Baby naming

Tell me, what are your "rules" for baby naming.  Do you believe that a baby's name should be

Traditional (only family names for you!)

Modern (all the celebs are doing it or my baby will NOT have the same name as anyone else in his class)

Trendy (yup, love all the names on the top 10 list of 2009)

Classic (if the name didn't exist 90 years ago, it shouldn't be around now)

Androgynous (doesn't matter what the sex of my child is, the name is ______ regardless) (okay, usually this is more true of naming girls than boys)

Simple (everyone can spell it, everyone can say it)

or

Creative (lots of extra y's, named after your favorite artist/author/musician, some people ask how you made up the name)

As for B and I, we definitely fall in the traditional, classic, simple category.  A few of our personal rules include

1.  It cannot have punctuation in it.

2.  It cannot be in the top 10 list for the last 7 years (alas, poor Emily).

3.  A substitute teacher must be able to pronounce and spell it.

4.  The middle names will be family names only (first names may be as well, but it is a MUST for a middle)

5.  It cannot have a heavy slant towards a country to which we have no ties (ie- B says we can't name our child Maeve, Colin, Ian, or Shannon as they are too Irish)

Can I tell you that he is WAY pickier than I am??  He has a few names he likes, and he is sticking with them.  There's very little budging going on.  It's funny because he is so easy going in real life and isn't insistent on much.  Totally opposite when it comes to naming puddin' though!!  I also have to say that since I work with children, I also have a lot of names that I can't/won't use because they remind me of a patient or because it's waaaayyyy too popular in the nursery.  It's been an interesting process.  We still haven't even plucked through a naming book.  We've just thrown out names as they've come up in real life and either said "love it", "hmmmmm", "like it but for this couple", "like it but not with our last name", or "he$# to the no".  There haven't been a lot of "love its", btw!

Would you like to know a few of the names that I love that have been vetoed?  Mkay, thought so....

Evelyn (oh so pretty and classic, still trying to squeeze this one in)

Elyse (my cousin's name- B likes it however we've decided that's like playing favorites)

Eleanor or Ellen (Smelly Ellie- bad nickname, B always says "Eleanor, gee I think you're Swellinore)

Jane (it's been "called" by one of the besties if she has a girl.  We both love it and hope she gets to use it!)

Margo (B has some weird Royal Tennebaum's reference about a boy being in love with his sister???  I've never seen the movie)

Bowen (B's friend's last name, he can't do it, and it's probably too trendy for us anyway but cute, huh?)

Ben (luckily, bestie already used it)

Emerson (B says it's too androgynous, I love it for a boy- Emmers would be the nn)

Tate (doesn't go well with our last name at all, plus no "formal" name to go with)

I do have to say we are set on our boy's name.  We both love it.  In fact, if we were to have a second boy, we've got that one's name picked out too!  For whatever reason, those were both easy.  We think we are set on a girl's name as well.  I still go back and forth due to the fact that we are not set on a nickname yet.  (And I still really want Evelyn). We're working on it!!

So, since we're all friends here, but we'll never be neighbors (so we don't have to worry about "copying" each other), tell me your favorite "type" of name, your favorite name for a boy and a girl, and any names that have popped into your head that you think we need to name puddin'!  Remember, classic, simple, traditional!!

Recommend your diaper bag!!!

Ladies, you all were so wonderful with recommending some of your baby products and I definitely appreciate all of your insight.  Now onto something that I can shop for that is "necessary" for the baby, but also something for me!!  I have looked at a few diaper bags and have no idea what I want except for a place for my cell phone, wallet, and lipstick.  I'm truly not even sure what goes in a diaper bag besides diapers and wipes!  I would think that you would need a burp cloth, an extra outfit, a pacifier, and then once they get older a few bibs and maybe one of those plastic placemats.  So, why the heck are they sooo big?  Obviously I must be missing a LOT, so fill me in on your favorite bag and what you keep in yours on a daily basis.  Also, are the little pacifier pods a good idea?

*The one above is the Skip Hop Studio Tote, and I really like the look of it.

*I would easily carry something super bright and fun, but I don't want one that is all pink or all blue.

