Baby Wash

Now that we're rounding third and heading towards home base, I thought it would be good to post some of the pictures from the baby showers that we've had. Or, as our young friend (age 5) Ellery Schoen calls it, a "baby wash". We were fortunate enough to have SIX showers! The first was thrown by my family and unfortunately I don't have any photographic evidence, but it was fun! The second shower was thrown by my E&Y friends. It was a really great time - Megan made the most amazing cake with various layers of purple - just like the baby's room! My photos from this shower are hard copy, and I don't have access to a scanner so you'll just have to imagine how great the shower was!

The next shower was hosted by my Drake friends. It was a co-couples shower with our friends Julie and Brian who are due with their baby a week after us. It was so much fun to get to spend time with our Des Moines friends and they did the most amazing job, as always, throwing the party!

The Krusmark's threw me a shower and again the "purple" theme was on order. We had some amazing cupcakes, some fun games and great times with family! The shower was at our house so it was great to get to show off the baby's room to our family.

Chris' co-workers threw us a shower at our favorite restaurant, Cafe Lurcat. Yum! It was a great night with a lot of great people. Unfortunately, we don't have any photographic evidence of this one either but you'll just have to trust me!

Last, and certainly not least, our good friends Amanda Howard, Ginny Nelson, Amanda Kay, and Jennifer Funderburk threw me a great shower for the friends here in Minneapolis. These ladies also know their way around a great baby shower and this was no exception! There was great food, great friends, and a LOT of great gifts!

Now all we need is the baby! And she is spoiled already....

Baby Room Teaser

A lot of people have been asking about the baby's room. We still have some final touches to finish up, but here is a little teaser of some of the work that we've done to date to tide you over until we can share the final pictures.

Here is Chris putting up the letters that we painted for the room. We got these unfinished from Etsy and then sanded and painted them. We were really happy with how they turned out!

Here are Rudy and Leo....."helping". 

Here is the crib that we purchased (ours is a different color). We also got a dresser and nightstand to match as well as a recliner.

Here is a little thumbnail picture of the crib bumper that we got from Pottery Barn. Impractical? Perhaps. Adorable? Most definitely!



We also got this crib skirt from Pottery Barn. It was a total bear to try to wash and iron...good thing I don't have to do it often! 

32 Weeks!

We can't believe that our little peanut will be here in about 8 weeks....where has the time gone? Here is a little update of the bump pictures so far.

32 Weeks

28 Weeks

24 Weeks

20 Weeks

16 Weeks

10 Weeks

Happy New Year!

We rang in the New Year with brunch at Ike's in downtown Minneapolis - yummy! Then we attended the last Vikings game of the year at the Metrodome. They didn't have a good season this year (colossal understatement) but we had great seats (thanks Mom!) so it was pretty fun.

Here is Chris with his large and in-charge Bloody Mary at Ike's!

 We got to see Jared Allen get the Vikings record for the most sacks in a single season!

It was the last game for Jim Kleinsasser after 13 years with the Vikings.



Christmas Time!

It was another great Christmas this year. Part I started with a little gift exchange and make-your-own-pizza night with Sandy and Brianna. Part II was Christmas Eve with the Anderson clan as usual. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because Preggo here forgot her camera. Part III was the conclusion with brunch at our house followed by some rigorous Wii play and afternoon appetizers with my parents and Grandma Elaine, Sandy, Brianna and cousin Jillian. Later that night we saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie - it was definitely a good one!

  

 

 



More Renovations

This is long overdue, but I never did share some of the other room renovations that we have worked on over the past year. Although the list of home improvements seems to be growing, we'll have to hold off for a while now with Baby on the way.

Guest Room #1 (a.k.a. the Brown Room) - We didn't do a lot in here but paint, replace the outlets and light fixtures, replace the blinds and installed some new curtains which I sewed. We also had to have a cable outlet installed so that our guests could enjoy a little boob tube during their stay. Here is the "before"....

And here is the "after"....

 

The family room (a.k.a. The Octagon Room) is our favorite room - we spend all our time here. We had the room painted and bought a great new couch to watch TV on. The "before" picture is from the inspection.....

The "after" pictures give a little flavor of our Christmas decor this year!

The second guest room (a.k.a. The Green Room) got a little paint, some new fixtures, new blinds and curtains that I sewed. This room boasts a Sleep Number bed :). Here are the "before" pictures....

 

And here is the "after".....

 

 

The "before" dining room photos give you a little indication of Blair and Nancy Coleman's decorating taste...yummy!

Here is the "after". We painted, got some new fixtures, a new dining room set, and some Pottery Barn curtains. Voila!

We don't have a lot of picture of the living room before we redecorated, but I wanted to give you some flavor for the poop brown accent wall that they had before we got here :).

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Here is the "in process" picture of the painting going on. 

 Here is the "after" pictures, again with a little Christmas flair. We painted, added some accents to dress up our existing furniture and got some new curtains to replace the mauve colored ones that Nancy had - yes I'm sure that went quite nicely with the brown wall!