Baby M's Room

I had three goals when designing this nursery space:

1. Use as many second-hand, vintage, and handmade items as possible.

2. Play with pattern and color (or don't get bogged down in trying to match everything)

3. Showcase the artwork of my many creative family and friends.

After many months of preparing this nest, here is the finished product:

I wanted the room to feel light and airy so I painted the walls a soft blue (Watering Hole by Miller Paint). But I also wanted the room to have a masculine feel for our little boy so the furniture got painted black. This what you see when you first walk in the door.

_______________________________________

My friend Katy made these with fabric glued over plastic blocks. She made a larger fabric picture, too, but I accidentally messed it up and it needs some repairs before I show it off here.

___________________________________

I found the shelf at a thrift store and painted it black.

Everything displayed on it is handmade or from a thrift store, too.

______________________________________

This little owl used to be pea green with red-orange details. I found it at our local thrift store for just 15 cents. A little white spray paint and now I have a sweet treasure for our little guy.

__________________________________________

Vintage Fisher-Price Little People. Noah and Toby love playing with these. I hope Baby M will, too.

____________________________________________

These blocks were handmade by my friend Crystal. Crystal is a cake decorator and these blocks were used in a display with a cake she made for our church baby shower.

I really like the colors and patterns she chose.

________________________________________

One of the few new items in the room.

My mom gave me this baby calendar for Mothers Day.

It's completely adorable--I just hope I will actually fill it out!

_________________________________________

Not sure what's going on with the greenish lighting in this shot. Sorry, about that. I reused the quilt from the queen bed that was in this room when it was a guest room. My sewing table got a coat of black paint and is doubling as a nightstand. And the white blanket on the end of the bed is our wedding afghan made by Geary's Aunt Mary.

________________________________________________

The art above the bed was painted by my friend Katy. We did a trade a long time ago--my jewelry for her artwork. I think I got the better end of the deal.

___________________________________________

This little bear was mine when I was a baby. His name is Cocoa and he has been loved well. Fur is rubbed off in many places, he is missing one eye. In the words of the Velveteen Rabbit he is "almost real." Cocoa also has a music box inside and plays Rock A-Bye Baby.

__________________________________________________

I made this pillow cover with some scrap fabric from the closet curtain and bed skirt. I used a big wooden button that came in a bag of beads from a friend at church who had found them at a garage sale last summer. Everything has a story...

________________________________

A couple weeks ago my friends Katy, Jayme, and Misty came over for what we called "Thai Up Loose Ends." We had a delicious Thai food dinner and then my friends helped me with this tree mural (inspired by this one). We painted the tree on the wall with white paint and used scrapbook paper for the leaves and birds. I love the little owl--Jayme's idea!

___________________________________________

I might stencil the baby's name in the space between the top two branches. Of course, I couldn't do that now--it would ruin the surprise!

_______________________________________

The birds and leaves were simply attached with Mod Podge.

____________________________________________

Another new item--the lamp. I fell in love with it's simple design and lamp shade color at Target. When it went on sale one week I snapped it up with a gift card I had been given at a baby shower.

________________________________________

Our little mini-crib. We bought this when I was pregnant with Toby and he fit nicely inside until he turned two. It's really difficult to find crib bedding for this size crib so I made the crib skirt out of an old table-cloth. I also made the mattress from foam and some some waterproof fabric sewn into a mattress cover. The birds on the mobile were made by my friend, Misty.

_______________________________________________

Misty came over and we assembled the mobile yesterday. I love how it turned out! The sticks came from my jewelry display at The Old Fashioned Festival. We hot-glued the birds in place and then hung the whole thing with fishing line.

__________________________________________

Misty also made this adorable little owl. It has lots of taggies for the baby to play with and something inside that makes a crinkly noise when you squeeze it. I am so enamored with this owl I actually prayed that it would become the baby's special lovey.

________________________________________________

The quilt was made by my friend Becky who is an amazing crafter. This quilt won an honorable mention at the Ventura County Fair in California--I have the ribbon to prove it! Becky recently won first place for this "Junk Quilt" made out of advertising circulars. She's also one of the geniuses behind Mock Orange--a favorite Etsy store of mine.

The baby sleeping bag was made by Aunt Mary. It is the softest, most adorable baby bedding I've ever seen. I love the little ears on the hood and I'm imagining lots of pictures of our little one all snuggied up in this thing.

