Gender Neutral Nursery for Baby Number 3

 Welcome to the nursery of sweet Baby Number Three. Truth be told, while I have loved the experience of not finding out the gender of this little one, it has been a bit of a challenge to prep, shop, and plan for our baby to be. For the most part, we took down all of the girly touches from Emmerson's room and started with a clean slate.  Oh, how I loved her girly nursery. But it was certainly girl overload if this little one ends up being a boy.  

We didn't purchase too many things for this nursery. Instead, we repurposed a lot of the things we already had and then purchased a few new touches along the way. My Dad gifted us with a light weight print of one of his beach pictures that we hung just above the baby's crib. It was printed on a foam board which was perfect for safety reasons. 

The little rug came from Overstock. 

 We also didn't want to go overboard on a theme for the nursery, until we got to know this little one. But it did end up evolving into a beachy room because of some of the items we already had. We chose some gray and turquoise accents for the room which I suppose could go girl or boy. This pillow used to be in Donovan's room and came from Pottery Barn Kids over 6 years ago. The throw blanket is from Target. 

 The signs on the wall came from Salty Bison . They were the first things that I purchased after finding out we were expecting. 

 We kept the same little library nook with our Ikea shelves for this one. 

 I made this little painting one night with some craft paints and a canvas that we already had laying around. It makes me dream of summer. 

The baby's closet has a repurposed changing table that I purchased on craigslist when we were expecting with Donovan. We got some neutral storage bins from Target that will eventually store the baby's clothes in bigger sizes. The walls looked a little bit too white so I purchased some polka dot wall decals from Urban Walls.  Once the baby gets bigger and we take the changing table out of the nook, I think the closet will make a fun little play space. I also want to add some more colorful art to the space once we know if the babe is a boy or a girl. 

The sunshine sign was from Etsy years ago that we used in Donovan's room but I can't find the exact one anymore. 

 This is the same Ikea Malm dresser that we used for Emmerson that has since been discontinued. I will add much more decor to the top when we find out the gender. 

 I always love taking pictures of the baby's drawers before hand remembering how sweet and tiny their little newborn outfits were. These are the boy drawers. 

 And the one little drawer of girl things. If this does end up being a baby girl, we will need to shop, shop, shop for some warmer baby girl items. One of the new items we purchased was a Nuroo swaddle in a couple of gender neutral patterns.  I am excited to try them out. 

 But if you ask me what my favorite accessory is that's waiting in the nursery... it's this big sister that just can't wait to cuddle our new little bundle. 

She's been getting lots of practice with her dollies. Our due date is just a few days away! We are so excited to meet you Little One.


wall art - //salty bison// 

throw blanket- //Target//

rug - //Overstock//

polka dot wall decals - //Urban Walls//

storage bins - //Target//

book shelves - //Ikea// 

swaddler - //Nuroo//

Welcome to Emme's Room

My favorite rooms in our home are Donovan's and Emmerson's. I have so much fun dreaming up ideas and finding the small items that make their rooms feel complete. The ideas for Emmerson's nursery came from an inspiration picture that I saw on Pinterest. The room that I mimicked can be found here. Donovan's room is dark gray and yellow and I didn't want to stray too far from his color pallet because their rooms are side by side. So bright pink walls were out of the question for this baby girl. Instead, we went with a light gray wall called "Dishwater" from general paints and then brought in the pinks, yellows, and even greens as the accent colors. We offset the gray walls with lots of white furnishings to keep it bright and cheery. 

 This is the view from the hallway looking straight in. 

 

The IKEA Malm Dresser was a new and mandatory purchase that provided so much storage for all of her clothes, blankets, burpies... you name it. I love this piece of furniture! It is very substantial and completely affordable. ($139 and worth every penny.) I've seen a lot of people use it as a changing table for their nurseries too. Definitely a worthwhile purchase if you're looking for a dresser. Missing from the top is a little reading lamp. That's one of the few things I'm still on the hunt for. 

Lots and lots of drawer space. 

 On top sits my favorite little shoes, and this print that makes me smile every time I look at it. The E was  covered by my dear Hollie and used as decor at my little shower at school. 

