The Nursery

Since we didn't have much on the agenda for this year I decided that making a new room for the girls would be a project that we could tackle. Initially, the plan had been to just put a toddler bed in Eleanor's current room and put both girls in that room. Thinking about it a little more though, I decided a better plan for the long term would be to move both girls into the bigger room and then move the guestroom in to Eleanor's current room which is a little smaller. Ideally, the girls will share this new space for a long time - maybe even as long as we're in this house. As we started planning the new room though, I realized I don't think I ever shared Eleanor's nursery. I know everyone has seen bits and pieces of it in pictures but I wanted to take pictures of her room and share them because we will be changing it up soon.

I absolutely love Eleanor's nursery and the pictures that I post today give a decent indication of how it was initially. We have accumulated a few things since then though that make it a little more her. I think my favorite thing about this space is that so many people contributed toward making it special for her!

When you walk into her door on the back wall is her crib. My sister, Lauren, made Eleanor a beautiful mobile to hang in her crib which she gifted to me for my baby shower. Then, while we were at the hospital still, she went out and bought those rings and fabric to make a little decoration above her crib. Before we left for the hospital, the room was only gray, white, and a little bit of yellow. We didn't know whether Eleanor would be a boy or girl so we were waiting to add more color until she was born. The mobile might be my favorite piece in her whole room, but we unfortunately had to take it down when Eleanor was about 18 months old because she kept pulling on it. We will definitely be putting it back up for Jane here soon! The quilt hanging over the edge of the crib was made by Chris's Aunt Andi. I was incredibly surprised and so excited about it when it came in the mail. It has been well loved already! Also in Eleanor's crib, you can see Maynard, her Cabbage Patch doll. My Grammy sent this to her when she was around a year old and he has been very special to her ever since, as has been shown in other posts.

My mom and I found the white rocking chair together before Eleanor was born. Then, my mom surprised us with the beautiful crocheted blanket that's hanging on the back of the chair when she came down to help with Eleanor after we got home from the hospital. She had been working on it for months in the evenings, and we use it to take monthly pictures of the girls until they turn a year old. The white bear in the chair was mine when I was growing up and the little owl in its lap is actually something my sister made for Jane when Jane was born a few months ago. Because Jane came two weeks early, Lauren ended up staying up all night one night to sew it because she wanted to have something for sweet Jane when she was born!

The shelf in that corner is something we've had for a long time but some of the stuff on the shelf is so special to us. The yellow bird cage and bird are from my baby shower. They are things that my sister used as decoration when she was planning the shower. To the left is a grain of rice that has Eleanor's name painted on it and is framed. A friend from work brought that back to her from India. The wooden block with the E on it is engraved with Eleanor's birth date, weight, time, length, and other fun information for her. The cross was made by my friend Jess. She used the scripture from the sermon on the day Eleanor was dedicated at church to make it. "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."  1 Corinthians 15:58. What a special thing for Eleanor to have when she is older! There is a little silver box under the cross and that was actually gifted to Jane this Christmas. One of the ladies in my Bible study and gave it to her for being an honorary member of our group while I was on maternity leave. It is engraved with her initials. Lastly is Eleanor's baby camera; not special but necessary. Right underneath the shelf is some artwork that my college roommate Kayla made for Eleanor. She gave that to Eleanor this past year and it fit her nursery so perfectly. Eleanor likes to call it her alphabet because she recognizes the letters but not her name yet. Kayla is perhaps my most artistically talented college roommate!

In the next corner of her room is a little bookcase that my siblings and I used when we were young that used to be green and yellow. I had repainted it to use a long time ago and since I had painted it white it just needed a little touch up to be used in Eleanor's nursery. Above the bookcase you can see Kayla's artwork again. She actually framed and gifted me the artwork she used as baby shower invitations. This is also very special to me and very much showcases her talents! On top of the bookcase is more of the decorations from my baby shower. Inside the nest are a bunch of bird cut outs on which people wrote notes to baby Eleanor before she was born and hung on the branches. Last but not least is a framed picture of my grandma Eleanor, probably when she was in her 20s at the beach. It didn't particularly fit in her nursery but I really wanted to have something of my grandmother Eleanor in my Eleanor's room. It breaks my heart that they will never get a chance to meet on this side of heaven.

On the back wall of Eleanor's room, my mom, sister, Chris, and I painted stripes when I was about 37 weeks pregnant. It wasn't actually as much work as I thought because we didn't have to work around windows or doors. We bought the dresser from Ikea because we wanted to find something that was both tall enough and deep enough to use as a changing table. Above the changing table is a banner that another college roommate of mine, Maggie, made for Eleanor. She sent it down to be used as decoration for my shower and then asked for it back. Once Eleanor was born she put her name on it and sent it back to me. We immediately hung it up in Eleanor's nursery - again, such a special touch from a special person.

As you can see, there are so many special things from so many special people in our lives. Each time I see these items, I am reminded of how well loved and cared for I am and particularly my girls are. I hope my girls are always reminded of the strength of community through small reminders in our lives. While we are now switching this room into the guestroom, I will be leaving a lot of these touches up because we will still use this room as a nursery for Jane while we transition her to a crib and while we don't have guests. I will miss this room as it looks now but I love the new stage we're entering with Eleanor growing up.