McKenna’s Nursery Reveal

 McKenna’s room is pretty much DONE!  And that is a big sigh of relief to me because I wanted the nursery done by the end of May and our May is a little hectic and overwhelming.  I love how it all just came together so easily and how simple and clean it looks.  I do have to brag on my husband a little bit – he was such a trooper.  it was a long day of crib assembly {with Kennesaw in the way 98% of the time} and hanging things on the wall.  But he never once complained and I think he is proud of the work he did. And it all seriousness, I think she has one of the better rooms in the house.  Already a spoiled little princess! Now, I just cannot wait to get her home and in her room.

I absolutely love our crib.  I am so glad the debacle around the crib {and nursery} set was resolved …. even if it did take me writing a scathing review on Yelp.  Oh well.  The cream color looks good with the gray and pink and I love love love the engraved detailing of the little flowers.  I do hate mesh bumpers and think they are total distraction, but Land of Nod doesn’t make the big pretty bumpers and evidently non-breathable bumpers = bad.  But.  I still think they are a total eye sore.  We wanted to put McKenna’s name of the crib, but with the letters being white and the crib being cream we now are hunting for what to put over the crib.  Ideas are welcome!

Crib & Nightstand : Koo Koo Bear Kids, Dolce Babi Bambino // Bedding: Land of Nod, Hop to It

I just LOVE this wall.  And I have to pass the credit onto Kyle for the idea of putting M’s name of this wall.  I love these curtains and how they look on the pink wall.  When we hung them last week Kyle and I both immediately thought that they looked so good against the pink wall.  And we all know that K and I are pretty much obsessed with the glider.  And then the addition of her name on the wall just works.

Curtains: Land of Nod // Glider: Babies r Us // Letters: Babies ‘r Us.

I LOVE our dresser / changing table.  Again.  I am so glad the debacle around the nursery furniture was resolved and I am slightly obsessed with the mirror.  We like how the pink wall is reflected in the mirror and adds a little more pink to the room.  Another project will be to wash, organize, and put away little baby clothes and socks and mittens.  I need to order the drawer organizers from IKEA that I really like and we need to decide if we are going to do a diaper caddy or use one of the top drawers for supply and diaper storage to keep it all out of the way.  I am leaning towards using a drawer.  After all, I don’t think she will need ALL that drawer space yet.  Right?! FYI: babies are so small.

Dresser: Koo Koo Bear Kids, Dolce Babi Bambino // Mirror: Pottery Barn Kids // Changing Pad Cover: Land of Nod // Lamp: Target circa 2008

I saw this idea on Pinterest and we needed a place for books and extra storage and I really liked this idea.  And it looks clean and put away and is just what we needed – great storage for swaddling blankets and extra sheets and her books and toys anything else we need to store. I do need to get one more pink bin.

Cubbies: Target

We also have an apothecary jar on her night stand to store pacifiers {and need to stock up on some pacifiers to fill it!} and need to figure out what to put over the crib.  But, I love that the room is basically done and that it looks so very very good.  I cannot wait to show it off to Kyle’s parents when they come in town in a few weeks and then to my bestie Heather when she is in town and then my parents and brother as they visit!

And… now we have to go onto our next project.  Which Kyle thinks is laying down grass seed or sod from all the juniper he pulled.  I believe it is a laundry room make over.  Flip a coin – heads: yard work … tails: laundry room!?  We also need to get new furniture for our living room to move the old couch to Kyle’s man cave so we can have our big “family space” and the love seat into the random sitting room we have.  I feel like we need to play the lotta and hit the jackpot!

Five Things Friday

 

VICTORY: I SURVIVED THE WEEK, well week #1. 
EXPLANATION OF CRYPTIC VICTORY: I am back to doing the crazy 2 hour in 1 direction commute and occasional 3 hour commute home indefinitely.  If you know anything about Atlanta, GA – think commuting from Alpharetta GA to South of the airport. Yup. Ugh. 40 miles in 1 direction. Double Ugh.

Wahoo for a big project assigned by our CEO that is actually a really big deal. But big frowny face for not being able to see the gym with the exception of weekends until this project is over and sitting in an insane amount of traffic each day.  Must. Not. Gain. Too. Much. Pregnancy. Weight. Le Sigh.

Anyway. Moving On.  5 things…

(1) Our little puppy daughter has a new trick that she is SO proud of.  She has taught herself how to break free of her crate.  And she can even break free of a crate with a carbineer on it to keep it extra super locked! Luckily, we don’t think she is doing it until she hears Kyle coming home, but I can’t help but picture her lounging on the bed, taunting Mulligan.  Needless to say – home girl is getting locked into her crate and we have added a carabineer to the mix.  No more jail breaks for her!!

