Lifestyles of the Cute and Teething

I've been wanting to show Maddie's nursery for a while. Mike and I knew the theme of the room before we knew we were having a girl or even before we'd decided to try for a baby. Mike and I are music freaks. The two of us together literally have THOUSANDS of CDs, tapes, and records. We've been to more concerts than I can count, and we have three iPods jammed to the brink. So it should be no surprise that our child's nursery has a music theme.

Once we got the all-clear from the NICU that Maddie was going to come home, we had to move quickly to get her room ready. We dismantled the guest room and got new carpet. Mike and I settled on a color for the room, and my parents and cousin Leah came down to help us paint. We wanted a feminine color, but not overly girly.

Once we got the walls done, it was time for the furniture and decorations. I really wanted to get her furniture she would be able to use for her whole time under our roof. We got one of those newfangled cribs that switch into a toddler bed and then into a headboard for a full-sized bed. I really love the crib we picked out for her, it's so pretty. I need a better picture than this one, I took it a while ago, before she was using it regularly...it is practically overflowing with her toys!


The mobile over her crib is a bunny band. There is a rabbit playing the drums, one playing a flute, and another on the guitar. She could stare at it for hours. I think the clicking and sliding noises it makes are really irritating, but she loooves it.

This is her dresser, aka Place We Pile Stuff.


Besides the stuff we pile there, I keep these two special things. My grandmother gave the angel to my mom's best friend 27 years ago. It watched over both of her sons. At my shower, she passed it on to me to watch over Maddie. The folded fabric is the first hat Maddie ever wore. The NICU staff at the hospital she was born at gave it to me before she was transferred. I kept it with me every day until she came home from the hospital.

Mike and I love the plush green rocking chair we picked out, it's insanely comfortable. Rigby loves it even more than we do. You can see Maddie's changing table next to it. It's actually not a traditional changing table, but a long bureau with a changing pad attached to the top.


In the middle of the room we have a purple rug. It's shaggy and, we later learned, not washable. A brilliant purchase for a baby's room. It reminds me of a Muppet, so I've taken to calling it the Muppet Skin rug. Here is Maddie modeling it.

Seriously, tell me that doesn't make you think of a Muppet.

What musical room is complete without musical instruments? My cousin gave her the awesome red piano. Mike and I bought her the guitar. It's on the floor now, but we plan on hanging it up soon, most likely over the windows where a crawling baby can't reach it.

Here is our little rock star modeling her guitar:

She has to grow into it.

My mom gave her these cute little letters that attach with magnets, and this baby toy that I've decided is singing.

We had a concert poster made to announce Maddie's birth. The company we went through, Rattle-N-Roll, was great. We sent them a couple photos of Maddie, and this is what they came up with. They also gave us a ton of little ones to send in the mail. I, uh, still have to get around to sending a bunch of those.




On the main wall of the room we have our big project, nine framed record albums. But not just any record albums - they all have babies or children on the cover. It's a pretty big display and it took a while to find all the albums - we never could have found them without the help of my mom, cousin Leah, friend Nora, and eBay. Below is a close up of each record, and if you put your mouse over the picture you can find out the name of the album.





Last but not least, is Maddie's very own album cover. I linked to this picture a couple months ago, but it deserves repeating. Our awesome friends Cat and Adi (who just had an adorable daughter themselves) took a bunch of pictures of Maddie and made this album cover especially for her. We put it in a record frame, and it's hanging on the wall next to her door. The recording academy has already certified it Triple Platinum.


So, there you go. Not your typical little girl's room, but our little girl is anything but typical.