Ready or Not!

I finally have a mommy blog! Nerd alert! I'm so excited to share and steal some great mommy ideas with the world. First and foremost, I am creating this blog to have a beautiful written record of the good, the bad, and the wonderful that I will inevitably go through as a new mommy.

My unborn daughter, Olivia Reese, is due any day now. I hope. Ok, not really. Any WEEK now. I know I shouldn't rush her arrival and I certainly do not intend on being induced - but O.M.G. I am SO EXCITED to meet this little child!!! I am officially 37 weeks pregnant today, so Olivia, sweetheart, you can TECHNICALLY go ahead and come out and be just fine. No one will be mad. Especially your dear old mother.


First up for discussion - nursery design. I had a major meltdown when I first went shopping for Baby O. I had no idea where to go first or what to buy or what the heck any of that stuff was. {Nursing butter?! Boppy pillows?? Diaper Genie? Do I get a bumper or leave it out?? Which theme is cutest? What's safe - what's not safe? AHH!!!!} I literally sat down and cried on one of the display beds in the middle of Babies R' Us and called my mommy. True story. It's so overwhelming. And I had all of these ideas running through my head of how perfect the nursery should look - thanks to Pinterest. Let me just tell you that REAL nurseries DO NOT look like this:

If someone says, "Oh, but MINE does", they're a boldfaced liar. Ha! But I will tell you that getting the nursery to look at least somewhat like you envisioned is possible and you can do it for a reasonable price. Here are some realistic tips:

1. Take whatever your family is offering you. Families - especially GRANDPARENTS - love to spoil their unborn grandchildren. And they love to help you. So let them. As if I really needed to put this tip out there.

2. Go to Target. Target has GREAT baby furniture at a very reasonable price. Buy the crib that converts. It's just silly not to. Buy bookshelves and other furniture that can be used later, when your baby is all grown up, making more money than you and not sharing it. You'll need it then.

3. Don't buy expensive artwork that you will only use for the first few years of the baby's life. Instead, go to Etsy and buy downloadable files from artists! Then have Zazzle.com print them for super cheap. I made my own prints since I am a graphic designer turned teacher, but lots of great graphic designers out there put their stuff on Etsy and sell them for much less than what you'd pay at an art gallery or a retail store. Here are some of the prints I did and had printed at Zazzle. I spent $8.00 on getting these printed and then $45 for the frames. That's $53 for a whole wall of art!!!

4. Don't junk up the room with all the "extras" that come with those sets. But a comforter set, but then look elsewhere for little things like books, stuffed animals, and little trinkets to jazz up the room. It's cheaper AND cuter. Here's the set I bought, along with some of my finds that didn't come with the set, but ended up working just fine:

 

5. Last, if you can't find anything you're looking for - DIY! I did the little yard-wrapped O for less than $10. Pinterest has a gazillion DIY crafts on there that have step-by-step instructions for creating cuteness. For this one, all you need is some scrapbook flowers, yarn, a wooden or paper mache letter, and some accent pearls or whatever you see at Hobby Lobby that looks appealing. Wrap, decorate, and done. And if you want to know how I did this - hot glue. That's all that needs to be said.

That's all for my first post. Hope you've enjoyed this first edition of "Emily Goes to Mommyland." I'm sure future posts will include boogers, poop, and fun tales of mommy failures.

I'm linking this DIY project up with: