16 of My Favorite Sources for Crib Sheets

I haven't talked much about Lucy's nursery on here, mostly because I'm about 75% there, but have gotten a) super busy with two kids (note to self: finish nurseries BEFORE the baby is born!) and b) I'm kinda stuck. I've been trying to decide for months whether or not to paint the upper half of the nursery white.

I love, love, love white nurseries. Pretty much 80% of my Pinterest boards on home decor are of white spaces. The problem is, I also am very attached to the tree that I painted on the wall before I had Violet. If I paint the space white, the tree will either have to go, or I'll have to figure out some really creative solution to keep in in another color. If the tree goes, I feel like I'll have a blank wall on that side of the room screaming for something. Unfortunately the wall is sloped (so I can't hang anything) and there is no real ceiling - it just curves straight into to the opposite wall, so no wallpaper unless you cover the entire room, which is why I painted the tree in the first place. So anyway, I figured I'll ask you for advice and in the meantime share a little bit of my favorite nursery items on here.

When I started updating the nursery for Lucy, one thing I really searched for were the perfect crib sheets. I wanted them to either be patterned or linen and relatively inexpensive. Here are 16 favorite sources for crib sheets that I came across along the way:

1. Candy Kirby Designs
2. Olive & Andrew on Etsy
3. Serena & Lily
4. Unison Home
5. Mayasri

6. Aunt Bucky on Etsy
7. Land of Nod
8. Little Auggie
9. Iviebaby on Etsy
10. Babiease on Etsy

11. Aden + Anais
12. Dwell Studio
13. RH Baby & Child
14. ModFox on Etsy
15. Target
16. Carousel Designs

Do you have any favorite sources that aren't on the list? I'd love to hear about them and/or hear what you think about the paint/tree situation! I've seriously been going back and forth in my head for months, and at this point I just feel ridiculous lol! xo, Lauren

P.S. Violet's nursery and a couple of peeks into the updated space so far.

Lucy Vivian: An Update on My Sweetie

Life got crazy over the holidays and I missed a few of Lucy's monthly updates (what a terrible excuse for a blogger/mother I am!) So without further ado, here's what my little cutie pie is up to lately:

Shortly after turning seven months old, near the end of November, our little lady started crawling! Ever so slowly at first, she scooted her way over to her big sister (much to Violet's shock and surprise) and tried snatching one of her toys! Now everyone in the house (especially Charlie and Moe Moe, our cats) really have to watch out because when she wants something she can move fast as lightning! She also started teething (I swear, the person who invented teething should be tarred and feathered! I think it was an evil dentist somewhere...) and her first bottom tooth popped through.

Then, just before turning eight months on December 8th, she started to say "Mama"! Such a sweet sound to her mama's ears. That is...until she started to say "Dada" just after she turned eight months, and stuck with it. Now "Mama" is pretty much reserved for if she's really upset and crying, otherwise, "Dada" it is! (I know my place) I think she definitely knows who she's talking about too, because if "Dada" is home, she will always look at him when she's saying it. And yep, she's got her daddy wrapped around her little chubby finger, don't you my little cherub? Bottom tooth number two came through as well somewhere around here as well (no I didn't record the exact date in her baby book...I mean, first I'd have to like, BUY a baby book or something), and she's been pulling herself up and anything and everything she can get her hands on.

She's also an awesome imitator. It started with head nodding - one night she was up late and I had her in the exersaucer (AKA Ring of Neglect - (thanks Mandy for the perfect nickname) AKA the Poop Chair (the only place she'd poop for the longest time!)), and I looked up at her and she was furiously nodding her head at me. I wasn't sure at first if it was some sort of weird baby tick from being tired - you know how their arms get all thrashy and stuff? So I nodded at her and she laughed hysterically. Then her face got really serious and she nodded back at me and waited. So I nodded at her, she giggled, and we went back and forth for a good ten minutes. Of course it was like a huge amazing monumental occurrence and I had to tell her Dad, who was also completely amazed by his daughter's mad nodding skills (funny what things are completely awesome when it's your own kid, but if someone else told me his kid could nod I'd be like, ummm...yeeeah. Good for you dude. Good for you...) The cutest part is that she laughs hysterically and then gets really serious for her next nod, like she's concentrating all of her little baby brain on that one motion. So. Adorable.

