Before: This is what our nursery looked like before it became a nursery.

Thank to you every single person that has reached out to us after we announced our journey into foster care! Whether you have sent us a message encouraging us that we can do this, donated or let us borrow your gently used baby/kid items, or generously blessed us by buying something off our Amazon wish list, you have been an integral part of our team and we sincerely can’t thank you enough. Though, we will continue to try to show our immense gratitude 🙂

This whole foster care adventure has already stretched me in so many ways…and we don’t even have kids yet! JJ and I finished our last home study in late September. Woohoo! That means no more paperwork…for now! As of now we are just waiting for official approval to arrive from the state of Georgia.

We finished painting the room that will be our nursery over the summer and decided to go with a travel/explore theme featuring hot air balloons. Since we don’t know what genders and what ages we will be hosting in our home, we wanted to use a cute unisex theme that both girls and boys would enjoy. To say we are in love with our nursery is a narcissistic understatement. When we step into that room, I feel like George Banks seeing the finished baby suite for the first time in Father of the Bride 2 (I love Chip and Joanna Gaines, but Franc’s baby suite is original goals.)

After: Now this room is ready to welcome babies and toddlers 🙂

Most of the big-ticket items (cribs, changing table/dresser, curtains, etc.) in this room came together because of the generosity of viewers like you…I mean family and friends. Sorry, I am sounding like a PBS pledge drive, so I couldn’t resist. Seriously, we can’t say thank you enough for showing up for us and the kids we get the privilege of loving on in the days to come.

I hope I still find this as cute as I do right now when I’m changing a smelly diaper on it.

JJ built the bookstand/toy cubby. He did such a great job (of course!), and he used some leftover paint from when we painted the living room last year. The color goes perfectly with the other colors in the room, so we saved money and kept our aesthetic! We purchased the “wall words” from At Home, and the floating hot air balloon JJ bought me years ago for Christmas on Amazon. If you are ever looking for adorable collector versions of classic children’s books like Madeline or The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Barnes and Noble sells beautiful editions for very reasonable prices. They usually range from $10-$20, and they are some of my favorite books. We went to Target for the crib sheets, and at $9.99 each I forever will love Tar-jay.

Some of this stuff is new, some of it we have repurposed for the nursery. You can make a really sweet space without breaking the bank.

Many of the books, toys, and stuffed animals I had already purchased a long time ago…as in years in some case. Since we have gotten married, I have bought kid’s stuff without JJ’s knowledge (he always found out…obviously…but only after I already bought the items haha). He would always tease me and be like, “Why are you buying stuff for children we don’t even have yet?” I would tell him a lot of women do this, especially for special one-of-a-kind items they don’t want to miss out on when the time comes (This is true, right? Or is this a lie I am using to justify my purchases to myself?).

Hard to believe that soon these cribs will have precious little ones in them.

Like I’ve said before, I really don’t believe anything is random. God has always known JJ and I would pursue foster care even before we put pen to paper. Even if most women don’t buy things they don’t need for children they don’t have, I can say with confidence that God was practically preparing us for the things we would someday need to have within a very short timeframe.

As our nursery patiently waits for the babies and toddlers that will rest their eyes and dream dreams within its walls, I sit here praying. I am lifting up a prayer of gratitude that JJ and I get to do this, a prayer of praise for the people that have shown up to be the hands and feet of Jesus to us and our future kids, and a prayer of wild, hope-filled wishes for our growing family.

The best is yet to come.