The Nest

"Nesting" is one of most joked about parts of a woman's pregnancy, but really what is so funny about wanting to make sure that the world around you is ready to greet your new child? 

We got a late start on getting our nursery put together. In fact, that is what my mom spent most of her time working on during her stay. A few of the [almost] final touches were just added recently.

We didn't know the gender of the baby, so we couldn't do anything too feminine or masculine. Personally, I couldn't stand the idea of anything too pastel or cartoony. 

I had come up with a color scheme I was really excited about, but then discovered that my sister-in-law was using the same one for her little girl...we live far enough away that it would have been okay, but I didn't want to feel like a copy cat.

I started looking for ideas, and knowing that a full-size bed was going to have to share the space, I landed on stack of quilts made by my grandmother.

Inspiration x 2

My mom said she would like to make a baby quilt for the crib, so then I had to find fabric that would coordinate...I never imagined that would be such a difficult job!

I spent a couple hours digging through the bolts of fabric at the local quilt store (can you believe Orangeburg actually has a quilt store!) before finally deciding on these...

When I would tell people that our theme was primary colors with numbers and letters, I got the impression they thought I was planning to "play teacher" with the baby (as if I don't get enough of that during the work day). In reality, the theme was chosen by the fabrics. The "ABC" and "Connect the Dots chalkboard" pieces pulled the rest together better than anything else I could find and everything else came together from there.

Purchased from a seller on Etsy.

Not long after deciding on the fabrics, I found these alphabet verse cards while scrolling through Pinterest. 

I would have never dreamed how difficult something as simple as buying a Boppy pillow can be when you are trying to stay gender-neutral, so when I happened to see one in this chevron pattern I grabbed it.

I was getting frustrated when trying to figure out what to do for a changing table. The room really isn't large enough for a lot of extra furniture and I couldn't find any dressers that would work for the long term. Then, one day, I realized that the desk my grandfather had made was the perfect size for a changing pad. There is just enough room behind it for a basket of diapers and a box of wipes. The hamper fits perfectly in the opening underneath. 

This beautiful rocker was a gift from a very dear family friend. And, after spending some time in the living room, it was just moved into the nursery...something for which my back is very grateful.

Monogrammed (before monogramming was cool) with MEH and DPH...the yellow one is mine and the blue one belongs to my brother (not that he'll be getting it back anytime soon).  =)

These final touches were just added yesterday...the sweaters my grandmother knitted for me and my brother when we were little.

Of course, the best decoration is the one snoozing in the middle of the bed...