Our Family of 3.5

Back in early February, my dear friend Calvina took some photos of our little family of 3.5. At the time of the shoot, I was just starting my second trimester of pregnancy, so in other words, I was in that dreaded in-between stage in which I looked less pregnant and more like I had simply let myself go. But no matter; there is much a loose top will hide, I have since learned after giving birth to Caedmon, and so my vanity appeased, we set about a usual day while Calvina snapped away and so beautifully and artfully captured those moments that make these usual days so special.

Now, in this last week before my due date, there is definitely no hiding this burgeoning mass that is my abdomen. And with Baby's imminent arrival, I find myself frantically hoarding my time and energy in order to finish projects, read books, spend time with Wayne and Caedmon, see friends, cook and freeze meals, wash and organize Baby's things... I am a whirling dervish of productivity, because we all know that life is over when a newborn arrives! (At least for a period of time.) But tonight, I'm taking a (small) breather as I peruse and enjoy these photos of our family of three-not-quite-four... because it really has been a special and significant time. (And because our worlds are about to be rocked, never to be the same, whether we're ready or not!)

See our full gallery here.

Moving In Together: Our New (Old) Home

To make more room for Caedmon to play and for (potential) future kiddos (no, we are not expecting!), our little nest has been going through some minor reshuffling and redecorating.

Our major obstacle in maximizing our three-bedroom abode was maintaining a space for both me and Wayne to work on our individual projects--me with my scrapbooking and crafts, and Wayne with his... computer games.  (Okay, I guess there's also lesson planning for work and preparing for Bible study... but definitely plenty of computer games.) Our ultimate solution was to purchase a smaller desk for Wayne and move both desks into our bedroom, along with our brimming bookshelves which were originally in the guestroom.   Before babies were in the equation, we both had our own entire rooms, so this moving in together took some adjusting to.  We joke that our new arrangement is reminiscent of dorm life, or that with all this added furniture in one small space, it's like living in an IKEA showroom, but actually, I quite like our new set-up.

Here are some before and after photos:

 Master Bedroom--Before

I can't believe we lived in this sad, sad cell for over four years before putting up any sort of decor or color!  Since it was a room that most people didn't see but us, it became last on my priority list.

After

This is much happier!  And a smarter use of space.  1. Framed fabric, inspired by a friend's crafting post.  2. Wayne's smaller, sleeker desk operates as a work station and nightstand.  Side storage compartment houses messy computer wires and a built-in USB hub.  3. What a difference one decorative pillow makes!  4. Billy bookcases from IKEA lined in the back with shelf paper for a custom look.  5. These lamps from Target placed up high were an economical alternative to recessed lighting.  6. My big, honking desk fits!  Yay!

Wall gallery of photos FINALLY up!

Living Room--Before

After

1. I constructed this window seat using two IKEA Kallax shelves, following this tutorial.  2. IKEA Drona fabric bins in white are painted with fabric paint to coordinate (I used Martha Stewart satin finish craft paint in "wet cement".)  3. Envelope pillow covers are my new sewing obsession!  4. Rug from overstock.com.

 Caedmon now has so much more space to play, and his toys are neatly tucked away when not in use.

Some window seat tutorials recommend attaching legs to the bottom of the structure, but when we did, the seat was too high for my short limbs, so we had to take them off.  Another roadblock we came across was how to level the window seat, since ours rests partially on the rug and hardwood.  What we ended up doing was inserting random pieces of thin wood under the seat on the hardwood (an extra shelf from a bookcase and leftover wainscoting from the previous homeowners)--simple, economical, and effective!

