nursery phase I: painting the top

The nursery has been the monkey on my back for the last three weeks (when we found out the baby was an Ethan rather than a Hannah). I had the paint, and much of the decor. We still need to finish the top, possibly add a second coat, buy the beadboard wallpaper and chair rail, as well, but this is a darn good start!

I used tape as a rough marker to remind us not to
paint the entire wall!

My friend Lindsey came to help me get started, and I was/am really thankful because Austin is gone and I had zero motivation to paint, but every motivation to decorate! I started by laying some plastic liner around the edges of the room to protect the carpet (after moving the furniture and clothes toward the middle of the room) and then I taped off the trim and ceiling. I should have put more liner down, because I am, evidently, the messiest painter on the face of the earth. (We're replacing the carpet anyway, right?) Then, I marked how low we need to paint. I don't want to paint any more than I have to!

It would be SO easy to skip the top edge and add crown
moulding instead, don't you think? ;)



Valspar Ultra
Low Odor
No VOC

We decided on navy blue (update: we used Filoli Dark Iris 4009-5. This is one of their historic preservation colors) because neither of us are fans of "typical" baby rooms. We had a lot of ideas for this room, but Austin was really stuck on something ocean related, so we settled on the vintage nautical look. This may seem like a lot of forethought for a baby's room, but he is our first baby, and we don't want to have to "un-baby" the room in two years. The paint we used was Valspar Ultra (my new favorite). It's what we've used all over the other parts of our house. It covers fairly well, but if you did an entire room, I definitely recommend two gallons. They're around $27 here at Lowe's in Houston.

Removable Beadboard Wallapaper | Lowe's

We've also decided to use wallpaper that will be easy to remove, because wallpaper in this house will be a HUGE headache. We want the one from Lowe's because it is significantly cheaper than Home Depot's - we're always price-comparing between the two.

We do plan on reusing this bedroom for our next baby, so since beadboard is a classic look, we think we'll be safe with that. I'm now wondering what I can do with navy blue for a girl's room since I don't want to repaint this, and I really hope we have a girl next... you know, in 4 years ;)

We're also thinking of moving our dining room table to the kitchen/breakfast area, and opening up the dining/kitchen to the living room. The dining room would then be a play room - a perfect place to play so the baby's toys stay out of the main living area, but in sight all the time. His room is so small going to have so much furniture in it that he won't have room for toys anyway. I finally decided on the layout the other day, too... maybe.

Mentally rotate this counter-clockwise 90 degrees -
for some reason my computer shows it that way but it
uploads wrong!

That's it for now! We leave for Tennessee tonight at 9 (it's going to be a late night!) and we can't wait to see all our friends in Clarksville tomorrow and Sunday! I'm hoping to have this completely done in the next month....

love,

week 22

I can see my toes! Only because I have big
feet, I'm sure!

Talk about a bump! Ethan is probably close
to the size of a grapefruit.

How far along? 22 weeks!
Total weight gain/loss: Gain..
Maternity clothes? Daily!
Stretch marks? Not yet.
Sleep: I'm getting back into waking up to go to the restroom... Ethan is getting big!
Miss anything? Caffeine!
Movement: Lots - all throughout the day, and especially when I roll over at night.
Food cravings: None really, just lots of milk to chase away the heartburn
Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy foods seem to bring on the heartburn!
Have you started to show yet: Yes, and I can't really hide it anymore!
Gender: Boy!
Labor Signs: None yet, thank goodness.
Belly Button in or out? Still in there!
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy because Austin is home, sad because he leaves again today.
Looking forward to: getting the nursery done... I'd be even more excited if someone else were painting it for me :)

Love,

21 weeks + 1 day

Austin and I had a crazy weekend. My dad came over and showed Austin how to install a door, and helped finish the railing in the front. Austin installed new locks (I screwed one up big time!), downspouts for our gutters (which were flooding our backyard), a new hook rack for the garage, and changed/fixed the ceiling fan in the guest room. Needless to say, the house is really coming together! I did work, too - I put together some furniture I got for my birthday from our moms:

New side table (I think we need a bigger
bin for controllers!).

