“Do twins run in your family?”
first ultrasound picture of Chip & BriggsI usually get asked about twins in my family within .1 seconds of telling someone we have twins. We found out in February 2020 that I was pregnant again, and we found out a few short weeks afterwards that there were not one but TWO little babies in there!
Two babies was an incredible blessing (and what I call a “God-wink”) for a few reasons… in 2018, we lost two babies. I can share more about both of those losses later, but suffice it to say, we were devastated. Then in 2019, we became foster parents to two little ones, and while it was overwhelming (especially those first few weeks), it was so beautiful having four children in this house. When our foster children left, Eve & Wilson began praying for more babies. At one point Wilson prayed for me to have three babies at once and I remember thinking: look God, you and I go way back, waaaay further back than you and Wilson, so please please please ignore his prayer for three babies.
Twins do run in both of our families, by the way, but that still never made it feel particularly fathomable to have twins of our own.
Fast forward to early 2020, and we were over the moon to find out about the twins. Because of my previous losses (the second loss took place in the second trimester), we were hesitant to get our hopes up. There were a lot of complications throughout every week of the pregnancy.
By the time I reached the second trimester, the pandemic had started, our kids were home from school, and we desperately needed something to celebrate, so we decided to find out the gender of the twins. We didn’t find out for Eve or Wilson and I truly loved the surprise, but 2020 was enough of a surprise for us! (Can I get an amen?) We did a little zoom gender reveal party and each kid opened a piñata in our front yard: blue candy spilled out of Wilson’s piñata first, and then more blue candy spilled out of Eve’s! Two baby boys. <3
Since this was my first pregnancy knowing the gender of the baby/ babies, I was excited to decorate the nursery with something other than gender neutral design. (You can read about Eve’s nursery here!) And since we knew four kids was a perfect number for our family– yes, we’re very much done having babies– I wanted to have extra fun putting it together.
SO… in true Lynne fashion, I decided to make it a pig themed baby boy nursery. Yup. In honor of our two beloved kune kune pigs, Tinkerbell and Mr. Smee.
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Designing a Pig Themed Nursery
The first thing I did was commission paintings of Mr. Smee and Tinkerbell from an artist on Etsy. (If you’ve made it this far in life without commissioning portraits of your pet pigs, you haven’t lived.) I wanted the pigs’ faces with a dark blue background. It was one of those things where I was chatting back and forth with the artist about what I was looking for and I kept thinking am I really doing this?
But yes, I really did it. I got the artwork framed at Michael’s and chose a rustic gold frame.
The art became the “theme” for the rest of the nursery– rustic gold and dark blue.
White DIY Wainscoting
Next, David put up wainscoting on the bottom half of the walls and crown molding trim at the top around the ceiling. The wall color is Swiss Coffee and the trim color is Navajo White.
The original plan was to wallpaper the top half of the walls but I ultimately decided 1) wallpaper was out of our budget given how I’d spent a couple hundred dollars on custom pig portraits and frames (that feels so ridiculous to type), and 2) I liked the more simple look of all white walls.
The Big Ticket Items
My aunt gifted us the beautiful rug that covers most of the floor in this big ol room, which is perfect. My mom gave us the amazing blue rocker (I think this is the exact one she gave us):
I love the modern feel to add a touch of crisp boy energy to this room. An old fashioned looking glider/ rocking chair would have made the room feel a little to stuffy or perhaps feminine to me, but the strong straight lines of this chair are perfect.
As any nursing momma can attest, having a little table next to the rocking chair is a “must” for water or snacks, especially in those early days. Don’t be fooled by the pretty tulips I used to stage this photo– 9 times out of 10 I’ve got a water bottle sitting there!
It was important to me to have a waterproof table because I didn’t want to worry about spilling anything. In Eve’s nursery I cared too much about that and it became a stupid stressor. That’s the last thing any sleep deprived momma needs. I also didn’t want anything bulky and dark because the rocking chair is big and dark. Sooooo this pretty modern metalic one was perfect. Highly recommend.
Twin Cribs
THEN: I scored a great deal on two used white cribs from Facebook Marketplace! It was perfect! They match, they’re white and simple, and I don’t really know much else about them but they work great for us.
I decided to get dark blue crib skirts:
and my sweet friend Marie gifted us the blue and white plaid crib sheets (from Burt’s Bees, organic and sooooo soft):
I don’t think Burt’s Bees has them in stock in blue anymore but here are some that look the same:
Something about the plaid makes it look kind of rustic and farmhouse-y to me. I thought I would do matching plaid curtains and quickly decided it was too busy. Instead we decided to go curtain-less and just get blackout roller shades for the two windows. (Having curtains in a nursery makes me a little anxious anyway. You never know if babe can reach them from the crib or pull them down while unattended or something like that.)
Matching Name Plaques Above the Cribs
We finally settled on the twins’ names at the end of the summer (they were due in October) and I asked the local company Caldwell Trading Co. to design pig name plaques to hang on the wall above each crib. (Again, I am crazy and felt crazy requesting this. To their credit, they cheerfully acted like it was a normal request and made them just like I asked!)
The sides and names are painted in a shimmery gold and the pig itself is a dark blue. I love how they feel masculine and playful– just right for boys!
Nursery Lighting
I ordered a modern gold floor lamp to put in the corner of the room. There are no other lights other than the ceiling fan and this helps soften the light/ brightens the room in those dark winter months.
I chose a clean lined modern lamp instead of my more usual go-to traditional antique style because, like the glider, I wanted something a bit more masculine and sharp. I like the white lampshade and how it picks up the white cribs right next to it.
Fun Wall Decals on the Ceiling
I gave the room a few more details that made it fun for me. I decided to order gold star removable wall stickers from Etsy to stick on the ceiling. (The ceiling is painted the color “Marshmallow” by the way). I wanted something interesting for the boys to look at on the ceiling. At this point, I’ve had enough babies to know what a game changer it can be to have the babies stay contentedly on their back for just a few extra seconds during diaper changes or whatever is going on.
David stuck them up in 9 rows, I think alternating 10 stickers and 11 stickers per row. (Kudos to him for being such a good sport about it! I think I ordered these wall stickers when I was around 30 weeks pregnant. I could not help him at all but was desperately nesting and needed them up on the ceiling right away.)
Ceiling Fan Pulls
Another really sweet detail I added (this one is in no way practical, I just love it) was also from Etsy. I ordered two little pig pulls for the ceiling fan. One is black and white like Tinkerbell, and one is orange like Mr. Smee. This is by far my favorite part of the nursery… why not make it whimsical?
Gold Mirror
Last but not least, I ordered this fun gold mirror because I thought it was pretty. HOWEVER, to any mommas reading this who are expecting twins: don’t do it. Don’t put a mirror in the twins’ room. If you do, you’ll see your reflection in it from time and time. It’s a sure way to see how very little sleep actually happens! 🙂
The way the nursery ended up coming together makes me happy. Seeing all the little pig details each day make me smile. Life is so short; why not make it silly when we can?
I love spending time in here with the boys (thank goodness because we spend a LOT of time in here). I’m glad I got to share it with everyone reading! As I’m finishing drafting this blog post, the babies just woke up and it’s back to the nursery I go. As challenging as it can be having twins (and therefore experiencing double the neediness), it is the most amazing blessing. I am exceedingly grateful for every day I get to have with my incredible babies.