Ivy's hand-me-down and handmade nursery tour

My dad made our crib!  So talented...

Three generations... photos of my nana, my mom and me as little girls.
The mocassins on the right were made for Ivy by my friend Allison and the little white mocassins were my sis-in-law Julie's when she was a baby.

Ivy adores this geometric mobile from Artecnica.  

She also loves this fisher-price wind-up musical TV.  

This dresser was in my room when I was a kid.

This activity centre thing was in Joe's crib when he was a wee babe. 

I started collecting these big-eyes kid pictures when I was a teenager and I have a huge collection of them. 

I love these ones because I like to think they look like Joe and I.

This rocker belonged to my Papa, who died about 10 years ago. It was the chair he sat in every night. I recovered the cushions with fabric I found at Ikea.  This rocker is the perfect breastfeeding chair. The quilt over the back was made for Ivy by my Nana. 

Ikea wall-mounted spice rack as front-facing bookshelves.  The dog and cat embroidery was made by my mom and hung in my room as a kid. My dad made the frame.

I went to a huge kids garage sale last weekend and found this awesome dinosaur dress.  I can't decide whether to keep it for Ivy or sell it in the shop.

I also bought these barrettes. Now Ivy just has to grow some hair! 

Found these little rain boots too.

My nana's friend gave us this kiddie set of two chairs and a table.  Awesome, eh? 

False labour + new stairs + bebe's room

Hi friends!

The cool, crisp weather yesterday in Toronto gave Labour Day that new start, back to school feel -- a perfect time to have our baby!

Joe and I had a few friends over in the afternoon and when they left our plan was to relax, make pizza for dinner and watch out favourite show, Coronation Street (now an hour on the CBC so we can catch up with Brits).  I tried to take a bit of a nap before dinner and started to feel crampy, so I laid in bed, looking out my bedroom window at the trees, trying to determine if my cramps were actual contractions. They seemed to come and go, but I didn't want to get too excited and try to time them.   I was uncomfortable, but I wouldn't call them painful.  I have felt this type of crampy-ness at night, but this time they felt different. 

I'll keep this short, because as the post title states, I didn't actually go into labour. But as the evening wore on, I grew increasingly uncomfortable, but we still didn't try to time my contractions.  I wasn't even sure they were contractions, but they were getting more uncomfortable and my belly had started tightening.  

I took a warm bath, with lot of bubbles and listened to Broadcast (I just learned that the singer, Trish Keenan, died of swine flu). Of course, my contractions eased up after the bath.  I was able to sleep wonderfully, but woke to a few contractions, but this morning, NADA!  

MY RAD DAD

As promised, here are the photos of the new staircase my dad designed and built for us.  The only thing missing is the wood cap that will sit on top of the handrail.

(The drywall surrounding the opening to the second floor still needs to be finished too)

Here are some photos of the bebe's room.

 (I am so sick of called her bebe. We've picked out a name we're 99% certain of but are waiting for the big reveal)

Again, another Fred/Dad creation: He built the crib and nappy change station, originally for my nephews, and now it's been handed to us. The design is the same as this Oeuf crib. 

 The embroidered piece on the wall was embroidered by my mom and the frame was made by my dad using old barn board. This piece hung in my room when I was a child.

Bye for now!   I'm going to go take a nap. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll go into labour tonight!  

Waiting Game, pressies, geometric mobile and big-eyed kids

Hello friends!

I'm still floating on a cloud in la-la land, out of it.  It's hot today in Toronto... I'm sweating, drinking big classes of ice water, roaming my house, doing random house-work-type things - laundry, dusting, washing cushion covers, washing the floors... I am a zombie-crazy-cleaning-mama-in-waiting lady.  

I've been having on-and-off menstrual-like cramps for days. I had an appointment with my wonderful midwife yesterday and she said my cervix has thinned but not dilated.  The cramps are due to my cervix working on thinning out.  The baby is also between 7 and 9 pounds. She grew a lot last week.  No wonder I've been so out of it.  My official due-date is September 11, 9 days away, but both my midwife and my midwife sister-in-law predicted I'd go sooner than that. THIS ANTICIPATION IS DRIVING ME NUTS!  My brain is mush and my body has been taken over completely.  

I'm feeling anti-social because I just don't feel like myself, but I also feel squirrelly and a bit lonely.  AH!  So many people have been checking up on me and I'm so thankful. There was a staff meeting at the school I work at yesterday and a couple work friends mentioned they missed me, which is very sweet.  I almost can't believe I won't be working for a whole year.  My mat leave started yesterday! I don't necessarily miss the students I taught last year (I teach an alternative school program for teenage ladies who are pregnant or have babies), but I would love to know how they're doing. A couple students I had last year are returning to the program this year, so I'll see them in a month or so when I stop by to show off the bebe, but a few students graduated and I'd love to find out how they are. 

My friend Jennifer (who is the lovely woman behind Castlemusic. I created this animation for her song "heaven" a few years ago) stopped by a few times in the past week or so and brought me presents!  

Cinnamon-honey, fresh flowers and an INCREDIBLE gigantic cinnamon bun from Dufferin Grove market!

This lovely soft scarf, perfect for breastfeeding coverage.

Some bad-ass hand-me-downs.  THANKS JENNIFER!! xo

I finally bought that geometric mobile I mentioned in an earlier post. It took about half-an-hour to put together, but it was totally worth it.  I love it.  I hope the bebe will love it too.

Today I dug out some of my vintage big-eyed kid art. I have a big collection that I gathered from thrift stores in my hoarding high school days. I'm trying to decide which ones to hang in the bebe's room.  I keep thinking, am I already trying to make her into a mini-me? 

(I just noticed my baby bump in this photo)

BYE FOR NOW!

She's coming anytime now... I think. home birth!

Hi friends,

I've been off in la-la land

I've been off in la-la land for the past week or so, alternating between feeling insanely out of it and energetic bursts of nesting.  Last week I spent a few days napping and reading in bed with a terrible headache that I was worried was related to preeclampsia/high blood pressure, but my midwife came over and checked me out and determined it was likely a virus.  Phew!  I also spent a few days cleaning like mad, which is challenging in a house that's been under renovations for the past year and a bit.  

I'll be off in labour land soon... I think

Last week I had an ultrasound to double check the position of the baby and learned that the baby was very low in my pelvis and a few other things indicated to my midwife that the baby is ready to come out, and that I will likely deliver around weeks 37-38 (this week or next) than my due date of Sept. 11.  This past weekend I've been experiencing some of the signs that labour is approaching... Joe is betting on the baby coming on Wednesday. I was convinced all through last night that the baby would be born soon, but now that I'm up and moving around today I'm not too sure anymore.  

We've decided to try for a home birth

I'll write a more in depth post about our decision another time. Right now my mind is on a big fluffy cloud. 

The bebe's room

My nana lent us this glider/rocker, which was my late papa's favourite place to sit.  I'm just about finished recovering the cushions.

Joe and I successfully hung and assembled this pendant light from Ikea.  When lit it throws beautiful shadows on the wall.

I can't remember where I got this little dress, but isn't it sweet?

My parents have us this dresser.  It was in my room when I was a child.

My parents also brought over this bassinet, which I slept in as a baby. My brother, my two nephews and a few cousins also slept in this bassinet.  I still have to secure the lining to the inside.

The baby's room is a bit of a mess.  

Bye for now...