Nesting advice and nursery essentials

Shopping for a baby can be overwhelming. Especially if you’ve never had one. I spent weeks researching products, because I had the have the RIGHT everything — even though much of it comes down to personal preference. The following is a note a wrote a friend who was expecting when my little one was about four months old. It’s nesting advice I would have written to my former self. Now I could go on and on about what you REALLY “need” for a baby, but I liked re-reading the words on my newborn-mothering self and thought it would be fun to share.

Don’t wear yourself out. If I could go back in time I would have spent more time sleeping!

Just about a month to go, how are you feeling? I don’t know how many mom friends you have but I thought I’d offer a little unsolicited baby advice for your final preparations. I had a very fussy baby for a while and thought I would share some shopping tips for calming your little one an other random things. Take what you will, but it’s stuff I would have loved to know:

• Target Up&Up diapers are like Pampers and Costco ones are like Huggies. Both way cheaper.
• If you don’t already have them, stock up on: baby Q-Tips, they are great for ears and noses; Little Tummies Gas Drops, boogie wipes, and saline nasal spray for stuffy noses. Also invest in a nice thermometer. I have a digital one that takes it in his ear, which is fast and much easier than other ways …
• Look for baby pajamas with zippers or even the goofy looking nightgowns with elastic at the bottom. You won’t want to bother with snaps during 2 a.m. diaper changes.
• Get a travel sleep sheep — it plays white noise. Bust it out at bedtime when she’s cranky. It’s weird but it works! Also make sure you have a nice swaddling blanket with Velcro, I have a Summer Infant one that is awesome. (Pictured above.)
• Will you be breastfeeding? If so, stock up on bra inserts for leakage, lanolin for sore nips and shirts that can easily be pulled down or up. Do yourself a favor and buy 5-7 nursing tanks now. Target has good ones in the bra section they are like shelf tanks with clips to undo the front at the straps. I had to send my husband to buy some for me while we spent a week in the hospital with our son. I wore them for weeks. They are perfect to layer under a top. Then you can pull the top layer up and the bottom layer down to nurse discreetly. Also get a nice nursing cover, Babies R Us has good ones I can nurse discreetly in restaurants and pretty much everywhere with mine.
• Our best big purchase was our swing. It’s his chair in the living room. We got the Graco Soothee and I completely recommend it! It vibrates, swings either back and forth and side to side, plays white noise and music and the seat comes off and works as a little cradle I can more around the house.

Hope these tips help and aren’t too annoying. I know you are probably getting tons of unwanted advice right now! I cant wait to see pics of the nursery and eventually your little lady! Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy! Treat yourself to pedicures and rest!

Rock star theme baby nursery

I’m so excited to finally share pictures of my son’s rock star themed nursery. Since we live in Alaska, far from our extended family, the room doubles as a guest room for the many out state guests we’ve received since his arrival. We wanted to do something a little off beat and fun. Not the typical transportation or animal themes for boys found a the big box baby store. It was also important to me to pick prints and colors that might grow with him so it easily translates to a toddler and big boy room as he grows. I know he won’t like the things we like forever, but a mom can hope. The inspiration for the nursery is based around the guitar print fabric used in the curtains shown below. I saw it used in other baby boy rooms on Pinterest and ordered 10 yards of the fabric shortly after we found out we were having a boy last November. It’s called Groovy Guitar in Lagoon color scheme and I ordered it from Hawthorne Threads out of New York. I shared the fabric with some friends and family and it was really cool to see how others took that and ran with it making some very creative and beautiful baby gifts to match the theme! We moved into our place when I was 27 weeks pregnant and a lot of the details didn’t come together until the last minute and some of the finishing touches didn’t happen until after my 3-weeks-early arrival showed up.

My mom and I made the curtains. We tacked teal ribbon to the centers to draw them back and I loved the bright green rick rack for the finish at the bottom. The days are getting shorter, but I think I might want to install a blackout shade behind them before next summer. I’ve learned darkness is key to helping babies set their circadian rhythms during Alaska’s midnight summer sun.

My husband painted two walls in the bright lime green and two in the aqua teal color. We left the trim, door and closest door bright white. We chose Velspar paint with a satin finish and picked colors that very closely matched the fabric. At first we weren’t sold on the lime, it is a little loud. That first swipe with the roller almost sent us running back to the home store for a more minty version, but it’s vibrant and cheerful and has really grown on me. Now I’m pleased we didn’t chicken out and tone it down to a softer shade.

My closest girl friend doesn’t quilt herself, so she acquired some of the same guitar fabric I had ordered and commissioned a quilt from another friend. It’s the perfect compliment to the guest bed and makes a great playmat now that he’s wiggling further and further on the floor. I’ve found you can never have too many blankets and we will cherish the homemade ones for years.

She even had his name quilted into the center block. I love it so much.

I designed and made the crib quilt myself. It is a 12 block quilt with applique stars. I found all the complimentary music prints at JoAnn’s Fabrics. I ended up using InDesign to mock up the plan and figure out how many different fabrics I needed. The back is all in the guitar print.

Another sweet friend hand knitted this cool rattle to match his room. Her secret: she uses a cat toy to make it rattle!

My aunt made him a Raggedy Andy doll with a music note print shirt.

My mom and I also collaborated on one of her signature bear hug blankets with some of the same fabrics from the crib quilt. The bear hug is great for floor time for little babies and becomes a nice snugly for toddlers. We, of course, tweaked the pattern to make the bear play guitar too.

