Berend’s Nursery

December 16, 2018 nk3307 Comments

I started planning Berend’s nursery before I was even pregnant with him. I knew I wanted to reuse as much as possible from Gerrit’s beach nursery, so it really narrowed down room themes for me. I needed something gender neutral with a set color scheme (light blue, turquoise, white, neutrals), so I settled on a winter look. Once I started looking on Pinterest, I quickly decided I wanted a Scandinavian/Nordic winter theme.

I loved the minimalist, simple look of Scandinavian decor, and my color scheme seemed perfect for a winter-y look. Plus being in base housing means white walls… perfect for a snowy look! I figured I would focus on blues if we had another boy, and I would bring in purples and some sparkle if we had a girl. Either way I wanted clean lines, simplicity, and a cozy feeling. Here was my favorite of my inspirations:

Something I liked about Gerrit’s nursery was that most of the items I got to decorate his room were things I planned to reuse elsewhere in our home once we changed up his decor. I wanted to do that again with Berend’s nursery, and a winter look meant I could use some pieces I already had for decorating for Christmas. The few items I purchased for his room are not baby-ish, so they’ll definitely make their way onto my mantel or counter top down the road. I think I actually did even better than I did with Gerrit’s nursery in that respect! One of the first items I bought was this nightlight from RH Baby & Child:

It wasn’t my first choice (I was going to go with an animal), but it was on sale, and once it arrived, I fell in love with it! It looks like a snow-covered cottage on Berend’s dresser, and it gives off just the right amount of light.

Because I was buying so little for Berend’s room, I decided to spend a little more to get the crib sheet I really wanted from Crate & Barrel:

It is so cozy! I love this crib sheet, and it looks perfect in Berend’s bed. I also bought a light blue cotton crib sheet for when it gets warm out again, but this flannel one is so nice for fall and winter.

One of my favorite parts of Gerrit’s nursery decor was the painting I made to hang above his crib. I really wanted to do that for Berend as well, but I am not much of a painter! Gerrit’s was fairly easy since it was just layers of color to look like a beach scene. But the thing I chose to do for Berend’s room would require a little more skill:

This is actually not a painting; it’s a napkin! I found it on Pinterest while searching for inspiration, and I loved this. It has the simple Scandinavian look I wanted, and it didn’t look too challenging. To make things easier on myself, I made stencils for the houses and the triangle trees. Everything else was me doing my best with some wine for confidence haha.

One thing that I had wanted to do for Gerrit’s nursery but never got around to doing was a mobile. This time, I found one that I thought I could do on my own:

Again I loved the colors and the geometric design! I ended up doing things a bit differently though, because I wanted a little more color against all the white I already had going on, and because I didn’t want to order more than two packs of beads to copy this design haha! Here is what I ended up with:

Obviously neither of these are perfect, but I really like how they turned out. I also love having that handmade touch in my baby’s room. Berend is almost 7 months old now, and he has started checking out the mobile while laying in his crib.

Here is his completed nursery! Looking in from the doorway:

Berend’s dresser, glider, and decor:

I haven’t decided if I’m 100% happy with where I have everything on the shelves, but this is how it looks right now.

I got a simple diaper caddy for the living room when we were in Little Rock, and I decided to just move it into Berend’s room when we moved to Clovis. It matches, and it holds what I need for the few diaper changes that actually happen in his room since it’s upstairs. I got the same sound machine I have for Gerrit (the updated version), and the “winter wishes” sign is something I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

The stone frame is from Gerrit’s beach nursery, and I found the little aqua colored lantern on Amazon.

I believe I got these little tealight holders when we lived in England, but I can’t remember where I got them from. They usually make their way onto our mantel for Christmas and winter, but for now they look perfect in Berend’s nursery.

This little polar bear mama and babies might be my favorite decoration in his room! I wanted to bring some bears into the decor once Berend was born, since his name means “brave as a bear,” and I was excited to find this set on Etsy. I was so happy with them when they arrived! It’s another thing I spent a bit more than I usually would, but it’s also something I plan to use in the future, and it’s meant to be played with as well.

