We did manage to finish the nursery before our boys made their early arrival. I am too thrilled with how it turned out. I remember when the idea hit me for what I wanted to do in this room. It was the absolute middle of the night and I had just gone to the bathroom for probably the 4th time since we went to bed. I had been thinking a lot about how to raise two righteous young men in today’s world. All that kept running through my mind was “start now.” Start now teaching them how to treat women. Start now teaching them to study the scriptures. Start now teaching them about missions. Start now.

I came back from the bathroom and woke Cameron up.

“I know what we’re going to do for the nursery.”

“Seriously, Kristin?”

I was too excited. Inspiration had struck and I needed to share it with him.

“We’ll theme it around ‘I’ll go where you want me to go’. Vehicles, maps, travel, etc. It’s perfect.”

Needless to say, Cameron was much more excited to talk about this once the sun came up.

The biggest shot of the room I could get. The view going the other direction isn’t very pretty at this point. I’m still waiting for the boys to get a bit bigger so we can take a picture of the boys in these cute hats my sister made for them and blow it up for the wall over the cribs. Until then, it’s just big and blank.

That gorgeous changing table was built from scratch by my very own handyman husband. (Affectionately named “Handy Cammy” by my sisters.)

It was truly a labor of love. He designed it, built it, and stained it all on his own. It is perfection and I couldn’t be more in love with it. The right hand cabinet fits our hamper perfectly. The top drawer has diapers and wipes. Middle drawer holds all the cloth diapers I made until the boys fit them. The left cabinet is stocked with diapers and wipes from our baby shower. I feel so prepared. And once the boys are grown, it will make a beautiful console for elsewhere in our home.

I had a blast designing the prints above the table. The large one says “I’ll go where you want me to go” on a background of a subway map.

The heart print on the bottom right includes maps of where all the men in our immediate family served their missions. I love that our boys have so many good examples to look up to!

The clocks mark the minute our boys entered the world. On the far right you can see a shadowbox with two missionary tags that say “Elder Call” on them, from Cameron and his dad’s missions. Eventually that engagement picture on the far left will be replaced with a cute newborn picture as well.

I love the artwork above the rocking chair. My mom gave me a puzzle last Christmas of the US made up of license plates. I’d done it 3 or 4 times already and knew it would be just perfect for the nursery. Cam found a piece of wood at work, we put the puzzle together, he stained the wood with leftover stain from the changing table and adhered the glued together puzzle to it. Bammo, artwork for $0.

The curtains are actually two sheets we bought from DI. Cam cut them into strips and I sewed them back together. Each sheet cost $2. Curtains for $4. And they block out the sun pretty darn well.

I love this little pillow. I really wanted to include a tandem bike somewhere in the room. Two seats for two boys. I love that. And it only took about 10 minutes to make with my silhouette.

This “dresser” was really a great solution as well. Cam found it outside his work and asked if he could have it. Apparently it had been there for years. We cleaned it up and gave it a fresh coat of paint. Lucky enough, target carried bins for $6 that fit perfectly.

This clock is one of my favorites. We found it at RC Willey for $16 on clearance after a $25 giftcard we got from unsubscribing from their mailing list. Who knew?

I couldn’t be happier with how this all turned out. The idea of “start now” causes me to act a little differently. I know sometimes it feels weird to read a Book of Mormon board book to 2 week old babies, but starting now means the habits are being formed both in us as parents and in them. It sometimes feels weird to plan a FHE when the boys aren’t even old enough to focus their eyes on us or react to our facial expressions, but we’re starting now to develop a pattern of consistency and a priority on family time.

It’s not much, but it’s a start.

A while ago, I posted this. And so many of you showed your support by sending in a square of fabric and a sweet note to our little family, before our boys were even on the radar. The notes were very well timed.

My mom and I laid out the quilt top while I was on bedrest during our IVF cycle.

My sister finished the quilt just in time for my baby shower.

The quilt hung in our hospital room when our boys were admitted to the NICU.

And now, the quilt is doing what it was always intended to do. Wrap up my sweet boys and cuddle them close.

So thank you for all of your support. All the prayers, notes, meals, tears, kindness we’ve received over the past few years means so much to us.

Here’s to answered prayers.

This morning, we woke up the boys at 7. Fed them as quick as possible (they were TIRED!) and left for the pediatrician’s office. My poor boys didn’t know what was about to hit them, but it was time to be circumcised… ouch.

I’ve never heard them cry like that.

Hard as it was, I loved being able to calm them down. It made me feel like a Mother. Diaper changes and getting up in the middle of the night and snapping pictures of these cute boys make me feel like a Mom. Really soothing my little ones and knowing how much they need me? That makes me feel like a Mother.

The traumatic experience helped them learn how to hold on to my hand pretty quickly. They used to hold my finger every now and again, but now both of them hold on tight. I love that they know me.

We drove around for about 45 minutes after the appointment to help them get to sleep, which resulted in stopping to pick up smoothies and croissant sandwiches for breakfast. After we got home, conference was about to start so Cam and I each cuddled a boy and hit the couch. All the crying has completely exhausted my poor boys. We’ve had to spend at least 20 minutes waking them up for each feeding and then a time or two during the feeding we have to wake them up again.

The first session of conference was incredible. I’m sure the second was too, but all 4 of us were knocked out for it. Deep, blissful sleep. Everyone touching another member of the family.

Our little family.

Lots of love in this little living room of ours.

On another happy note, I really struggle to find anything on these boys that looks like me. My sister mentioned the day they were born that Gray had my little toe. I know that sounds silly, but my pinky toe curls under itself completely, like an eagle claw. I finally noticed it again today. Little Gray has my claw toe! Makes me so happy. Also, makes me happy that I can actually prove to my mom that it is, in fact, genetic, and that I didn’t just wear too small of shoes all growing up.

So happy to be all together in one place.

Worth the wait.