Progress on Nora's Room

My wonderful husband has had a lot of fun picking out details for Nora's room. 

The wall color is Hawthorne Yellow by Benjamin Moore from Hirshfields, which we love.  And, he also picked out some adorable wall decals to add even more color and some fun to the walls.

Whimsical tree on changing table wall

The glider rocker we scored at a garage sale works well with the colors and other furniture.



A few of the animals that were supposed to go under the tree didn't fit due to the changing table,
so we put them under the window.

 

Another cute decal for over her crib: Sweet Dreams Baby

These were a little different than the tree since they are transparent other than the colored portions (hence some glare in the pic).

We are SO grateful to still have the beautiful crib and changing table (from R&J Wood Goods) that my parents bought us when we were expecting Luke.  They have been invaluable through our parenting journey and have held up beautifully!  We also still had the bedding that we used for Luke, which is gender neutral.  The only real changes we made to the room were painting and switching out the chair.  Brent's parents bought us a recliner when we were expecting Luke, but we've had it in our family room downstairs for a few years now and decided it would be nice to have a comfortable chair for rocking/feeding both upstairs and downstairs:) 

The only thing we're still considering adding are some curtain panels, but we do already have a roman shade so the window is covered from the sun in case she decides to arrive before they are purchased and hung:) 

Decals from RoomMates Peel and Stick Decor.

Patio!!!

We have a patio!!!

Check out the progress pics...

View from West side of our yard: before, during, after



View from South side of our yard: before, during, after

View from deck: during and after

View from East side of our yard: before and after

We are so excited to have this patio we've been dreaming of for 8 years since we moved into our house!  We plan to put Luke's kids' basketball hoop on it for a nice, flat space to play and we're already dreaming of when Nora gets to be a toddler when she will be able to ride little bikes around on the nice flat surface.  (Our driveway is a hill, so both of these things were not possible in the front of the house.) 

We'll also be adding the stairs from the deck later this summer so they land on the patio.  It's like we added an entire new room to our house with all this extra space to enjoy during spring, summer, and fall in MN! 

Special thanks to Affordable Concrete for the beautiful patio and Kirk Builders for the wonderful deck and soon-to-be added stairs!

36 Weeks

At 36 Weeks, you are...

• Head down
• Weighing approximately 7 lbs 6 oz (per doctor's estimation -- he has 30 years experience so I believe him;))
• Keeping a healthy heartbeat
• Still very active
• Still due July 17 (there has been no fluctuation in due date from the beginning)

At 36 Week, I am...

• Keeping a healthy blood pressure
• Keeping my weight where doctor wants it for the final stretch
• 80% effaced, but not yet dilated
• Still hoping for a TOLAC (Trial of Labor After Caesarean) and successful VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) so long as you arrive before July 20 when we have a scheduled c-section if you do not come on your own
• Very excited to meet you even though I am still in denial that you will be joining our family very soon
• Getting excited about the final touches on your room (will post pictures soon)
• Having fun hearing all of the birth stories of friends who I've shared pregnancy with that have had their babies in June
• Having fun looking back on pictures from this pregnancy already...so fun to watch Nora grow!

Kindergarten is Done....Already???

I am so grateful to have gotten the chance to get to know all of the little people in Luke's kindergarten class as well as his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Brown, this year.  I loved helping out in Luke's class regularly and seeing the kiddos learn and grow together.  Luke didn't have any sadness about finishing kindergarten, but I couldn't help but shed some tears as we said goodbye to Mrs. Brown after a fun-filled last day of school.  Luke told us when he went to bed tonight that he was ready to start first grade tomorrow:)

We are so grateful for a wonderful school, sweet kiddos, and a creative and experienced teacher to start out Luke's 13 years of public education:)

Last Day with Mrs. Brown

First and Last Day of Kindergarten
I think it's safe to say he's grown:)

First and Last Day with Daddy and Mommy
I think Mommy wins the most change since September!

Reminiscing

I realized recently that I never printed any of the pictures from Bridget and Ross's wedding last September (this is a common issue for me) so I was trying to decide from some favorites...which was nearly impossible! 

Just a few of my favs...

Photos by Kristin Knudson Photography. 

Maternity Pictures

A few weeks ago (31 weeks pregnant) a friend of ours took some fun maternity pictures of our family at Essex Park in Rochester.  It was a beautiful night and the pictures will be cherished for years to come:)  We had only a few snapshots from my pregnancy with Luke, so it was fun to capture this pregnancy with Nora.  I've included a few of our favorites below.  Check out The Picker Family on Kodak Gallery link on the right side of our blog to view the entire album. 

Photos by Alima Images.

Cheap

Through the years, I've become more and more driven to find good deals.  Some of my favorite places include:

• Consignment Shops in Rochester - I'm telling you people, there are so many great deals to be had, some stuff is even brand new!  Plus, it's just fun perusing what they have and, the shops I love, are very well organized
• Kismet is my absolute fav - well organized clothes and fun home stuff
• All in Vogue has a huge selection and they regularly have coupons in the Olmsted County Journal for additional savings.  They even have a maternity clothes rack, which I've hit up a few times while pregnant with Nora.
• Children's Exchange - I only get there a couple times a year, but I especially love them for Halloween costumes, winter gear, and if I'm looking for something I know Luke won't wear much, but needs for something specific.
• TJMaxx - LOVE TJs!  I have especially loved it since they added the Home Goods area several years ago, but clothes/shoe/undergarment shopping is great too:)
• Outlet Stores - Medford Outlet Mall is only about 30 minutes away and it's got a great selection for adults and kids.  The past couple years we've gotten some great deals on clothes for Luke and there are some great options for men's work clothes too.  I've been shopping at Medford since I was a kid.  We typically made two trips per year as a family.  Great memories:)
• Savers - I don't get there often, but if I'm looking for something specific (i.e. a bed skirt, which I found for $2) it's a great place!  I get a little overwhelmed by the size of the store, but I've also found some nice baby clothes at good prices.

The newest addition to my list of favorites is garage-saling.  I'm certainly no die hard, but I've been enjoying it more this spring as I've been searching for baby items.  Let's be serious, infant items aren't used for long and the babies aren't hard on them so you can get some very nice stuff at great prices!  I also try to watch Craigslist and the Mayo Classifieds for some of the bigger items, but it's hard to be on the ball fast enough to get some of the great deals (I just missed out on a chair for Nora's room yesterday:().  Anyway, my greatest scores for Nora at garage sales include:

Exersaucer

Average retail $60

Got Nora's for $5

Bumbo Seat

Average retail $40

Got Nora's for $3

Infant Seat

Average retail $50

Got Nora's for $3.50

A few clorox wipes and a load of laundry and they are all ready for Nora!

I'm SO grateful we still have a baby swing, pack-n-play, jumperoo, 2 high chair options, crib and nursery furniture/bedding, Boppy pillow, and other miscellaneous baby gear from when Luke was a baby.  I didn't have a clue when I was pregnant with Luke how much all of this cost since so much of it was gifted to us.  We have been beyond blessed!!!

V.I.P. Day

Today is V.I.P. Day for the kindergartners at Luke's school.  Apparently a V.I.P. will be visiting them, but they don't know who it is.  We were talking over lunch about who the visitor might be.  Brent suggested, Kobe Bryant.  Luke's reply was that Kobe Bryant wasn't important.  He then listed off some people he thought were important: God, firefighters, police officers, bus drivers, mom, and dad.  He explained that these people are important because they help people. 

My sweet Luke, I couldn't agree more:)