Growth Chart Ruler

My project today was making a growth chart ruler for the wall.  It was fast, easy, and satisfying.  I like that we'll be able to take it with us from house to house.

Lucky Last Night

Last night, Ernesto and I were very lucky.  We had a dryer fire, and it didn't burn down the house.  We were using the vent tubing that was already there when we bought the house, 'cause it was already so neatly attached to the exterior, and I was too lazy to switch it out.  BUT it was that vinyl-y type of tubing.  Rather than worrying about fire hazard, I instead thought, "Wow, this is so much more flexible and easy to maneuver than aluminum."  Doh!  When I went downstairs last night, all of that conveniently flexible, vinyl-y tubing had burnt, leaving only red-hot wire running through it.

The entire basement was filled with the noxious smoke of whatever that plastic, vinyl-like material was.  This really concerned Ernesto, who worried about us being poisoned by it.  So even though there was a rollicking thunderstorm going on (our power also went out), we opened up all our windows in the house in an attempt to achieve reasonable ventilation.  Sleeping last night was very humid.

Luckily, we didn't have very many other flammable items near that duct work.  What was there, though, was the cover of the car seat Dad and Lyuda gave us.  I'm very impressed with Graco's fabric.  It didn't ignite at all.  It just melted where the coils fell onto it.  As part of Ernesto protecting us from noxious fumes, he put the car seat cover outside.  This morning, it had at least five caterpillars on it, as well as many spiders.  I was thinking I could sew a new cover over the batting of the first one, but unfortunately when it melted, the batting hardened into its new shape.  I don't see much in the way of replacement covers available online (for a reasonable price), so I'm considering just getting a new car seat. :(

Caterpillars enjoyed the car seat cover

Melty, hard damage

In other news, you guys have to admire my Best Ever Craigslist Find.  It's a couch from Restoration Hardware.  Ten years old, but in *great* condition.  Some stains.  We're putting it in the family room that we're crafting to be kid-friendly, so we can have terrible things happen to it and not cry.  How much did we get this gem for?  FIFTY BUCKS!  Damn.

Ernesto and I went to a community garage sale.  Pushy ladies made me feel pressured to buy things, so by the time we were done, I had bought four little baby outfits.

Also, Miladys sent us a little outfit for the baby for Mother's Day.  It's very soft, and also has a matching blanket.  Thanks, Miladys!

DIY Nursery Art and Bump

I made a little DIY nursery art this afternoon.  It's small.  5"x8".  What I had in mind was a little plaque that was on Anne Marie's bedroom wall growing up.  It had a little series of bears with plain black bow ties, and in the middle was one whose bow tie was a plaid, and it read, "Be yourself. An original is better than a copy."  But I thought that was a little too long, so I did this instead.  To complement it, I'll probably make something similar to this, but with only the fish, not the text:

Baby bump photo!  31 weeks 2 days.  Somehow the massiveness of this belly doesn't come across well in photos....

Our house stays much colder than whatever the temperature is outside.  It sucked this winter, but I think we're going to reap the benefits in the summer.  Right now it's 82 outside, and 69 inside.  Yesss.

Lots of Pregnancy Talk + Changing Table

I've graduated to appointments every other week now at the OB/GYN!  Movin' on up.  My belly's measuring a little small.  At 30 weeks I was 28.5cm.  Still within normal limits, but on the smaller side.

I'm very happy right now, because for more than 24 hours I've had some pains that you would think are Braxton Hicks but are really painful.  Their sporadic timing means I'm not too worried.  The amount that they hurt, though, means I am worried about what actual labor is going to be like.  Between how I've been reacting to this, as well as to my back pain and crazy gas (which is to say I've been a WUSS), Ernesto thinks I'm going to walk up to the registration desk at the hospital and say, "Hello, I'd like an epidural."  But the reason that I'm happy right now is that it's been at least an hour since I had one, so maybe they're gone! (for now)

Something that isn't baby-related and happening in my life right now...hmmm...nope, I've got nothing.  In more baby-related stuff, I've started taking some things from my Pinterest baby board, To Raise, and putting together a registry of things I actually plan to buy on Amazon.  The whole process is making me feel less stressed, as I realize that what we need isn't really that much.  And a lot of those things aren't even essential.  The little baby sun protector hat?  Just don't take the baby outside!  Solved.  No bath tub?  Put it in the sink (although our sink is usually pretttttty dirty).  You guys should check it out and provide feedback on things that are on there.  For instance, I've got a diaper cream listed, but maybe some of you mommy-daddy types have a recommendation for a type you think is better.

Oh, also, apparently every baby shampoo + body wash is going to kill babies, which is a surprise to me.  So I've given up and just put some Johnson & Johnson product on there.  Hopefully the baby will survive it.  :-P

On to the crux of this post!  Four or five months ago, I bought this bad boy of a dresser to use as a changing table.  It was a sad mish mash of three or four different shades of white, and also sported some stains and chips in the wood.  So it's sat in our garage until the weather was warm enough to "refinish" it (just a light sanding), and paint it one shade of cream.  Here it is in the nursery, looking very nice if I do say so myself.  It's solid wood, really nicely constructed, and I picked it up for like $40.  I love a good Craigslist find!

Curtains up!

Painted Nursery

Last week, much to my back's dismay, I painted the nursery.  The color is called Aqua Glo, and it is pretty bright.  As many of you know, really capturing a paint color can be hard, so to truly appreciate this you need to come visit!

I did have the curtains up, but Ernesto is insisting on using the little drywall anchors, so we're stalled for a moment.  So those will be up and looking amazing soon.

In other news, our shower has started leaking down into the half bath's ceiling again, only much faster than last time, which is AWESOME.  Until we get it fixed, we're taking baths, which Ernesto cannot stand.

Also in other news, Ernesto and I got to share the joy of food poisoning.  We're kind of a pathetic pair right now.  We'll be enjoying chicken soup for dinner and going to bed early early early.