We have the same glider from Gerrit’s nursery, I framed one of Berend’s newborn photos, and I picked up this simple metal basket from Walmart for his bedtime stories.

A close up of this corner of Berend’s room: the little two tier table is something I bought from a rummage sale page when we lived in North Carolina for Gerrit’s room. I’m happy it looks great in Berend’s nursery as well.

The little arctic fox is something I found on Zulily while I was pregnant with Berend, and we actually ended up with two copies of “On the Night You Were Born” when Gerrit was a baby. I moved one of the books into Berend’s room as decoration and to read. The curtains are also being reused from Gerrit’s beach nursery.

Over on the wall with Berend’s closet is this name art from my friend Emily. She had gotten a similar one for Gerrit when he was a baby, and I love that she thought to get one for Berend as well. On the floor is a simple wooden activity cube that we had gotten for Gerrit for his first birthday. Both boys still enjoy playing with it!

As I’ve mentioned in a lot of Berend’s monthly updates, he does not sleep well. So I’m happy to have this beautiful nightlight glowing in his room every night.

I did my best to capture it in low light so you can all see how sweet it is. For some reason, it really makes me happy to see it in the wee hours of the night/morning.

So there is Berend’s Nordic winter nursery! I feel like this theme took a lot more creativity and Pinterest inspiration than Gerrit’s nursery did since it doesn’t seem to be a very common theme. I’d love to hear your opinions, so please leave a comment for me!

Berend: 6 Months

November 24, 2018January 12, 2019 nk3301 Comment

I can’t believe we are already halfway through Berend’s first year! The days (and nights) can be long, but I’m still a little in shock that our little bear is half a year old already.

Age: 6 months on 15 November 2018
Weight: about 18.5 lbs (18 lb 13 oz on 26Nov)
Height: about 27.5″ (27.52″ on 26Nov)
Teeth: none
Clothing Size: 9 months, 9-12 months, and a few 12 months
Diaper Size: size 3 in disposable and one size in cloth
Milestones: making the “buh” sound, grabbing everything in sight (faces and hair included), recognizes and responds to his name, blowing raspberries/spitting, scooting/spinning on tummy, first solid foods, turning items in hands to inspect them, moving from sink to big tub for baths

Likes: chewing on everything, standing, watching and playing with Gerrit, laughing at Mama, holding Mama’s hand while nursing, bouncing when standing and supported

You wouldn’t believe how many photos of Berend have something in his mouth: a toy, his hands, his foot…

Berend wants to be standing all the time!

These two! They love each other so much!

Dislikes: going to sleep, car rides, Mama walking away, getting stuck on his belly, having gas at night

Sleeping: In terms of naps, Berend officially transitioned to 3 naps a day this month. He typically takes such short naps (30-45 minutes), that it seemed like he was taking 4 naps a day for a long time. But between his wake time moving to 2 hours and his naps occasionally being a decent length, he finally dropped that 4th one. Once in awhile (like I can count on one hand), he refuses that morning nap and we end up napping together:

Berend continued to spend a few hours each night in bed with me this month. He doesn’t seem as restless in bed with me for the most part, although he still has nights that he screams for no apparent reason. Then I need to get up, bounce him around a bit, and try to crawl back into bed holding him without waking him. Sometimes it takes a few attempts.

In general, Berend goes to bed between 7 & 8 at night, wakes up every 1-2 hours (or as often as every 30-45 minutes) all night, comes to bed with me around 2 or 3 in the morning, then wake up for the day between 6:30 & 7:30 in the morning. He nurses during the night every 1-2 hours as well, so I have to change his diaper around 1am every night (the kid pees so much!). In a 24 hour period, he averages about 12.5 hours of sleep.

Eating: Berend is still nursing every 2 hours all day and night for the most part. He nurses more during the first half of his night than the last half, so I still wonder if he’s not nursing enough during the day. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t want to nurse for long during the day. Even if I’m trying to nurse him before a nap, it seems like he unlatches as soon as he feels like he might be falling asleep, because heaven forbid he not fight his naps with every ounce of his being. I feel like now that he’s upright more often (sitting on his own), he spits up a lot less, although I can always count on him to spit up on himself or myself when we’re running late and heading out the door.

