Morrison’s Nursery

I’ve been wanting to share Morrison’s sweet nursery for a while now. He’s already 8 months old, for Pete’s sake, crawling and cutting his 7^thtooth! But each time I start to arrange photos of his space, it changes as he grows and our needs evolve. So I’m just going to dive in and share bits and pieces of his room, before his arrival and since!

I took a peek at Oden’s nursery reveal back in 2016 and stifled a giggle. The room was complete and perfect, long before he arrived. What a special time in life it is to be anticipating your first baby, clueless about what you really need, with time on your hands to make everything right before that bundle of joy arrives. Oden’s room in our old house had sort of a mountain adventure theme. I remember placing his stuffed foxes just so on the bookshelves. Then Oden arrived, and the room changed multiple times to suit our new-parent needs through different phases of Oden’s development (kind of what is happening with Mo’s room now!). It was a wonderful room where he was fed, where he dreamed, where he played, and where he first crawled. (See it here!)

I got pregnant with Morrison shortly after we moved into our new home. There was a bright, sunny room next to Oden’s with white-painted wood walls and a skylight that we knew would be Baby’s. A significant difference between preparing Oden’s nursery and Mo’s? TIME. This go-around, I had a two-year-old to chase who wanted nothing more than to “help” decorate Little Brother’s room. So it came together slowly. I had vague ideas about what I wanted it to feel like, but no real theme in mind. A trip to the beach in Morro Bay had inspired some colors; I gravitated toward seaglass green and ocean blues for baby boy #2. Maybe this room would tap into my coastal roots!

First, my parents gifted us a changing table and bookshelf cabinet and my dad put them together for us. I changed out the basic wooden knobs with beautiful teal glass ones. They reminded me of seaglass. What a difference that tiny detail made!

My next idea was to remove the accordion doors and built-in shelves from the closet, paint the inside with a shade of blue, and tuck the changing table in there to maximize space. Sounds simple enough, right? My poor dad battled those closet doors for days! It was almost impossible to figure out how to remove them, despite hours of attempts and multiple Google and YouTube searches. Finally, they were gone and my dad cut back part of the shelving. He made a nook for the changing table but left the shelves in the rest of the closet. John brought home multiple shades of light blue paint from Home Depot and slapped some sample swatches on the wall. In the meantime, I ordered some pretty contact paper for inside the dresser drawers. I also ordered a glider just like Oden’s in a hue that complimented the paint. I had some art framed that I’d picked up on our beach vacation and started tucking beachy, bohemian touches everywhere. I was also drawn to a celestial vibe- sun, moon, stars and clouds.

During their Thanksgiving visit, my brother installed some bookshelf ledges. The boys sanded and repainted my grandmother’s cabinet a cool gray color to match the crib. I’m so happy that it finally has a place in our home! Just like Oden’s room, I like having old items to balance out the new. Bit by bit, the main things in the room were coming together. I pulled Oden’s newborn clothes out of storage and my mom helped sort them. What a fun afternoon, picking through teeny tiny clothes and remembering how quickly Big Oden had grown out of each item. I lovingly tucked little onesies and burp clothes in the changing table drawers. I cooed at newborn-sized diapers as I stacked them on the shelves. I wondered what our new family member would be like. What would life be like with two boys?

Morrison joined us right after Thanksgiving, and any work to prepare the nursery came to a screeching halt as we submerged ourselves in Newborn Land. Mo slept with me (literally on my chest)for a long time, and then in the little bassinet next to my bed, so there was no rush to have the nursery complete. Oden was still sleeping in his crib, which was converted to a toddler bed. Once we got him a big boy bed, we were able to move the crib into Mo’s room. I hung a sweet mobile over it and seeing it in the room motivated me to finish with the details.

Just recently, I hung toy baskets and knick-knack shelves. I added live plants and rearranged some of Oden’s books. I still have some things I’d like to hang on the walls and there’s space for Morrison to fill his room with memories and treasures. The room will probably look different again in a couple of weeks! So much of Mo’s life is hand-me-downs; toys, clothes, even some decor in his room were all Oden’s. But I’m glad this room has become uniquely his. Some incredible memories have already been made in here!

My favorite times of day are greeting Mo after a nap, his little head popping up over the side of the crib. I love rocking him in that big glider, enjoying our dwindling nursing sessions and listening to his relaxed sighs. I laugh at how he tries his best to twist and roll off of the changing table mid-diaper change these days. It’s already a space where he explores his abilities and feels safe. He’s grown so quickly and before I know it, we’ll be hunting for a big boy bed for Morrison, too.

But not yet. My last baby is still a baby and his room is just right. I hung a sweet sign in the hallway outside of the brothers’ rooms. It’s my wish for my boys!