Conversations with Big Mitch: Parenting Advice

{I was not a fan of dresses in 1987.}

 

Big Mitch is my dad. He got the name from my guy friends in high school, and when you get to know him it's really a pretty fitting name. Philly guy, former semi-pro football player, high school football coach and gym teacher, and lover of cheesesteaks.

 

I've always loved conversations with my dad, but sometimes there are just some gems that should be shared, like our talk yesterday where he gave me some parenting advice. You see, our changing pad and changing station had just arrived, and I was excited to have Doc carry it upstairs to put on the dresser/changing table. Big Mitch's warning advice to me?

 

"Man. Nah, listen, just put the baby on a towel on the floor to change'em...because all I know is with you, I turned away for one second and BOOM! You were gone. Rolled right off."

 

Le sigh. I'm that baby. The wiggly one who rolled off the changing table and fell 4 feet to the ground. But I lived to tell the tale. 

 

Sorry Pops, but the changing pad and station are from Oeuf and we WILL be using them...famous last words perhaps?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

 

 

 

 

Gold fever.

 

It's amazing what a good night's sleep can do. And at just shy of 36 weeks into my pregnancy, it kind of feels like winning the lottery. I woke up to that wonderful snuggly feeling of just the right amount of chill to be completely comfy under the comforters, and early enough to still have coffee and spend a little time with Doc before he headed into CERN. And I merde you not, I opened up the windows and the air smelled like cinnamon. I had to keep checking to make sure I wasn't imagining things, but yes, it was most definitely cinnamon.

 

Add to this the fact that this is the first morning where I've felt the need to put on a hoodie before going downstairs, and I am just in a gloriously happy mood. You know, that kind of annoying happy to be around.

 

Other reasons to be happy today? Modified nesting. I say modified because I have yet to wake up at 3 AM with the urge to organize and/or clean; However we're now at the stage where the semi-boring things have all been purchased/procured, and we're onto the fun stuff: Decorating!

 

Our nursery colors are a Provence green (that very typical color of French shutters, both in our region and especially in the South of France), white and gold. Gold! Oh I love it. So far the only gold thing about the nursery is the gold on the drawer pulls of our repurposed dresser/changing table, but that is about to change. We're already in discussions about how to up the gold factor, and I'm super excited for the DIYs we've got in mind. (Spoiler alert: I see some gold spray paint in our future.) Details to follow as we get down to brass tacks, but I can already tell you to keep an eye out for a DIY post on making you're own flower press, as Doc recently made one for me because of some nursery ideas I was floating around. There's no theme to the nursery persay, but I can say it's definitely influenced by the alpen region of France that we live in.   

 

And then there's the walls. I'm a big fan of all white nurseries with pops of color, and ours will be no different. We've never actually hung anything on the walls in this room, which I find surprising since we've lived here for 3.5 years, but now is the time. The question is, what do we hang? Shelves? Carefully curated prints? Pictures? Garlands? Maps? (You all know I love my maps.) Something entirely different? I've never tried to decorate a room in such a short amount of time, as I typically like to acquire one beloved piece at a time to let the room come about organically, so this is definitely throwing me out of my comfort zone a bit...and I love it. I'm not sure that the room will be done by the time Homekid decides to show up (especially since everyone, including myself, seems to think this kid is going to make an appearance sooner rather than later), but Doc and I are ok with that. We've got the big ticket items, (bassinet, swaddles, stroller, car seat, dresser, changing pad on its way...), and so long as we have that, the decorating can be finished once the room has been broken in a bit, if need be. Regardless, I can't wait to share the finished product with all of you!  

 

And with that, I'm off to scour the interwebs for some sweet wall worthy finds and DIYs, wish me luck! 

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Before & After: Nursery Dresser/Changing Table

I wrote a few weeks back about the special delivery we were receiving from one of the local second hand shops - one item of which was destined for before and after greatness! (If I do say so myself...)

 

Doc really took charge of this project as my fatigue levels have been high over the past few weeks, and I have never actually painted furniture before. (I make a GREAT supervisor though...)

 

We were going back and forth on the color choices for a bit, but after a recent trip to Toulon, and noticing the particular green color of a large majority of the shutters around town, we opted for the color Provence Vert. I've been in love with this color since we moved to SwitzerFrance 3.5 years ago, as it is also a popular color for shutters in our region, but seeing it in Toulon cemented it as the color paint we were destined to use.

 

 

Deciding on the color wasn't so much of an issue as trying to pick the perfect drawer knobs for the project. My initial inklings were towards flowery knobs or ones with gold on them, where Doc was leaning towards heavy metal knobs.

 

When our local Leroy Merlin started their soldes however, we literally went in and bought 40-some drawer knobs (they were THAT discounted), of unexpected high quality, so we could see for ourselves on the actual newly painted dresser.

 

And we figured, hey, there will be more refinishing projects in our future, why not have a bunch of extra sweet French drawer knobs?

 

We ended up choosing the design that was my favorite of our choices, and are loving the result. Every time I walk past the nursery I can't help but stare at it. Doc seriously did a great job.

 

Working on the nursery together has been such great fun, and I can't wait to continue getting it ready for Homekid. We've got some great ideas and DIY projects to work on for it, and I can't wait to share them, and the final result, once we're done.

 

How about you? Did you go with all new furniture for your child's nursery? All vintage? A mixture of the two?

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey 

Special delivery.

 

Today we had a very special delivery from the second hand shop in St. Genis...

 

 

...a two kiddo vintage wooden French school desk (complete with inkwells), and a dresser that we will be re-finishing to act as not only the dresser in the nursery, but also the baby changing station. I'd love to find out how old this desk is, so if anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them!

 

We'll start working on the dresser this weekend, so keep an eye out for our before and after coming soon!  

 

Bonne week end tout le monde and Happy Father's Day to all the papas and papas to be!

 

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey