the baby business

So "Operation Baby" is in full swing. The room is all painted and it's painfully adorable. I painted the whole room blue and then painted big white clouds scattered about. I'll send pictures of the room when it's all done. So far we have the crib and Erik put that together a few Saturdays back. Yesterday he went snowboarding at this very sad little resort outside of Fairbanks and picked up some things for us on his way back home. So now we have a crib mattress, a Graco Snugride carseat, and we're moving the dresser from our room into the nursery for a dresser/changing table and he found a nice armoire at the furniture store on the Army Post, and that will take the place of the dresser in our room. So we still need some bedding (I have my eye on some things) a rocker/glider thing, a stroller, and the rest of the odds and ends.

Check out the pictures. The first is of a print that I got of eBay for way cheap. This is kind of the vibe for the room. Colorful, bright, a bit vintage...you get the idea. Next is a picture of the bedding set that I like (in red), but I think that I'm only going to get the bumper. I figure that babies don't use a pillow anyways, so why do I need a sham? And they can't sleep with a quilt because it's a choking hazard (or so I've read. I'm very baby book smart at this point, but we'll see how the real thing goes). Plus, Mom is making him this awesome quilt, so that's the one that'll end up being his blankie, I'm sure. I'll still need a bedskirt and sheets and stuff, but that's not as fun to pick out. So I guess I'll just get whatever. The next picture is of the stroller that I LOVE. I have been back and forth on this stroller issue like it's the biggest decision I'll ever make. I really like things that are well designed and that are simple and streamlined. I've read reviews of strollers where parents describe it as "the Hummer of strollers." That is not what I'm looking for. This stroller is awesome and it's very lightweight, but it's also pricey. Erik's boss is giving us his jogging stroller, which is fantastic, but not what we're looking for for everyday. A lady that he works with said that she had a stroller she wanted to give us, but that was a couple months ago and she just had a baby. So...I don't know if that one's happening. Maybe the moms and dads reading this could give me some hints as to what is really necessary and helpful in a stroller, and what is just obnoxious. So far I think I've determined that big, and silly prints of jungle scenes or garbage like that is obnoxious. I'm looking for something lightweight, washable, easy and simple.

The picture after that is of the crib that we got, but we got it in the antique white color. It looks really nice with the blue sky and white clouds. We're going for a "vintage airplane" and "around the world" kind of a theme. I don't want it to be to themey though. Some of the baby stuff I see annoys me because it's all so cheesy. I figure, just because he's a baby doesn't mean he can't have good taste, right? Why does everything have to be so cheesy? I've found some cool prints for the walls and I'm going to try and find some smallish model planes to hang in the room on, I bet I could find some on eBay.

So while this long post was completely riveting, I'm sure, this kind of stuff is what floats around my head most of the time. That, lovey thoughts of Erik, funny parts from Nacho Libre, trying to think of something I want to eat (eating is no longer very fun), more lovey Erik thoughts, thoughts about cute things I want to make, books I want to read, and then back to baby thoughts. Thanks for checking out the Olsen Blog. It's going to get better. I'm going to design a cool header and I have some other ideas I want to make happen. I hope that this ends up being what Erik and I hoped it would be, a way to share what's going on in our day-to-day, share pictures, and keep in touch with the ones we love. Feel free to make comments (at the end of the posts) and even though we'll still keep in touch through the phone this is a fun way to shorten the distance between us all. Next post will be pictures of the baby bump (we're at 29 weeks y'all!, some sweet ultrasound pictures, and more! We love you.