3 in a bedroom?

Whether we adopt or birth a third baby, either way, it'll be in THIS house. 

This 2 bedroom, city house. Which means bunk beds are absolutely necessary. 

Good thing I love me some bunk beds :) I have great memories of sharing a bunk bed with my sister growing up. We were in bunks until we moved to a 3 bedroom home when we were 8 and 10 respectively.

Here are two simple bunks that I have my eye on. The IKEA one turns into two twin beds which is a huge perk, but has no storage and is made of less quality wood (and is actually $100 more!). The Brick one is white which I love and a bit higher quality, but doesn't turn into twin beds which would limit it's lifespan. Both are simple and I love how the ladder doesn't jut out but is attached to the structure.

{The Brick, $199}

{IKEA, $299}

But is it just me or are kids rooms getting a little out of hand? While researching bunk beds it was actually difficult to find the two I've posted above. Because all the bunk beds these days are so outrageous. 

They're enormous structures, complete with staircases, and cost nearly $1,000!!

What has happened to the classic bunk bed?!

[source]

another nursery...

Not because LG is getting his own... no no no, he's a city baby and everyone knows city babies get crammed in with their other siblings (if not with the laundry machines or mom and dad lol!). No, I'm talking about the kid's nursery in our next home... I still want to use orange and green as the main colours (and white as a major colour/shade), but I'm thinking of a stripe accent wall... 

 they just look so cool!

and some serious orange curtains (currently the nursery has light green but it's so soft and I feel like LG and Lily together will be anything but, so why pretend!?) like these:

I actually already own the orange Amy Butler fabric too, so it won't take long. 

Excited to nest up for LG's arrival!

25 things to do:

To-do lists are my favourite thing.

Crossing them off is therapeutic and making them makes me feel so much less overwhelmed, no matter how long the list is. I just saw the one I'd made for Lily's nursery this time last summer and smiled. It always gets done, even though it sometimes seems like it won't :)

This time around, we'll be in the process of finding and buying an apartment, so I can't do anything to the actual nursery/bedroom until we're settled in the new nest (and no one knows exactly when that will be... August? September? October? God-forbid November?). But there's lots of other things I can do to prepare for the boy's arrival and the room Lily will now be sharing...

1. buy fabric for his quilt

2. buy fabric for his blanket

3. sew his blanket

4. 0-3m clothes (fall/winter)

5. 3-6m clothes (winter)

6. 6-9m clothes (spring)

7. 9-12m clothes (summer)

8. 12+m clothes (next fall)

9. wash + organize by month LG's clothes

10. crib bumper in green

11. IKEAwooden train set

12. wooden toys - blocks, etc

13. find/buy dresser for Lily (LG gets her old one)

14. paint/refurbish dresser for Lily

15. find/buy bed for Lily

16. paint bed for Lily

17. find/buy mattress for Lily

18. find/buy bookshelf

19. paint bookshelf

20. find/buy adorable children's rocking chair

(thanks mom!)

21. find/buy some boy's burp clothes

(they're ALL pink)

22. buy spice racks from IKEA for book shelf DIY

23. paint spice racks from IKEA

24. make fun mobile for kid's room

from http://www.annaleahart.com/

25. find/buy/make LG a sock monkey

(if it's less than $10 or $15 I'm just buying it)

So mostly it's a LOT of painting and up-cycling of furniture.

Plus some sewing and a couple of purchases that aren't urgent.

Wonder if my dad will be up for painting some beds this summer?

co-ed nursery/bedroom

decorating and DIYing for Lily's nursery last July and August was so fun. We chose gender-neutral green and orange so we would only need to make minimal changes come baby no. 2 just in case it was a boy. And God has indeed blessed us with a healthy baby boy (who is 21 weeks in utero today!) so those minimal changes will be taking place after all :) Head over to {our nest in the city} to see the beginnings of my plans for the co-ed nursery/bed room, starting with the furniture.

