a nursery tour

Between the dark and the daylight,

When night is beginning to lower,

Comes a pause in the day's occupations,

That is known and the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me

The patter of little feet,

The sound of a door that is opened,

And voices soft and sweet. 

-The Children's Hour

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Won't you come into our sweet nursery? All it needs now is our baby girl and it will be complete...

As you enter, you'll go through french doors we bought at a rebuilding center. My dad got them hung and Shawn carefully made repairs and painted the imperfections that come with buying used goods. 

We may as well turn on the light... oh, what's that?? An adorable light switch plate, thanks to my ebay addiction. Mama rabbit keeping her babies safe from Farmer McGregor.

Our little changing station. The changing pad is on top of an Ikea dresser (also found on the cheap... it had been returned. The best part of buying "used" Ikea goods? Even better than the discount? It's ALREADY ASSEMBLED. Priceless)
Yes, that is a stuffed bunny with a cloth diaper. I was doing some practicing. We are going with bumgenius cloth diapers. All I can say so far .... too cute to poop in. Way too cute. Sweetest little diapers EVER.

On to the closet. Built by husband. This closet had no shelves or bars or ANYTHING. Now, it's perfect. It's full of clothes and shoes and blankets and BOOKS! So many books! Thanks to the sweet shower my sister threw me- it was book themed and this baby will be surrounded with books from day one. Thanks to the shower my coworker threw me, we have clothes and shoes and wash clothes and all sorts of necessary things.

On to the crib. The curtains were made by me from some wonderful fabric from Mill End. Love that place. Also, there is another glance at the most wonderful stroller, a generous gift from my mother in law. It's perfect! And the car seat a dear friend gave us fits it perfectly. And yes, the diapered bunny from the earlier picture has ridden in both.
See that mobile? It's paper cranes, each folded by my sister.

Or course, the tour has to include this wonderful mural painted by husband. Finished and lovely. Rabbits in the garden, geese off to go a-calling, birds flying, mice scurrying. It has it all. 

The rest of the mural. Also, the rocking chair my parents bought when I was born. They have let us use it and it's the crowning touch for such a sweet nursery. Throw over it the quilt made from fabric my mother bought for me 30 years ago (thinking she would make a quilt for me) and it's all pretty darn nice. 

We have two lamps that were also gained through my ebay addiction... one it still waiting for a bookshelf to call home...

 

And that's it! The nursery! It's so full of constant reminders of all the love this baby will have, not just from us, but from family and friends. That perhaps, is the sweetest part of all.

and one final picture... husband working on one of many projects he took on during this nursery adventure:

And always with a smile, I don't know how he did it.