Drew's New Room

Well here we are on Saturday evening & our sweet Lucy is still cooking! She must be pretty comfy in there, but I am truthfully very thankful for the extra time we have had...I guess I sound like I am overdue, when I will really only be 38 weeks on Monday, but we wanted to be prepared for 37 since that is when Drew came...especially since we had some big room transitions going on here.

And we were able to get it all done! Largely through the hard work & efforts of Jeff & his parents, our cluttered storage room has become Drew's new big boy room...and I have to say, I LOVE IT!!! We still have several finishing touches, but the room has really exceeded my expectations! Okay, I guess it is time for some pictures!!!

A little reminder of where we started...

Pipes on the wall & in the ceiling... 

Lots & lots of stuff... 

And more stuff...some of which has been relocated to the garage, but a lot of which has found homes in other more logical places...and a good bit has been set aside to be donated! Whoo-hoo!

And now for some pictures of where we are now...

Come on in & welcome to Drew's Big Boy Room!!! 

(Excuse the blue painter's tape on the floor, there is one piece of molding that Jeff still needs to paint.)

 One of the best things about this whole renovation is that it probably cost us just over $100!! 

(That does not include the cost to re-route the pipes or for the built-in that Jeff's parents made.)

We bought a couple gallons of paint, some baskets & an IKEA light fixture, but for everything else, we used what we had!!

 The bed & bedding were in the nursery, as a sort of guest bed, but they were hardly ever used. 

 The "circles" rug had been hung on a very large wall in the family room of our old house, but we had not yet found a spot for it here...it works perfectly in this room! I love the circles & stripes theme for this room in rustic reds, blues, khaki & green. 

 We couldn't figure out what to use for a night table. Mainly we needed a place to put the lamp (which had been in the nursery on the changing table)...we tried a little bookshelf that is in the hallway, but we felt that Drew would pull it over on himself trying to climb it. So Jeff had the great idea to use some old suitcases we had elsewhere in the house & I love the way they look! Just right!

 Wonderful artwork our dear friend Jessica painted when Drew was born!

 Don't you love the built-in shelves & "closet"! I think they are amazing!

 

 I am beyond thrilled with how this area turned out! I happened to find the baskets at Michael's yesterday & they were 50% off! As a bonus, since we had some extra time this weekend, I finished sorting all of the outgrown clothes & now have all of the bins labeled by size for the future! And Drew has his baskets full of "new" clothes that Jack wore when he was little! It has been so fun revisiting my favorite boy outfits from 6 years ago! 

 Once the built-in was in place, it occurred to me that we could cover that back wall with cork (perhaps painted a rustic red!) to make a display place for pictures & artwork...we will work on that next!

 A huge THANK YOU to Pop & Nana for the many hours of work, sweat & blood (Pop's finger required 11 stitches & a splint!) they put into constructing this beautiful, one-of-a-kind built-in! The construction is solid & exactly what I wanted! And a big shout-out to Jeff for painting it all & staining the counter top so beautifully! (And also thanks to big brother Jack for loaning out his prized football helmet collection to add some interest to the top shelf!)

 So, since the room was ready, last night we decided there was no time like the present to make the switch from crib to big bed...

Drew was a little uncertain at first, but I think it helped that all of the "things" were familiar...the bedding & some familiar toys... 

...and then he got pretty wound up by 3 big siblings who were uber excited for him...so we cleared everyone out of the room & Jeff laid down with him to see if he would settle down... 

...20 minutes later Jeff came out & we didn't hear a peep from Drew for the rest of the night! We checked on him several times & he was sleeping soundly, happy & comfy, in his new room!  And he even slept in this morning until well after 9:00 am!

Then at nap-time today, I was planning to put him down in the crib in the nursery because I was worried he would just get out of bed & play in his room. But he looked at the stairs & said "Come on mom!" So we went to his new room...he kept running around on his bed & looking out the window (which happens to have the same view as his nursery window!), so I was not sure if he would settle down or just play...but I left him there & shut the door...certainly expecting to hear him playing or calling for me shortly...but several hours later, this is what we found...

Drew had made himself comfy & taken a good long rest! And tonight when Jeff put Drew down, he said he laid right down in his bed & snuggled in! Praise be to God for the smooth transition thus far! 

So here we are, with most of the "major" items on the "Before Baby" check-list all checked off! I am so thankful that we have been healthy this week, have had amazing weather, and have been able to get so much accomplished. Today was a wonderful Saturday at home...we had ZERO plans because we didn't schedule anything this far out thinking that the baby could be here...so we used today to do a lot of laundry (I think the only dirty clothes in our house right now are what we wore today, now that's a rare feat!) We finished up a few things in Drew's room & the nursery. I "Spring-ified" the house a bit...taking down any remaining winter or Valentine's decor & switching it out for something springy! The kids played ALL day (inside, outside & upside down!) & had so much fun. And this evening I made a couple of dishes for our Sunday School pot-luck lunch tomorrow since it looks like we will indeed be there! And now I've even gotten to blog about it all! It has been such a nice, busy, full day, so I think I'm going to enjoy a bit of chocolate peanut butter ice cream & then go to bed. We remain super excited to meet sweet Lucy & trust in the Lord's perfect timing for her arrival...hopefully very soon! We will keep you posted!