patchwork bear

My child has two baskets of stuffed animals.  All from various family members (most are from her uncle who LOVES stuffed animals.)  Personally, I've never purchased one...well...not since I was a little kid myself anyway.  I rarely see stuffies that I fall in love with.  But I kinda sorta fell in love with these little guys.  From My Sweet Muffin.

hand made baby mobile

LovelyFriend - $78

Our baby is REALLY into playing with the hanging toys on her baby gym.  Made us realize that we want to put some cute hanging animals over her crib.  I currently have some beautiful yellow poms hanging over her crib...but they just aren't as stimulating as we'd like.  These little critters are wicked cute...and animals are all over her crib sheets - could be stinkin' cute!  

*note:  we have 0 dollars to do this, so I think I want to try to make one.  Hummm...why do I get these ideas in my head??  Why do I long to craft things!??   

ugly chair = love

So.  I had an experience in one of those hideous gliding baby chairs at the breast-feeding center of our local mall (it's a gorgeous space for mothers who want to nurse their little ones...seriously...gorgeous space!).  I have hated the look of those chairs from the get-go and refused to entertain the thought of buying one for our home.  (please don't be offended if you have one of these in your home!)  I wanted to buy a pretty gliding chair...with slick lines...something we could use as real furniture once our baby wasn't a baby any more. 

But...those ugly gliders are sooo comfortable.  And nursing in it was a dream.  We couldn't come close to purchasing my dream gliders (here or here).  The ugly glider is somewhat of a steal in comparison. 

I can't wait to get my amazingly comfy ugly chair!

the whole world on a wall

Totally no recollection where I snagged this picture, but I love it.  Great idea for a wall in a play room or a children's bed room.  Ummmm...even a living room.  I rather fancy this a lot.  Maps are so exciting...they get me dreaming and scheming about adventures in far off places. 

We still have a blank white wall in our baby's nursery... still no real plan on what the heck to do.  As you have never been in my home, you would know that I have something against plain white walls....every wall in my home is covered.  I've tried to do the minimalist thing...I fail every time.  I love being surrounded by visual "pretties."

My heart it still so in love with this whimsical ( yet super pricey and significantly smaller!) world map by Julie Mercier.  I think it would look smashing in our baby's room. 

floating boats

As much of a fan of bright colors I proclaim myself to be, I find softer pastel hues rather divine.  Though, I have nothing in my own home to suggest that sentiment.  These floating boats, by the ever talented Ann Wood, are so dreamy and so captivating I'm having twitching impulses to scrap our current nursery decor and instead play with the whispering colors of the softest blues and grays and creams.  Wouldn't these be delicious over a crib?  Or reading nook? 

These ships make me think of Peter Pan's adventures, and pirates and mermaids and lost treasure and fireworks over the ocean.  Anything that reminds me of Peter Pan is gold in my book. I hope our baby loves those tales of adventure too.

crib sheets

 Michael Miller Zoology Lagoon

I just ordered a couple pairs of custom crib sheets from a shop called Sweet Bobbins.  I just wasn't liking much of what I saw in the stores...so I turned to Etsy and it didn't let me down (and the price was roughly the same as the sheets at the baby superstore...so that was fantastic.)  Bought two pairs of sheets - one of each of these fun colorful graphic designs.  SO excited! 

 Alexander Henry 2D Zoo Multi-color Fabric

childhood

These pictures remind me of my childhood.  My sisters and I were usually messy...disheveled hair and all.  But there was lots of playing.  Lots of imagination.  Lots of creating.  Lots and lots of awesome.  Oh I am excited to watch our little girl grow, play and create.  Pictures from here.

abc's of architecture

How freakin' stellar is this print!?  I've been looking and looking and looking at art for our baby room and then I see this...and I want it for my room.  Ha!  At only $25 it's such a steal!!  By jikits

blue school

Oh how I love that school of fish.  What amazing wall art for a nursery...or a kids room.  I don't even remember where I saved this from...but I thought it was so beautiful I had to post it.  Isn't it so magical?

high chairs

Little Bug Lounge - $530 - a lil wild for us...but super fun for baby, right?!

We've been browsing baby gear a LOT lately.  Mostly to see what's out there - and to see what would work in our world....ummm....and what we can afford.  We want to be minimal in baby stuff - we live in such a small space that baby gear has the ability to take over...we want to avoid that.  Or try.

So...I found a few fab high chairs...who knew there was such a thing as a fab looking high chair?  Well there are.  We have a pub size kitchen table...where counter height stools are appropriate height...but typical high chairs aren't quite high enough.   Regardless, here are some fun designs I found at CSN.com.... that mega-shopping experience of over 200 specialty shops online.

