// Mama (+ Baby) Birthday-Nursery Wishlist

My birthday is in a whopping two days and I've been fielding questions from family about what my pregnant little heart desires. My list is undoubtedly different from last years (ha!), but the truth is I'm just so enamored with precious little baby things that I can't really bear to spend money on much else. (Well, except for maternity clothes because they're becoming a necessity around here...) This little wishlist is just that... a wishlist. Most of these items are things I've grown particularly fond of over the past few months. I've been trying to read loads of product reviews and articles on baby registries, but this is just my dream wishlist. You can probably tell that I'm pretty easily influenced by the blog world around me haha If only I had a bottomless bank account to go along with it! You can also probably get a feel for the theme we've picked out for Baby Flynn's nursery, too. Any guesses?

We're going with an astronomy theme. Nothing too kitschy or baby-ish. But rather something he can grow into over the years that we'll be living in this house. I definitely plan on sharing more about the theme and our attempts at achieving it once we really start putting the room together. While the main colors will be shades of grey and white, we're hoping to infuse some mustard yellow in there, too. I love everything to do with space, and seeing as I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the nursery, I thought it was probably important that I enjoy the surroundings, too. When we first agreed on the theme a couple of months ago, I spent a few hours mocking up what it might look like in Illustrator. While some things will undoubtedly get the boot due to our budget or space restrictions, I'm excited to see how closely we can replicate it.

Here's a run down list of what I chose above and why I chose it:

+ Babyletto Hudson Crib - I've loved this crib since I first saw it. It's incredibly popular in the blog world, and apparently for good reason. Not only have I read a bunch of amazing reviews on it, it also converts into a toddler bed and daybed for when the time comes. Another major bonus? The resale value. If we decide to get rid of it before another little Flynn comes along, we'll still be able to get a pretty penny for it. Luckily I've read accounts from multiple mamas who have used this very crib for several children in a row. I love that it lasts. This is definitely one piece of furniture we're hoping to invest in.

+ Accent and Area Rugs - There's not a single stitch of carpet in our house and I really want to put something nice down on the nursery floor. I'm dreaming of splurging on this yellow Threshold rug for the living room, but I really like this Urban Outfitters rug for the baby's room. I also like the pop color of this H&M rug. It'd be cute in front of the changing table, don't you think?

+ Modern Stroller - My heart is absolutely enamored with the Stokke Crusi stroller. Mike and I really want to get a stroller with a bassinet (the Crusi bassinet is sold separately) because after reading loads of articles we don't really feel comfortable toting the baby around in an infant seat all of the time. Of course the Crusi is way out of our budget, but it's a dream list, right? Another fancy option is the 4Moms Origami stroller. I love how tech-savvy this thing is. Running lights, phone charger, etc. It's also a bit rich for our blood, but I'll admire it anyway! (It also has an optional bassinet attachment!) We tested out and really enjoyed the Mamas and Papas Sola stroller while at Babies 'R Us one day. You can buy a separate bassinet to use with it, too. We hope to save up enough to "splurge" at least a little since we'll be back and forth between home and Nashville a lot. Plus I'd love to have a stroller that will work for him until he's at least 3 or 4 (and maybe has an option for sibling seating (!!! Don't tell Mike I said that... haha)).

+ Storage Baskets - I definitely want to give the nursery a "masculine" feel since normally everything I do is dripping with femininity. I love how rustic these baskets look. They'd be great for holding items on the changing table or in his closet. 

+ Art Prints - Oh man! I've been going crazy over at Society 6! I've been bookmarking all of my favorite space-themed prints and positive affirmations. We won't have a ton happening on the statement wall in the back, but I want to cover the rest of the room in art prints and handmade wall treatments. This Marc Johns print is perfect for a kids room and I'm in love with anything related to this Smiths song.

+ Moon Globe - Since his room will be astronomy themed, I thought this moon globe would look super cute on display. It's not very expensive at all and I love how antique it looks, despite being brand new (and from UO!)

+ Moses Basket and Stand - We plan on keeping the baby in a moses basket/bassinet in our room for the first month or so (if he'll comply). I think I'd feel more comfortable being closer to him and getting in my groove, rather than instantly putting him in another room alone. Luckily Amazon has really affordable options for moses baskets and stands.

+ Solly Baby Wrap - I really hope to baby wear while he's a newborn/infant. I love the look and versatility of the Solly wraps. They look like they'd be so much more comfortable than a bulky, black carrier. The 'Paloma Grey' is my favorite since Mike could wear it, too, though they're all equally stylish.

+ Ikea Pendant Lamp - The nursery doesn't get much natural light, and there's only one tiny (north facing) window in there. I'd love to inject some more light if possible, and I love the look of this pendant. It's inexpensive but eye-catching. My only issue is that maybe our 8' ceilings might be too low! I'll definitely be exploring my options!

