Pinterest pressure

The word "nursery" kind of makes me shudder.

One, because it's so twee and cutesy. Two, because it implies the lot of care, attention, time and money required to create it. Like it requires a Capital Letter N of Importance. That it must have fresh pastel paint, a full set of new matching furniture, a  cute theme. Thoughtfully chosen baby-friendly artwork on walls, and themed toys perched just-so on shelves and surfaces--things like owls, giraffes, flowers, wooden trucks. Practically what Pinterest was invented for.

See?

I do not have a nursery. To be honest, I still stumble on saying the word 'babies' out loud. We do have a room for the...babies. I wasn't even thinking about decorating it or trying to create something cute and pretty and adorable and nursery-y.

And then I realized that I should. That it's something everyone does or is supposed to. This made my heart sink a little--we are trying to be budget-conscious and really, we're not the cutesy type. But then I found myself looking at a friend's nursery pinboard and seeing all the very cute things out there. With dismay. I did create a...baby board, but with the promise to myself that I would not seek out or pin those cutesy, expensive things that I just can't (or don't want to) do. If I had the money, maybe I would.

I decided we had to paint. The bedrooms in our house are all painted different colors, and the baby room is a sickly yellow-green. I found myself envisioning a happy, sea-foam-y green room with all white furniture. With some kind of theme that I could magically come up with. Dammit, Pinterest!

The trim around the window, closet and door is ugly, porous, regulation brown wood. I got an IKEA crib on craigslist (saving us about $40) which is a birch color, and told Mister M that we needed to paint it white. My dad is bringing down some furniture next weekend, including an old white IKEA dresser of mine, plus the beautiful wooden rocking chair that I myself was rocked in as a baby, so it's well over thirty years old. It's kind of a golden color; maybe it's pine? It's shiny and looks practically new, and of course I wouldn't paint it. There is a bookshelf in that room with a bunch of my books on it, but it's black. I thought--very briefly--about painting it or covering it in white paint, before realizing that here lies madness. Again, damn you, Pinterest!

We did buy wall paint, a happy, sea-foam-y green. I'm actually bummed that I can't do any of the painting, because I quite enjoy it, I'm good at it, and Mister M hasn't really done much. My mom is coming next week to help us get stuff ready, so now that will include helping us (well, him) paint. I promised to do the taping, since that's about all I can do.

We have to put together the crib, and I want to sort through all the clothes and gifts we have received and bought. Currently they're in piles, bags and boxes in the baby room. We need a rug--the floor is a kind of fake wood and needs a covering.

So I'm trying to re-set my expectations--we'll get the basics of furniture together, and it will be functional. At some point maybe I'll make it cute.

...I just fell into a thirty-minute rabbit hole of Pinterest browsing! Dammit!

The other thing I want to do is photos. This should not be a surprise if you know even a little bit about me. This will/should be the only time I'll be pregnant, and I would love to have beautiful, professional photos of me and my belly to commemorate it. I haven't done a ton of shots of myself, what with the move and settling in. I could play with some studio-type shots here at home, I suppose, but I don't have a ton of equipment or wrap/clothes. And I can try to set up a few shots of Mister M and me together, but I would rather have someone else do the cute posing of us together in some lovely outdoor location (now that the rains have started, of course).

We don't really have the money for this. However, I am willing to spend my own money for a newborn photo session, since I don't think I'll be physically able to do much photography on my own. (Which will kill me. I'm sure I will try anyway and/or direct Mister M to try and get a few.) And they only ever get bigger, so I know I will want some gorgeous photos of this first phase.

Did I mention that we need a second car? Mine is 14 years old, hardly worth anything, and needs work both big, medium and small (which will all together cost almost as much as the car is 'worth'). For example, the felt interior ceiling is falling down, and the back tires need replacing. We will be looking for a newer but used SUV type car with plenty of room for car seats, stroller, and assorted other crap. These vehicles do not come cheap.

Man, being rich would make life so much easier right now. And so much cuter.