Baby Girl Nursery~A room to grow with

Before we even tried having a baby, I was already planning our future baby's nursery. I had a Pinterest board all set up titled "The New Someday" (since my wedding Pinterest board was already titled "Someday"). On the board I had so many favorites, but I knew if we were having a girl, I was going with a turquoise and purple color scheme. More specifically, I fell in LOVE with this bit of inspiration...

 

 

Check out this blog, "Home by Hiedi" it was my inspiration and she has some beautiful rooms and ideas to help inspire people to make your house a home.

 

So, With this picture as my inspiration, I started searching and designing what would be the perfect nursery for our little girl. It was important to me that I decorated her room for her to grow with. I didn't want to have to change the decor in a few years, I wanted the room to still be fitting in 5 or 10 years (with a few modifications over the years). I was determined that the nursery not be too baby!

 

I started with the inspiration wall color from Lowes, Valspar "La Fonda Mirage." From there I searched Etsy for wall decals. I came across this adorable shop, "In An Instant Art" and just adored the design of a dandelion made of butterflies. A bonus was that it would include her name! I was able to pick the colors and customize the decal to add her middle name as well.

 

 

Below I took a few pics of the process I went through to put the wall decal up. It seriously was so easy! As you can see the decal came in different pieces. To be careful, I placed everything up on the wall and took a picture to make sure I had the placement correct. I started with the big pieces and then placed and added in the small butterflies. Everything peeled off and stuck to the wall so easily. I have already decided that when I order another wall decal, I will order from In An Instant Art!

 

 

I was loving how Savi's nursery was coming together. I tried to get things done on a limited budget as well. Her crib and changing table were given to us by a family memeber. There were a few bite marks on the railing so I created a rail gaurd to cover them up. A dear friend made the "S." She wrapped the cardboard letter she purchased from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft with lavendar tulle and added a few fabric flowers in the corner. This was given to me at one of my showers and I just love it on her door.

 



 

The grey glider was a gift, and the quilt on the glider is from Pottery Barn. Part of the original room inspiration from "Home by Heidi." She had this quilt in the inspiration room. The large chest we have in the nursery was originally purchased from Pottery Barn, but we got it for a steal of $40 off of Craigslist.

 

Overall, I really love the way Savi's room came together. Of course it is not completely finished. I would love to come up with a cute end table next to the glider. Right now, we are just borrowing a small table from my parents to use while I nurse Savi at night. I am also sure that as Savi gets older, she will make plenty of changes to her room as well. Some changes I may like, others I may not, but of course it is her room now :)

 

Much Love,

~Stacy

 



Gender Reveal Party~Bows or Beau?

As soon as Jake and I found out we were expecting, we both knew we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. I consider myself a "prepared person." So, if we were going to make the decision to find out the gender to our bundle of joy, then we would be prepared :) This was an easy decision for us, and with finding out the gender, came the "Gender Reveal Party."

Of course, we had to hear from many people how we shouln't find out and how "You are taking the surprise out of it!" and "I never found out, why are you!?!" Well, sorry to have informed people, but this baby was made by Jake and I, and I think we are the people that get to decide whether we found out or not...right!?!

Well, let me tell you, finding out the gender was so exciting! Then, telling all our loved ones at once was even more emtional and exciting! First, Jake and I decided to find out our baby's gender on our own at the ultrasound appointment. We both knew we couldn't wait any longer and we loved the idea of it being an intimate moment for just the two of us. Then, later that same day, we invited a bunch of family and friends over for a Gender Reveal Party to share our news.

I set up some decorations, going with a "Bows or Beau" theme and a little blue and pink. We bought 2 bunches of balloons, one pink and one blue. Of course I was routing pink and Jake blue, so we each decided to hold the color of the balloons we were routing for. With lots of friends and family in attendance we headed to the back yard to reveal our news. Holding the pink bunch of balloons tight, Jake let the blue bunch of balloons go. We were having a GIRL! Everyone, including Jake and I, were so excited and ready to start planning for a lil princess.

As you can see from above, our family and friends were split down the middle on their voting :)

 

I hope you all enjoy my "Gender Reaveal Party" post. Of course we have already welcomed our little girl, I just wanted to share an exciting event we planned on our journey to her arrival. I have many more events and projects that we completed while I was pregnant, so stay tuned.

 

Much Love,

~Stacy

Life with a Newborn

Since my first blog post, 4 months ago, things have been extremely crazy as always with us. Jake and I welcomed our daughter, Savanna Joyce. We are now a family of three and she has become our world. Its crazy how you can go from spending your Saturday nights with sushi, wine and friends to take out, a movie, and a baby. The best part is, we are totally okay with that! 

Meet our lil Savi...She was born December 19, 2013 at 7:20pm. Savi weighed 7lbs. 10oz. and was 21 1/2in. long...we are head over heels in LOVE!

