Let There Be Bright

I have been heavily wooed by the gorgeous pastel and muted nurseries that are out there. However, the reality is that babies aren't swaddled in pastels for long. From baby gyms to Bumbos to pretty much every toy that Fisher-Price makes, BOLD primary colors are going to take over the nursery (and the rest of the house...).  The other thing I love about bright colors?  It takes kids a long time to grow out of the room because the theme isn't limited to the soft tones of a newborn and it's easy to add their new interest in Thomas the Train or Dora the Explorer without having to redo the whole room.

So what are we thinking?  Let me first start with some of the colorful, gender neutral nurseries that I just LOVE.

I have to start with this gorgeous nursery from Joy (and fellow Bee!) at HowJoyful. I was instantly inspired by the whimsical circus theme paired with muted walls, bright colors, playful patterns and the beautiful marquee letter of the changing table.  If you go to the blog, you'll see that she actually made many of the unique elements herself like the hot air balloon mobile and the elephant lamp. Seriously, my love for this nursery is just so much.

I love the way that color is used in this nursery to liven up the otherwise white space. Not to mention the adorable use of pompom garland and polka dots to fill the room with whimsey at Raising Miss Matilda:

If you're looking for a quick inspiration, Lay Baby Lay is an amazing resource FULL of boards spanning every theme and color combination you could thing of.  Here are a couple of my favorite primary color and brightly colored boards the have.

Cherry Lemonade at Lay Baby Lay

Alphabet Zoo at Lay Baby Lay

Brights & Whites at Lay Baby Lay

And to round out this round up, take a peek at this gorgeous nursery from Amy Mallory. Each element feels handpicked for the space and not a single corner or tabletop has been over looked. The original post has dozens of beautiful photos highlighting all the details, so be sure to head over there and take a look.

What do you think? Have I convinced you that bright, gender neutral nurseries are the way to go?  

Next post reveals our inspiration board for our nerdery!

A Pregnancy Unicorn

It was brought to my attention this weekend that I am a Pregnancy Unicorn. A dear friend of mine is due 3 months after us and was hoping to commiserate with me when we were together in Minneapolis this weekend, but I was a total let down.  Every gripe she had, I was all "oh, yeah, I didn't have that."

I'll be honest, I've noticed that I'm suuuuuuuper lucky this pregnancy. In fact, that's why I haven't been blogging about it. I mean, who wants to read a blog that's all sunshine and rainbows? No gross morning sickness stories, no terrible "I peed my pants when I sneezed" stories. That's BORING.

So I've been following this advice. I've been keeping calm, and I'm a pregnancy unicorn.  What does that mean exactly?

 - I didn't have Morning Sickness

 - Very limited food aversions (I wasn't big into chicken for a couple weeks and one week I couldn't stand the smell of cooking beef)

 - I magically lost 10lbs in the first trimester, probably because I was happy to eat all the new summer vegetables and started a new workout routine at Barre Code (yes, dr approved!)

 - I haven't broken out with acne

 - My boobs are bigger, but aside from some bra extenders, I haven't needed to buy all new bras

 - I have some fatigue, but for the most part, I have just as much energy as I did pre-pregnancy, although now that I pee 5x a night, I'm a bit more tired than earlier in the pregnancy

 - I started to really show, pretty late. So I have been able to wear a lot of my tops, and only had to buy all new maternity bottoms

- To date, I've gained 15 lbs, so I'm only really up 5 lb vs where I was pre-pregnancy

 - My worst symptoms have been: carpal tunnel, super tender boobs all first trimester, achey back, really gross gas (sorry, husband), snoring (sorry again, husband) and I'm just starting to get swelling in my hands and feet

Am I the only pregnancy unicorn out there?? How was your pregnancy?

OH BABY!!

I can't believe it, but we're having a BABY!   

We'd been trying since last fall, and were actually about to take a break when I got a Big Fat Positive! 

This whole thing has been overwhelming, but we are super excited to welcome our little pickle into the world in January (due January 16). I've stocked up on pregnancy books, baby bargain books, and parenting books; and I've signed up for more baby apps and newsletters than my inbox can probably handle. 

But after love, and after marriage, but before the baby, comes the pregnancy announcement!

Since the Baconator is a huuuuuuge Star Wars fan, as proven by our dog, Leia, and his killer Jedi costume (that I handmade), I knew I wanted to incorporate that into our announcement. We used a Star Warsy Font (SF Distant Galaxy Alternate) and the iconic saying along with our wedding shoes and some itty bitty Converse to announce to our friends and family on FB that a baby is coming! A friend took our pic in our backyard after work, and this bad boy was up online the next morning.

How did you tell the world? Do you have any newbie parenting advice to share?