My inspiration for their room is this fabric:

"Spotted Owl" in "Natural" by Alexander Henry

And this gorgeous co-ed children's room:

Sunrise Ruffalo's home tour from Domino Magazine

Also check out my pinterest (linked on {our nest in the city} for more nursery ideas under "kid's decorating"

baby boy quilt 2

Yesterday you saw my inspiration for LG (Little Gentleman)'s quilt. Today, I went to work to find out where I could buy the fabric I needed to make it happen. Oh, being in the USA! Where capitalism reigns and everyone can get a good deal (hey, why not help their economy, right?). I found www.fabric.com which had amazing deals on some of my favourite fabrics. We're talking $7/yard for Amy Butler fabrics! Those exact same prints run you about $15/metre (basically a yard) in every shop I've been to in Canada. I wish I had more cash to just stock up to my hearts content, but I settled with 1.5 yards of two fabrics I enjoyed and will match well in the kid's room.

I may make accent pillows or a valance or fixed roman shade. I really don't know yet. I've decided to make the kid's bedding (once they're out of cribs, that is) since I can't seem to find anything I like in my price range. Making a duvet cover is basically one of the simplist sewing projects known to man woman humanity, same goes for pillow cases, so it shouldn't be too hard. Plus if I can find some Queen or King sheets that are the colours I want, it would probably be less money than using fabric - and already hemmed! These fabrics would make a nice trim accent though. They'll be put to use somehow :)

It's also where I found my brown gingham for the backing of LG's quilt.

I like how this gingham is on the vertical. Wasn't initially my choice, and there was a smaller gingham for only $4/yard, but this was larger, and more bold - which is what I'm going for - so it was worth the roughly $8/yard. Still amazing compared to fabric prices in Canada.

And as always, the shipping (domestic in the USA only) was free. Golden.

baby boy's quilt

I mentioned before, my fabulous sister is making baby No. 2 a quilt just as she did Lily. COMPLETELY not necessary (we chose gender neutral colours for Lily's so they could share), but that's Lisa for you. She lives to go above and beyond. Anyone who knows her, knows that.

Anyway, we've been brainstorming and we still want to do the same colour scheme of Lily's - green and orange - since they'll be sharing a room and all. But we want his to be a bit more masculine and bold. Lily's has very small patch work (incredibly intricate!) and many of the non green and orange pieces were lighter fabrics/colours/patterns. With the boy's quilt, we're going the opposite - large pieces, bold colours and fabrics, and adding darker accent colours.

My inspiration:



The large back piece will probably be a brown and white gingham as you see in the bold patchwork above. I love the brown with the green and orange, plus it adds that boy-ish look we're going for, while keeping the quilts the same since their living space is shared.

We still have a lot of leftover fabric from Lily's quilt and the DIY onsies I made and the fabric hoops (a little fabric goes a long way...never throw out scraps!) plus I picked up some sweet fat quarters from a local quilt shop when I was home for the worlds-shortest-visit for Lisa's bridal shower last week. I'm heading to Joann's to get the gingham - I'm sure they'll have some, it's a basic print and pretty universal - and I'm so excited!

I love quilts! I love my sister! I love this little gentleman!

update

OK so it's been a while since I blogged about this pregnancy. Honestly, there's not much to tell. It's going great, no symptoms except fatigue (which I've basically had for 2 years now so I don't tend to even think about it as a "symptom" but more so as my constant-reality!), and no word yet on when I'm having my ultrasound.

I've signed the necessary forms and now I just need to scan them to the e-mail address of the lady I've been in contact with at Advocates for Women - the women's health clinic I'm going to for my prenatal care while I'm here. Then they'll fax my doctor in Montreal, acquire my files, and hopefully take me on as a patient (read: BOOK MY ULTRASOUND!)

My bump is really showing now, which is super fun. I continue to be thankful for my dear friend Loni who, two summers ago, lent me her grey maternity shorts from Thyme. It's my second summer living in them and I LOVE them. I also picked up some maternity leggings from Target that are amazing. I wear them any day the temperature is under 85 degrees.

Lily and I went shopping at the Goodwill store today and got some amazing things! I found a beautiful, perfect condition Beatrix Potter sleep sack with arms that has a kimono closure. I can't wait to wrap a newborn baby up in it. It is beautiful, is gender-neutral, and for $3 how could I leave it at the store?

