Jack's Nursery...

Jack will be 11 months old this month and yet his nursery is yet to be fully decorated.  I know, I'm a horrible mother.  But to my credit...he doesn't sleep in there anyway.  Hmm...not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but maybe he's patiently waiting to move in when it is finished.

Although it isn't completed, it is partially decorated.  All that is missing are some pictures/art on the walls.  I just need to paint some frames white and finish a canvas (hopefully with a quote).  I have all the tools, just not the time.  Oh only two weeks until I'm done with school for the Summer, then three months of QT with Jack and some serious house projects.  Anywhoo...here are some pictures of his semi-finished nursery.

The bench my mom fixed up is so cute beside the tree.

You can totally see the palace guard in this picture.  My fav part of the tree is the floating leaves.

He loves it...

Gotta love the little heart detail Lindsay drew, it says "K + T = J."

I love the tree so much.  It totally makes the nursery.  We painted the room around the tree it is a soft sand color, and is super neutral.  I didn't want Jack's room to be overly boy.  I think it could work for a boy or a girl.  The room has come together.  I just kind of gathered accessories that I already had.  I happened to have a really cute lamp that has leaves on it and has a very organic feel to it.  We also found the bench in the attic (I talked about it in this First Nursery Post), my mom stained it and Jack loves it.  I also think it will make a great prop for pictures if I can ever remember to buy batteries for my camera.  That attic is seriously a treasure trove.  There is also a super cute kid-sized red rocking chair (which I may or may not re-paint) and a school desk waiting for Jack to grow into them.

Realistically the mural may be a pain in the butt later, depending on how long we take up residence on Smith St., to repaint (and very sad too).  Hopefully the whimsical tree can be worked into whatever other theme Jack decides, for at least a few years.  I was thinking some England-ish accessories to big-boy it up...I already have a double decker bus and a black cab little cars on display, a stuffed bear version of a Buckingham palace guard and an English tea tin with some flowers in it (from the his baby shower)...not to mention the other English/British stuff I have around from my study abroad adventure.  I'm glad I went with this "theme," it's totally workable.

And once again, THANKS Lindsay.  That tree is just amazing.

Good times ahead?

Me: Don't eat leaves.
Jack:  Eh, they might taste good, you don' t know.

I'm often reminded that I'm a control freak.  Kemper reminds me, in that wonderful way he does, by ignoring my exhausting list of reminders or tips about Jack and the house and whatever I'm fixated on at the moment.  When I got pregnant, I worried, a lot.  I worried about what I ate, how much I ate, the weight I gained and what environmental factors I could and could not control and what exactly they would do to the fetus (or Jack around month 5).

And now that I have a 10 and half month old, my urges definitely ebb and flow.  When Jack first came home I was frustrated.  I tracked every nurse session, poopy diaper, pee diaper, waking time and sleeping time.  Some of it was out of necessity (the nursing and diapers), but mostly it was for the control.  I was told Jack should eat every 2-3 hours.  Ha.  Jack screamed for the first three weeks of his life because of this.  He.did.not.like.imposed.schedules.  He wanted to eat every hour, which meant I started to feed him at 1pm, finished at 1:45, and began again at 2pm.  This lasted forever...or maybe not forever, but it certainly felt like it.  Once I started to feed him whenever he liked for a few weeks, he chilled, and moved on to the better things in life like learning to like belly time and standing while held.

Control issues, as I have learned in my psychopathology class, are mainly linked to fear and insecurity.  I think that's pretty accurate.  I'm really trying to let go because controlling a ten month old is a joke.  As I'm sure controlling a toddler, a kid, a preteen, or a teenager will be.  So Jack is teaching me a lesson.  This is a lesson that I began to learn during my nine month therapy stint.  Through the ultimate behavior modification, parenting, I'm learning to try to let go.  I'm gritting my teeth and bearing it.  It's not always fun, and it's mostly frustrating.  Though I had the ultimate power (with my DNA helper) in creating Jack, I have very limited power in shaping the kind of person he'll be.  Most of that stuff he ironically got from me.  So next up is Jack the control freak...