And the Nursery is Done!

Finally!  The room I began envisioning the moment we found out we were going to have another Little Miss is complete (even if she won't be using it until she's six months old and no longer sleeping in our room, lol).  The nursery is currently my favorite room (not to mention the most finished room) in the house to go to when I need to (as Jack says) "just chill."  I love to walk in and imagine holding her, laying her down on her changing pad and dressing her in the teeny newborn clothes I just washed and put away this morning.  Then I see myself swaddling her little body and cuddling her close to my chest, smelling her baby smell and kissing the soft peach fuzz on the top of her head.  Babies are such a miracle and I am so excited to be nearing the moment when I will finally meet this newest addition to our family!

Now if you'd like to make some popcorn and get comfortable, I'd be glad to take you on the tour! :)  

I've never been a huge fan of purple - so imagine my surprise when I met and fell in love with Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 collection in lilac.  It became the inspiration for the entire room with the main colors being lilac, gray, plum and turquoise.  (Looking in to the left.)

Looking in to the right from the door.  (The faux sheep skin rug is from IKEA.)

I had originally planned on buying a white dresser instead of refinishing one like I had with each of the other kids.  However, my (frugal) nesting instinct took over around the second week we were here and I decided to just repaint Beckett's dresser which was sitting unused in the boys' room.  (He and Norah are sharing a room now and there wasn't room (or need) for both of their huge dressers.)  I am so pleased with how it turned out and so glad I went lavender instead of white!

The beautiful watercolor flower/butterfly drawing/paintings above the crib are actually one of my best finds at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store.  I bought them for $1 each and just reframed them (you can see them better if you click to enlarge the photo).  They are signed and were probably done by an art student for their mom, but I just love the colors. :)  The book shelves are actually unfinished wood CD racks that I bought from Michael's and reinforced with an additional wood base - then painted the same color as the dresser.

This shelf was also in Beckett's old nursery (it used to be yellow with a different fabric background) and was refinished using the same paint I used on the dresser.  The aviary fabric was a scrap I had after making the quilt.  Hanging up on the far right is an adorable little cream/lavender dragonfly outfit I found at Baby Gap and will be the baby's "coming home from the hospital" outfit. :)  Next to it is the blessing gown Norah wore and will also be used by this baby girl.  On top of the shelf is a pair of pink and white DC's (also handed down from Norah), a classic book that has gotten much love from all of the kids, and the little blue birds are actually little salt and pepper shakers that I've only ever used as decoration.  The one new item is the Sophie the Giraffe teething toy.  I just couldn't help myself. :) (Oh - and the little blue sun-suit I bought at Baby Gap because it's flippin' adorable.  Enough said. :)

I made this quilt for Baby Girl while we were in the midst of readying our NC home to sell.   It was my first official project in this nursery journey.  (The back is made of out of the gray minky-dot fabric.) 

The pleated crib skirt is another project I completed while still in NC. 

The fabric I used for the car seat canopy is also from Joel Dewberry's Aviary collection - I just went with a different color palate (obviously) that matched the car seat.

The aviary pattern with the damask is SO cute!  I had to purchase new padding for the seat since I had unknowingly committed a cardinal sin in washing the previous straps/padding.  Apparently washing the straps will compromise their integrity... I was just happy I didn't have to replace the whole seat AND I got to pick a new pattern! :)  The pattern I chose is called Lemonata.  Doesn't that just sound summery? :)

Of course I had to sew new crate liners.  (And I just stocked one with newborn diapers...  They're so tiny!  I always forget how little they are - especially when I'm changing a toddler who wears size 4's.)

You can also (kind of) see the curtain tie-backs I made using scraps of aviary fabric.   Other scraps were used in the picture frames above the dresser...

And to decorate a handful of burp cloths as well. :) 

I bought this unfinished crate at Michael's and painted it a dark gray to match the curtains and quilt.  It easily holds all of the receiving blankets inside and the basket of headbands and burp cloths on top.

These headbands I splurged on and ordered from a ridiculously adorable etsy shop.  I love the unique colors and cannot wait to try them on our little princess!  After delivering four pretty much bald kids I'm not suddenly expecting a baby that will have enough hair to hold a clip - so I only got headbands.  Once she outgrows them (and grows some hair) I plan on removing the flowers and gluing them to little alligator clips so they can still be used.

I love having family photos in the nursery (like I did with Beckett) and wanted to try a gallery wall this time.  I bought the frames at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for a couple of dollars (if that) each and then just spray painted them white.  (They were all originally gold or wood colored.)  Then I bought mats at the craft store and started the search for the perfect pictures.  I LOVE the photo of the four kids in the pool so that was a given.  Then the ultrasound photo from Baby's 21 week ultrasound was perfect for another frame while scrap fabric filled up three more of the frames.

This is a birthday card I received this year from my Mom.  She bought it because it reminded her of me when I was little (yes, I was a chronic thumb sucker with crazy curly hair) and I just loved it!  I knew right away it was a "keeper" card and shortly thereafter had the idea to put it in the nursery.  I bought a plum colored mat for this frame to add more contrast. 

And I finally settled on this photo for the final frame so Baby Girl will be able to see her Mommy and Daddy whenever she looks over at the wall.

Another view of the the crib/shelf along with a peak at my new diaper bag. :)  Yep - it's another Vera Bradley (in gray and lavender!) and yep, it was a Valentine's Day gift from Justin.  I can't wait to use it!

Here is a better photo of the quilt.  

View from the far corner towards the dresser/door.  You can kind of see that across the hall is a bathroom that we refer to as "the Baby's bathroom" because each of the other rooms already have a bathroom in them.  Norah actually uses the shower in the baby's bathroom because she is terrified of her own shower/bathtub.  All of the tubs are extra deep and have jets - a fact that traumatized her when Jack turned them on during her first bath here.  Ever since she's insisted on using either the baby's shower (because it's just a shower - no tub/jets) or the shower in our master bathroom. :)

I picked up these unfinished wood cutouts at Michael's last week and just painted them white.  So cute!

I already added this photo to facebook, but thought I'd add it here so it was in our Blog Book.  This is me and Little Miss at two days shy of 31 weeks.  I realize the bump doesn't look very big, but appearances can be deceiving...

As you can see - unrobed the belly looks quite a bit bigger!  I took this photo this morning at 31 weeks exactly.   The only thing convincing me that she's not a 12 lb. baby (because that's what it feels like I'm carrying around at this point!) is the fact that my belly button hasn't yet flattened out.  So I know I've got some growing to do still, lol.  

See?  Clothes hide the bump a bit (this photo was also taken this morning at 31 weeks)... But at least now there is proof that I do, in fact, have a respectable baby belly under there. :)