When I first found out I was pregnant I didn't even begin to fantasize about a nursery for my baby on the way. At the time we lived in a one room apartment and the closest thing I would have had to a baby's room would have been a small corner in our walk-in closet. Miraculously though we were able to find and buy our current home: an apartment with much more leg room and an entire bedroom just for baby. We bought the apartment and moved in just before our little Isabella arrived. Timing really was everything. However even when I knew I'd have a special space for my little one I still wasn't putting decorating schemes together nor filling Pinterest boards with endless ideas. First of all I was freaking exhausted (haha if I only knew what was to come), and secondly it was so hard for me to even begin planning a space for a baby I didn't even know yet.
Now that Isabella is here I feel much more motivated to put together a room that is uniquely hers and that will reflect special aspects of her life. Slowly I've started to curate little areas here and there and am quite pleased with the sweetness and sentimentality I've been able to add. I'm looking forward to doing even more as her personality, likes and interests develop. As for now, I'm enjoying planning all the designs (and outfits!) while I can :)
A collection of our favorite books of the moment...some which were my own when I was a baby.
Isabella Leahnora’s namesake, her great grandmother Joan Leahnora Shirey, “MeMe,” who is watching her from above.
Grieving MeMe’s passing just days before finding out we were expecting a little girl was a very trying time. I received this bouquet of roses from a student that week which were the exact color and shade as ones MeMe had painted a picture of which always hung in her home. Even though she had left us she was and is still all around.
A bow for every day of the week...
A sleeping babe, a sheepskin from my childhood and a personalized frame and photo made for me by my students as Isabella was growing inside of me.
A welcome sign for baby as well as the flower crown both my mother and I wore on our wedding days. Maybe Isabella will wear it some day...
Isabella’s closet with the rocking moose I re-painted with her Tia Bea a week before she arrived. Every Swedish child needs a rocking moose, right?
Just a handful of the many “gosedjur” (stuffed animals) we received for Isabella, cozily tucked inside a basket I purchased from the open-air market in Aix-en-Provence, France, where my husband and I met.
So many cozy blankets and dainty dresses--I wish I could display them all!
I’m still working on the wall decor but for now we have wedding photos of mommy and daddy along with the print I gifted my husband for our first anniversary--a rendition of the drawing Mary made for George in one of our favorite films It’s a Wonderful Life. It really is, isn’t it?