Friday, August 14, 2009

Big Summer Project #3 - Nursery Clean Out

As you might suspect we already have a room in our house that's a nursery. This room used to be our guest room and I used it to store my scrapbooking supplies. We painted it and bought the decor while pregnant with Myles. The walls are painted a pretty lime green color with a few small accent walls in lavendar. The nursery theme is Tiddli.winks safari (the pastel version shown below). I love the bright, happy colors and cute safari animals. I think it's perfect for a boy or girl.


We had an artist friend make paintings of the safari animals to match those in the bedding. We have a changing table, dresser, glider rocker, bookcase, and other accent pieces. The only piece of furniture we are missing is a crib(s), which we were just about to buy when I was hospitalized. After Myles died I put all of his things in the room and closed the door. I didn't want to look at it every time I went upstairs to our bedroom, so I kept the door closed at all times. I couldn't enter the room in the first year following Myles's death without having a complete meltdown.

After not really going into the room for so long except to toss things in there it turned into a complete disaster zone, so cleaning and organizing it was on my summer to do list. I was avoiding it because I knew it would be difficult to take all of Myles's things (e.g., footprint molds, hats, NICU shades) and put them in his memory box. Well I finally did it yesterday with my mom's help and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had moments where I felt teary while reminiscing, but I didn't have a total breakdown. I feel good that Myles's things are safely stored in a box rather than randomly sitting all over a messy room. Having the room cleaned and organized makes me feel excited too! It now looks like a nursery--a place where these two babies will hopefullly live. We put all of Myles's books on the bookshelf and put a few toys/accessories on the dresser. We didn't hang anything on the walls, but we arranged the furniture in such a way to accomodate two cribs. So, now all we need to do is buy the cribs.

I know it seems crazy early to be doing stuff with a nursery, but remember we had all of this stuff for Myles. We probably won't buy the cribs and hang anything on the walls for quite awhile. I just needed to get the room organized and to put away some of Myles's things. To be honest clearing out the room and leaving it looking like a nursery made this pregnancy seem more real to me. I even went into the room again this morning to look at it and it made me smile!

BTW ... thanks for all the great baby gear recommendations and advice! Someone mentioned getting Baby Bargains, which I already have and used when I was researching baby gear while pregnant with Myles, and am using again during my current research. I highly recommend this book to those of you who are starting (or will be) your baby gear research.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Niki - you are an amazing woman. That is great that your mom was there to be with you as you worked through Myles's stuff - you are an amazing mom.

I am glad you were able to do something that made you feel happy and excited - and you know what - if you want to buy the cribs now, buy them now!

Nadine said...

hiya,
i think it is great that you started nesting -and you are right erring on the side of caution didn't make any darn difference at all - I think it is great that you get the twins room ready, i think it is important for those not growing babies in our bellies to do all that we can to nest!
Can't wait to read more (and maybe a little bit from K! I miss her posts!).

Kelly said...

I'm sure cleaning his room was very bittersweet. But I don't blame you for wanting to envision your nursery already. I started mine shortly after I became pg too and it was pretty much done at 5 months pregnant. Then I could relax and wait. I am so excited for these babies to be coming into your life!

Heather said...

We did our nursery early this time, despite being cautious about the pregnancy. My logic was that if something bad did happen, I wanted this baby to have a place in our home.

I love your nursery decor. Super super sweet.

Lost in Space said...

What a big step, Niki. I'm glad it went better than expected and am glad you have room that can make you smile again. Hugs, hun.

Bluebird said...

What a wonderful, bittersweet step. I love that you'll be using so many of Myles' things. How love those babies will be, by you and their big brother :)

Brie said...

I still have the stuff from my little girl in the closet of her room, and refuse to get rid of the bedding I picked out or any of the outfits I had purchased..My garage is stocked with diapers, strollers, carseats...I totally understand how you felt about going into Myles' room the year after his passing...I'm glad that it wasn't as difficult as you had thought it might be. I'm still at the point that the littlest most random things get the floodworks going. Your journey with Myles' and your candidness about your feelings after losing him have made me feel not so alone. So thankyou for blogging (=

p.s. grow babies grow!

asandersbonelli said...

I haven't commented on your blog before, but I recently started following along an my DH and I are moving toward surrogacy. I also wanted to lt you know that I nominated you for a blog award.

Ruth said...

The nursery theme is so sweet! I am so glad that it is now a room to embrace the excitement and hope of the twins birth, instead of just a room occupied with grief. It could be possible that starting to prepare will help you to occupy your mind and hands with positive efforts as it is sooo easy to become clouded with only fear. There is hope and do whatever it takes to cling to that hope as you wait to bring home those beautiful and healthy twins!!

One note on a practical item. When I prepared our dressar I was all nitpicky about having drawer liners. After all that time and effort (I didn't do the stick in kind, just the ones you lay down), they have become one of DD's favorite toys. She loves to pull out the drawers, pull out the liners and step on them.

Sheri-ct said...

I glad you were able to find comfort in cleaning out the nursery. I also started my nursery early this time. I decided that I needed to be prepared for an unexpected early deliever (caught off guard last time!) and I told myself that if something bad happened it would not be any less devastating if I waited. Enjoy this time. You have earned it! And I love your theme. It's perfect for a girl and a boy (my prediction).

Regarding cribs- get cribs that are the deepest you can find from the mattress to the top of the shortest side (some have different heights). Shane got out of his cribs at 12 months......OMG! You would never believe the lengths I have gone to in trying to keep them in thier cribs for a while longer. I realize many people convert toddlers before they are 2, but converting twins is a whole other ball game! It will become "party central"! Research and find the deepest ones you can or you will never sleep again.......LOL!

Sheri