I’ve got a guest post that was a bit of a group effort – as in, 30 of my Facebook friends helped me write it – up on my work blog today. I hope you’ll go check it out! I take great comfort knowing that I’m in good company when it comes to:
Go ahead, check it out, and if you really love me, leave a comment under the post. I’m really easy to please.
Folks, we have a nursery! After a few months of putting it off, then brainstorming, then putting it off some more, we finally cleaned out Mr. Right’s office/guest room (what a great guy), taped everything off, and got the thing painted, all in 24 hours.
A special thanks to my awesome sister who came over and painted the nursery for us! Talk about a servant’s heart. She knew that my doctor said no painting for me, and Mr. Right is crazy swamped with finals (oh, how we’re all counting down the minutes until grad school is OVER), so she just decided to do it for us. It was such a blessing.
You should have seen Mr. Right and I prepping the night before she came to get the room ready. I was in my work dress (because dresses are so much more comfortable than anything else right now), on my hands and knees taping off the baseboards while Mr. Right was on a ladder caulking holes and removing blinds. I’m not very graceful under typical circumstances, but I’m like a clumsy beast at this point, so I’m sure the neighbors got an eye full through our blind-less windows at 9:30 at night. And I’m just pregnant enough to not really care.
The next morning Mr. Right assembled our crib, and suddenly the room felt like a nursery. He has since moved in other furniture (an armoire for storage and a dresser that we’ll use as a changing table – pics to come), and slowly but surely we’re moving closer to being baby-ready.
The nursery will be mostly neutrals – grays and whites – with pops of color in our accents. This fabric, which is part of the quilt I’m making for her, is the inspiration for those pops of color – lot’s of tangerine-oranges, turquoises, and a few other random colors here and there.
And here’s the rest of the fabric for her quilt. We’ll be using the leftovers for pillows, possibly a bedskirt, etc. You know, whatever I get inspired to sew. Don’t be surprised if you don’t find some leftovers in my Etsy shop in the form of baby quilts or pillows.
And, finally, we’re thinking about using this picture for above the crib. Mr. Right and I have a real love for internationals (especially our ESL students!), and we also love to travel, so we think this is the perfect picture to go above our tiny sleeping baby. Plus, it reminds me of a quilt.
Stay tuned for more pictures as we make progress on the nursery. I’m 29 weeks along, so not too much longer until she’s here with us napping in this very room!
Have I mentioned that I’m feeling better? To all of you dear friends and readers who have prayed for me and encouraged me through SIX LONG MONTHS OF ROUND THE CLOCK MORNING SICKNESS (bleh), I am pleased to announce that I have been (almost) completely nausea free FOR FOUR WHOLE WEEKS!
This is me doing a happy dance. Which is actually pretty disturbing considering the giant belly bouncing around.
So anyway, now that I’m feeling like a normal person these days (a ginormous normal person with a bowling ball sitting on her lap and a baby whose favorite position is bear hugging her bladder), I have been back to doing things I love. Like quilting. And eating. Lot’s and lot’s of eating, to the shagrin of my OB who all but wagged her finger when she saw that the scale reflected my newfound love of food (did you know food actually TASTES GOOD? I had forgotten.).
But enough of this rambling… I have quilt pictures to share. So back to the point, now that I’m feeling better I was able to reunite with my beloved sewing machine and whip out a new quilt top – not for any specific purpose other than it made me happy and I’ve been hankering to try this pattern.
This is called a 9-patch pattern – if you look closely, you can see that even though all the scraps run together, they’re sewn into blocks of nine, and then those blocks are combined to make bigger blocks. I used a moda jelly roll so cutting the squares was super fast (you can also do this pattern by sewing strips and then cutting them, but I was feeling all organic and wanted to do the entire thing from scratch).
This is the perfect pregnant girl quilt pattern, because there IS no pattern. I wanted the overall look to be scrappy and cluttered looking – there’s something comforting in the craziness and unpredictability. Plus, since there’s no pattern, there wasn’t a lot of that obligatory getting up and down off the floor to lay out my pattern over and over as I sew. The only time I laid it out was at the very beginning to figure out how many patches I needed, and at the very end to pin on the border.
I love this picture because you can see my new view as Wrenn girl grows.
And there’s the final version. It still needs to be quilted, but since it’s for me, it’s going to have to wait until after sweet Wrenn’s quilt is finished. Which I have 11 weeks left to complete (assuming she’s on time). Oh my word, where has the time gone?
Stay tuned for more on her quilt – and her nursery – this week. And pics of our first baby shower. And baby bump pics. It’s going to be a busy week.
This year it feels like Christmas is coming early. Well, not Christmas, actually – but our due date. At my 22-week doctor appointment a few days ago, my doctor informed me that it was in fact my 24-week appointment. I’ve been skipped a grade. Or two weeks, thanks to a few ultrasounds that showed baby is much further along than they previously thought (and which better follows my original math for the due date). My new due date is July 12.