*I'd like it to look more "grown-up" than babyish.  I do have to carry this for awhile.

*Shockingly, I don't want it monogrammed.

Thanks, ladies!! 

Ugh....

Today, for so many reasons, was NOT my day.  And the only thing I want to do is bake my way right out of it.  Too bad we still don't have an oven that works!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Anyone have any baking recipes I can do in the toaster oven or under the broiler setting? 

B and Junie are gone all weekend long, and even though it's nice to have some time to myself, I can't think of one thing to pull me out of this depressive state I am having.  Shopping isn't fun- maternity clothes just aren't that cute and I don't really NEED anything right now.  Don't know the sex so can't shop for puddin'.  Can only work on the nursery for short periods of time due to fumes.  Do not need to eat my way through this- gaining weight, even though preggers, is still really tough to deal with.  Need to clean/organize- not super exciting nor fun.  DVR is empty.  Really, really want to write a not so nice email in response to one I received- however, know repercussions would be awful and not worth it.  Sick of skillet meals and WANT MY OVEN BACK!!!!!!!!!! 

Okay, that's enough complaining for now.  I swear I am normally a cheery one!!  I'm just in a rough patch today (thanks to me letting others control my emotional state).  I am looking forward to the gym tomorrow a.m.- hopefully that will help me pick myself up a bit.  I am also very, very happy to be meeting up with an old high school friend tomorrow.  I get to meet her dear, darling daughter (who, from pictures, is simply presh).  That will be a huge bright spot. 

Have a wonderful weekend, blog friends.  I hope you all have great plans and exciting things to tell me on Monday!!!

The newly painted dining room!!

So, here's the navy!!!  I love this picture because you can see how the navy really makes the wood in the room pop.  The room use to be red, and while it was a fine color, it definitely blended in with the wood, whereas, this color really makes the wood the standout point in the room. 

To the right is the foyer and the steps that lead upstairs.  You can also see the window treatments and more of the wood here. 

When we were in Seville, we bought four blue and white decorative plates and brought them home with us.  They're about 12-16" in diameter and all hand painted.  We love them!  We're going to hang them on the wall in here.  We have to buy dining room furniture (there is currently a table and chairs in there that we have inherited from my mother, but it's just not formal enough for us.), so I think we will hang the plates over the buffet we plan to buy.  The plates aren't exactly the same color as the walls, but it's definitely close enough for us!

Here you can see the gold chandelier, a good chunk of the navy walls against the trim and the ceiling, and our little bar cart in the corner.  Our original plans were to spray paint the chandelier because in the old room (red) the gold looked quite garish.  However, we have found that it looks good with the navy, so it's going to stay. 

Things we still have to do:  find table/chairs/buffet (B is PICKY about his tables, so this could take awhile), hang plates on the wall, and find one or two other pieces of artwork for the room.  One of our friends came over to see the house this weekend, and she just loved the color.  It's so nice to hear that b/c it took two coats of primer, a lot of sanding (don't ask) and three coats of paint to get it to look good.  Definitely a lot of work, but in the end, soooooo worth it. 

Our family room

Our family room comes right off our kitchen.  They're definitely the two rooms that will always remain the heart of the home (and truly what sold us on the home in the first place).  We have a few more things we still need to do in here, but since we did buy new furniture, I thought I'd show you the current set up.

These are the comfy oversized chairs with matching ottoman.  The are in the bay window that overlooks the deck and the back yard. 

This is one of the two walls that goes into the kitchen.  The map is a nautical chart of Little Traverse Bay that we had framed (one of our favorite pieces).  Once puddin arrives, the pack and play will more than likely end up in that corner.  You can also see the pocket doors that divide the kitchen from the family room. 

Our couch (with the prime spot being taken up by Junie!) and a bit of the fireplace wall.  The mantle is not finished yet, so no good pictures to show.  We have a coffee table that I cut off, but it sits nicely in the area in front of the couch. 