Now she's also able to imitate all kinds of cute sounds - clicking and clucking and sighing, and is starting to wave and kinda sorta blow kisses and give high fives. I can tell something has just clicked in her mind and she's moved to that next level, you know what I mean?

On the flip side, all of this developing has caused major sleep issues. I remember a blissful time when I could just put her down in the crib and walk out of the room. She'd fuss for like a split second when I left and then plunk her head down and GO TO SLEEP. It was AMAZING. But ever since the teething and developing and all of that craziness occurred, I guess separation anxiety decided to rear its ugly head too, because I couldn't leave the room without her having a complete and utter meltdown - I'm talking screaming, screeching, shrieking, full out cryfest to the point that I thought she'd make herself throw up. So we've regressed a lot when it comes to sleep, and mama's crazy tired. The bags under my eyes are like the size of Jupiter and I definitely am looking more and more like a character from The Walking Dead (and I don't mean the living ones) Oh, and did I mention that I stopped breastfeeding and weaned her onto a bottle right before she started teething? Well I did. If only I'd had a crystal ball so that I could have separated the two occurrences. As it was I had no clue which issues were cow's milk/formula/weaning related and which were teething related. That's been quite the adventure too, but that story will need its very own post I think. But the sleep thing is slowly getting better, although we have a long way to go to get back to the lay her down and leave strategy. (If we ever get back to it that is) Sigh.

Other fun little tidbits worth mentioning: She got to swing for the first time in the bucket swings at the park and loooved it, is starting to get really into books - especially the sensory kind with flaps and fur and whatnot, and is just the happiest smiliest girl on the block during the waking hours of the day.

We are so, so blessed to have you, our little Lucy Vivian. Sorry sweetie for being such a neglectful mama and dropping the ball on your monthly updates - I'm doing the best I can I swear! Love you to pieces! xo, Mama

P.S. Isn't this sweater the cutest?! Joules Clothing sent it over for Lucy and it's become one of our favorite go-to pieces this winter season. It's so warm and cozy and the colors are just perfect on her. They have a gorgeous line for little boys, girls, and babies alike - definitely go over and check it out!

P.S. Some of our other favorite go-to pieces for Lucy this winter:

Sweater c/o Joules Clothing
Knotted Headbands from Little Hip Squeaks
Stretch Denim Jegging from Carter's
Herringbone Duck Boots from Baby Gap
Coat from Zara Kids (no longer available)

P.P.S. Violet at nine months 

And the Winner Is...

The winner of the Sucre giveaway is Esther! Congratulations and thanks all for playing! xo, Lauren

Violet Says Vol. 10

1. Me: What are you doing in the bushes sweetie?
V: I'm looking for a secwet gahden mama!

2. Getting dressed in the morning...
Me: How about this outfit sweetie?
V: Welllllll...it's not what I was spectin' mama.

3. What is that evil smell???!!!

4. Playing princesses with her papa...
"Daddy, these pwincesses are sistuhs. They have to stand heeyah. Don't faht on them!"

5. Mommy, you have a  big bottom. But Daddy has an even bigger bottom than you do.

6. "Mommmyyyyy! I wanted you to sit WIGHT NEXT to me!"
*I move closer*
 "Not TOO close!"
*I move away*
"I STILL SMELL YOU!"

7. Kevin: "I'm going to eat you up!" (proceeds to munch on belly)
V: No, not my belly button Daddy! Because then I won't have a belly button and all my food will fall out on the flowuh!"

8. Holds out two necklaces. Thinks for a minute. Hides one behind her back. Asks sweetly: "Which one do you want, Mama?"

9. Playing dollhouse...
Violet has her doll call to its dog: "C'mon boy!" Then adds a side note to me: "But he's actually a girwl"

10. At a birthday party...
V: Can I have more candy mama?
Me: Sure sweetie, one more piece.
V: Why?!

P.S. Violet Says Vol. 8 and Vol. 9
P.P.S. Announcing the winner of the Sucre giveaway later today - stay tuned!

