bamboo cotton rocks

i was absolutely giddy today when i walked into cotton babies and found that much of their bamboo cotton collection was on sale! score!  i used to go in frequently to buy detergent for my diapers, and each time i liked to walk through their bamboo-cotton baby clothes section and just touch the soft little outfits that were generally out of my price range. today, tons of the bamboo cotton was 40% OFF! i couldn't believe it. so i picked up a few things for baby girl. 

i want her to wear one of them home from the hospital...which should it be? they're all newborn or 0-3 month sizes (this is what i don't have much of), although they look massive in the pictures.  here's what i got.

bright, cute, modern and so soft!

 this is a unisex sleeper...the color is charcoal gray and white, although it looks black in this picture. i like the idea that i can use it if we have a third baby, no matter the gender.

this picture doesn't do this sleep gown justice. it's a lilac (an interesting lilac...not a pastelly one). this is the piece that wasn't on sale, but i loved it! i'll be packing this one for the hospital for sure.

and finally, this comfy little shirt and pants set. another good purple...good purples are hard to find, don't you think?

can't wait to see london in these soft as butter little outfits. 4 1/2 weeks to go!

diy: fabric mobiles

bff, sarah, from lovely chaos, created this diy on fabric mobiles, and as soon as i saw it, i knew i wanted one for london's room.

so finally, i reeled in dear friend missy (although reeling her in was pretty easy as she loves projects!), and we got busy. well, as busy as we could with 5 kiddos to keep an eye on while working. after two work sessions and some time working on our own, we each finished our mobile.

we followed all of sarah's tips and suggestions. the only differences are that we used wire to connect the hoops, and we added one extra larger ring than she did, so ours are a bit bigger and took a bit more fabric. we estimated that we needed roughly 110 strips of fabric (however as you'll see at the bottom, i had tons left over).

we wired our rings first:

next, we ironed and cut all of our fabric strips:

then we began layering on the fabric strips using tacky glue. we started with the bottom ring and worked our way up:

and up (only one ring left to go in this picture):

and the final product...

here's mine:

here's missy's:

i had a lot of fabric left over; however, i think i should still add a bit more to the mobile to fill it out...make it look thicker. what do you think?

leftovers:

overall, i'm quite happy with my mobile, and i plan to hang it over london's cradle, and later in her room (when she gets one!).

thanks for the idea sarah, and thanks to missy for creating one with me!

every kid should have a play house

i stopped in to city sprouts today with friends jenn and shawn, and of course wanted to buy a thousand things! i haven't been in the store for a very long time, and i remembered why today...too many amazing things, not enough cash flow! 

one of their products i fell in love with was this play house. it's just made out of cardboard (that you can buy at the store) and decorate however you like. i'm a big fan of the patchwork roof and the way they outlined the stone exterior, windows and doors with yarn. noah and his little friends had a blast playing in it. i might have to be on the hunt for a HUGE cardboard box now!

a couple of weeks ago, shanna sent me this idea for a play house. it's completely adorable, and again, you can personalize it however you like. and if you use felt, you wouldn't even need to own a sewing machine, just a little fabric glue and some good scissors.

this site sells a pattern for this project.

london's baby shower

i am so blessed to have incredible friends who saw fit to throw me a beautiful baby shower for our second child, whom we have recently and definitively decided to name london. dear friends shanna, erin and missy went above and beyond, and certainly made me feel like one loved lady. 

the shower had a vintage tea party theme, and the decorations were so gloriously detailed it took a while to take it all in. an antique tea cart, all kinds of amazing china, flowers everywhere, multiple sweet banners, and a ceiling bouquet were just some of the touches....the list could go on. and the food - oh my, the food! not only was it delicious, but it was stunning! the cake shanna made was exquisite, the chicken salad tea sandwiches from erin were savory and yummy, and the scones with cream and jam by missy were beyond my wildest dreams of what scones could be.  

