A few weeks ago when I was 39 weeks pregnant, Andrew and I had an in home photo session with our incredibly talented friend Kelly Sweet. As we inched closer and closer to my due date I realized how important it was for me to capture the anticipation of waiting on our sweet babe. But the important part was having photos with Andrew in them too. I have so many beautiful photos – enough to cherish for a lifetime – in my season as an expectant mama in both this Italy oceanside shoot here and a 30 week maternity boudoir session that’s a little more private, but not many as expecting parents. So these images are ones that I will hold near and dear to my heart forever. My advice to anyone that may ever be on the fence about getting your photo taken; do it!

Photos really do tell a thousand words.

Kelly, thank you for coming into our lives and home during such an emotional time. We treasure you!

And with that, I welcome you to our son’s nursery!

Sources for everything can be found at the bottom of the post if you’re interested.

As for some of the inspiration behind the room, most of it came together rather organically if I am honest. I never had an inspiration board or vision in mind for this space because I wasn’t sure how to keep things soft yet masculine; I’m a super girly girl who is now a mama to one strong little dude! But more than anything I wanted this space to feel relaxing, airy and able to transition nicely into a toddler’s room as our little guy grows up.

The nursery is now one of my favorites in our entire home and for good reason; already in just under three weeks into motherhood I sure do spend many days and nights in there nursing and rocking my little man to sleep. I’m grateful we took time to make this space feel the way it does. Truly. I feel so lucky to be L’s mama and thank God every night for this sweet season which has changed my and our world so much.

Over the changing table are two framed photos; one from our pregnancy announcement which you can find more of here and one from our maternity photos taken in Italy over here. I can’t wait to frame some more photos of our little guy to add to these shelves. Beyond that, in our next home I hope to start a family legacy wall where even more mementos and special imagery will be shared and collected over future years to come.

I bought that Home Sweet Home pillow that’s shaped like the state of Michigan in 2014 when we started trying to build our family. I found it in the cutest little shop on Mackinaw Island. I knew one day it would be perfect for our little’s room and I sure was right! Sometimes I use it to prop up L’s little behind when I’m nursing.

The oversized art is a custom piece from House of Belonging. I knew long before we conceived I would want something from their shop for our future baby’s room. When it came time to finally order our print though we were stumped on what it would read! I didn’t think we would even order in time for the baby’s arrival!

Long story short, a year ago on Valentine’s Day Andrew and I started to attend church together. During that first service prior to the sermon beginning they played the song Oceans. I remember feeling so immediately at home when the song started because it was at the time one of the few Christian songs I was familiar with. Funny enough, when I went to service on the morning I hit 39 weeks pregnant it was the first song they played then too. I love that not only is this part of the song so clearly pointed towards Him but it can also translate to our son and how close and connected we already feel to him. Sometimes I hum the song to L when he’s crying in his room at 3:00 am. It’s made for some sweet memories thus far.

And these two below. They are such good buddies. I’m so so lucky to have such a sweet and loving little family.

Two things:

First, I cannot believe my belly was every that big! My goodness. Pregnancy is truly a miracle!

And second, the nine teal frames house individual chunks of one larger map. The map as a whole makes up the Great Lakes region which has personal significance to both Andrew and me. I grew up in the Canadian Great Lakes region and Andrew grew up in Michigan which is surrounded by Great Lakes. When we were engaged in 2008 and both graduated college, we moved to Chicago which is also included in the map breakdown. We now live back in Michigan which is obviously shown in the frames. Beyond that our son’s name loosely translate’s to ‘great lake.’ Having some unique and meaningful art on the wall made sense for us and this map did just that.

Being a mama has fulfilled every emotion that I expected and then some. It’s also been so many things I didn’t expect and admittedly has provided me with many moments that are hard and frustrating. I feel like I was made to be a mom even though I’m often stuck feeling very far from equipped to do this. Little by little. Bit by bit. I’m taking it all step by step and soaking it up like rays of warm sunshine on my cheeks. Parenting isn’t about being perfect and that’s been a tough pill to swallow because I try to do most of the things throw my way in perfect form, but at the end of each day (or night? who knows because I can’t tell this difference right now!) I know I’m giving my all and then some to provide for and love on our son and that’s all that matters. That’s enough for him and for me. Who knew someone at 16 days old could teach you so much.

I also have a million things to say about Andrew. And him as a Dad. But I’ll save that for another day.

I can’t wait to introduce our best gift yet to you in my next post! Xoxo

. . . . . . . . . . .

Photography: Kelly Sweet / Paint: Valspar (straight pure white outta the can; seriously it took us three tries to find a white that looked right with our trim!) / Crib: Jenny Lind from Babies R Us / Bedding, mobile, and chandelier: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child / Rug, lamp, baskets and changing table, living room couch, living room lamps, and living room artwork: Home Goods / Rocker: Babies R Us / Side table, curtains and shelves: Target / Curtain rod: Lowes / Teal frames: Hobby Lobby / Scripted art: House of Belonging / Pouf: Lulu and Georgia / Milestone cards: Anthropologie / Vertical photo wire: IKEA / Baby book: Emily Ley / Tee Pee: Ashley Gabby Designs / Michigan pillow: Poppins on Mackinac Island / Gray stuffed bear: GAP / Printed maps: The Map Shop on Etsy