Nest While You Rest?

I'm a few days into the "rest your bod" phase of trying to slow down the labor symptoms I had, which is going very well thus far. I am happy that is the case. We have canceled our plans for the last two days, but today is Christmas Eve and we're going to see Nate's family at my Father-in-Law's home later today for a few hours. His wife Jean said, "Pick a spot and hunker down and you'll be okay!" For some reason that cracked me up! But she has a lot of family who will be there as well, so she's probably telling the truth!

I have been sitting, resting, putting my feet up, etc. as much as possible. Let me tell you, if I had been put on bedrest during my pregnancy, I would've gone NUTS. So kudos to the ladies who have had to stay put for weeks on end, especially laying in any certain position! Nate has been a godsend in this last few days (well, marriage overall!) and has really done a lot to help me out and still get lots of chill time for himself. He's masterfully negotiated pre-Christmas Costco yesterday and the grocery store the day before, doing something I often cannot do... stick totally to The List! He has also been helping with dishes and running things up- and downstairs for me, which is so awesome, since too many trips on the stairs mean more contractions. (PS: Love that picture? I took a peanut box decoration and turned it into a Christmas hat. Sexy!)

Despite the rest, I try to have little spurts of productivity. The end of 2012 was my time to get a new laptop, as we are allowed to upgrade every four years, which means every two years a Burgan gets a new computer of some type. Nate said he wanted me to have one before the baby, so he suggested we pick one up from Microcenter. So getting that up and running with my programs and files took some time, albeit sitting time. I also transferred Nate's files from his old desktop to the external hard drive and tweaked my old Dell immensely to prepare it for, well, a secret project I can't reveal before Christmas. (Wink.) So I "nested" our tech on Saturday and Sunday! Despite the fact that sitting is resting, there was still quite a bit of swelling in my feet, so intermittently putting those up to "drain" was a must.

Our nursery, our bedroom, our baby sling, and pretty much everywhere baby could be is very well-nested at this point. On Nate's honey-do list is installing the carseat into the Kia and dusting off the hand-me-down bouncer and swings we received from family and then... Done. Well, except that pesky labor and birthing part.

I took a photo of my ring sling with new trim added (extraordinarily well-made, affordable and purchased from Etsy shop owner Rhiamon, slightly modified to add trim and length by moi). We used our baby giraffe to stand in for an infant, since the height and width are correct. Nate used the giraffe to get a basic fit for his Ergo-type carrier, which he loves because it's manly... and looks like a flak jacket (see also: image). (We also have a Moby-inspired wrap, also handmade by an Etsy-dweller, and I love it, but no cute photos exist of it... yet.)

And then Nate and I have been working on various things for the baby's room and comfort, like decking out the nursery (mostly Nate) with decorative additions by me, sewing, etc. I do these things in little one-hour-or-less spurts and then chill, and chores I do in 20-30-minute spurts and then rest, like running dishes, laundry, Swiffering or other light tasks. But without further ado, here are some photos of baby's room with new additions. Even though baby will be rooming in with us for the first half-year at least, the nursery is decked out for a baby ages 0-6 or so, or at least we hope. (Studies say SIDS is decreased if babies spend at least the first six months in their parents' room. See also: SIDS.org article) It's nice to feel "done" and just concentrate on resting,

On Sunday, December 23, Nate used 3M Command Strips (great inventions!) to hang the stuffed animal net in the nursery. He and I have been collecting those stuffed animals and puppets since we got married "just in case" we ever had a kiddo. Nate's favorite is the mandrill. Mine is Philip, the mouse puppet, which we've used in a Youtube video previously.

My friend and co-worker Amy and her husband made us this beautiful vintage-inspired art, conceived via our good ole' friend Pinterest. We've gotta love that site, right? (Well, when you actually take the info and DO something with it.) I added the soft lion "lovey" that Grandma Jean bought for baby and the dresser is clutter-free and simply beautiful. 

The crib, jungle mural and accordion door.

A hiding zebra, our rocking chair and bookshelf.

Another hiding creature, the diaper organizer and a tweeting birdy.

For more photos of the whole "Baby Burgan" experience, check out our Baby Burgan #1 set on Flickr.

You also still have 17 days from Christmas Even to guess in our "What'll it be?!" Baby Poll: Click here to leave a guess. There is a legitimate prize for the winner! We haven't decided on what yet, but it'll be good. :-)  (And you don't even have to know us to enter. We welcome all entries.)

 
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