Luke Henry

Belly Updates



Almost 37 weeks

Amost 40 weeks 



Socks & Monkies

Stephanie and I made a trip to REI this week to pick up some of my favorite Smartwool Socks and we came across these "Baby Woolys"!  They were on the clearance rack, so we couldn't pass them up.

Once they were out of the package I noticed that Mr. Sock Monkey had his eye on them...

Nursery Reveal

After months of planning and hard work, we finally finished the baby room!  And quite possibly just in time, considering that my contractions are increasing in number, strength and frequency.  It was fun, overwhelming at times, challenging and worth the effort.  Dave worked so hard on furniture, painting and being creative to save money.  I am so blessed to have such a talented husband and I am proud of all his hard work and love that he enjoyed it as much as I did. 

This is the changing table.  It used to live in our den holding our TV, but we wanted something shorter. So Dave built a new beautiful TV stand and worked hard to re purpose this piece.  It was black and now is white with a rich espresso stained top that he built himself. We both think it looks better than it ever did with it's bad Pottery Barn finish.  The changing pad...perfectly covered by my very talented mom!  She worked so hard and it fits just great.  It's a perfect accent to that side of the room.  The pictures above...I painted the P on some wood that Dave stained to match, there are baby pics of each of us, a silhouette of the baby's best buddy to be, Dixie.  And the other items...Dave found on the internet and printed them.  In addition to his woodworking talent he has a knack for finding great things on the internet. We already had the baskets on the bottom.  They just needed some felt on the botttom keep the finish of the piece in good shape.

To spruce up the drawers we got some cute wrapping paper.  This was a fun DIY...we first attempted a tip that we found online with Mod Pog.  That was a bust...maybe because we do not know how to use it correctly.  But we did not want to give up...so we talked it out and decided that we could cut cardboard the size of the draws and spray glue the paper to it.  It worked great, and better yet, no damage to the furniture!

Moving around the room...

In researching the cloth diapers...we found this cute idea for them.  2 trash cans...one for the dirty diapers (thay get washed regularly, so no major odor issues) and the other for the used wipes that get tossed.  We will use those plastic bags from the grocery store for the trash can liners.  We will see how it works out.  At least for now it's cute and we will update you in a few months how it's working out :)

On the wall... another great internet find for Dave!  They are 8x8 and finding 8x8 frames is not easy and I was not about to spend $$ on custom frames.  Our solution: Dave cut 3 pieces of 8x8 wood, spray painted them white and we used our wonderful spray glue again to adhere them.  They turned out just great!

The drapery panels and pillow on the chair are other pieces of my mom's talent.  They look just great!  The lamp was a Home Goods find...love that store.  The side table was another creative collaboration. We took an old bar stool that we had, Dave cut it down, repainted the bottom and purchased a round wood top that he again, beautifully stained and attached.  It turned out so much better than I even imagined!

The dresser was an unfinished craig's list find that Dave worked his stain magic on again!  He tweaked the base and stained it espresso. The floating shelves were built by my hunny and they are a great decorative piece for the walls.

And of course, our little baby boy's room would not be complete without a John Deer Tractor and a Rural Retreat cow.  It's important that he always knows the roots of the Phillippe's. The tractor is a collortors item that Dave's Uncle Martin gave him years ago and the cow is something I painted a while back when Dave and I went to Paint Yur Pottery.  The random owl...it ties in the other pics and it's from my childhood.  It got a little face lift with some glossy white spray paint.  It looks better than it ever did in just dark glass.

And the drawers...cloth diapers and again cute wrapping paper lined drawers.  If you look close between all the pants you can see.

Here is the closet...you can't really tell in the pic, but it's blue inside like the ceiling.  Just a fun touch since we decided to not spend the money or time right now on doors.

The crib...the pics do not due the beautiful bedding justice.  More handy work of my mom.  It looks just beautiful.  She made the bumper, quilt and crib skirt. The skirt is ivory, with chocolate brown trim on the bottom to match the trim on the bumper.

And last, but not least...our DIY mobile.  Dave had orginally found these really cute pin wheel mobiles on Etsy, but they were our of our budget. So we came up with our own idea. We purchased some fun paper from Michael's and Dave made some paper airplanes.  With great attention to detail, he successfully balanced each plane and glued in the string.  It turned out just great and will be a fun piece for the baby look up at. 

I guess that is about it...we just love it.  In case you forgot where is started, check our earlier post here. Thanks hunny you did such a wonderful job! I look forward to to all the hours we will spend in there with our little one. 



