Nursery Planning #3 - The Crib!

I'll be the first to admit - I'm indecisive. When it comes to planning just about anything I have a terribly difficult time making a decision! The crib was a little bit of an exception. I did lots of research, but I had a good idea of what I wanted it to look like before I started searching. (I say I because Matt could care less).

I wanted a white, low profile crib with clean lines. Pretty modern but nothing clear or futuristic looking. I wanted all four rails to be the same height. No particular reason - just like the look. I wanted it to be made of solid wood and have a nontoxic finish. I didn't want the white to look plasticky like a lot I saw when I started browsing around local stores here.

This crib by Oeuf fit all my criteria. Except that it costs $730. Sadly I just don't want to spend over $700 for a crib considering all the other things we need to buy. Out it went.

After many google searches, I landed on this post on none other than one of my favorite blogs Young House Love! They pretty much described down to the last detail what I wanted out of a crib. It was perfect - they did all the research for me!

Check out the crib in their daughter's room. Cute right?

I looked online and couldn't believe it when I saw that it came from Walmart. AND it cost $269. Too good to be true! I read many of the reviews and about 99% were positive. I bought it - they delivered it for free to our local store and Matt and I picked it up about a week later!

It sat in the future nursery like this for about a month until I finally asked Matt to put it together with me.

Ah. The joy of assembling furniture. No wonder Matt wanted to put it off.

Luckily, there were good directions and none of the pieces arrived scratched or dented.

Of course the future big sister was quite curious :)

Matt did most of the heavy lifting while I read the directions....

And positioned myself so that I could watch the ACC tournament.

It wasn't as difficult as we thought :)

Until we got to the drawer. I lost patience so Matt took over and it all turned out fine. Good thing it was a team effort.

I sat with Will and watched the last part come together. Excuse the pyjama pants but noodle was too cute not to share.

I was super pumped to get a JumpOnIt deal through my email (the local radio station hosts them) for 50% off to our local mattress store. I called and asked if they carried organic mattresses and they did. I ended up going with a mattress by Natura - it's not completely organic but made of all the same ingredients (latex, coconut fibers, etc.) and not certified. I'm not sure I buy that it's as good but figured it was good enough.

Complete!

I'm not sure if we'll keep the drawer in there as I want my crib skirt to touch the ground, but hopefully it will just go right over top of it. Another project completed!

xo!

Baby Bump Weeks 22-24

It's getting bigger! I've had multiple people (those whose classroom I'm in several times per week too) tell me they had no clue I was pregnant until now! I guess I've just been feeling bigger than I am all this time - or perhaps they were too nice to ask in case I was just getting large :)

Some thoughts on pregnancy these days....

- I love the baby bump! It's exciting that it's obvious enough for people to ask. I love striking up conversations with random moms (young and old) all over the place and hearing their advice :) Some people don't love that type of thing but I think it's great.

- Baby movements are amazing. They occur frequently now and I can't help but smile as I sit in meetings, work with kids, watch TV and feel them. It's funny to see them from the outside now too.

- Prenatal yoga - MUST. DO. I feel so much better after yoga. If I have to skip a week I can tell. Love it.

- Willpower - Out the window. Maybe I'm using pregnancy as an excuse? I have no will to say no to chocolate, ice cream, peeps (awful I know), coffee yogurt!

- Weight gain - This one is not a surprise. I was expecting to gain weight, but I was not prepared for the spreading out of areas such as the hips, etc. People also don't tell you that you gain weight in all the places you would usually gain first and it does make you feel just big, not pregnant. I've found that slows down as the weeks go on and weight goes into the belly where you would rather it be :)

- Maternity Clothes - Buy and wear them early. I felt like a new woman the day I put on my maternity pants and stopped trying to squeeze my spreading hips into my old jeans plus a bella band.

- Maternity Workout Clothes - Don't exist. Just putting it out there. Someone should start a business....they would make a fortune. So far I'm lucky that my t-shirts and yoga pants still fit me. I bought one base layer top from Mountain-Mama.com and love it.

- Skin - Oh my poor skin. I'm just going share it all so those of you that wonder can be prepared. Not everyone gets the beautiful pregnancy glow. For me, pregnancy has brought on the acne and there's not a dang thing I can do about it. No face wash has worked (the dermatologist told me I could use a mild salicylic acid but I'm not willing to risk it since lots of other people have told me to avoid it) and you're not allowed to use pretty much anything else in the form of lotions or potions. Sun helps. However, sun also causes melasma. If you haven't heard of it...google it. I've always struggled but sun brings that on. Luckily it has been winter and most of my acne struggles are on my back so they can be covered up. I feel fortunate I had this issue out of all that could be though, nausea for 10 months would be harder to deal with I know.

- Exercise - I'm still running and hiking and feel so much better when I do! My pace has slowed. Think the speed of a turtle. Maybe snail. Poor Willow isn't sure whether she should walk or run but she manages to make it work :) Afterwards, I feel like I ran 10 miles when I only did 3! Ha. I'm happy so long as I'm out there and the warm weather recently has been really helping my cause!

Well congrats if you're still reading. Hope it's not TMI but figure I should keep it real. I know I never post pics of the belly unless they're the weekly staged ones, so here is one I sent to Meg recently before I went to dinner. Excuse the closet shot. I have my mom to thank for the cute shirt - it's actually not even maternity :)

xo!

First day of spring - or is it summer?

I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't here to enjoy it for myself.

(Yes I did look at this at 6:33am - right before I headed out the door to work - another reason why I love the weekends!)

It has been sunny and warm for the past 5 days in a row and it feels amazing! We have a few more to go :) It certainly doesn't feel like March in Vermont.

Willow loves it too....

The nursery is getting painted this week! Be back soon with pics!

xo

Nursery Planning #2

25 weeks today! Wow - every week I realize how much more I have to do and how few weeks are left to get things done!

I have made some nursery progress so I'm feeling a little more prepared than I was a few weeks ago. I decided on a color and the painter is coming soon, my mom helped me do some space planning, a few etsy purchases have come in, we bought and assembled the crib (more on that in another post), and I bought a dresser (it's not home yet so more on that later too). Whew!

Color

I knew I wanted to go with a gray. I thought it'd be easy to find one I like but should have known better. I scoured Pinterest and my favorite blogs (Project Nursery, HelloBee, and Spearmint Baby) as well as some non baby blogs (For the Love of a House, etc.) for good gray recommendations. I started off with about 4 samples (from Lowes, Sherwin Williams, and Benjamin Moore). I asked Matt/cousin to paint them up. We will use low/no VOC paint in the room and samples aren't available in low/no VOC so I wanted to avoid the fumes :) Plus I don't think you're supposed to be around fumes while pregnant regardless.

Anyway - I quickly realized all my original samples were either too blue or too dark. Here are all my samples currently on the wall. You'll see there are more than 4. See the bottom row - 4 from the left for the first batch. I apologize for the poor picture - the lighting in the room isn't great right now and it was impossible to capture the true colors so I've put the two best attempts.

I returned for more samples. See the top row - 2 from the left.

They were both too dark. I received a recommendation from my friend Maegan so returned one more time to Sherwin Williams to pick up samples of Sedate Gray and Modern White. Sedate Gray is on the top row second from the right. Modern white is the lightest sample on the bottom right. I loved Sedate Gray but was afraid it would be too dark once the room was painted so I went back yet again and asked them to custom mix it at 65%. I ended up with the sample on the top right corner. I like it - right now it's the one! It's lighter than it looks in this pic...I hope I still like it when it's all over :) I'll keep you posted.

Collage

I love the idea of placing a collage on one wall either over a bookshelf or dresser. Something like this found via Pinterest. I love this dresser as well - a friend used it in her nursery and it looks great. I will have a white crib and bookshelf though and wanted a mix of furniture finishes in there so I was hunting for something old and more rustic looking. I plan to use the dresser as a changing table like is pictured here.

