Koa's Nursery

As usual, here is a long-overdue post. Koa just had his 3-month birthday and his room has been done since he was -1 months! But, for everyone wondering what our "gender-neutral" nursery looks like, or for those who haven't had a chance to come by and see it in person, this one is for you. We didn't find out what we were having until the birth day but ever since I got pregnant I knew what I wanted the nursery to look like. I love the combination of yellow and gray. It's soft enough for a little girl, but not too girly for a little boy. Now that it actually belongs to a little boy I've emphasized the elephants and other stuffed animals more. I'm sure it'll be covered with trains, planes, and automobiles before I know it. He won't care much about his customized bedding...oh well.

 

I owe lots of shout-outs for this room. My mom helped me pull most of it together and I love the final product. She gave me most of the prints on the wall, bought the crib bedding, and made the table cloth, paper mobile, elephant pillow, and window hangings. Maddi made the awesome cloth mobile, Bri made the Sunshine painting, Claire made the quilt on the chair, Emi made the name sign, Granny gave me the vintage nursery rhyme books, the Hilschire family gave us the crib and changing table (over which Maddi and I painted a fresh coat of white paint). I guess it's true that it takes a village! There's no way I'd be able to do this all by myself. We received so many wonderful gifts from friends and family that have added to his nursery as well.

I'd also like to thank Etsy, Pinterest, and such thoughtful friends for additional inspiration and help pulling it all together! This room gets awesome afternoon sunlight, but it makes taking pictures a bit of a challenge for this iPhone-using-photographer (minus the detail shots Stuart took). Sorry bout that.

Read more...

The Baby-A Baby Bump

It's hard to believe that one normal morning last May, I was shocked to find out that I was pregnant. At that point I couldn't even imagine what the next 10 months would be like. All I knew was that our lives were about to change drastically...and so was my body. I had a really smooth pregnancy, and for that I am so grateful because I know that not everyone does. It was such an enjoyable time for me and Stuart. We did as much as we could before baby A came because we knew that after January 1 nothing would be quite as simple. It was worth every pound though. Now we have a precious baby boy...hard to believe he grew inside of me and now he's a real live human being! Along the way Stu took pictures and I thought I'd share them with you. It took a while for that baby bump to show up. This was the point that we announced to the world that our family would be growing:

Still nothing to write home about (I actually think I was pushing out to pretend like there was a bump there):

We went to South Africa with the youth group in June and got to see the in-laws. This was taken when we got back (cute face, I know).

We went on a Baby-moon Caribbean cruise with my family at 6 months. Finally a real bump!

Here's ultrasound with a high-def machine. Such a cute lil face:

Keystone had no idea what was about to rock her world:

Whoa....a lot changed in 4 weeks. Stuart's parents were in town and we all met my family in Mississippi for Thanksgiving:

Chopped off 17 inches of my hair in November. My official non-mom-cut cut:

Turns out this cute outfit is way too big for little Koa. Fit on my belly nicely though:

Stretching out that shirt to the max:

Christmas Day...so ready for Baby A to be here. One more week to go!

And Koa Clive Atkins came right at 40 weeks (plus 4 hours).

Read more...

Baby A's Fall Festival

Sometimes you just luck out with the friends in your life. I have some of the greatest girlfriends here in Georgia that really make me feel at home.  Moving here after college wasn't easy, but the gift of great friends helped me settle in so well. They've been there through so many of my life changes and Baby A is no exception! In October they threw me a beautiful shower and I wanted to give them a little love shout-out, but also show some of the fun pics from the fall festival. So thank you very much to everyone helped out in pulling this together! And thanks to my girlfriends for being so wonderful all the time!

First, they knew a party for Paige is not really a party if there is no food.  It was all delicious:

Homemade cupcakes made by the best baker around!
Chocolate with Buttercream Frosting
Chai with Buttercream Frosting
Pumpkin with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This was a dangerously delicious apple dip:

 And of course Hot Apple Cider.

Then there were the activities:
"Write a note of encouragement or advice for Paige!"

 These were so special to read afterwards.

Since we don't know if Baby A is a he or she, we did some trivia to try to narrow it down.  I still have no idea.

We had a photo booth set up for people to take their own pictures and write some notes on chalk boards.  I haven't seen these yet...but I know they'll be interesting to say the least.  I'll post those soon! 

And we can't neglect all of the other autumnal details of the party:

Centerpieces on the tables:

Cute lil punkin:

And finally, the shower of gifts!

"Thanks Mom for the womb and board!"  

You're welcome! (thanks, Jenica, for the shirt!)

Read more...

Surprise Baby Shower

During my most recent (very quick) trip to Colorado, my mom surprised me with a baby shower--decked out in my nursery colors!  She totally pulled off the surprise, which is not an easy task in my family. I thought we were just stopping by a friend's house for a fall party before we left for California the next day. Fooled me! It was a beautiful shower and so great to see so many people that I haven't seen in years. I wish I would have a least washed my hair that day, but I was still quite happy as you can see here...(and quite pregnant).

We don't know if Baby A is a boy or girl (another little surprise coming our way), but I've known that I wanted yellow and gray in the baby room since I found out I was pregnant.  I just love, love, love the color combination. Elephants seem to fit right in with the scheme too. The room isn't quite ready yet, but here are the pictures from my shower. I can only hope that my nursery is equally as cute! Thanks to everyone who made this funny party possible!

 

 

 

Read more...