Week 20, Day3

This should probably be titled "The Great Picture Update of 2009," but it isn't.
We are half-way through though! (That is of course by everyone's pregnancy standards besides Ceci - who almost carried little Selah to 42 weeks - with Selah arriving last Wednesday, 11 days past schedule.) And we found out last week that this baby is...a LITTLE GIRL! Matt and I are super excited - although surprised. We were sure it was a boy - although for no good reason beyond mere speculation. We had a boy name picked out but were no where near deciding on a girl name. We had once picked out three names that we liked - Matt contributing two and me contributing one. Since then I've changed my mind about the one I liked - Adelina - and we are focusing on deciding between Matt's two picks. I'm not sure why it is so hard to think of names...it might be mostly hard for Matt and I to agree. So! The two names we are deciding between are Aaliyah (not sure how we would spell it exactly...) and Zoe. Kim calls our baby "Baby A/Z" in the meantime - and maybe we'll keep that as a back-up rapper name. I'm rooting for Zoe - I think Matt likes Aaliyah better. We'll see what happens.

This past weekend my Dad and Betty (my dad's fiance) came down to help us put together the nursery! They are getting married June 20th so I knew they would be getting more busy as time went on and I needed to snag them for the painting job! They are master painters. Dad, Betty and Matt had the room painted in no time. I took some before/after pictures of the room. It feels funny to have a whole other room painted and put together. Matt and I never went into the baby room before - it was mostly the keep our junk room. The room turned out great and we both LOVE IT! Enjoy the pics.
Here it is! The junk room. Some of those tubs haven't moved since we moved in 8 months ago. Dad and Betty bought Baby A/Z her bedding so it is sitting on the rocker.
Next is just some more of our random stuff. The dresser in the picture came from Wendell and his family. I think it was either his mother or grandmother's dresser - and today Wendell turns 85 so you can just imagine how old it is! Note how it looks because I forgot to take a before picture and by the end it will look quite different.


And of course, Matt is ready to get to work! It seems Niko wants no part of this madness.




Right to it - here is Dad starting w/the first coat of yellow.
And Matt below painting at the chair rail line.



Baby A/Z's soon-to-be NaNa (I think that is what she is called...) painting up top.
Below, starting the purple now!


Matt worked out in the freezing weather to prime the dresser for his little girl!
Below, Dad and Matt put the pieces back together.


Matt holding the dresser together... it was interesting working with such an old piece of furniture.
Below, the light switch of the new room! Plate courtesy of Grandpa (Baby A/Z's grandpa).



The chair rail is going on!
Another view below...


That elephant hung off the rear view mirror in my sister's old, old Tempo - her first car almost 10 years ago! It has since made an appearance in the ranger, the teeny tiny apartment and now Baby's room.
Below is the view from the rocking chair.


The crib came from Wendell's granddaughter Karen who has twins and is pregnant again - but only with one this time. Since she is only going to have one baby she gave one of her cribs to us! All of the furniture in Baby's room was given to us completely free. What a wonderful blessing!
Niko wants to help put together the crib.


Finally! Pictures of the finished project!!! It will be a little bit different in the end - a new lamp, maybe some shelves, curtains, etc. But the main part of it is complete. And I love it!



Betty brought Baby some of her soon-to-be cousin's old baby stuff they aren't using anymore. It's located on the floor next to the dresser. So much free stuff!!!


Baby Aaliyah/Zoe in her crib!

The dresser is 90% done. I'm going to enlist the help of my friend w/very cartoony looking handwriting to help me decoupage the back panel w/scripture. I'm think "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever." over colorful panels - But I'm not sure yet about the verse. Notice the drawer pulls - purple/yellow flowers we found at Lowe's! Thank you Lowe's!

And here are a couple of pictures of our sweet little amira (princess in arabic) from our last visit.
She sucked her thumb and licked her fingers in the sonogram...we have a video - you can watch it.
Here she is w/her hand up to her head - hard at work on a math problem of course!
And finally, two little precious feet...