progress

after months of hard work on everyone's part, a lot of (or a lack of) patience with furniture companies, and three amazing showers, janie's nursery is complete! we have been so blessed with great family and friends who have helped us to make all of this stuff come together. we spent most of last night moving tiny little outfits from one drawer to another and sitting in the super comfortable glider while admiring our work. i think that room is my favorite one in our house, which i hear is a good thing, as i'll probably be spending the majority of my time in there over the next few months.

i'm already finding that parents will do really crazy things for their kids. we would have had very little motivation to get that room done had it been for any other purpose than our sweet little girl. andy spent countless hours pulling rodent and termite poop infested insulation out of the walls, repairing wood floors that had holes big enough to reveal the dirt underneath our house, sawing/sanding/routing wood to frame doors and windows, and lots more. i, with the help of andy's mom, even learned how to sew (sort of) to make roman shades for the windows, something i thought i had no desire to ever learn. we both were excited to consider the new yellow minky dot glider our christmas present to each other, and can now easily pass up a dinner at our favorite restaurant if it means janie gets another cute little outfit, hairbow or toy. we already know, we are going to be in big trouble once she arrives.

here are a few pictures of the room!

here's a reminder of what it looked like before.

and after...

i'll leave you with a few great pieces of unsolicited advice from strangers, all of which start with a phrase similar to, "if i could give you one piece of advice, it would be...":

1. "buy a baby bjorn carrier so you can nurse the baby where ever you go" this was followed by an in depth description of exactly how you go about completing such a task while grocery shopping, doing dishes, or going for a walk.

2. "eat a lot of slippery foods if you want her to come early." this is not a joke, someone really said this and believed it to be true.

3. "don't let your kids out number you..they're vicious."

4. "get some blue things too, in case it's a boy."

5. and this, from husband and father of the year: "don't be expecting your kid to be the cutest thing you've ever seen...my baby was really funny looking until he was about 6 months old. i think that's why my wife had that after birth depression thing."