On August 29th, 2015, my husband and I found out we were expecting our first baby. we were stunned and so unbelievably excited. it didn't seem real for the first few months [still doesn't sometimes], but eventually it began to sink in as we began to prepare for this sweet baby and all the changes that would take place.
One of the things I was most excited about was creating a nursery. I had a vision in mind of what I would like for a boy or a girl. it wasn't a one-size-fits-all, gender neutral nursery; but it would have been very similar, regardless of the gender. I wanted simple, classic, quiet.
The day before thanksgiving, we found out we were having a boy! I was ecstatic. I've always wanted an older brother, so I always dreamed of having a boy first. this was literally a dream come true.
As excited as I was about decorating a nursery, I didn't really get started on it until March. I'm sure this surprised some; it surprised me a little. but I didn't want to jump the gun; plus, we had lots of furniture and things to shift around to make room for baby.
The day before my first baby shower, I finished the nursery. mostly, anyhow. several of my precious friends came in town for the shower and that gave me the motivation I needed to really wrap things up in the baby's room. I'd been dreaming about what I wanted our nursery to look like for months, maybe even years, and slowly gathering + collecting these items the previous eight months.
so one Friday morning, my parents came over to help bring all my dreams to life. my dad hung the curtains my mom had sewn for the room, on the curtain rod he painted the perfect shade of gold that I had searched months for. a beautiful, antique garden gate hung on the wall over the buffet [now a changing table] and a boxwood wreath hung over that, like a bow on top of a gift. my artist little sister created priceless artwork that decorated the walls, sweet watercolor paintings of baby animals. the buffet and armoire I spent hours, even weeks, restoring and refinishing looked just like they belonged, just like I envisioned. the crib that my husband so lovingly assembled sat in front of the one window in the bedroom, framing it perfectly. the crib skirt our baby's great grandmother made rested around it, gently flowing onto the carpet.
it. was. perfect. it was my new favorite room in the house. I loved walking in there. I found any excuse I could to do it. it was everything I dreamed it would be and more.
and then on March 9th, less than a week later, our home flooded. this crazy, unexpected rain rolled into town and flooded homes, streets, businesses, churches, everything. it was devastating. and the tiny white house was no more.
So, here we were, eight months pregnant and temporarily displaced. my gracious parents have taken us in for the time being. and we had to set up a nursery. again. this time wasn't quite as fun or exciting. it was marked with tears and sadness and bitterness and even a little anger. it actually took me a little while to get around to doing anything because I had already done it all and set up this perfect [to me] nursery and then it was washed all away, along with the rest of our home.
but my family was so kind and gentle and patient and helped me to slowly pull myself together and recreate this nursery for our baby. and you know what? it's even better than I dreamed it'd be.
it is now complete, minus the little boy who will one day make his home here.
The beloved buffet-turned-changing-table that has been in the family for years did not make it through the flood. talk about heartbreaking. I cried many tears over this. then we decided to improvise with our potting bench, which used to serve as our entertainment center. this was the first piece of furniture I ever bought for our home. before we were married, I snagged it at a garage sale for forty bucks. it's one of my favorite pieces. I'm sad that the buffet couldn't weather the storm, but I love that this piece is getting use again for yet another unconventional purpose.
My sister + I created this little mobile to hang over the crib. I wanted something sweet and serene and, frankly, not stupid to use as our crib mobile. so I came up with this idea of little floating clouds made from book pages. I cut out some of my favorite excerpts from Robin Hood and used them for my clouds. you can find a diy crib mobile tutorial here.
