Baby Budget {The Nursery}.

I am extremely grumpy today.

It ain't raining hearts where I am today. Just being real with you.

So, no, I will not be talking about the fabulous fashion at the Golden Globes last night. Or the plethora of recent mamas who stepped out looking like they'd never so much as seen a baby, much less birthed one in the last couple of weeks. Sigh.

I blame the husband for my foul mood, which began this morning. You see, lately, he's been a total night owl. Up in bed watching tv on the Nook, studying, or just reading, until 11pm or later. Which wouldn't be so terrible. If I wasn't pregnant. Last night, I literally had to snap at him, "TURN that off." And I felt bad about it. But seriously. I'm pregnant! There's a person trying to grow inside of me. I need my sleep. Obviously. Of course, just a few hours later, I was woken up by the need to pee. Apparently, sleeping through the night has become a thing of the past. If I'm not waking up to roll into a more comfortable position, I'm waking up to pee. Or just waking up for no reason at all. Or, like this morning, waking up because the cat decided to hop onto the kitchen counter around 4am and knock the coffee pot onto the floor. Sigh. At least it didn't break. But still. It's going to be a long day.

The sighs are coming thick and heavy this afternoon, folks.

Since it's already looking to be a not-so-bright day in the land of Jess, let's just go ahead and go 'there.' 'There' being the topic of...gulp...budgets. Which, we all know, I despise. But attempt to stick to despite the intense hatred I have for them, burning deep into my soul. Let me tell you what's been occupying my thoughts as of late. The baby budget. Exciting, I know. Actually, a better adjective would probably be terrifying.

Because, ladies, let me tell you - what they say is true. Babies are expensive. This little one's not even here yet, and I am already starting to figure this out. There's just so much stuff that accompanies those precious little lambs. And, while some of it is completely unnecessary (i.e. having three different kinds of bathtubs in which to bathe the tiny little people until they are old enough to take a real bath), some of it is not. The nursery for example. There are some things that you just have to have. Like, a crib. And crib bedding. And somewhere to change baby. And somewhere to store clothing. I think that my problem is aesthetic perfection. I crave it in everything. It leads to problems. For example, here's what my son's nursery should look like in my head:

via

And here's what the above really equates to: $$$$$$$$$$$$.

My solution to this conundrum has been to narrow down the nursery 'necessities' to things that we (the hubs and I, but mostly me) have deemed unavoidable. Meaning - they will have to be purchased, like it or not. The following is a list of these things we have purchased or plan to purchase for our wee one:

1. Crib (done)

2. Crib bedding (surprisingly, Pottery Barn is not unreasonable in this area)

3. A rug (baby can't be rolling around on wood floors)

4. A glider and ottoman

5. A bookshelf (done)

6. A dresser (to be used as a changing table while baby is in diapers)

7. Drapes for the nursery windows

8. Storage options (baskets, etc)

While I would love to have a rocking horse like the pic above (or rocking lamb - I die!), I know I can live without one. The things above are things I truly don't feel we can go without. Our plan is to try to find the dresser in a thrift or antique store and then change it up to suit our needs. The glider, unfortunately, is something that I think will have to be purchased new - especially seeing as how I would prefer one of the stuffed chair gliders over the wooden rocker type gliders. And they aren't cheap. No ma'am. Nothing is anymore.

Any advice from experienced mamas or fellow preggos on nursery needs? Anything I am missing? Any deals I am missing out on?

In a bit of good news, we do seem to have our nursery colors picked out. I'm not quite ready to share them yet, but I will share one of our accent pieces with you: 

Velvet ribbed toss pillow from Target

And no, the room will not be yellow. Hence the term, 'accent piece.' More to come soon on nursery plans and progress.

I'm off to stress some more about our baby budget. Which will probably involve me trawling the internet for deals and steals on any of the above-mentioned items. Freaking out when I (once again) find nothing. Eating something to soothe my nerves. And then moving on with my day. It's no wonder moms have wrinkles, people. I'm gonna need Botox sooner than I thought. 

One bright spot in our week: our 20 week ultrasound, which is scheduled for Friday. Can't wait to see baby boy again. It's been several weeks since our gender ultrasound and I can't wait to see how much he's grown. If my burgeoning belly is any indication, he's grown a lot. Or so I hope. And speaking of bellies, a promised 'bumpdate' coming your way later this week. 

Happy Monday, loves.

Image #1 Credit