Another incredible find were the $2 Pottery Barn Kids bumper pads. I decided to forgo buying bumper pads with Lily because I'd heard babies can suffocate in them. Plus we didn't have the extra $30 odd dollars, and no one bought them for us (easy decision). But then once we put Lily in the crib as a newborn we saw how silly the fears were and learned that something like 2 babies have died from that cause in the last ten years, and it wasn't ever fully proven as the main cause of death - just speculative in SIDS cases. Now, I'm all for safety, and since some think they're unsafe, I'd never try to convince someone to use them in their child's crib, but Lily didn't even roll until she was 6 months old, and though she's rolling now at nearly 10 months, she's currently sleeping in a crib with bumper pads (the home we're subletting has them), and we see no cause for concern. In fact, my main concern is that they're not high enough! Lily often gets her ankle stuck between the spindles which probably hurts a bit, but mainly scares her when she can't get it out.



this is the only Pottery Barn pic I could fine and it's in the wrong colour... but you get the idea - awesome.



Anyway, I told Brad I really wanted to get bumper pads for this baby because they add such a nice touch to any nursery and would potentially prevent any more ankle incidents - plus Target had the perfect set that would match Lily's green and orange nursery that she'll soon be sharing. I was prepared to spend the $30, but then saw light green and white gingham bumper pads by Pottery Barn Kids for $2 today! FYI, I looked them up and they retail for about $89.00. Huzzah!

baby mobile idea

we already have one... but for anyone interested.... i found a beauty FREE mobile download. just add a branch + string :)

Thanks, CHILDREN INSPIRE DESIGN!

https://childreninspiredesign.com/content/free-download

MM's Dresser Make-Over

it looks terrific!!!!
{if I do say so myself}

Recap: we got this piece for $20 at a garage sale.

Then Brad painted it white with the paint we used for the trim in MM's room

They I covered the bland white change pad with a fun IKEA fabric and bought new knobs at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for $2 each

And lined the drawers with a fun wallpaper I also bought at the Re-Store for $2

Ta-Da!

The drawers are now all packed and MM's diapers, clothes, and general things have a home :) Now I'm feeling very prepared...her crib is yet to arrive but that's not as much a hurry since she has a bassinet home for the first month or so. So MM, if you're listening... you can come now.
kthanksbye.

Nursery {part 3}

The work is progress!!!

Thanks to friends Alexandre and Amanda, plus my hard-working husband Brad, our nursery is finished being painted, and now only a few things remain until it's finished and put together.

In the meantime here and a few pics/hints to when the room will actually be a nursery :)

{Dr. Alexandre Cossette to the rescue}

{a glimpse into the fabrics/themes}

{fresh colour on the walls, all MM's stuff in her room}

{as if she gets the one room in our house with exposed brick!}

{our re-claimed living room, free from all of her things...for now!}

Nursery {part 2}

I'd say we're in the "calm before the storm" stage, wherein we are getting ready to re-do two rooms in our home and expecting a baby any week now... but really it's already a storm!

My nursery TO-DO list is slowly getting accomplished, but not without leaving the rest of my house/life in it's wake!
Good thing I'm on maternity leave and have the time, if only the energy! So here's a glimpse into what we've done so far:

{fabric hoops wall-art}

• used left-over fabrics from the quilt my sister made
• bought fabric hoops at Fabric Ville, about $2 each
  
• this is actually the arrangement they'll hang on the wall in
  

{empty frame wall art}

• inspired by pictures like this and this
• bought all frames at Dollarama + spray paint

Stay Tuned!

Nursery {updated 'to do'}

{this is a bit of a glimpse into my head as I plan MM's little room}

• make curtains - DONE
  
• buy curtain rod - DONE
• make empty frame wall art like this - DONE
  *buy empty frames, ribbon, and white spray paint - Dollarama - DONE
  
• buy baskets for toys/things - DONE
• buy shelf to display MM's fun things - Winners - DONE
• buy white lanterns to hang above her crib - Dollarama - DONE
  
• buy paint (cool beige, ideally) - Home Depot - DONE
  
• move everything from the office (nursery) into the living room,
  rearrange, and make clean again - DONE
• hang fabric hoops wall art - DONE
• paint walls, trim, ceiling (find friends to help!!) -DONE
• buy laundry hamper - IKEA
• buy rug - Canadian Tire
• find dresser on Craigslist/buy one - IKEA?
  
• assemble crib, make up w/ bedding
  
• put up curtain rod, hang curtains
  
• hang lanterns above crib
  

mm @ 14 weeks!

