Getting Ready for Michael: Completed Projects!

Well, the past few weeks have been full of sewing and crocheting (so. very. fun.) and now... all the Michael-projects are done! And I even finished a few things I didn't anticipate even starting before Michael came! He apparently loves his current home and although I am very ready to not be pregnant anymore, I've been trying to take advantage of my "free-time" to practice some of my hobbies (am I allowed include "cleaning" on my hobby list?).

Master Bedroom Curtains: Complete! (I didn't think I'd be able to get these done til after Christmas!)

I adapted this pattern to fit my needs and love how the curtains turned out! The fabric is from Hobby Lobby, I needed 5 yards for the two windows and per Brad's request - I even lined them (which I've been loving too!)! These are quality curtains y'all!

I opted to use the ring-clips at the top again (like I did for our living room canvas-drop-cloth curtains which I've never showed to you officially! Shame on me!) because we really like how they help the curtain stay open/closed and make the opening and closing process much easier. I've been having trouble with my pocket-curtains - they shimmy shut over time, anyone else have this problem? 

Notice the room-arrangement? It's different! Because we needed to make room for this stuff:

Michael's temporary-nursery! The poor child doesn't have his own room (oh the joys of being the second born - he will live. I promise.) but we've done our best to give him a designated space (if not for his sake, for his nesting-mom's). :) This mamma is happy to have this corner done, it helps me feel "ready" to bring my son home from the hospital. 

We were a little overwhelmed/shocked by the amount of space the rocker and pack-n-play took up when we first moved them in, but with a little imagination and the help of Mr. Strong-Man-Brad we were able to make it work. Brad's nightstand lives in the closet for the time-being and the ottoman for the rocker has been put up for a while. The pack-n-play has been divided in half - one side for sleeping and one side for changing. Eventually all of Michael's things will be in with Lucy, since the kids will be sharing a room, but for the first few weeks we thought it would be best to have a space outside of her room to care for his needs. :) 

Michael's Afgan: Complete!

Michael's afghan makes me happy.  I've been really attracted to "chevron" (the fancy name for zig-zag) patterns lately so when I saw these instructions - I knew it was the way I was going to incorporate this "in-style" pattern into our home. :) (You can see Lucy's Afghan here)

(I'm a cooky person - I'll acknowledge it)

Michael's Pillow: Complete!

This was one of those, if-I-have-fabric-and-time-left-I'll-make-it projects. :) And it just so happens I had both! I made Lucy a pillow sham too, it provided a nice back-drop to those first family pictures, taken at the hospital, kept my pillow from getting mixed up with the hospital ones and I'm hoping once we transition her to a toddler bed* it will help her bedding "come together." I followed this tutorial when making Michael's pillow. I, seriously, can't get enough of this animal print!

*We've debated and debated whether to move Lucy directly to a twin-sized bed or transitioning her to a toddler bed first. As of now, we are going to go the toddler bed route - mostly because of space and our desire for the kids to still have room to play in their room. :)

I think the details make it! :) I love the polka-dot "flange." (You can see Lucy's Pillow Sham here)

Swaddle Blankets and matching Burp-Cloths: Complete!

 

These just make me excited to hold a little baby-buritto again! :) 

Thanks again Sherry for showing me how to use a serger and allowing me to use yours to finish off the edges of the swaddle blankets! :)

Boy-Bedding: Complete!

As I've written in the past - we really wanted the main bedding for Michael to be usable for future sons (if we should need them, one baby at a time right now- lol) so I stuck to green and blue. We decided to not make bumper pads (mostly influenced by this) and that decision freed up a bunch of fabric! So I made two fitted crib sheets out of the blue-argyle to help tie all the bedding together. :) I'm really pleased with the way these projects turned out! 

This is one of the crib-skirt's end panels, the front and back panels have two pleat/ties. :)

To see Michael's quilt, click here. :) 

Before signing off of this post, I wanted to introduce you to a new "family member." :) Meet Moose:

Pictured here with Baby Moose, Monkey (made by my sister Becca!) and Giraffe (Michael's first gift ever - from my friend Misty). :) 

Moose is from my Uncle John (who gifted Ellie and Baby Ellie to Lucy and has quite a successful track record of giving (great) nieces their favorite stuffed animals - we are hoping the track record continues with a great-nephew!). We have high expectations that Michael will love Moose just as much as Lucy loves Ellie - ether way though, you'll be seeing him (at least) on a monthly basis as he will share in Michael's monthly photo-shoots. :) 

Why such a literal name? Well, we've decided not to use Moose's given name, "Monte," for a few reasons but mostly because we didn't think it would be easy for a little one to say. Plus Brad called his bear "Bear" and thinks Michael will appreciate the simplicity of "calling it what it is" (haha!! :)).