Little Sister's Nursery

We've finally put the finishing touches on our little girl's nursery. I had so much fun putting together a girlie room! We painted a few months ago, which included painting our main living area as well. It took a couple days and the nursery stayed empty for a long time afterward, but we are thrilled with the result. Ben + my brother Cody also scraped the popcorn ceiling off in the nursery. It's something we'd love to do to the entire house but would be quite the undertaking. So we started with that room since it's small and would be empty for painting anyway. I love the way it makes the room look instantly brighter and bigger.

Here are a few pictures of the room before it's transformation. It started out as Malakai's nursery when we moved here, he was 9 months old. We have 3 bedrooms in our teeny house, and the 3rd was a guest room until we transformed it into a play room and then a nursery for Desmond. Nearly a year ago we moved Malakai into that room with Desmond so we could remove all toys (distractions) from where they would be sleeping and have a dedicated "play room" in Malakai's previous room. When we found out we were expecting, naturally the playroom would become baby #3's nursery.

{just after we moved in, March 2010}

{after we moved the boys to share the 3rd bedroom and turned this one into a playroom}

When we found out we'd be welcoming a baby girl I thought we would leave it green and add dark pink accents. I loved this green in our previous home, but it was a much bigger room with 2 windows and wood floors. I didn't love it as much in this house; with less lighting it didn't look as cool and light. The more I looked around for inspiration I started to change my mind. I fell in love with the idea of a light grey nursery with coral and peach accents. Somewhere along the way I decided to include arrows to represent their meaning in Psalm 127. 

Once we got the crib and started putting some pieces together I got more and more excited about the color scheme. I had a hard time finding both coral and peach pieces but was able to acquire several things through our baby shower, gifts, and DIY projects.

The teething rail guard is a must right off the bat because of all the horrendous teething marks the boys left on the crib. I made this simple no-sew version from some peachy fleece Ben's mom bought for me. It matches the peach on the quilt she made as well. I wanted to make a crib skirt but couldn't find the perfect fabric, or the time. I ran into a queen sized bed skirt we had on our guest bed years ago tucked away in the linen closet and made it work by clipping it to the crib support underneath the mattress, making it adjustable as well! It's not perfect, but it works to make a nice hidden storage area under the crib for sheets and other things.

Much of the decor came from the decorations at my baby shower. The pom poms above the crib, the bunting and scripture above the changing table, the letter P on the floating shelf, even the curtains which my mom sewed up from the table runners. The basket that I have the diapers in held a gift from my friend Carina. 

Liz also painted the gorgeous peonies (which were on the invites she had made for my shower) and made the wooden arrow sign above the shelves.  Malakai made the decorations underneath. 

I love the simplicity of our little nursery and the way the bright coral and peach colors really pop in contrast to the neutral grey walls and dark espresso furniture. I'd still like to add some softer peach accents, and I may in the future or as our needs in this room change.

Our crib and changing table/dresser have lasted us since Malakai was born 5 years ago. They've got some cosmetic wear and tear but we still love them. The glider is new and was a gift from my parents, we love it so far and I can't wait to rock sweet little sister in it soon! 

DIY decor

While I wait on some laundry (yahoo!) I'm working on some prints today. I can't wait to hang these in Kai's room...

Ben + I sang this song over and over to Malakai when he was a baby. After all those sleepless nights, it's still a favorite in our house.

as usual

Just like always we have been busy little bees around here. Still in full potty-training mode with Kai and he's decided to add furniture-climber to his resume. We did a little furniture switch-a-roo last night which helped keep him off of the low dresser/changer at nap time, but he's still tempted by it in the playroom/Desmond's nursery.

Yes, the playroom is basically Des' nursery now. The crib has been in there since we put Kai's twin mattress in his room back in December, but the changer was still in his bedroom. Now that the crib and changer are back together, it's looking like a nursery...with a LOT of toys everywhere. I think it'll work well as both for now, but I'm sure it's not the last time we transition the two rooms. I don't think we'll be able to put them to bed in the same room for a very long time, so even though our home is small, I'm so thankful that we have 3 separate bedrooms!

Desmond's teething has calmed down a bit, which means better sleep...but not necessarily less drool yet. Kai was never a drooler, so this is new territory for us. I'm not sure if I should just carry around a burp cloth or put a bib on him. Maybe both.

I just updated my Project 365 blog. I always get backed up over the weekend.

Now I need to get back to tidying things up around here in preparation for tomorrow's small group meeting. Always busy, but super blessed.

photo Friday

Malakai turned 8 months on Tuesday and we had our monthly photoshoot.

We started out with the jammies he was already wearing...

Then mama decided to be brave...

don't ya just love a naked baby bum?

he obviously enjoyed it...

this shot cracks me up. It's like he's embarrassed!

Then we put on an outfit for some more photos...

He matched the walls

and clashed with his bedding

we both had a great time.

enjoying the wait

Today I settled into patience and decided to enjoy the wait. I've been so anxious to meet our little man and have these daily contractions progress to active labor that I've made myself miserable. I'm not even to my due date, but have been feeling overdue since my doc said I'm most likely give birth early.

I found joy in spending quality time with my husband- even while doing household chores. We also went for a walk in the sunshine and watched a movie. It was a lovely day with a perfect balance of getting things done to keep order in the house and relaxing. Even though I feel like I'll be pregnant forever, it won't be much longer before our days as a twosome are a distant memory. I've decided to tone down the grumbling (even though Ben is beyond understanding of my impatience and discomfort) and trade it in for a grateful attitude.

I've decided to not be such a punk- but I don't know that I'll be appearing solo in many more pictures. I'm really feeling self-conscious even though I know it's normal, I just don't feel like I look like me anymore. Mostly it's that I look more exhausted than I feel- which is pretty bad.
Anyway, here's a photo of us before we went out to dinner on our 2 year anniversary


Oh and we finished the nursery. I still tinker in there just about every day and change things slightly, but here are some photos of the finished product. I'm quite pleased with it and love to just sit in there and look around.
The green walls look truest to their color in the first picture because I didn't use the flash. The rest are a bit washed out.

I'm so nursery obsessed this week

I think it was the trip to BRU that did it for me...I'm loving planning and can't wait to be able to actually put it all together.

I saw this bedding not too long ago, but didn't love it at first. I think I was still mourning over the Turtle Bay set being discontinued.

My boss showed it to me again today and I've decided that I must have it...

First Nursery Purchase!

Before I even got pregnant, Ben and I had a plan for what we wanted the nursery to look like. It's not a super detailed plan, just colors and a general theme. This was inspired by my discovery of the CoCaLo Turtle Bay Collection that I recently learned has been discontinued.

Since I could no longer register for these items I've been searching to find deals online before they were gone. Babies R Us has nothing left, nor does Target, and most of the online stores just have the lightswitch cover and wallpaper border- both items I wasn't planning on getting.

Last night I finally found three of my favorite and must-have items online at Bed, Bath, and Beyond- much to my surprise.

The first is my favorite, the rug- we have hardwood floors so a rug in the nursery is a must!

The second is a mobile, which will be the only item to tie the crib into the decor since the bedding isn't available.

And last are the wall hangings. I'm excited to be able to take one of these with us to register to match colors as closely as possible.