...and then there were three!

Happy first birthday, Miss Violet!

2011-08-31T07:10:00.002-04:00

Has it really been a year? In so many ways it feels like the year has gone by so s-l-o-w-l-y! I have definitely been blessed in being able to stay home with Violet. Doing so has come with its own set of challenges, but I am very grateful! Ever since Violet was born she has done things with a very dramatic flair, letting you know loudly that she is in need of your attention. If her personality continues to blossom and grow as it has in the past year, the term "shrinking violet" will never be used in reference to our Violet Jane!

Everywhere we go, people ask, "Is she always this happy?". She thrives on the attention of others and has a very dramatic set of faces to go along with her very big personality. She and I could not be more different in that respect. I hate being the center of attention and having strangers look my way... there is no getting around that when Violet is with me! She literally commands the attention of those around her. If you ignore her, she'll just keep making faces and laughing at herself until you do look at her.

Aside from the hilarious faces and quirky smile, she has quite the bag of tricks with which to amaze. She can clap on command, raise both hands in the air and say "ahhhhhhhh", make growling lion sounds, say "dada, baba, mama" and just today "diddy" (kitty). She can wave hello and goodbye and often does it to anyone who will look without being asked. She gives wonderful kisses and hugs and sometimes will come up to me if I am on the floor with her and wrap her arms around my neck and lay her face next to mine and say "ahhhhhhh".

She isn't walking yet but sometimes we will catch her standing by herself until she notices and then grabs for the closest sturdy object or sits down. Cruising and crawling are the preferred means of transportation. As of this week, she will only accept one handed assistance in walking, instead of both hands, so that's a step! Everyone tells me I won't be so excited when she actually is walking, but truthfully, I am exhausted from carrying her everywhere. She's a big girl!

She LOVES beans. It's just not natural for someone to love beans this much. Maybe it was all of the Mexican food I ate while pregnant? She also loves anything Italian and carbs of any kind. She is definitely her Mother's daughter!

Whether it's nap time or bed time, there is no time for cuddling. She pushes away to get into her crib and finds her blanket and pink stuffed elephant, snuggles up and closes her eyes. We are truly blessed that she is such a passionate sleeper and still taking two naps a day and sleeping through the night on her own.

The girl loves animals! She gets so excited when she sees a dog or cat in person or on TV. We don't have any pets and I definitely give myself a huge guilt trip over it! I know she would go bonkers over having a dog. "It's too much work, Kristin, it's too much work!", I say to myself. She is obsessed with books! Violet loves having Mama and Dada read to her, but the best is when she is sitting by herself and jabbering her own little language as she turns the pages, "reading" to herself. Truly heartwarming! Oh yeah, she is still extremely averse to bubbles. We are talking tears, people.

Violet has been a life changing experience for Adam and I. While we definitely feel 100% more confident now than we did a year ago, we still rely heavily on God to give us direction in her life. We feel incredibly humbled to be responsible for her little life and pray every day that God would call her to Himself at a young age and she will be a woman of great character.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be Violet's mother. She is constantly a challenge to me and I am continually being broken and changed because of her. As a good friend once told me, "children make you become the person you always should have been." As this first year of her life passes by and we continue on this journey of growing together, I am so excited about what is to come.

Sweet Violet, Mama and Dada and all of your family love you so much. You are incredible.

...

(side note: we are expecting again! looks like it's time to rename the blog... little baby Salvia is due March 8 of 2012. hello, adventure!)

Another three months flies by!

2011-04-28T19:45:00.033-04:00

Oooooh, really? January was the last post, huh? Ok, fine! I give up all aspirations of being a regular blogger. It's hard for me to blog when I just put up all of the photos on Facebook anyway. I feel like I can't justify doing it twice.

Anyway, Violet will be EIGHT months old on Saturday. As my sisters would say, "that's cray-cray!" (translated: crazy for those of you not in my family).

Here are some of my favorite photos taken of her since I last posted:

isn't this gorgeous? this is violet at about six months wearing the christening gown made by my great grandmother Ruth. photo courtesy of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography.

Miss V in the heirloom dress from my Mom.

Her Easter dress that I just knew would be too small by Easter. Somehow we managed to wrangle her back into it this past weekend!

One of my favorites from her 7 month photo shoot.

