Nursery news!

Wow it seems like a long time since I wrote a post but life in the Read family has been busy with a new job for Adam & end of financial year at work for me not to mention our weekly 'open house' in the hope to find a buyer..

This leads me nicely on to my next topic of choice - nurseries! By the time Master Read is born we will hopefully have moved back to the Northern Beaches - albeit in a rental property for a couple of years - so any plans I make with regards to nursery decor need to be non-permanent - i.e. no painting, no wall-papering. I think he will probably sleep in our room in a bassinette whilst he's still tiny but I'm still excited to prepare a beautiful nursery for him anyway.

Now... if we were having a girl I'd have no problem with inspiration for nursery decor - pale pinks, greens, lemon, polka dots, shabby chic, fairies... easy... but for a boy it's a little more difficult. There's cars, animals, surf theme, transport theme - aeroplanes & boats, safari, jungle, nautical, space, the list is endless... but I want to do something a bit different - well, for out here in Australia, anyway - and I'd also like Master Read to have some kind of link back to the UK so after much Googling I think I've pretty much decided on my theme...

(I say 'I' because Adam has kindly given me artistic license on this little project!!)

Peter Rabbit!

 

 

There are some great pictures on the net of Peter Rabbit-inspired nurseries - here's just a small sample for your viewing pleasure:-

I love the soft greens and browns and baby blues and Peter Rabbit himself is just adorable don't you think?! I also think that it's not too boyish of a theme so if we're lucky enough to have another Baby Read down the line and we're still in the same place it can be passed down.

Of course, the basis for any nursery is not just the theme but the furniture too... I like this range from IKEA (bargain or what)... the antique-looking beech would go nicely with the greens & browns...

Next... for the walls. Obviously I won't be able to paint or stick anything permanent up so I really like the idea of removable wall decals. I've been hunting high & low to find a tree of some description that could go in the corner of the room with the branches spreading out across the walls but they all seem a bit modern... here's a couple I do like though:-

 I also really like the thought of having some 'words' above the cot and this sticker particularly caught my eye:-

 How cute is this?!

After furniture & walls it's all down to the little details and I've put together a bit of a montage of 'stuff' I like. The 'Portraits of Peter' in the top left-hand corner are prints which I would frame in the same wood as the nursery furniture, the mobile for the cot is just lovely and plays Mozart's 'Lullaby' - calming or what?! - the bedding is neutral greens & browns to tie in nicely with the wood of the cot and the green of the wall decal and I would have a book-shelf with the Beatrix Potter library and book-ends on it and perhaps the blue words spelling 'Baby' on the window-sill.

The other little touches such as the door hanger, clock and wooden wall decoration where Peter is munching on some carrots would finish the room off nicely.

I think I'm all Peter-Rabbited out for now but would love to hear your feedback on my ideas...

In other news I'm pleased to say I'm feeling well apart from a little backache now & then but I've invested in a pregnancy support pillow which seems to help. Only problem is there's not much room for Adam in the bed now!!!

A quick excited post!

We bought Master Read's first mode of transport today!

I know we're not even half-way there yet but we had a $620 Babies Galore voucher that was just about to expire & we couldn't let it go to waste!!

Off we drove to Wentworthville, which is not nicest of areas, to our nearest Babies Galore store (which looked very run down) but lo & behold they had the stroller we've been looking for - Adam clocked it as soon as we walked in.

One slight problem though - it was not in the sale & was $699 for the basic model without matching bassinet. Bummer - I knew this was more than we can really stretch to. Feeling a bit disheartened we turned around & were about to leave the store when the saleswoman came over to see if she could help.

I queried the price - yep, $699 - and then explained that I had seen the same model online for $515 so we might as well just go home & order it. But then - much to my shock & Adam's amusement (he's way better at haggling than me) she agreed to match that price. Wow - that's a pretty hefty discount!!

