Ready for baby? Check.

Abby's baby checklist update:

A million onesies in varying sizes? Check.
Diapers (one very small pack of NB, one very large pack of size 1) and wipes? Check.
Breast pump? Check.
Stroller and car seat? Check.
Nursing bras? Check.
Pjs for the hospital? Check.
One very jealous puppy? Check.
A completed nursery? Almost check.

After a highly productive weekend (and the last of my four baby showers!), I am about 95% ready for this baby to come. Nate and I spent the weekend unpacking boxes and boxes of gifts, doing laundry, folding and organizing teensy tiny clothes and socks, and shopping for those last few items on our list. We also got the nursery pulled together. Except for hanging a book shelf, moving a picture over the dresser, and finding a lamp shade (why are children's lamp shades so difficult to locate? I'm running out of places to look!), we're done.

Here are the fruits of our labor. Keep in mind, this room is about 9x11 — so small that I had a hard time taking pictures. And these photos aren't great; I can't find my camera cord, so I had to take them on my iPhone. But it really is very cute. We tried to keep it simple since the room is so tiny, but when you're in it, it feels very cheerful and cozy. Mattie would agree...she sits outside the door to his room every night before bed, begging to take one last look. She's especially interested in that bucket of toys...

Spring OCD.

Things have been busy at the Breyer household. I got a bee in my bonnet a few weeks ago and announced to Nate that it was officially TIME TO GET STUFF DONE. There isn't a lot to do — our house is pretty charming on its own and doesn't really require much decoration. But prior to last weekend, we only had three things hanging on the entire first floor: a mirror in the dining room, a magnet board in the kitchen, and a print in the entryway. Plus, we have no window treatments. (Well, that's not entirely true, if you count paper construction blinds held up with binder clips.) I felt like it might be time to start decorating.

Around this time, I also experienced an overwhelming need to clean and organize. (Spring, I have found, makes people do things they would never ordinarily do.)

As a result, I have adopted a slightly crazed, get-it-done mentality. And Nate has been swell about helping me make it happen. First we bought a new dresser and reorganized all of our closets. We found a weird poster of botanical prints at Ikea, cut them out, framed them ourselves, and hung them in our living room. We took two prints we had at home (one that Nate got at the Louvre when traveling across Europe, and one I bought from a very talented artist in Chicago) and had them professionally framed. We cleaned out our basement and added to the huge pile of crap we plan to sell at our garage sale next month. I finally started making curtains for the hallway and kitchen (using fabric I bought over a year ago). I framed and arranged family pictures. We picked out fabric swatches for dining room curtains and decided on wood blinds for the living room. We hung cute plates up in the kitchen. I reorganized all of the kitchen cabinets, and sorted through the buffet in our dining room. I pulled our throw pillows out of storage and put them on the couch. I bought a new shower curtain and liner. I reorganized our office bookshelves, finally put all of my pictures into photo storage boxes, and neatly stacked all of my craft and sewing supplies.

It's been an exhausting couple of weeks, but we are pleased with the results. Our house doesn't look that different, but it's clean and organized and finally has some stuff on the walls.

Now we can start thinking about the yard...