The mirror above the dresser had already been in the guest room. It just relocated itself to another wall. The bunting was made by my mom. 

Next to the dresser is the glider and ottoman that came from Donovan's room. I think it's Carters brand and we purchased it way back when from Babies R Us. My most amazing and talented mom decided to recover the cushions in a white fabric. They were filthy after all of the loving they've received from Donovan over the past few years. I'm sure these will be filthy in no time, too. But thankfully, they're washable and even bleachable. 

She even added white poms to the ottoman slip cover. Such a feminine touch!

She also made the pillow that's on the chair which happens to be my favorite fabric EVER! It's by Sarah Jane and I'm pretty sure it's discontinued now, but you can still find it online here. The crocheted   blanket hanging on the back of the chair was a gift for Emmerson from my Oma. I love the heart detail. 

Above the chair is one of many adorable prints by Katie Daisy found here and some tissue paper poms that really brightened up the room. I purchased them on Etsy here. 

 A close up of the print. This was one of my first purchases for the room and it became my color inspiration for the rest of this things in the nursery. 

On the opposite wall, across from the dresser is Emmerson's crib. (Formerly Donovan's) My mom recovered Donovan's bumper pads in a bright yellow and white floral fabric and she also made a bunch of different fitted crib sheets too. 

I didn't want the room to be too matchy matchy so I liked the mix of prints and patterns. All of the fabrics were ordered from fabric.com. 

I used a bunch of my favorite fabrics in embroidery hoops above her bed. 

 In the corner behind her crib is her little book nook. Or, actually it's Donovan's right now. He LOVES to bring Emmerson books from his room every day. The book racks are Ribba Picture Ledges  from IKEA.  

 Another print found on Pinterest. It's free and you can customize it with any name and in a bunch of different colors too. I found it here. 

 And lastly, baby girl's closet. I moved Donovan's changing table/dresser into her closet space and it was a perfect fit. The curtains are from IKEA and my mom (are you getting sick of reading about how much my mom made yet?) added the poms to the edges. The same curtains are covering her window on the opposite side of the room. 

 There are lots of little bins like this in the top closet shelves. For now, they house all of the clothes for 6 - 18 months as well as her shoes, socks, toys, teethers etc. 

 And her adorable array of clothes hangs next to the changing table. These are just her newborn - 3 month outfits and I promise the collection is expanding daily. Someone help me! My name is Meghan and I'm a shopping for my not even here yet daughter-aholic.  

And that's our daughter's room! Now all that's missing is... our daughter. 

Yesterday at my 37 week appointment the doctor gave me these stats:

2 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and -2 station. She could be here tomorrow, or it could still be weeks. 

In the mean time, I am LOVING this stay at home thing. :) 

A new place to read

We made it through night one and his first nap in the big boy bed! And (knock on wood) it's been pretty seamless so far. Donovan woke up one time around 10:30 last night and opened his door to let us know he was awake. Dustin got into his bed with him and rubbed his back for a few minutes before he fell back to sleep. And that was that. This morning he did wake up earlier than usual. He opened his door and said, "Mommy... I awake!" and that was the start to our day. 

I was a little nervous for nap time, but that wasn't so bad either. He didn't want to go down, but once I settled him in, he seemed to be fine. I could hear him playing for awhile but then it got quiet and he was out for a solid 3 hours! So, so far, we're doing great!

One of the other new additions to Donovan's room is his new reading bench. It's no secret that our little man LOVES his books! We also moved his glider into the baby's room so I wanted to make sure he had a special place where he could still read his books... not to mention store all of his TOYS! 

We followed a tutorial that I had found on Pinterest. You can see it here. Once we got the Expedit from IKEA, picked up the foam from Joann's, and ordered the fabric from fabric.com... the book bench was born. 

And it's a good thing too, because this adorable guy of ours has lots of reading to do. 

 Here he is modeling on of his current favorites. 

 I love those chubby, little, Flintstone feet hanging off the edge. 

 Oma came over for a visit today to help me begin some projects for Baby Girl's room and of course Donovan wanted to show off his reading skills to her too. 