Ooo a lemon! But sweet not sour. Sweet because it's been over a week since I've last thrown up, sweet because my baby bump is noticeable making it more fun being treated and recognized as a pregnant woman (a lady on the train asked me how far along I was yesterday: MADE MY DAY), and sweet because 14 weeks is a good chunk of time. In other words, I DID IT :)

The 1st trimester is officially finished (they count these things in a really weird way, counting the 2 weeks before you conceive as part of the 40 total weeks of pregnancy)! I'm now a 2nd trimester prego, meaning I start more regular appointments with my doctor, I get to hear the heartbeat at my appointment on March 2nd (NEXT WEEK!) and in about 6 weeks we'll know if we're having a baby boy or girl!

IN OTHER NEWS...
I even chose the colours for our nursery which won't actually be in this house (Lord willing). We're hoping to be able to buy an apartment/condo/flat in the Fall, a couple of months after MM is born. So for the first couple months we're not going to move out our office and guest room from the additional bedroom, we'll just all party together with MM in his/her bassinet since they'll be feeding pretty much around the clock anyway.

This was kind of difficult since I had to choose the colours not really knowing what the room size or shape would be, but we went with orange and light green (not those exact shades though!). This part was so fun especially since I'll get to use some of the beautiful fabrics with my new sewing machine to make baby bedding, curtains, decorative pillows and am even going to cover a foot stool. I can't show pictures of the fabric now because I left it at home for my cousin to deliver when she comes since I was already on the train with lots of luggage, but it is inspired by rooms like this:

things I'll "need"

I'm really skeptical about this checklist I just found. Is it possible that a new mom "needs" all of these things? It makes me overwhelmed for many reasons: how will I pay for it all? where will I put it all? how do you even use some of these items, etc. I know I have family and friends who are already excited about a baby shower for me, how this is a LOT of stuff and I'm hoping some of you more experienced women can tell me what's NOT important to have/add to a baby registry.

The Checklist as per The Bump website:
Layette (what's a Layette?)

• 4-8 bodysuits or onesies (wide head openings and loose legs)
• 4-8 undershirts or vests (snaps at neck or wide head openings, snaps under crotch)*
• 4-8 one-piece pajamas*
• 2 blanket sleepers for winter baby
• 1-3 sweaters or jackets (front buttoned)
• 1-3 rompers or other dress-up outfits*
• 4-7 socks or booties (shoes are unnecessary until baby walks)*
• 1-3 hats (broad-brimmed for summer baby, soft cap that covers ears for winter baby)*
• Bunting bag or fleece suit for winter baby
• Swimsuit for summer baby
• Gentle laundry detergent

Nursery

• Crib, cradle and/or bassinet* (Slats no more than 2 3/8 inches apart, Corner posts no more than 1/16 of an inch above frame, No cutouts in headboard or footboard, Top rails at least 26 inches above mattress
• Firm, flat mattress fit snugly in crib (less than two fingers should fit between mattress and crib)*
• 1-3 washable crib mattress pads
• Bumper pads covering inside perimeter (secured by at least six ties or snaps, with all extra length removed)
• 2-4 fitted crib sheets*
• 4-6 soft, light receiving blankets*
• 1-2 heavier blankets (for colder climates)
• Crib mobile with black and white images (remove when baby can support self on hands and knees)
• Baby monitor
• Toy basket
• Swing or bouncy chair

Changing (I removed change table because we just won't have the room)

• cushioned changing pad for low dresser or bureau, with safety strap or railing (yes to this)
  
• Diaper pail (do I need this if I'm using cloth diapers?)
  
• Diaper pail liners
• Diaper cream*
• Unscented baby wipes (causes less irritation)*
• Soft washcloths*
• Tissues (for you)
• 6-10 dozen cloth diapers and 6-8 diaper covers, or 2-3 large boxes of disposable newborn-size diapers*
  

Bath

• Baby bathtub
• Baby soap*
• Baby shampoo
• 2-4 soft towels or hooded baby towels
• Baby hairbrush (for what hair? do they know MM's parents?)
  
• Soft washcloths (Good Tip from bump: use a different color or pattern than your diaper washcloths!)