+ 4Moms Rockaroo - This thing (and the original Mamaroo) has made it's way around the blog world. Everyone with a new baby is talking about it. While I don't have any (physical) experience with the Rockaroo, we did play around with the Mamaroo while at Babies 'R Us and it seemed incredibly convenient! I'll be juggling a 5 year old on Summer vacation, a newborn, and a hefty workload almost immediately after coming home from the hospital. Mike will be in nursing school full-time and unable to help me transition into this new role. Anything that will allow me a few minutes of me/work/bathing time is high on my wishlist! haha

+ Dresser as a changing table - Right now we're hoping to get a white dresser for the nursery that we can use both for storage and for the changing table. Initially we had picked out a different Threshold dresser at Target, but this has been the only one we've found that we like lately. We'd be able to use the storage baskets to help manage all of his things (like diapers, onesies, etc), all the while being able to also store books or picture frames (you know, until he crawls and all that jazz)

+ Nurseryworks Sleepytime Rocker - The rocker has been the hardest thing for me to find. I don't want anything with exposed gliders at the bottom (I'd rather not risk tiny fingers getting smashed), but I also don't want anything overly grandma-chic. And rockers are expensive! Holy moly, I was not prepared for that! This Nurseryworks rocker has been the only one I felt had a justified price and looked nice.

Overall that's my initial baby-dream-wishlist haha. One reason I wanted to share things like this is because I know so many of you mamas and mamas-to-be actually have experience with some of these items or brands (or may even want to sing the praises of other products you've picked up!) and I am all ears! I'm totally a newbie at this so I'd love to hear about your experiences! Our house is a rather modest 1100 sq ft so we can't fill it to the brim with a ton of products. We really want to focus on what works well and is worth the space it takes up! If you have anything you'd like to chime in with, I'd love to hear it!

Here's to the last 48 hours of being 25... Yow! xo

// Project Nursery: v.1

We finally said goodbye to our gorgeous, glittery and pink geometric wall last week. If Baby Flynn had been a girl, we would have undoubtedly kept it. But even since we're bringing a little dude into the world, we couldn't really part with the fun look and feel of a mosaic wall. Rather than scrap the idea all together, we decided to channel the nursery theme around a much more subtle and masculine geometric design. The best part? This project is so budget friendly. The whole thing cost us less than $20!

Now, I've received a lot of questions about how we got the glitter off the original wall, and I'm happy to report it was much easier than we expected! It still took some elbow grease, but a spritzing bottle of warm, soapy water and a putty knife did the trick. After we got all of the glitter off the wall and then off the floor, Mike painted over the pink design with Kilz primer. I busied myself elsewhere for that portion since the fumes are pretty tough. After that he threw down a layer of satin white so the lines would match the finish of the geometrics, and then it was time to tape! If you remember from our original wall, we used regular FrogTape in the .94" size. Last time we had some issues of it rolling up on us, but this time around was perfect! We seriously couldn't have asked for better lines. 

I've also been asked a few times if there's a rhyme or reason to the way we tape the shapes. The simple answer: Nope! The longer answer: We try to do the longer/larger lines first, to sort of set the stage on the wall. Then we break those down into smaller lines. We put more time and effort into the execution this time around, but I think both walls turned out great (I'm totally biased). We didn't use any glitter this time since I didn't want it to get stuck all over everything in the nursery, but we'll be adding some extra color to the room with the accessories. 

If you're still interested in giving a geo wall a whirl, here are a few tips and tricks I'd recommend employing in order to help you get the best results:

1. Run your fingers over either side of the tape after you put it down. This will push out any wrinkles or bubbles that might have formed while placing. If you don't do this, you run the risk of getting paint caught under them and then ruining your crisp, white line.
2. After everything is taped, choose your middle color and then mark the shapes you want to be in that hue. We did this by taking small pieces of FrogTape and marking them. Mike was able to start painting the first color while I worked on figuring out what color was next.
3. When picking colors, get three colors from the same paint swatch for the best results. Of course that's if you want a cohesive ombre color palette. Loads of people have used our original tutorial with contrasting colors and it turned out great. We just greatly prefer the coordinating hues. (Our middle grey is the exact color of our other 3 walls in the nursery. This made it feel really cohesive overall)
4. Allow the paint to dry for roughly an hour or two, then remove the tape. Try not to leave it on longer than you have to. It's way easier to pull off when the paint is just sticky enough to release, but not so tacky it pulls with the tape. Last time I said ~15 minutes or so, but I think we had a better experience this time around.
5. Try not to work from left to right or top to bottom with the paint. Step back and view your wall from across the room and pick shapes here and there to mark. This will ensure you have a better balance of colors at the end of the project.
6. If you're only doing one wall, buy the Valspar paint samples! They're $4 each and 3 of them did our entire wall. That's only $12 spent! (We only have 8' ceilings, but you could make it work with 10' ceilings as well) This does not have to be an expensive undertaking!
7. If you want to know the Valspar colors we used, they were: Cinder Block, Rocky Slope, and Cathedral Gray (from lightest to darkest).

Now that we have this tiny little bit of the nursery done, I'm excited to try and dive in deeper. It's hard to do much when you don't have the first piece of furniture, but I'm holding out hope we can spring for the items on our dream list. We printed the first pieces of "art" for his room this past weekend and now I just need it to all fall together. It'd be nice if it were that simple, right?

I'm working on a nursery moodboard right now and it's focused around the theme of his room. I'll be sure to share it soon, along with our ultimate nursery wishlist! That way y'all can chime in let me know if you have any experience with any of the brands or products! I'm going into this totally blind haha

Thanks for reading! xo