Checking Things Off the To-Do List

This weekend we accomplished one huge task off of our to-do list of things to do before Casey comes home...we finished the nursery!!! First a quick update on our girl: The doctors were able to determine that a Urinary Tract Infection was the cause of her struggles last week. Further tests showed she was anemic again, so she also received another blood transfusion, and immediately her color started look better. The doctors have her on antibiotics for a few more days, and we are praising God that an ultrasound to see if there was any scarring on her kidneys looked good. It is never easy to hear your child has an infection, but as far as infections go a UTI is pretty easily treated and we are relieved that they seem to have found the cause of her discomfort. Her biggest prayer need this week is for a positive result from her eye exam, which is scheduled for Monday, September 12.

In the five weeks since Casey was born, I have given myself a deadline to have her nursery completed by the time I go back to work. It is hard to believe that the first part of my maternity leave is up tomorrow, but this weekend we finally got down to business. The crib we ordered in July arrived on Thursday as scheduled, and my amazingly talented and wonderful friend (and the only person I know that is more of a perfectionist than I am), Alicia, allowed me to hold her hostage in my house all day Saturday to help me put the room together. One of the first things I convinced Brian we needed in our nursery was a wall decal, and Brian's only stipulation was that it include monkeys. After weeks of searching on Etsy, we customized a decal that I think turned out beautifully (although Alicia can tell you it was one beast to put up). I found a gorgeous bedding online and that inspired the shades of green and gray throughout the room. I also combed Etsy (although my husband would probably prefer the terms "obsessed" and "stalked") for the perfect artwork, and after much consideration, we finally figured out a great arrangement for all the prints. Throughout the summer, I have also been working on quite a few DIY (do-it-yourself) projects, and as you will see below they had quite the "C"theme for her first initial. After all the debate we had over choosing her name, I wanted that letter prominently displayed! For those that don't know, Casey is Brian's mom's maiden name. We originally planned to use it as a middle name. Early on I fell in live with the name Macy, and for the first few weeks after we found out we were having a girl we jokingly referred to her as Macy Casey. Around the beginning of July, I suddenly had an epiphany that Casey should be her first name, and Brian was of course ecstatic. We chose Elise as her middle name because it is a combination of my mom's name, Lisa, and my middle name, Elisabeth (yeah, you try coming up with a first name to go with Lisa as a middle name...trust me, "Mona" is the only one that works, and that wasn't happening).

I couldn't be happier with how well the room turned out, and Brian and I spent a solid 30 minutes after it was complete snapping pictures with every piece of technology in our house with picture taking capabilities. Without further ado, here is where our little Doodlebug will drift into dreamland when she arrives home:

The decal complete with Brian's monkeys



Crib Close-up

 The corner view

Side wall

Wall collage

 "Uh, who is this new girl, and why does she get all this cool new stuff?"

Porter on the other hand thinks this is his new personal playground.

The dresser Daddy put together

 This print is one of my favorite details of the room. I contacted Courtney, of Courtney Winet Designs, who created this using the lyrics of Rascal Flatt's "My Wish."  This song has always made me tear up when I think of my hopes for my children

 The canvas I painted

 Button "C" I made inspired by one I saw on Etsy (and yes, I sewed on every one of those stinking buttons).

Mod Podged "C"

The pillow I made for the chair (also another project inspired by Etsy)

Yarn letters (also the first Pinterest inspired creation I have made)

The close up on the built-ins