We had Violet baptized this month at church and my parents were able to fly in from Texas for the occasion. side note to my baptist friends who may be concerned: we attend a reformed presbyterian church which baptizes infants. this is not to say we believe it "magically" gets our baby into heaven. it is simply a sign of God's covenant with our family and an affirmation that we agree to raise her in a Godly manner, trusting the Lord for her salvation one day. in my eyes, it is very similar to a "baby dedication"... i didn't post this to get into a debate over theology, but to celebrate a special day in our life. since adam and i both grew up baptist, i felt the need to explain!

Lauren and I hosted a brunch at her home after church to celebrate our little girls. Love this shot of my litle family (thanks, Mr. Barnes!).

Lauren and I with the babes.

Love these shots of Vi with Adam's Mom and my parents.

Violet as the easter bunny...

she and that chicken did not get along...

Some of my favorite things about Violet:

She has finally started "army" crawling! She lunges forward on her belly while dragging her body along by using her arms and toes. She can push up into full plank position, but only for a second.

She is terrified of BUBBLES. Hah. When she even sees me getting ready to blow bubbles, she turns her head away and squinches her eyes closed. Heaven forbid one lands on her and pops, GAME OVER.

Actually, lately she seems skittish about everything! From lawnmowers to the wind blowing, the most random things make her bury her face in my chest and close her eyes (that just started this week and I am secretly loving it!).

She says "baba" and "dada" and many combinations thereof, like most babies, but has recently started saying "BOO!". She knows it will get a reaction from us and loves when we pretend to be scared, although one time she got a little carried away and kept doing it over and over. Eventually she started shaking and screaming like a crazy person and then crying because she had scared herself. Hey, that's real charisma for you.

Up until recently, she didn't care much about eating solids, but now if you mix plain yogurt into anything, she will eat it heartily! Who would have thought that green beans and yogurt tasted so good??

She loves her daddy and gives him open-mouthed kisses on command. Sometimes with tongue as added bonus. It's a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e. EVERY time she does it, Adam gushes, "OhhhhHHHhh thank you Violet, that's SO sweet!!". Every time. She gives me kisses sometimes, but hardly ever on command like with her daddy.

my all time favorite shot of Vi with Adam... a few days shy of 8 months old.

She weighed 21 lbs at her 6 month checkup... not sure what she weighs now but she's still going strong, I am sure!

i love this squishy bundle!

The girl hates having her face cleaned. I am sure it's that way with most babies, but she makes a gurgly noise in the back of her throat and squinches her eyes when she sees me coming at her with a wipe. Every time.

I am sure every mother says this, but I love coming into her room after she wakes up from a nap and seeing her gasp in delight that I am there to pick her up. Lately, she has started lunging forward as fast as she can to get closer to me when she sees me walk into her room. I keep looking with anticipation to her next big "milestone", but then remind myself that she is already growing so fast and I need to cherish these little moments with her now! She won't be a baby forever!

So there's the update! See ya again in another three months, I'm sure!

Four and a half months... look how far we've come!

2011-01-15T20:36:00.013-05:00

As promised, a full Violet post! Two days blogging in a row?? Watch out, internet!

Violet is now four and a half months old and truly a little bundle of joy. Or... an enormous bundle... she weighed 18lbs, 4 oz and was 26 inches long at her check up this week. I am out of breath after carrying her for an extended period of time... time to start using the stroller more often! I have been really lazy about taking quality photos of her lately, but I

did snap this gem a few days ago during her morning nap...

She is such a good sleeper! Her schedule is almost always like clockwork during the day and she sleeps from 9pm-7am without fail. The newborn days were filled with evenings of bouncing and rocking and shushing, trying to get Violet to stop crying! Thankfully, those days have passed and Violet is such a happy baby.

I did a little 4.5 month photo shoot with her yesterday and here are some of my favorites.

Showing off her new skirt/legging combo from aunt mary beth!

My little doll baby.

The best feeling ever is when I walk into her room in the mornings and start talking to her but she can't see me. I see this huge smile break across her face and she starts kicking her legs, waving her arms up and down like a penguin and panting! It's hilarious. Babies truly make you feel like you are the most important person in the world.

Another funny development with Violet is her "o" face.

She first did it when Adam was just talking to her and making faces, trying to get her to copy him. She started doing it over and over and eventually figured out that she got a great reaction out of people when she did it. It is so funny because she'll be making eyes at someone and start smiling at them. Out of nowhere comes the "o" face and she loooooves all of the attention it causes. No sound actually accompanies it, she just stares you down waiting for you to laugh. :-)

One of the milestones doctors look for at this point is rolling over. Violet can do it (she has 4 times in the past 2 months) but she just never wants to! Her doctor said she finds that chubbier babies have a harder time getting over. That makes sense... Vi has a lot going on!

Violet loves baby dolls and anything with a face. She especially loves seeing herself in the full length mirror. She is enamored with herself! She talks and raises her eyebrows and stomps from side to side like a sumo wrestler. She is constantly making us laugh!

Bath time is still not something Violet enjoys very much. I have yet to see a smile in the bath tub! She will splash a little and stare intently as the water is poured over her, but that's about it! I can't wait for her to actually start having fun in the water!

One more thing Vi is famous for is her "pouty face". She usually whips this out around Adam to get attention or strangers that make her uncomfortable. This morning Adam was playing with her and using her stuffed animal to make barking noises, pretending to give her little bites. She did NOT like that game and here is her reaction.

...and the look she gave Adam after...

DRAMA! Hahaha I hear girls are amazing that way. Can't wait! :-)

That's all for now... not a lot going on considering it is an arctic tundra outside! So ready for spring!

Hello again!

2011-01-14T21:53:00.010-05:00

Last time I wrote was somewhere along the lines of when this photo was taken...

Violet- 3 months old

Wow, it's been awhile! I am a major procrastinator with blogging and can't make any promises that it will get better! In true Kristin fashion, here follows a long post trying to play catch up where we last left off.

Violet almost 4 months old showing off her Christmas dress!

Violet enjoyed her first Christmas with her Texas family. We were so blessed to be able to spend two weeks there with my family and V loved every minute. I am not sure I held my baby other than to feed her the whole time!

Of course, Vi looked jollier than Santa himself.

Christmas was wonderful and I was able to spend it with the people I love most! Violet was more than spoiled with presents and showered with love the entire time... I think she already has a special place in her heart for Texas!

Christmas morning in her Christmas hats! It was so cute watching her grab and pull the wrapping paper as if she really knew what she was doing.

Yes, all of the girls did wear matching onesies... don't hate!

Violet loved spending time with her Great Grandmother Ruth!

My birthday is a few days after Christmas and we celebrated the big 3-0 with a shopping trip to Anthroplogie and an amazing dinner at Smith and Wollensky in Houston. AHmazing!!!

My Mom's favorite thing to say was "do you want me to hold her???" :-)

My parents threw a huge party for New Years and Violet was rocking her little black dress. We ate and danced and could barely stay up until midnight.... Miss Violet doesn't sleep in so I knew I'd be up at 7am like clockwork no matter what!

Happy 2011! I have the greatest family!

It was so sad leaving everyone. We love Virginia but miss our Texas family terribly. Can't wait to go back!

Adam celebrated his 29th birthday (yeah so, I'm a cradle robber!) this month and we are finally taking a break from all of the partying and gift giving.... until Valentine's Day of course! :-)

Violet is 4 and a half months old now and another post full of photos will follow all about her!!

Violet at 10 weeks old.

2010-11-09T17:04:00.012-05:00

Hello, again!

Well, I believe we last left off with a 4 week old Violet and the insanity of life with a newborn. Oh, how far we've come!

Violet began sleeping through the night at 5 weeks, and that has made all the difference in the world. It's amazing what a full night's rest really does for the psyche!

Weeks 6 and 7 were still challenging and V began her "cranky time" in the evenings. At first I freaked out because I didn't know why we couldn't make her happy! Once I heard that almost all babies go through this, I decided to calm down and just take it one day at a time. I was expecting too much out of my baby... why couldn't I just be happy with her sleeping through the night?! Thank goodness for Adam. He was here to bounce her and rock her and do such a great job of calming her as well as give me a much appreciated break!

Vi came down with her first cold at 8 weeks and it broke my heard to hear her breathing like a little pig with her congested nose. I got the cold too, just in time for our visit to Texas. Cold or no cold, we weren't missing out on Violet finally getting to meet her aunts and Grandpa and other Texas friends. The flights were nerve wracking because I just knew she was a ticking time bomb! Luckily she slept through all of the flights and the only hard part was lugging Violet and all of our stuff through the airports and finding places to feed her. We had SUCH a fantastic time visiting family and Violet loved all of the attention!!

Violet with her aunts and Grammy!

Four generations

Violet looks like my baby picture!

Violet sharing a laugh with Grandpa.

We also got to visit with my good friend Michelle and her family.... loooove this shot!

I was so sad to leave Texas but can't wait until we are back at Christmas!

