Finally...

The dresser/changing table is done!! As planned, Grandpa and Grandma and my parents came out at the end of October and helped us (or rather, Mister, Dad, and Grandpa) strip and sand the dresser.

Mister and I did a few hours of sanding ourselves later, but they did an awesome job and really got the hardest part all done!

The dresser turned out the best of any furniture we've stained before, and I think its because of the experts that helped us so much -- thanks Grandpa and Dad!  I think that if I could always have the stripping and sanding done for me, I would stain furniture all the time--the actual staining part is so fun! Painted wood is pretty too, and certainly easier, but after stripping off that white paint, painting the stain in and watching the real wood grain come out is SO rewarding and beautiful!  The only problem is that I absolutely HATE the tedious process of stripping and the many hours of sanding required before staining!

We chose the color "Dark Walnut" by Minwax. The color of the crib is actually Espresso, but, strangely enough Minwax doesnt make an espresso shade, and I wanted to stick with Minwax because I've used it before. Actually, Mr Lowe's Guy said on the phone that if I wanted to bring in the piece of furniture I wanted to match, he could mix a color for me...call me crazy but I really didn't feel like Idragging the crib into Lowe's just to get an exact color match? Nope, not worth it. And we love the color that it turned out anyways:)

We moved it up a few weeks ago...too early actually.  The stain was not drying very quickly because of how cold it was in the garage, so we figured moving it inside it would actually dry quicker -- that turned out to be true, but we made a big mess in the process. Apparently some stain seeped onto the bottom of the legs and was of course still wet. The dresser is alot heavier than it looks, so we had to take a break while moving it up the stairs...and we left four big stain marks on the carpet! Then again in the upstairs hallway Mister just couldnt hold it any longer and had to let it down...it looks like Maya had four perfectly spaced apart "accidents" in the hallway! We finally got it into the room and onto some paper, which we were able to move a few days later (it DID dry much quicker inside), and after researching online we were able to clean up the stains for the most part (using paint thinner -- who knew?!). However, the paint thinner we used smelled pretty strong and our wimp of a puppy is still afraid of the stains on the stairs -- she actually walks carefully around them as she goes downstairs.

I want to put shelf paper in these drawers eventually, but I was just too excited to get all of Caleb's stuff moved in to worry about it now, so I just found some towels for now:)

Its so fun to have everything moved into drawers and organized -- its good for my OCD:)

Eventually I will put a collage of pictures of him above the dresser, and also I was thinking a verse?

 Maybe Psalm 139...

Well, soon the nursery will be completely ready and then the rest will be up to Caleb...