall asleep on the couch instead. Still waiting on my bike...

Movement: All the time. Nate's ADHD held out one evening and waited until he saw her kick through my skin, he was like a kid seeing a magic trick!

Food cravings: Pineapple and fruit, finally some healthy food.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Gender: A bow

Labor Signs: No

Belly Button in or out? Still an inny :)

Happy or Moody: Now that I'm consciously relaxing I'm calm again as I plan my way through January.

Looking forward to: This evening; my chiro appt. and then our 6 week birthing classes start!
Best moments last week: Staying & waking up late, the insomnia I've read about is definitely kicking in.