Art for Lucy's Room: 1 of 4

I bought 4 canvases a while ago for some art projects that were unrelated to the nursery.  The inspiration for these canvases was short-lived, which turned out to be advantageous since it made them available for Lucy's room!



I painted each canvas the same color as the wall above the chair rail (light green). Several people have asked why... and the answer is that I saw it on somebody else's blog (can't remember who now), and I thought it looked nice.



So I started there.  I purchased several different colors/styles of scrapbook paper in the colors of Lucy's bedding (Cocalo "Sophie") and started experimenting.



Here is the result of my efforts on the first canvas (1 of 4).




I was really pleased with how it came out, until Daniel referred to the birds as "amoebic characters," pointing out that birds have beaks and wings.

He did have a point.



So this is the "tweaked" and final version of the first canvas.   I've started the 2nd canvas and will post when it's finished.  

Curtains: Day 2

And... done!  Here are the finished curtains for Lucy's room.



I decided on a double curtain rod, with a single layer of black-out fabric as the inner curtain so that we can make the room dark if we need to.

Curtains: Day 1

 

Cocalo doesn't make panel curtains to go along with the other "Sophie" style nursery stuff, so I decided to make some.



If sewing were a person, she and I would not be friends.



I find sewing to be tedious and labor-intensive, and I try not to do it if I possibly can help it.

 

But you can't make curtains with a stapler or glue... so... sewing it was.



I purchased 4 of the "Sophie" valences and trimmed the tabs off each one.

 

Then I pinned and sewed each one to my pink fabric (purchased at Golden D'Or, a must-visit if you live in Dallas and sew... even a little bit).



The Joanne Fabrics near me was having a 50% off sale on their curtain lining (score! Thanks for the heads-up, Ginnie), so I bought some the other day and today cut a piece to line each panel of pink fabric.



The great thing about making curtains is that you can't get much more basic in terms of sewing skills required.

 

The bad thing is that the pieces of fabric you're dealing with are huge, which just makes everything difficult.  For instance, I made the first panel about 2 inches too short and will have to redo it. 

 

I sort of ran out of steam before I finished the curtains, but it's such a big project that I think posting in two separate posts is a better idea than waiting until I finish to put any pictures up.

I'll post a picture of the finished curtains soon... after I finish them :).

There's Gonna Be a BABY Soon!

Somehow putting the crib together made Lucy's existence so much more real to me.  The sense of relief I felt after it was assembled was strange to me, because she won't even be sleeping in this crib at first--she'll be in the cradle in our bedroom for the first couple months.

 


But I think the crib serves as a visible, tangible landmark for my mind to settle on... something solid that reminds me a real baby will be here soon.  I like seeing it in there.  And I love that Daniel goes in there almost every night to look at it.



There's nothing else in the room yet, and I'm working on what to do for closet storage and what to put on the walls.  But for now, I'm just happy the furniture's in there*.

*The chair will be arriving some time in the next 6 weeks - so excited!!

Locum Tenens

"Locum tenens" is the term that medical people use to refer to temp work. 

Similar to temp work, you don't necessarily know what you're getting into when you agree to work somewhere for a day here or a day there. 

I had been looking into doing some locum tenens work for a while and finally had my first assignment today, at a family practice on the other side of town. 

I was so nervous about it that I literally almost cried when Daniel dropped me off.  If I had been asked to enumerate exactly what terrified me, I'm not sure I could have said...

But if I gave it some serious thought, here would be the fear:  that I would encounter a patient with some combination of problems previously unimagined and wholly impossible for me to deal with.  Something like... a self-pay, drug-seeking diabetic 90-year old with pneumonia, dementia, and blood sugars poorly controlled by insulin.  AND that the supervising physician would be mean to me and would tell me I wasn't going fast enough.

But it went fine today.  No drama.  No impossible patients. And the supervising physician was quite nice. 

And a special bonus: my otoscope, which I had forgotten to charge and which I haven't used in 2 months and was sure would be dead... worked fine!  Like a special gift from God. 

I'm not sure how much sense this post will make to those outside the medical field.  But I am so relieved and thankful that God has once again been gracious to my unfaithful self - that I wanted to share about it.   

The Baseboards are In!

They're on!  Here is the before picture:



And the after picture! 



Don't they look nice?

I got talked out of the 6 inch baseboards, in favor of these 5 1/4 inch ones.  I think they're plenty tall.



And bonus - we had the carpenter install the same baseboards in the dining room, too.



The poor dining room has had no baseboards since we installed slate flooring a year ago.  Anyways, now it does. 



Next I need to locate a rug for the nursery.  I'm keeping my eye out for a pink one like this.

But if I could find one that is not $700 (like this one is, from Pottery Barn Kids), that would be awesome.  So far my daily Craigslist searches have yielded nothing, but I'm hopeful.  I've still got 2 months or so.  There's time.

Knowing Your Limits

So... we started the baseboards last week.  

Baseboards are hard.  You have to cut the angles just so... and then it still doesn't look right.  And it's very frustrating. 

A friend recently said that this blog makes him feel exhausted.  So many projects.

 

I am happy to say that today that friend can breathe a little easier.

Do you see this wonderful man?  He is a carpenter.  He is here cutting the baseboards as I write this.  Before the end of the week, the baseboards will be in, and we can finally assemble the baby furniture and start washing and settling Lucy's things.



A miter saw has never sounded so sweet.  Hallelujah.