The Nursery

The nursery is pretty much done! I'm waiting for a few odds and ends to arrive in the mail, but everything is pretty much in place for Sophia! I've been working on it almost constantly and I'm so excited!

 

Here's what will be the highest traffic area. 

 Hamper from Ikea, Lamp from Stephen's parents, Crib from Craigslist, pillow and owl toy made by me, ducky toy from our baby shower, blanket (on the crib) was a gift from our baby shower, mirrors from Ikea (painted by me), Side table from Ikea by way of Stephen's parents, table lamp from Ikea, Chair from West Elm (a gift from Stephen's Parents), blanket (on chair) from Etsy, and the Rug is Ikea too.

 

Going left in the room, we have Sophia's art gallery! (scroll down for a bigger picture)

The "S" was made by me (out of cereal boxes and fabric), the Texas piece was made by me (with a heart over Austin/Killeen), the zig zag piece is from Target, the Fox in Paris on a bike piece was painted by me, and the two small frames are from Ikea and have artwork from Ikea as well (but I painted them yellow to match). The bouncy seat is from Craigslist, the TV and TV stand were given to us by Stephen's parents, and the large stack of Baby Einstein DVDs are from Craigslist. I still need to get a DVD player to keep plugged into the TV, but I'm not in a rush.

 Going Left again, we have the closet, the Grown-up dressers (we needed extra storage!) and the door to the hallway.

Dressers from Ikea, Stuffed Toys from our baby shower, books and red box from thrift stores/yard sales, Eiffel Tower wall cling from the Fort Hood Thrift Store, Shelf from Target, and Clock from Ikea.

 

And back Around, we have Sophia's Changing Table/Dresser.

The Dresser and Mirror were a set that I bought at the Fort Hood Thrift Store for $70- I feel like this was my best find in this entire room! The trash can/diaper pail is from Target, the Changing pad was from Craigslist, the mobile was made by me, and the little basket with lotion was from Ikea.

 

 Here's a closeup of Sophia's Art Gallery! 

I tried to keep the color story consistent, and also have a sort of whimsical, geometric, travel theme going.

 

Here's her mobile, to keep her entertained while she gets changed.

 

This is one of my favorite details in the room. The clock really grew on me too!

 

Some fuzzy friends! Stephen's favorite is the brown bear because it's so soft. 

 

And my favorite place to sit in the whole house. I love this chair so much. And the lamp really has a nice warm glow.

Well that's the nursery. Now we're ready for Sophia whenever she decides to come!

My Chair!

My beautiful chair from the Millet Parents finally came!!!
I am so excited to go home after work today and sit in it and put my feet up! Besides the baby herself, I have not been more eager for anything to arrive than this chair. My nursery is finally almost complete. I just need some decorative details, and a trash can, and I'll be pretty satisfied.

All Sophia's clothes and blankets are washed and folded, just waiting for her. Her crib is set up and all ready, Her changing area is set up and there's even diapers and wipes.
I've been making some artwork for the walls for the past week or so, and I plan to make a sort of collage of artwork. I also made myself a "boppy" pillow out of coordnating fabric. A boppy pillow is a "C" shaped pillow that many mothers find helpful when nursing/feeding their baby, as well as for sitting the baby in, both on their back and for tummy time. I had offered to make one for my other pregnant co-worker too, so I brought mine into work today, and my manager (who has a 4 month old) said it looked very nice, and just like hers (which is the $50, sold-in-stores version).

Progress

Well the pieces and parts of the nursery are coming together, slowly but surely. The crib is together and now includes a mattress, sheets, and some snugly toys and pillows. I'm still waiting on the crib blanket I ordered from etsy. It's handmade and the perfect pattern/colors.

Above, you can also see the Ikea Nightstand (behind me) where Sophia's extra blankets, sheets, changing pad covers, and baby supplies are kept.

I FINALLY got a dresser for Sophia, and I'm very pleased. I got it at the Fort Hood Thrift Store for $70, and it's a very reasonable size (big enough to hold all her stuff, and small enough we were able to fit it in Stephen's car), real wood, and wasn't too hard to clean up pretty well. I also got her a changing pad to put on top, along with two covers from a nice lady here in Killeen for only $10 off craigslist. The covers are pink, but I'm not complaining for the price I paid!

