Savannah's UAE Nursery

I'm specifying UAE nursery because it's important to note, Savannah will be born an expat. She won't be granted dual citizenship by the UAE, will be granted citizenship by the USA, but since she's not born on US soil, can never be elected to be a US president.
Being born into a semi-nomadic life, there were limits to what I could do in her nursery. I was not able to paint her walls the delicate Disney Princess Pink I pre-bought 3 years ago...in case our first was a girl. As the houses are made of concrete, I picked my drilling battles carefully and avoided hanging up too many things that would require drilling into the wall (the concrete dust any drilling gives off irritates your throat pretty badly).

All that being said, I'm happy at how my little expat's first abode turned out. I've avoided showing any pictures of what's inside her closet or in her dresser because I'm honestly pretty embarrassed at how much clothing she already has. Let's just say Gymboree and Janie-and-Jack send me LOTS of frequent buyer email coupons!

I did include a snapshot of a few key accessories I'm proud my little girl already has: her first purse and a fabulous diaper bag! Her first purse was handmade in Thailand from buttery, light brown leather. I thought it was too cute not to pick up! I'll make sure Daddy always puts a few coins in there for good luck! Her diaper bag is from a wonderful Dutch company called Oilily. It's such a unique and cute bag, I spotted it at the Dubai Mall while we were shopping for her furniture and I just couldn't walk away from it. Went back and did some research on the brand and it's definitely on my radar for future toddler clothes!

We took our time selecting everything in the nursery and wanted each item to say something specific to her. The bird theme came halfway by accident. I have an old friend from Birmingham, AL who has, shall we say, a "special gift" for sensing things. He told me a long time ago that I would know our first baby was coming to us because there would be more birds around us and that it would be a girl.

That made no sense to me for two reasons: 1) birds??? 2) Adam comes from a family of all boys - I thought a girl as our first would be unlikely.

Then, my pregnancy was confirmed. Soon after, it was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie! Seriously! Birds flying into our cars, birds smashing against my windows at work, bird poop constantly landing on my car...birds surround our house(s) (both back in the US and here in the UAE) and now, even though I work in the middle of a crowded downtown area, on a high floor, birds sit at my window ALL DAY LONG! I feel like I'm carrying our own little Snow White!
So, when we found the pretty bird motif at Pottery Barn Kids, we went for it!

Other special items in the room include a sweet little jewelry box my parents gave to me 2 Christmases ago. That same Christmas, Adam knocked it out-of-the-ballpark and gave me a beautiful (and massive) solid oak, stand-alone jewelry armoire. I saved the jewelry box for...one day. That "one day" has arrived! So, she's already inherited something from her momma!

Also, since her birth certificate is going to be so very special and different (inscribed in Arabic), her daddy decided she needed somewhere special to store it and bought her a silver birth certificate scroll. You'll find that along with the 1983 re-edition Cabbage Patch Kids dolls. I spotted them last year before Christmas and I had a feeling, that by this Christmas, they would belong to someone else!

Finally, a few weeks ago, I had a wild outpouring of emotion that led me to write Savannah a love letter. It came out of nowhere and I finished writing the entire thing within a matter of 10 minutes. When I finished writing it, I wasn't sure what I'd do with it. Someone gave me the idea to frame it. Well, I did just that, but with a twist. I had it printed, stretched and matted on painting fabric. I love the idea of having it above our chair, where I'll rock her to sleep and read her stories.

So, with that, I bring you, Savannah's UAE Nursery: