Flowers and Bears

This morning I bought some flowers, and Nadia wanted to help me plant them. She wasn't interested in helping me weed, and she only helped remove clippings from the mulch (I also trimmed the shrubs) for a few minutes, but she was definitely interested in digging in the dirt and planting the flowers. I let her pick where we put them (pink, purple, and white). It was a special moment. Her attention span didn't last as long as mine, but still it was fun to do it together for a little while. This was her first experience. I'm sure in future years her attention for the activity will last longer than it did today. This was one of the experiences I dreamed about before I became a mom. It's so wonderful to experience a dream coming true.
Paul's office (which is the room that will become the baby's room) has been decorated in Giants decor (lightswitch, curtain, floor mat, chair, keyboard, mouse and trash can). My first thought was to leave the lightswitch, curtain, and trash can and go with a NY Giants theme for his bedroom. I remember seeing NFL crib mobiles in 2008. Well it turns out they don't make those any more, and also Paul wasn't as keen on the idea as I assumed he would be. His thinking has always been that our children can root for whatever teams they want to (although I think he'd die if they picked the Cowboys, Eagles, or Redskins). Well I love decorating a baby nursery so it didn't bother me one iota to give up the Giants idea. Maybe some day one of them will want a Giants themed bedroom, but for now Mommy gets to pick. In 2002 I had purchased a Boyd's Bear crib set. I painted a bedroom yellow and put up a cute teddy bear wallpaper border. I picked this in part because it was gender neutral. When we moved in 2004, I gave the crib set to a thrift store. Time has passed, and I am ready for a teddy bear themed nursery again. I figure if the next FET results in a pregnancy, this baby I'm carrying now can move into Ian's bedroom, and I could use the teddy bear themed nursery for the fourth child whether that baby is a girl or a boy.

Part of the reason I was hesitating in going all out with decorating the nursery is because we're most likely moving next summer (2013), but the walls in Paul's office are pretty scuffed up (that one and our bedroom were in the worst condition when we moved into this house in 2008). I had actually planned to ask him to repaint them white before the baby arrived, if we were going with the Giants theme. He painted our bedroom blue and Ian's walls light green. Nadia's walls were pink when we moved into the house. I'm planning on asking Paul to paint the baby's room light yellow. After looking at various options online (Babies R Us, Target, and Walmart), I picked this set. I've never purchased a quilt before, but it was the only way to get the crib sheet and crib skirt. I'll have Paul hang it on the wall, especially as I've decided to forego the wallpaper border (even though it's really cute) since we're moving in about a year. I put up a wallpaper border in Nadia and Ian's rooms. I'm going to need to buy one more crib sheet (maybe yellow?) because I can't buy a second fitted honey bear sheet separately, and I know from experience it would be very unwise to only have one crib sheet! I bought matching lamps, bookshelves, and tissue covers for Ian and Nadia's rooms, but instead of those three items I'm planning to buy some teddy bear bookends, and I'll put some baby books on top of the nightstand in his room (it's a small room). I also got Nadia and Ian coordinating mobiles, trash cans, lightswitch covers, and hampers. I will need to buy the baby a hamper. We shall see about the other items. Shopping for a baby is FUN!