Flowers 2010

My flowers and gardening aren't going so well this year. I decided to cut back anyway due to the pregnancy, and my cutting back has resulted in pretty much just watering when necessary. The weeds are out of control along with the insects, which have managed to kill so many of my beloved plants. I seem to have got myself a spider problem this summer. How weird is that? They have wiped out many of my plants with their disgusting webs. I have never seen this happen before. Any insight from anyone on it? Something also managed to wipe out every single one of my Sweet Williams as well. It looked like bugs ate through the leaves. The same with my rose bushes. I cut everything back to the ground, and growth is starting to resume, but I'm not sure if any of my Sweet Williams will make it back this year let alone next. The roses seem to be coming back OK, but the leaves still look somewhat damaged. I don't see any bugs on the plants, so I'm baffled. Unfortunately, I just don't have the desire to deal with it this summer. It's been hotter than blazes (seriously, how many 90-degree days did we have in July, and the humidity, my gosh??), and being in my third trimester for the entire summer hasn't helped any either. I just can't get down to ground level for the necessary weeding and attending to the plants like they need. There's always next year!

And to showcase what actually survived...
New this year: Jumping Johnnies (part of the viola family). These guys should come back next spring hopefully. In the background are Impatiens and gladiolus leaves.


Begonias.

Purple Coneflower.


Black Eyed Susans.

Phlox.

Gladiolus.


Roses.


Day Lily (notice the tiny little spider crawling on it? Grr!)


Dusty Millers and Sweet Alyssum.


Sun Coleus.

New this year: Wishbone.

The Nursery

Before pictures when the nursery was our office. I probably shouldn't have waited until we had the room near empty before taking photos, but this is the gist of it.




AFTER:
Looking in from the hallway.



From inside the nursery:





After the baby is born, I have wooden letters from Hobby Lobby to hang above the crib to spell out the baby's name, along with some wall art for either a boy or girl from Babies R Us.


I found ribbon at Joann Fabric that matched the damask fabric in the crib bedding perfectly. It worked great as tiebacks for the sheers.


We were going for a gender neutral nursery since we don't know the sex of the baby. Hopefully I hit the target on that one. I started doing an owl and bird theme with the artwork. Birds are so hot right now. Kinda like Hansel.

Crib: Baby Mod by Million Dollar Baby from walmart.com
Dresser and Night Stand: Canopy from walmart.com
Mirror: Hobby Lobby
Window Sheers: Meijer
Flokati Rug: Overstock.com
Glider and Ottoman: Storkcraft from walmart.com
Paint: Sherwin Williams "Functional Gray"
Crib Bedding: Custom order from etsy seller fingers and toes
Alpha Birdies and Counting Birdies Artwork: From etsy seller Blue Finch Studios
Tree and Bird Decal: From etsy seller Janey Mac Press
Floating Shelves: homedepot.com
Ceiling Fan: Home Depot

Once I knew the furniture and decor I wanted to purchase, I kept my eye on the websites and stores for deals. Almost everything I purchased was on sale. It's a little tougher to score deals on custom orders and etsy purchases, but the rest you can definitely find sales, coupon codes and the like. If you have any questions about my nursery, please let me know!

What I've Got

The "office" has finally been cleared out, and here is what I have picked out for the nursery thus far...

The crib - Baby Mod Convertible in Espresso

The furniture - Canopy Six Drawer Dresser and End Table in Mahogany
Don't fret my pets, the colors match up, I verified.

The dresser will double as a changing table, and the end table will go next to the glider, which I have yet to pick out.

Crib bedding - Custom order from a seller on Etsy

This is a picture of some the seller's work, and what my order is based on. Chartreuse green and white damask, minus pink, since we don't know the sex of the baby!

My mock-up crib set. The reverse side of the bumper and baby blanket will be white minky dot fabric. Minky fabric is soooo snugly. The bumper will also have a chartreuse piping added to the top.

Depending on if the baby is a boy or girl, I plan to pair up either lilac or robin's egg blue accents to go with the green and white.

Since our floors are all hardwood, I will be ordering a white flokati rug for the center of the room.

Curtains still need to be determined, along with paint color. I'm waiting for my fabric swatches to arrive in the mail so I can pick out paint, which should be any day now! I'm also planning on doing a wainscoting on the wall with the crib.

Here are some wall decals I will be ordering in my color scheme as soon as my swatches arrive as well. These are from Etsy.

For a boy...

For a girl...

Are you curious how it's all going to come together? Then stay tuned!

We're Making Progress

The tile floor is going in today!

And So It Begins

Bathroom Renovation - Take One.

No turning back now.

Captions for the photo my Dad sent me:

"There! Finally, got that damn mouse."

"Ut oh, you meant the other bathroom?"

"You want it put back together by WHEN?"

Flowers 2009 Continued

A shot of one of my Verbena. This guy hasn't gotten too big, but next year, when I get more, I'll take better care of them.

My Sweet Alyssum and Dusty Millers. These have filled in just beautifully. The Dustys are from last year, that grew back. I plan to leave both plants in over the winter to get them to return next year.

New Family Room Setup

An upside down ottoman on the couch while the Husband steam cleans carpets. Who would think that would be comfortable?

O Christmas Tree

Our Christmas trees and fireplace mantel for 2008.

It's All About Present-ation

I love wrapping presents. I love pretty paper, ribbon, and bows. So this year I bought some ornament embellishments from Michaels to spruce up the gifts.

A shot of my little nubbins.


And a close-up of the red ornament nubbin. I thought they were so cute. They are 50% off already too, so a bag of ten of these guys was like $0.59!


I tried to sneak up on Nico snoozing under the tree and snag a photo, but he caught me.


Sasha just loves sitting on the big present under the tree.

I like the simple, festive look of ornaments in a glass bowl. I think it's a nice touch for the house. Nothing too over the top, but still along the lines of holiday spirit.

Sunflowers