Carver & Macy's Bedroom

One of the things I did over a yearish of waiting (and distracting myself) for Carver and Macy, was preparing their bedroom. That, and the gym. ;) 

I of course, scoured Pinterest since the beginning of time just a couple of times. I revisited those boards and pins and chose things from here or there to incorporate into their bedroom, and a few personal touches.

We knew we wanted them to share a bedroom for a few reasons:

1.) we have three bedrooms total within our house, and have always had a "roommate" or room to house out of town guests. We wanted to use our space the most efficiently and still be able to have that option to welcome others.

2.) Carver and Macy have shared a room (with five other kids too) at the baby home in Uganda. We wanted them being in a new home, a new country, new family, new culture, to not be added to, by being separated in new rooms. So we kept it to A new room, together. 

3.) they're sharing the bigger room of the two spares, and honestly, now that we're home, they're only in their rooms to sleep. We play outside or downstairs the most. :) 

Ok, so we started with repainting the room. It was this dull ugly light tan-yellowish color. I scouted my favorite color of walls via Pinterest, got the exact paint, threw it on the walls with my youngest brother, dad, and Beau....annnnnnnnnnd, it looks NOTHING like the picture on Pinterest. It looks more green than brown/tan. Ha! Whatever.

Before: 

I remember asking my third graders to help me pick what swatch, one of my boys said, "I think you should go with a more neutral color. I think a bright color will make it harder for them to be calm and sleep!"  LOL what 8 year old says that? I tried. 

We already had a double bed, so yes, my 3.5 year old has a bigger bed than most kids/same size as some couples share. Ha!! Again, 

1.) we didn't want to buy a new bed. 

2.) he'll grow into it. 

3.) it's useful for if we ever house a large amount of guests....that calls for a sleepover in mom and dads room so a couple can share a larger than a twin bed. 

I knew the color scheme I wanted needed to be suitable for a boy and girl- and I'm not a "theme" person: Disney movie character, trains, fairies, whatever. I wanted them to be able to grow into it and easily changed by decor colors, and that if we ever split them into seperate rooms, it didn't matter who stayed with the brown walls. (I say that now.....) I liked combinations of orange, bright green, bright blue, browns, etc. it just so happened Target had a bedding set including all of those! Yay! We slowly added the touches as the year went....so fun!!!!! 

Without further ado, their bedroom.

After: 

My wonderful little boy made his bed and folded all his blankets all by himself. 

(Someone closed the door and wasn't sure how to get back out!)

A wonderful friend, and parent of a student, blessed us with their crib and dresser combo! LOVE that I get to think of them every time I put Little Miss to bed. (Thank you Shimps!!)

Enough stuffed animals for life, before they even came home. 

My aunt's adoption shower gift was making these prints for me, she scoute my Pinterest boards/knew the color scheme and made them for their room. :) 

These animals strings are straight from a Ugandan market. Made from African fabric...one of my FAVORITE touches to their room. Little elephants, zebras, rhinos, and giraffes in bright African colors. A sweet sweet reminder of their first home!

Quilts:

My mom made each of the kids a personalized quilt. :) love the keepsake of that. 

* The easel was a shower decoration that we got to keep.

* I made the giraffe frame from a piece of fabric that matched the bedding, and a gift sack from a shower my class held for me. (All the colors of their room- and giraffe. How awesome!) 

* My sisters (Tay and Katlyn) gifted us with the board with "Orphan no more" from a craft fair they went to. Love the reminder. I am no longer an orphan because of God's love through His son Jesus, and the cross. I'm a child of God. And Carver and Macy are no longer earthly orphans either. :) praise God! We pray that someday they'll also make the choice to become a son and daughter of the King.

* Verse Dedications: These simple cardstock cards were created for each of Carver and Macy by my principal (my boss- haha!) and given to me in front of the entire elementary school one Fall day at Chapel. She prayed over and found a "life verse" you could say, for each of them. (Super cool story about this later) I'm not sure they'll stay here yet, but for now- this is where they stay.)

* Zebra canvas. A wonderful friend of mine found it on their vacation to California! (Then had it shipped back to Iowa and blessed us with it at my classroom shower!) Another favorite in their room!!!! (I LOVE ORANGE!) 

Curtains:

The curtains were home-sewn by one of the amazing grandmas in out kiddos' lives.

World Map Canvas:

Last but not least, I saved up birthday money and giftcards and a nifty Cartwheel coupon, and snagged this baby from Target.  I have this thing for world maps. Globes. (You get it.)

I would often lay on Carver's bed or stand over Macy's crib while we waited, praying for them, and just gazing at this map. How far apart we were. An ocean apart. Continents apart. 

And now, NOW THEY ARE HOME.