In other news, Violet took her first bath with no tears on Sunday! Up until then, she HAAAATED baths.... nothing soothing about them! Here's a shot post-bath in her robe... ready to call it quits for the night. She's still rocking a bit of the attitude... but hey, no tears!

Side note: She still abhors having her clothes changed and riding in the car for any amount of time!

Another wonderful development was when I tried putting her in the Exersaucer for the first time last week. I was amazed at how she could "stand" propped up in it and loved figuring out all of the toys! She LOVES anything with a face on it. She'll stare and smile and talk to it! She has started reaching for toys and touching them. It's so funny because before I had a baby, all of these little achievements would have sounded so lame to me if it was someone else telling me about their baby. Now I see how every smile and coo is life altering!

She has been "fake" laughing now for a few weeks and I can't wait until it develops into real baby laughter! She had her first 2 shots today at the Dr. and only cried for a few seconds! I had prepared myself for a full on meltdown. Violet has become so much happier of a baby and I love how she interacts with us now and is able to entertain herself already! Here are a few shots I took of her today at 10 weeks old. I just love her. :-)

A few stats: Today at her check up (10 weeks old) she weighed 14lbs, 5 oz (almost exactly double her birth weight) and was 24 inches long. That's 95th percentile on both counts! She is a "little porker" according to the doctor, but hey, you gotta love those baby thunder thighs! I love that the doctor said, "don't worry, it's no indication of what her thighs will be like as a young lady." Hah!

Violet Jane: Birth through Four Weeks.

2010-09-25T11:55:00.018-04:00

Note: The actual date of this post should say Tuesday, September 29, 2010.

Warning: Long Post Ahead!

I have been putting off blogging for quite awhile now. There has been so much new territory and I didn't know how to even begin putting it all into words. Oh my goodness. Has it really been 4 weeks since I gave birth? In some ways I can't believe it has already been a month, and in other ways it feels like years have passed! It has been a time full of emotion, uncertainty and near insanity, though I can say as of the past fewdays things have finally begun to calm and I have gotten to know and finally enjoy my daughter.

Daughter?! It still feels so foreign to say that. Being parents has definitely felt so right for Adam and I while still being a concept we have had to grow into. So many times we would just look at her and say, "is this real?!". My favorite is when Adam will say, "I just can't imagine life without her!". This has turned our relationship upside down in so many wonderful ways. We have seen each other at our most vulnerable and it has been such a beautiful experience. I can already see how God has used Violet to make us better people, despite the many agonizing and tear-filled moments along the way. People say to me, "Isn't mommyhood the best?!", and I have to behonest and respond,"Well, not currently, but we are getting there!". Every time I see her beautiful smile and hear her coo (and most recently make little laughing sounds) it redeems everything. I have been meaning to blog my birth story and have decided to give the slightly abridged version...

After reaching the point of being two weeks "overdue", I was scheduled to be induced on August 30, 2010. Adam, my Mom, and I arrived at the hospital around 8am and the induction began at 9:15am with me already being 2cm dilated. They began induction withthe Foley catheter balloon and cytotech inserted internally. By 3pm I had reached 5cm and was very encouraged by the progress! We felt I was handling the contractions well, staying on top of my breathing and focusing.

Two hours later they checked me again and I was at 6.5cm and they decided to let me wait it out a bit longer to see how much more I could progress. By 7pm I had still not dilated any further and they broke my water. O-U-C-H. The contractions then became R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. I became very nauseous and they gave me medication to help with that. I then tried water therapy but it did not help at all and by that point I had lost my mental focus and the pain was overtaking me. The only thing that helped was Adam squeezing my hip bones and I made him do that with the contractions coming every minute and a half. He is a strong guy but after several hours of that, he was wearing out! At this point I was sobbing with every contraction while remaining determined to breathe through every one. At this point I remember telling people "I might get an epidural! I just want everyone to know I might not be able to do this!" After getting out of the tub, I decided that I wanted to be checked for dilation and if I had progressed, I wanted to stick it out, but if not, I was getting that epidural! I couldn't imagine going much longer in that much pain. At this point I was offered Stadol to "take the edge off." Had I been in my right state of mind I would have refused it, but by this point, Adam and I were completely out of it and couldn't remember anything we had learned in Lamaze about medical interventions. I chose to get it, thinking anything was better than having a full on epidural. Bad decision. Stadol just made me drunk and basically fall asleep between contractions. No edge was taken off. Around 9pm I had them check me because things were feeling a lot more intense and I was feeling a lot of pressure down low. I was still between a 6.5 and 7. At that point (much to Adam's relief!) I asked for the epidural. Long story short, the anesthesiologist didn't make it into the room until almost 10:15. I spent another hour and a half in agonizing pain during each contraction. My epidural was administered between off the charts contractions and finally I thought I would get some relief. Unfortunately, the epidural didn't take effect for 40 more minutes as I was laying on the bed, numb up to my hips, breathing through slamming contractions. Everyone knows your back is the most uncomfortable position for labor. At this point, Violet had also turned posterior so they tell me. Ouch. Finally, the relief came! My midwife checked me and I was at 10cm!

