I can’t believe that we have less than a week and BFS and I will be holding our sweet baby in our arms. Because of previous complications with Parker’s birth, I am having a planned C-section next Friday. I’ll admit it is a little disappointing that I wasn’t a candidate for VBAC, but as long as the baby is healthy it will not matter one bit. So far everything has been blessedly smooth and uncomplicated. However, I can tell it is getting to be that time because I am simply miserable. I feel huge, can’t sleep, can’t eat normally, can’t get comfortable, can’t fit into any of my clothes and can definitely tell it will be a very long week. There have also been signs such as false labor and braxton hicks contractions. BFS even got to download a cool stopwatch app on his phone today in order to time a few suspicious contractions. I had about 6 or so painful ones about 20 to 25 minutes apart earlier that put us in a state of red alert. No emergency trip to the hospital resulted, so in reality it was more like code mild orange. I just took a short nap and all was fine. It did however, light the fire under me to finally put the last pieces of preparation into play.
We worked on getting the house ready, and I picked up the last of my essential items to pack (like gynormous unmentionables and other things best not discussed). The baby bag is ready to go, but I can’t exactly finish packing my own hospital bag since I am down to wearing only a couple of outfits that are still comfy. I refused to buy any maternity clothes this time around since they tend to be, in my opinion, ugly and overpriced. I just stick to the stretchy and larger end of my wardrobe and do just fine. However, it means that I will probably be doing laundry Thursday night before we go to the hospital.
We also finished the nursery this weekend (well minus the completion of one last painting, but BFS will finish up this week). Most everything was ready thanks to the wonderful baby showers, the generosity of amazing friends and family, and the purchase of a few key furniture items. I was mainly searching for one last thing to tie in all my mismatched elements and colors. I wanted an orange rug. I searched the internet and a few stores and couldn’t find what I wanted. My last endeavor was IKEA. I was sure they would have what I wanted. They absolutely did, but surprisingly it was not in the shade of orange I had been envisioning. Instead, it was a brilliant and soothing green. There was some skepticism at first, but something told me I would like it. Here are a few shots of Baby Jude’s finished Nursery. It feels very calm and peaceful to me. Let me know what you think.
I decorated these letters myself with a little glue, ink , ribbon and scrapbook paper. I am really stoked at how cool they turned out. Since these items are pretty much what I use to create my mixed media paintings, I only had to buy the wooden letters at Hobby Lobby.
Loved this crib bedding the second I saw it in a shop one day browsing. It is by Cotton Tale Designs. We wanted the theme to be elephants with a little Indian meets modern hippie flair thrown in. In other words, eclectic elephants. I just loved the colors and design of the elephants AND the red palm trees. BTW! BFS’s mom hand knitted the adorable elephant seen in the top left! And my good friend Jen made the blanket hanging over the side. LOVE IT! LOVE the fact that there are so many handmade with love items all about this room.
So many fun things to go into the baby room. I love this sling that ties conveniently to the side to hold baby Jude’s favorite squishy toys.
Oooh a peak at the green carpet. Whatchew think? I just think it adds peacefulness to an already colorful room. You can see the baby bag is already hanging on the door ready to go. I am really excited that my favorite Aunt Lori got me the ultra cool Moses basket seen in the corner. I can’t wait to use it. Eventually, we will put the rocker in this corner of the room. For now it is in our bedroom, along with the portacrib, for those frequent all night feedings I’m not wanting to walk across the house for.
I LOVE this carved elephant rack of convenient hooks. I am sure in the times to come these hooks will be filled with coats, jackets, bags and such. For now, they offer a home to a beautiful plaque given to us by a beautiful friend, and the cutest and tiniest of baby shirts that belonged to BFS. I just love that we decorated the room with a few of father-to-be’s mementos from his own babyness. It makes it all the more special.
Rather than purchasing a changing table, we went with a small dresser instead. Just placed a changing mat , wipe warmer, and a lamp on top and…Voila! we have a transformable dresser/changing table that does not look like a poorly constructed hotel drink cart with a mat on top. It is a piece of furniture that can be used for a long time to come. We also made sure that the crib converted to eventually a full sized bed as well. Baby J will be stuck with his furniture for a LONG time to come.
AWWW check out the paintings on the wall! My favorite part of the nursery by far. BFS still needs to finish the second painting but they make me feel all warm and gooey every time I look at them. I can see the talent and love he put in every brush stroke. This is gonna be one lucky kid for sure!
These are a few of the elephants that have a special home in the nursery. My favorite is the black Indian elephant given to us by one of my favorite cousins and his fiance. They get me MAN!!!
A baby nursery is not complete without a shelf of doodads and whatsits. In this case, we needed a shelf to hold slinkey dog, drums, books, videos, blocks, BFS’s first teddy bear (awe!) and baskets of goodies. My SIL also gave me the cool big block chest that I have yet to decorate.
See! Doodads and whatsits.
Well folks? whatddya think? I think all we are missing is the baby.
I had so much fun decorating this room and getting ready for Jude’s arrival. I consider myself blessed that I have the opportunity to make a loving space for our new family member.
