exit, pursued by bear

these are a must.

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

look for less: owl lamp.

West Elm's owl table lamp, $99 (top left)

VS.

Target's owl lamp, $39.99 $34.99 (bottom right)

look for less: owl lamps by stlellen on Polyvore.com

Owl Table Lamp | west elm
$99 - westelm.com

 

Owl Lamp : Target
$35 - target.com

 

look for less: metal & glass tables.

Pottery Barn's Tanner Cubes, $249/ea (top left)

VS.

JC Penney's Bunching Table, $249/ea on sale for $119/ea (bottom right)

I do like the finish of the PB one more, but you really can't beat that price. Too bad these tables are a childproofing nightmare or they would be winging their way to me.

look for less by stlellen on Polyvore.com

Tanner Cube | Pottery Barn
$249 - potterybarn.com

 

glass and metal tables
jcpenney.com

 

a few things I'm loving today ...

from West Elm:

west elm by stlellen on Polyvore.com

Natural Tree-Stump Side Table | west elm
$199 - westelm.com

 

Cluster Pendant | west elm
$199 - westelm.com

 

Fluted-Glass Table Lamp | west elm
$149 - westelm.com

 

Wood-Slices Organic Dinnerware | west elm
$36 - westelm.com

 

Convex Mirrors | west elm
$24 - westelm.com

 

Gallery Frames | west elm
$12 - westelm.com

 

Mosaic Mirror Wreath | west elm
$34 - westelm.com

 

Harvest Entertaining Platters | west elm
$19 - westelm.com

keep 'em warm.

I can "bearly" stand the cuteness:

{Polar bear hat & mittens set: $24.50, babyGap}

darling!

darling little earrings from Betsey Johnson:

{Piperlime, $25}

(P.S. there's a ring, too.)

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!

spot on.

Ultimately, I went a different route for the nursery rug, opting for a polka dot pattern, rather than the faux bois that I had originally chosen. Mostly because we sort of veered away from a strict theme for the nursery, and the woodgrain look didn't really fit as well with the other colors and patterns that we were using.

Snagged this Pottery Barn rug from eBay for a great price (I think the design is from last season). The seller had a ton of great, new PB rugs. Since I got in a 3x5 size, there's only two rows of dots, but it still super cute in the room:

stroll on.

Have I mentioned how excited I am about our fancily stroller?

{2010 Bumbleride Flyer in Spice}

Everyone seems to have a different opinion about what they want when it comes to strollers, and I obviously had no idea what was going to work for us, but I really liked the features, the style and the price of this particular Bumbleride model.

It was more than I originally had intended on spending, but since we went with inexpensive nursery furniture and have been very careful with our baby budget, I was comfortable splurging a bit. Plus, we received some money towards our stroller purchase at one of our showers, so it ended up working out well.

I think my favorite feature of the stroller is the reversible handles that flip around so you can have the baby face you:

We also registered for and received the "carrycot," which is a portable, detachable bassinet. Very excited about this accessory. It allows an infant to lay flat, so the stroller turns into a pram. You can then remove the carrycot from the stroller and take it with you, turning it into a portable travel bed/bassinet:

If we need to, we can also attach our infant car seat to the frame - so the stroller also functions as a sort of travel system. I think we'll primarily use the car seat stroller frame (snap n' go) early on, but I think the Bumbleride will be very easy to incorporate into our daily routine. The whole stroller folds down flat really well, it's easy to maneuver and very lightweight. 

I realize this post is not very exciting, but I just had to share my love for our new stroller :o)

Can't wait to try it out with Baby Bean!

still here!

I am woefully behind in updating my blog on the status/progress of the nursery - we're just about finished! Waiting for a rug to arrive and then I need some good morning light to take some pictures.

I think our lovely little room looks wonderful and I can't wait to share it with Baby Bean :o)

And just so this post isn't completely devoid of pictures, here's the fabulous bookend set that I bought for the nursery:

{"Jonathan Adler Dachshund White Resin Bookends- 2 Pieces" from Barnes & Noble}