I then asked about the matching bassinet - $189 - and ummm-ed and ahhh-ed for a bit about whether we really need it but apparently when babies are little it's better for them to lie flat on their backs rather than with their legs slightly bent - as they would be in the stroller seat - something to do with circulation - so I was sold - only the best for Master Read! The bassinet can also double-up as a travel cot when visiting friends - you can even get a stand for it!!

Then the lady gave us a quick demo of how to use it all but I have to say it all looked a bit technical to me so I hope Adam was paying attention. The only bit I remember is that it has a nice big shopping basket, a cool thing that you can put drinks & bits & bobs in & the straps & lining are really funky!!!

We excitedly told her we'd take it & the matching bassinet & off she went to the store room. With our voucher we only had $84 left to pay - bargain!

At the till she rang up our sale & asked us for $650 - I couldn't believe it - one of the boxes had been slightly opened (but the product still fine) so she had knocked some money off. Only $30 left to pay - yes!!!

A very successful shopping trip & here's a pic of our purchases in the hallway - I'm not allowed to take them out of their boxes til we move! We chose the 'toffee' colour in the end - it's lovely!

Frogs and snails and puppy dogs' tails...

... that's what little boys are made of!

Yep - if you haven't heard already - it's a BOY!

Our 19-wk scan was on Tuesday morning and as usual I got the obligatory nervous stomach and drank too much water so I was bursting for the toilet by the time we got to the hospital! This appointment was much much longer than the 12-wk scan as they have to take heaps and heaps of measurements - if you fancy a peek at all 80 - yes - 80 photos please click on this slideshow link:-

19-wk slideshow

We were dying to find out the gender - well I certainly was - but they don't do this til right towards the end of the scan so with every movement of the ultrasound machine I was trying to peek between bub's legs to see if I could spot any tell-tale signs!

The first thing measured was the heartbeat which was a strong 145bpm and we got to hear it too - so surreal! Then on to the head, the diaphragm, the legs, arms, hands, feet, bladder, kidneys - and so on and so forth. All looked well and Baby Read was highly amusing with his twists & turns, punches & kicks - it's a wonder I can't feel anything yet he's so energetic!!

I'm pleased to report he definitely has 10 fingers & toes... here's a pic of his little fists - you can count the knuckles!

Another revelation during the scan was that despite being at 18wks 6 days according to my dates and all that stuff, Master Read's head is already measuring at 19wks 5 days... ummm, a bit scary!! I hope it all balances out before the due date otherwise I think I'll be needing more than just gas & air!!! Here's the picture which shows the head measurements - check the figures at the bottom right-hand corner...

I won't embarrass Master Read by sharing the photo of his bits & bobs on this post but if you look at the slideshow I'm sure you'll be able to work it out - ha ha - tip: look for the pics labelled 'gender'! This came right at the end and I have to say I was a bit shocked... not disappointed - just shocked! I think because I'm such a girly girl and up until now I've been looking at pink stuff left right & centre it just never really truly  occurred to me that it would be a boy!

I'm excited though & I think Adam is too - he even took the CD with all the pics to work with him (although he didn't actually get time to show anyone...!) - and I have already been thinking about themes for the nursery (jungle animals, surf theme, sea theme...) and names and scouring Next, Monsoon & M&S for cute boy outfits - plenty of them out there - and I think it will be a very special adventure over the next few months preparing for our little boy to enter the world!

And as a few people have said... it might be a girl next time! I think we'll just wait & see how we go with Master Read first!!

I think my next post might delve into the realms of nursery decor - which will be pretty limited for us if we are living in a rental property by then - but I'm sure we will be able to put together something beautiful with the help of removable wall stickers, curtains, lamps, furniture & bed linen!

Bye for now... I'm going back to my book of baby names... Adam has already said no to about 20 of my suggestions!!!

p.s. We also got a DVD of the 19-wk scan which I'll be sure to bore you all with at some point...!