Apparently, all my body needed this whole time was for me to RELAX, go figure. She let me relax for 30 minutes and around 11:15 I started pushing with each contraction. TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, Violet Jane was born at 1:44am on August 31.

Rewind. As her head emerged, the cord was wrapped so tightly around her neck that it could not be slipped over her head and had to be cut immediately. Adam was still able to catch her. They quickly showed her to me and rushed her over to the cleaning station and the NICU nurses were on her in a flash because she wasn't breathing. Adam said the timer went for 6 minutes before she cried and was breathing on her own. She had a 1 on the Apgar score (a zero is basically dead). All I remember was being completely exhausted (I had a fever of 103) and half drunk still from the Stadol. Everything was in slow motion for me as I just stared at the nurses working on Violet. No one was talking and I just knew she was dead. Adam and I were crying and it was the most bizarre moment of my life. Finally hearing her cry was the greatest feeling of relief! After everything settled and she was whisked away to the NICU for further monitoring, "How GreatThou Art" began playing on my playlist and I was filled with an incredible peace... so grateful that God so perfectly took care of us and our precious new baby throughout such a traumatic process. I am so grateful for the support of my Adam and my Mom as well as my fantastic nurses, Betsy and Jaime. I could not have done it without them!

So... this is why I sigh and pause when people say, "Tell me your birth story!".

Needless to say, Violet made quite the dramatic appearance and has not slowed down since! It has been amazing to see how much she changes even week by week. The first week was a complete zoo, just trying to figure out how to take care of her and meet her needs. I was a train wreck in so many ways. The second week was much the same. Feedings began to take on somewhat of a schedule but she was still quite a little firecracker of a baby. So many days I just wanted to scream, "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE YOU HAPPY!" Motherhood did not feel like it was coming naturally to me. By the third week, we definitely had a predictable feed/sleep schedule going and I finally felt like I could somewhat anticipate what she needed. This past week has been SO MUCH BETTER! She sleeps so well (though I still greatly anticipate her sleeping through the night), she smiles and talks to me all of the time and has finally started to just relax and let me cuddle her instead of screaming! I love her little chipmunk sneezes and coughs and the perpetual hiccups. This has been a whirlwind experience and I cannot wait to watch her continue to grow and change and keep us guessing along the way!!

Our first moments together...

One Week

Two Weeks

Three Weeks

Four Weeks

While I am Waiting... Weeks 4-40

2010-08-16T20:44:00.007-04:00

Happy Due Date, Violet!

It has come and it is almost gone with no more indications of when she will actually arrive! I never thought about how this actual day would feel... it was always just a distant goal in my mind. When we first found out we were pregnant back in early December 2009, August seemed a lifetime away. Now that we are here, it feels like we have been waiting for her for an eternity! I have to remind myself that God has had her birthday planned way before I even knew she existed. As I sit here through sporadic contractions that still make no sense, I remind myself that the longer I have to wait, the more precious the moment will be when I finally get to see her sweet face. Pregnancy has not been nearly the horrifying experience I expected, and many of those naysayers were proved wrong. I have really enjoyed being pregnant through the summer, I have had only a handful of hormonal ups and downs, and have felt generally wonderful up until these last few weeks! I absolutely cannot WAIT to sleep on my back again, enjoy a nice glass of red wine, have a waist, paint my own toenails, and BREATHE again! Most of all, I cannot wait to experience life with a tiny new little piece of us. I know that everything will change in the blink of an eye, I will experience complete sleep deprivation, probably completely doubt myself as a new parent, but again, I cannot wait! I am so ready for this new life transition. Now all we need is the baby. :-) Here's a quick trip down memory lane from weeks 4-40. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Shadowboxes and my general fear of hanging objects on walls...

