Nesting 101

Nesting, according to a blogger on Yahoo Answers, is defined as: "this phase where [pregnant women] have an almost uncontrollable urge to clean, organize, and just plain get ready for the baby." There can't be a more authoritative definition than that one:).

I am a nester who likes to have things tidy all the time, but who puts more effort into deep cleans when I know company is coming and babies are coming. This means my toilets are pumice stoned. It means I have scrubbed the hard water stains in my shower with Magic Erasers (to very little avail) and spent some quality time with Drano today. It means I vacuum, dust, scrub base boards and counter tops, and tidy with a vengeance. 

I wanted to show you my house as both a work in progress (because we'll be converting our office into the baby's room in the next few days), but also as a place I hope to stay for a while. Doug's job concerns made me think it might not even be worth it to hang any more pictures in our house, because we may have to move soon. But I decided to bloom where I'm planted, put pictures up, love where I live, and "come what may, and love it."

So here's my nest:

This is our carpet. It's matted down in several places, but serviceable. Buying new carpet is definitely a want, rather than a need.

This is what I see right when I come in the house--cute kiddoes, a few toys that just got discarded in favor of the ring pops Daddy just got everyone--and some finger prints on our mirror. . . I should go address those:)

Here's our bedroom. Some day, we will have a headboard and matching dresser and nightstand. That day is not today.

You can see one battle won and another lost in this picture. The Monet painting on the right hand side was very recently replaced with a mounted fish Doug caught in Island Park. I finally took it down and invited him to put the fish in its natural habit--Doug's office. Doug acquiesced, and it really looks nice there. Monet has restored peace in my sanctuary. . .but you can see the TV, which is a battle lost. Doug points out that we will never get very much money for this TV, so we may as well keep it in our bedroom for now. I'm not a big fan. Who wants to watch Jay Leno and David Letterman drop their phallic jokes at night before going to bed? Not me.

Here's Brooklyn's room, with pictures on the wall, finally!

another view of the pictures. She has had a New York City theme in her rooms since she was born, thank to Sara Spackman Johnson, who got these prints for me for my wedding. I love them.

Here's a shot of our office, which is destined for change. Our plan is to put two smaller desks side by side in our bedroom and let the baby take over this room.

Here is the baby's dresser, bedding, and decor, all ready to be put in place when the desks are moved out.

Here's Doug's dream room. I may have already put this up on my blog, but I can't remember. Doug has dreamed of having a mounted television and fireplace set-up for years, and he made the dream come true, with help from our friends Neil Price and Paul Summers. I will admit that this situation is very fun, and great for date-nights at home. I think that recliner gets to go upstairs to the baby's room because Brooklyn won't want to part with her chair. We read stories on her chair every day, and I can't see that chair leaving her room without a fight. Hmm. . .

Here's our little toy room underneath the stairs. I love the Disney pictures in here, but we obviously haven't figured out an aesthetically pleasing way to organize toys in here.

And the washing machine, which has demanded Doug's attention all afternoon. The spin cycle won't work, so our poor friend Dan Evans is helping Doug try to address the problem. I keep telling Doug to send Dan home to enjoy his Saturday--I hope that has happened.

Here's Isaac's room, with new bedding and a new dresser. The headboard needs to be used for the baby's crib, so Isaac has a new headboard/shelf to look forward to, again in the next few days. I love the picture of the Tetons above Isaac's bed, but the reflection makes it impossible to see here.

And finally, here's part of Lucy's room. Doug actually apologized for pinning up the map of the world in Lucy's room last week. I was surprised. Really, nothing makes me happier than having maps and globes all over the place. I know we could place them more tastefully in our home, but I like having it low enough for my kids to look at everything. One of my favorite activities right now with the kids is a library program we're doing. As we read books as a family, the kids color in dots on a US map. We're making it around the country, and when we have filled in all the dots, we win a trip to the pool. It's a fantastic idea, and I love listening to the kids read eagerly to each other, so they can color in the dots. So far, we have made it from Idaho Falls to the Alamo. That's it for now!