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A lot of people are asking me what password to enter when they try to make a comment. The blogger default is to ask for your blogger account and password (I think, to get you to sign up and create your own blog). But you don't need a blogger account to post! Just click the circle next to "other" to post. It will ask for your name and your webpage. Just enter your name and leave the webpage blank.

Some Nursery Pictures

I finshed painting the nursery this week!

Actually, we never intended on painting the nursery at all. It was already this pretty light blue color when we bought the house--a nice color for a boy or a girl. But the previous owners had patched some nail holes, leaving white splotches over the pretty blue field. We thought it would be no problem to cover them, since the owners had also left us the can of paint.

However, when we went to cover the patches, we found that the paint can had rusted on the inside, spoiling the color.

I was disappointed to have to paint again, especially since I liked the light blue and planned to paint it the same color again. How boring!

My friend Kim, the same one who warned me about the squirrels, suggested that I turn the patches into clouds. I thought it was a nice idea, but reminded her that my theme was going to be Pooh and didn't know how clouds would fit in. So she suggested painting a mural of the pooh characters floating through the sky, holding onto balloons. I really liked the idea, so I stareted work a few days later! I modeled the characters and wildlife after the Classic Pooh sheets we received as gifts.


Here's a close-up of Tigger, trying to greet a butterfly while his balloon pulls him away.

The picture on the wall is a cross-stitch made by my Great Aunt Pat. It reads:

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, because babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."


Here is piglet, the only one to acutally be holding onto his balloon. Believe it or not, he was the most difficult for me to draw. To his right is a honey-bee and below the window is a dragonfly.

You can also see the Pooh rug I bought on eBay a while back. Because I have this rug, as well as a cross-stich of Pooh that my mom made us, I decided not to paint a Pooh mural. Plus, I ran out of wall space!

I'm still deciding on curtains for the room. I think I might just get a Roman shade.




Here you can see the crib we were able to purchase with the Target gift cards that people gave us. We had to pay for the shipping only! We had a lot of fun putting it together last weekend. It can convert to a toddler day bed, and then someday a twin bedframe. I'll post a close-up when we get the mattress and it's all set up.











the third wall, with the cross-stitch of Pooh my mom made us. I bought the glider from craigslist when we were still in Philly.

I'm going to use the built-in shelves (built by a previous owner to cover the hump from the stairs) as a changing table.






Here are the shelves, stocked and ready to go. The basket on the top shelf holds booties, shoes, and hats. On the second shelf, the wide basket has our newborn onesies (we have 14 in all, and that's just the onesies!) . The middle basket will hold the cloth diapers, when they arrive. The small basket will be for wipes.

And finally, here is the closet, with newborn through 12 mos outfits, waiting for their turn!

A Day in the Life at Wal-Mart

We've been blessed with a very moderate summer up until now. But today our area reached a high of 91 degrees Farenheit. So I did what any good fiscal conservative would do: I drove to Wal-Mart to soak up their air conditioning while searching for bargains.

Apparently, though, there are lots of conservatives in our area (yeah, right!) because the parking lot was full at 1pm. I think I walked over a city block's distance from my parking space to the door. (Sadly, I have not seen a single "expectant mothers" parking space anywhere around here.)

I did enjoy my time at Wal-Mart, though what should have been a 30-minute trip took nearly three times as long.

First, I searched for a water purifier for our sink. We think it's hilarious that we survived just fine without one while drinking "Schuylkill Punch" all those years in Philly, but now need one for our new home. The water is palletable, but has a chlorine-like tinge that I'd like to eliminate...but I digress.

So I searched for a water purifier. First I looked in the "home" department near the coffee makers and other appliances. Not there. Then I found the aisle marked "sink accessories." Only soap dispensers and dishracks. Then I tried the hardware depatment, where they stock faucets. Nada. Then I stumpled upon a patch of about seven Wal-Mart employees (not sure what they were up to) and asked for directions. A nice man led me to an aisle that stocked outdoor trashcans. You know, the Rubbermaid kind. Next to them were the water purifiers. Silly me for not looking in the trash aisle first.

After debating the merits of three different models, and consulting Karl via my cellphone (thanks, Lisa!), I decided to save the decision for another day and moved on.

I searched around for other things, including a "pet net" for the nursery. I got very helpful service from an associate named Jimmy, who really went all out to see if Wal-Mart carries such an item. They do not. But wow, did Jimmy try. I also looked for a radio that could mount under a kitchen cabinet, but that is not a Wal-Mart item either.

Eventually I grabbed a gallon of water (since I didn't buy the purifier), some baby-safe laundry detergent, and some applesauce and got in line. The line took longer than it should have due to multiple price checks for the party in front of me, but eventually I got home safely. And cool.

For your viewing pleasure

Not for the feint of heart!

Here is my profile as of Monday, at 33 weeks pregnant. Only about 7 more weeks to go! 38 weeks is considered "full-term," so we might be seeing baby in as little as 5 weeks. Yikes!

Is that a....?

Yes, that is a black squirrel! There were three in our backyard this morning when I snapped this picture.

I was quite suprised to see these critters when we moved in. For some reason I thought that they were native to Europe only. I was wrong. I checked Wikipedia and found out they are of Canadian origin.

At first I thought these guys were very cute. I mentioned to my friend Kim, who was helping me unpack during my first sighting, that perhaps I'd put some food out for them. Kim gave me a knowing laugh and remarked that squirrels are nothing but pests. Still, I was taken with the novelty, being used to the grey variety in Philly. Soon, I was busy with other things and forgot to put food out. A few days later I noticed that the tree in our front yard was shedding large branches. I discovered the culprit--a black squirrel making a nest! Grrrr. So much for feeding them!

Still, they make me smile. They make me think of Jassamine and Michael's "black chicken" that they had in Taiwan. I will have to ask Jassamine if they also have black squirrels in Taiwan.

Before and After

Well, the last few weeks have been busy. First, we had to actually close on our house. To accomplish this we went through three house appraisals, two mortgage brokers, three mortgage companies, four closing dates, endless paperwork, and a partridge in a pear tree. It was a trying time, but the Lord was good to us through it all.

Once we actually owned the house, friends from our new church came over to help us clean. A few days later, our furniture arrived. Since then, I've been trying to put together our home, one room at a time.

Here are pictures of one of the bathrooms, before and after our changes. I know it's odd to start with a bathroom, but this was the first room in the house to be "done." Most of our rooms are set-up and functional, but are waiting for pictures to be hung , a coat of paint, or more organization.

Before:





And after:

What now, a blog?

I think this will be a nice way to keep everyone "in the know" about life in our new location. For the next few weeks, most of what you will see here will be pictures of our house and neighborhood. Once baby is born, I think it will be mostly pictures of him.