We kept it pretty simple in terms of wall art, but I had to have those sweet baby footprints on the wall.

I’m a nut for convertible furniture and space is limited, so I decided Cubicle shelves were the way to go instead of a big dresser to start. They fit SO much stuff! And it can be re-purposed later when we take the guest bed out and add a dresser. Four bins fit all the clothes that currently fit him. Other sizes are hidden away in the closet. Two cubes are full of books thanks to my shower where the hostess asked guests to inscribe books instead of cards. What an amazing idea. The other cubes hold toys as a basket of socks, bibs and other accessories.

The Vick’s cool mist humidifier also functions as a nightlight that projects stars on the walls and ceiling and slowly changes colors. It’s nice to be able to step in at night and not have to jar parent and baby’s eyes with the overhead light.

Since the room is a little tight on space and I am a fanatic for furniture with multiple uses I just had to have a crib with an attached changing table. We purchased it gently used crib on Craigslist and bought a new mattress. Bonus, the whole thing converts to a toddler bed as he grows. It has a hidden drawer underneath the bed where we store extra blankets and linens. There’s lots of shelves under the changer on the back side to store extra diapers and baby toiletries. There’s also a big cabinet where we hid the wastebasket out of sight. No Diaper Genie here, just a regular $5 trash can that we empty often — I’ve found infant diapers aren’t nearly as stinky at the big box company would like you to think. A friend gave us the cool canvas crib attachment which stores a ton of quick grab items like receiving blankets, burp clothes and little socks and hats. I keep a simple white laundry basket by the door for quick changes.

In addition to the crib quilt, I sewed the crib skirt with a pattern my mother in law provided. Following patterns is not my forte, because I’m always looking for shortcuts and improvements, so I’m proud to say I followed the instructions and it fits and hangs perfectly.

Another Pinterest inspired piece, was his name on the wall on old vinyl records. We picked up a handful of 99-cent records at the thrift store and I designed and printed the letter to adhere to the center over the labels. The guitar shade lamp was displayed on an end cap at Fred Meyer couldn’t be passed up.

I designed and had printed the “Little Rock Star,” name and “Keep Calm and Rock On” prints.

That concludes our tour of my son’s rock star theme nursery. Like any room, it always seems like a work in progress that grows and changes, and I can always think of little things I want to tweak or add, but so far I’m really proud of the bright, peaceful space we have created for our baby.

Rock star baby shower

My awesome friend Amber and I had a wonderful time planning a shower for Babykins. We decided to theme it rock star in honor of the nursery decor and she arranged to host it at the gorgeous tasting room attached to UnWINEd: A Boutique Wine Shoppe. We had games, a do-it-yourself onsie making station a very specific menu planned. But like all best laid plans … they got puked all over. Amber’s handsome toddler had the flu and instead of basking in her hostess glory and enjoying a bubbly drink and the fruits of her labor she was stuck re-washing sheets and jammies for a millionth time. Luckily her plans were so lovely and thanks for a few friends who stepped in to run games and bring treats the event was still the best shower a girl could imagine. We dug through Pinterest for ideas and were very happy with the final results.

Non-alcoholic punch for mama in the pitcher, treats and presents.

Amber found these awesome striped straws which were perfect for our lime green and teal theme.

Curling ribbon and scrapbook paper with a star punch make frugal, but fun table decor.

The tasting room is already elegantly decorated. The UnWINEd Tasting Room is available to rent for events. Here we are gathered around playing one of the games.

The curling ribbon made a second appearance for a “guess the bump” game in which everyone guessed how large my preggo waist expanded.

The “Price is Right” game was a hit, I realized I had NO idea what things cost. Ah, those were the days.

We saved gifts for last and spend a large amount of the gathering just talking, eating and enjoying each others’ company. All things an expecting mama enjoys.

Amber painted the little clothespins that hung the drying onsies from our onsie-decorating station. We provided fabrics, scissors and fabric glue with a few stencils and some simple instructions. Many of the prints were remnants from the homemade crib quilt and “bear hug” blanket, which I will post about another day.

Here is the actual station. We printed images from Pinterest from other baby showers to get everyone’s imagination going.

Here I am in my 34-weeks pregnant glory. The photos taken of me on this day were the last ones of me expecting. My water broke at exactly 37 weeks and I went into labor the day of my maternity shoot so I called from the hospital to cancel.

I loved this beautiful idea to have everyone write wishes and hopes for baby. I read them after the shower and came across them just the other day while sorting through things on baby’s bookshelf. I was surprised to find some of the answers made me smile for different reasons now that he’s actually here. It’s funny how much you learn in just a few short months. These are a wonderful keepsake and great alternative to a traditional guestbook. I think they would be great for birthday parties and wedding showers too.

My husband wasn’t supposed to be at the shower, but when our hostess realized her sick baby would keep her home he stepped up and played bartender, game scorer and food plate filler.

She gave out little bottles of black, silver and glitter nail polish for favors. We spent a cozy Sunday afternoon a few weeks prior stamping and punching the “record” shaped thank you tags for them.

It’s not a baby shower without at least one baby present.

Both the alcohol free and champagne spritzer cocktails were a hit.

My sweet friend Ash Adams made these beautiful vegan chocolate cupcakes. She also took most of these pictures. A wonderful photographer, find more of her work at her website.