Finally, a look at Charlotte’s nursery

So it’s been almost a year since we started working on Charlotte’s nursery, haha. I guess it’s about time I posted some photos. Sorry for the quality, I used my iPhone {I’ve even read several tutorials on how to take better iPhone photos and I still can’t get it right!}

At 28 weeks the walls were painted gray and I hand painted polkadots on one accent wall.

Surprisingly, looking at this photo makes me miss being pregnant

– All other pregnancy photos make me instantly queezy though, ha!

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I can’t seem to find the photos of Chris putting the crib together :/ hopefully they are just misfiled.

The view from the doorway. Just last week we had her crib to the left of the window and the rocker to the right of the window, but now that she is sitting up, which will snowball into crawling, which will snowball into pulling up… I decided it was time to move the crib away from the curtains.from door 2

Bow organizer {made from an old thrift store frame, spray painted, then fitted with some chicken wire provided by my dad}

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bows2

A look at her closets. Yes, she has WAY too many things already! I wanted to have as many things showing as possible, though, so that I can easily take inventory. We got a lot of hand-me-downs and were gifted with so many adorable outfits that I didn’t want to accidentally  pass over any and find them when she’s already outgrown them {that was something I read is very common with baby clothing}.

To prevent this, I have a system that seems to be working well – all clothing sorted by size/season and placed in a designated spot:

  • Current sizes {size 6 months right now, still some size 3 months} are in the dresser.
  • Sizes coming up next {currently size 9 months for us} are in the hanging sweater rack.
  • Any subsequent sizes are boxed and labeled but kept in plain sight so a) they can easily be added into the rotation, and b) I can plainly see that she has PLENTY for the next month so I am not tempted to buy her a completely new wardrobe.

Once a size is outgrown, I sort those items into 3 piles:

1. Hand-me-downs from a friend {boxed away in the attic, ready to be given back or broken out again, depending on who has the next girl}

2. Keepsake clothing or clothing items gifted to Charlotte that I can’t bear to part with just yet {like her baby Vans}

576864_658890730968_1124657836_n3. Donation pile {items that, if I’m totally honest with myself, I either didn’t LOVE on Charlotte or I probably wouldn’t choose to put it on a baby again because of wear/style,etc}.

The left side of her closet:

Closet - L side

The right side of her closet:

Closet R side

Her dresser:

  • The dresser is one from craigslist that I painted white – it holds: jammies, socks and tights, onesies/rompers, pants, and shirts.
  • Diaper pail with liner for cloth diapers
  • Breast pump fits perfectly into this little nightstand and is a great place to stash all the necessities for pumping {even middle of the night water and snacks… I find that I am not able to go back to sleep until I drink a glass of water and eat something}
  • The mobile above the chair was made by a sweet friend and Charlotte loves to look at it when we snuggle.

Dresser 1

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mirror above changing table

Audio and video monitors {reviewed here}, some hair accessories in the little yellow drawers, and anything else I may need at my fingertips while changing her diaper/getting her dressed for the day. My two ‘must-haves’ for this spot are her comb {I have to comb the hair on the back of her head several times a day or else she would have dreadlocks} and a jar of coconut oil {for diaper rash, as lotion, to put on cuts… anything and everything}!

drawers

I LOVE this mushroom nightlight. It’s not too bright, but gives plenty of light for an early morning diaper change or nursing.
night light

The pump is tucked away nicely in this nightstand.
breast pump

The yellow and white glider/ottoman is by far my favorite thing in her room and I am SO glad we splurged on it {with the help of my parents, Charlotte’s Papa and Honey!!}.

A comfortably nursing mama is a happy mama.

Chair and ottoman

Several quilts are tucked away in a gray and white reed basket, within reach for tummy time or snuggle time.
chair and basket

The bookshelf is full of books, teethers, rattles, and puzzles
bookshelf
shelf

The iPod dock for white noise is something we use for all naps and bedtime. As far as stuffed animals go, she seems to favor her hippo rattle and her pink bunny lovey at the moment.

iPod dock

The mobile I DIY’d here.

And if you look closely you can see the outlets that have no covers on them {I know, BAD mommy!} – I took them off during painting and didn’t want to put them back on because they were cream and I wanted to get white ones. Well, obviously that isn’t going to happen because it’s been almost a year, but when I went to go grab the cream ones to put back on so they would at least be safe I couldn’t find them, ha!
From door

The view from the bookshelf corner towards the door.

I’d say the only thing I don’t like about her crib being on this wall is that it is SO close to the door {making it VERY difficult to sneak in and out of her room}
crib1

And the BEST part of the nursery…. Charlotte

TADA… Charlie Grace!

Again, I apologize for the photo quality; while writing this post I kept rubbing my eyes and trying to blink my contacts back into place because the pics are so fuzzy!!!

 

Play date with sweet Marley

Charlotte and I had a fun play date with my friend Sarah and her sweet daughter Marley

{who is 2 1/2 months old…. I think?!}

playdate2

playdate1

 

It was so much fun to see how Charlotte interacted with a baby who was younger than her.

She definitely took on the ‘dominant baby’ role quickly, haha.