Natural Wonder

THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY UNCOMMON GOODS

Patchwood Headboard, Bubble Wall Clock, Animal Alphabet Print, Cardboard Moose Bust, Alphabet Factory Blocks, Hee Haw Pull Toy, Sleeping Fox Pillow, Wud Double Side Table, Sweet Dreams Pillow Cases, Invisible Shelf, Salt Desk Lamp, Moss Terrarium, Cubebot Puzzle, USA World Map Poster, Lake Louise Photographic Print

I was honestly totally into the idea of a third kid after I had Lucy - overall she's been so much easier than Violet was as a baby, but at nine months she's still not sleeping through the night, so I'm starting to rethink the whole idea! The bags under my eyes are about the size of Jupiter at this point, and I'm starting to resemble a character from the Walking Dead more and more each day (and I don't mean the living ones). You never know though - if I've learned one thing about motherhood it's that you forget the difficult things pretty quickly - my poor sister asked me sooo many questions after she had my nephew and I felt like such a loser because I couldn't answer half of them! I think it must be Mother Nature's way of keeping the species from going extinct :)

On the other hand, one of my favorite things to do is to create idea boards for teeny people - so much so that it almost makes me want to have like twenty kids so that I can create pretty bedrooms for all of them (okay, okay, so maybe I don't love it that much, but you get my drift!) But after a while using traditional sources for children's decor can start to feel a little like you're rehashing the same things over and over again. Something I love to do to keep things fresh is to explore my favorite sites that aren't necessarily branded as children's decor stores. I've always loved shopping at Uncommon Goods, and I've found a lot of favorite kids' toys, artwork, and even furniture there, so I teamed up with them to create this idea board. I love all of the natural elements and wood tones paired with the crisp modern blacks and whites. I would totally bring this room to life if I had a little boy! IF. xo, Lauren

This post was sponsored by Uncommon Goods. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One Lovely Thing

I came across these adorable puppets over on Gilt yesterday, and I'm completely smitten! They're made from reclaimed wool and I want each and every one. They're on sale for $15 on Gilt at the moment, but you can also buy them here on Cate & Levi. xo, Lauren

Giveaway from Sucre

-This Giveaway is Closed-

I'm a sucker for a pretty pastry, especially ones as delicious as these! Sucré sent a box of their divine signature macarons to my doorstep, and New Year's resolutions be darned, I enjoyed every last mouthful. I love that they arrive in a pretty gift box tied up with a ribbon, perfectly packaged for giving to one of your girlfriends or your sweetheart (Valentine's Day perhaps?) Not living in a big city, macarons aren't readily available for me, so this was a sweet treat for sure. Sucré also offers king cakes, perfect for Mardi Gras, and a pretty Valentine's Day collection (chocolate covered macarons, oh my!). And I'm excited to say that Sucré is giving away a box of their signature macarons to one of my readers as well! If you have a sweet tooth (or know someone who does), simply visit Sucré and let us know your favorite treat in the comments below. You can enter through Wednesday 1/22/14. Best of luck! xo, Lauren

The macarons were provided by Sucré - all opinions stated are my own. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents. All rules and conditions are subject to change without notice. 

-This Giveaway is Closed-

Little Adventurer

I created this ideabook for Houzz.com back in December, but never got around to sharing it with the holiday rush and demise of my laptop. So here it is a little bit late! xo, Lauren

P.S. If We Were Having a Boy, a Modern Safari Nursery, and a different kind of Little Adventurer's Room.

Nursery Finds to Energize and Inspire

When the new year rolls around, I always find myself craving fresh, bright, invigorating colors. I came across a striking rug on Etsy that combined traditional kilim patterns with a fun color palette and thought it would be perfect for a brilliantly colorful nursery design! I pulled colors from the rug and threw in some glitzy metallic accents and came up with this fun idea board. You can find sources over at my ideabook for Houzz.com right here. xo, Lauren

P.S. A Euro-Inspired Kids' Room and a Happy Nursery Design

Handmade Love

Aren't these just the prettiest wooden mobiles you ever did see? You can find them at The Red Bird Shop right here. xo, Lauren

Gallery Wall - Do or Don't + a Review for Lamps.com

One thing that I find sad about living in a small house is that there isn't much wall space for art. It's probably for the best, as I would have spent a lot more money on pieces that I love if I only had the space for them. One corner where I always wanted to put more artwork is this little corner between the sofa and the French doors in the family room. The problem is that we need a lamp on the end table for light, but I always felt that it would be silly to put artwork there because the lamp would cover up most of it. So when Lamps.com asked me to review their clear Dimond table lamp, I was excited. It has a clear base, and I thought that the glass would provide a better opportunity to hang some artwork in the space.