You can also see our grey rug from Ikea and the matching footstool for the glider we have on it's way.

I've been working on some decorating projects for the room too, but the one I've finished is a mobile for over Sophia's bed. I'm working on some artwork too, but it's not done.

They are little yellow, grey, white, and black stuffed bird toys I sewed and hung from an embroidery hoop. It's really more for decoration than for playing with, but hopefully they will be fun to look up at for her.
I will have better pictures of everything when it's all done, but I thought it might be fun to show some of our progress. I'd say the nursery is 90% functional, and 75% complete. Really, if she was born now, we'd be alright. But as we all know, babies rarely come on the schedule we set.
I'm getting to the point where I really feel it all the time. It's definitely just mostly uncomfortable. My OBGYN confirmed that I've been having Braxton-Hicks contractions, so at least I have an idea of what to expect when the time comes. I plan on having the nursery done by Valentines Day, and then from then on, doing all those things that people say helps start labor. Violet is going to love all the walks we're going to go on, and I'm going to enjoy all the fresh pineapple and spicy curry I can get my hands on. I won't do anything drastic, but a few small efforts won't hurt in these final weeks to possibly speed the process along. At this point, I'm fairly sure that Sophia has turned upside down like she is supposed to around this time in preparation for being born. I'm pretty sure it's her feet kicking that I feel right around my ribs, and her hands/arms that I feel around my belly button area. And there is still some part (presumably her head) that presses against my bladder and major arteries near my lower back and makes me feel dizzy! I know she's getting cramped in there, so I try not to take it personally, but this is not always fun for me either!
I'm nervous for the whole labor part of this deal, but I know that once it's over, there will be a beautiful little baby girl there and it will (hopefully) seem worth it. I still need a few things for my hospital bag, but I'll get those soon. I want to get a nice soft, but not too thin, night gown, some granola bars or other snacks, and to pack some toiletries. Stephen got me my other hospital bag requirement for Christmas: Fuzzy spa socks. I keep thinking I need a cute bag to put it all in, but in reality I have plenty of bags, I'm just looking for an excuse to buy a cute bag.

Artwork for Consideration

So because Stephen and I are not sure what the future holds, we have decided not to paint the nursery. Instead, we are looking at some fabulous artwork and trying to decide what we like!

These are some of my favorites (All from Etsy):

 But  I would probably contact the seller before buying and have them change something about each one of them, so I'm still looking.

These are some of Stephen's favorites (Also all from Etsy):

I guess we like whimsical animals doing human stuff.
We agree that we love etsy too. And not only because you can type in "fox riding bicycle" and actually get something. I'm trying to find art to support our yellow and grey color scheme better, though, and having trouble finding much that I like. But these are all prints, so I would think that I could contact the artists and have them change the colors without too much hassle. We like the idea of supporting artists, as well as getting quirky, reasonably priced artwork for Sophia's room. But right now, I still need a changing table/dresser for her. I got her mattress and sheets in the mail, so I washed those and all of her clothes and other laundry items, and sorted them by size. This made me feel like I'm closer to being ready for her, at least. Her car seat also came in the mail, too, so the one thing I legally need is here at least! I've been considering what to pack in my bag for the delivery room, but haven't gotten to actually doing it yet. I'll get there!

Decorative elements

I can't see the sense in spending $15-$40 (or more) for pillows, so I got some fabric and made a little double sided pillow for the room! There are more to come, but this is the first thing I've sewn in months and it turned out well, and the fabric was on sale, so I'm pleased. It'll match the blanket I bought yesterday perfectly!
After I make a couple more pillows, I think I'm going to make some fabric baskets for the room like these:

The idea is from DesignSponge:
 http://www.designsponge.com/2012/06/sewing-101-fabric-boxes.html
I would just like some storage for diapers or whatever kind of baby stuff needs organized. I have lots of clothes for Sophia, but actually not that many toys. That's probably ok because she doesn't really need a lot to keep her occupied for a while. The whole "getting used to this bright new world" thing should keep her busy for a while at least.
Today my stroller and the matching footstool to my glider arrived at the house, too! I'm so excited for all the baby stuff! I can't wait for more things to arrive so the room can really start coming together and I can really start feeling ready for Sophia!

