The Nursery

When I found out that we were having a baby girl, I tried to convince myself that a full nursery overhaul wasn't necessary, or practical. That if I could just tweak a few things I could make the boys' nursery hand-me-downs work for a girl.

At the top of my to do list was to paint our gnawed on, black crib. So I hopped onto Pinterest for some inspiration.

Well I got it.

Over 200 pins and more than a dozen do-it-yourself projects later, I ended up doing a full nursery overhaul. And since buying things new wasn't really in the budget this year, I ended up doing it the thrifty way which takes twice as much work, but is also twice as rewarding when it works out.

Anyway, here are some pics of the room. The lighting isn't the greatest and I like to think the room looks better in person, but this gives you some idea of what I've been up to for the last month.

The inspiration for the whole room was a cute coral dresser that I saw on Pinterest. My awesome friend, Gretchen, helped me track down the perfect Craigslist dresser to paint.

As a bonus, the dresser came with a matching desk and chair. All three pieces were painted a pale yellow. The whole set was older, but solid wood, made well and in really good condition so I decided to buy the whole set. Having a desk in a nursery is a little random, but the extra drawer space is nice and the desk will come in handy... some day.

I painted the desk white using Annie Sloan chalk paint which, while expensive, really does live up to the hype. And the chair in a pale mint color that matches the ceiling. I reupholstered the seat cushion while I was at it, and did a "gold-dipped" effect on the chair legs. 

We painted the walls of the nursery in a pale gray. I went back and forth on the gold, polka dot wall, but ended up going for it. It was only an $11 investment for the vinyl dots and I figured I could always remove them if I hated them. But I kinda love them and feel like they add the perfect touch of whimsy and a little glamour to the room. 

Another early purchase for the room was this gold lamp that I found on clearance sale at HomeGoods. The rocking chair is a remnant of the boys' nurseries. The shelves I purchased months ago for a bathroom, but didn't end up liking them in that space. I figured someday I would use them somewhere in our home so I held onto them. I'm glad I did because they make the perfect little book ledges in my reading corner.

When I decided to go with floral curtains I had something pretty specific in mind. I looked at every single retailer that I could think of and then I looked at fabric stores with no luck. I finally found myself on Etsy where the curtains that came closest to what I had envisioned were a pricey $250+/pair (and I would have needed 2 pairs). I was debating whether or not they were worth splurging on when I came across these beauties at Target. They are actually duvet covers which happen to be the perfect length for 8 ft. ceilings and double the width of normal panels. The colors were spot on with what I wanted, and I liked the scale of the pattern, too. So I bought them and then invested in $15 worth of curtain clips and recycled a curtain rod left by the previous homeowners. In the end, I got the exact curtains I wanted for a fraction of what curtains normally cost.

I painted the boys' black crib with the same white paint as the desk (this was a beast of a job, but totally worth it). An unintentional bonus of using bedding for the curtains is that each duvet cover came with two pillow shams; which, in a moment of inspiration, I realized could be used in lieu of a crib skirt. 

I decided against buying a separate crib bumper, especially since they aren't recommended for safety reasons these days. But the crib looked a little bare with just the skirt, so I pulled up this fabric Easter banner, flipped it around and tied it to the crib. Voila!

With all the florals patterns used in the room I wanted to find a rug that would ground the room and keep it from looking too frilly at the same time. I think the black chevron carpet does the job. 

The light fixture is actually a chandelier that has been awkwardly hanging in our front sitting room. The former owners used the room as a formal dining room. I've been looking for a replacement fixture for a while, but it hasn't been a priority. And I planned on just getting rid of the old fixture since I've never liked it. But once we painted the ceiling mint I thought that the chandelier might just work in the room. Once we figured out how to remove the chain from it and to mount it directly to the ceiling, I actually ended up really liking it in this space. 

One of my favorite projects in the room is the bookcase. This was a total Pinterest steal. I bought a cheap Ikea bookcase and then papered the back with a Kate Spade wrapping paper (using Elmer's spray-on adhesive). It's a little hard to see with the reflection, but it has a white background with gold foil polkadots. It's also hard to tell, but the wall that it is resting on is a protruding, curved wall that is so awkward and a challenge to decorate around. So the bookcase is a bit of a focal point in the room.

The knick knacks on the bookcase are mostly thrift store finds or things that I had in other parts of the house. I bought a few cans of spray paint and some gold duct tape to spruce them up and tie them into the color scheme.

I'm planning on having some newborn pics taken which will go in the 3 frames above the bed and I ordered some art prints to go in the frames that flank the closet.

But other than these final touches the room is pretty much done.

I know that it is going to be a good chunk of time before our baby will be using this room. I expect she will sleep in a pack 'n play in our bedroom until at least Christmas. But her little bedroom has become my favorite room in the house so I find myself spending time in there on a daily basis. And the boys seem to love it, too. I hope that baby girl loves it as much as we do!

Two!

We made a quick trip out to Utah at the end of the summer and while we were there celebrated Ari's 2nd birthday. 

A part of me can't believe that he is already two. Ari is still my baby is so many ways. I certainly still baby him in ways that I didn't baby Kai at the same age. He learned to walk up and down stairs independently several months back, but if I am in the house he refuses to do so. Instead he will stand at the top of the stairs and bellow, "Mommy! Mommy!" and while I can generally ignore these cries, he always gets me with, "Mommy, I neeeeeeed you!" 

What is it about being needed that turns me into such a softy? And when I appear, he'll smile at me sweetly and say in his nicest voice with pleading eyes, "I want to hold you." 

I mean, really? Who could say no to that? 

And so I carry him up and down those stairs at least 20 times a day. It's ridiculous, I know. But I figure he gets to be my only baby for just a couple months longer.... and I could probably use the exercise anyway. Right? 

He finished his ginormous piece of chocolate cake off like a boss.

This kid has a sweet streak that I just love. He will spontaneously come up to me and say "I love you, Momma!" give me a kiss and then run off to play. He is the best little cuddle bug, holds hands, and gives eskimo kisses.  And occasionally he will lay his head on my shoulder and fall asleep as I rock him. 

So yes, Ari still feels like my baby and I'm feeling guilty that he'll be robbed of that status before he's ready, but he has also felt like a 2-year-old in so many ways for the last 6 months that this birthday also felt like it was a long time coming. 

Right around 18 months Ari began throwing full-blown tantrums. When he was mad, which seemed to happen often, he would dramatically lower himself to the floor and scream and howl and kick his feet and flail his arms. These tantrums could last for 10 minutes or more. And by the time he finally calmed down, his face would be all red and blotchy and his eyes bloodshot from the exertion. It was fascinating. And loud. 

Around the same time he started hitting. A lot. And usually poor Kai. If he got mad or frustrated or tired, he hit. And sometimes he didn't just hit, but wailed on Kai. Kai would just stand there looking bewildered and totally take it. I debated whether I should tell Kai to hit him back. Ultimately I decided not to because I was afraid that once I opened that door there would be no going back. But I'm pretty sure this is not a lesson I will have to teach Ari when he is the older sibling. 

Luckily the hitting and tantrum phases pretty much ended as quickly as they came in. Turns out being able to talk well at a young age helps in these matters. And Ari is quite the little talker. He chatters, usually in complete sentences, all day long. And he fills the silence between those sentences with babbling, singing, roaring, screaming, growling, squealing, and laughing. He brings the noise. 

Which is why Yo and I have been so amused to hear how quiet he tends to be around everyone else. His nursery teachers swear he's never made a peep. We had some friends watch Kai and Ari for the weekend when Yo and I went out of town and they claimed Ari had not spoken a single word while we were gone. 

So I get asked a lot about whether Ari is shy. He is not. Not really, anyway. I think it's fairer to say that he is slow to warm up to people and as ornery as all get out--inn this really comical and somehow endearing sort of way. He might not talk to strangers, but he's quite likely to unabashedly stare them down and give them a stink eye that could kill. Not that he is always unsweet to strangers. When we are out in public he affectionately refers to every kid, young and old, as "my fwends!" (my friends!). 

It's a shame that he doesn't talk more around other people though, because the kid is hilarious. He not only says funny things, he says them in funny ways. I think that he speaks pretty clearly for his age, but he substitutes "b's" and "p's" for other consonants in certain words. One of my favorites is, "I'm poming, Mama!"" (I'm coming, Mama) which he screams repeatedly as he runs through the house to find you when you call him to come. He also like to tell me to "Bop it, Mama!" whenever I start to sing. I am not allowed to sing to the radio, to him, to Kai, or anywhere within his hearing range. Luckily he makes an exception for me at church--most of the time. 

One of my favorite things about this talking stage is hearing him pick up new words or phrases, which he seems to do daily. Just today he started saying, "Here you go, Mister," anytime he'd hand someone something, which is often.  He's been my little sidekick as I've been running around getting stuff for the new nursery. He'll pull things off the shelf and hand them to me and say, "Look, Mama! That's really cute!" 

No, Ari, you are really cute. 

The other day he came up to me flaunting the fact that he was sipping on my fountain drink. With a twinkle in his eye he asked, "Am I a funny boy, Mama?" 

