Guest Bathroom

I think the guest bathroom is the biggest transformation we have accomplished so far. This is mainly due to the fact that it was so shockingly blue to begin with, so anything that tones that down is agreeable in my book. 

Before shot #1

With new walls, floor, shower curtain, shelf, and even the toilet handle.

I love these towel hooks (numbered 1-4) that I got on sale at Pottery Barn.

Before shot #2 

 Just changing the light shades made a world of difference. I think it cost about $10. I still plan on putting white picture frame moulding around the mirror, and we want to get a new vanity top with a new sink and faucet. I also have new hardware for the cabinets and a kit to stain them a darker color. Hopefully I'll be able to show the improved vanity and mirror soon enough.

Another shot of the counter and the much improved light.

Here is the most important (and time consuming) part of the transformation. Tile floor!

Ryan did an incredible job figuring out how to cut, lay, grout, and seal tile. 

And we are now the proud owners of a tile saw :)

The final product! 

We want to do the same floor in the master bathroom, but that's down the road a bit still.

  This bathroom has seen a lot of use these past few days since we have been blessed to have so many visitors for Christmas!

So Preggo...

Just for fun I thought I'd put up my weekly progress pictures. It's been incredible to watch the belly grow and picture my little Audrey getting so big inside. I wish I had started recording this sooner, but feeling pudgy not pregnant wasn't my favorite.

I'm 34 weeks now and according to my book that means she is almost 5 pounds and 19 3/4 inches long. That seems so big! I can tell it's getting more crowded for her in there because her movements have become less frequent but stronger. I imagine that I can tell what is her little shoulder versus her rear end, but in reality I could be way off. She definitely tends to prefer my right side for some reason. It's always pushing out farther. Ryan and I both love giving her little pats and pokes and feeling her push back. It's crazy for me to think that she'll be here in just 6 weeks now, if everything stays according to plan. As much as I want to meet her I do hope she keeps cooking like she's supposed to. The inconvenience of having a big belly is beginning to wear on me a little, though. I feel like a whale when I get up from sitting and sleeping. And I have definitely mastered an awkward (looking and feeling) squat in order to get things off the floor. I know it'll all be more than worth it, but 6 more weeks of growth does seem a bit much.

Enough of me, now for Audrey's pictures :)

Our first picture of her when she was just a wee little bean at 13.5 weeks and less than 3 inches. I think I stared at this picture for hours each day after we got it and got all teary every time.

At 17 weeks we found out she was a girl! 

It was my birthday present :) 

My parents got to be here for it too, so that was awesome.

I feel this little foot a lot! (17 weeks)

I wish this was a wave, but more likely she's hiding from the camera... Just like her daddy :) Either way, her little webbed fingers are just precious. (17 weeks)

(Side note: I had a dream last week that she actually punched so hard she broke through my belly and her little hand grasped my finger so tightly! Sounds a little gory and bloody when you're awake, but it was incredible in my dream!)

Her sweet profile, maybe about to suck her thumb? (20 weeks)

And this one is my all time favorite. (20 weeks) Ryan looks at it on our fridge and always says she looks like an angel. I just LOVE this little face! It melts my heart.

Be Our Guest

I didn't post these pictures sooner because I was finishing a quick project with the picture above the bed. My grandma painted the picture many years ago, and last time I was in Arizona visiting her I got to pick a painting out of her stash. I liked this one a lot, and what makes it even better is that (using both sides of the paper to save money) there is another one on the back that I love too! So I can switch it up when I feel like it :) She gave it to me in the frame, which is awesome since it's pretty big. But I decided to paint the frame white and re-mat it with burlap fabric. I love the way it turned out. It shows of the painting more and looks better against the wall color.

So, without much further ado, here is our main guest room.

The before shot.

And after

Bashe's painting above the bed. It's a boy fishing by a river, in case you can't tell.

The opposite wall. 

I want to hang pictures of everyone who comes to visit in the center clip frame, but I haven't done that yet. I need to collect a few...

And here is our second guest room. 

(Eventually it'll be the second nursery! One baby at a time, I know, but still I've been dreaming about how I would do this room for #2)

Before

After 

(The one room I didn't have to paint! I might even leave the color for nursery #2, but who knows what might inspire me then...)

So, as you can see, both rooms got new carpet, which helped a ton! Neither beds have headboards, so that'll come eventually. I want to paint and add knobs to the dresser in the twin room (it's one that Ryan brought with him out of bachelorhood. So is the bed. I think he got both for free, knowing bachelor Ryan). We'll see if I get around to painting it in the near future or just wait and make it fit with whatever the plan ends up being for the nursery. (My ideas for if we have a boy are pretty cute!) Both the wicker tray table in the queen room and the little antique nightstand in the twin room came from my mom, and I love them. 