Baby Shopping- Round 2

Now that I've started on the baby's room, it seems like it's all I can think about!

I got two Rast dressers for Stephen to store his stuff in from Ikea yesterday, and he assembled one today. We'll probably want to stain them someday, but for now, the solid pine is fine and we agreed that we like them and they'll serve their purpose well.
I also ordered a mattress from target to go into the crib I bought the other day- it was well priced, highly rated, and reversible. And it will work as an infant seat and transition into a forward facing seat when she gets bigger. Both her crib and her mattress will grow with her into her toddler years, which I'm very happy about!

 I also ordered a diaper bag and a car seat from Target in the same order as the mattress. The diaper bag is cute and not too kid-ish or girly. It's a Skip*Hop duo, and Stephen gave it his approval, so I'm happy with it.  The car seat isn't especially exciting, but it's compact, highly rated by parents, has good impact protection, and was on sale!

Right now, I think I'm most excited about finally deciding on the crib bedding. I was trying to pick out a crib set, but they were all too expensive, or not what I was looking for. I wanted the colors to be yellow and grey, the pattern to be geometric or abstractly plant-like, and the price to be reasonable. I found this adorable blanket on Etsy, and I'm really happy about it! It's everything I wanted, plus I'm supporting a small business! I got two sets of simple solid sheets from bed bath and beyond with one of my gift cards (thank you women from my parent's church!) and I'm happy that it will be a clean-looking, coordinating set. I guess I did the same thing with my wedding rings- I love mixing and matching to find what's right for me!
The only major things left for the baby's room is a changing table/dresser, a diaper pail, a rug, curtains, and any other decorative elements that the room might need. Possibly a night light, some decorative pillows/toys, or other things along those lines. I also need a few other "mommy" items like some nursing clothes, and we need to stock up on the basics like diapers and burp cloths. There's a changing table on craigslist that is only $50 and is wood and matches the rest of the wood in the room, but the top has a flip top to access the changing pad, and I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it. On one hand, it looks clean and neat, but on the other hand, I don't know if I would get annoyed having to flip up the top every time I have to change the baby. I was wondering if I could take the hinged top off. I also wonder what size it is and if I can get it home. I emailed the people about it, asking for measurements.
Sophia is moving around a TON lately, and I'm getting more and more excited. Her room is still a mess, and not everything that we have is assembled- and there's even more stuff to assemble on the way! I told Stephen he should try to see if he can borrow an electric screwdriver from someone at work. It would make assembly a lot easier!

Baby Shopping- Round 1

I had the day off today so besides getting some laundry done and catching up on some sleep, I had decided that it would be a great opportunity to do some baby preparation shopping. I have declared my intention to Stephen to have the baby's room up and running by Valentines Day, so little by little I'm going to work on it. We need some storage for the room, because it's currently where Stephen keeps all of his army gear, so I've been looking around for options for that, and I haven't quite settled on anything yet. Today I got a crib, a baby bath tub set, bottles and a pump, detergent to wash her clothes in, a value pack of wipes, and a baby care kit which includes grooming tools as well as medical tools like a nasal aspirator and a thermometer. It struck me as funny that Stephen and I didn't own a thermometer previously, but I guess we're adults and we know when we're sick.

I got the crib off of craigslist from a nice lady with a young daughter who just grew out of it. It is a pretty light wood and Stephen and I agreed that we like the shape. It's solid and I'm happy with my purchase.

In addition to the crib and other things I got today, Stephen's parents bought us a BEAUTIFUL chair for the nursery for Christmas. We had visited the store together when they came to visit, and I had sat down in it and did not want to get up. It's a glider so it will be perfect for use with the baby, but will also transition beautifully into our house when we don't need it in the baby's room any longer. I am SO EXCITED about this chair. If I'm not mistaken, it's going to get delivered tomorrow, and I would not doubt that I will be sitting in it pretty often even before the baby comes.

I think next on my list is probably getting a mattress and sheets for the crib, and the dresser and storage that we need for the room. Once I have a place to put everything, I can get the room organized and determine what else we need. I think I will probably get a diaper bag soon too, mostly because it's one of the most fun and functional items I need to pick out, and I'm kind of excited about it!