Pregnancy Update: Judah's Nursery (35 Weeks)

Introducing Judah's "vintage" nursery...

35 Weeks

I already love to rock him. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite seats in the house. It is such a gift to be able to sit quietly and feel him move! His little clothes are so sweet.There are lots of thrift store, DIY items, and precious gifts in Judah's room. I love to tell everyone how his room came together because I decided in the beginning that I wasn't going to spend a lot of time and money decorating his nursery. Family and friends helped me with several DIY projects (sewing crib bedding, painting old furniture, etc.) that not only saved us money, but also attached special memories to his room. I also received so many precious gifts (many of which were homemade) from family and friends. Plus, family and friends lent/gave us several different items (a crib, glider, dresser, clothing, toys, etc).
We are so thankful for such giving family and friends!

With the recent onset of braxton hicks contractions, it feels like Judah could arrive at any time. We are so excited to hold our precious baby boy!!! I know that these next 5 (or so) weeks will not be free of aches, pains, and emotion, but I continue to pray that God will fuel my passion for the ministry of motherhood! I know He is doing a great work in me (there is lots of work to be done) as He continues to form Judah in my womb. He is faithful, He is faithful, He is faithful!

His Name...

And his name will be....

Judah Benjamin

The hold up was certainly on the selection of his middle name. After much thought and consideration, we decided to give Judah Nathans granddaddy's middle name, Benjamin. There is something so special about giving your child a family name. We both admire granddaddy and we hope that Judah will know how special it is to carry on this family name.

Doctor's Visit Update...

We had a doctors appointment this past Thursday. During the ultrasound, they took lots of measurements and looked at all of Judah's organs. They said that he appears to be growing normally and all of his organs are working properly, including his heart which sounded awesome. We are both very thankful for this GREAT NEWS! They also confirmed once again that Judah is definitely a boy. We couldn't seem to get a good picture of his face, but he was constantly showing us that he is indeed a boy!

Nursery Sneak Peak...

As I mentioned previously, I plan to have a vintage theme in Judah's nursery. Vintage seems to fit perfect for us because we enjoy finding old things at thrift/antique stores and in our parent's attics, and we love a good deal. So, here's the plan thus far...

Furniture: We are using our nephew's crib (thank you, thank you). I purchased a tall vintage looking bookshelf from a thrift store last week. The bookshelf will probably be painted and distressed. Nathan's parents gave us their old glider (it is in great condition, thank you!). The only furniture item we still need to purchase is a dresser. I plan to find a used long dresser that is a good height to place a changing pad on. The dresser will be painted and distressed as well. Colors TBD (I am thinking red, baby blue, white with brown glaze, black, etc.)

Bedding: I plan to make Judah's bedding (I am only making the crib skirt and bumper). I was able to get some great deals at our local fabric store and I ordered two other fabrics online (ebay and fabric.com).

Here is the vintage fabric that will be patch-worked in with a red ticking tripe, two shades of blue cotton (baby blue and a brighter blue), and white chenille to create the bumper. The crib skirt will most likely be the red ticking stripe. You can see the red ticking stripe and blue fabrics in the picture below.

Other decor: We have simply been collecting vintage or vintage looking items from different antique, thrift, and discount stores. In fact, we started collecting these items before we even knew I was pregnant. Nathan's mom also gave us some of Nathan's old nursery decor which will work perfectly in baby Judah's vintage style nursery (apparently 30 year old items look vintage). Needless to say, I haven't spent much at all and I feel like I have several great items.

Here are all of the small decor items we have collected thus far (minus the cute little outfit I received as a gift). I am proud to say that I got the globe for free! Long story, but I love a free item.

Nathan's mother cross-stitched this for Nathan when he was a baby. Isn't this poem adorable!

I painted this with some friends last week. Painting parties with friends are so much fun! I love this verse. I can't wait to explain it to Judah. Even before you were formed in my womb, God knew you and he has big plans for you!

Works for me Wednesday- Beautifying Our Home On the Cheap

***I am not going crazy, I realize it is not Wednesday, but I did not get a chance to post this on Wednesday. I hope you all enjoy it, even if it is a couple of days late :).

This week, I decided that I would share some of my favorite "cheap" ways to beautify the home! I think it is important for our homes to be a haven for our families. While the physical appearance of our homes is a small part of creating a haven, beautifying the home can certainly help! This being said, I think it is even better when we can beautify our homes without spending a lot of money. I am not a professional decorator (not even close), but these cheap decor ideas "work for me"!

I used a few simple black frames that used to hang in my kitchen and simply placed scrapbook paper in them to add color to one of our walls. Tip: If you don't have any frames lying around, check discount or thrift stores and be willing to paint them.

Another great "decor" idea is to display old books. I bought a bunch of old books from a thrift store (they were 25 cents a piece) and I have them displayed all over the house. I use them to add height to other pieces or to take up space. I think that almost every lamp in my house is sitting on some old books :). Tips: Look for fun colors and fun titles! Tie a big bow around a few books for a more feminine look. Cover books that you currently have with fun scrapbook paper.

