Nursery Mayhem

As many of you know, we are still slaving away on the nursery. I never in a million years thought it would take us so long to complete such a small and simple room. I know what you're thinking- a nursery pretty much needs a crib, a changing table, and some storage, right? THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT, TOO! Well, notsomuch... let me explain just a few of the roadblocks we've run into recently.

The changing table. Let's just jump right in and explain this ongoing travesty- Originally, my mother offered to purchase the changing table for us as a shower gift and attempted to order it back in mid to late May. Well, it turns out the shipping cost was MORE than the item itself, so we searched for another retailer that carried the table we wanted. The next retailer carried it, but only with a door and we wanted open shelving. However, we found it online and finally got it ordered. ...Only to receive an email 2 weeks later explaining that it was out of stock and the order itself had been canceled. Thankfully, they were "sorry for our inconvenience." (Phew- that made it ok.) Back to square one- we tried two other retailers, to no avail, so we turned to my least-favorite store on the planet as a last resort- Wal-Mart. (Of course they had it and for less than anywhere else.) Unfortunately, in a moment of desperation and weakness, we broke down and ordered it from there. Success! Finally, it was ordered and on it's way. By now, it's the end of June and we were beyond ready to get it set up and and organized. It showed up at our door last week and as Kevin took it out of the box to assemble, we noticed something was terribly wrong. To our utmost horror, the three shelves were broken. Like someone had taken a hammer right through the middle. Smashed. Well, it has since been returned and we are now awaiting the arrival of another one from a different store. (The first store - with the high shipping.) Small price to pay for a product that is undamaged and here. "Here" being the operative word... still waiting. Keep your fingers crossed.

The rocker. We love it, but it leaned too far forward. What do we do? Rig it up with ANKLE WEIGHTS strapped to the back. Nothing like 20 lb. velcro weights wrapped around the back of your chair to make it more comfortable. We are nothing if not resourceful.


The window treatments. "I'll make them myself" turned into- "why didn't I have someone else freaking do this" on several occasions. Besides the fact that they took forever, my measurements were- well, slightly off. Making them look uneven after they were hung. My saint of a husband had already hung the curtain rods, but I couldn't bear the thought of removing, re-measuring and re-sewing 4 seams. So we decided to lower the rods. Which then entailed patching and re-painting the holes. No big deal, right? Well, we weren't too upset. Until I brought home the matching tie-backs, which I felt were too bulky for the windows and decided on small hooks and ribbon. The small hooks shredded our walls, which are apparently made out of paper mache. (Those holes are currently patched, but not repainted.) We had to return and purchase new hooks which have yet to be installed. Again- fingers crossed.

The bassinet bedding. The bassinet bedding comes. Darling- white eyelet skirt and all. For a JUMBO size bassinet. Our happens to be a STANDARD size bassinet. Back it goes. Ordered another set. God help me.

Now, glitches aside, all of that doesn't sound too bad, right? But today was the kicker.
... I had a custom wall design of vinyl lettering ordered to go over the crib. (Looks like stenciling.) It says "Sweet Dreams." Very cute. Well, after the original order, the company contacts me and says their machine needs a new part and would I be willing to wait or would I like a refund? Keep in mind, as a pregnant woman who cannot seem to make a decsion, I had already spent the better part of a month trying out sayings and quotes (not to mention the crucial decision of font style, size and color) that would work. No way. I couldn't start over. I'd wait. (...And wait....and wait.) Well, this morning, as Kevin and I were returning from Starbucks, there was a priority mail box on my doorstep. YAY! The letters came. I rushed inside to open the box- However, what I saw literally made me wet my pants- laughing so hard I could hardly pull myself together. (Thank you, leaky bladder, but I had to laugh or I might have cried.) They were H-U-G-E. GIANT. ENORMOUS. I don't know what I was thinking. I ordered 10" letters, but apparently didn't take into consideration the style of the font, which was big. I've contacted the company to see how one goes about exchanging a custom design, but I have a feeling I'm outta luck and will just have to order another one. Still waiting to hear back from them, but until then....for your viewing pleasure:



Who knows what will come up next? Truly, at this point, I've given up whatever plans I originally had for a darling and comfortable nursery and will settle for one that is simply finished. Stay tuned for more pics. Hopefully before the baby comes. Oy.

As a quick update- I'm getting ready to finish my 34th week. AND START WEEK 35!!!! Where have the past eight months gone? Kevin has been a coast-to-coast traveler, in NJ last week and leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow. He's decided these would be his last trips since theoretically, the baby could arrive at any time. Our next birthing class is Tuesday night, followed by an OB appointment on Wednesday, then a fourth and final shower with Kevin's family on Friday evening. We're headed to Elkhart on Saturday for time with Grandma and Grandpa Roberts, and then a day at the lake on Sunday with Nana and great-grandma Joan. Lots to look forward to this week. We still can't believe how real everything is becoming and how excited we are getting to meet our little boy. 43 days and counting!