Nursery Reveal


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb04/bosnacweb04cf/b1067/ipg.barbaraann/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4411

When purchasing our new home years ago, we decided on a 3 bedroom, with a master bedroom,  a home studio and the third to be a man-cave, that would turn into a nursery once the time came. Well, I got pregnant a few months after moving in making Trevor’s dream man-cave unfulfilled.

For our nursery, we wanted our small space to feel clean, bright and yet invoke a magical feeling, but as we didn’t know our baby’s gender it was important to keep the space as neutral as possible.  Our goal for the room was to give Sterling a room that he would love to grow up in.

We started with the search for white furniture that would provide as much storage as possible (small space problems). When I came across the Baby Knightly Wyatt 3-in-1 convertible crib at West Coast Kids, I knew I had struck gold. I loved the simple and smart design of the solid wood crib, the brass metal accents and of course the storage trundle. It also has the ability to convert into a toddler day-bed and a full size bed, meaning we’d only be investing in one piece of furniture that would last for a longer period of time.

Our nursery has two large windows and gets tons of natural light and we knew we wanted our only real wall to be an accent wall, but were unsure if we wanted to paint or wallpaper. We came across Rocky Mountain Decals on Instagram, a Canadian company that specializes in easy to install and removable wallpaper. Trevor and I fell in love with the Misty Mountain wall mural and thought it would be the perfect neutral backdrop for our little explorer. The installation of the mural was easy, a simple peel and stick application and took Trevor a few hours to put up. The fact that its effortless to remove is also amazing, as when Sterling grows we can update his accent wall to a different one of their fantastic murals or papers. Check out this video of the install of the mural.

Once we had our accent wall picked, I began to look for accessories and decor that fit the mountain theme. When I found The Butter Flying (again on Instagram), a Montreal-based brand, I loved the idea that the mobile would be the clouds. These hand-made mobiles were so delicate and beautiful, adding the perfect amount of special charm.  The Butter Flying and I have teamed up to offer you 10% off The Butter Flying’s Etsy shop by using the coupon code 10HAPPY. 

When it came to planning Sterling’s linens we wanted to make sure that the pattern or print would make sense against our Rocky Mountain Decal mural. We soon fell in love with the playful Bison pattern from Little Unicorn. We picked out the Brushed Crib Sheet and Brushed Muslin Cotton Quilt and a bunch of their swaddle blankets (Tropical Leaf, Lemon and Bike Family seen here) to wrap him in while he sleeps.

Flooring was one of the final details for the room to help ground the space and add an element of warmth. We have hardwood floors throughout our home and I wanted to have a plush rug for Sterling to play on. Lorena Canals available at West Coast Kids is an amazing line of machine washable rugs that specialize in creative and fun prints and spaces meant for nurseries. We never know what will end up on our rugs with a cat, dog and baby so it’s important for this to be durable and easily machine washable.

Sterling’s room is small, so we needed to make sure that we picked things that complimented the space. The Keekaroo Peanut Changer has been the ideal for us, sitting perfectly on top of his dresser, thus taking up no real estate on our floor. Our Peanut is slip resistant and made of a material that won’t allow fluids to penetrate. I also love how easy it is to wipe clean (because accidents happen), without adding any laundry. 


Parasol Diaper in Dream

Around the room the decor that can be found are wooden toys, classic books and his future accessories (shoes and hats) that give the room that fashionisto feel.

Plan Toys Lacing Sheep


Playforever Midi Race Car Bonnie


Cloud B Sleep Sheep Smart Sensor

A Little Lovely Company Light Box

Converse Infant Chuck Taylors, Everything is Mama by Jimmy Fallon, Your Baby’s First Word will be Dada by Jimmy Fallon


Shoes: Mally Designs, Dino: DIY

I am absolutely in love with our nursery and I hope Sterling will love it too. Check out the other room reveals in our home: Kitchen & Living Room.

I received products compliments of and/or in collaboration with West Coast Kids, Rocky Mountain Decals, The Butter Flying, but all opinions are 100% my own. If you are interested in working together in please contact me (barbara.ann.solomon@gmail.com) or Krista at Shine Influencers (krista@shineinfluencers.com).

Our Son Sterling


Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb04/bosnacweb04cf/b1067/ipg.barbaraann/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4411

It’s been just over 2 months since our son blessed our family and filled our home with an indescribable love. When I got pregnant I got excited to prepare for a family shoot and knew there would be only one photographer I wanted to capture the love and craziness of our family.

Scarlet O’Neill is a Toronto-based wedding photographer, whose work has been featured basically everywhere. I found her while working with Kleinfeld Hudson’s Bay and fell in love with the way she documented love stories. I knew that she would be the perfect person to share this special time with.

Linen & Swaddle Blanket: Little Unicorn

Our day together was filled with laughter and sharing stories. Here are some of my favourite photos we shot with her. And don’t forget to follow Scarlet on Instagram for a beautiful feed filled with wedding and lifestyle inspiration.

A quick update about Sterling at 2 months old: he’s beginning to smile, he loves to splash in the bath, cuddle during story time. He’s travelled (like a pro) to Florida and enjoyed 10 days in the sun exploring Miami.

  

Thank you Scarlet for capturing our family perfectly. We absolutely love these photos.

My Birth Story

It’s been a month since my son, Sterling Emerson surprised us 2 weeks earlier than expected. In those final weeks of my pregnancy, I had a lot of plans in the works, from appointments, meetings to blog posts. So when labour started for me, I sat there in the hospital sending out emails notifying everyone to expect a delay.

My due date was January 18th and during the month of December I was in a lot of pain, finding it difficult to move especially in the evening and overnight. It was January 4th at midnight and Trevor and I were watching one of the late night talk shows, when he had fallen asleep. I was unable to get off the couch without his help at this point, so I woke him up so we could make our way to bed. Upon standing up, my water broke. Shocked, Trevor and I agreed that I should shower as he finished packing our bags, prepared snacks, loaded the car and took care of Monkey and Taco before heading to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 2 am and checked in with the maternity ward. I was told to relax and try to nap in the assessment room or go for a walk around the hospital and check in with the nurse every hour.

Hospital-walk

By 9:30 am they moved me into my birthing suite, where my amazing nurse Louise explained to me that I was only 1 cm dilated and they were going to hook me up to an IV and give me Oxytocin which would stimulate the uterine muscles giving me more intense contraction.

Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 6.30.40 PM

By 2 pm, I got to 3 cm and it was time for the epidural. From there, thankfully, things moved along much quicker and within the next hour and a half I had gotten to 8 cm.  For me the epidural was crucial, the contractions had gotten so intense and I was beyond exhausted. With the help of the pain relieving drug I was able to nap and regain my strength for the next phase of labour.

Screen Shot 2018-01-31 at 6.30.53 PM

Just after 4 pm our families had arrived and Louise told me that we were almost ready to start pushing. With continuous encouragement from Trevor, I pushed for 15 minutes and at 4:53 pm, 2 minutes before sundown, on the coldest day of the year, our son was born. Sterling weighed 6.9 lbs and was absolutely perfect, those first few hours with him are ones I’ll never forget.

baby-negin

I am so grateful for the amazing nursing staff at Trillium Health Partners, who took care of every worry, anxiety and complication that arose during my labour.

Photography by Trevor Negin