Pop Up Nursery in a Pinch

With our first baby the room was painted and decorated by 20 weeks and we had little left to do than to fret over all the unnecessary crap we were sure to buy and seldom use on the first go-round. So sure, things would have been different for baby number two anyway: hand-me-down clothes, toys, gear…kid’s basically getting sloppy seconds across the board. But this second pregnancy has been significantly different.

For one, we’re living at our first post abroad in West Africa, which has meant being pregnant away from friends, family, and our doctors. It’s meant trips to London for milestone check ups. The most nesting I did at post was to team up with the Hubs to rearrange our son’s room for cohabitation when we eventually get back with baby.

Second, with the baby stuff already procured and the existing knowledge of how to raise another human in our back pockets, we’ve been able to relax a lot more and let life distract us from our impending family growth spurt (East African Safari at six months? Why not!).

But finally on medevac to the U.S. and settled into our Air BnB (tastefully decorated with a lifetime’s worth of someone else’s chachkies), it felt like something was majorly missing. We moved into someone else’s home. Full of someone else’s stuff. Lots of it. Yes, the room back home was ready for baby, but here it just felt like bringing baby home was an afterthought. Not to mention I’d failed to consider making our toddler feel at home. I packed an entire suitcase of toys for him, yes, but he was proud of his big boy dinosaur bed at home and now I was asking him to just live in some unfamiliar bedroom for three months like it was nothing. Luckily my nesting instincts and love of Target kicked in and we were able to cobble together a Pop Up Nursery and Toddler’s Room to make us feel a little more at home.

Details on the products after the jump.

In Baby’s room:

Tassel Bunting – $5.00 by Paperchase from Target

Changing Pad – $17.99 by L.A. Baby from Target – set on a desk top, hand-me-down cover

6 Piece Block Picture Frames – $24.99 by Oh Joy! from Target

Stacking Rabbit Toy and Rattles – Gifts

‘Drawers’ for Clothing – Had these on hand from Ikea – these we bought as part of hanging closet storage for Baby Uno, they fold down flat and we were able to bring them from post easily for organization

Clothes – Hand-me-downs from Baby Uno and friends.

Bassinet – Borrowed from a friend

Multi-Colored Paper Fans – $10.00 by Paperchase from Target

Mint Storage Bin – $7.99 by Room Essentials from Target

Diapers and Wipes – Monthly bundle subscription to the Honest Company, they ship free to APO/DPO addresses

Panda Teddy – Overpriced gift from Big Bro found at Tabletop in Takoma, DC

Quilt – Hand-me-down from a friend

Hospital Bag – $34.99 by Mossimo from Target

Baby Be of Use Books – Classics borrowed from Big Bro

 

In Little Man’s Room:

Dinos for the bookshelf – brought from post, originally purchased on Amazon

Buddies for bedtime – assorted brought from home home

Dinosaur sheets – $17.99 by Circo from Target