I was so happy I almost hugged her.
Two weeks closer to holding baby girl. Two weeks closer to not being pregnant. And two fewer weeks of BEING PREGNANT IN TEXAS IN JULY. Praise Jesus, this mama won’t be seeing August 1 with a baby in her belly.
And, for your entertainment, here’s some more belly pictures. I found out this week that my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball (is that TMI?), which explains why my belly is now the size of a soccer ball.
21 Weeks
23 Weeks
I’m so happy for maxi dress season – this one is a “regular” non-maternity one from my closet, that still fits… for now. 24 Weeks.
A front view of my new favorite dress, a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law. 24 Weeks.
A side view of that same dress, worn to a western-themed work party Friday night. I almost didn’t go, because I was feeling nauseous, but plugged through and ended up winning an award for “Board Member of the Year” for The Cowtown Marathon. What a wonderful surprise and honor from one of my favorite organizations. 24 Weeks.
What my colleagues didn’t see was me getting so winded and nauseous walking back to my car with Mr. Right that I had to stop twice, bend over with my hands on my knees, and try my darndest to “get it together” and keep going. Good thing baby girl that you’re worth it.
I’ve become my mother, y’all. Not that it’s a bad thing – in fact, I think it’s a good thing for our bank account. You see, both of us hate to shop. I’ve been this way for awhile now, but while preparing for Baby Right, the fact has been magnified.
I. Hate. To. Shop.
I don’t browse. I hate to research. I’m like a smash-and-grab robber who kicks the door in, grabs the first thing within reach, and drives off like a bat out of Hades. Only in my case, I walk into a store, point to the first thing I see, and get it. The same works for websites. Evidence:
We bought Baby Girl this gorgeous crib (thanks to some leftover gift cards from our wedding) from Pottery Barn Kids. It’s the very first one that pops up when you search “crib” on the site. It also happened to be on sale AND offered free shipping (aka – another $100 discount).
This glider? It wasn’t the first one I sat in at Buy Buy Baby. But it was right next to the first one I sat in. And since that one didn’t offer the fabric I wanted, we opted for this one. Ours will have similar fabric but it’s much, much lighter gray.
Mr. Right knows this about me, so I took him with me to help pick out our diaper bag (since he’ll be carrying it too) and a stroller. We have mutually agreed that he will research the stroller for us (he loves to read reviews) because we both know that if it’s up to me, I’ll pick out the first one I see. And probably the cheapest. I hate spending money.
There are a few exceptions with my one-and-done shopping style. I love discovering fun new decorations on blogs, and I love looking at catalogues. And, occasionally, I fall in love with something totally frivolous, like these ruffle curtains that I can’t take my eyes off of. I haven’t committed to buying them… yet… but I am imagining these will add a touch of femininity to our more neutral nursery.
As for the rest of our nursery – we also have a beautiful dresser that our in-laws handed down to us, that we’ll use for a changing table. We haven’t decided yet if we’ll leave it as is (a gorgeous, stained dark brown) or paint it. Our goal is to put the nursery together in April. Stay tuned for pictures.
In the meantime, I’m glad I’ve become my mother. It’s perfect for our Dave Ramsey family budget. It saves me a lot of time. And both of us married men who LOVE to shop and who make sure we branch out and hit a mall occasionally. Don’t pity us… come join us.
It’s going to be okay. I’m going to make it another 19 weeks. And in the meantime, please say a prayer that I will get some good, restful sleep. And soon.
Maternity clothes are expensive, and I hate investing in new clothes for just a few months of wear, so I’ve been trying to wear basic staples (think solid shells with colorful cardigans) and dress up my wardrobe with accessories that will fit no matter how much my weight fluctuates.
And because of that pesky morning sickness, I’m doing 99% of my shopping these days online. So when I found out my friend Kelly had started a new online accessory business, it was a match made in heaven. Even better, as someone who has a heart for adoption, I love supporting a friend who just adopted two adorable little boys.
I immediately bought two new necklaces – the Hallie necklace…
And this one that is already discontinued (sorry, you snooze you lose).
I got so many compliments from wearing them that I went ahead and picked out one more. After all, every good Texas gal needs an amazing turquoise necklace. It’s in the handbook.
I’m not sure what is more fun – having a stylish new accessory to go with my growing belly, or being able to tell people who comment on my necklace, “Oh this? It was just $22.” There’s nothing better than a good bargain.
Well, I have good news for you, my blog friends. Kelly has offered to give away a free Hallie necklace to one of you! There’s two ways to enter.
I’ll hold a drawing Sunday evening and announce the winner on Monday. Good luck!
This week I bought the very first item for Baby Right. I’ve been so good about not splurging on little girl items because (1) we’ve already been blessed with some great hand-me-downs, (2) I’m still not feeling well enough to want to go shopping most days, and (3) baby stores intimidate me.
