Better Late than Never

After all the painting, building, decorating, and fine tuning, Gillian's nursery is finally finished! Sorry not to have had the pictures posted last weekend as originally promised. I'd say I had the best intentions at heart, but we all know what they say about good intentions.
Bret and I couldn't be more pleased with the way that Gillian's nursery turned out. Of course I'm a little biased, but I don't think we could have put together a room for our little one that better represents our taste and style. The saying made famous by Hillary Clinton, "It takes a village to raise a child..." may not exactly fit this situation, but it certainly has taken the help and monetary contributions of quite a few villagers to get this nursery done! Between Bret's countless hours painting, my Mom and Dad's generous gift of the nursery furniture and bedding, and Aunt Helen's creative artwork the room truly reflects the abundance of love that is already felt for our Little Girl.

Now there's just one thing missing from the room---Gillian! Hopefully she will love her new digs as much as we do.


Gillian's room from the hallway. Bret spent hours painting the stripes on the walls. We chose to do horizontal instead of vertical stripes after receiving some advice from our local paint guy who'd just recently painted stripes in his daughter's bathroom. As everyone knows, Bret is painstakingly meticulous. He measured and remeasured numerous times before, while, and after painting. The stripes are one of my favorite touches in the room!


You wouldn't believe how comfy the rocker recliner is! I'm sure I'll be even more thankful for this splurge with all the late night feedings to come.




I'm sure many dirty diapers will be changed here on Gillian's changing table and hutch. Once she's potty trained, we can add a shelf to the hutch. After all, I'm sure we'll need the extra room for displaying all the awards and accolades she'll have already acquired by the age of 2. No pressure, Gillian! Mommy is only kidding!




I have many favorites in the nursery and Gillian's bedding ranks right up there at the top! We had her bedding custom-made and it's appropriately called PINK PAISLEY. Fingers crossed that she'll have nothing but peaceful sweet dreams in this cozy crib.





















Of course we had to have more shelves to display pictures of family, friends, and perhaps the most important stuffed animal of them all---a GATOR!











Here are the pictures of Bret and me as babies in black and white. Still waiting on the star's baby photo that will go in the center.








The bench is another one of Bret's projects. The bench itself was something mom gave me and I had Bret paint it white. I then got the idea to stencil flip flops and bathing suits on the bench to tie in our subtle theme---the beach.
















My Aunt Helen is truly talented. After searching for pictures for the nursery and discovering that my choices were not only limited but also very pricey, she volunteered to paint canvas pictures for us. All I had to do was show her examples of what I wanted. Not only did she follow through and create absolutely beautiful and whimsical paintings for Gillian, she far exceeded my expectations (which we all know are high). Having paintings done by a family member makes Gillian's room even more special!



Little Bikini Girl---A glimpse into Gillian's future?



Hello...flip flops! Need I say more?




She sells seashells by the seashore!



Gillian's initials and another favorite---a pink and white gingham chandelier.














So, what do you think? Let us know!