Harper's Nursery Reveal!

When we found out we were expecting, I was so excited to get started on the nursery. Even before I knew if we were having a boy or girl, I knew I wanted a very calm, neutral and serene space. I wanted lots of pops of white to make the room feel crisp and airy.  

I'm really happy with how Harper's room turned out and I can't wait to share it with you all right now! I decided to add mint green to my color palette after not liking the way light pink was looking in the room. I think the mint green makes the space feel really fresh. I also installed wall bookshelves to add a pop of color to the otherwise neutral space.

The first two photos were taken by Allen Kramer during my maternity photo shoot and the rest were taken by me. Many thanks to Melissa at Fawn Over Baby for editing the color balance in these photos!

This shot was taken from the nursery door:

Our glider area/nook:

Book Shelf:

Harper's crib- I hate that I even have to put this disclaimer but she is not currently sleeping in her crib and when she does we will remove the bumpers and the netting will be pulled to the side so it is not in any way accessible to her. I may remove it completely.

Her dresser, which we also use as a changing table. Please note I removed the changing pad for these photos.  The gold prints don't read as well on camera as they do in real life---they are beautiful!

Harper's Nursery Source List:

• Dresser, Crib, Curtains, Curtain Hardware, Crib Skirt, Crib Bumper, Ottoman & Lamb Rocker- Restoration Hardware Baby & Child
• Blue box on dresser- Marshalls Home Goods (from a long time ago)
• Bunny figurine on dresser- Target
• Fan- amazon.com (Hunter brand)
• Mint green/white crib bunting- HEM Design on Etsy.com (this was a custom piece)
• For Like Ever Poster- made by my friend- framed in an IKEA Ribba frame
• Chandelier- Overstock.com (we also have these in our dining room and kitchen)
• Striped blanket on crib- Dwell Studio from OneKingsLane.com
• Gold letter "H"- Ballard Design
• Glider- Doodles (a Houston baby boutique)
• Faux fur throw on glider- IKEA TEJN
• Netting over crib- IKEA
• Gold prints above dresser- all custom made by ISeeNoise on etsy.com--- there are four bunnies, one bible quote and one "H is for Harper" print
• Wall ledges for books- IKEA Ribba photo ledges (mine are the longer size)
• Bunny on glider and in crib- JellyCat (from amazon.com)
• Sleep Sheep in crib- Pottery Barn Kids
• Roman Shades- Lowe's (Allen & Roth)- and yes, the strings from the roman shades will be tied up completely once the baby is in that room
• Paint color- the walls are Benjamin Moore's "Revere Pewter" which we also used throughout most of our home---the perfect, neutral light gray

If there is something I missed, please leave me a comment and I will answer! I hope you all like Harper's nursery. It was definitely a labor of love to put it all together. One thing I may consider adding over time is a rug. I haven't quite found the perfect one just yet.

Have a wonderful week and thank you for reading (and for your patience as we've been settling in at home with our lovely new addition).

25 weeks!

Week 25 was great because we got a lot accomplished for the nursery. We ordered our crib, bedding and curtains (I had waited until there was another sale at Restoration Hardware Baby & Child before we made additional purchases).  I can't wait to share everything with you all as it all comes in, but I'll save that all for some nursery progress posts.

This weekend we plan to start painting the nursery.  I'm going to do the cutting-in and my husband will paint the walls. We are using no-VOC paint so I can participate (and because I've read you should always use no-VOC paint in children's rooms as it doesn't need to off-gas like regular paint).  We painted most of the rooms in our last home and the nursery isn't huge so we decided to make it a weekend project :)

The room will be a soft light gray with white trim (the trim is already painted so we don't have to re-do it).  I'm going for a look that's really clean and airy but also elegant.  I'm lucky to have a Restoration Hardware Baby & Child showroom in my city and that's the exact "look" I love for nurseries---no themes, no cartoon-ish things---just clean and elegant with some feminine touches.  To give you an idea of some of the looks I'm most drawn to, I'm posting some of my favorite images from the room gallery on the RH B&C website:

To me, these rooms feel really calm, classic and serene, which is exactly the look I hope to achieve. I'm crossing my fingers that it all comes together once everything we ordered comes in.  One of the reasons I wanted to get all of the big pieces ordered now is so that I would have time to return anything that didn't work since it can take weeks to get furniture in.  

My husband also assembled our Uppababy Vista stroller and it's hanging out in our guest room. One of my readers recommend we unbox it and let it air out because the smell can be strong when you first take it out of the box and she was 100% right---so thank you!  Thank you as well for all of the great feedback on the Uppababy Vista from my last post. It was really reassuring to read how many of you mommas love it!

I also had a dental cleaning done this week. My OB told me it's important to have your teeth cleaned during pregnancy because all of the hormones make can make your gums extra-inflammed and sensitive.  I have been keeping up with flossing and finally had a cleaning done at 25 weeks. My dentist said all looked well (though, we didn't do x-rays of course, so after I have the baby I will go back in for that to make sure there aren't any cavities or other concerns).  Something I wanted to share was that my dentist's office (I go to FLOSS dental) does complimentary "mommy cleanings" before your due date. How amazing is that?  Again, because your gums can be more sensitive at this time, they offer a free cleaning before you have the baby to make sure everything looks good. I thought that was really considerate. I love my dentist!

Now, let's get to this week's update:

How far along? 25 weeks (I do these a week behind as a recap of the previous week, so I'm actually 26 weeks today). 

Total weight gain/loss: About 10 lbs and increasing I'm sure. As I've mentioned before, I don't own a scale so I count on my OB appointments for weight updates. I have to be honest and say I'm not really watching what I eat. My goal is to eat healthy during the day and at night if I want ice cream, Thin Mints, chips, whatever, I have them. I was that way before I was pregnant too and it always worked out for me because I never deprived myself.  I've always had a huge sweet tooth and it's certainly just as strong now.  As long as I am eating balanced meals throughout the day, I'm good.

Just to give you a sampling of what I like to eat during the day at work, here are some of my favorite meals and snacks (I still eat every 2-3 hours, just like before I was pregnant).

Breakfast:

• A bowl of oatmeal with a little bit of brown sugar or cinnamon and strawberries, blueberries and blackberries (I eat this 4-5 times a week at work)
• Whole grain waffles (Kashi) with strawberry preserves
• Honey Nut Cheerios with milk (usually on weekends)

Lunch:

• Big bowl of soup and side salad or fruit
• Peanut butter sandwich and an apple
• Chicken salad sandwich with fruit
• Dinner leftovers
• Chicken and rice from the cafeteria
• Flatbread pizza from the cafeteria (usually veggie or margarita with chicken)

Snacks:

• Cheese cubes and wheat thins (or another cracker)
• Fruit
• Nutri Grain bar
• Veggies with ranch dip
• Peanut butter with crackers
• Greek yogurt
• KIND bar
• Veggie straws

Maternity clothes? Still wearing maternity pants and regular tops and blouses. I also washed all of the maternity clothes that my co-worker gave to me so I can wear them as I grow. 

Stretch marks? Not yet. I'm continuing to use Belli's Elasticity Belly Oil, Mamma Mio Tummy Rub and Mustela double-action stretch mark cream in rotation.

Symptoms: I am waking up most nights to pee now and I have some occasional very minor pain/discomfort from sleeping on my left side and the pressure it puts on my butt/thigh area on my left side. I feel fortunate to still be feeling really good most days and I definitely thank the Lord in my prayers every night for this.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty well, except for on weekends when I have a harder time sleeping in.
Best moment this week: Making progress ordering things for the nursery and getting my teeth cleaned (feels good to be ticking items off of the before-baby-comes to-do list!) My co-worker also visited the office yesterday with her sweet 8-week old baby girl and she absolutely melted my heart. She is so sweet and tiny and holding her felt amazing. I can't wait.

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Only sleeping on my stomach

Movement: Still feeling baby girl quite a bit!  I love it every time I feel her move and kick. Sometimes I even feel her kick if I wake up throughout the night and at other random times. It's the best feeling.

Food cravings: Thin Mints, cheese, cereal with milk, cookies n' cream ice cream.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope.


Have you started to show yet: Oh yes!

Baby is a: Girl!

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but definitely shallower by the day and I suspect it will pop eventually

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Looking forward to: Seeing my husband become a father, even though it's still a few months away (okay, here I go getting sappy again). My husband had to travel for work last week and while he was gone he was reading "Dad's Pregnant Too," (it was recommended by a friend who just had a baby) and it made me think about all of the amazing moments he will share with our little girl. If you've read my blog for awhile, you'll know that I did not have a good role model in my own father and that has always been really hard for me to accept because I would have loved to have a strong, loving relationship with my father had he not been the way that he is.  It always makes me emotional when I see a beautiful father/daughter relationship because every little girl deserves that. I can't wait to see my husband with our baby...I literally feel overwhelmed at the thought of how incredible it will be. I feel lucky that I married a man who wants to be an amazing father to his child. 

