He's That Good. - 11.1.10

Baby Collins's room turned out beautifully thanks to Thomas. There are a still a few things that still need to go up in baby's room, but we officially deem this project complete. Weeks of incredible attention to detail, hours spent measuring, cutting, sanding, painting, etc. have resulted into the perfect room for our baby girl to come home to. All due to the hard work of my wonderful husband who never ceases to surprise me.


Of course, I helped out here and there by picking up supplies (that I could carry), putting in my two cents regarding tiny details (that may or may not have gone unheard), and selecting and adding other design touches. But all the love goes out to Baby Collins's papa. He's got an abundance of patience, design savvy, craftsmanship, and did I say patience?! Enjoy the photos!


Here's a before shot to wet your appetite.

Baby Collins's Room Makeover

Baby @ Week 36 - 10.22.10

Almost there! The closet and room have been completely painted and Tom has finished cutting and installing the simple, yet beautiful floorboards. Next on the list is the window frame. It's all coming together and everything is so well done and perfect. My husband rocks!

Room Painted - Check 10.20.10

Painting went really well last Saturday. The walls were almost done and Tom's magnificently-built closet got another coat. Unfortunately, the color for the wall we initially selected (Yellow Haze) wasn't quite what we were hoping for. It looked great on the swatch but looked more like a room from someone's grandmother's house once it hit the walls.

So, we opted to go another direction and instead of buying a gallon of this not-so-cheap no VOC paint, decided that a small sample can would serve us best. I bought two tiny cans on Monday to test out on the walls. Tom started painting one of the test colors and we decided not to even open the second can. When he ran out, he started painting the baseboards that he cut on Sunday.

On Tuesday, I returned to Ace and bought a gallon of our new favorite color only to have Tom point out later that night that they gave us the wrong color! Of course, he couldn't waste a night since time certainly is not on our side. So, he gave the closet another coat. It looks beautiful!!!

Another trip to Ace (I've become a regular there) and luckily didn't have to pay to have them fix their mistake. Tom finished the room that night and honestly, we really, really like how it turned out.

We're almost to the finish line. Tom put the dresser back into the room and  I vacuumed the room several times. Final to-dos on our checklist:

- Install floorboards
- Cut and paint wood trim for door, window, and sill
- Install trim and window sill
- Wait for crib delivery
- Fill room with baby's stuff :)

Pictures of room to come soon.

Baby @ Week 33 - 9.29.10

My company threw us a great baby shower at work today. The room was transformed into a baby haven and a slew of yummy and beautiful lemon cupcakes with finger-licking icing covered a large table for all to enjoy. As a courtesy to me, they bought me my very own Blush frozen yogurt to enjoy due to the gestational diabetes thing. It was very sweet and reminded me about what makes this company a great place to be.

Thanks to the wonderful people I work with, we were also gifted this kick-butt stroller. Tom and I checked it out a few months ago, but just figured it would be one item that would sit on our registry and remain untouched until we bought it ourselves. However, that would not be the case with this gem. I was surprised at how much Tom liked this stroller when we were first scoping out the market, which by itself is an overwhelming adventure. The beading welds (which according to him are signs of great craftsmanship), had him at hello. So, it made me very happy that my friends made a great effort to make sure we had it. It's a cool contraption and Baby Collins will have the luxury of enjoying it upon arrival.

Daddy's Project

Hi Peanut,

This is the last three day weekend before you are born and daddy's taking full advantage of the time. He's been researching and planning for a project he's taking on just for you - a custom-made cabinet to replace the aging in-wall closet currently in your bedroom. All the additional equipment arrived in the past two weeks and he finally finished putting his new router table together. He picked up wood yesterday too.

Today he got started early. I called him at lunch and he had already finished demolishing the existing closet. Hooray! Then, he encountered a little time-suck hiccup after discovering his air compressor is not working. So, he's got to take a little detour before working on the walls, but he's underway.

We'll be sure to take photos of the progress so that you can see how much care and love daddy has and will put into creating this for you.

Mama's Handiwork - 7.30.10

For months I've been pondering all the things I wanted to make for our baby girl. I got busy and in the past two weeks completed a lot of sewing projects. Seriously, ask Tom. I put our Singer to work and burned some thread through that bad boy. I completed four projects for baby and another for Alpha (just for fun).

Here's the last piece of creation that hummed through the Singer needle (photos of the other goodies to come at a later date). The sleeves and ruffles at the bottom were such a pain and I became pretty proficient with a seam ripper. However, I think this turned out pretty good if I say so myself. Now let's hope it'll actually fit.