nursery

I've been avoiding posting anything about the nursery, because even though Dexter painted it several weeks ago, it has been a catch-all place for the things we didn't know what to do with, and as such has looked like this:

Not exactly baby friendly!

A few weeks ago, we ordered a crib to be handmade out of podo wood (I'd never heard of that before), and it finally arrived on Friday.  We spent Saturday morning organizing the room a bit.  Now I feel we can breathe a bit easier as things are really coming along.  The walls still need decorations and we could use a dresser and bookshelf, but those are all things that can happen after baby comes.

Here's the crib!  It can be converted into a toddler bed when the time is right.  I like the drawer of storage at the bottom for extra sheets & blankets, etc.

"Zero the Zebra"

 

There's a funny story to the giraffe above.  He was a gift from my mom at the baby shower I had in the States in November.  She decided he looked like "zero the zebra," even tho, of course, he is a giraffe!  We all had a good laugh at this slight oversight.  :) Even so, I think we'll stick with Zero for his name.   I think Baby will love him.

 

In case you can't tell, we're going with a safari-ish theme for the nursery.  I was fortunate to get these great sheets at Target (oh, how I wish there was one in Kenya!) while home.

And here's the quilt we'll hang eventually:

elephants!

In addition to organizing the nursery a bit, we also worked on installing the car seat.  Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a leading cause of death in Kenya, and we frequently pass horrific looking accidents as we travel to and from Nairobi.  As such, I wanted to get the safest option for our baby.  That turned out to be something from the US which my parents kindly lugged with them to Kenya when they visited in January.  It took Dexter an hour to get it (mostly) installed, but now we're ready to go!  I think it needs a bit more tweaking.  

 

 

I know it must look funny to see Dexter working in the back of the car, but that's because there are some extra fancy safety features (security straps) that attach into hooks in the back.  This car seat isn't going anywhere!  (Really, since it took so long to install it may just stay there forever).  We know, of course, our ultimate safety and security comes from God alone, and we never take for granted the smooth trips we've had so far. 

It was a productive Saturday!

19 days to go . . .

garden update

Probably you could do without an update on the garden(s) but I can't resist.  Our gardener, Daniel, has been doing an amazing job.  We get out there occasionally and water everything on the days he's not here, but can take no credit for it otherwise.

We have the flower garden beds surrounding the house.  It is fun to see it grow and change. And the color! Oh, the color! It has been very dry here in Kijabe lately. Even with all the watering that is done, we could use a good soaking to make things really flourish.

The best part of this is that I can walk around Kijabe with Daniel and point out the flowers blooming that I like, and I know in the next day or two they'll appear in our garden!

We have also begun to get some things into our vegetable garden. The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to go out and discover this:

Ok, it doesn't look like much, but these little green shoots are the beginnings of our first crop of sweet corn! I happen to love sweet corn, and am not above scheduling my time in the US to take advantage of when it is freshest in MA.  When we were in Long Island last summer visiting Matt & Erica, we picked up some seeds and thought we'd give it a go here.  Maize, which is a staple here in Kenya, is tougher and (obviously) not as sweet.  We have no idea how well this will do here, but we're excited to find out -- in about 60 or so more days.  I'm also hoping to get other standard things in here soon: zucchini, tomatoes, watermelon, etc.  Any one have other suggestions?

In other news, we're hoping to pick up our crib this weekend, which means we'll finally get moving on the nursery.  Nothing like waiting til crunch time! 26 more days to go!

the other baby Mulandi

My sister-in-law Jackie was pregnant at the same time as me, due just about a month prior.  It was nice to have someone else in Kenya to talk baby stuff with. As I mentioned in a previous post, they had a boy on February 22.  Dexter and I went to visit them at home on that Saturday, since we were unable to make it to the hospital.

I think Andrew, at four days old, was the smallest baby I've ever held. . . but not for long!

 getting in some practice

I'm not sure if holding a baby this tiny made us more prepared for our own baby or not, but it was nice to have a little bit of practice, and to hear about Jackie's experience in labor. 

I still think we should have a girl just to mix things up a bit!

35 and counting

Saturday will be 35 weeks pregnant -- only 5 to go!  So yesterday, Dexter and I went up to RVA to have a few photos taken by our friend Jenny to mark the occasion.  There can never be too many baby bump photos to remember this phase in life!  I find it hard to believe that we're fast approaching the end of this time.  I have really enjoyed being pregnant (probably because I have experienced no sickness or other problems) and I think I might even miss it a bit.  I will be glad to sleep on my stomach again, though!

