Nesting..1,2,3...

Mommy nesting at 39 weeks...

They say nesting is a natural phase of pregnancy. Helpful and healthy, it aides Mom in preparing for the new arrival by providing supernatural energy to complete tasks that no sane individual with a growth the size of a small watermelon on their abdonmen would normally attempt to complete. What else can explain a gestating female scouring kitchen floors on her hands and knees two days prior to her due date?

Still, natural or not, there comes a point in every woman's pregnancy where she realizes she's lost her mind. Yes, that handy instinct has gone one step too far. I've had friends who scrubbed their baseboards with a toothbrush, took apart the crib to clean each slat, wiped down their entire collection of DVDs with Lysol wipes, and steam sterilized every last piece of fabric in their home (even the valance above the master bed)...twice.

Truth be told, I can't exactly relate. For the most part, when I nest by cleaning, I do "projects" that I'm sure normal homemakers do all the time - pregnant or not. Things like organizing my spices, wiping out the silverware drawer, and vacuuming under the couch cushions. Sure, there was the one time I scrubbed the interior of the kitchen hood for 45 minutes with a toothbrush and then spent an hour in the shower with hydrogen peroxide going over each line of grout, but, for the most part, my style of nesting is less about scrubbing and sterilizing and more about staining, sanding, spray painting, and sewing.

Yup, I'm a decorator. An extreme decorator. If I've got a new chick on the way, I'm going to the feather the heck out of my nest! And you can bet your butt those feathers will be color coordinated and perfectly aligned.

It all starts out innocently enough. I might decide to spruce up the master bedroom with some new sheets. I might finally get around to rearranging the candles on the mantle so they cast a better glow over the table. Or, I'll pick out some fabrics to accent the baby's nursery bedding, which I've sworn I will buy off the rack and not make by hand.

But it always ends the same way. In that "I've gone crazy" moment where you realize you've lost your mind and this baby better come soon or your whole family and home is doomed to be covered in glitter and color coordinating contact paper.

Last pregnancy, that moment came about three weeks before MJ did. Ever the diligent first time Mom, I'd already finished his entirely handmade nursery, including hand-sewn bedding, sheets, bumper cover, curtains, basket liners, a hamper liner, and changing pad cover. (Did I mention that I barely knew how to sew before I got pregnant? Um, yeah..)

Having covered pretty much every last surface of his room in coordinating nautical fabrics, I was left without anything to sew. No problem! I started in on the Modge Podge. I began covering wooden toys and frames to accent his bookshelves. And then my husband came home one day and found me covering the light switch in MJ's nursery with fabric and Modge Podge.

He wisely took away my sewing machine. And the Modge Podge. It was time.

This time around, you'd think I'd be prepared. You'd think we'd lock away my sewing machine, have me banned from Michael's Crafts store, and take away my internet access so I can't get any wild ideas.

But yet, the moment came anyway.

This pregnancy's moment came surprisingly early - November in fact. I'd seen this nifty little sign on Pinterest,  and I knew I just had to have it. Finding the time to make it while pregnant with a toddler was a challenge. But, one rainy weekend, when my husband took my son to visit his grandparents, I jumped at the chance.

I was determined, no obsessed, with making this sign. I got up after just five hours of sleep (I was preparing for MJ's birthday party) and wondered the aisles of Home Depot to get just the right piece of wood and perfect shade of stain. Then I had to find the leaves. But, because it was already November, the craft stores were out of faux leaves (I guess all the normal folks had moved onto Christmas?). I'd need to use real ones.

Our new backyard is beautiful, but it doesn't have any of these types of trees. And, since fall had arrived late, most of the trees on my block hadn't yet turned from their summer green.

What's a girl to do? A normal girl probably gives up and puts the project away for next year. But a pregnant Jennie drives around her neighborhood for hours, stalking the perfect tree. She considers stealing leaves from her neighbor's leaf pile and also considers knocking on another's door to ask if she can pick leaves from the lower branches that are just the perfect hue of orange.

Since that's just too creepy for words, Crazy Jennie settles on a tree at the local park that has some decent leaves that have fallen. But when that proves not to be enough, she goes home and gets a step stool so she can climb up the tree to get more. In the rain. After dark.

Yes, there I was, in one of the worst storms of the season - in the middle of pouring down rain, wind, thunder, and night falling rapidly - hanging seven months pregnant out of a tree eagerly picking orange and yellow leaves for my sign.

That's when I knew. I'd gone too far. I'd hit the crazy phase of nesting. And the worst part was I still had nearly three months to go in my pregnancy...