2010-08-01T13:05:00.006-04:00

So, I've been trying to decide what to do with this one large empty wall in the nursery. I found a really cute shadowbox at T.J. Maxx and wanted to create something with it. I decided that one wasn't enough, so I went back this week and found two more, completely different ones.

For the first one, I found this adorable little bathing suit (i thought it was a dress because the material is cotton) boxed up that I had worn as a baby. It is too cute not to be displayed! (sidenote: i didn't feel like breaking out the fancy camera, so please bear with these fuzzy photos from my phone!) It is so vintage looking and has little red clothespins all over it!

So, come to find out, my MOM actually wore this bathing suit as a baby and THEN gave it to me to wear as a little one. Awesome factor doubled! I am such a sucker for this stuff. Of course, Violet will be trying it on for size when the time comes!

Now, what to do with the other two boxes? I have a set of baby silverware that was given to me that I decided would be brilliant in box #2. In typical Kristin fashion, I found a way to completely ghetto rig the mounting. I laid out the pieces how I wanted them and then strung a ribbon around each one. Straight pins were inserted to hold the ribbon to the fabric backing of the shadow box, which in turn held the silverware in place! Voila!

And yes, box #3. My sisters and I took a trip downtown to one of the antique shops and found these miniature saucers and teacup for a total of $4.20... love it! This rigging was even more ghetto fabulous. I took the mesh sticky tape that is keeping my rug in place and cut it into tiny squares and stuck it to the back of the pieces. You guessed it! Straight pins were inserted through the mesh backing into the fabric of the shadow box. So far so good, they have stayed in place for 3 whole days now so hopefully I won't have to break out the hot glue gun!

Final product... please note that this setup took me a full HOUR to hang. I was a maniac with the measuring tape, measuring stick, level and mechanical pencil. Mind you, each frame has TWO holes on the back and each set of holes is positioned differently on each box. GEEZ. Oh yes, each is perfectly level and spaced. I know I have done a good job when my OCD husband sees my work and says, "Wow! I am impressed!". This coming from the man that says, "Ooooh man, I am just going to leave the room... let me know when you are done here..." anytime I attempt a project, especially with a hammer and nails.

Full corner view.

And now onto the infamous "violet" letters. Each one of these little darlings had two holes in the back, all in different spots. My brilliant friend Jenn suggested tracing the letters onto paper, cutting them out, and tracing where the nail holes were. After staring at these letters for a solid month, that's exactly what I did! Adam helped me find the center over the closet and drew a straight line with a measuring stick to follow with the bottom of each letter. I roughly eyeballed the placement of the paper letters and taped them where I wanted them. After they were in the right place, I hammered nails into the traced on holes and then ripped off the paper letters and hung the real ones. Did that make your head hurt? Yeah, I am still twitching.

Luckily, it looks perfect. :-)

Now I just need to find some cute decorative pulls to hold back the closet curtains and finish the wall over the glider (Jenn, that involves the sign you made... just trying to find some shelving to hold it with some books and small items...).

Two weeks from tomorrow is the big due date and I am feeling great about these accomplishments! I think I have pretty much everything I need for Violet. I never thought this room would come together, and I love it! Adam and I go in there and just sit and stare and imagine how much life is about to change! It is also just a little bit messed up that our daughter already has the nicest room in our house!

New nursery additions!

2010-07-24T21:06:00.005-04:00

Just a quick post with some new items in Violet's nursery!

First things first. I had forever been battling with what to do about a glider and ottoman. I knew I wanted something fully upholstered but ideally only wanted to spend $400-500. This ended up proving almost impossible because everything I liked was in the $700-800 range! Oh, the high maintenance of it... Adam finally jumped in to help after hearing me complain and stress for the 100th time about how there was nothing to be found! He found a glider and ottoman on... wait for it... walmart.com... whaaaat? At first I was vehemently opposed to the idea, but eventually put aside my snobbery. Wal-Mart has this great "ship to store" option in which you can order an item, pay no shipping, and have it delivered to your local store. The best part is, after you pick it up, you can return it at no cost if you don't like it! Adam found what looked like a great glider/ottoman combo which had amazing reviews. We went and picked it up and it is perfect!! Even more fabulous was the price! I believe we ended up spending right about $500!

Another great find was this adorable blue side table from "Shabby to Chic" for $35! I have been trying to pull more color into the room, especially this certain shade of blue, and my sister Jessica convinced me that I could not pass it up. I am so glad she did! It also is a great spot to store all of the new books Violet has acquired. :-)

The pillow on the glider was an impulse buy from Target (Dwell Studios). I love how it looks and loooooove the little roses that mimic the ones on the lampshade that resides on the fabulous blue table.