Thank you for reading and for all of my pregnant readers, please feel free to check in below as well and let me know how your pregnancy is going :) I also welcome everyone's advice and comments about pregnancy!

Weekend Shopping & Baby's Dresser Has Arrived

We had a pretty laid back Saturday, until I decided when we got home from lunch and running errands that we were going to empty out the nursery.

Our day started off with our Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Haylan wide dresser and hutch being delivered (we got it for 20% off!).  More on that later.

Then, we went out for lunch and I suddenly had a major craving for ice cream. So we made  quick stop at Marble Slab and enjoyed the beautiful warm, sunny weather.

We also went to Target where I picked up some adorable onesies for the baby.  I was thrilled to find some mint green and purple ones!

Then we stopped in at Marshall's Home Goods where I scored some lovely baby and home decor deals.

I was able to find these gorgeous tulips, which are identical to the ones I got at Marshall's Home Goods last year for our coffee table---those these are in a different shaped vase and there are less tulips. The arrangement cost $39.99, which is a deal considering how expensive these arrangements tend to be in speciality stores. They had a lot of nice ones in store today so be sure to check out your local Marshall's Home Goods!

I also picked up two of these beautiful wall mounts.  I absolutely love that the hooks spell out LOVE.  I got one for my closet and one for the baby's room. Not sure where I will put it yet but I thought it would be sweet in her bathroom or above a bookshelf.

Finally, I picked up a beautiful dress and some onesies from Marshall's:

We are so thrilled with the dresser!  It will be perfect for the room once it's all arranged. Though it's on the pricier side (heck, it cost more than our dresser) I'm really glad we made the investment because it's a piece that doesn't scream "nursery" and will look good in a child's room and eventually in a teen's room. In fact, I joked with my H that if our daughter ever doesn't want it, I'm happy to take it for our room!  It's a beautiful piece.

One piece of nursery furniture down---three to go!  We need to order our crib and glider and possibly a bookshelf (or we may do floating shelves, I haven't decided yet) as well as a chandelier.

I can't wait to see the room come together with all of the little details! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Home Updates: Restoration Hardware Curtains for the Kitchen & Dining Room Chandelier

On Saturday, we had Kyle, our handyman from One Call Home Handyman come to our home to install our Restoration Hardware curtains, our Overstock.com chandelier and to wall-mount our TV in the master bedroom.

Some of you may recall that Kyle installed our original chandelier over the island in out kitchen.  We were so thrilled with the work he did that we hired him for what I'll refer to as "round two."

I decided to order the exact same chandelier that is in our kitchen for our dining room as well.  Since our entire second floor is one long, large space, it felt more cohesive to have the same look in the lighting.  Here's how it turned out:

And now, to the curtains. As you may have noticed, our dining room doesn't have curtains. We had to return half of the curtain hardware and fabric we got because we realized that the curtains we got for the dining room just weren't going to work there because of the spacing.  Also, the dining room window is really beautiful and it's on the side of the house, so no one can see inside and it brings a ton of light in. So for now, the plan is to leave it bare.

We did have or gorgeous Thai Silk curtains installed on our kitchen window and we are thrilled with how it turned out.  It really look very elegant, light and airy. They're still a little wrinkled on the bottom, but I love them!

As a reminder, here is what the kitchen window looked like before with our Ready Blinds:

and here is the window now...

It's amazing how much elegance an extra chandelier and curtains can add to your space. Considering we were using $10 Ready Blinds from Home Depot on our window previously, the curtains are a massive upgrade.

Source List:

Chandelier- Overstock.com

Curtains- Restoration Hardware (curtains/hardware)

Barstools- IKEA

Dining Table- Restoration Hardware Flatiron Collection, 72 inches

Dining Chairs- Home Source Houston- Lawford Chair

Miranda Trifle Bowl- Crate & Barrel

Faux Hydrangea Stem- similar at Pottery Barn 

Some of you mentioned in my comments on my dining room post that I should change the way the chairs are set. I personally like having chairs at either end of the table versus having two on each side for the everyday. If we ever need to seat more people at the table, we can move one of the chairs to one side and use the bench in our kitchen on the other side.

Thank you for reading and have a great week!

PS- if you are in Houston and are ever in need of a great handyman, please consider calling Kyle from One Call Home Handyman.  He is very professional and best of all knows what he is doing. He also gives good advice on what will work and what will not.  I highly recommend his services (and no, I was not paid to say that).  You can call (832) 800-4441 to set up any kind of home installation or renovation.