A Room of His/Her Own

I spent the better part of the day yesterday in the once empty room that has now magically transformed into a nursery simply by adding a crib. Well, okay, not so "simply", but it is pretty shocking how adding one piece of furniture defines a room and nothing says "baby" like a crib. I had one of those moments yesterday, with allenwrench in hand, where I realized, holy shit, I'm having a baby and this is where it's going to sleep. In five months (give or take a few weeks), there will be a whole NEW PERSON in this room right here. A living, breathing, pooping, creature that we made. Here. In this room.

That's about when I took a lunch break.

I've heard from many a parent that putting a crib together is a pain in the ass. I kind of agree. Our crib was not the easiest piece of furniture to assemble. We've made many a trip to IKEA and put together some tricky pieces, and this crib probably falls somewhere in the middle. No desire to say, "F this!" and smash it to bits before finishing, but it definitely took more time to assemble than I thought something with four sides and a bottom should. But I'm quite pleased with the end product. And kudos to amazon.com, too. Free shipping and no damage - not a scratch - and it arrived in four days. Take that Babies-R-Us and your three week waiting period! I also looked at some beautiful high-end cribs with my mother-in-law recently, and I have to say, they seem like a waste of money. The crib we picked it out is the perfect size for the room - not too big, not too small - and it converts to a toddler bed and adapts to a full-size headboard without an extra conversion kit. Win!

I also have to say that I am so glad that I decided to embark on this project now rather than waiting until the end of the second trimester or third. It was tricky enough without the huge belly to contend with, and I had plenty of energy to get the job done. I digress...

However many hours later, with the crib in its place, I glanced about the room looking for the next project. See, this is my problem. Once I get started, I can't stop until it's finished. Curtains were already hung - that's what I started with before the crib. No more furniture to assemble. Yet. I could move that shelf in the guest room closet to the baby's...wait...what's that? My eyes fell on the wall decals that Grandma W bought for us while visiting. Can I just say, SO CUTE! So very cute, I had to go buy a second tree decal for another wall.

So, phase one of our nursery project is now complete. That was probably the biggest chunk, too. The rest is really accessorizing. Maybe putting together a dresser or changing table. As soon as we figure out what exactly we plan to do there. Fortunately, we still have plenty of time to figure it out. Because yes, I am an anal retentive planner. And I'm okay with that.

23 weeks, 4 days and counting...

PS - pictures are coming! Check back...