Which is why God invented internet shopping. And blogs. Thanks to the combination of the two, I made my very first purchase for my little girl… crib sheets from Target (click on the picture to be taken to the original source).
Aren’t they cute? I’ve been looking for something really neutral, and these were just calling my name. And they were on sale. And I didn’t have to leave my house to buy them. It was love at first sight.
For those of you wondering about our nursery theme… we don’t really have one. We want it to be calm, relaxing, neutral. We want something that can easily grow with baby girl and give us a lot of freedom to change out accessories. Ironically enough, we don’t want it to scream “girly-girl” (even though I’m a pretty girly-girl myself). These are our inspiration photos (again, click on the picture for the link to the original post – the first photo is from a blog I love to follow).
We’re using grays and whites with pops of bright accent colors – probably orange and turquoise. We’ve been given an old dresser from my in-laws for a changing table that we’re going to paint and then use colorful knobs from Anthropologie (or a cheaper knock-off). And of course I plan to design a custom print for the nursery, along with baby girl’s very first quilt.
Time to get to work! Only 19 weeks to go before she arrives!
For my mama’s birthday I just knew I wanted to make her a quilt. It was a big milestone birthday and it deserved to be marked with an extra-special gift.
And then I got that pesky morning sickness that is STILL lingering, and all of my quilting dreams went out the window. I haven’t even turned on my sewing machine since November. I would have gone through withdrawals if I had had the energy to care… but you and I know that when you’re too sick to care about taking a shower, you don’t give two thoughts to things like crafts. (PS – I’m showering again, in case you were worried.)
But God came through in his perfect timing, just like he always does, and granted me a nausea-free day (and a day off!) just a few days before the party. So after a marathon session in my beloved but lately neglected sewing studio, I was able to whip out this little beauty. I call her my Mullet Quilt. You know why? Becuase it’s neutral in the front…
And a party in the back.
I was determined to branch out from my regular chevron pattern, but (1) I found these two gray fabrics and fell in love, and (2) it’s already getting hard for me to get up and down off the floor, and I’m getting pretty fast at whipping out chevron patterns and don’t have to do as much work on my hands and knees laying out patterns. I have a feeling the more pregnant I get, the less time I’ll be spending crawling around on the floor. Which means Baby Girl may be getting a chevron quilt too (which would be fitting, because it’s my favorite pattern).
I quilted a straight line along the zig-zags to make the pattern pop. I bought the fabric at my new favorite quilting store, Cabbage Rose in Fort Worth, and it’s so unbelievably soft. And gorgeous. Mr. Right talked me into buying the crazy floral backing, and I’m now so in love with it that I may use some of it for the nursery. He’s good at making me branch out of my comfort zone like that.
Later this week I’ll post about the party we threw my mama for her big birthday. In the meantime, happy birthday mom – I love you! And I can’t wait to get back to my sewing machine for the next project.
I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging lately – actually, I’m not really sorry, if I can be completely honest. One thing this pregnancy weirdness has done has released me from the overwhelming need to do things. To perform. Because basically, I couldn’t do much of anything for so long, and now that I can, well, I’ve settled into a nice little routine of doing what is important to me, and putting off what isn’t until another day.
Not that this blog isn’t important to me. It has documented seven years of my life. It has brought me friends like you. But what isn’t as important to me right now is keeping up with the Blogging Joneses. Monitoring my hits. Worrying about marketing. Right now it just doesn’t seem as important as growing tiny toenails inside my belly. Hanging out with my husband. Going to bed early (I could get used to this).
Besides, I’ve been pretty busy. Last weekend, I volunteered at the Cowtown Marathon all weekend. I’ve been on their board for eight races now (am I getting old?), and I must tell you that I feel like I’m reuniting with family every year when we put on that crazy event for 26,000+ runners (gasp) and all their favorite loved ones. It is one giant spectacle and I love every part of it.
It’s also exhausting – it means working all weekend, waking up at the crack of dawn. Usually there’s manual labor involved (although the sweet folks gave me a sit down job all weekend – I felt so spoiled!). But at the end of the craziness, we have done something huge. We have given folks that once-in-a-lifetime experience. We’ve helped them achieve a life goal. I love everything about it.
This year, the highlight of the weekend was getting to be on TV – I was interviewed by our local news about the race, and it seems everybody I know saw it but me (that’s what happens when you’re fast asleep well before the 10:00 news). It was fun because I knew the reporter, and he very kindly cropped out my growing baby bump (which in the shirt I was wearing looked more like a beer belly gone wrong). As someone who prides herself on always being behind the camera for work, it was a way to step out of my comfort zone and have a little fun at the same time. Plus I was having another pregnancy-induced good hair day (thanks prenatal vitamins!).
So now you know what I’ve been doing when I haven’t been behind my computer. I promise I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere.