I'm excited that almost everything is ready for Baby Girl! We had our hospital tour a couple weeks ago. All the clothes have been washed, freezer meals in the freezer, pack n play beside my bed, and nursery is done! Just need to finish packing for the hospital this week and we will be as ready as we can be!
I wanted to share pictures of the nursery! I am so pleased with how it turned out. When we first moved in to the house in July this was our office. It was the only room we hadn't hung pictures up...and good thing because then we found out we needed to make it into a nursery! :)
So even though we don't use real names on this blog (other than mine), I felt like I could still share this picture because I'm not going to write Baby Girl's name. :) She will be called "E" on the blog...for obvious reasons I couldn't call her "ET" (hello movie!) or "EH" (less than pleasant sound), so E she will be. I painted all the butterflies, flowers and ladybugs on the letters!
I bought the quilt hanging above the glider in Hawaii before we moved in 2008. We'd started trying to have a baby, and it was the only thing I allowed myself to buy ahead of time because I didn't want to jinx things if we couldn't have a baby. What a sweet reminder of God's promises fulfilled it is for me to see it hanging in her room. :) This was CJ's crib (that he outgrew), so now it belongs to little sis! The pom pom of blue hydrangea flowers hanging from the ceiling was a decoration in one of my best friend's weddings where I was a bridesmaid! We had blue hydrangeas in our backyard growing up, so they also bring those memories. I thought this was the perfect "reuse" for that decor! And the rocker got moved into the nursery too from CJ's room, and CJ now has a beanbag chair.
Baby E's room is directly across the hall from CJ's room and caddy-corner across the hall from us. We had a limited amount of space for a changing table because we couldn't block her closet on the left (the one on the right opens from the other side of the hallway). I found the changing table I wanted on Craigslist for about half the price!!
I got the pink baskets from Michaels, and the drawer pulls are Olive Kids. Her coming home from the hospital outfit (laid out on changing table) has an elephant on it just like her big brother's did! :) But E's pants have a ruffle butt!
I was inspired by a couple of different bow holders I saw on Pintrest, and I made this bow holder! I painted the different pieces of wood and put it all together. I should have taken a close up, but the bows are hanging on braided brown yarn (because she'll more than likely have brown hair?). The bows are a mix of some that I've made, and some that have been given to our sweet girl.
This is the view from the glider. Blankets, and burp rags on top shelf for easy grabbing, and "baby" toys and board books on the other shelves. CJ loves "sharing" E's toys already! And our little "princess" couldn't NOT have a little Disney in her room...Sleeping Beauty prints.
We have been SO very blessed by the generosity of friends and hand-me-downs with this baby. We were given new clothes for CJ as gifts, but the majority of things we had to purchase. Expensive! So I was concerned about the finances of a surprise baby. We were taken care of! E has been given boxes and boxes of beautiful girl clothes. I have them all sorted by size and ready to go! :)
On top of the toy shelf, the bear music box and angel figurine were mine as a little girl. So neat to have those to pass on to her. And I LOVE the frame that has Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I chose you".
The view from the hall, coming from our bedroom. The big window looks out into our front yard, but is shaded/given privacy by a camellia tree (which reminds me so much of SC!) The pink bunny hung in my room as a girl. The crocheted blue hat with pink flower was made by my Mom a long time ago. That word "HOPE" hung in our empty room, would-be-nursery in Michigan as we prayed to be blessed with a child. Now, that will be E's middle name, and I glued it to a frame holding the scripture Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future."
Now all that's missing is a baby girl!!! :)
This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. And even though I'm unsure if I can still call myself "infertile" after our surprise pregnancy?, I can still relate so deeply having been there. I've said before, infertility is not something you simply "get over" and move on from...the pain and the journey we had to walk will stay with us forever.