Guest Room--Before

After

This room is definitely still a work in progress, as I'd like to put up curtains and, perhaps, reupholster the armchair, which right now, is a complete eyesore against the grays and yellows. Still, I don't want to invest too much into this room, since it will be probably be Caedmon's before long, and I'll have to change everything again.  I do absolutely love the map art from my sister and brother-in-law; it will work even when this room becomes Caedmon's.

an owl-themed nursery

Here's our owl-themed nursery!  You can't see it, but the bookshelf in the corner contains owl bookends that I just adore!  (Thank you, FHS staff!)  I wasn't able to find a motorized mobile with owls on it, so I took one with jungle animals on it (thank you, Colleen!) and changed them out with owl stroller toys (and thanks, Aunt Sam!). 

I hope our son likes owls!  :)

Making Room for Baby

Yes, you could call it nesting... or procrastinating from lesson planning.  Whatever it is, I am very happy with the progress we've made in making room for Baby To!

Here is the hall closet, all cleaned out and organized:

And we did some reshuffling of our furniture.  Here is what our house looked like before.  And this is what it is like now:

We moved Wayne's desk out to the front living room area and moved the couches around.

 

We moved my desk and the guest bed into what was Wayne's man-cave.  Now it looks like a teenage girl's room.  I'll need to replace the maps with some fun wall art!

 

And what was my craft room/guest room is now the baby room. 

A very productive day!  I was about to give the dogs a bath too, but we ran out of shampoo.  You lucked out, Lucy!

I really should blog more...

I haven't blogged much lately.  And I really should (or at least journal, or something), especially during these last few months before our lives are forever changed.

I don't have anything profound to say, so.... I will start 2012 with a picture of the progress I'm making with our hall closet.  We've been cleaning, organizing, and rearranging to make room for Baby.  I've been working on the hall closet all morning... except, I've lost my momentum, and I don't feel like finishing and am distracting myself with other activities.  Hence, the blogging.  Gah!  Must refocus. Though... maybe I'll feel better after some lunch...

inspriation!

Wayne and I have talked about creating a San Diego-themed bathroom--not teeming with seashells and dolphins and other kitsch, but something that would tastefully remind us of our favorite place... where I still consider Home, in many ways. But what that actually looks like, we were unsure... Harvest group picture on the wall? (haha, that would be weird). UCSD pendants? Triton shower curtain with matching towels and bath mat? hmm, not quite that either.

While in San Diego a few weeks ago, we decided to make a trip to the UCSD Bookstore, and while no Triton shower curtain (darn!), we did find this!! Perfect inspiration for our San Diego bathroom!




The lady at Aaron Brothers helped me find a suitable frame and this beautiful color for the mat! And ta-da!!!




I am now ready to tackle the rest of the bathroom! ... shower curtain, towels, bath mat, and... yikes, paint color!

our new home!

rollers, poles, brushes, and other painting tools = $75
40 mini-cans of tester paint, all varying shades of green = $160
at least 16 gallons of paint, many that were discarded after I changed my mind = $400
money and time wasted = lots

turning a house into a home to call ours = priceless


It's been many moons since we moved in, but finally, here are some pictures of our place. There's more I want/need to add (like curtains, framed artwork, etc.), but I'm a slow gatherer, and I realized I would never get these pictures up if I was waiting for our house to be PERFECT. So, here I am, stretching myself to let go of my perfectionist tendencies AND posting these pictures, which I've been meaning to do for months. I would say this is a good start to my day.

You may remember pictures from before. and all our headache during...

Finally, here is after!

entryway, living room, and dining area

shoe art by emily to.


framed calendar art by Dana Heacock, local artist in Ogunquit, Maine, where we visited last summer.


family room and Lucy



need curtains.


kitchen

my favorite room! we painted all the cabinets and added new handles, which made the hugest difference. notice the striped backsplash! that was meticulously painted on as well.


master bedroom with huge walk-in closet!

i would like splashes of orange in here.


sunny guestroom and craftroom



wayne's office, aka "man-cave"



laundry room with new washer/dryer




thank you for visiting our home; please come visit for real! :)


next project: San Diego-inspired guest bathroom... not sure what that means yet, exactly, but I'll keep you posted!