(E^2)^2: The Nursery

We bought our home 3 years ago and have really enjoyed fixing it up, room by room. I am lucky to have such a handy husband! E has made some amazing contributions to our home, from installing hardwood floors, to an outdoor deck and bar, to our very own backyard beach, he is always willing to take on another weekend project. My contribution usually involves coming up with ideas, adding crafty touches, and "overseeing" the work. So, when we found out we were pregnant, "the nursery" was one of the first things we discussed.

Here's a little background on why I put "the nursery" in quotes: We have had a room in our house called "the nursery" ever since we moved in. Believe it or not, E named the room, not me. The room is a small bedroom which houses E's extensive Red Sox paraphernalia.

One day, while organizing the house, E found some Red Sox item and said, "I'll just go put this in the nursery." "The nursery? Do you mean the Red Sox room (which is what I always called it)?" I asked. "Well yeah, it's the Red Sox room, but when we have kids we can turn it into the nursery - a Red Sox nursery," he replied. "What if we have a girl?" I asked. "Red Sox is a great theme for any baby," was his reply. According to E, the conversation ended with me agreeing that if we ever had a boy, we would make his nursery a Red Sox room....

Fast forward 3 years to this January when we found out we were pregnant. Almost immediately following the news, E brought up the Red Sox nursery. My response (excuse) was something along the lines of "we don't know the sex yet". A few weeks later, when we found out we were having twins, we abandoned the idea of using that small bedroom (aka "the nursery") because there was no way it would fit two cribs and double the clothing, toys, and baby supplies.

A few weeks after that, I started moving furniture and coming up with paint ideas for the new nursery, the bigger bedroom down the hall. I used the argument that since we still didn't know the sexes of the babies, we should come up with a nursery plan that was gender-neutral, so we could get started on our next weekend project right away.

It was a good thing we decided to get a move on it, because as soon as E ripped up the old carpeting, we found mold! In the end, 2 of the walls in the bedroom, and the entire bathroom next door, had to be gutted and replaced. We were forced out of our house for 2 weeks while the mold was removed. By the time we moved back in, we had a new plan: a gender neutral beachy/nautical nursery. In the back of my mind, I kept expecting E to bring up the Red Sox theme, but he never did. Not even when we found out we were having 2 boys! He finally did bring it up a few weeks before I went into the hospital, but by then the furniture and bedding had been ordered and the nautical theme was well on it's way...

Before I was admitted to the hospital in June, E had painted the stripes on the walls and put together the cribs and changing table. As I lay in the hospital bed week after week, I became frustrated by all the crafty plans I had for the nursery that were going undone because I was stuck on bed rest. I had visions of sea creature mobiles, life preserver name signs, and other handmade touches that I had planned on completing over my summer vacation. One day, during one of my Mom's hospital visits, I expressed my frustrations and she asked what she could do to get the room ready. For those of you who don't know her, my Mom is a woman of many talents, including artist, seamstress, and master crocheter. She brought my ideas to life and added some of her own and the result is more than I could have imagined. Check out the pictures below to see what I mean!