___________________________________

And with that our tour is complete! Let me know what you think in the comments. Now that this space is ready I feel 100% ready for the baby to come. Just three weeks until my due date!

Also a huge THANK YOU to all my friends and family who helped me get this room together. I love that I get to have little pieces of your creativity and service in here. You are dear to me and I am once again found rejoicing over the beautiful, loving community we have found here in Newberg and beyond.

Nursery Sneak Peak

Tomorrow morning I'm hoping to pick up the final pieces I need for the nursery. A twin box spring and frame so that we can still have a guest bed for anyone who'd like to cuddle a newborn and/or cook for us. Once the bed is set up I'll take some pictures for a nursery tour. For now, here are a few cropped images taken in bad lighting to whet your appetite. Enjoy!

Human Nature

Toby: Are you my mommy?

Jeana: Yes. Are you my Toby?

Toby: Not your Toby!

Jeana: No? Whose Toby are you?

Toby: No boss.

Baby Girl Outfit

Since August I've had five friends give birth to baby boys. I also know six other women who are due to have babies between now and December. Three of those babies are also boys. So when my friend Gretchen gave birth to a little girl this week I was ecstatic! Today I sat down at my sewing machine and made this little outfit for baby Grace.

I used the same instructions as the Bandana Pants for these pants and then embellished a onesie with an applique of the same fabric and my very first ruffle. I'm really pleased with how it turned it out. And I can't wait to go visit Gretchen and Grace!

Pregnancy Dream Three

All of my pregnancies have given me some strange and funny dreams. I dreamed that Noah was born blue. Not blue like dead or not-breathing blue. But just blue. Like a smurf. And in the dream that was completely normal.

With Toby I had that skiing dream with the old man losing all his hair in the snow. Remember?

And this time I've dreamed several times that my water breaks while I'm on stage at church during worship team. In the dreams I interrupt the service to announce that my water has broken and that I need someone to watch the kids. Then I exit stage left to where my husband is waiting with a large towel.

I will let you know if this actually happens.

Uh-Oh!

I don't remember how we got on the subject but Noah informed us, "I already have a wife."

We were surprised. "You do?" I asked, "Who is it?"

"Jessica." (Not her real name)

"Jessica? I didn't know you played with her. I thought the only girl you like to play with is Sophie (also not her real name)."

"Yeah, but Tyler (not his real name) is gonna marry her now, so I took Jessica."

"Wow, so what does it mean that Jessica is your wife. Do you play with her at recess?"

"Yeah, and we eat lunch together. It's just right, you know? She wants to be a singer and I want to be an artist. It's just right."

I started getting a little nervous about the way he was talking. "Have you kissed her?" I was careful to keep my voice soft and not look directly at him.

"Not yet..."

My voice was no longer soft, "Not yet? You mean you're planning to?"

"Well, yeah. Like when we're in college."

My pulse slowed down. "Oh. Well that's okay."

Geary, who had been silently bug-eyed and gape-jawed for this entire conversation, chimed in, "Besides, kissing is not allowed at Veritas."

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it is! I saw Mr. H kiss Mrs. H."

I quickly responded, "They are allowed because they are really married. You are not."

We instantly saw the need for some preventative advice. "What would you do if Jessica tried to kiss you?"

Noah looked thoughtful, "I don't know. We're not even in college!"

Geary nodded, "Here's what you do. You just say, 'Thanks, but this is not okay. School is for learning not for kissing.' Okay?"

Noah looked uncomfortable but he nodded in agreement. "Can we be done talking about this now?" We let him escape to his room and a giant tub of Legos. And then Geary and I looked at each other and knew we were thinking the same thought...we are SO in trouble.

Fashionisto

Mom, we need to go to Old Navy tomorrow. I have no good pants!

~Noah Linhart (age 6)

Sunday in the Park

Yesterday we took the boys to a local park to get some energy out.

Geary put them in this tree and I couldn't resist the photo-op.

I mean, look at these little GAP model children!

Is there anything cuter than a size 2T denim jacket?

Trying to escape.

And finally, a video of Noah riding his bike with no help. It's got kind of a long intro but hopefully the sight of Toby whizzing past on his tricycle will make up for that.