Shortly before Berend turned 6 months, we started giving him solid food! We are planning to do baby-led weaning (BLW) again, since we liked that method when introducing solids to Gerrit. His first taste of food was applesauce while Andrew’s parents were still here, because I wanted them to be able to witness that. About a week later we introduced other solids: banana, roasted sweet potato, and avocado.

He hasn’t actually consumed much yet: he’s still working on taking nibbles and trying to work it around his mouth without gagging (which happens a fair amount right now). I can say that he has eaten some solids though, since I’ve witnessed them on the other end haha.

So far it seems like he really enjoys trying solid food! I’m hoping the whole process is a lot less stressful this time around. I honestly don’t know if I even have the time or energy to worry as much about it this time around.

Mommy Update: I feel like having 2 kids has mellowed me out so much. Well, as much as I can mellow out, haha. I have few to no expectations when it comes to sleep for Berend, so I can’t get very upset about bad nights or crappy naps. I still definitely get frustrated here and there, but I guess I just don’t worry as much as I did with Gerrit.

Physically I feel tired but like my body may be getting itself back to normal. I’m not losing heaps of hair anymore which is nice. I finally got a hair cut too, so maybe that helped! I’m definitely not worried about my weight right now. Loving the cooler weather so I can live in leggings and sweaters. I really don’t love bringing Berend to bed with me in the early morning, but I think I definitely get more sleep going that route. I’m tired, but I don’t feel exhausted every day. Andrew is great about letting me sleep late into the morning on weekends too and that helps so much.

I’d love to get back into my hobbies, but with the holiday season upon us, I feel like I’m always working on other things when I get the chance. I did order a bunch of photos to hopefully get family photos on the wall, finish the pregnancy book I started for Berend, and finish up Berend’s bedroom (which I’m super excited to share soon). I’d love to get back into crocheting soon… I miss it.

Memorable Events: After a quiet 5th month, I feel like Berend’s 6th month was pretty exciting for him! Shortly after turning 5 months, we went to the local pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for Halloween:

Andrew’s parents came to visit for Gerrit’s 4th birthday, and they also got to meet Berend for the first time! Here’s Berend with his big brother and Gram on Gerrit’s birthday:

Right after Gerrit turned 4, we got ready for Halloween! Obviously, the boys didn’t help with pumpkin carving, but we did get a family picture out of it:

Gerrit chose the designs for our pumpkin this year. He wanted a scary face and a dinosaur, of course. Andrew took on the dinosaur, and he did an awesome job!

Even though it was pretty cold, I took Berend around our loop when I took Gerrit trick-or-treating (for the first time!). Mostly because I had put a bit of effort into our costume of a koala in a eucalyptus tree (right down to leave in my hair haha):

He seriously was such a cute koala! And it was a super easy costume: he already had a gray hoodie and gray pants, and I had the koala hat from when Gerrit’s 2nd Halloween. I just added the fur to the ears for Berend.

Berend also sat in the shopping cart for the first time this month. Normally, I leave him home with Andrew, and Gerrit and I go shopping together. But Gerrit wanted to stay home that afternoon, so I took Berend instead, and I thought I’d try him in the cart. He did pretty well, but he wanted to be carried in the ring sling after only a few aisles.

After his first go with solids, Berend also had his first bath in the big tub this month! He doesn’t really play much yet, but I think he loved all the extra space.

And literally a day or two before he turned 6 months, I got my projects done for Berend’s bedroom! I got his mobile finished over Veteran’s Day weekend (Andrew insisted I finish it haha), and then I felt motivated enough to tackle the painting for his room. I’m really happy with how this part of the room looks:

Andrew was great about hanging everything for me too. Consider this your sneak peek! I’m hoping to have a post about Berend’s nursery ready to go very soon.