New chairs & side table to form a separate sitting area
(An entertainment cabinet for the back left corner is next
on the list). The pillows came with the chairs but I dyed them.

Entryway! All cleaned up, and bright! The
yellow bench actually faces those two chairs
featured above.

I also adjusted some other decorations, installed peel-and-stick tile under our kitchen sink, and cleaned up after my husband! Sunday, I got a French bakery sign to add to the left wall of the living room, too.

On Saturday, we got two huge trash bags full of clothes sized 0-6 months for Ethan. This is what it looked like as I was sorting through it:

Lots of camo means Ethan will blend in with the Strickland men

I ended up keeping a little over half of it. The hoodies and onesies have used over 65 hangers! The pants and pajamas are still on the floor because we don't have a dresser for them. I know that we don't need any more pants (there are a ton), but considering that it will be getting chilly shortly after little Ethan joins us, I think we could use more hoodies/jackets/hats for when we go places.

Ethan is also measuring ahead of where he is supposed to be (right now he "should" be a pomegranate but according to his 19 week ultrasound, he is probably closer to a papaya) so I don't think we will need/use the newborn sized clothes. That's just as well, because we only received a few of those.

Let's all pretend my hair doesn't
look that bad today...

How far along? 21 weeks!
Total weight gain/loss: 10 + lbs. That's TMI already.
Maternity clothes? Yes... only one pair of my own pants still fit!
Stretch marks? Not yet.
Sleep: I haven't slept through the night without even a light wake up in a while. The good news is that I'm not waking up to go to the restroom.
Miss anything? Caffeine!
Movement: Yes! Morning and night are his favorite times. He always moves when I lay down for sleep and when I first come in to work. He also wiggles throughout the day, and Austin has felt him move!
Food cravings: None lately, but I am forcing myself to eat more fruit... all for the good of my son!
Anything making you queasy or sick: No, fortunately, and the heartburn is either getting better or my food hasn't been as spicy
Have you started to show yet: Yep! But I could still be confused as having a pudgy belly. Good news is that I still have a small waist (trying to keep it that way).
Gender: a sweet little boy.
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Still in there! But getting shallow.
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy?
Looking forward to: Dressing Ethan in some of these cute clothes we just got!

Love you all,

Ethan's Ultrasound!

I finally figured out how to get Ethan's ultrasound on YouTube. I only get two at my doctor unless there are issues, so this may be the last time we see him until September/October!





Enjoy!

Love,

week 20 updates

Last week, at 19 weeks, the ultrasound technician measured Ethan as 5 days ahead and a whopping 30% heavier than he was supposed to be (anyone surprised?).  I have to say, I can't really follow the fruit-of-the-week thing anymore, since he actually weighed more last Monday than he is supposed to weigh today. Let's just say that he is big... bigger than the cantaloupe/banana he was last week!

How far along? 20 weeks!! Hooray!!!
Total weight gain/loss: Let's not and say we did :)
Maternity clothes? Yes. In the last two weeks, I have ponied up and started wearing maternity clothes. But hey, my dress today only cost $8! Thanks, Old Navy!
Stretch marks? Not yet...
Sleep: Usually great! Last night was awful - we are tired!
Miss anything? Caffeine. I really, really wish I could have some more.
Movement: SO MUCH! Apparently he isn't big enough to feel outside of my body, though. He was wiggling around like crazy last night and I was trying SO hard to let Austin feel it. I loved it - a perfect Mother's Day, with my son wiggling around... :)
Food cravings: Ice cream, which would make me sick pre-pregnancy. Really I just want the cookie dough that is in the ice cream...
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope, just heartburn, which is controllable depending on what I choose to eat!
Have you started to show yet: YES. But you can't feel him move yet, so there isn't much reason to touch the belly! 
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? Slowly coming out...
Wedding rings on or off? On!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Hahaha, depends on who you ask!
Looking forward to: Austin getting to feel Ethan kick for the first time.

I love that we now know the baby's gender, but it honestly feels a little weird to call him Ethan! I guess we will get used to it!

We went to Babies R Us this weekend to actually look at the baby stuff we have registered for, and I think Austin must be sick. I asked him to get some diapers while I was in the restroom since we had a coupon (still undecided on cloth vs. disposable, but I hear you need a few disposable anyway, so we are stocking up). He is usually a very discerning, cheap shopper, but somehow when I got out, he had the Pampers sensitive diapers in his hand ($$$). We had a crash-course on diaper buying right there! We got to see in-person a few of the things we'd registered for online, and add a few boy things as well. Ethan's room may be 18th century nautical, but his stuff will be all sports!

We sure do love you, Ethan Michael! When things slow down a bit, we will definitely be painting & preparing your room!

love,

the first nursery purchases

Many of you know we already have Ethan's crib, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, who "happened" to be at Ikea and decided to get it :)

Bear was essential to the assembly process.

The crib! We have to raise the bottom later....
Anyone know of a safe way to make the whole thing taller?

Last night, I went to Hobby Lobby because Grandma send me a picture of a bunch of goodies for Ethan's room, and they have all their decor on sale for Mother's Day. I only spent $58, which is what I expected to pay for some of these individually had I bought them vintage. Considering that we may have to re-do his room when he gets older, I'm glad this wasn't too expensive!

(Ignore the fact that they're on the quilt my Grandma made! We will have to get new bedding for that room...)

Weight & anchor

Primitive sailboat

Ship wheel!

Decorative netting..
hope to use this to store
soft toys

Pulley

I still have a few things left to get (haha, including most of the furniture!), but this is a darn good start!

I re-watched Ethan's ultrasound again today... I love it! I am SO glad we got the DVD! Anyone know how to get that onto YouTube or something? It's ~20 minutes long.

love,

it's a....

We are so excited to announce that we can now start calling baby Haynes Ethan Michael Haynes! It was so cool that we got to see so much of our very active baby this morning. We bought a DVD of the ultrasound, too, so I will see if we can get that online!

We asked the nurse if we could guess first, because we wanted to see if we were right after seeing the baby. He was not cooperating at first - seriously, he was being a pain! The nurse kept leaning me back further and further, trying to see underneath him because he was sitting straight up. About 20 minutes in (anxiously wondering) he finally turned and showed us that he was a boy - and we guessed it correctly (before and after seeing the Ultrasound)!

We've decided to go with an 18th century nautical theme (think model sailboats, anchors, and whales) in the nursery. Nothing "cartoon-y" - I see lots of antiquing in my future! We're going to paint the top half of the nursery navy blue, and the bottom half will have beadboard wallpaper and a piece of trim dividing it. All of the furniture will be white so we can keep it for (hopefully) a second baby later on. Of course, I will post some pictures when we have them!

We are almost halfway through the pregnancy, but I know the second half will feel longer since I didn't even know I was pregnant the first four weeks (that's just how it goes). We are definitely praying that the pregnancy continues to go well and that baby is healthily growing!

Excited that we can now call our baby boy Ethan, and start preparing for his arrival in September! Ultrasound pictures to come later! Ethan weighs about 11 oz according to his ultrasound, but should only weight 8.5 at this point so.... he will be a BIG baby!


love,

sweet baby Haynes

I'm cherishing these last few days of not knowing the gender of our baby. Austin and I agree that we don't mind either way.. so here are the dreams I have for baby Haynes.


Baby Haynes,

If you're a boy, you're going to be a very active boy! You're going to be taller than any boy in our family. You're going to be coaxed into sports (every sport) by your uncles and your grandpa (out of love!). You'll eventually - hopefully - be a big brother, just like how I had big brothers.

If you're a girl - which seems to be what everyone else thinks you are - I anticipate lots of cuddle time. I also see lots of frilly dresses in your future, which Grandma will make (and Gigi will buy!) just like my grandma did for me.

Either way - I can't wait for story time, playing pretend, teaching you, growing with you. From your first steps to your first car and beyond, we are excited for the joy you will bring in our lives.

Love you sweet baby,

Mom

PS - four more days...

{Here's the bump picture from yesterday
18 weeks and 2 days}

PPS - those are officially the only pants that still fit!