Baby J’s nursery details!

I’ve gotten quite a few emails/messages from people inquiring about the details of J’s nursery.  I know that when I was in the planning stages and using Pinterest day and night, it was always so frustrating when I’d see something I loved and not be able to find any identifying information about where it could be purchased or how it was done. 

Let’s get started.

The walls/Paint:

Some of my closest friends came in to town to help me paint the walls and kick start J’s nursery decorating.

Brown paint color: PARK FOUNTAIN (Valspar, Lowes)
White paint color: WEDDING BELLS (Valspar, Lowes)

We kind of winged the paint job since we honestly had no idea what we were doing, but my friend Beth took what she learned at my house through trial and error and created a fantastic tutorial on how to paint beautiful stripes.  Check it out here!

We only painted one main wall in stripes and painted the other walls in Park Fountain.  I think this gives the room great balance and doesn’t overwhelm the small space.  The stripes actually make the room look more spacious!



Due to the layout of the room, it’s hard to get a decent shot):

 

The bedding/crib details:

The first official purchase I hade for J’s nursery was the crib bedding.  I scoured Craigslist for a few days and came across this entire bedding set for $45.  At the time, it was retailing in stores for $300, but it looks like it’s been discontinued most places or is selling for about $150 now.  It was a fabulous score for me since the bedding was in mint condition and fit perfectly with the modern/funky theme I wanted for the nursery.

 
I found the set online here.  You may be able to find it somewhere online cheaper than this.  Just type in Dwell Chocolate Dots crib bedding. 

Here’s the bedding in the nursery:
 

The crib is a Sorelle Gia crib that I purchased from csnbaby.com before Anna was born.  It’s held up very nicely, and is super sturdy and solid.  I highly recommend this line of furniture. 


The dresser/changing station:

I’d say the one thing that caused me the most angst with this nursery was the dresser/changing table.  The matching dresser to the crib is still in Anna’s room, so I needed to buy a new one.  Since funds were limited, I wasn’t able to find anything I liked in stores or online, so I improvised and hit the local thrift shops. 

I found this beauty in need of some major TLC:
 

And turned it into this (with Joe’s help, of course):

 
We decided to keep the original hardware pulls since they were still in great condition and looked fabulous with the paint.

Total cost: About $100 ($70 for the dresser and $30 for paint/supplies)

I’m not sure of the paint color name since it’s not listed on the can top, but here’s a picture of the numbers.

 

The curtains:

I’d have to say that other than the dresser, the chevron curtains are my favorite feature of the nursery. 

Since they’re hand made by my good friend Kent, you won’t be able to find them in stores, but I purchased the fabric from HB FABRICS on Etsy.  It was $8.75/yard, and I needed 7 yards of fabric.  The ceilings in the nursery are 10’ high, and I wanted to hang the curtains about 10” above the top of the window and have them drape.

 

The artwork:

I was able to DIY the artwork in the nursery based on some images that I found on Etsy.  I love being able to customize them to my exact needs and play around with the design elements a bit. 

The original design is from Trendypeas on Etsy. 


The original design is from Urban Tickle on Etsy.

The frames are just some old frames that I found around my house that I spray painted with Valspar Exotic Sea. 


Image from unsimpleliving.wordpress.com.

The J on the top is just a last minute thing that I decided to do.  I just bought a letter from Michael’s and painted it with some left over paint I had from another project (that just happened to match perfectly).

 
The little bunting at the bottom was made from the left over scraps that were used to create these letters:




I decided to frame the J at the very last minute and am very pleased with how it turned out.  I was lucky that the J fell smack dab in the center – it was a happy accident that I couldn’t replicate if I tried.

My sweet friend Allison made each of these letters for the nursery using this as inspiration:


Instructions can be found here

My friend Allison is also making the artwork that will hang behind the crib.  She hand-painted all of these canvases, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how they turned out!  Since my husband is a huge car enthusiast, I wanted to incorporate his love of muscle cars into the nursery.  He already has visions of working on cars with his son (and daughter). 




Lagniappe:

The orbs:

The orb and star cluster is pretty darn amazing (especially in person). 

Blue orbs are from the Martha Stewart Crafts Celebrate line – blue accordion lanterns (looks like they’re discontinued or out of stock most places).  I got these from Overstock, but they only have the green set left.   It was about $14 for 6.

The other lanterns (brown and orange) are from Justartifacts.com.  This place had the best prices on orbs, super fast shipping and a great selection of colors.

The star lantern was purchased from Ebay. It was hard finding an aqua star, but this seller came through.  

The bird mobile:

I stole idea from designdininganddiapers.com and made a few modifications.

I liked the more natural look of the twigs since the brown matches the bedding/crib.  I added the mini-orbs to fill it in since I only ordered 6 birds (I would recommend 8 for this project).  I got the orbs from JustArtifacts.com.  The twig circle is from Michael’s. 

The birds are from The Fish Box on Etsy.  Melissa was wonderful to work with, and the birds turned out so beautifully!  Plus, her prices are incredible!  
 
The center of the wreath is just a regular pom tissue ball that I made from a YouTube tutorial.

The pillows:

My friend Kent sewed these pillowcases for me and embroidered them.  I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out!  The aqua dot fabric is from fabric.com.  The striped fabric is from Studio 25 Fabrics on Etsy.  The Chevron is remnant fabric from the curtains from HB Fabrics on Etsy.

The changing pad:
Kent also made two changing pad covers for his changing pad.
 
The fabric used is Kaufman Minky Cuddle Night Owl Orange/Brown from fabric.com

This is the other changing pad cover she made me.  I don’t have any photos of it without Joseph on it.  :)

It’s Minky Cuddle Dimple Dot Turquoise from fabric.com.

The rocking chair:
Joe’s grandmother gave us an old antique rocking chair that she purchased a while back.  I love the clean lines of it and think it fits nicely in the nursery. 

Eventually I’d like to add some bookshelves to the wall next to the rocking chair, but I have to wait for Joe to get motivated to do this.  I should just empower myself and learn how to cut wood on my own.  This is the tutorial we will use: $10 ledge shelves

The beautiful blanket draped on the chair was hand-made by my good friend Alyson.  This is the the pattern – Chevron Baby Blanket pattern.


Aly informed me that this was actually the back side of the throw, but both sides are so beautiful that it was hard for me to tell!

The rugs:

I found the orange rugs at Big Lots.  They were $5 a piece.  What a steal!


This blue rug is from Hobby Lobby for $14.  I love how it is in a star shape and is the exact aqua color I need for the nursery!



The lamp:

I just found a lamp that I’d been storing in the attic and painted the base with the Valspar Exotic Sea spray paint.  I didn’t have to prime or sand the base at all.  It went on evenly and dried very quickly.

The old car on the dresser:
 
I found this at Hobby Lobby and fell in love with it immediately.  I love the rustic look of it and how it ties in nicely with his nursery.  I think it was about $15, but it was 40% off the day I went. 

There are still a few more items that I’ll be adding over time, so check back soon.  Hopefully I’ll have some bookshelves installed in the near future.  I think that will be the finishing touch on the nursery!

Please let me know if you have any other questions about any of the features of the nursery.

Week 37.

Here’s where we are this week:

Your baby is now considered "full term," even though your due date is three weeks away. If you go into labor now, his lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. (Some babies need a bit more time, though. So if you're planning to have a repeat c-section, for example, your practitioner will schedule it for no earlier than 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason to intervene earlier.)

Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

How far along: 37 weeks

Total weight gain: +32 total.  This is +2 from last week. 

Here’s a picture of my 37 week bump:


Side-by-side comparison (sorry I didn’t do any silhouette pictures before 34 weeks). 

Sleep habits: Sleep has been great with the exception of not being able to sleep on my back.  I get up to pee and fall back asleep very quickly.  I also find I’m able to stay up later at night (past my pregnancy 8 p.m. bedtime) and still wake up at a decent hour and have energy throughout the day. 

Maternity clothes: They’re getting tight.  As evidenced in my 37 week bump picture, my bump has grown.  The blue belly fabric is fitting very snugly.  I am usually fine in the morning, but once I eat lunch and have my post-lunch pregnancy swelling, I’m in absolute misery.  I refuse to buy more maternity pants at this point, so I’ll just have to deal. 

Best moment of the week:  Joe’s parents came and picked up Anna to bring her to her great grandmother’s house.  I got to spend the majority of the day all by myself, and it was heavenly.  I watched a scary movie (Insidious), I ate the delicious jambalaya that my father-in-law made for me without having to share, and I even took a nap.  It was glorious! 

Food cravings: Nothing at the moment.

Symptoms:  Not many at this point with the exception of just feeling uncomfortable and miserable.  This is the most pregnant I’ve been.  I had Anna at exactly 37 weeks.  Today I’m 37 weeks 1 day (I post a day after I hit my weekly milestones).  I was really hoping I’d go into labor right at 37 weeks, but that obviously didn’t happen.  Does that make me horrible that I’m so ready to evict this baby? 

It just gets frustrating when doing the simplest of tasks requires great effort.  Plus, I just feel like crap – fatigued, pressure down low, have to pee every 10 minutes.   Also, I’m really anxious to meet him.  I can’t wait to see what he looks like – will he have hair or be completely bald like Anna?  How big will he be?

I honestly worry the most about my water breaking while in public.  I’m tempted to start traveling around with a spare change of clothes and garbage bags to put on my car seats while I’m en route to the hospital. 

Movement:  He’s slowed down a lot.  I usually have 10 minute kick sessions every few hours.  These sessions really make me want to run out to get an epidural.  The kid likes to head-butt/punch some very sensitive organs/areas.  Most of the time if feels like shockwaves going throughout my entire body.  I don’t remember the kicks being this forceful with Anna, but maybe I blocked it out. 

The nursery:  I haven’t done much with the nursery this past week because there’s not much left to do at this point.  My friend Allison made some amazing artwork for behind his crib, so I’ll get that hung up as soon as possible.



This was the inspiration:


One canvas will be an old Chevy truck and the other will be a big J. 

My friend Kent is making some cool bunting (flags) to hang in his room. 

This is just an example of bunting (of course the colors will be aqua/chocolate/orange to match his room colors):


I still need a few odds and ends décor stuffs, but I’m basically done.  I just need the baby now.

Oh, and my sister gave me all of my nephew’s clothes, so J is well stocked until he’s at least 2!  The kid can wear two or three outfits/day and never wear the same thing twice.  It was fun washing and putting away everything.  Now I feel like things are finally ready for him. 

Oh, and I found the most perfect orange rugs at Big Lots.  I could kick myself because I actually saw them a few weeks ago, but being the cheap bastard that I am, I decided not to get them at the time even though the rugs were only $5 a piece.  I needed three. 

When I couldn’t stop thinking about them, I went back in to buy them, but there were only two left.   I bought them, but the odd person in me feels like I need one more to make it more symmetrical.  My mother-in-law went to the Big Lots in her town to see if she could find me one more, but they didn’t have them there.  I even looked online for them…no luck.  Oh well.  Lesson learned – just buy what you like the first time – don’t wait around.

Here’s the rug:

What I’m looking forward to:  Having this babeh!

What I miss: Nothing at the moment.

Last appointment details: I got scolded for getting off of Procardia, but I don’t guess it mattered since I’m still truckin’ along.  She also checked me and said I’m 50% effaced (not 80% like the L&D nurse said) and 1 CM dilated.  She said he’s hanging out low, locked and engaged at –3 station.  I got the GBS (Group B Strep) test, but I’m already deemed as being GBS+, so I’ll need antibiotics as soon as I get to the hospital.  I was GBS+ with Anna as well. 

Here’s a station diagram to explain:

Dilation and Effacement diagram:


Next appointment:
My next appointment is Thursday, March 22.  I will be meeting with a new OB since my OB is on maternity leave.  I’m not sure if she will check me or not, but my regular OB said that she wanted to do a growth u/s at 38 weeks to see how big J is and then discuss the possibility of a c-section.  I’m not on board with that at all, so I’m curious to see what this OB recommends. 

See ya next week (maybe!).