Nursery Update

We've been a little stressed out around this Cape lately.  With only a few weeks before the due date, we have a lot to take care of in the nursery before we can call it complete.

The moldy wall situation threw us for a bit of a loop and Jason has been busy getting our bedroom wall back in order.

But we have made some progress and the fact is that if the baby arrived tomorrow, he would be just fine.

After all, you don't really need that much for a baby - even though the folks at Babies R Us would have you think otherwise.

After all, who really needs a baby wipe warmer?!

Some of the items on the suggested registry crack me up. 

Anyway, back to what we have been purchasing . . .

I snagged some great fabric at Hobby Lobby recently . . . you'll notice that I did decide to add some blue to the nursery.

And I found this ultra cushy rug at Home Goods . . . it was regularly $450.

Home Good's price was $199 and I got it at 50 percent off, so I scored this baby for $99.  When I say it's soft, I mean your feet sink into it when you walk across it.   

The picture just doesn't do it justice.

My mother made this super soft blanket and now I'm itching to make a larger version for our living room.

Jason has been turning this horrific closet into something a little more organized . . . you'll have to wait and see.

I will say that we lined the back of the closet with this wallpaper.

And finally, we purchased this rocker from Tarjay.

I really wanted this one from Pottery Barn,

but it was over $1,000 (after the slipcover and shipping) and we are still on a mission to reach our New Year's Resolution so as much as I love that chair . . . I had to turn my big brown peepers away from it and hope that Tarjay will pull through for me. 

The nice thing is that it's returnable to a Target store, so if we're not happy with it, we don't have to deal with shipping it back . . . but I'm hoping we don't have to deal with a return at all. 

Who knows;  I've never purchased big pieces of furniture from Target before, so we'll see.

I'll let you know when the chair arrives (it said it would ship in 5-7 days).

So even though there is still a lot to do, we have made some significant progress. 

 It's been a lot of fun so far  and I can't wait to see it all come together!

Winter Love

I keep hoping the Groundhog is right and that Winter is nearly over. 

And then we get more snow.

So I figured instead of complaining, I'd celebrate what I love about Winter to get me
through these last few weeks.



Hot cocoa

Knitting

Freshly fallen snow resting on pine trees

Making snowmen (this was a couple of years ago . . . in APRIL. Let's hope we aren't making snowmen in April this year).

Taking walks in winter (though I don't go as often as I'd like)

Putting a coat on Maggie

Seeing streams peaking their way through the snow

The joy in Imani's face when she plays in the snow.

Hearing the crunching beneath my feet

And seeing that another creature walked the same path before me.

Imani's obsession with feety pajamas, even though she's ten years old.

What do you love about Winter?

Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered my One Year Blogging Anniversary Giveaway to Cutting Edge Stencils.

And the winner is . . . .

Susan's name was chosen using Random.Org.  Susan, I will be emailing you to get all of your contact information so that I can pass it along to

Cutting Edge Stencils.

Susan recently started her blog "Lighten My Life" in December 2010, so if you get a chance, head on over and say hi and show her some love.

Thanks again to everyone who entered my giveaway!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Sidetracked by Mold

For the past month, every time Jason and I go to bed, he sneezes uncontrollably.

 I was convinced he was allergic to Maggie, since she sleeps in bed with us.

Maybe I thought it would just  help my argument to get her out of the bed before the baby arrives,
but no luck.

A couple of weekends ago, my sister and her friend Lauren visited because my sister was throwing a baby shower for me.  Lauren was sleeping in our sitting room downstairs, just below our bedroom.  She commented that she had to move into our family room because the sneezing was keeping her awake.

It was THAT bad.

I started thinking maybe we had down throw pillows on our bed, since Jason is allergic to feathers, but that wasn't it either.

Jason insisted he smelled a mold every time he went to bed.

But I didn't smell it and I insisted again that Maggie be moved out of the bed.

But she remained . . . and the sneezing continued.

Friday was a beautiful day. It was unseasonably warm and sunny -- a welcome break from all of the cold and snow we've had this winter.

I was exhausted so I turned into bed especially early Friday night.  And the warmth of the day made the stench that much more noticeable.  When I climbed into bed, I smelled it.

Jason wasn't crazy after all.

The moldy smell was seeping out from our bedroom wall above our bed.

I called Jason upstairs immediately.  I couldn't sleep in that room, so I move into Imani's room for a little sleepover (and of course, she was thrilled!)

There was only one way to fix the problem . . . and even though Saturday, we had big plans to address the nursery closet, Jason spent Saturday night tearing down the sheetrock behind our bed.

All of the insulation was damp so it all got bagged up and removed from the house.  

Apparently, when we had our windows replaced last year, the company that installed the window didn't seal it properly, so Jason went back through and re-caulked the whole window and then sprayed it with spray foam to prevent future leaks.  

The foam was huge and bulging out of the cracks when it dried so Jason had to cut it.

Imani and I had another sleepover in her room and I think she secretly hoped the wall would never get fixed.

Of course I figured that while the wall is ripped apart, we might as well make a few changes to it. You'll have to wait and see what we come up with.

We spent a good chunk of our Sunday afternoon wandering around Lowes buying everything we'd need to replace the wall, along with materials to address the baby's closet . . . if we ever get to it. 

I almost fell over when I saw the grand total at checkout.

This wasn't in the budget, but it's a good thing the Coupon Cowboy has been saving us so much money week after week.

