Baby Baer's Digs

Here's a look at Baby Baer's nursery... we can't wait for it to be filled with a crying, smiling, pooing, cooing little baby. Our due date was Wednesday, July 10, so we're playing the waiting game now...

Thanks to my Mama and Scout for helping with the curtain-sewing. As you can see - a sunblocking liner was a definite necessity. We got the dresser off Craigslist - the 2 pieces here; the end table that's in the closet, and an awesome huge mirror in our guest room.

 

All my life I've wanted a house with a yellow room... check that off the list! That cute little "E" frame was made by my cousin Marissa.  She made us an E and an S, so we've been alternating it.  We don't know the sex and we've kept the names secret. But the initials are EWB (for a boy) and SGB (for a girl).  So at our family baby shower people had fun trying to guess the names.

The sweet quilt on our craigslist rocker was made by Chris' mom Kim.  We picked fabric out together back in early spring and she gave it to us a few weekends ago.  She also made some cute little baby pillowcases and a blanket.  Such a special treasure.

 

Wade Bowen is our favorite Texas Country artist. Who I Am was our first dance at our wedding. These lyrics I painted onto this old window are from a song he wrong for his son called Before These Walls Were Blue.  The minute I heard it I knew I'd one day want it in our nursery. (And that day came sooner than we were expecting!)

"I believe in HEAVEN; I believe in MAGIC; I believe in the LIFE inside these walls."

We bought the orange figurine on our "baby-moon" trip to New Zealand in February.  It's an ancient Maori symbol - the double twist - meaning the combining of two people for eternity. The tractor is from Chris' parents as part of a birthday present for Chris and Baby. He had a "life size" version as a kiddo that he rode around until the plastic wheels wore out.  It even has a little dog that looks like Beaz - red collar and all.

Pictures of us as little tots and the sweet WillowTree figurine from Greg and Katie Bielski when they heard we were expecting.

Lots of keepsakes: Rattle pin Aunt Shera made for our shower; White booties that Mary (the head of housekeeping at my office complex) knitted for B-Squared; A little bear Florence made; Baby's first cup from Meme; Baby's first spoon from Coach Breuer, Wishes for baby from our first shower, Fabric swatches from the quilt Mrs. Stark is making for baby; Lots of guesses on baby name, gender, and birth date from showers.

Changing area - yes we're attempting cloth-diapering. We've "rented" newborn diapers to give it a shot and see if we can do it.

The closet had those louvre doors that are major "finger pinchers" and I've never liked. So we took the doors off and put a curtain on instead. Look at all those precious baby clothes.  See - gender neutral is still cute :) Chris' sister Lindsey made the enlarged ultrasound pictures for us.

Lots-o-Books.  B-Squared better start learning to read quickly!

A little mirror for Baby to check out his or her reflection.  The little bear is from our trip to Germany - a replica of the United Buddy Bears that are all over Berlin (and that travel the world). And some "chew necklaces" from my friends Anna and Christin.

Baby's crib - until there's actually a baby to sleep in it and all the cute pillows and animals have to clear out.  The crib is a "Jenny Lind" style, which is the same type we both slept in as babies.  The prayer bears are from Meme for Christmas - she wanted to give Baby his/her first teddy bear, and had to get it in both colors of course.  Scout knitted the yellow blanket (and some washcloths) for Baby - such a special gift. And Emily made the Baby Baer pennant for our shower.

Sada took these pictures and I made the little lab silhouette frame.  We're hoping Beaz recognizes her own presence and importance in the nursery and thus will be less jealous of all the attention B-Squared will be getting. She's going to be a great big sister :)

These little plaques were in my nursery when I was a baby. Thanks for sharing them Mom :)

 

Here's hoping this gets a lot of use...

We bought this pinot noir in New Zealand, with plans to drink it in celebration once baby gets here... not much longer [hopefully]!

We're ready for you to come out and play Baby Baer!!!

Kitchen "After"

After our 2nd anniversary trip to Germany, we sort of forgot to document our kitchen progress, but there was still quite a bit of work to be done - putting in the recessed lighting, painting, all the trim work that was such a pain in the..., installing under-cabinet lighting, installing cabinet hardware, refinishing the floor, installing the vent hood, endless punch lists of all the little details, etc.

But here are some "after" pictures of how it all looks now.  All done except the backsplash... who knows when we'll ever get to that! And someday we may get around to hanging things on the wall and "accessorizing". My Meme sewed the new curtains for us - love them. love her. :)

Imagine it with one day having a stainless steel double oven and fridge. We got the new microwave super cheap from Sam's because it was a display model.

That big blue bowl above the fridge was my great-grandmother's bread bowl.  She used it all the time to make homemade bread and my Middie just gave it to me.

Chris and Wes discovered that awesome vent hood at Sears Outlet.  It was originally something like $2K! It really sucks! (pun intended). And the gas range was a scratch-n-dent store purchase. It had 2 tiny scratches on it, which we would have caused eventually anyway.

Love how this coffee/wine bar turned out.  This used to be the "pantry".

Sorry.. a little dark. And I have a cute old little side table to go where that chair is that was my mom's boss' from about a million years ago.  I'm painting it bright yellow but it's been too cold/damp to finish it the past few weeks.

Huge walls intimidate me when it comes to decorating/hanging things.  Especially with the table not being centered on the wall... need help!

I love walking into the kitchen in the morning to see this.

The under-cabinet lighting is one of my favorite parts - Chris did such a good job with it (and all the lighting... and the whole kitchen for that matter!) It's these LED strips that use basically zero energy.

Pretty birthday flowers from Chris

Clever potato/onion/garlic basket storage

Spice drawer and trash can drawer were must-haves.

This viewpoint makes washing dishes so much more enjoyable - I can look at the garden, check out the chickens, watch Beaz chase squirrels...

Ahhh.... I love our kitchen!