Nursery reveal + 39 weeks

After weeks of moving, unpacking, and becoming legal residents of Texas, we are at the end of pregnancy and baby boy's nursery is done! We have a two-bedroom apartment and the baby's room is actually divided into thirds - the other side is our office and music room, complete with our cellos on the walls.

Our 39 week appointment was this week, and baby is locked and loaded and ready to roll. In other words he's head down and facing the right way. I couldn't have asked for a better pregnancy aside from the exhaustion that came in the first trimester, and know I'm very blessed to be able to say that. 

His official due date is July 16, next Saturday - but we are betting on the full moon helping him out on July 19!

The nursery is a mix of old and new - and lots of art! My goal was to keep his items to a minimum in a fun, gender neutral feel using a lot of what we already had (except the crib obviously, from this sustainable baby furniture company). 

The antique dresser is mine from college, and I just replaced the drawer pulls for something more modern. It holds all his diapering supplies, the first three-six month's clothes (just jammies!), swaddles, a baby wrap, and those little baby accessories I thought would be useful like tiny socks, bibs, a teeny swim diaper, and sun hat. 

Baby's books are from our own childhoods, and his wall art is also something special to us. 

The little owl was bought by my grandparents on a trip to Mexico in the 1950s. I painted the canvas over the crib over five years ago, and even named it "The Baby's Dream," so I suppose it has been for this baby from the beginning. The little string "goodness garland" on top of the painting was handmade by a dear friend back in Pittsburgh.

Cody and I made the mobile last week from leftover guest favor tags from our wedding, zero-VOC paint from a furniture refurb project, an extra dowel rod we had laying around (doesn't everyone?), and the pom pom thing off a winter hat that got destroyed over three Pennsylvania winters.

Baby's first ultrasound pictures hang over his changing table/dresser to remind us of the awe we felt when we first saw him. I hope this memory comes in handy in the wee hours of the morning, when we are cleaning up the inevitable blow-outs I hear are headed our way. 

Last, the little fox that hangs from the corner of the green wire basket represents our first memory of baby. The day we found out we were going to have a child, we took a long walk to absorb the news in a beautiful old cemetery near our home in Pittsburgh. It was a gray and cold November morning. As we turned down a long road a beautiful red fox stepped out of the woods next to us. After a minute he turned and disappeared the way he had come -  I have no idea what that moment meant, but I found the fox ornament over Christmas, and got it to preserve that memory.

We are following the American Academy of Pediatric's recommendation to keep everything but a crib sheet out of his bed.  In the pic I'm using it to store one of his toys, but it won't stay there. 

Because he is a Cancer, we threw in a few crabs for good measure! There is the little fox ornament, and a turkey feather we found in the same graveyard we hiked through all the time in Pittsburgh, tucked into the plant.

 

While I'd like him to take naps in his room to get used to it, baby boy's main bed for the first few months is his moses basket in our room.

Those are breastfeeding supplies in the little basket - like lanolin, and granola bars for energy. We are planning to spend the first week in bed learning to feed little baby. And sleeping.

This is an Under the Nile scrappy doll made from bits of leftover baby clothes. 

Hoping that our next post will introduce our son! Please keep us in your prayers for a safe delivery and a healthy, strong baby (and parents). #unreal