our daughter's room

I had intended on blogging a big nursery reveal. It was going to be picture perfect - magazine and pinterest worthy. However, after postponing my big nursery reveal, I decided that I am no longer going to let my desire for perfection stop me from posting. The room is a work in progress, and is far from finished. I am very happy with how it is progressing, and I can't wait to see how it evolves over time.

This room was originally going to have a Little House on the Prairie  theme. However, I found this fabric at JoAnn's and knew that I had to have it. I love the combination of coral pink and navy blue. It's girly, but not over the top. The crib and tan rocker are hand-me-downs from big brother, and the dresser came from Dadi. I did the bedding myself, and the curtains are semi-custom made by me as well.

Future me has several projects in mind for this room.

Thank you pinterest for the inspiration...

1. A gallery wall above the white dresser.

....or....

2. Doing some sort of name thing above the crib. 

3. The room is small, so shelving on either side of the window will help maximize storage. 

4. Sprucing up my old rocker. 

So there you have it. I'm thrilled to be working on this room. It's been fun dreaming up a beautiful girl room that will be enjoyed by my daughter and myself. 

I'll keep blogging my progress. 

dresser update

I finally finished our baby girl's dresser. This dresser originally belonged to Lucas's Dadi. It's a really nice solid wood dresser, but it needed a face lift.  Before painting, I spent several days sanding off the dresser's original mustard yellow color. When I originally envisioned our daughter's room, mustard yellow didn't even come close to making the cut. Using left over paint, I finished the project with the same color I used on the trim in our house. I did keep the original dresser knobs - the picture doesn't do them justice - but the knobs are a vintage white with dainty pink, blue and yellow flowers. 

St. Patrick's Day & A Conversation with Lucas

Driving to my parent's house can be wearisome for Lucas. He can usually get about half way before the boredom sets in and the fussing starts. On this particular trip, his biggest complaint was the lack of trains, fire hydrants and ambulances on the freeway. This lack of entertainment (apparently his stack of books and toy air planes weren't enough) resulted in the kicking of the front passenger's seat and squealing loudly. For the sake of my sanity (and my car seats), I asked Lucas to tell me what he wanted for his birthday and after much deliberation he responded by announcing "R2D2."

Alrighty then.

His answer to my "what do you want for your birthday" distraction question led to the following series of questions....and I found the answers highly amusing.

Me: Who's Mamma?

Lucas: Princess Leia!

Me: Who's Daddy?

Lucas: Darth Vader!

Me: Who's Dada?

Lucas: ...hmm...he's Obi-Wan.

Me: Who's Baba?

Lucas: Han Solo...hmm...probe droid.

Me: Who's Dadi?

Lucas: Aunt Beru.

Me: And who is Lucas?

Lucas: R2D2!

I'm impressed. Thanks to Daddy, this guy knows his Star Wars and at least Lucas thinks I'm Princess Leia instead of Chewbacca.

This discussion of Star Wars kept him entertained for the remainder of the journey and we arrived at my parent's with my sanity intact.

It wasn't until I noticed that all three of my brothers were wearing green that I realized that it was St. Patrick's Day. You would think that I would have noticed after all of the beautiful St. Patrick's Day pins on Pinterest and shamrock shakes plastered on the McDonald's billboards that something was up. 

Lucas had a blast playing at Grandma's house in the country, and I enjoyed kicking back in the shade. Much better than hiking around the Wild Animal Park in the warm sun. 

However, now I gotta find an R2D2 for Lucas's upcoming birthday. 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

What a bunch of horrible and unlikable characters. I started this novel expecting a romantic love story.  Instead, I got an intense tale of hate, passion, and one man's commitment to a lifetime of revenge.

 The novel is narrated by Nelly Deans a long time family servant currently working at Thrushcross Grange.  I thought it was interesting that Bronte chose to narrate her novel through the eyes of Nelly instead of using an omnipresent narrator.  At times, I wondered about Nelly's intentions. Although she did not like Healthcliff (who would), Nelly's attempts to avoid him were weak at best. Perhaps I am reading into things, but at times Nelly seemed to be in love or at least in awe of Healthcliff.  She involved herself in his twisted life, and in the end moved back to Wuthering Heights.  

I was relieved that at the end of novel, Cathy and Hareton finally fall in love and are able to wed without Healthcliff's manipulative meddling.  Cathy and Hareton did not deserve Healthcliff's hate and I was glad for their happy ending. 

Although Wuthering Heights was not what I was expecting, I enjoyed this novel. A cautionary tale of a love gone wrong, and the damaging effects of what hate does to a person and to those they love. 

wedding @ Point Loma

One week ago, I watched one of my best friends from college walk down the aisle. It was a beautiful wedding, with a beautiful bride. The wedding details were amazing. Her choice of purple and grey complimented the ocean view venue. I loved the candy bar, and the cake was delicious! 

As a pregnant bridesmaid, I was most nervous about squeezing into my dress. I bought the dress back in December - before I was showing and after much deliberation I decided to buy one size up. About a month ago, I went to the store to pick up the dress happy that it still (if snugly) fit. However, from the week that I picked up the dress to the week of the wedding my baby bump grew. Thankfully, I made through the ceremony. For the reception I threw on my black maternity sweater and had another bridesmaid unzip the top of the dress until I could change into something else. 

I think the best part of the wedding was seeing how happy the bride was. She was positively glowing all night long. I'm so thankful that I got to be apart of her special day and I'm looking forward to making many new memories together as two married ladies. :) 

Harrison Baby Girl

It's a girl!

This post is about a month late. But hey..better late than never.

I had forgotten how uncomfortable having an ultrasound was. I arrived about fifteen minutes before my scheduled appointment hoping that maybe one of the nurses would take pity and see me early. Unfortunately, with my bladder busting at the seams, I was still forced to wait about 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. All I could think about during the first half of the ultrasound was 1) I just want to pee and 2) please dear God, please don't let me pee right here on the table.

Lovely.

It was worth the discomfort to see our little lady. She didn't want to be disturbed. The nurse had to probe around a little in order to get the necessary pictures. Which unfortunately, meant more discomfort for me. After the nurse gave me the ok to use the restroom, the remainder of the appointment went smoothly. Richard and I got to see just about every angle of our baby girl. I think my favorite picture was the one where she flashed the peace sign.

Now with only 13 weeks left before our due date, I'm feeling excited and anxious to meet this precious little one. Our family will never be the same. I've already created several "prep for baby" to do lists, and I'm sure my poor hubby is going to think I'm crazy, but hey..it's best to be prepared. The room is painted, the crib is up, and I've already started working on the dresser and bedding. My pinterest board is brimming with ideas and I'm ready to hit the stores for little girl things.

good by winter, hello spring

It's days like this where I feel blessed to live in Southern California. While so many families across the country are buried deep in snow here I am in shorts and a t-shirt enjoying a beautiful day at the San Diego Safari Park. Last summer our family was gifted with passes to the park. I've learned that its best to go early morning and during the week. It's less crowded during the week and the animals are more active during early mornings. The new Tiger exhibit is fantastic. It's one of our must do's at the park. The boys love climbing around on the playgroup equipment at the Logging camp, and seeing the tigers up close in their new exhibits. 

Though there wasn't much animal activity on our trip, it was still a fun day. I enjoyed wandering through the trails, soaking up the warm sun and watching animals snooze.