15 things we love about Geary

Noah:

1. I like that he wrestles with me.

2. He reads me stories every night.

3. He taught me to ride my bike.

4. I like walking home from school with him.

5. I like that he teaches me stuff like the Egyptians and Israel and Bible Times stuff. He's smart.

Toby:

1. Blanket.

2. Cuddle me.

3. Wrestle me.

4. Go walks in stroller.

5. Tickle Daddy.

Jeana

1. I love his helping hands. He is truly a servant leader.

2. I love that he has not stopped romancing me.

3. I am so proud of the way he protects and cares for our home.

4. He is an incredible father. My boys are richly blessed.

5. I love learning from him. He is a gifted teacher.

Happy Birthday, Geary!

The Linhart Mobile

So, I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were going to need a mini van in order to accommodate our growing family.

Well, Grandpa Bob made a generous offer to front us the money to buy a van now and said we

could pay him back when our Accord sold. That took care of the gap between cars problem and lifted a huge burden off our shoulders.

I started emailing Geary postings for Honda Odysseys and Toyota Siennas from Craigslist. Each day when he got home from work he would call and research several vans. It was an often frustrating search as we learned about vans that would have to to shipped from England or were in perfect shape "except it will need a new transmission, no big deal." Last Saturday Geary went up to Portland to look at a van and then continued on to Longview to see another one. People asked me, "Don't you want to go with him and choose your car?" But I completely trusted my

husband to make a wise choice.

Saturday night he came home and raved about the Longview van. We made an appointment to pick it up on Tuesday night. Toby and I picked up Geary and Noah from school and we all drove up to WA singing songs and telling jokes on the way. When we arrived at the dealership (more of a storage center) they had our van parked out front. I immediately liked it. A tan 1999 Toyota Sienna. Noah immediately named it "The Linhart Mobile."

After all the paperwork was signed and we were given the keys, Noah and I drove in the van while Geary and Toby followed us in the car. We drove into downtown Longview to find a place to eat dinner and ended up at Lynn's Ice Cream, Yogurt, and More! It was a funny, cute, coke paraphernalia-filled cafe with tons of toys and knick knacks that our kids were encouraged to play with. The perfect we-got-a-mini-van-let's-celebrate type of place. We noticed that Lynn's served licorice ice-cream which seemed very appropriate since that is Grandpa Bob's favorite flavor.

After dinner we drove home and went to bed, tired but happy. Geary registered the van on Wednesday and this week the goal is to clean out our car, wash it, photograph it, and get it listed on Craigslist. Please pray that it sells soon!

This is not our van but ours looks exactly like it. The boys love riding in it. It drives great! We couldn't be happier.

If anyone is interested we have a silver 1998 Honda Accord with about 137K miles in great condition. It runs perfectly and even has leather seats!

Thank you, Grandpa Bob, for your help and advice. And thank you, Geary, for your good work researching and for finding the perfect vehicle for our family. And most of all, thank you, Lord, for providing for us yet again--you are so good!

Witty Wife

Jeana: So why did Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize? I'm still trying to figure it out.

Geary: Beats me. It's turned to the Nobel Peace Prize into something...something...

Jeana: ...it's turned the Nobel Peace Prize into another one of those cheap plastic trophies you get just for participating.

Pumpkin Owls

What do you think of our little pumpkin owls? I saw the idea in Family Circle's October issue and just had to try it out. I think they're pretty adorable. We used a white pumpkin and a blue pumpkin which the kids were really excited about. The sunflower seeds are hotglued around the eyeholes and the "ears" and feet are glued onto popsicle sticks which we then inserted into knife slits in the pumpkins. We can't wait to see how these look at night with candles inside!

When you don't know the answer--make one up!

Toby has been picking up a lot of conversational skills lately. He loves to be asked questions about animal noises, colors, and where things or people are. Yesterday we had the following exchange:

Jeana: Where's Noah?

Toby: At his school! Where's Daddy?

Jeana: Hmm. Do you know? Where's Daddy?

Toby: Daddy at work!

Jeana: He is! Noah's at school. Daddy's at work.

Toby: Where Lili at?

Jeana: I think Lili is at school. Where do you think Lili is?

Toby: Lili fall off the horse.

Jeana: Oh no! She fell off her horse?

Toby: Yeah. She broke her head.

Jeana: She broke her head!?!

Toby. Yeah...it's sad.