One of these is not like the other!

Only a couple of weeks until the baby arrives...

Only 6 weeks to go

With only 6 weeks to go before the due date, we've been working hard to finish up the baby room and prepare for the little guy to meet us face to face.  Stephanie's energy level is low and I'm ready to rest as well before our normal schedule gets shaken up.

We've got some baby prep classes scheduled at the hospital this month and a little decorating to do, but that's about it.  We look forward to sharing some photos soon of the baby room!

31 years and 31 weeks

Yesterday we celebrated Stephanie's 31st birthday and we also celebrated 31 weeks of pregnancy!

The new crib

It's getting closer now with only 9 weeks left!  We've been working hard to make progress on the baby room the last two weeks and it's really starting to show.  Since we completed all the trim and paint last week we've been itching to put together the crib.  No I didn't end up making the crib, even though I wanted to, time didn't allow for me to tackle that sort of a job.  We did get help from my dad though in purchasing the crib and it looks great in the room.

We still have to finish staining a dresser and bring in the changing table I refinished and then we can start decorating.  Stephanie's mom is sewing up the crib bedding and draperies and we can't wait to see how they look!

baby room design

Stephanie and I have been spending too much time trying to decide what sorts of furniture and colors to put in the baby room.  Of course we've already shown some before and after paint photos, and now we want to reveal a little more of the design theme we've had in mind.

The fabric choice was not a fast one, in fact we've had lots of discussions and input from friends.  I think the colors make for a happy setting for the little guy when he arrives.  Which, by the way, we forgot to mention here on the blog.  I guess that late is better than never!

We've already purchased the crib and are in the process of painting a sideboard table we were using as a tv stand that will become the changing table.  We also found a small three drawer dresser on Craigslist that will get stained to match the dark color of the crib.  The plan is to find a nicely priced mirror to go above the dresser, but we might just find a frameless mirror and building a frame out of some walnut I've got saved in the garage.

This weekend I'll be installing the floor and door trim, so I've got a little more sweating to do in this Texas heat before we start putting all the furniture in the room.

the face of our baby boy

Last week we were invited to get a free 3D sonogram at the Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center where Stephanie has served in the past.  We've both have been anxious to see the baby again, but Stephanie's doctor wasn't planning to have one performed anytime soon, so we accepted with much excitement.  A picture is worth a thousand words...

I think he looks a lot like Stephanie, but he's still got a lot of growing to do over the next 3 months, so who knows what he'll look like come delivery time.

baby room and belly bump update

We've been hard at work the last two weeks on the nursery and it's starting to look more inviting than the dugeon it had been for the last 2+ years since we got married. I removed every evidence of the old and worn out trim and primed every wall in preparation or the new paint job. It had taken us some time to decide on just the right color, but we made the decision and moved forward and we are glad we did. We sure hope the little guy likes his new digs - I know I sure do!

BEFORE:

From Nursery

From Nursery

PRIMED WALLS:

From Nursery

From Nursery

Here is a shot of us testing out the paint color we eventually decided to use. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Navajo White. And you'll notice we've decided to paint the ceiling too in Benjamin Moore Iced Green (1/4 shade)! We had seen some others do it and Stephanie's mom suggested. We bought a few foam poster board and painted them so that we could mount them in the room. We recommend that you try it next time you have a couple of final paint colors picked out because it really helps you get a feel for the how they will look under your lighting conditions.

From Nursery

AFTER:

From Nursery

It's hard to get a sense of the true colors we chose, but we'll be posting more progress photos soon when there is some sun streaming in the windows to help showcase things. Oh and doesn't that baby bump look good! Only 3 more months to go! I've got to install the new trim and crown molding next and then it's onto putting together a crib. Lots to do for sure!

Summer update

It's been a very fun summer so far!

We've been anxiously watching our baby boy getting bigger inside Stephanie...

From Summer 2010

hanging out with Dixie under the dining room table...

From Summer 2010

eating cinnamon rolls - one of our favorite foods!

From Summer 2010

giving Dixie her every-other-week bath...

From Summer 2010

building a new media center for the living room...

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

continue to watch Stephanie's belly grow!!!

From Summer 2010

and visiting Stephanie's family at Lake Conroe for the 4th of July weekend...

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

From Summer 2010

We've got lots of work on the nursery lined up for the next several weeks, so stay tuned for some construction photos and a sneak peak at some of the colors, furnishings and decor we'll be using.