I’ll tell you, the nesting instinct is real. My family had a lot of rabbits when I was growing up. (Remind me to tell you the story because we had a WEIRD amount of rabbits growing up.) Anyway, when one of the rabbits was preparing to have her babies, we would put a little nesting box in her cage. Then the mom would start pulling out her own fur and putting it in the box to create a  nest for the babies.

Consider this nursery my fur nest.

But less weird and gross.

I’ve never been good at committing to a style, so the nursery became an eclectic collection of items we found and gifts we were given. We’ve spent the past few weekends assembling furniture, washing tiny laundry, hanging shelves, and filling frames. Once we pack our hospital bags and install the carseat, I think we might actually be ready (??!!) for this baby’s arrival.

We took a few photos of the nursery to humble brag about it to friends and family, and then I decided that I wanted to do a full-blown lifestyle photoshoot in the room.

And I wanted to do so without a photographer.

We decided early on that a formal maternity photoshoot was something we could live without. I’ve tried to document the pregnancy with some super-professional looking mirror selfies, Instagram filters, and the occasional ask-a-stranger-to-take-our-photo-please pictures, which have worked to this point. But yesterday the nursery was clean, my hair was clean AND blowdried, and we were both dressed in clothes that were not yoga pants. (In Alex’s defense, he is clean and dressed every day. I am the slacker.)

Despite my good intentions in learning how to use my camera in manual before the baby is born (I still have four weeks left), we shot all of these photos on my Nikon in automatic and used the timer setting for the shots we’re both in. Professional these are not, but I’m happy with the way that they document the pregnancy and the cozy nursery–especially considering:

1. Photographers recommend taking maternity photos around 32 weeks. I can attest that they probably right, as my photogenic levels have been on a steady decline since then.
2. Therefore, I threw a small tantrum (the cause could have been hormonal, but was probably more personality-based) after the first round of photos featuring me wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I took one look at the photos and threw said t-shirt on the ground, collapsed in a pile, and wailed (whaled–get my pun?!), “Why don’t I look glamorous?!!????” And cried.

I have the most patient husband in the world. (The only thing that makes him sincerely angry is when he orders something with NO MAYO and they put mayonnaise on it.) He collected me from my pile on the floor, told me to put on the one dress that I’ve worn in EVERY photo appearance throughout this pregnancy (thank you, H&M), and the photoshoot lived on.

The nursery is now my favorite room in the house. It’s just what we wanted it to be: cozy and happy and soft and bright. Here’s where we found a few of our favorite decor items:

Crib: Nordstrom (Babyletto)

Glider: Target (Delta Children)

Pouf: The Land of Nod

Dresser: Ikea

Rug: Target

Bookshelves: Ikea

Frames: Ikea

Prints: Etsy (Paper Canoe Printables)

Tassels: Project Nursery

“Kind Hear, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit” Print: Project Nursery

“You Are My Sunshine” Sign: Nordstrom

Elephant Hooks: The Land of Nod