Here’s Berend’s November photo:

Oh Berend, you are such an adorable handful! I feel like you don’t make things any easier for us, but we just adore you anyway. When you are super demanding, you still just flash us the cutest smiles, so we really can’t be irritated for long. You want to be a part of everything our family is doing all the time, and we love that about you. We’re just all really anxious for you to really be involved! You want to be on the move so badly, but you really don’t want to put any effort into learning to crawl, haha. We’re excited to see what milestones you hit next, but don’t grow too fast… We love you, sweet Berend!

Baby Update · Daily living · Parenting

Berend: 5 Months

October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 nk3302 Comments

Well, I’m publishing this 2 weeks after B turned 5 months, but better late than never, right?

Age: 5 months on 15 October 2018
Weight: about 17 lbs
Height: about 27″
Teeth: none
Clothing Size: 6-9 months & 9 months
Diaper Size: size 3 in disposable and one size in cloth
Milestones: rolling from back to tummy intentionally, laughing, new sounds (fake coughing for one), sitting independently

Likes: Sucking on everything, watching the TV, trying to get Mama’s phone, being carried, being outside, standing with help, taking baths, watching Gerrit, crinkly toys, sleeping on his side.

Dislikes: Diaper changes at 1am, going to sleep, not getting attention all the time, waking up on his tummy, when toys don’t do what he wants

Sleeping: Not a good month for sleep. He averaged only 12.5 hours of sleep each day and mostly got 4 naps a day because they tended to be short. I think his longest stretch of sleep was maybe 3 hours? I can’t even remember.

Naps were mostly short ones (30-45 minutes), so he usually got 4 a day. All naps are in his crib with him wearing his Zippadee Zip, curtains closed, and white noise going. I almost always nurse him to sleep for naps because he usually won’t nurse well any other time of the day.

During the night, Berend was up all the time. He was generally up every hour, but sometimes as often as every 30 minutes (not including whole hours where I was in and out rocking him to sleep, laying him down, then going back 5 minutes later because he was up again). Exhausting. Frustrating. I usually gave up around 2 or 3am this month and just brought him to bed with me. He still would wake up crying, and I’d still have to get out of bed to walk him around to soothe him.

Eating: Still exclusively breastfeeding this month. Berend is still a quick nurser: 5 minutes or less when he’s awake and maybe 10 minutes if he falls asleep nursing. He also still nurses roughly every 2-2.5 hours day and night. He is still very easily distracted from nursing if I nurse around any other people, so he gets his best feedings before sleeps.

Mommy Update: I feel like the days are pretty long yet. But I feel like my attitude is generally better than it was when Gerrit was this age. I don’t get nearly as frustrated with the short naps and constant resettling all night. I feel like I’m always telling myself It is what it is. It won’t last forever. It helps more than I thought it would.

I’m definitely better when we get out of the house. I’m just not always motivated to actually do that. It seems like even if I tell myself that we’re going to leave right after Berend wakes from a nap, it still takes almost an hour to get out the door. Between Gerrit dragging his feet about getting dressed or using the bathroom and me trying to get Berend changed and ready, it all takes way too long.

Physically? I keep losing hair. My skin is better for the most part. I’ve gained a couple of pounds (oops). I’m always tired, but I somehow keep going along!

My “me time” was pretty limited this month. I really tried to take advantage of the stretches of sleep Berend had at night, even if they were only 30 minute ones. Sometimes I just spent that time catching up on folding laundry, but other times I actually sat and relaxed for awhile.

Memorable Events; It was a pretty quiet month to be honest. We had some small outings to the library on base and plenty of walks to the park. We went to our first block party on our street, which was fun, but I didn’t get a single picture! The only other “big” thing we did was visit the nearby alpaca farm.

That would be Berend chewing on his foot while he learned about alpacas!

Meanwhile, Gerrit had a great time petting and feeding the alpacas! It really was a fun afternoon out as a family.

October photo of Berend:

Berend, you are a mover and a shaker (as you can see in the photo ^)! You rarely sit still, and you insist on being up and part of the action, never laying back like a baby. In fact, it’s better if we just stand you up. You know what you want, when you want it, and you are very vocal when we can’t read your mind. You grunt and growl just like a little bear. You still have the most infectious smile, and we love making you giggle. We love you so much, Berend!