Things we have yet to do in here:  varnish the armoire that goes on the other wall that attaches the kitchen to the family room, paint the fireplace screen from the current gold to black, figure out what we are going to do on the top of the mantle besides the few silver candlesticks that are already there, hang the oar (from the rowing club at Yale- B's Grandfather's) on the soffett above the bay window (where the red chairs are), and decide which artwork to hang behind the couch.  Most of that is just easy cosmetics, so we're sure it can be completed before the beginning of March (our deadline on our spreadsheet).

Our new chandelier

There was a wine store down the street from our apt in Chicago called Lush.  Lush had two of these amazing wine glass chandeliers above their bar/tasting area in the store.  I always commented on how cool they were, and B surprised me at our rehearsal dinner with one to be placed into our first home. 

After we moved in, this was the first project after the boxes were unpacked.  We knew we had the perfect spot the minute we looked at the house, and so all we had to do was figure out how to play safely with electricity :)  We'd never done a project like that before, so both of us were a little nervous.  We googled it, prayed a bit(seriously I thought he might get eletrocuted), and got to work.  We were able to do it without killing ourselves, and now it is such a cool statement piece in our kitchen.  The table it sits above will eventually be a wine cork table top, and it is going to be sooooo cool. 

The picture above is from the kitchen island looking into the family room.  The pic below is with the light on looking up towards the ceiling. 

B and I had a great weekend with Mom and Ralph. We ended up getting the dining room painted, unloaded and put together all the furniture they had been storing for us, hung a bunch of artwork, had a great trip to Costco (!!!!), sat around by the fire with the dogs on Friday night, enjoyed a wonderful dinner in downtown GR on Sat night, and took a wonderful winter walk through the woods with the dogs on Sat morning. All in all it was a very productive and enjoyable weekend. My mom has arthritis in her wrists, so she cannot paint; therefore she spent most of Saturday organizing closets and drawers in rooms we hadn't gotten to yet. Sometimes things just need a mom's touch, you know? I plan on taking a bunch of pictures this week to show you what we have accomplished so far. I know I'm being a slacker lately on the blog; I just don't have time at work or at home to settle in front of the computer much. Doesn't my new job understand that working 5 9 or 10 hour days is killing my blogging life?? One huge accomplishment this weekend is that Blair and I created a spreadsheet with a baby list and a house list of tasks that need to be done. All have due dates on them so that we can structure our plans accordingly and cross off the tasks once accomplished. I'm thrilled to have a visual reminder of what we need to do vs what is already done. I put the most mundane and tiny tasks on there because even though they are small, they still take up time, and I want us to feel that we are accomplishing things regularly. One of our tasks this week is to get to Babies R Us and register. I've started with a few things online, but we really just need to get this OUT OF THE WAY!! I've also done a registry at Buy Buy Baby (mostly out east, but they have a lot of great products, slightly higher end then BRU, and they accept the Bed Bath and Beyond 20% coupons!!). For any of you new moms out there, I would love, love, love to know what your favorite baby items are (bottles, passys, toys, swaddlers, bathtub, etc, etc) so that I can look them up! I have found Baby Bargains to be an extremely helpful book in this regard as well. I have not caught up on my reader in days, so I hope that you all are well and had great weekends!! I'll try to catch up some today and leave you all some love :) Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Primed!

Who Hoo!  The dining room is completely primed with this primer.  It has made our rooms a not so pretty grey color; however, it has completely covered the red that was previously in the room.  We have already bought the navy paint and will hopefully be getting it on the walls this weekend!!!  Edging isn't the most fun, but I've gotten better at it as I've gone along.  Thank goodness for wet soapy rags to clean up my small mistakes!! 

Other updates:

1.  My mom comes this weekend to visit.  I can't wait to show her the house and be able to spend some time with her.  She's super excited to go to babies r us and help us start our registry.

2.  Our new knobs for the kitchen cabinets arrived yesterday.  They make the kitchen look SO much better.  I'm thrilled with them.

3.  I swear I will take some pictures this weekend and update the blog with them next week.  There is a lot, lot, lot to do, so I've been hesistating on the pictures, but if I show you how "old" (read: dated) some of the things are, then you all will be REALLY impressed once we do even the bare minimum to make things cuter!

