New nursery additions!

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

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

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!

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!

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...

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!

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