Dakota’s Nursery Tour

Today we have another dreamy room tour to share with you! The mural is so pretty and really transforms Dakota’s beautiful nursery. You can read more about her mama, Becca on her blog here and follow her on Instagram, here!  If you have a kid-friendly space you’d like to share please email us at submissions@themamanotes.com

I’m Rebecca (Becca, Bec), mom of 3 and wife to my college sweetheart, who I LOVE more with each passing day! I’ve lived in Tampa almost my entire life, and I feel lucky to live here still where we’re close to both sides of our families. Family is everything to me. I have 3 siblings and the best parents a girl could ask for. (That includes my in-laws.) I live by the mantra, “Know your tribe, and love them hard.” Having a solid circle of loved ones around me makes my world go round. I graduated from the University of Florida, with a degree in Public Relations and worked in sales (and some retail) for several years before getting married and becoming a stay-at-home mom. However, I’ve always kept busy with my own business ventures since doing so. I owned an Etsy store, selling girls hair bows and headbands for about 5 years before starting my blog in 2015. Blogging led to some time doing interior decorating and kitchen design. But ultimately, my favorite “job” is being a Mom. Having my blog and sharing everything I LUV through my social channels helps me honor my passions in a way that just blends with my everyday life, and I’m honored to have this platform. My {newest} daughter Dakota is 2 and a half months old. I had her early (at 33 weeks and 4 days) on March 26, which was just 1 day before my oldest daughter Emerson turned 9. My son Corbin is 6.

Decorating is one of my biggest passions, but my VERY favorite rooms to decorate are nurseries. I had an extremely difficult pregnancy. (More on this below.) Having this space to decorate during this difficult time was bittersweet (as I was always concerned what the ultimate outcome would be) but also extremely cathartic, as it gave me hope and happiness and often distracted me from my fears. As you can see from the decor in the rest of our home, I LUV neutral palettes. Lots of creams and whites and grays. (I do believe you can mix warms with cool tones, if you do it the right way.) My pop of color is usually done with the use of natural greenery. I found this wall mural (from Rebel Walls) in a design online and knew it was going to be my pop of color! I absolutely LUV how whimsical it is and how it makes you feel like you’re in a forest. I wanted Dakota to feel like she was amongst the fairies. :) The show-stopper was going to be the rose gold crib. And boy, is it! We HUNTED all over for this crib! I partnered with (what was at the time) The Mine, A Lowe’s Company. We placed the order for the crib but then had an issue getting it from overseas from the distributor bc it was in such high demand. I waited patiently, just hoping it would become available, because it was so important to the overall design of the nursery, and I am SO happy that I did because it is my very favorite piece in the space!

I really LUV Spearmint Baby for all things baby! (They are NOT a partner, just one of my fav places to shop.) For my big kids, I LUV H&M and Target for a lot of their clothes and shoes, etc, and we also shop a lot at Abercrombie Kids. My daughter recently started LUV’ing Justice, too. For decor, I LUV Crate Kids and Target.

The most challenging part of motherhood for me RIGHT NOW is balancing my time and affection. We really enjoyed being a family of 4 and our overall dynamic. Our time always felt pretty balanced between getting one on one time with each of our kids. So my concern with adding another family member was that it would effect that dynamic, and that my big kids would feel as though they got less of my attention and time. I do my best to still spend one on one time with each of them, but my pregnancy was pretty consuming and then having a preemie and spending a lot of time in the NICU affected this as well. So, I’m constantly gut-checking… have I given each of them enough affection today? Did I let each of them know how special they are to me? I tell them each daily, “You’re my best friend.” I always want them to know that they are each special to me and nothing and no one will ever replace my love for them. I also want them to always know that while adding a sibling may take away some of their time or attention, it also adds so much love to their lives. I absolutely LUV being a sibling of 4, so I’m so happy that we decided to add another sibling to their dynamic. Life is so full with a big family, and I LUV every second of it. Honestly, if they hadn’t taken my uterus, I probably would have had another… But I’m SO grateful that God gave us these 3 angels.

Where do I start?? (sigh…) I shared about our decision to have a third in this blog post.

In short, we decided we were done having babies when our second was born. We had a boy and a girl and felt complete. Until, I didn’t anymore. I decided I wanted another child when my son was about 4, and we (and by “we”, I mean “he”, my husband) reversed his vasectomy so that we could try for a third. After a chemical pregnancy (I only knew I was pregnant for one day) and a miscarriage (I miscarried at about 6 weeks), we were pregnant with our rainbow baby. Then… at 19 weeks… I was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition called placenta percreta, in addition to complete placenta previa, and my life was changed forever. I shared about it here.

I was not only concerned about potentially losing the baby. But I was told that I would have to have a hysterectomy whenever I delivered, (which I knew could be extremely early). So, I knew, that no matter what, this would be my last pregnancy.

Ultimately, I ended up in the hospital at about 30 weeks and had Dakota at 33 weeks. She was then in the NICU for 2 more weeks. She’s doing fantastic and my outcome was miraculous! The biggest concern with my pregnancy was my risk of hemorrhaging at delivery. I was even advised by some to write letters to my children and husband, as the risk was so high. I decided against this, as I always tried to keep my mind in the most positive place possible, but to say this journey was scary is the understatement of the century.

I’m grateful every single minute of every single day that God protected me through this journey, and that I’m here to tell about it. You can learn more about placenta previa here.

100% my biggest advice to new moms is, “This, too, shall pass!” When you’re in the trenches of motherhood, it can feel so consuming, exhausting, emotionally draining. You’re given up your body, a lot of your mind, and definitely given of your sleep and time. You think… when will this end? When will I have my body back? When will I have my mind back? When will I sleep again and be able to go out with my friends or on a date night? The thing is… this time does pass. And it passes SO much faster than you ever imagine it will.

So… when your toddler is having a temper tantrum in the aisles of Target and you’re newborn is spitting up in your hair and you’re eyeing the Mom who’s holding her Starbucks, shopping alone… thinking… why can’t that be me? Don’t. TRY, TRY, TRY to remind yourself that in a few very short years, those babies will no longer be babies. They’ll be in school, hanging out with their friends, doing their own things. And this season of motherhood is fleeting. You are SO needed right now. And while that can be exhausting, it’s also SO rewarding and you’ll probably look back on it as the happiest years of your life. When my 2 big kids were passing this phase, I learned how much I really LUV’d it. That’s what made me decide to have a third. This time around, I’m soaking these moments up SO MUCH MORE. I don’t even really mind the sleepless nights. I know they’ll pass quickly, and this is definitely the last time I get to do this…

I LUV following Lisa Allen (of Salty Lashes). Her effortless boho-chic style is my fav, and I just feel like I can relate with her overall more than most. I also really enjoy following Mellisa of @ellabrooksblog and Destiny of Truly Destiny. I also LUV to follow Lauren McBride for great mama finds and advice and Leanne Benjamin for her effortless mom-style!

I’m not. I don’t have time. If I get a second to myself, I watch mindless television (pretty much anything on Bravo) or catch up with my gal pals on Insta and/or their blogs. But I do have Erika Jayne’s book and it’s next on my list to read… hopefully when we go on vacation in July I’ll get a little time to do that!