But doesn't the sign look awesome?

 I love it. Totally worth the crazy stares from the residents across from the park who came out to clear their gutters while I was leaf picking.

I thought perhaps an early start to my madness might mean a big burst of nesting and then it'd be done. No such luck. Thanks to Pinterest, I've been in nesting overdrive.

Here's just a sample of the projects I've recently completed:

Love Sign.

I saw this one on Pinterest, too. Mine is slightly different, but I love it. It's another one of my nesting projects that required sanding, staining, and sawing. And for some reason, it was essential that I finished this prior to giving birth.

My Valentine's mantle (Still not done, really...)

My burlap heart wreath (God forbid the baby come home to a naked front door. That would be just tragic.)

My new linen closet.

My sister started me on this one, organizing it over Christmas when she came. Then Michael's had a 50% off sale on baskets. I love baskets. I cannot stop buying them. I spray painted them all to match and added cute Chevron shelf lining paper to make it even prettier. Hurray.

My new fridge.

My husband and I are notorious for having an overstocked fridge. It's messy and wasteful. So, I wanted to organize it. It started with these labels (also seen on Pinterest). And then I found the most adorable pink baskets at the 99 cent store for (you guessed it!) 99 cents. Love. I almost ordered custom fridge liners, but decided to just start with the same Chevron gray shelf lining paper I'd used in the linen closet to see how I liked it.

I love it. :)

And to go with my new fridge, freezer meals. I spent three hours making nearly a dozen. Half were lost in the great refrigerator meltdown of 2013 (our new outdoor fridge temporarily went on strike and I lost nearly all of its contents), but I'm still hooked. Now, post baby, I'll be able to open the freezer and pull out the fixings for a tasty crock pot meal, like this one.

By this point, I was obsessed with organizing. I set up a bill binder, a home management binder, and a finance folder (all in coordinating, adorable pink office supplies purchased for 60% off at the Office Depot's moving sale - yippee!).

Aren't they cute?

But I needed a place to keep them. We don't have an office in our new home. Granted, we have a fourth bedroom but I plan to turn that into a playroom/guest bedroom fairly soon. I'm not sure if we'll have room for a desk in there, or if I'll want our important documents within fingers reach of finger paint...

We briefly discussed (or should I say argued, ahem...) purchasing a desk and putting it elsewhere in the home. But with a remodel on the horizon, I couldn't see putting money toward a piece of furniture without knowing where it will ultimately live, much less if we'll ever use it (we have never used a desk, so I'm a tad skeptical).

Enter the laundry room "office".

I wanted to use a wasted corner in the laundry room, so I found some super cute shelves (pink brackets!) at Ikea, which my fabulous hubby installed for me. They ended up being way cheaper than anticipated (the ones I originally wanted were too big), so I had money left over in my $100 budget to get all kinds of cute (pink!) office supplies.

This fabulous "desk" alternative now serves as filing system for the filing-phobic (which we truly are), a spot for the previously mentioned binders and folders, and a holding place for receipts, invitations, coupons, and gift cards. Our calendar sits on the opposite wall and I plan to make a small, fabric covered magnet board to hold flyers and other important notes in the future.

While I've still got a list of organizing projects to do, not all of my projects are practical.

I decided I'm sick of our master bedroom looking like a dorm room. We had horrible mismatched nightstands and an ugly dresser that belonged to me as a little girl. We had no curtains, no headboard, no bedskirt, nothing to create a romantic, peaceful environment.

Enter my cute new night stands, found at Cost Plus for a STEAL!

And, an upholstered headboard, a baby gift from our contractor and decorator friends. It uses some of the beautiful fabrics I'd purchased over three years ago with plans of decorating our master bedroom. It will have nailhead trim added once it arrives from Amazon. :)

I still need to sew curtains and the bedskirt. We'll see if I find the time....

But, of course, my biggest nesting project has been the baby's nursery. I can't wait to show you all the hard work we've put in, but we're still working on it! Nothing like last minute, huh?

As for when the nesting will stop. Only God and Baby Bug know for sure. I may not be running out of things to decorate, but I am running low on sanity. And I've stared cleaning again, truly a sign of desperation. I vacuumed the ceiling tonight (it looked dirty). That's got to count for something, right?

So, until you see the announcement that the baby has finally come, you can probably find me on Pinterest, at Michael's Crafts, or spray painting something in the garage. And if I'm not there, check your garage. It's possible I've moved on to other's homes...