4.  Did I tell you that our oven blew up last week?  Yup, we had J and B over for Sunday night dinner and 10 minutes after we put in the pork roast, the bottom oven coil started sparking, turned a bright blue and then went black and completely cold.  (I was so afraid our brand new house was going to start on FIRE!)hgntmhn  ;/l   Now, we knew we would have to replace the oven eventually (it's originally to the house- ie 23 years old!!!), but we were hoping that we could do that in the fall.  Our darling realtor bought us a home warranty, so we called and the oven is covered!!!  We had a repair guy come out today and he is not sure if he can find a replacement coil (I really doubt it since it's so old), and if they can't find a replacement, we'll get an allowance for a new oven!!!  Ours is built into the wall and there is space for a double oven or a warming drawer with very little configuring cabinets, so I'm praying that the coil cannot be found and we'll get the allowance to get a head start on an amazing oven!!! 

That's it from here!  Happy Thursday to all of you out there :)

Junebug's favorite Christmas present

A few other bloggers have talked about these darling dog collars from Mascot.  I think they are the CUTEST colloars I've ever seen and asked my brother and his girlfriend for one for Christmas for Junie B.  They were so sweet and got us the navy and yellow one for her.  While I adore the pink, she has had nothing but pink collars since we've had her, and B was getting a little sick of them.  So, navy and yellow it was!  I think it does make her look a little more like a boy, however, I still think the collar is the coolest!  I'm going to order the matching leash- I'm a big fan of matching :)  We've had it on her for a few weeks now, and it's held up SO well.  The dirt doesn't show, it's really thick and sturdy (great for a 106 lb puppy), and the yellow bone is the perfect accent color around her neck.  I would highly recommend it!

My mom also got us a darling collar and leash that match.  They have a navy background with a ribbon sewed on top that has all colors of sailboats on it.  It's super, duper preppy and darling and is going to be her summer set.  I may see if I can find the ribbon online somewhere as I'd love to sew some across a white sleeper and have Junie and the baby match!  If nothing else, it'd make a darling picture!!

Our inspiration nursery

Project Nursery was a blog I came across a year ago and added it to my reader right away.  I love, love, love the ideas on the site and knowing we wanted babies eventually, I figured it would be a great space to get inspiration from.  The author is one of the owners of Little Apple Designs out of LA, and she posts some of her own work as well as "real people" and other designer's nurseries. 

This picture just happened to be one of the pictures I consistently went back to, and as soon as I showed it to B, he totally agreed that it was perfect for our nursery.  What's funny is that it's actually the blogger's son's room!!  I love that it's traditional, clean, and with just a few accents it can be perfect for a boy or girl. 

Now, some of you will say that this is totally a baby's boy room, and I can see that for sure.  However, B and I adore the color blue, love the classic white furniture, and the lattice work on the accent wall is soooo cute.  B and I both think that it needs some cute accents for it to be made a little more girly, so we are adding a white, slightly ruffle-y bedskirt to the bottom of our crib, we are trying to find a white ornate 8x10 picture frame to frame a monogram over the crib, and our shelves will have pegs below them so that we can hang a white or light pink classic (probably smocked) dress. 

We have picked out a white chenille rocker for the room (scotchguarded of course!) and are looking for a white toybox.  While the dresser looks fantastic in this room, we have made the bold choice to add one big pop of color and instead will be going with this if it's a girl..........

Doesn't that pink accent dresser just pop against those blue beds?  It's just the perfect amount of girly!  I think with the few other small girly details (like a pink grosgrain ribbon holding up the monogrammed frame)the typical light blue and white all boy nursery will be able to be transformed into a sweet, perfectly appropriate girls room. 

If the baby is a boy, the dresser is going to be fire engine red and the monogram will have a red bow for it's pops of color, just in case you're wondering! 

We have sanded the dresser down and are going to give it one coat of white paint and primer all in one.  Once the baby arrives and the parental units come to stay with us, we're going to have one of the grandfathers paint it the appropriate color.  It'll be a good job to keep them busy! 

If any of you have any great nursery suggestions or other ideas, I'd love to hear them!  Also, if you have any recommendations on where to find a darling sheep rocker like the one in the first picture, let me know.  If you hate everything above and think I'm completely crazy, it's cool- just don't let me know :)