We picked up this mirror on the side of the road several months ago! The steps I took to create this simple "antique" looking mirror: #1- Rub the entire surface with sandpaper, #2-Clean the surface (some people suggest using alcohol), #3- Tape the inside of the mirror (I used painters tape), #4- Paint your base coat (I used some paint we had left over from painting our house), #5- Use sandpaper to scratch sporadically (the original color of the item will show through, so if you do not want this color to show through, you should account for painting it with a base coat and then another coat of paint, then your base coat with show through), #6- Paint all over with acrylic pearlizing paint (97 cents at hobby lobby). Tip: Think of ways you can spruce up old items you have in your home or find at a thrift store with a little bit of elbow grease and paint. If you are looking at an old item, think about how much it would cost you in order to make the piece something you would enjoy in your home.

One of the best tips I received from a dear friend is to look at the items you have in your kitchen cabinets that are not being used and find a way to use them in a different way and in a different place. I found this footed dish in my cabinet that I rarely use and decided to place it in one of our bathrooms. I simply looked around the house for some "bathroom" items to place inside the dish. Once I found a few items that I thought would look cute, I decided to "modify" a few of them to better suite the room. I covered the lotion bottle with a small piece of thick scrapbook paper and tied a string around it. I used another sheet of scrapbook paper to cover a small soap I picked up from our last hotel stay. Lastly, I tied a cute ribbon around a simple cream candle. Tip: Use what you have, but be willing to modify it!

I know I have posted about these plates in the past, but I thought they were another great example of using kitchen items in a new way. These are old platters (I purchased them for a couple of dollars at a local thrift store) that I painted and hung on the wall. The steps I took to create them: #1- Spray paint the platters with your base color (I used a teal color), #2- Let the base coat dry, #3- Use an old rag to rub acrylic paint (I used espresso brown) sporadically on the plates, #3- Rub a different color of acrylic paint (I used antique gold) sporadically on the plates, #4- hang with inexpensive (I got these from Michael's for a few dollars) plate hangers.

Other ways I aspire to make my home a haven:

#1- By being thankful and content. Smiling often and finding ways to "have fun"!

#2- By not only working diligently in my home, but carrying out tasks with a joyful heart! I try to sing, dance, and/or talk to God while I work. Jesus understands, he was a servant himself.

#3- By trying to lay down my critical spirit and giving grace to all those who enter- namely my dear husband. I also try to remember to give myself grace when my homemaking plans get off track or when I am feeling tired.

#4- By maintaining order and warding off procrastination! If I put something off, the task only becomes more burdensome. This includes sticking to a schedule and using my time wisely.

#5- By keeping a heart that is always willing to serve. Laying down my self-entitlements daily.

I always try to remember that I can have a beautifully decorated home with everything neat and orderly, but if I'm frazzled and frustrated, my home is not a peaceful place.

Learning...
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Prov. 23:7)

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Cor. 13:4-7)

If you are interested in learning more about making your home a haven, check out this blog for an entire series on the important subject.

UPDATE ON US, COMING SOON! I need to download some more pictures to share with you all :)!

Decor on a budget, gotta love it!

Nate has done a lot of work on the outside as well.


Those two sitting chairs were a great find at $15 each. I used my left over drape fabric to recover them and now they look great!

The Kitchen nook. This is a good picture of the drapes. With the help of Wanda, I sewed all six 11 ft drapes for this room. I think they look great!

The Kitchen. Thanks to Dasha, the decor above my cabinets looks great!

I have to use that small step stool to reach my top shelves. Just in case you were wondering.
I couldn't leave these out. I made these hanging plates out of old silver trays that I found at the Thrift Store.

This is not a great picture of the dining room, but you get the picture.

This is the enormous entertainment center our good friend Brent built us as a wedding gift. We came home from Jamaica to find this in our living room. I think it is incredible that Brent built this and put it up in our house by himself. We love it!

This is a wall collage in the making. Don't be too tough on me Dasha. Everything but 2 items on this wall came from a thrift store and I love that about it:)! Besides, isn't a collage supposed to represent the people who live in the house? If that is the case then thrift store finds are perfect.

Sorry to say, but Nate and I are horrible at taking pictures. I wish I had fun pictures of Christmas, our trip to the beach, Tess's birthday party, or even our short trip to Atlanta this weekend, which were all WONDERFUL, but we didn't think to take even a single shot. Just know that I had a fabulous Christmas break with family and friends, full of fun and relaxing moments. I am truly grateful for each and every day of the break! It was simply perfect!

My mom and Dasha have asked me several times to send/post some new pics of the house, so I thought I would post a few for their viewing pleasure (and maybe yours). As most of you know, I love to decorate, but I don't like to spend money! It has been so much fun looking for good deals, doing DIY crafts, and rummaging through thrift stores to make our house a home.

I always have a project in the works. Speaking of, my front bathroom should be finished soon. I love the wall color and am so excited to see how my cabinet glaze turns out. I will have to post pictures of the finished product and the rest of the house at some point. Don't hold your breathe, it might be awhile :).