(2) Kyle started painting the nursery this past weekend.  We have 1 pink wall and 3 gray walls to go.  I now want to go on Land of Nod and buy the curtains so we can hang those, but I am trying hard to resist. … and all the bedding {sheets, changing pad cover, crib skirt} is on sale until March 17th and I am having to have major self control to not just buy a lot of that right now. … and  for the love, don’t get me started and my need to buy a crib and just get the room DONE even though we have like 3 months till my “nursery must be done” deadline.  Kyle is having a hard time visualizing the nursery and thinks it will be too much gray – but he just needs to trust me and my plan.  It is going to look good. Promise you kid!  {McKenna is currently 22 weeks}

(3) On the topic of Kyle!  He turned 29 this week. I ended up getting him 2 books he has been on the hunt for + a baby bib that says “my dad is cooler than yours”.  It may be a boy bib, but that is ok. We went for a simple birthday dinner of BBQ and it was just a low key weekend.  Kyle did get a birthday card from my Granddad who recently passed away and even though I knew a card was coming it still was an emotional experience for me since my Aunt left a note in the card that my Granddad had picked the card himself. I think it also just touched Kyle. Well the fact that K has just been embraced by my family on his birthday means a lot to him.

(4)  We have this big open wall upstairs that is part of our landing.  Kyle and I plan on making that the “family picture” wall to hang pictures of us and McKenna as she grows and then a 2nd addition, if that day ever happens or comes and part of me wants to schedule a photo session of Kyle and me and the dogs before the baby comes.  Not those awkward maternity photos, but the only pictures we really have our our engagements and wedding pictures. and we have nothing formal of Mulls and Kens and lets be honest, they won’t be around forever and we have an unhealthy obsession with those two rascals.  But I just think it would be nice to document them on our wall.  So, if anyone knows of any ATL photographers doing mini-sessions this spring – send me their info please and then pray that my dogs are not maniacs!!

(5)  Random Rant and unsolicited career advice from a recruiter.  LinkedIn is not a social media platform for fun, it is professional. meaning, get a professional picture is important. Your selfie in your car (with a visible seat belt) making a duck face is not appropriate.  Neither is a sultry photo or one that has your sunglasses on you head.  Yes. Believe it or not, recruiters are googling you.  Your resume.  Proofread it.  Seen this week: “knowledge of multistate HR Laws – Georgia, New Jersey, and Houston”.  Breaking news: Houston is now a state.  The have left Texas and made themselves a state.   In a job market that is still tough, take the time to make the 1st impression a good one!

….well. I hope you all have a very good weekend. We have A LOT going on so I am not looking forward to the lack of rest and relaxation.  But…. such is life.  Happy Friday Ya’ll!

Bambino Bedroom

Since the bambino news is out in the open now I can share baby room fun stuff with you!  Ever since painting the guest bedroom and having A LOT of left over gray paint – we decided to paint the nursery primarily gray.  and then accent it in some way with either a blue or a pink {depending on the gender}. And in true Barbie fashion I have had to plan everything out and look at cribs and bedding because I want the nursery done well in advance.  So…. I have been drooling over Land of Nod bedding since they somehow found out I was pregnant (creepy) and started sending me their catalog.
 

And for bedding I have decided on these two prints/patterns.  I didn’t want anything cartoony or whimsical.  I feel like some parents go overboard with “themed” nurseries.  Kyle and I like clean, simple lines and I think both of these patterns fit our personalities and they are simple and clean.
 

And then for fitted sheets we want the matching animal {bunny or whale} prints + the big spunky polka dots to contrast against the stripes.  The only difference from the pictures is that the crib skirts show pink and navy – well, they are reversible so we would show the gray and then do the sheets in pink or navy {polka dots}.
 

Best part of Land of Nod – when  you sign up for emails you get an automatic 10% off, which will be nice and we will sign up for emails using multiple email addresses to get the best deals on all the bedding.  Don’t judge me.  I like a good deal. =)
 

We have been looking at cribs too {of course} and want to do dark wood for a boy and white wood for a girl and do a convertible crib that goes from crib to toddler bed to full bed.  That way we *hopefully* won’t have to buy furniture as the kid sprouts and gets older.  Plus we need a matching dresser and glider/rocking chair thing.  So – if anyone has any recommendations, please send them my way.  We have looked at Target and Babies ‘R Us and Buy Buy Baby and Koo Koo Bear Baby but everything is just so expensive. 

Obviously we don’t want to compromise quality for price but we also don’t want to spend as much as we just did on our big kid bedroom furniture!  So seriously, we are taking recommendations.  We want to start setting up the nursery in May so it is 100% done by the middle of June and ready for July.  But the baby room furniture appears to be the one thing we cannot seem to figure out due to price... and I think Kyle and I are just going to have to take a deep breath and just swipe the credit card! Yee Haw.
 

Overall – the nursery is going to be very very simple.  We don’t want a lot on the walls.  We don’t want there to be an overall theme that just clutters the room.  We want simple and relaxing. 
 

Come 20 weeks Land of Nod will be getting some business from the Shanahan’s!  That is when we learn if this Bambino is a boy or a girl! =)