i was also so blessed to have family and friends come in from out of town to help us celebrate, along with many local friends who came to show their support and love. i was (and continue to be) amazed at the generosity of our friends and family. we received so many thoughtful gifts.

thanks to missy and her sweet camera and editing skills for these gorgeous photos:

flowers

 beautiful and yummy strawberry cake and melt-in-your-mouth petit fours

 tagged sugar cookies

 mmmmm...strawberry lemonade

 lovely garnished glasses

 petit fours, as amazing as they were beautiful

 antique tea box full of various teas, along with cream and raw sugar cubes...be still my heart!

 to die for (literally) vanilla bean and orange/white chocolate scones

 cucumber sandwiches....adorable!

 lovely pom pom and onesie decor hanging from wall to wall

 picturesque china tea cups

 ceiling pom pom display - love this and am planning a rendition of it in london's room

 more glorious china

 fireplace display with banner, paper flowers, tea cups, and one of the party invitations

 the serving table in all of it's loveliness

 my sweet friends and hostesses:

(from left to right) erin, shanna, me, and missy

such an incredible day that i will always hold dear in my heart.

thank you girls for your thoughtfulness, generosity and love. you are each such a blessing to me and my family.

alright now, come on baby girl...i'm ready!

pregnancy photos i can live with

My sweet darling husband surprised me with the gift of a maternity photo session! We took pregnancy photos with Noah, and he didn't want London (yes, London!) to be left out. Although his sentiments and action behind this gift are incredibly thoughtful, the idea of a professional photo session in my current state brings on a world of dread! Firstly, and mainly because I'm a vain vain creature, and certainly not in the best shape of my life! Alas though, I agree, I wouldn't want my London to feel left out. This pregnancy is just as special and anticipated as the first.

To top my "not-feeling-so-hot-these-days" self image, I'm also extremely particular about photography. We've been so blessed to have friends with serious photo skills (we'll be working with Erica Rankin), so I don't have to worry at all about the quality of the pictures, just how I'll look in them! So, I've been trying to find some artsy maternity photos that hopefully will make me want to order prints rather than stash the finished CD far away.

In my search, I found many cheesy de`cheese of de`cheesiest pregnancy pictures, and goodness knows, I can't stand the cheese. So I think simple and heavily edited will be the way to go! Here are some ideas I've found that I think I could live with.

Photos like this seem to be favorites as I search. A close up of the belly with an intense highlighted edit.

(seen here.)

This one seems simple, and I like the idea of the flowing wrap that extends past the width of the picture. What would I use...a sheet?

 (seen here.)

Noah has got to be in a few of the pictures. I like this one with just his arm, hand and my belly. Simple and sweet. I would want the lighting done a bit different...more washed out perhaps? And I would be wearing bottoms!

(seen here.)

If I was Posh Spice, I might have something like this done:

(seen here.)

or this:

from here.

And if I was Scary Spice, I might have something like this done (ha!):

(seen here.)

Something about this one is quirky and cute. Of course I would use one of my gorgeous Anthropologie tea cups, and I would want the editing to be done much differently. Not a fan of the oh-so-obvious Olan Mills background (oh man, i can be snobby sometimes. forgive me!).

(seen here.)

Maybe something like this with some of her tiny booties in my hand instead of an apple.

(seen here.)

I like the idea of a few of my favorite baby items photographed in an artsy way.

(seen here.)


This site wouldn't allow me to copy a picture onto my post, but I like the fourth and sixth photos down from the top. I like the angle of the camera on the fourth one.  I think that the lens pointed down on me would be a more flattering shot versus peering up from beneath me. And on the sixth one, I like the close up of the belly, while using a heavy highlight in the editing process.

The second one down on this blog is interesting. I like the lighting and editing...it seems to have a vintage feel almost.

The first picture on this blog is quite sweet. The photographer has the husband in the shot too, but still a close up of their torsos. Again, with a heavy edit on the lighting.


If you have ANY ideas, please send them to me! We've got a couple weeks to go before the shoot.