 Here he is pretending to talk on the telephone from the room in Goodnight Moon. 

 And there you have it, big boy room in progress. Lots of books to read and lots of space to play now.

redemption

It's been a rough few days around here. 2 words for you: stomach. flu.  Donovan woke up at 4 am on Sunday morning throwing up. Three times was his lucky number and then he seemed fine the rest of the day, playing and chatting away as usual. We thought it might have been a random fluke but then, sure enough Sunday night around 1 in the morning we got a text from Miss Cindy at Donovan's daycare that she was throwing up with the flu and wouldn't be working on Monday. 

I woke up on Monday feeling a little achy, but was still planning on going to work until it hit me at about 7:30 and I spent the rest of my day either laying flat on the couch or tossing my cookies repeatedly in the kitchen sink. The flu is not all that enjoyable when you're seven months pregnant. Case in point: throwing up violently and having very little bladder control do not go hand in hand. TMI? I apologize. Just keeping it real for you. 

Thankfully Donovan was an angel and played by himself all day long while Dustin was working. Dustin never threw up but felt all the other lovely aches and pains that come with the flu.  We both took today off to recover and good thing too. Even just taking a shower felt like a marathon. I'm back at work tomorrow but planning on taking it as easy as possible until I feel more like myself again. 

Onto the redemptive part of my day... so many goodies came in the mail! I was so excited and eagerly tracking the packages and what do you know, they all arrived at the same time! I love when that happens. 

 For starters, poms for baby girl's nursery. I can't wait to get these hung up!

I'm sure you've heard of or seen Katie Daisy if you're on Pinterest. I love her artwork so much that I had a very hard time deciding on the perfect print for Baby Girl. But this one was the winner. I loved the cheerful colors and thought the saying was so sweet. 

Big brother got some goodies too. I ordered a bunch of books for him on amazon to start preparing him a little more for the new baby and one for the big boy bed transition too. Donovan LOVES to "read" and be read to lately so I thought this would be a great start. 

 A few other nursery details coming along: This letter E that I painted out and hung on the front of her door. Just a little hint at the name that we chose for her... middle name is still up for debate. 

And finally, delicate little poms sewn onto Ikea curtains by my mom. These are hanging over her closet and she'll have matching ones over the window as well. 

Our spring break is coming up the week before Easter and that will be the perfect time for us to make some progress in her room. I can't wait to see it all come together. 

And just to add more to this already too long post: Spring Fashion

I always get in the mood to shop during this time of year. Thankfully, with little funds and a great big belly... none of these are actually coming home with me. 

BUT, as always, if I had an endless flow of money... these are the goods I'd be adding to my closet right about now. 

I have never bought anything from Madewell, but I love browsing. These tops are my favorite!

shirred silk tank

soft lace top

And these shoes too!

the turn about sandal

the side walk skimmer

And a maxi skirt from anthro with an elasticized waistband... this one may have to be mine if it ever goes on sale. Perfect for summer and a post partum belly! 

vertical paint maxi skirt

So, adios flu! I hope it's a long, long time before we meet again. Hope you're having a good and HEALTHY start to your week. 

Big Boy Room

Donovan's big boy room is officially finished. There are still a few details to tend to, but for now... it's complete. 

 This is the view when you enter his door.

 This used to be his changing table. Now it's easier to just change him on the floor. We use the table to hold all of the baby supplies that we still need (diapers, wipes, lotion etc.) 

 My mom made the little bunting that hangs between his bedroom and closet doors.

Here's a closer look.

 This is his rocker area. Or I should say my rocker area. Donovan rarely sits still. :) The quilt on the chair used to hang behind his crib.

The updated curtains

 The little side table that I painted with some bright yellow paint. 

 And this is the beautiful new quilt that my mom made to match Donovan's new big boy room. I had originally seen and fallen in love with the quilt here. 

 Here's a closer look at the fabrics. 

My mom even made some coordinating crib sheets.

 Nice to have such a talented momma, huh? 

And that's the end to my fun little summer project. Now onto the classroom...