emmy and elle's nursery

We have major baby fever going on in our home! So many of my friends recently had babies and they are all beyond gorgeous. Is it just me or is newborn baby smell the most intoxicating smell in the world? I wish I could bottle it up!

I feel like each time I hold a friends new baby it immediately makes me think of when emmy and elle were newborns and we first brought them home from the NICU. Their nursery was extra special for us because Dave and I worked together to make it the perfect room for our little ladies after they were born. It was a happy spot in our home where we would spend time when we were not with them in the hospital. I remember rocking in the glider and looking through all the books that were given to us as special gifts. I was so excited for the girls to join us and be able to rock them while reading stories before bed. Reading to them in the glider is still my most cherished time with emmy and elle.

 I will never forget the day we hung their curtains. Dave was determined to make the rods straight and he worked tirelessly to give our girls a beautiful space for them to call their own once they were forever home. A couple hours, a few tears of frustration (from both us),  and two broken drills later, their room was complete! 

The first several months the girls were home they slept in the most beautiful moses baskets and rockers from restoration hardware. The rockers were lifesavers for tired new parents. I highly recommend them! A lot of people who are expecting their own set of multiples ask me how we handled nighttime sleep. I always answer the same. TEAMWORK. It has to be a joint effort when it comes to multiples and honestly I feel like it should be the same with singletons too. It would have been impossible for me to pump, feed and change emmy, rock her back to sleep, then repeat the same with elle while trying to get any sleep of my own throughout the night. My husband needed to help but the best part is he wanted to help. We decided to "assign" a baby to care for each night. This means we each had a moses basket on our side of the bed. So, if I had emmy then I was solely responsible for her care throughout the night. This made it easier for me to pump and then to also catch a couple hours of sleep too. The rockers helped tremendously because we could have the girls right next to us and then lay back down in bed while rocking them to sleep in their moses baskets. 

We decided to invest in mini cribs once the girls grew out of their rockers. My husband always jokes, "what's better than putting together two cribs? Four cribs."  The mini cribs worked for us because our girls were not sleeping through the night until they were 11-months-old. We had everything set up for them before we would go to sleep each night so we could "grab and go" their bottles and supplies to change their diapers. We would change their diapers using my absolute favorite baby product, the keekaro peanut diaper changer. It was easy to throw on our bed or dresser. Best part is it was extremely easy to clean because it is not made of cloth like most traditional diaper changing pads. We have a traditional diaper changing pad in their nursery as well but the Keekaro was perfect for tired parents at night. We would also have extra swaddle blankets (and then eventually sleep sacks) and extra gowns ready in case of a blow out. It took some time to get all this ready at night but I can honestly say it worked for us because we never had to fumble around in the dark with hungry, crying newborns while trying to find the necessities to keep them happy and most importantly, asleep! 

I would be lying if I did not mention the other reason they stayed in our room for an extended amount of time...NICU flashbacks. It is hard for parents who had children in the NICU to quickly get over the haunting sounds of the various monitors and beeps going off during your child's stay. I was very worried about them having a breathing episode while they slept. Having them in our room helped ease my fears and the Snuza baby monitor did too.  

The mini cribs now reside at my parents home for when we visit. The girls still fit in their mini cribs and I know they will for at least another year. The mini cribs have wheels and can be folded for easy transport. My mom thinks the mini cribs are awesome for all grandparents to have in their home and I know she has told so many of her fellow grandmothers about them too. Best part is they come in a few different colors so they can easily match any decor! We have the "lagoon" color and it is beautiful and gender neutral. I have also seen them pop up on various instagram accounts since parents use them for their primary crib if they have limited space in the nursery. The mini crib we use did not come with the best mattress but a quick search on amazon helped me find a more comfortable mini crib mattress. The mattress the mini cribs came with are perfect for our Pack n' Plays and give extra comfort when we go on vacation. We also found on Amazon mesh bumpers for mini cribs, mini crib sheets, and mini crib mattress protectors. Thank goodness for amazon! 

Ariana Clare photographed us in our home for newborn pictures a few weeks after emmy and elle came home from the NICU. Ariana is so much fun to work with and insanely talented! We are sorority sisters so it was a great excuse to catch up too. She actually announced her own pregnancy the day of our family shoot so we were extra excited we got to spend time with her! Below you can find some of my favorite pictures from our newborn session. We had two additional family shoots with Ariana in 2015 and I am so thankful she captured my family during the first year of emmy and elle's life. I have linked nursery products below the photo series but please feel free to ask me any additional questions about items we used for emmy and elle's nursery. Their nursery is still my favorite room in our home. I know they will enjoy it for years to come and I am already looking forward to seeing how it evolves as they get older and their needs change. Thanks for following along! 

emmy and elle's nursery details:

Cribs- Pottery Barn Kids

Glider- Pottery Barn Kids

Dresser and Nightstand- Potter Barn Kids

Rug- Lowes

Lamp and lamp shade- Pottery Barn Kids

Chandelier- Potter Barn Kids (Ruby chandelier is currently out of stock online, call your local store to see if they still have this stunner. I linked the flushmount version.)

Mirror- Pottery Barn Kids

Large Monogram on the nursery wall- Pottery Barn Kids

Moses Basket and Moses Basket Rocking Stand- Restoration Hardware

Bunny and Lamb tummy time mats- Pottery Barn Kids

Curtains- Pottery Barn Kids

Curtain Rods- Lowes

Peacock and Rabbit storage boxes (a must have item for all new moms)- 3Sprouts

Heart Hats- House of Mia

Crib Sheets (we have at least 5 different sets)- Pottery Barn Kids

Crib Skirt- Potter Barn Kids

Chunky Knit throw blanket and white pillow on rocker- Both are from west elm

Crepe paper wall flowers- Pottery Barn Kids

Let me know if there is anything I missed that you want to know where you can snag it!