At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the cork shade - while I love the warm texture I didn't know how much light it would really give off. Luckily while it's not as bright as a lamp with a traditional shade it does give off a decent amount of light, so I'm very happy with it.

Next I decided to do a mock up of a collage/gallery wall to see if I liked it. All of this artwork was pilfered from elsewhere in the house with the exception of the canvas photos of the girls, and none of it is actually nailed to the wall. It's either leaning against the wall, stacked on top of one another, taped, or sticky tacked, but now that I have it all "up" I kind of love it and don't want to return everything to its proper place. So what do you think? Are you a fan of the gallery wall look, or is it too much? For reference, here's what the space looked like before. Thanks for any input! xo, Lauren

P.S. Isn't Violet just too precious in these photos? She saw me taking pictures, clambered up on the arm rest of the couch and flashed me the cutest smiles, how could I resist? Love my little ham.

Favorite Parenting Links Lately

I can so relate to this hand-lettering by Jason Vanderberg.

And speaking of sleep - The difference between moms and dads :) AKA What it's like to not to sleep all night. This one made me laugh out loud.

I always find Melissa's posts so inspiring. This is a beautiful lesson on staying flexible and making the best of what life hands you.

Love this idea. Plus here's a hilarious post in the same vein.

Nicole keeping it real - even design-conscious moms have plastic frog potty seats in their bathrooms.

P.S. Favorite parenting links from November and you can find me on Instagram here.

Christmas is Love.

I posted a photo on Instagram and Facebook a few days before Christmas proclaiming that it was "wrapping time!", and I was kind of shocked by the response - a bunch of "ugh's!" and "dislikes!" The funny thing is, I really and truly love wrapping gifts. Maybe it's the artsy/crafty person in me, but I find it fun and even therapeutic in a way. I love to put on White Christmas, sip some wine, and go a little crazy raiding my craft box. This year I learned to make those fancy bows (like the one up above) and they're actually pretty easy even though they look super complicated. (I used this tutorial) I love making the wrapping just as special and thoughtful as the gift within and having a pretty pile of presents to stack under my Charlie Brown tree.

I honestly thought maybe Violet would hate them because they're not covered in Disney characters and the string would be difficult to open, but it turned out that she loved them. Her scissors are one of her favorite things and my crazy gift wrap gave her a reason to use them, so she was all about cutting the ribbons and string. So much so that she wouldn't open the wrapping until she had snipped every last bit off, even if it was completely unnecessary. My dad started trying to hurry her along  saying, "You don't need to cut that part, sweetie - just rip it!" (and truthfully we should really have been hurrying a bit more, because we ended up being late to church. Whoops! More on that later), but I was happy to let her enjoy every minute of her gift opening in her own time in her own precious way.

Her favorite gift (if you can't tell by her expression) was her My Little Pony castle. It wasn't a gift I had planned to buy for her, it was actually requested by my niece, but in my tired mom delirium I had accidentally purchased two - one I ordered on Amazon, which I totally forgot about. Then I bought it again at Toys R Us and received the Amazon order the next day. Wah wah. I had planned to return one of them, but as soon as she saw it Violet was obsessed and it ended up being the one and only thing that she asked Santa for when she sat on his lap. So needless to say, Santa couldn't let her down, so the girl got a pony castle. The look on her face made it totally worth it even though she already had plenty of gifts and Lord knows she doesn't need another chintzy plastic castle :) It's not her favorite gift based on play time (that award probably goes to either her pirate ship or blocks), but on Christmas morning - nothing could top it.