There you have it. Come visit us and this is where you'll stay! Or on the futon in the basement :) Sonya and Elijah broke that one in for us. Our first guests were my parents in August. (We got the queen bed the day before they arrived!) They came out for my birthday and got to be with us when we found out Audrey is a girl! They also took us to the US Open in New York--Ryan's dream come true! Next came Ryan's parents, Grandma Jennetta, Candyce, Jeff, Carina, Zach, and Sonya & Elijah! Full house in September! It was awesome. Hershey Chocolate World, Sesame St. World, and apple picking were the highlights of that trip. Then Alan and Adele (Ryan's aunt and uncle) came in October, right in time for our crazy snowstorm that took everyone by surprise! They were touring around Gettysburg and on their way to DC, so they stopped by for a few days. Thanks guys!

Next up we have Ryan's parents coming for Christmas, and my whole family coming out right after and staying through New Years. I can't wait! 

Who's next???

Audrey's First Party

The home tour will continue, but I wanted to post some pictures of the amazing shower my sisters (and mom...yes, you get credit too!) threw for me and Audrey. All I can say is that my baby is already one loved (and spoiled!) little girl. It was an incredible party with so many sweet details. They really went to town.

My sister Marie hosted it at her unbelievably cute house. 

The drink station... glass bottles with cute straws! I loved it :)

Lots of yummy sweets!

And even more tiny pink outfits! I was in heaven :)

My grandparents cut out all the squares for this quilt and cut the fringe trim. How sweet is that.

Aunt Nicole made adorable letters for her room! (...REY in the box :)

There was a crafty station for making little hair clips and headbands for Audrey. (Now she has no choice but to be a girly girl!)

Complete with instructions and lots of supplies!

Marie, Sarah and Joy are getting creative :) 

Past roomies! (note: My non-maternity dress did not do a good job of showing off my bump, which is too bad because I love it! It was also way too warm, and I was sweating like crazy! I didn't come prepared for 80 degree weather... The original plan was to wear tights and boots with it. Nixed that idea!)

Wonderful teacher friends.

More teacher friends!

And my lovely cousin who came all the way from England (and who took all these pictures. Thanks!)

Once I get my hands on more pictures I'll put those up too!

First Things First (and the blog name explained)

So, I'm starting a blog...
I confess I have been considering it since we found out I was pregnant. I liked the idea of having a fun way to share pictures and stories of our little girl with family and friends who are far away (and that's everyone). The thought of plastering her cute face all over facebook didn't really appeal to me. Two things stood in my way, however: a) I couldn't come up with a name for this blog, and b) I couldn't muster up enough motivation to actually get it going. Thankfully, both of these problems were taken care of when I went home for Thanksgiving and my baby shower. So, to begin with, the name...Denise (my mother-in-law) and Sonya (my sister-in-law) had both told me a couple months ago that my nephew, Elijah (2 1/2 years old), has been working on saying Baby Audrey's name. But the closest his little mouth could get it was Baby Laundry. So cute. I wouldn't mind the nickname sticking :) I told this story at the shower. That evening a group of us were hanging out to celebrate Ryan's 30th birthday, and my amazing friends since freshman year of college said to me that they decided I should start a blog called Baby Laundry and show Audrey in all the adorable little outfits she got earlier that day (thanks girls!). It was also brought to my attention (again) that I haven't showed people pictures of our house here in Pennsylvania and all the work we've been doing on it. The main reason for that is because very few rooms are finished with the updates we've been doing. But apparently that's not a good enough reason. So if you like work-in-progress pictures, that's what I can give you. And there's the motivation I needed. Before Audrey comes and the blog serves it's real purpose I can show you everything that has been keeping us busy these last few months and all that we've been working on to prepare for her much anticipated arrival.

Let the home tour begin. The best place to start is with the room we tackled first and is therefore closest to being finished--our master bedroom. Here are two "before" shots from the day we moved in.

Notice the lovely shade of yellow you can see in the bathroom. It is actually quite neon and nothing has been done about it yet. The bathroom has a long way to go...
But the bedroom is looking better :) Here is how it looks today:

 I went with a grey, taupe, and cream color scheme. (I'm not a fan of the color of the bench cushion, but I haven't found a replacement yet. I'm thinking a paler, natural color linen fabric would be nice.)

 My dresser.

 Ryan's dresser and closet.

This chair doesn't typically sit here. I'm still searching for a nice cozy one to curl up and read in, and not having it yet is really the only thing that makes this room unfinished. This one gets to sit here for now while the Christmas tree occupies it's usual spot downstairs. My closet door (a walk-in) is to the left of the bathroom door pictured here (which I closed to spare your eyes from being blinded by the neon yellow).

A wider room shot.

So, the main work we did here was new paint and carpet. The wall color ended up having a bit more of a blueish tint that I expected, but it works. And the carpet upgrade happened over the entire upstairs. It was a pretty desperate situation. Every room was that same very worn blue color, and then the hall was a nasty dirty tan color. Our new carpet is quite plush :) 

OK, so that's it for my first post. I'm not sure how often I'll be doing this, but I think the guest room and bathroom will be up next. Stay tuned...