Spruce's Profile

I think it's precious. And I'm sure your daughters adore this room. What a magical space to grow up in. Cushions on the benches would definitely be fun! Good job!

Absolutely beautiful. Great job!

I would have been in heaven if someone had given me a few months worth of a cleaning service. Cleaning was so hard to do in the first few months! (In fact, I'd still love that, and my daughter is 10 months old!)

A few of my absolute favorite things:

1) A video monitor. Expensive- but oh-so worth it in our two story house.

2) A "Woombie" swaddle. Our daughter could ninja her way out of all the Summer Infant ones that you can get at Target. This one saved our lives. So worth it.

3) A plastic bib with a pouch in the front. (A pouch that stays out...not just a little sleeve). Great for when they start feeding themselves.

4) Boogie Wipes. Not necessary, but such a nice luxury when your baby wakes up with crusty boogies on her nose in the morning.

5) If she's planning to nurse (and pump)...get her lots of extra bottles. A friend let me borrow hers and it made the whole process so much easier. Also, a good pumping bra made the process so much easier when I went back to work).

6) Gift certificates for restaurants. Or food delivery. Amazing.

7) Baby ibuprophen. We went through so much of this once baby started teething- and it would have been wonderful to have more on hand.

8) Cute pajamas that ZIP. I registered for so many pajamas that were cute...but the ones that zipped were so nice when baby wasn't in a mood to play dress up.

9) I really loved my simple onesies from Baby Gap. They were light pink and long sleeved, and I put her in them under so many outfits. Simple and classic, but they still felt special and like a lovely gift.

I hired a doula for my natural birth 8 months ago. It was so good to have her there with us for the birth, because she knew how to get me in all the right positions to help my labor progress. It turned out that I had a back labor- and we weren't prepared to have to help our little girl flip around. Have you thought about having a doula there, also?

Another thing that was wonderful was that we took weekly classes with our doula for 12 weeks before the birth. Maybe you could go to some classes with her so that you both have a good understanding of what to expect and ways to help get through the pain. And I totally second what others have said about empowering the father to help out in the labor. The classes we went to really educated him and helped him be a vital part of our birth.

I have lights from this store in Paris too! They were one of the few things that I carried with me back to the US. The store was delightful. I got the little balls in white, lime green, yellow and red, and I strung them on a normal white strand of Christmas lights. I actually bunched mine up inside an oversized cylindar vase, and use it as a lamp in my office. I'm so excited to see this post!