Here is a shot of the newly organized changing table. We found some cute canvas bins from Target that complement my pink/taupe theme along with some baskets I received from my shower.

I pulled out the fisheye lens for a view of her room as it currently looks... I still have a lot of empty wall space that I am trying to decide how to fill. I must decide where to put the "Violet Jane" sign as well as the letters of her name. Yesterday I found an adorable shadowbox cabinet with a beautiful shabby chic style white frame around it. Now to decide what to fill it with! Blank walls intimidate me... any suggestions? I realize I have a lot of things with her name on it, so I don't want to be redundant here! I thought about putting a collage of frames on the blank left wall... some of our maternity shoot and eventually some of Violet's own portraits. I want to find some vintagey old frames for this but haven't had much luck. Behold the room:

Attention must be paid to the adorable bunny chair from PB Kids that my Mom bought for Vi. I cannot wait to photograph her in it! :-)

Finally, the diaper bag! Lauren told me about eBags, which is an awesome site with killer deals on handbags, diaper bags, etc. We found this timi & leslie bag for $40 something with free shipping (it originally retailed for $350... are you kidding?) The site will e-mail coupons that will take off additional discounts! The only sad part was that I assumed it would come with a changing pad zip up clutch thingy, but I found one from Target that works great! I'll be stylin' now!!

In other news, my hospital bags are packed! I am about 3 weeks from my due date at this point and getting excited! The anticipation is mounting... :-) It has been super difficult to stay motivated at this point, but I have been so blessed to have my sisters Mary Beth and Maggie visiting me for two weeks. They have been so much help with groceries, cooking, and general slave labor! My Mom will be here on the 12th and staying for a month, so hopefully Vi will cooperate with her flight itinerary. :-)

Heirlooms from Great Grandmother Ruth

2010-07-23T17:20:00.006-04:00

So I was pulling out of my driveway today with Mary Beth and Maggie (my little sisters visiting from Texas) in the car with me when I saw a package on my front doorstep. I loooooooove getting packages! Upon further inspection, I saw that it was from my Grandmother (Granny Ruth... the same one who made the awesome nursery rhyme quilt in Violet's nursery). Totally not knowing what to expect, we opened it to find a box with a letter inside...

Here is what the letter says (sidenote: it was written on her birthday!):

"15 July 2010

To: All my Grandchildren,

This box contains items I've been making and saving just for you.

The Christening gown is for my Great Grandchildren. I made it in 1997, hoping you would someday dress your baby in it and send me a picture. (Boys too!)

The heirloom blanket was made in 1995. I learned how when I was working at a little sewing shop, "Threads of Time."

The booties were worn by my babies (maker unknown).

I hope these heirlooms bring as much pleasure to you as they always have to me. Pass them around to your cousins. Make it a Family Tradition.

They should stand the test of time and cleaning by gently soaking them in Woolite (or like), squeeze out the water, lay the blanket out flat to dry - hang the gown on it's hanger.

May the Lord bless and keep you and your families in the Palm of His Hand. Rely and trust Him. He is faithful.

My love, forever,

Granny Ruth Wilson Richmond"

...Wow. I definitely just teared up again reading the letter. The first time around, the bawling was uncontrollable! I love her so much and it means the world to me to be able to start this tradition with my family. I am so glad I get to hang onto these items until the next sister or cousin has a baby!

Keep an eye out... the next blog post will be about some updates to Violet's nursery!

Teaser Shower Pic

2010-07-18T18:30:00.003-04:00

So I had my Virginia baby shower last Saturday, and the wonderful Adam Barnes documented the day for me. Lauren and Jessica did an amazing job and I just wanted to put up a teaser photo of one of the cupcakes my talented mother in law made... citrus vanilla flavored, to be exact! The shower was pinwheel themed and all of the pinwheels were handmade by Lauren and Jess. Look at this piece of eye candy!!

Everything was so beautiful and delicious! Can't wait to get the photos from Mr. Barnes!

On being crafty and a preview of Vi's nursery!

2010-07-12T17:27:00.011-04:00

So I am not the craftiest person ever, but after asking advice of friends I decided to attempt painting a design on Violet's wall based on a teacup I found at Anthropologie. Luckily, my sister Jessica has been in town since last Wednesday and has been a SUPER amazing help to me in getting stuff done in the nursery. Since she and Lauren threw a baby shower for me at my house this past Saturday, it gave me a lot of motivation to get some to do's checked off. Here is a shot of the teacup I was working with...