My sister gave me an amazing colorful print for my birthday this year and I was saving it trying to find the perfect spot. I decided to use it as the basis for the wall collage...I've ordered a few things off etsy, Meg gave me some cute elephant things from her travels to Thailand, and I had some fabric that I think I will frame and include in a frame as well. Here is what I have so far! I've ordered one more etsy print of a yellow lab that hasn't come in yet and plan to keep adding as I find things :)

Space Planning

Our nursery room is a large space. We're so lucky! There is plenty of room in there for everything but it is a bit challenging to think about filling it up, finding a rug to fit, etc. I have a really hard time knowing where to start. While I was home in VA, my mom helped me draw out a space plan of the room.

We then were able to make true to size pieces that I wanted to put in the room so I could see how much space each would actually take up.

It really helped to see them in there!

Fabric

My cousin and I went to Joanne fabric to look a few weeks ago and came out with these 3 choices.

My mom sent me a link to a super cute buffalo check that I fell in love with. I plan to use the green check fabric for the crib skirt and some roman shades and will fill in with the other ones I already picked.

The pic above is probably more true to the actual colors than the first one....

Big to-dos left for the room:
- Pick up the dresser and finish it (it's currently partially finished and needs just a bit more work)
- Choose a rug
- Find a chair (my mother in law is helping me look!)
- Work on other art/pictures
- Decide on the bookshelf (I'm currently thinking IKEA expedit)

Hooray - the weekend is here! Hope the sun is supposed to shine where you are. They are forecasting 70 degrees here Sunday! Not bad for Vermont in March...

xo

VA Trip Part 2

Oh Monday...you're here again. Wouldn't it be nice to have more weekend days than work days? Anyway. One day down and 4 to go!

On to the rest of my vacation :) Sorry again about the photo quality - remember I only had my iphone.

Mom, Meg, and I hiked up to the top of Sharp Top Mountain one beautiful sunny day!

Almost to the top...

Squinting :)

The drive isn't far and it was so fun!

We came across these on the way home...even though it was 60 degrees here in VT today we're still a long way from seeing those spring flowers!

They made me do it. I wasn't looking my best but I'll show you anyway.

We also did some nursery dresser shopping. Meg and Mom went with me to every one of my favorite stores but we didn't come out with anything. (Although I found one here in VT last week - nursery update to come!) We did come across some interesting things. We ventured into a new "store" downtown and came across this sight. WOW. We weren't quite sure what to make of this bike collection. We were only on floor 2 of 5 but Meg refused to go any farther :)

Mom and Meg also suffered through maternity clothes shopping with me. It wasn't pretty (think work clothes and bathing suits) but it was productive. Thank you thank you to you both!! I am appreciative - especially now that I have something to wear to work and for my coming up spring break :)

Of course before I left I snuggled a baby one more time.

Miss you all!

xo

VA Trip!

Vermont schools take a week off at the end of February each year - it's a wonderful break to have in the middle of winter! They continue that break through the following Tuesday - it's "Town Hall Meeting Day" in Vermont - a state holiday. We get a shorter break at Christmas but then have this plus a spring break. A huge bonus to being a school employee.

Anyway...I traveled back to VA over break to see some friends and family. It's the last time I'll be home before the baby comes...a weird thought! I have to apologize that all of my photos were taken with my iphone. I had work to do at home so that crowded out room in my carry on for the big camera. Bummer.

I started out with a visit to see Sarah and baby K. Isn't she adorable?! I miss her already!

Sarah and K came with us to my parent's house to spend the night and have a chance to see Kate and precious baby W :)

A huge bonus to this visit was that Meg came home too :) I can't WAIT for my sister to get up here close to me.

While I was home my sweet friend Maegan organized for some of my girlfriends from high school to get together for a baby T celebration lunch. It was great to see these girls! Thank you for such a fun celebration :)

Liz is due a few months ahead of me!

She might look sad but only because she knew she had to leave us to head home :)

OK I have more to share - Mom, Meg, and I had some fun adventures :)

I'll be back! Happy Thursday!

xo!