I couldn't help but laugh and say, "Yes, you are a funny boy." 

To which he responded, "No, I'm naughty. I'm a rascal." 

I give him bonus points for self awareness.

True to his rascally nature, Ari is known to take on the most menacing expression when he is role playing. He loves to pretend to be a monster, or a dinosaur, or a lion. Basically anything terrifying and deadly. And through all of his cuteness he manages to be a little terrifying. There is an intensity to his characters that makes up for his small stature. He constantly has the rest of us retreating from him while laughing....nervously.

As with most younger children, Ari wants to do everything that he sees Kai do. He insists on dressing himself and usually ends up with two legs in one hole, his head stuck in his shirt, and his shoes on the wrong feet. But heaven forbid I try to step in and help. The same goes for climbing into his car seat and brushing his teeth (don't tell his dentist). Every day that I drop Kai off at preschool Ari begs, "Ari go to school, too!" On the days that I let him walk Kai into his classroom, he usually runs right up to an empty seat and sits down and then reaches for a pencil and a worksheet so he can be just like the big kids. It's cute until he screams bloody murder as I drag him away. Most days I just let him scream bloody murder from the car. 

This independent streak of his also led me to pull out his little potty seat about 6 months before I'm ready. He has yet to actually do his business on the potty, but he likes to talk about it and he requests to sit on it multiple times a day. And then he insists on wiping, flushing and washing his hands before he'll come out of the bathroom again. I don't have strong hopes that this will actually lead to him potty training anytime soon, but I also didn't want to be the one to stop him if he's actually ready. 

One thing we learned he is not entirely ready for is sleeping in a big boy bed. The day I got back from our Utah trip I began working on the new nursery and in the process ended up booting Ari out. I could blame it on the hormones, but this is my usual MO when it comes to home projects. Once I get started there is no stopping me until I'm done. Which is another post for another day. Anyway... if I had an ounce of patience or good sense in my body, I would have waited for months before tackling the nursery. I realize that I am still a good 7 weeks out from my due date, I also realize that the baby, once born, will be sleeping in my room until at least Christmas. Not only that, Ari has always been a stellar sleeper in his own room.... as in, he is often known to sleep in past 7 or even 8...unlike his brother. Why, oh why, would I mess with a good thing? 

Such is the nature of compulsion. And mess with it I did. The first few nights went pretty well. It took a little coaxing, but Ari stayed in bed and slept the whole night through. But around day 3 Ari remembered who he was... a total rascal... and ventured out of bed. By day 4 he realized that if he was quiet enough during his night time excursions that Mommy and Pappa would not appear to put him back into bed. By day 5 he was so stealth at what he was doing that we went into the room the next day to find that the entire contents of the boys' bookshelf, dressers, toy drawers, and closet had been emptied onto the floor with nary an audible peep coming from the room. 

My head almost exploded. I can handle an afternoon mess after a day full of activity, but I refused to wake up to an explosion of that scale every morning. It put me in a bad mood from the get go. So that day when I put Ari down for a nap, I sat just outside his door and waited for the second that he swung his legs out of bed before I pounced on him. And since it took all of 20 seconds for Ari to attempt this maneuver, I decided to stick him in his little pop-up tent rather than sit there policing him for the next 2 hours. Ari climbed obligingly into the tent and went right to sleep. So that night I let him sleep in the tent again. A week later I thought why don't we just experiment and leave the tent unzipped to see if he gets out or not, but when I tried to leave the room, Ari called me back and asked that I close his tent. So it's been several weeks now and it's safe to say that the tent is here to stay. 

He sure does look cozier in his tent. His little body in that sea of a bed was heartwarming and pathetic at the same time. 

I think the almost 3 year gap between Ari and Kai has made me appreciate Ari's smallness all the more. I look at him hundreds of times a day and I'm still overwhelmed by his cuteness. There is something about him--the squinty shape of his sparkly blue eyes, the way his teeth are slightly gapped, how his cheeks still have a baby sheen and swallow his eyes whole when he smiles, in the redness of his lips, the tapered frame of his face, the roundness of his belly, the flip of his hair over his ears, the unexpected depth and intensity of his voice--that gets me. 

Everyone warns me how Ari will seem to double in size over night when I have this new baby. And that makes me a little sad. So I'm soaking up all the cuddles and kisses and one-on-one time that I can in the next two months. I carry him up and down those darn stairs and take solace in the fact that Ari may not always be my baby, but I'm pretty confident he will always be my baby boy and there is a special place in my heart reserved just for him.

Love you, Ari Baby!