Throughout my pregnancy I did A LOT of research, I mean A LOT of research on what I would need to be the best mom and caregiver to our daughter. What I found I loved the most were lists of "Must Have" items from actual moms. I would search Pinterest and check many Mommy Blogs for what I may need. These list were extremely helpful. I plan to make a "Top 10 List of Must Haves" for any parent every month from Newborn to 1 year of age. So, I decided to come up with my own lists in order to help other mom's and just share what was working for me. SO...without further ado, here is my first Top 10, my "Top 10 Newborn Must Haves."

 

1. Little Tummies Gas Relief Drops~ These drops have helped us all sleep at night. Savi seems to get a lot of gas, hiccups, and belly aches. This stuff is AMAZING! Whenever we have given the drops to our daughter, within less than a minute she is calm and is able to peacefully fall asleep without pain.

2. Wubbanub Plush Pacifier~ At the hospital they give you the "soothie" pacifiers. This is the same pacifier used for the Wubbanub. I am a breastfeeding mom, so the nurses and many other people advised me not to give my daughter a pacifier, due to nipple confusion. I held off at the hospital, but once we got home, at some point it was the only thing that seemed to calm her down. So far, I have been able to nurse, give her a pacifier, and a bottle and I have had no problems with nipple confusion...but I will save that for another post. Any who, we love the Wubbanub because even at three weeks our daughter can start to hold it, its easy to find when it falls out of her mouth, and it stays in place on her chest when she gets a little lazy with it. We now have 2, just to be safe :)

3. Baby Einsteins Sea Dreams Soother~ This is attached to Savi's crib. It makes sounds and has lights that keep her entertained. Right now, she is still sleeping in our room. I have had her nap in her crib and just hang out while I do some laundry and she is fascinated with the Soother. She will watch it, kick and smile, and a few times she has even fallen asleep. I am sure that in a month or so when she is in her crib full time, it will become a bigger blessing.

4. Fisher-Price Deluxe Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper~ We use the Rock 'n Play Sleeper as our bassinet in our bedroom. This is the exact one we have. It has a vibrating feature on it, that I turn on at night to help soothe Savi to sleep. Its small and compact so it doesn't take up too much room. The Rock 'n Play Sleeper even folds down to take on the go!

5. Summer Infant Swaddle Me Blankets~ These blankets are great and so easy for swaddling your baby. I have gotten into the habit to only put Savi in these blankets at night. In my head I feel she will recognize the tighter swaddle as a sign to think "we sleep longer now" :) So, far it has worked and she has been sleeping up to 5 or 6 hours at night. We are aware this is not normal for a newborn, but the pediatrician said all was good, so we are happy.

6. Automatic Night Light~ This has come in handy so we are able to see our lil munchkin all hours of the night. Even though I have her bedside, its hard to tell if those little eyes are open or closed or where her mouth is to insert that pacifier at 3am when I am trying to soothe her back to sleep. This light stays plugged in and when the lights go out, the night light goes on. Its not to bright to disturb our sleeping, but bright enough to be helpful. We plan on moving the night light to her room, when we make the graduation step from our room to her own room.

7. Chicco KeyFit Infant Car Seat and Bases~ This was an easy choice item for us. I had heard great reviews from friends and family about the Chicco KeyFit system. So, when I found a complete Chicco KeyFit travel system on clearance half off at Target, I snatched it up! We have a base in each car and my mom even has one in her car. It makes life so much easier when I am running errands alone or with Jake. We simply snap the seat in and out of the base without any worries and we know she is safe. We took the car seat and bases to the Safety Check at our hospital to make sure everything was installed properly, this gave us even more peace of mind.

8. Boon Grass and Accessories~ I have the smaller Boon Grass on my counter top with a twig and flower attachment. This has made drying pump parts and bottles so much easier. It helps us keep all the parts in one place and it is mighty stylish if I do say so myself.

9. Graco Pack 'n Play Playard with Reversible Napper & Changer~ LOVE LOVE LOVE this item. We live in a 2 story home, so right now we keep the Pack 'n Play set up in our living room. The reversible napper and changer is used all day long as we are changing one million diapers :) I have also set a basket in it to keep extra items like diapers, wipes, Desitin, socks, burp cloths, and bibs. I am sure as Savi grows it will become a regular napping place as well. We will also bring it with us when we travel to the lake this summer. 

10. Boppy Waterproof Changing Pad Liners~ These liners are used at all our lil changing stations we have set up in the house. You would be surprised how many times a newborn pees while you are changing their diaper...hence these have been a must have! They are so easy to clean as well. I have just thrown them in the washer and dryer with all our other items and they look brand new.

I hope this first "real" mommy blog post is able to be helpful to someone out there. I am looking forward to sharing more adventures and tips as I continue this journey in mommy hood :)

Much Love,
~Stacy