One of my friends suggested that I crop this photo and have it copied onto transparency. She let me borrow her overhead projector and we got to work (with fingers crossed)! We directed the image to the right spot on the wall and began tracing all of the details in pencil. Here is Jess showing her mad tracing skills.

Next, we painted over the outlines of the design and began filling in. Even though we had a guide it was still a bit of freehanding because it was hard to make "perfect" lines and curves. Luckily, the design lent itself to a "shabby" look so it was ok! Granted, it took a lot longer than we thought it would!!

Here is a shot of the first coat filled in...

We waited until the next morning and went back over everything with a second coat and were really pleased/shocked with how it turned out! Not too bad for being so challenged in the craft department! Final product and a few details in Vi's nursery...

the chandelier totally makes the room...

The handpainted sign with her name was made by my friend Jenn (check out her blog, she is so talented!) and it is still waiting for a permanent place of residence along with the lamp.

We took the doors off her closet and hung curtains in their place. I have a way to go with organization and details but I love how it is looking!

Here is a shot of the gorgeous nursery rhyme quilt my Grandmother made for Violet along with a photo of me at 35 weeks officially. I couldn't be happier to have the quilt displayed on the wall! I think I look so funny... kind of like humpty dumpty. :-)

We are still waiting on the glider and ottoman to arrive as well as adding more to the walls and other finishing touches. 5 weeks until Violet's due date!

Photo post!

2010-07-06T12:29:00.006-04:00

So, most of you who are friends with me on Facebook have already seen my album, but these photos are definitely blogworthy as well! We are still waiting on more photos but here are my favorites from what Adam Barnes has sent me so far! We were so blessed that Adam was willing to take us out to Oak Ridge Estate where we were married to take some photos. He has such an incredible eye and I am so grateful that he was able to take this 8 months pregnant belly and turn it into art! We will forever cherish these photos and can't wait to see the rest!!!

Happy 4th! Maternity session preview...

2010-07-04T11:23:00.010-04:00

Just a quick note to post a preview of our maternity photos...

Loooove this shot! I am kind of obsessed with photos of details anyway, but this is enlargement and frameworthy for sure! I love this teacup I found at Anthropologie and would really love to be able to recreate the graphic somehow for her wall. Seeing as how I have NO crafting skills, does anyone have any easy ideas for making this happen sometime in the next 6 weeks? Lauren suggested I take a photo, import it into Illustrator, recreate the design and have a decal made. Sure, I was a graphic design major and know how to do this, but I am infamous for just wanting someone else to do it for me! I love the details but hate bringing them to fruition. :-)

Ok, ok one more teaser...

I love the "joyfulness" of this shot. I would post them all, but seeing as how Adam Barnes is still out of town and hasn't actually gotten all of the film back yet, these are all I have, and they must suffice! They sure do make me smile. :-)

Sidenote: yes I am in my 8th month of pregnancy but this photo does a great job of hiding my bump somehow... it's magic!

Kristin

better late than never!

2010-07-02T17:35:00.000-04:00

So I am a little late jumping on the blog train, but seeing as how it is July and I am not working anymore, I wanted to document this last month and a half (hopefully that's all it is!) before Violet is born. June was so busy with working at the salon and shooting weddings and such. Now that I am on "vacation", I finally have time to finish the nursery and get things in order! I am officially 33 weeks and 4 days along, so, roughly 7 weeks to go until Vi's due date. It feels like I have been pregnant for years now! I have had a great go of this pregnancy and really can't complain. I've started getting a bit uncomfortable, what with my uterus squeezing out my lung capacity and all, but aren't you expected to be uncomfortable when pregnant? Despite all of the naysayers, I haven't been "miserable" yet in the heat of summer... that is probably due in part to my pool membership (thanks, husband!). This week, Adam and I had "maternity" photos taken with the amazing Adam Barnes out at Oak Ridge Estate. I am so excited to see the images because he shot them all in film, mostly with this very old school medium format 1940's camera that he just acquired. Finally, something legit to have instead of all of the ghetto self portraits I've been trying to take! On that note, here's a recent belly shot taken on Monday...

Soooo... that's about it...

I really hope this month does "fly by" as everyone says it will. My sisters are coming at different times of the month to visit, and then my Mom will be here a week before my due date (August 16) for a few weeks. I hope Adam can handle all of the estrogen!

Over and out.

Kristin