Little Mister's Nursery Tour

Welcome to the nursery! Inspired by sea-glass and wild adventures!

Decorating nurseries are seriously my favorite thing. I loved decorating for Ariana and I loved decorating for our Little Mister just as much. Decorating for a boy was so much fun! The colors are mostly blue, aqua, turquoise, green, and gray.

All the big furniture we bought when we were pregnant with Ariana. The crib, dresser, changing table and rocker/glider.

This Emerson quote was the very first thing that I saw and I knew I wanted it in our nursery. I found it at Good Life Zines on Etsy. It seems it was an older print and the seller was amazing working with me to get the size I wanted! 

The lion was a gift from my family, I love his crazy mane! Yes, those are Freshly Picked moccasins, all the cool babies have them! I sewed those hot air balloons in the mobile using a pattern from Craft Schmaft. I adore them and think they add to the adventure "theme" if you will.

The bookshelf holds a few of the old board books we saved from when Ariana was little and a few new books picked out just for him by Ariana! It also has Sophie the Giraffe, some dinosaurs, a basket of baby toys, and a Skwish Classic Toy. Along with another nod to adventure with my "adventure awaits" print I made using one of my photos from our trip to Sardinia. I really love the personal touches we added!

A boppy bouncer and sweet puppy lovey that matches Ariana's bunny lovey exactly! Ariana still loves her bunny and it's held up nicely with all the loving and washing it's gotten over the past nearly 5 years. When I showed Ariana 5 different lovey's I found online this is the one she picked so he could have one like her! So sweet!

It might just be me but I go all starry eyed every time I walk into the nursery and spy that triangle quilt. It compliments the room nicely. The green table and turquoise lamp add just the right pop of color to that corner and the rattle rocket ship is one of the first things I bought for the nursery.

In the picture below you can see a peek into our room and the bassinett he'll be sleeping in for the first little while. The gray rug that took us forever to find gives the room a warmer, more finished feeling.

His changing table is all set up. Turquoise bins hold diapers, blankets, our ergo (which I can't wait to use!), nursing cover, and other nursing/health essentials for a newborn. You can see our DIY tutorial for the oversized abacus, that was totally made with love! It's exactly what I wanted!

Of course the crib is the main focus of the room and I love our Iviebaby custom sheets and crib skirt. When I saw the elephant fabric I knew I wanted it made into a boppy cover so I got that as well. Working with Elizabeth to create the right flow was wonderful. She even made the minky changing pad cover and it fits better on my pad than the one I used to have for Ariana! That girl has skills!

 So that about wraps up his nursery. I could stay in there all day. I often go in there and sit in the rocking chair and just look around. I know he's coming soon and I hope this little space suits him because I'm in love with it!

Shopping Links:

Stork Craft Convertible Crib, Cherry - Amazon

Stork Craft 5 Drawer Dresser - Amazon

Stork Craft Changing Table with Drawer - Amazon

Dino Night Light - Target

Custom Crib Sheet/skirt/boppy/changing pad cover - Ivie Baby

Triangle Baby Quilt - handmade by Mommy

Green Accent Table - Target

Turquoise Table Lamp - Target

Aqua Storage Boxes Large, and small box set - Target

Gray Galaxy Blanket - Dwell Studio

Wooden Rocket Rattle - Bannor Toys

Hot Air Balloon Mobile Fabric and Pattern - Craft Schmaft 

Giraffe print - Fine Art America

Emerson Quote print - Good Life Zines

Adventure Awaits print - Fine Art America

Rocker/Glider with Ottoman - Walmart

Crochet Baby Blanket - handmade by Mommy

A Quilt for Little Mister! (& 34 weeks)

I'm not a seamstress y'all. I don't really sew, but...

I MADE A QUILT! 

I'm pretty proud of this project! I know it's the biggest sewing project I've done, and I'm pretty sure it's the biggest craft project I've EVER taken on.

I knew I wanted a pretty triangle quilt for the little mister when I found the first thing (a print) that inspired the nursery. I kept finding all these pretty quilts on Etsy but man were they pricy and none of them were exactly what I wanted. 

I knew I wanted to make my own triangle quilt when I thought about how simple it would be and how much I (and hopefully he) would love it. 

I haven't shared the nursery yet. It's still a work in progress but I'd say I'm 90% done. Just waiting on a few things to arrive in the mail and finding a rug has been frustrating to say the least. This quilt really brings it all together and I smile everytime I see it in there.

This truly was a labor of love. Hours upon hours of cutting, measuring, pinning, sewing, work. It was both harder than I thought it would be, and easier than I thought it would be at the same time. 

My blood, sweat and tears went into this quilt. Literally.

Blood - I pricked myself several times and cut myself once with my rotary cutter.

Sweat - I've been working on this on and off for the past month and a half in the 90 degree heat (with no air conditioning)

Tears - Ok so no as many tears but a few hot mad tears when I made a simple mistake and had to fix it and giddy tears when I got so close to the end and I was still in love with it.

I practically flew through the last of it once I got the quilt top put together. I could barely stand it I loved it so much. 

Sewing around each triangle was pretty time consuming but I love the way it looks and hopefully this will hold up nicely.

He's going to be very cozy this winter with his quilt and the baby blanket I crocheted a few months ago.

I'm working on a post to share my progress through the quilt and the methods/tutorials I used etc. But the colors are greens, aquas, turquoise, gray and white.

Not all my lines are straight but it's made with love and it's perfectly imperfect. I'm in love with it!

And since I'm feeling pretty round and pregnant these days, here is a photo of me from yesterday at 34 weeks. Technically I still have 6 weeks until my due date but I'm guessing he's going to come earlier than that. I have a growth ultrasound later this week to measure how big he is getting!

(34 weeks)

To Celebrate the Royal Baby!

In case you didn't know. I was one of those people on baby watch on Monday as soon as I heard the news that Kate Middleton was in labor. Was it going to be a Prince or a Princess? I thought (or maybe I thought it would be cute) for them to have a little Princess but I was wrong. His Royal Highness George Alexander Louis was born later that day!

To celebrate his royal birth I created a gift guide over at The Shopping Mama!

It's full of posh and stylish baby gear and gifts.

Check out these "gifts fit for a prince". I'm sort of in love with them and want them for my own little prince!

And of course little Prince George is just precious and I hope Will and Kate are settling into parenthood  over these first few weeks.

Reflections on this Pregnancy

I haven't shared a lot about this pregnancy on my blog. 

I haven't posted ultrasound pictures, dear baby letters, maternity wardrobe photos, or even shared bits and pieces of his nursery yet.

In a way, this surprises me. 

While we are beyond excited and giddy with his impeding arrival, there has been some worrying too. Some fears. Some concerns. I've kept it all close to my heart.

I find it curious that people have asked me if this baby was planned...like I'm over 40 or working on my 11th child. I answer a simple yes with a smile, but in my heart I want to say you will never know how long this baby has been planned for, waited on, and dreamed of. You will never truly know the struggle and heartache we have been through to get to this point. So yes, this baby was most definitely planned. 

2012 wasn't an easy year.

Autumn wasn't the best season.

2013 started out rocky.

June was a bit of a struggle.

July is teetering back and forth.

And with it all I guess I've taken a step back and needed time to process it all instead of immediately sharing it all here. Some of it I didn't (and still don't) know if I was ready to put into words. I'm not sure if I'm waiting until the delivery and then will breath a sigh of relief and share our story or if I'll just be glad to be through it and make it part of the past.

Sometimes people who you are close to shock you by their words and actions. And you think to yourself if that person, that I was so close to responded that way, how would people who don't really know me react? Would they be supportive? Or would they be negative? What comments would they have? Could I handle it?

So for now, I've decided to keep it private.

We are so blessed and can't wait to hold our little love. We love you baby boy!

*I am currently 32 weeks pregnant. This photograph was taken last week in Sardinia at sunset by my wonderful husband. I was 31 weeks pregnant.

Hello Third Trimester!

This past weekend I hit my 28 week mark. This means I'm officially in my third trimester with this Little Mister! Hooray! It's exciting to be here again and I'm starting to really look pregnant and I love it!

What's going on with baby?

He is measuring 30 weeks and his heart-rate is 144.

He is growing a lot lately and starting to add some fat so he'll have those cute baby cheeks! His eyesight is developing and he will start being able to see the light filtering through the womb. He's also been getting to taste to foods I've been eating and his sense of smell is developing. Billions of neurons are developing in his brain right now! He's about the size of an eggplant according to the bump. He weights around 2.5 pounds and measures between 13.6 to 14.8 inches from head to heel!

What's going on with Mommy?

It's been sunny and hot this week. By hot I mean in the 90's which has been just horrible. Not to mention the fact that (most) houses in Germany don't have air conditioning and I've been a bit miserable! Other than that I've actually been feeling my best lately. Some of my other pregnancy complaints have gone away. We've had a few bumps in the road but my doctors are monitoring me and all is still on track. I still wake up to pee several times a night and have been having noticeable Braxton Hicks since at least 16 weeks. Some days are worse than others but I've been trying to rest a lot and drink lots of water.

What's going on with big sister?

She's still SUPER excited! She loves to shop for baby - whether it's a new cute onsie or a rattle, she wants to buy it. She happily helps me around the house, especially picking things up off the floor that are harder for me to reach now. She loves rubbing my belly, reading and singing to her brother, and feeling the kicks. She is always talking about all the things she's going to teach him and help him with.

More Nursery Inspiration

I am having way too much fun working with The Shopping Mama and finding fun, funky, modern, and precious pieces that would work for a nursery. I recently created a Colorful Nursery Board and a super sweet Aqua and Elephant Nursery Board.

I discovered that I loved this sweet modern color combo and even though it could be gender neutral I feel a pull towards boy on this one. To see more and shop the goodies in this board click here. I love those elephant touches and I already bought one of these lovely items!

These fun colors would really pop for a funky baby nursery! I really love that multi-colored rug and of course that modern crib is so hip. For more info about this nursery board click here. Babies will love to grow and play in a room this fun!

And in case you missed it I also share my other nursery inspiration boards on the blog a few weeks ago. Be sure to check them out too.