You'll never guess what we've bought!

Right before we left, John and I bought this beautiful mobile at a children's store in Paris! Take a look... It's not a terrific photo, but the gist of it is a lovely 3-D tree in the center with little country icons circling around it. There's a moon, stars, a fox, a little cottage, leaves and branches; all winding around. Once we hang it up, we'll take another photo so you can really appreciate how beautiful it is...

Why did we buy a baby mobile, you might be asking? I was waiting for the right time to mention this, and I think this might be just the opportunity...

John and I are having a baby!! 

Believe it or not, we've known about this for a while-- actually a long time (six months!) -- but I've been waiting for the chance to talk about it... The beginning of designing the nursery seems like the perfect opportunity, so here I am, laying the plan on the table...

So far, I've chosen colors and fitted crib sheets, have fallen desperately in love with a rug that might be a little too expensive to justify, and I'm pretty sure I've picked out the crib. There is still much debate surrounding how large the nursery is going to be (remember we're putting up a wall to divide "the room we walk through" into a hallway and a little bedroom), whether we'll keep a twin bed in the baby's room (for guests and late night visits to the baby), and whether it's inexcusably ridiculous to spend $400.00 on the cutest children's lamp that's ever existed (John say yes, I say probably...)

So-- here's what we're looking at so far:

The Argington Bam Bam convertible crib... 
(Practical, beautiful, rollable. What more can you ask for?)

It seems preferable to choose a crib that converts from bassinet to crib to toddler bed, but I'm also in no position to be spending $900.00 on a new crib, so this Bam-Bam by Argington seems like a happy medium. My first temptation was to scour Craig's List for a lightly used crib, but was surprised to find that the cribs for sale weren't considerably less expensive than the new models, especially considering they don't come with the peace of mind that a brand new one has... John pointed out that this might be a great piece not to skimp on, since we'll hopefully have it for the next four years, so I think we're going to take the plunge. 

Serena & Lily's Indigo Charing Cross Rug:

I'm thinking the 5' X 8' size would do the trick, and I happen to have a $100.00 off coupon, so I'm on the fence about this one. I think it's gorgeous and perfect, but I'm not sure if spending $400.00 on a rug in a baby's room is a little daft. I've never spent $400.00 on a rug for anywhere else in our house, and I suspect this one will get the least visibility and the most exposure to vomit.



Hmmm... The designer's dilemma: Do you sacrifice cute for practical, or can you occasionally say to hell with it and buy the cute thing anyway?

I mean, it would be soooooooo cute.


I've also gotten mixed up in a world of beautiful fitted sheets, but I figure you can't really have too many of those, and the more varieties you have, the longer each one will last, right? : )

Serena & Lily is a perilous place to look at children's bedding, because you can end up spending a small fortune, but I'm particularly taken with the Pimento Ring sheets.

Olio also has a fantastic blue-and-cream striped fitted crib sheet I'm coveting... I'm thinking a couple of each should do the trick! : ) I love the crib bumper that goes with this set, but since that's turned into such a controversial piece of bedding, and it's the most expensive element, I think we're just going to stick with the fitted sheets instead.

I have SO MANY more details to share, but I'm going to save those for another posting... But this is a good start on our nursery plan, as far as I'm concerned! 

Pretty excited to get started when we get back from Rio... 

This is going to be a busy summer!