Lucy mainly tried to eat the wrapping paper, and rip off all of the bows, and her favorite toys were probably the boxes that the gifts came in. I made sure to label a bunch of the bigger gifts as "To Violet AND Lucy" so that Violet knew that she had to share them with her little sister. She still asks me, "Mommy is this just my toy or is this Baby Luce's too?" She'll usually share with her sister even if the toy is her very own, but I planned this move way ahead of time just to be sure. After presents we ate a big breakfast casserole that Kev made (it was heavenly because a) it was truly heavenly and b) by that point I was ravenous). Then we started to watch a little Rudolph before we realized what time it was and that we were late for church! Luckily we made it in without too much of a disruption and even though I was a little embarrassed, everyone around us was really sweet and we didn't get a single dirty or judgmental look. I'm really glad we went - better late than never, right? We went up to see the nativity scene afterwards and Violet was really upset that she couldn't touch or even get close to the baby Jesus because of the way they had it set up. That's when I remembered a nativity scene near our house that we pass by all of the time and that Violet has requested many times to stop and look at, but there was always some reason not to. This time I decided that even though we still had a million things to do before our next event (like make a turkey! Clean up the house! Take a nap? (in my dreams)), we. were. stopping. It was freezing cold, but I'm so glad we did - it was so cute to see her in there visiting Baby Jesus on his birthday :)



When we finally made it back to the house, we realized we had never done stockings! (Which we had almost screwed up completely this year by stuffing them early) Luckily we came to our senses, unstuffed them, and waited to let Santa do it :) What can I say, we're stocking novices! This was the first year that they were necessary, because Violet was checking them daily. Previous years she didn't really even know they existed. We even put some underwear and chocolate in our own because we didn't want her to think that the Big Man had forgotten us :) I'm glad we did because she insisted that we look in our stockings first before she tore into hers and Lucy's. Then I frantically made the turkey, cleaned the house, and packed our bags to visit Kevin's family before collapsing into the car, completely and utterly exhausted.

While it didn't end up being the laid back relaxing Christmas morning that I was picturing (I mean, really why I was expecting that at all I don't know). I guess when you're a kid it all seems so effortless and fun and easy, but when you're the one behind the scenes making everything happen it feels completely different. Even three-and-a-half years in I'm still getting the hang of this being a mom stuff.

Even though the holidays can be so tiring as a parent - staying up wrapping gifts, cleaning up the house, prepping breakfast, rushing here and there - it makes everything worth it when you see their little faces light up on Christmas morning. I think if there's any magic in the world, it's in watching your kids experience life. I want to say a special thank you to my mom and dad for all that they did to make the holidays special for my sister and me. Now I know what you did for us, and why. Christmas is love. xo, Lauren

Tying Up Loose Ends

In case you didn't see my posts on Facebook or Apartment Therapy, I wanted to put it out here as well. We're hoping to start the wheels turning in the direction of selling our house and finding a slightly larger one for our family. Between the baby things, the preschooler things, the new explosion of Christmas things, and just our normal stuff, the house is feeling way to small for our family. We've tried decluttering and rethinking our spaces, but we just keep coming back to the fact that as much as we love this little house, it isn't going to hold us forever. A third baby isn't off the table, and it feels like we're just constantly stepping over and trying to find homes for everything.

Finances are going to be a big question mark, as I'm currently off work for the year with the kids and am not getting paid and would love to be part-time when I do go back. I'm not sure how much of a financial stretch that would end up being, as I have yet to look into daycare options (our trusted babysitter is adopting her fifth child, so unfortunately she can no longer watch my girls). I'm also not sure how much of our nest egg we'll end up using during my time off. We still have a long way to go. But regardless of all of that I'd like to get our minds focused in that direction and set the wheels in motion. I also blog over at Apartment Therapy, and when they offered for me to participate in the January Cure this year it seemed like the perfect way to get started. We're the kind of people who need deadlines to get things done, especially these days with two kids underfoot.

We've accomplished a lot in our time here at the H-Haus - knocking down walls, painting and repainting, putting up wallpaper, installing trim and hardwood floors, replacing the roof, hot water heater, and furnace...the list goes on. But there are a lot of loose ends to tie up before we could even think about putting our house on the market. We bought at the height of the market and I seriously doubt that we'll get what we paid for the place, so we want to have it looking tip-top to get as much as we can back out of it. Hopefully launching this goal out into the universe will help to make it a reality. Wish us luck and you can follow along with my January Cure right here! xo, Lauren

P.S. Last year's January Cure and our master bedroom refresh.