R-I-L-E-Y AND RILEY WAS HIS NAMO!

Well I've spent the last few weeks painting. I've been painting letters. What started out looking like a fun relaxing way to make something for Riley turned into frustrating - "Want to get it perfect" - "Darn it!" - "Have to fix that!" couple of weeks. I know that it should not have taken me so long and it's not that I worked on it every night or anything - but I've found out recently that after work since I'm pregnant I'm tired. I just do not have the energy that I once did (Will I ever again??) to get things done when I get home from work. And...if I need to go somewhere like the grocery store, I better do it before I get home or it's like pulling teeth to make me leave the sanctity of my home and the couch.

So I started out by buying the letters at Hobby Lobby and then picking out the paint. I even bought spray paint for the base coat - but I don't know if I was my fault or the paints (lets assume it was the paint's) but I couldn't get it to work. So I put on two white base coats with the acrylic paint.
Then I don't think you tell from this angle, but I painted the back and edges navy blue.
Then I put painters tape on the edges and painted each letter face a different color. Then I removed the painters tape along with a lot of the blue paint from the edges!!
ARgggg... Then I had to touch up the blue that was removed. Then for the designs. I started off trying to make lines - which I couldn't get either straight or consistent in size. So...after fixing that by repainting the entire faces - I found the perfect shape to make was circles - by dipping an eraser of the pencil into paint and stamping it on. Then once I figured out that I needed more than one pencil - my hands were getting chapped from the numerous hand washings between color changes (I even joked to Todd that I was never going to wash my hands again. Which was totally a joke - a gross one when you think about it - so don't be afraid to shake my hands I am continuing the good hygene of washing my manos) -the letters really started to take shape (as it were). The large circles are the top of water bottles dipped int paint. All in all I think they turned out cute. I also painted a shelf that I am going to glue the letters to (I don't want to spend endless hours picking each letter up after it falls off the shelf. So Wah-lah, here is the finished product:
















Todd has been busy painting too. The nursery is now painted. This picture looks a little dark - but it is much lighter than this picture looks.
Now all we have to do is put up the boarder, hang the curtains (also navy blue), take the crib and dresser out of the boxes in the garage, put the crib together, put up the pictures, buy a glider rocker and ottman, get a lamp (or night light), wash all the baby clothes and sheets and blankets, buy all the other baby paraphernalia, and then we will be ready for the baby. Wow. Good thing we have a couple of months left :-) Actually we're doing good - we just have more to go. I'll keep you posted as to where we are in the process.

In other knitting news - I also finished Riley's sweater outfit and I also made one for Alexandra my girlfriend Val's girl that she is having on Tuesday. Yes, Tuesday - I would be freaking out if I was that close to the big day. (Riley's is green and Alex's is the cream).
Since George has been absent in the last few blogs - he insisted that he could wear the booties in the blog - I told him he could stand by them instead.

In other George news, George came upstairs this Sunday morning to wake me up and had me follow him down stairs. When we got there - he sprinted (yes, actual running occurred) across the floor to the back door so that I could put him in his coop!! What George didn't quite realize was that it was only 33F outside. But I put him out anyway. The look on his face and the crying when I went to go get him in a couple of minutes was priceless. Take a look for yourself:
Yah, I think George was ready to go. As am I ...talk to you later!