Nursery ideas & good deals!

Oh my goodness!  So, I just made a fabulous purchase from Toys/Babies 'R' Us... something that is just a bit overdue but better late than never.  I finally got some kind of tummy/back support!  I just tried it on, put it all together (which was super easy), and walked around for a bit in it and it felt WONDERFUL.  It's kinda like those lazy days at home, if you go all night and part of the afternoon without wearing a bra and then finally get dressed for the day and put on a bra and you feel some sort of immediate relief... definitely like that for your lower back and the ligaments in your tummy if you've been feeling a pull there with your growing belly!  Although I am pretty forgetful these days, I feel like this is one of the best buys I've made since being pregnant.  (But like I said, I easily forget.)  This is the exact one I got from Babies 'R' Us (regular price:  $30.99) for a little over $17 thanks to a $5 coupon & $10 merchandise credit!

I got the medium size which is on the big size with the piece
that goes underneath your belly, but I wanted to err on the side of caution!

Another great buy we recently made was part of a Pre-Black Friday sale going on at Menards in Davenport, Iowa and that would be our baby's CRIB!  Wahoo!!!!!  And let me tell you, it feels VERY good to finally have a crib;  it feels like we can finally bring a child home here and not be completely screwed!  Although I feel like we settled on a style and color that we wouldn't have picked out otherwise and weren't planning on going with, I am still so happy with it because the crib is beautiful and was a great price for us.  We got the Delta Glenwood Crib and it converts into a toddler bed for sometime down the road and it was regularly $139.99 at Menards and after the Black Friday discount it was $69.99!

This is our crib -- but instead of the "cinnamon" color, it is "espresso" aka, a dark wood!

My friend Betsy tipped us off on the good deal thanks to one of her friends who just bought it.  I got Betsy's text about the crib sometime between 7:00 and 7:30 on a Sunday night and flew over the bridge and to Menards with Tony and made it in and back out with our crib before they closed at 8!  (One way to majorly motivate me is to put a good deal under my nose!!!)  They also sell the crib at Target, Kmart, and Sears (and possibly Walmart?)  so I started to look up reviews and according to what parents are saying on Target's website, it is sturdy and a good buy.  I can't wait to put it all together and will feel even better once we find bedding that we like!

I think we are going to try to do somewhat of a animal theme in the nursery as long as I can make it work.  I found a really subtle, gorgeous framed picture of Noah's Ark at Goodwill a while back that I envisioned using in the nursery.  The frame is a really pretty, thick wood and I love everything about it.  My sister, Amanda, also found two framed Disney animal pictures at Goodwill and thought of me and I absolutely love them (minus the matting on the Tarzan picture) -- I've just got to find a way to pull them all together. 

Pictures for the nursery!

I'm thinking about covering the wooden frames from the Disney pictures with different colored/patterned fabric (idea from Pintrest, thanks Jess!) which seems like it'd be a fun and easy project that would make the frames stand out better.

Example from Pintrest!

The colors for the fabric I'm thinking about pulling from all three pictures pictures are green, a brown/red color, tan or off-white, and yellow... so I am hoping to find bedding that will go right along with the theme and color!  Behind the Noah's Ark picture you can see part of our drapes in the nursery which are a tan/gold-ish color... so throw that into the mix too!!!  :)  But I am not worried about finding what we want whatsoever -- actually very excited about it!  We've still got to get a mattress and mattress pad as well, on the practical side of things. 

I suppose that is enough babble about the plans for the nursery!  If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.  I better get some sleep because we are heading out of town for the day tomorrow to visit some family we don't get to see too often to celebrate Thanksgiving some more and I am so excited!!!  :)  This is shaping up to be the best week I've had in a while.  I hope it's been the same for all you guys.

Very blessed and beyond grateful,