The Epic Adventures of Skarymop & Co.: January 2012

As all of my readers are (painfully) aware of, we are awaiting the arrival of our sweet baby girl in April. Now that I have officially entered my last trimester, nesting (another way of describing COMPLETE AND UTTER PANIC) has commenced full bore, and we've got some fun changes heading our way in the area of...*trumpet fanfare* NURSERY DECOR!!! Today I shall be sharing our "before" pictures of the nursery, and before I do that, let me warn you I have not touched our nursery in 5 years. Well, besides cleaning it, of course!! Goodness. Anyway, we chose a very gender-neutral theme for the nursery the first time around, because we chose not to find out what we were having (we assumed it was a baby). And since then, either finances or sheer lack of motivation precluded us from making any other changes...until NOW. :-) Thanks to Pinterest, I now have enough inspiration and ideas to last me 10 more babies. NOT THAT 10 MORE BABIES ARE IN THE PLAN. Just clarifying.

So here we go.

This is the view as you enter the room. I apologize for the blurry picture. One thing we are NOT changing is the paint color. I love this yellow. I'm taking it with me forever. It will also be a fun contrast to the quilt that my friend Rachel is making for the baby as a gift. Rachel is an amazing quilter. If I could acquire 1/10 the sewing skills that she possesses in my lifetime, I will count myself most blessed among women.

The window. Obviously. Worn-out roller shades and slightly fraying white cotton drapes. Big changes happening here, believe me!

A comfy chair for nursing, a very cute green nightstand (neither of which are going anywhere), a few toys, and some sparse and simple decor. This is what you would call a "low budget nursery". Significant changes on the decor front coming soon.

Another view of the room. I love that little dresser- it's always been the perfect size for this room.

Some very sweet wall hangings above the changing table. A lady in our church, who is a very accomplished seamstress, made these for our firstborn son. If you flip the little fabric squares, it spells out "DAVID" on the back. So cute! And I always appreciated that she made these double-sided so we could use them with subsequent babies, which, I may point out, we have! I will be putting these away *sniff sniff*, but I've got some new ideas for this little area that I've just got to try.

There you have it! I've actually already completed a couple of craft projects for the new-and-improved nursery, so now it's just a matter of waiting to move little Lucas out into the big boys' room (scared to death for this event) and finishing up a few other projects. Stay tuned! It's such a thrill to be able to share this with ya'll. Have a great weekend!

As I sat down to *gasp* blog tonight, all I could think of was:

1) I don't even know where to start.

2) See above.

So I suppose I shall cut myself some slack and use the ever-faithful, ever effective LIST.

I love lists.

I mean, really really love lists.

Like, I can't live without them.

As in, I panic when I don't have paper and a pen nearby. Yes, I know I have an iPhone, and I can makes myriads of lists on that glorious device, but for me, there is nothing as effective as physically writing out a list.

Besides, I have pretty fantastic handwriting. (Did I actually write that?)

So let's commence with the list-making already, shall we? (I shall try to ignore my sudden fierce craving for popcorn)

Item #1:

We spent Christmas in beautiful, breathtaking, and totally rad Colorado this year.

This is the view from my sister-in-law's patio. It drove me crazy that no matter how nice of a picture I took, it didn't even come close to doing the real thing any justice whatsoever. My sister-in-law and her husband (both totally lovely people) moved out to the Denver area last year, and they are really enjoying it. I. LOVED. Denver. My MIL and FIL also drove out to join in on the festivities, and I had the privilege of spending a girl's day out with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law in downtown Denver. It was such a cool city!! We had a delicious lunch at a wonderful cafe (linguini with broccoli rabe, toasted pine nuts, prosciutto, basil pesto, and goat cheese; anyone??)...

Enjoyed a stroll down Larimer street...

There was an actual MILLINER on this street. How incredibly endearing is that? Not that I'm a big hat person (I'm pretty sure I just might have the world's smallest head), but just the fact that it was there pretty much charmed my socks off. And then...

We saw a play at one of the playhouses in the Denver Performing Arts Center! The PAC was an amazing venue. It reminded me of an old-fashioned train terminal; almost European.

Love.

I haven't had this happen to me very often, but Denver was definitely one of those places that I visited and thought,"You know what, I could totally live here." It's true. I loved it that much. And the people were so nice! I even witnessed a man WHISTLING a happy little tune as he crossed the street. People were....HAPPY. And so, despite that fact that our poor David ended up in the emergency room on Christmas Eve due to an allergic reaction AND walking pneumonia (it's ALWAYS an adventure with that one), and both he and Steve had to spend the remainder of the vacation in a hotel due to the increasing severity of David's cat allergies (we made the best of it and brought presents and Christmas dinner to the hotel), we loved Colorado and enjoyed the time spent with family as best as we could. The drive was totally fine- I really do think the kids are becoming seasoned travelers. Now if we just avoid health catastrophes once we get to our destination, then we'd really be in business. In other news, I slept through most of Nebraska, and was pleasantly surprised with Iowa (I know!!). I experienced the best customer service EVER at a Subway restaurant in Urbandale, IA. Besides the fact that there were 20 people in front me and the line took only about 5 minutes, the employee at the front of the sandwich assembly line TIPPED HIS HAT AT ME AND CALLED ME MA'AM. Combine that with great roads, incredibly clean rest areas...Iowa; you're all right. ALSO...we actually got a great family picture during our trip! So all was not lost, and miracles DO happen!

Glasses Nerds Forever.

Thus ends Item #1.

Item #2:

In an effort to change things up around here, I've been scouring food blogs of a slightly different nature. I hate convenience foods, but I've been realizing I really need to add to my arsenal of SIMPLE, yet healthy meals. I think I've struck a balance with the Iowa Girl Eats blog. Tonight, I made this, and it was an indisputable hit. All three boys devoured an entire bowl of this delicious soup, and I must confess to having 2 bowls. It was just perfect; not too thick, not too soupy, and what flavor! All in about 20 minutes, so I think the Iowa Girl and I might have a groovy thing going, baby (Sorry. I've had a lot of Simon and Garfunkel stuck in my head lately). Check it out! I promise you won't be disappointed. Iowa Girl is also a runner, so she has lots of workout posts and fitness tips as well as healthy, delicious, and simple recipes. Sounds perfect for the New Year, doesn't it? I do so love a New Year. I am one of those freakish people who absolutely itches to break free of the Christmas shackles once December 26th rolls around. NO MORE. NO MORE. I LOVE a new year. It's so...pristine. I also love setting goals, and attacking said goals with a most ferocious vigor. Clear out, folks. Mary's got herself a new year! Roar!

*ahem*

Thus ends Item #2.

We've certainly covered a tremendous amount of territory tonight. Life has resumed its wonderfully familiar rhythm around here...