Feeding

• Thank goodness I already got rid of most items on this list since I'm breastfeeding.
• 4-8 bibs
• Burp cloths
  
• High chair
• 2-4 pacifiers

For nursing moms:

• 1-3 nursing bras (Breasts swell following birth, so start with one size larger than your maternity bra. Wait until size settles down -- about two weeks after birth -- to purchase additional bras.)
• Nursing pads
• Nipple cream
• Nursing pillow
• Pump (even if you plan only to nurse, a pump will allow you to leave milk for baby if you want or need to separate)*
• Milk storage bags*

Medicine Cabinet

• Baby nail clippers or blunt scissors*
• Baby thermometer*
• Bulb syringe/nasal aspirator
• Medicine dropper or spoon with measurements
• Infant acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Saline nasal drops
• Baby gas drops
• Disinfecting hand soap (for you)

Travel

• Infant or convertible car seat* (woo Graco snugride, this I alreayd know which one I want)!
• Stroller (also already decided on this one - am looking for a second hand one though b/c they're PRICEY)
• Diaper bag
• Changing pad
• Baby carrier/sling

For Mom

• Ice packs (in case of tearing during birth or swelling after)
• 2-3 week supply of ultra absorbent sanitary pads
• Panty liners
• Hemorrhoid wipes and cream (GREAT)

Question:

Why are ALL the baby items (i.e. strollers, car seats, cribs, crib bedding, decor) so UGLY? Everything is pastel with bunnies or some retro plaid, and I've never seen more frills in my life!

Call me crazy, but Baby Olivia (Loni's new bundle of joy) doesn't even see colour yet (unless it's a recent development) and she doesn't have strong vision beyond what's immediately in front of her. So why oh why do we decorate entire baby rooms in these cartoon-y baby colours that I'd never put in the rest of my house? The baby can't even SEE the colours or theme most likely. The parents are the ones who spend most waking time in the nursery and have good vision (with the aid of contact lenses!) so why not decorate in a way that can please both baby and parent?

I really like what Andy and Loni did with their kid's room. It's covered in toys - after all kids LIVE there and no one's expecting a baby room to not have toys, but for the most part, it's not overly "baby" or "kiddie". It matches the rest of their house. The walls are a mix between beige and olive green, the furniture is white and wooden, and their bedding is gender neutral - maybe partly because Matty and Dahlia switch bunks often :) The point is, I LOVE it that I walk into their fun, warm, kid's room and it's not like chuckie cheese or baby land, after all they're only babies for a short time and there will likely be more than 1 child in the room at a time, so for us, it's got to be universal.

Like these:

Alysha 1, Etsy 0

Alysha, my cousin, is kind of amazing.

She and her husband Daymond visited this weekend and we all had a marvelous time. The farewell tour continued, including eating great food and drinking great wines and coffees all weekend long. I think when I do get pregnant I'll look back on binge weekends like this of eating and drinking pregnancy-no-no's and long for them.

Not only did Alysha provide the much needed and missed family connection, but she also brought along delicious wine and steaks for us to all enjoy on the Friday night, her much anticipated plans for a future high-tea themed baby shower, and the no-need-for-expensive-Etsy-baby-stuff good news. Many good things happened in the last 48 hours :)

Turns out, everything I'd wanted from Etsy was "simple sewing, Emmy, common!".

I myself am not a sewer (read: I'll sew my own fingers before sewing a straight line) so I couldn't recognize the simplicity of the over-prized things I'd wanted in the previous post. Alysha went on to explain excitedly how she could and would make me everything on the Etsy pictures I'd posted and more! She loves creativity, decorating, details, and all things pretty, PLUS she's enormously generous and loving and doesn't want kids of her own, so she pretty much adds up to be a pregnant or dreaming-to-become-pregnant woman's best friend.

So whenever I can post confidently the news of a pregnancy, the next step will be fabric shopping, since Etsy has nothing on my wonder-woman cousin. That combined with the potential of this being my last period for a while is more happiness and excitement than one girl can take! What a weekend of Goods :)

addicted to Etsy

Many of you know the handmade maga online store Etsy, I first heard about it from dooce.com, and am hooked. I'm still yet to make a purchase but when we do get pregnant that'll be my first stop for my baby bedding and perhaps a diaper bag. If only baby shower registries had such hip and unique things for babies...

Check out these great finds: