a true act of love

I am not sure when it was that Brady and I started talking about babies. I do know that for a long time it was a dreamy way like "Someday, when we have a baby...". But as long as that has been, Brady has talked about his desire to build our baby's crib. What a sweet guy. The sweeter guy, however, is Brady's dad. When a baby become a reality, Brady shared this dream with Glen, who never turned the idea down or said it was too ambitious. As we planned our trip home for Christmas, Brady and his dad talked more and more about the crib. I have to say, it always made me smile. A first time dad and first time Grandpa making plans for our baby girl.

The plans for our crib hanging in Glen's garage.

Glen must have known all along what an enormous commitment this grand scheme was. Brady and I definitely didn't. I am so grateful for such supportive in-laws. They are so excited about welcoming this baby and they definitely showed it, especially Glen. I don't know how many hours he spent in the garage over his Christmas break, but I know we will always be indebted to him. In the end, every member of the family helped at different stages.

When we have shared with friends what we did over Christmas, I don't think they really understand what "we built a crib with Brady's dad" really means so I want to give a documentation of the process.


Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the raw maple before the project began, but you can see the wood here after planing it down.

It was amazing how much wood is shaved off in order to make the raw wood usable.

I got excited when I saw these pieces which eventually became the top rails of the crib. I could just start to imagine the end product.

Here are the 44 rungs. Which, after cutting them, sanding them, sanding them again, gluing them into place and then staining them and lacquering them (and sanding them in between) is a whole lot of rungs!

Brady and I came home one day to find Glen and Michele deep into the most difficult step: making the curved sides. Figuring out how to do this step kept Glen up many nights.

That isn't snow floating in front of the camera, just a thick sawdust cloud.

This is a side view of the top rail after it had been cut.

And again after it had been sanded carefully with a belt sander.

My favorite picture of our baby's Grandpa as he works and works to make the perfect crib.

The final steps. This is when Brady and Glen were drilling holes for placing the side rails.

Two incredible men who created a family heirloom.

If I had known how difficult staining and lacquering would be, I would have insisted Glen help us with that step too. :) Now we just need the bottom frame and a mattress (and a baby). Thank you again Glen for all your masterful work and for not dashing Brady's dream of building a crib. You are already a wonderful Grandpa!