Grayson's Baby Suite, Part One

You may already know that I’m having a baby and that it’s a boy. We had his name picked out long before this pregnancy which makes me think that he was destined to be. Due this November is our son Grayson.

Feedback for his name has been amazing. While I didn’t ask for opinions, because quite honestly since we love Grayson it doesn’t matter if others do, it seems that our name choice is adored by many. Plenty of people have said that they love our name. To those people I say “Thank you” we love it too. Credit is due to my husband for picking it out. I don’t remember why he thought of it, but I instantly knew when I heard it that it was perfect. SO perfect, that I kept trying to convince him that if we spelled it differently that we could still use it for a daughter. He never went for it.

Something else that was decided long before we knew it was baby boy Grayson is the nursery theme. I am not a “girly-girl” so if baby had been a Jadynn she would have had a very neutral setting. No pink, no purple, no fluff, and no tiaras. Boy or girl, this baby’s room would be done in shades of black, grays, and white. Coincidentally his name is Grayson and his room has grays. Ironic I know. If you know me well I know what you must be thinking. You think the color choice is based on the fact that mom’s favorite color (shade to be technical) is black. True as that is and an awesome coincidence to boot, that is not why we (I) choose this. I didn’t want to do sports, princesses, trains, or jungles with many animals. I instead wanted to incorporate something baby-esque that both dad and I love too. So what do I love most at the zoo? Giraffes, monkeys, and penguins are my favorites. Dad’s favorite is the penguins. So it seemed like an easy no-brainer, use a penguin set. Well it wasn’t an easy answer after all.

I challenge you to find a cute penguin infant bed set. I saw two. One was ugly prints and the penguins were far from adorable. The other included penguins but other arctic animals as well which wasn’t what I had in mind. I’ll quote Barney from the show How I Met Your Mother when I say, “Challenge accepted”.

Fabrics for Quilt

I’ve made significant progress in developing Grayson’s suite though I can’t share much of it in photos just yet. I purchased a used glider from a friend and had the cushions covered in a soft gray material. My dad will paint the glider black at which time I can take a picture. I purchased a white changing table from another friend and plan to alter it as well. I have a gray bed skirt that I don’t use on my own bed and plan to trim and sew it to be used as a crib skirt. I am registered for awesome gray chevron crib sheets, and my friend Katie’s mom is making the baby quilt. I picked out the prints for the quilt myself. The pattern for the quilt can be found here.

Penguin Pillow by Katie

On Pinterest I found a penguin pillow that I thought was adorable and would help tie my theme together. I don’t plan to sew penguins on the blanket; it’s more about colors of a penguin. This pillow would help tie the theme together. The pattern can be found and purchased here. My friend Katie decided to make the penguin herself without using the purchasable pattern. I love her penguin so much more, and it will be special because it will remind me of her always.

I’ve also created three 8x8 pictures that I plan to frame and hang on the wall opposite of his crib. The pictures are of penguins from the movie “March of the Penguins” with captions at the bottom from the movie. I altered the photos in Photoshop from the original state to appear more artistic and sketched. I’ll share these later when I’ve printed and framed them.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love and trust me when I say that I LOVE it. My creative side needs projects like this. Don’t be discouraged from doing this yourself. With attention to details, and inspiring ideas you could come up with something amazing and also surprisingly cheaper. Already I have spent less money total than I would have on just the crib bedding set alone. Stay tuned, I’ll be sharing more as I progress.