I think she knew she had a few months on Marley and didn’t waste any time showing her who was boss.playdate12

playdate11Not in her eye, Charlotte!

playdate10

playdate9

playdate8

Mrs. Sarah teaches classes at The Little Gym {which we are so excited to be starting next week!!!} and showed us a few moves.

crawlingholding hands

playdate7

playdate3

 

We thought it was so sweet that they were holding hands…. until this, haha.

{we’ll need to wash that hand!}playdate5

Marley is such a sweet, snuggly nugget.
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marley5

Precious!
Marley6

I guess we wore her out.
Marley1

Getting ready for our day

On the schedule today:

* Write in Charlotte’s baby book!! I really need to do this. I had every intention of writing in it every week from birth to catalog her milestones. That didn’t happen, obviously, as she is now almost 6 months old and her book remains in the package. My sister even gave me an adorable milestones calendar for recording and I didn’t make it past 2 weeks 🙂 Fortunately, many of her milestones have been recorded here on this blog so I won’t have to think very hard to remember the past 6 months. I do want her to have an actual baby book that I have written in though, and not just cyberspace memories, because that is something that is very special to me that my mom did and if Charlotte is even an ounce as sentimental as me then she will appreciate it when she is older.

*Grab some in season, organic fruits and veggies from the grocery store to make her more food. In season = cheaper and can be found from local farmers, organic means no pesticides on the food = no pesticides in the baby.

* Make cloth wipes. I know it sounds totally crunchy granola but I’ll explain in a later post about why it makes so much sense {if you also cloth diaper}.

*Go through and purge magazine pile. Even after reading one and tearing out anything I want to keep for reference I always save the magazine, which is pointless and a waste. Anyone interested in my  Better Homes and Gardens and/or Every Day with Rachael Ray {and a few other random parenting, remodeling, organizing, decorating magazines?} once I am done with them? Chris also gets Golf Digest {a gift from his boss} so someone is welcome to those as well. If no one is interested I will just take them to the library and donated them.

ok, now that the to-do list is out and others can keep me accountable it MUST be completed!

And, for your viewing pleasure: Charlotte giving her binky a ‘talking to’ while waiting for her breakfast this morning {sweet potatoes and cereal}

 

Mommy Must-haves {Video Monitor}

If you have ever stepped in to Babies R Us to register for baby things or to purchase baby things then I’m sure you’ve experienced that overwhelming feeling of ‘holy macaroni. where do I even begin?!’ There are so many baby products out there boasting that they are a ‘must have’, making it really difficult to decide (particularly as a new parent) which ones are necessities and which ones you can live without.

I’m no expert, by any means, but as the months go by and I earn new parenting ‘badges’ with each new experience I am beginning to learn which things have been the most useful for our family.

Today’s “must-have” is definitely a luxury, and one I am SO grateful for: Video monitor

When we were registering for baby things I really liked the idea of a video monitor so we could see Charlotte (not just hear her) while she was in her crib. The problem was that all of the biggest monitor brands and models out there got pretty sad reviews (I use amazon to check reviews for most things). Complaints for the biggest name brands included poor reception and video interference/bad video quality.

In the end we decided to go a different route with a product called D-Link. It is not marketed as only a ‘baby’ monitor, but more like a home security system.

DCS 932L Front

A very generous friend of ours gifted us the camera and then set up the system for us. We can now check in on her from our smart phones, Kindle, or laptop. The camera will automatically switch from color to ‘night vision’ depending on the amount of light in the room. The camera is also equipped with sound but we prefer to use a separate audio monitor that has several receivers so we can keep one upstairs and one downstairs.

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I really love this system. I don’t have to worry about bringing a monitor with me from room to room or making sure I don’t run out of battery. One audio receiver is plenty for each floor of our house {Our house is not too large but also has an open floor plan which helps with being able to hear her no matter what room I am in}. The receivers just stay plugged in all the time {one in our bedroom and the other in the great room downstairs} so we don’t have to worry about battery life. The only time I unplug one is if I am doing something in the garage. The only thing I carry around with me between rooms or keep close to me throughout the day is my phone {which I did before Charlotte came along anyway}.

{2 weeks}

{4 months}

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I am so grateful for this monitor and I use it multiple times every day. Around 2 weeks old we put Charlotte in her crib in her own room to sleep because she was {and still is} a very noisy sleeper. Grunts, groans, whimpers, moans…. all of these sounds set me on high alert in a hot second and I would just lay there, listening… panicking. Then I learned to check the video first before rushing to the pack-and-play {when she was in our room} or in to her room. Take it from me, if you rush in there all pell mell, expect to stay a while to comfort the baby you have just rudely awakened. 99% of the time when I check the monitor she is still snoozing soundly with a grin on her face, and seeing this on my phone allows me to drift peacefully back to sleep {or not, as post pregnancy insomnia continues to control me}. One thing I was worried about was some crazy lunatic somehow finding our video feed in the ‘cyberspace’ and being all creepy but then I discovered that I am able to tell when someone is linked in watching the feed from the camera because the camera’s red light will be flashing. It is also fun for Chris to be able to ‘check’ on her while at work and see how she is {not} napping.

Stay tuned for more Mommy Must-haves.

UPDATED: I forgot to add that the video feed is password protected so only Chris and I can access it!!