The Nursery

I struggled for a long time during the beginning of this pregnancy trying to decide when I would start putting together the nursery.  I am usually a get-it-done-and-now-is-better-than-later type of person (not one of things that my husband loves about me), but I was unsure of what to do in this situation.  When I painted the nursery for Gabriel, I tried to make it fairly gender neutral so that we would not have to change much with our next child.  When I was pregnant with the triplets, I had decided that I wasn't going to change it (especially since it was three boys).  In the end, this helped somewhat with my grieving.  The nursery was still Gabriel's.  I had no connection with the triplets and that room.  When I found out at 13.5 weeks that we may be having two girls this time, I really wanted to change it.  A couple of years ago, Jason's mom was clearing out things in her house in preparation for their move.  She asked us to come over and look through some of the things she wanted to hand down to us.  One of the items was a blanket that her grandmother had quilted.  Ever since I received that quilt, I have dreamed of a little girl's room based on it.  Even though I knew what I wanted to do with the room, I was unsure of when to start putting it together.  I finally decided to just get it done.  I knew I would feel more relaxed during these last few months of my pregnancy if it was finished (and with multiples you never really know how much time you have left).  I am glad I decided to put it together.  It has helped make these girls more real to me.  I look in the room, and I can't wait for them to come.  It also still frightens me.  Even though I have made it until 25 weeks, I could still lose them.

I do smile when I look at the things in the room.  It really has been a generational effort.  The quilt hanging on the wall was made by the girls' great-great-grandmother on Jason's side, and the teacups in the shelf belonged to their great-grandmother on my side. 

The girls' grandparents (my mom and dad) painted the room, hung the wall clings, and bought the cribs and mattresses. 

The heart shelf on the wall used to be mine when I was a little girl, and the bears on the shelf are for the triplets.  It looks like I didn't do much for the room, but I am providing the babies to go in there (I think it is a pretty important contribution.).      

Lastly, I though I would leave you with pictures of the triplets' tree.  After their death last year, several men belonging to my dad's bible study group got together to buy us this tree.  I was a little concerned for it.  We had such a dry and rough summer last year, and I know magnolias can be finicky.  I was overjoyed when it blossomed this spring.