Sit Back and Relax....

Now we actually CAN sit back and relax in Asa's room! Until now, the closest thing we had to a "chair" was the raccoon beanbag (which Matt still insists is an overfed squirrel). :) Not the most ideal, nor was it our intention to keep it that way. I have just been picky, and our town is somewhat limited in the shopping department (see previous post). ;)

For some reason, regular gliders often turned me off. The ones with the upholstery that wraps around the armrest are just not my style, and I don't care for how heavy they can look at the bottom from the side. They seem to really say, "BABY ROOM," to me, and I was hoping for something we could use more long term. I have nothing against them in general, they just are not what I envisioned for the room.

I LOVE the upholstered chair look, but they are SOO expensive. So I turned my attention to finding a good, old-fashioned rocking chair. It was harder than I thought! Saturday was our day to scour some shops in our town and one town over. We found 2 possible rocking chairs at one store in town and a glider at that same store (but it was only sold WITH the ottoman, and I do not want an ottoman at this time (as much as I think they are fun)--we do not enough room in the nursery). So off we went to keep gathering info at the next town.

We stopped at an unfinished wood store, and they didn't have any good rockers on the floor right now/in stock. Just one that had the seat very low to the ground--not comfy for me on a normal day (I'm too tall), much less pregnant, or if I have to have a c-section for some reason. They said they'd call us when they get their next shipment that has higher seats.

Next, we stopped at a store I knew had a reputation for carrying *expensive* baby furniture (think Crib N Carriage if you live in Ktown). But I knew they had knick-knacks, too, and we're looking for the perfect "lovey" for Asa. I knew if we didn't go look while we were there (about 45 minutes from our town), I might wonder, "What IF they had something." So we went. The SWEETEST lady greeted us and immediately started telling us all about their cribs (not in a pushy way, but before we could tell her we already have a crib and changing table). There was just a gentleness, a glow, and a joy about her. I noticed wall art all over the store with references to the Lord and Bible verses. Then I noticed they were playing a Christian music station throughout the store. It was a pleasant little break from the other stores. They did have some chairs in the store, and after looking at all the knick-knacks ($45 for a tiny lovey blanket??) we went to sit on them just for fun. I figured they would all be way out of the range of what we wanted to spend and way too big (especially in width) for the space we have. The lady came back over to tell us about several of them, and then she pointed out one they were selling as a floor model. It actually had a simple and streamlined look; not that I mind the wide ones or chair-and-a-half type chairs, but we just don't have the space for them. I sat it in, and it was the perfect balance of letting you sink just a little but then giving you lots of support. It was even a green and creamy upholstery--we wanted something gender neutral to work for years (and babies) to come, Lord willing. I believe the original price was $400 (I've seen it even higher online), it was marked to $350. She said she could probably get an even lower bottom line if we were interested. She went to ask the owner how low they could go. While she was gone, Matt told me he'd be really interested if she came back in the $200s at all, say $270-something. She came back and said, "$249." We were both shocked. Now, I know that's still a lot of money, but even the cheapest comfortable rocker we found was almost $200--and that's before buying cushions or buying foam and fabric to make my own cushions. This was one of THOSE incredible upholstered chairs that glides... one of those things I thought I could never justify buying ($400 list price???) much less find one that fit the space of the room.

So, we went back Sunday with a friend's truck to pick up our new chair! I am still in shock! It's too good to be true! Best of all, you could tell the lady was a Christian and she could tell we were. There was a sweet "bond" forged, and it was just amazing. She was genuinely excited for us and wanted to help us find something we liked. They sold it to us at cost--they will make no $$ on it (I think it does not come in "our" fabric pattern anymore). We are really excited to take a picture of it in his room and send her a copy with a thank you.

PRAISE THE LORD for TOTALLY unexpected blessings. Grace upon grace upon grace.

A close-up of the fabric with a quilt block I made.. aren't the greens a perfect match??


from the side


from the other side


the big picture


p.s. ignore the little red sticky notes on the wall, those are places my (wonderful!) perfectionist, engineer husband wants to touch up the paint on the walls (mostly where some pencil from our lines shows through faintly).

Things left that we'd like to do for the nursery:
-install a ceiling fan
-put blinds back in windows
-put a few (2?) shelves on the wall above the bookshelf/light switch
-paint the tree mural
-find a sweet lovey for Asa (and get more than one this time for when the lovely is misplaced or needs to be washed... it was our intention for the dogaroo to be his lovey... but we only bought one and can't find it anymore at the store :-()
-cut material and sew CURTAINS!
-find a little side table for next to the chair
-find a little lamp for the little side table
-find a hamper for Asa's dirty clothes (I'm enjoying that they're all clean for now!) :) hehe
-I was going to paint wooden letters for Asa's name, but my AMAZING friend Trish is ordering these incredible, custom-made letters as a baby shower present we'll receive in May! I am SOOOO excited!
-finish cleaning out the closet (basically, moving suitcases and a few boxes to other closets/attic)

...11 weeks... (give or take a few)... you think we can do it? I think so. :) We're sticking with the "musts" first (such as the fan) and other things--even the tree mural if it has to--could always come later.

Stay tuned for a recap of our latest visit. Everything is "perfect" according to the midwives! PRAISE THE LORD! :)