exit, pursued by bear

these are a must.

{"Santa's Village Set - 5 wool felt finger puppets," $40 from etsy seller stayawake}

Knobs.

I've been meaning to write this post for ages now, but I could never come up with a clever post title about knobs/drawer pulls that didn't sound vaguely suggestive. Not that I have a problem with vaguely suggestive titles, but it seemed a little out of place for this particular subject matter.

As I've mentioned before, we chose IKEA's Hemnes three drawer chest in white, to use for storage and as a changing table. I've heard people worry about the height of the dresser being a bit too tall for a changing table (it's 38 1/4") - I'm 5'3" and so far it seems okay ... not that I have any practical experience yet, but it doesn't feel like it's an awkward height.

I knew I wanted to change the drawer pulls/knobs - I found these hand painted ones on etsy that are just darling, they are painted to match the Land of Nod "All Creatures Great and Small" crib bedding. I love that bedding - I actually have the crib sheets and changing pad cover as "spares," but I knew I didn't want to buy a full bedding set, so this was a great way to incorporate the design into the nursery:

"Set of 8 Hand Painted Children's Drawer Pulls/Nail Covers-Land of Nod All Creatures Great and Small Style," from etsy seller MonkeyBabyBoutique}

Aren't they cute?! She does drawer pulls to match other popular baby bedding styles, including from Pottery Barn. Definitely check it out!

these changing times ...

Despite the pregnancy widget's announcement on my blog sidebar, congratulations are not quite in order yet. I'm still here, still pregnant. I'm 40 weeks and 3 days at this point. Honestly, I feel fine. I'm not uncomfortable, still sleeping relatively well - no contractions, not even Braxton Hicks, no progress, nothing - this baby is content to stay put for the time being.

If things were different, I'd be a bit more anxious about my progress (or lack thereof) - but I'm happy for now to let things move along at their own pace.

Anyway!

So, I haven't really mentioned it here, but the current plan, once the baby is here, is to cloth diaper said baby. I say "plan" very loosely, because I'm really not the type of person who lives or dies by hard and fast rules - nor do I want to stake my claim, flag and all, on a mountain named "THE PLAN." Mostly because I AM a person who hates to admit defeat - so if I never wed myself to one PLAN, that means if it doesn't work out, I haven't failed - right? ;o)

So - as I said, my intentions are to cloth diaper this baby of ours - and if it works out, great! If not ... well, I'll be disappointed and then I'll move on with my life, lol. But for now, here's how our current newborn diaper stash is shaping up:

The basket on the left contains fitteds - on the right, we have sized all-in-ones (newborn/extra-small), plus covers - I also have a few one-size fitteds in the back. In the front on the left are half a dozen organic cotton newborn sized prefolds (the other half dozen are in the second drawer). I also have some two-sided cloth wipes and some travel sized wet bags - plus one of those baby grooming/health care kits. Plus assorted diaper creams/lotions/potions that are not really cloth diapering "safe," but I figured I can use with a liner or similar.

Here's a bit of a breakdown:

• Fitteds: Kissaluv size 0's, one newborn sized Muttaqin that I bought used (super cute dog print!), plus two one size Goodmamas.
• Sized all-in-ones: BumGenius (XS), Sposoeasy (XS + S, bought used), plus fabulous custom Muttaqin in fab sushi print (need to take a separate picture)
• Covers: mostly Thirsties Duo Wraps (Size 1), plus one or two regular Thirsties covers (XS, S). I also have an awesome one-size snap diaper cover from etsy seller brookiellen in a very hip "mix tape" fabric.
• Prefolds: one dozen Cloth-eez® Organic Prefold Diapers (Newborn, orange-edged) from Green Mountain Diapers. Snappis are in the basket on top of the dresser.
• Wipes: Thirsties fab wipes (not pictured in drawer, they're in a basket on top of the dresser - love the fun colors!) and two-sided wipes from Green Mountain Diapers. Half are in the drawer, pictured, the other half are in the wipes warmer on top of the dresser, waiting to be moistened with water and some soap bits that I bought from etsy seller WeeEssentials.

I think we'll start with fitteds, prefolds and covers - with all-in-ones mixed in for day care use and when we're on-the-go. I also have baskets with larger diaper sizes in the closet, ready to go - those are filled mainly with BumGenius one-size, BumGenius Organic AIO one-size (bought used), larger Sposoeasies (used), some sized Thirsties AIOs (used), etc. Once we're passed the fitted/prefold stage, I think we'll transition mostly to pocket dipes and AIOs.

The large wet bag on the back of the door is how we're currently planning on handling dirty diapers, pre-laundry stage (don't worry, I'm sure the diaper bags will have relocated by that point). I have spare large wet bags in the closet, too. The one in the picture I bought used on Hyena Cart's Spots' Corner - couldn't not resist the awesome Heather Ross goldfish print. I just really didn't want to take up extra floor space with a diaper pail and liner, so I'm hoping this works. I've heard from several people that a large, properly sealed wet bag will work just as well, so here's hoping.

So that's the "plan," such as it is.

Questions, comments, difficulties?

more bunting.

I didn't make the bunting that hangs in the nursery - I bought it from two different etsy sellers. After we hung the first strand, I wanted to add more (more bunting!), featuring some colors other than just yellow and aqua. (The lovely aqua and yellow bunting that is shown in the other nursery pictures is from etsy seller HollieLollie).

So I ordered some "mini" bunting from etsy seller knottednest. I requested three strands of bunting, in three different fabric colorways: "Underwater Blues and Greens", "Bright Tropical", and "Gorgeous Greens."

I of course, didn't pay attention to the length, so they were shorter than I anticipated, but I fixed that problem by stringing them together. This actually worked out perfectly, since the tied together trio ended up being approximately the same length of the original bunting.

So here's how the bunting currently looks:

bean baby blanket to-be ...

I saw first saw this fabric on Kathleen's lovely blog and I've been on the hunt ever since. 

{Valori Wells Urban Flannels - Animal Friends (in blue)}

This picture really doesn't do it justice - it's truly a lovely design - full of great colors.

I knew I wanted to use it to make a "receiving" blanket and after spending some time online, I found an easy pattern* that I can use to tackle my first baby-related sewing/crafting project. I ordered a yard and a half from etsy seller Lucky Kaeru and it arrived quickly and was packaged nicely. The fabric is lovely and soft and the perfect weight. I was worried that it would be too heavy and stiff.

I think I'm going to back the blanket itself in something soft, like minky - so I need to get by the fabric store and see what I can find. Wish me luck!

* You have to join the site to download the free pattern, but it's a super-easy process.

hedgehog clock.

Why yes, yes this is just about the cutest thing you ever did see:

{"Modern Baby Clock - Hedgehog" from etsy seller decoylab}

This lasted for all of about two seconds on my registry before I just caved and bought it myself. I was nervous that it would sell out on etsy. I cannot get over the cuteness.

Think it will go perfectly with the mobile we picked out:

{"Tree Friends Mobile" from Petit Collage}

Keep Calm and ...

... Love Frenchies!

{"Keep Calm and Love Frenchies archival print" from etsy seller TheLobsterPot}

Just another variation on the now ubiquitous "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters, but this one is pretty fabulous. And even more special because my darling husband surprised me with it for Valentine's Day - I had never even seen this print before! He showered me with lots of sweet Valentine gifts, but this one might just be my favorite (hope you don't mind, honey!).

We've decided to frame it and put it in the nursery, hopefully serving as a lovely little reminder to Baby Bean :o)

abc's

Loving this poster:

{"Alphabet Recycled Collage Poster Nature Theme" from etsy seller artandphilanthropy, $30}

I may run out of wall space before I run out of darling posters, paintings and prints for the nursery!

yellow + aqua.

Some time ago, for one reason or another, I decided that I wanted to decorate the nursery in shades of aqua and yellow. With some other colors - greens? - thrown in as well.

In terms of fabric and bedding options, this has proved more difficult than I imagined, especially since we're not finding out the sex of the baby. Who knew I would be able to find decent gender neutral options in these colors ...

We plan on painting the nursery some as yet-to-be-determined shade of aqua, with the crib bedding mostly in shades of yellow, with some aqua pulled in for accents.

I have SCOURED the Internet, looking for yellow fabric options - something graphic, but also looking for some other coordinating fabric that maybe had more of a "theme" to it - featuring animals or scenes or SOMETHING.

I've largely been unsuccessful.

I did find this lovely Joel Dewberry fabric - it's a yellow wood grain pattern from his Aviary collection:

So, I wanted to use that as my starting point - especially since it tied in nicely with the faux bois Flor tiles I wanted to use:

Hopefully that's not too much wood grain overload ... Actually, I'm not even going to dwell on that right now. I think the small size of the nursery (9' x 9') will necessitate a small scale rug, so I don't feel like it will be too much.

Anyway! So I contacted a lovely etsy seller who makes crib bedding about that Joel Dewberry fabric and asked if she had any suggestions for coordinating fabrics in yellow and aqua. Here are the "swatches" she sent me - I mainly just wanted to throw these up online so I could have one place to look at them and get an idea of what might work together (click on the images to see a larger, close-up version):

So, what do you think? Anything standing out?

might just need this.

{"Better Than Anywhere Else" print from etsy seller 3LambsGraphics - $26}

Paris and New York versions also available.