So now the question is: Do you think I'm carrying a boy or a girl?  I've already gotten two votes for a girl.  I have no sense, really.  I hope we're having a girl.  My sister in law gave birth to a boy this week, and all my friends who are pregnant or who have recently given birth have boys.  I'd say it is time for a girl in the mix.  What do you think?

Also, a special thank you goes to my friend Brooke who has provided pretty much all of my maternity clothes! (Everything I'm wearing here, for sure).  It is great to be able to get so many things from others who have gone through this.  We have quite the stockpile of supplies already which is very helpful!

the breakfast nook

Our kitchen is long and has a natural separation of kitchen space and other space. We got a small table and called the other space our breakfast nook. Never mind that we've never actually eaten breakfast there. Perhaps some day.  It is nice to have the table there in the kitchen so that Dexter, or others, can sit with me while I'm cooking.

Last week, Dexter painted the nursery! It is still a catch-all room, and there's not much to show for it yet, so we'll have to wait to share more photos of that. With left over paint from that project, we decided to paint the nook.  It looks good.

Let me remind you where we came from:

This was the day the previous family was moving out, and our first look at what would be our new home.  Needless to say, we were not overly encouraged at the prospects ahead of us.

Unfortunately I don't have any of the after photos of the nook. Just of the kitchen so I'll post that here just so you can get a sense of how vastly things improved.

Already it was brighter with the white paint and new tile floors.  We are so thankful...even if it did take 3 long months for them to finish all the work!

On Thursday Dexter got out the paint again and went to work.

Not too bad for an after-work project, I'd say!  I'm still not totally sold on this yellow color for the baby's room, but we'll live with it for now, I guess. I hope that with other things in the room it won't feel so strong. 

There's still a few more things we'd like to paint (a wall in our bedroom, possibly the guest room) but I think for now we'll focus on other things.

Like getting the nursery in order! 7 weeks to go!

two

Monday was our second anniversary!  It seems hard to believe that it has already been two years since:

(just a few of my faves from the day)

Also this weekend we reached 32 weeks in the pregnancy, and Sunday was Dexter's 32nd birthday, so it was a big weekend for us!  To celebrate all these momentous occasions - and to get away for what might be the last time before baby comes - we went to Malu Lodge which is just a little ways away from here.  Even though we weren't so far away it felt like another world.  

The change of pace was exactly what we needed for the weekend, giving us time to reflect on two years, the upcoming baby and changes that will bring, as well as to look into the future years together.  As I said - 2 years down 70 to go!  

Malu has 1800 acres to explore, so we set off to the "plunge pool" walking over the river and through the woods. It was beautiful!

 probably not the brightest idea of all time

I relaxed by the river while Dexter was taking artsy photos and exploring the plunge pool

When we arrived back to our room, we saw this spectacular sunset.  Forgive the excess photos.

 32 weeks

Being away from the city (or security) lights meant that the night sky was spectacular, too! No photos of that, but we stood outside and enjoyed the stars, and even got see a shooting star!  It was a good night.

Just in case you think I went alone, here's proof that Dexter came, too. Here he is reading some dental journal in the sun and enjoying the slower pace of life.

our little cottage

We anticipate good things for this new year of our marriage.  A new baby! New responsibilities for Dexter at the Dental Clinic, changes big and small lie ahead of us and we look forward to them all.

Project One

Before we moved into this house we had grand plans for how we were going to repaint it.  We poured over paint swatches at Home Depot (and took many of them with us), we mapped out a plan, we consulted folks who'd had experience in this, and we got pretty excited.  And then we moved in...and went to the US...and hosted Christmas, and just generally got busy. Painting took a back burner to everything else.

Well!  After deciding to tone down our ambitions a bit, and start small, we picked up some paint on Saturday.  The most important room, of course is the nursery.  We've chosen a yellow to go with a lot of the items we already have.  We'll get to painting that in the next couple of weeks.  And we chose a coffee-ish color for the "dining room." 

Of course, I can't really help paint - the fumes are too much for me and Baby. So I was sent outside to water the garden with our new hose.  I wish Kenya had no VOC paints, then I could have lent a hand.

All in an afternoon's work!  It isn't vastly different, but it adds nice definition to the room - we like it! Not bad for "Project One" as Dexter keeps calling it.  I guess Project Two will be the baby's room.  Obviously, we need to get some decorations on this big bare wall.  We're thinking framed photos of...

wait for it .... 

cars! 

unless someone has a different suggestion?