I'm happy to report that although the wall isn't finished, I am back to sleeping in my own bed, much to Imani's disappointment.

AND  I'm getting a full night's sleep, since my husband isn't up sneezing all night!! :-)

And Maggie remains comfortable in bed with us, despite my desire to kick her out before the baby arrives.

Drawer Pulls = No Drama

I remember about eight years ago when Imani's father and I were splitting up.  Not only was my family as I knew it falling apart, but everything in my life seemed in disarray.

I couldn't believe I was finding myself in this situation -- a single mom of a bi-racial daughter - 

with no clue how to raise a child

and no clue how to raise a bi-racial daughter

and  no clue how to get my life on track.

I needed a break, so I packed Imani in the car and headed off to Virginia with a friend. She was going to visit her daughter and I was going to visit my friend Jennifer, who I'd known since kindergarten.

We made the 12 hour trek together and, looking back, I'm surprised my friend agreed to travel such a long distance with a two-and-a-half year old in the back seat.  I'm glad she did.

Staying with Jennifer was a welcome break from all the craziness I was experiencing. My life had become something off a bad, dramatic daytime talk show like Ricki Lake or Maury Povich and my head was spinning.

Jennifer's house offered me peace and quiet.  In my thinking I noticed a recurrent theme in Jennifer's house.

She had fancy drawer pulls on her dressers, bureaus and cabinets. 

I remember we had dinner at another friend's house during my stay and lo and behold, she too had fancy drawer pulls -- drawer pulls shaped like flowers, birds, butterflies . . .

I commented on their drawer pulls and how fancy they looked and I think Jennifer and Laura both thought I was joking.

"Seriously, Steph . . . drawer pulls take all of five minutes to put on!" Jennifer said laughing.

I thought about it for a minute.

"I guess when your life is so full of drama, you don't have time to notice drawer pulls," I said. 

 "That's it. When I go home, I'm getting fancy drawer pulls." 

It sounds silly, but I was dead serious.  When your life isn't full of drama, you can notice the details around your house.  It became a running joke that week and when I left, Jennifer and Laura gave me six of these:

I still have them and will likely keep them forever.

To me, they are symbolic of having a drama-free life (for the most part!!). 

Sure, life gets hectic and crazy, but it's not out of control anymore.

And I'm happy to report that just the other day, I was in Hobby Lobby perusing one of my favorite aisles and I remembered Jennifer and Laura.

So I made a little purchase for our little guy's bedroom.

And when I got home, I replaced these

with these

May he have a life free of drama.

What about you?  Do you have fancy drawer pulls?

One Year Giveaway and Nursery Progress

February marks one year of blogging for me.  I'll admit, there were some rough spots where I went months without one post due to exhaustion from the pregnancy, and I'd like to thank all of you for sticking with me even though I wasn't the most consistent.

It's been a wonderful journey so far and I love all that this blog has given me.  Not only has it allowed me to meet some amazing people, see some incredibly talented projects and kicked me in the butt to get projects done around the house . . . but it has also allowed me the opportunity to write (and publish) again -- something I've certainly missed over the years.

In celebration of one year of blogging, I'm hosting a great giveaway!

You might have noticed stencils popping up all over home decorating magazines and home decorating websites lately.  So we decided to give it a try in the nursery.

 We used the "Spring Songbirds Wall Stencil" from Cutting Edge Stencils and we're really happy with how it turned out.

The directions from Cutting Edge Stencils were pretty clear. First, we taped the stencil to the wall.

Jason got some paint on the roller and dabbed most of it off with a paper towel to prevent drips.

Next, he began rolling it on the wall using the stencil.  We used a lighter color first because we wanted to layer the branches.

He went through with a small paint brush and touched up some of the edges and here is what we had for the first two branches. 

We followed the same process for the next branches, making them darker.   After Jason painted the remaining branches on, we felt that the first two were too dark, so he went back over them with lighter paint with a small brush.



And here is the finished product.

But maybe you're not into trees and branches and would like a design on your walls instead.  Here are a few of the many patterned stencils available from Cutting Edge Stencils.

Or maybe you're looking for something a little more whimsical.

Or perhaps you don't want to stencil your walls at all, but you're really into fossils (like my daughter Imani).  Well how cool is this stencil, where you can replicate a real fossil?

I personally am loving the all-over damask patterns and would love to use one for the inside of a closet.    Isn't this one gorgeous?

And if you ARE into trees, there are a variety to choose from.  I love the cherry blossoms and would have probably used this one in the nursery if we were having a girl.

So here's the deal. One lucky winner will be selected to choose a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils
of up to a $50 value.


I'm going to give you lots of opportunities to win. Here's what you have to do:

1. Head on over to Cutting Edge Stencils and select which stencil you would choose if you won. Then, come back here and leave a comment telling me which stencil you'd choose. (Please make sure to leave an email address if you don't have an account set up that automatically links your email to your comments).

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each one that you do, letting me know):

1.  Follow Cutting Edge Stencils on Facebook.
2.  Follow my blog.

3.  Post about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter (be sure to @decoratingaddic in your tweet).

4.  Post about this giveaway on your own blog (in the side bar or an actual post).

5.  "Like" Decorating Addiction on Facebook.

6. Follow me on Twitter.



**This giveaway is for US residents only and will close on Friday, February 25 at midnight.  I will select a winner on Saturday, February 26.


Good luck!