Nursery Inspirations

Even before we thought about having a baby I was going nuts on Pinterest, trying to find the perfect nursery decorations for both a boy and girl. I was baby hungry in the sense that I was so excited for little clothes, baby blankets, newborn photos and adorable nurseries. Eric and I would laugh about how I was so excited for all these "material" parts of having a baby, but none of the realistic parts. And it's still partially true. When ever I have a particularly long or tiring day due to pregnancy, I console myself with adorable baby things on Pinterest.

Well, now that we are 20 weeks along, as of today, plans for the perfect nursery can start to come to fruition. We find out on Thursday what gender the baby is, then the plans can really commence. But, I thought I'd share my ideas for a nursery with you and get some feedback.

Baby Boy Nursery Ideas

This is the crib that we have... well close to it. We bought it off of craigslist, and it was a light stain color, so Eric is in the process of sanding and painting it for me :) I absolutely HAD to have a white crib, no matter the gender.

We want a dresser that doubles as a changing table also in white.  I also like the simple letters for a name above the crib.

For a boy, the colors will be more neutral whites, beiges,  grays, etc.

This while be Eric's next project. If it's a boy, it will either stained or a earth tone color. 

Sheepskin rug: This is a must, thank goodness IKEA has an incredible price on this!

I want something like this for the wall, either above or next to his crib. I've seen other variations, paper mache, or  just antlers. Now I just have to decide which variation and buy or DIY.

I love this wall art. 

I LOVE this. 

This is so neat, but may have to find a way to DIY this. 

I want something like this for the corner, for blankets, toys and such. 

Baby Girl Nursery Ideas

Again, this will be the crib.

Again, need a dresser/changer like this. 

Because we're not supposed to crib bumpers or much at all in the way of crib bedding, I want to spruce it up with a ruffle crib skirt, not necessarily these colors. 

This is the exact chair I want! But alas, they are $$$, so I think I will find a chair or rocker on craigslist or at DI and reupholster it. I've read a lot of blogs to understand the reupholstering process, looks tricky, but I think it's worth the try considering how much you can save. 

I want a pouf like this, but in the right color. I think I can also make this. 

I have to have a rug like this if it's a girl! And I'm considering putting her initial in a frame like this for above the crib. 

Love this mobile! So colorful and unique!

Have to have shelves somewhere for all the books, I mean it will be my baby :) so it must love books!

This is basically my color pallet: tiffany blue, corally pink, with some yellows and other bright colors mixed in there,.

I like the idea of doing embroidery hoops surrounding her name.

So, this is what has been in progress on my Pinterest for the past 6 months or so. Let me know what you think, or feel free to direct me to other ideas!

18 Week Update

18 weeks, it seems like such a large number. Just two weeks shy of the half-way mark. All at once I feel that this pregnancy has gone by very quickly, and that it will last forever.

The first four weeks of the 2nd trimester has brought its fare share of new symptoms.

Baby bump: The baby bump slowly grew until all of sudden it was visible to others, and not just myself. I've had mixed feelings about my growing baby bump. It was exciting and thrilling to see that the baby is actually growing, and buying maternity clothes is kind of exciting. But also, It kind of felt like an alien was taking over my body and changing it in undesirable ways, and I started to realize that my body as I previously knew it, is never more. Happily, spending an evening holding my adorable nephew Hudson, made me feel better about the changes. It made me feel like it will be worth it, and that there is a prize at the end. Though I'm still anxiously awaiting the "quickening" so I can feel more of a connection with this "alien" growing inside me.

Acne: Ugh. The bane of my late high school and college life has come back with a vengeance. Well I don't know if I can say "come back" because it never really left. Adult acne plagues my family, and I've grown to accept and deal with it. But I was not prepared for this volatile-level acne. It's calmed down a little as I've become more diligent with washing my face thoroughly several times a day. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't get any worse.

Backaches: I anticipated having lower back pain, but not this early in the game. Though I've read that if you've had lower backaches in the past, then they may be your constant companion. Well, that's me. I've always had bad lower backaches during that time of the month, and sometimes the only way to find relief is lay down. Luckily, it hasn't been that bad, but it is pretty much a constant dull ache, which quickly jabs me if I bend over. What am I, eight months prego?

Round Ligament Stretching: Those weird, jabby pains in the groin, upper thigh, and lower abdomen. Yeah there's a name for those--round ligament stretching. Now that's a mouthful. These don't really bother me, but are kind of a funny reminder that my stomach is growing and stretching.

RH Negative: So, um apparently my blood type is O-. Who, knew? I certainly didn't. I always thought I was A something. So, since my RH factor (negative or positive part of the blood type) is negative and since Eric's blood type might be (long story, that ends with the army being incompetent) positive I have to get this horrible shot in a horrible place. This means that the baby's blood type could be positive and if our two blood types were to mix at any time my body would try to attack future fetuses. Scary huh!?! So, good thing there's this shot. Too bad I HATE shots. Such is life.

But the best part is that in two weeks we get have another ultrasound to see how our baby's doing and find out the gender. Which if you've talked to me, you know how impatient I am to find out.

The one dilemma I'm having is how to have the gender news broken. Do we just have the doctor tell us and have an emotional moment mid-ultrasound? Or do we have the doctor write down the gender on a piece of paper and "open" the news privately at home after the ultrasound? I'm torn because I'm impatient to find out. But I also would like it to be a private experience, between just Eric and I. I really don't like letting strangers see my emotions. So, thoughts?

Boise Vacation

A few days after graduation, Eric's sister Heidi and her family flew out to Boise to visit, so I took a few days off and we went to visit too. We definitely had a full house, but it was a fun full house. Eric and I hadn't seen Heidi and her Husband Craig or their son Ethan since Eric's 2-week leave from Iraq in April 2011, and we hadn't even met their newest addition Elizabeth, their adorable 8-month old baby girl. Elizabeth was born a few days after we got married, unfortunately leaving them all home-bound in Virginia for our wedding. So it was great to catch up and see everybody. It was also great to see the rest of Eric's family.

We made a lot of fun memories.

Swimming at a Lake

Floating Down the River

In the middle of the river there is this cool zen-like rock garden.

We floated down the river with Eric's family summer 2010, right after we got engaged. That time I helped push Eric in the river. Of course he retaliated and I went in too. And well that led to an adventure all on its own when the raft floated away before we could get back on and had to fight a nasty current to make our way back to the raft. It was scary and I thought we were going to die, it was a dramatic moment for me that is somewhat embarrassing now. Well, being pregnant, I knew that I was at least safe from being pushed in :) All the boys had their fair share of being pushed out of the raft--which is great fun, when it's not you :) Somehow Mark, Eric's dad, escaped. I'm still not sure how.

Ethan came along too, and had a blast throwing flip-flops and water bottles over the raft, again and again, and watching everyone panic.

Afternoon Picnic In McCall

As we were saying our goodbyes, Eric, who was holding an ice cold water bottle, told Ethan (who was only wearing a diaper at the time) that he should give the water bottle a hug too. Well, being the trusting 2-year-old that he is, he hugs it. He hugged it for a second, looked down at it, gave it a weird look, and slowly let go of it, and looked at his now very cold arms and stomach. Oh goodness, the look on his face was priceless! We all laughed really hard. Later, as Eric and I were remembering it, we started laughing all over again. But then it occurred to us how mean it really was. This poor 2-year-old, who doesn't know any better, listens to his uncle that he trusts, and what does he get? A very cold experience with a water bottle. As awful as it is though, it still makes us laugh. Sorry Ethan, Eric really does feel bad!