(This is probably the one we will get - even though it's not so "stylish" - it's super functional and affordable..so it's a win win)

bloom - $499

Oxo - $249

Joovy Nook - $109

Valco - $159

baby blanky

Sunshine day crochet pattern - Posie Gets Cozy

I had a soft yellow baby blanket that I affectionately called, "blanky" - I took it everywhere, and HAD to sleep with it.  Did I mention it was so super soft?   Did you have one too?

If I had any extra time...umm...or energy for that matter...I'd love to make my little girl a pretty baby blanket.  They are so many fantastic (and simple!) designs out there!  Maybe I will...someday.

 check out these baby blanket kits from Purl Soho - they are BEAUTIFUL and remind me of Rotho.

 or squiggles!!  free knitting directions for this blanket at Pickles

 Sugar Hill Baby Throw knit kit  - Lion Brand

I'm thinking about renaming my blog "Someday" - I feel like I'm always blogging about the things that are just out of my reach...a wish list of things I want to do.  Hopefully.

alphabet art

The Alphabet Garden - sugarfresh

I posted a couple days ago about a world map print that I was nutso over...but at roughly $200, it's a serious no-go for us.   Found these sweet lil finds on Etsy and now I'm thinking maybe something celebrating letters would be nice too!  Like alphabet art.  Oh...and nothing is over $30.  Sa-weet.

 Letterpress ABC poster - starshapedpress

  sugarfresh

Ode to Helvetica - ModernPop

cutest world map

I saw this posted on DesignMom last week and found it entirely charming.  What a great addition to a baby nursery...it would transition so beautifully to a toddler, and a growing child...it could be used and adored for so long!!  I can just imagine looking at it with our little girl - pointing out the different places, animals, and adventures that our glorious planet contains. 

The price was kinda steep so I did some additional searches for charming world map art and didn't come up with anything quite so lovely.  Is 99 pounds (how much IS that in American money!?) too much for child-room art?? I don't know these things yet. 

baby bedding

Now that we are nearly all settled and moved into our new apartment, we've realized that our furniture choices aren't exactly baby friendly....kinda like the hip and cool extra tall bar stools at our kitchen table.  That's what high chairs are for I suppose. 

But now we can have some real fun.  Nesting.  Decorating and preparing a space for our baby.  I've been browsing around on CSN.com, the online shopping source of over 200 stores - which has an enormous baby bedding selection.

Tommy and I have already decided that a hyper pink motif isn't in the cards for our little girl - as her room will clearly be a space that we will be spending lots of time in too and neither of us are big pink fans.  Thankfully there are a few sweet sweet choices that aren't Barbie inspired!  Now.  How do we pick!!??

Well - and then I saw the pink ruffles and I melted a little bit inside.  This is probably the definition of Barbie-esque bedding.  It's so pretty for a little baby girl.  Oh man.  This is going to be harder than I thought.

one hubby's food art

 Via here

Now that I'm pregnant, I am clearly more aware of "pregnant" conversations, stories, blogs, etc.  Unfortunately, I am bombarded with horrible pregnancy stories at the hospital all the time...I won't even go there...makes my heart hurt too much.

But I fell in love with this sweet story of the husband who created delightful food art when his wife was put on bed rest while pregnant.  The poor woman was battling a blaze of gestational issues and she had to endure an incredibly strict diet....which sounds dreadful to be quite honest. 

I love hearing stories of the thoughtful things husbands do for their pregnant wives!!  Tommy moves mountains for me these days...I just love him to pieces. 

cuddly cuties

I'm just in stitches over these ADORABLE CUDDLY baby costumes!!   Seriously.  Have you ever seen such cute costumes in all your life?  Next Halloween, perhaps our lil tike will be an elephant!!!  (These are the things I think about these days....our baby...).  I think that elephant is my favorite.

See the whole collection of Tom Arma's costumes here....found via Exquisite Banana.

 

searching for a rocker

While my mom was here I quickly realized that the seating capacity in our home is minimal - too minimal even for 3 people.  So I clearly headed over to my go-to site for internet product browsing, CSN.com - a site with 200 online stores - with a variety of seating options...like bar stools, love seats, and office chairs. 

Specifically, I'm interested in a rocking chair.  It seems so appropriate to cuddle with our little baby in a cozy lil rocking chair...doesn't it?  I am on the look out.  Any suggestions?  Classic wood?  Or would something comfy and pillow-like be dreamy?  Options options.