Garrett's Room

This is still somewhat of a work-in-progress, mainly because Mom keeps making stuff for his room! Not that I'm complaining - this room would be nothing without her artistic and sewing abilities. Thanks, Mamo! Let us take a tour...

The Reading Nook

I saw the idea for the book holders on a design blog. It's just a double curtain rod holder with dowel rods and fabric that Mom and I looped. Easy peasy. I love that it's at Garrett's level where he can choose the books we read. 

Notice the cloth book in the basket? That was mine when I was a little girl, and I remember it vividly!

The Shelves

Sono pics (4th one coming), Hunky the Monkey, Abe Lincoln, maternity pics, and awesome animal clock. Fun fun! By the way, the clock face was embroidered by Mom. It has Garrett's name on it and a different animal for each hour. If only it made the animal sounds, too...I'll save that for Grandma Jo's bird clock...

The Rug

Eric chose this rug all by himself when we were at IKEA. It was the inspiration for the rest of the room. Good job, honey! Now if it will only stay put... any suggestions?

The Crib

Grandma Jo gifted this crib to us. We spent a long time trying to find the perfect one, and after consulting with my awesome cousin Jessica, we just got hers, but in white! Thanks Grandma Jo!

Mom made the awesome bedding. For the bumpers, she took a duvet cover from IKEA and cut it up because we liked the fabric. Eric read an article online about crib bumpers...hence them being outside the crib instead of inside. They were too cute to just put in the closet! Mom also made all of the crib sheets and the crib skirt. 

I got the idea for the embroidery hoop art from another design blog. I wanted colorful fabrics to tie together the decor for the room. Mom made them fun by embroidering little animals and other cute designs on some of them. 

The Cubby Pictures

I should have zoomed in on this one. I found the first two pictures at the Cottonwood Arts Festival in Richardson, TX. I didn't purchase them then, but the same vendors were at the Kerrville Arts and Crafts Fair a few weeks later! They are actually photographers from Kerrville, so that is perfect, too! 

The black bear cubs are so adorable, but I wanted more. So I went to the Cottonwood Festival this year and found the vendors again, and searched searched searched through all of their photographs, looking for pics of other animal cubs. I finally found these great cougar cub pictures (with the help of my dear friend Rachel), and they were perfect! There are even cougar cub twins! :)

The Hooks

Mom (of course) found these great hooks on one of her shopping adventures. They go perfectly with the white and grey of the room. My dear friend Amy made the G for me, and I found the cute giraffe at the Art Reach Festival in Austin that my sister helps put on. The snoopy came from one of my students at school. I like that these three things are from several of my "circles" in my life.

The Dresser

Can I just say I'm kind of in love with IKEA? This dresser didn't break the bank, and it's great quality. I love that it's red, too! I put this together in an afternoon, and am loving it. It provides the storage we needed, and is at an okay height to be our changing table, too. 

Speaking of changing diapers, notice the disposable ones. We hope to transition to cloth diapers once we get the hang of things. I'm sure I'll post more on that later, but cloth diapers have come a long way in the past few years. Plus they're MUCH cheaper in the long run for us.

Oh, and Mom found these curtains at Target that are supposed to block out a lot of light. Well, they're yellow, so they don't completely block it out, but when the sun is shining through the window, they do cast a soft glow on the room. I think Garrett can nap in here just fine.

Other Special Touches

Mom made this awesome stick horse for Garrett awhile back, and Hunky the Monkey is so glad to have a playmate. Mom used to make these and sell them in craft shows back in the day. My Aunt Janice gave us this toy box that matches Garrett's room perfectly! 

 I hope you've enjoyed this tour of Garrett's room. We're almost ready for you, little one! Well, not so little... 6 lbs 6 oz as of last Thursday, and we have a month to go! Eek!

Remembering Grandma Ginia

My precious grandmother won her race last Wednesday. This past weekend, Eric and I traveled with Clay and Jessica (and baby Max) to the San Antonio area to be with our family. EVERYONE managed to be there except one grandson-in-law who is a Marine. (We missed you, Jeremy!)

I love that this weekend was spent remembering Grandma Ginia from before. Before she had Alzheimer's. Before she stopped communicating. Before she couldn't remember us. She had Alzheimer's for eight years (I think...), so for most of my adult life, that's how I knew her. I had to reach into my childhood and college memories, mainly of her and the Riverhouse.

Grandma Ginia was adventurous, and she passed that on to her grandkids. She sent Mark, Clay, Jenny, and I out on scavenger hunts around Camp Bandina, where we would make up stories about the Native Americans who once inhabited that area... who knew they had beer bottles and slab foundations? :) She also took her family to as many of the 50 states as possible. I so want to do this, too!

Grandma Ginia was hospitable, as anyone was welcome to the Riverhouse or to Thanksgiving. This legacy is one that I want to live out in my life to honor hers. My dad, aunt, and uncles talked about how you never knew who would be coming over for Sunday lunch. This is a tradition Eric and I have started in our apartment and now our home, that we hope to continue.

Grandma Ginia was thoughtful. As I look at my jewelry armoire and dig out her letter to me on my 13th birthday, I remember how special of a time that was for me. Another way she was thoughtful was that in college, she would bring Jenny and me Combos. Remember those cylindrical cheddar or pizza flavored goodies? We didn't really care for them much, but they were always at the Riverhouse in one of Grandma's glass jars, and we would munch on them constantly...that and orange slices candy. Anyway, she would bring us bags and bags of Combos that lasted us through our final days in college. So funny.

Adventurous, hospitable, and thoughtful, Grandma Ginia knew WHOSE she was and lived her life that way.

I love you, Grandma Ginia. I know I said good bye a long time ago. I can't wait to chat with you about how you perceived these past 8 years. Oh, the stories you must have!

Here's the video from the celebration service:

Craft Fair #2

Saturday, I'm participating in my second-ever craft fair! I don't have pics of the goods, but I can tell you about them!

• Ghana bags - These colorful bags are made by the Village of Hope vocational school in Accra Ghana. All proceeds from any of these bags (and any of my stuff) go directly back to the Village of Hope.
• Painted boards - These inspirational boards can be changed out every season. They have a single word on them like "joy," "love," "rejoice," and "thanks."
• Rosette necklaces and hair clips - Made of twisted colorful fabric, these rosettes are very versatile for girls of all ages. I get comments on them every time I wear one!

My friend, Karen Leach, will also share a booth with me, selling her paintings and artwork. 

If you're in the Arlington area on Saturday from 9-5, come see us! There's a $5 entry fee to support JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). My friend Amy is running the show, and her daughter Charlotte was diagnosed with diabetes a couple years ago. Charlotte is now 4 and is handling the shots, pokes, and prods rather well. Come support the search for a cure!

Stop the Shots Craft Fair

St. Stephens United Methodist Church

1800 Randol Mill Road

Arlington, TX 76012

Maternity Pics!

Cute & Classy Photography donated a photo package to my school's 50th anniversary silent auction. I knew I wanted some professional maternity pics, so this seemed perfect! And we won the package deal for a great price! Here are some of our favorites:

Someday, I'll post about something non-pregnancy related... Today is not that day!

Church Baby Shower

Sunday was my church baby shower. I am so blessed to be connected and feel community with my church here in Dallas. Eric and I have really enjoyed having a second family since ours are so far away. We were completely overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone on a simple Sunday afternoon. Over 60 people came to support us, including my sister and mom (yay!), some friends from college who live out of town, my FriendSpeak reader and three of her friends, my cousins from Ft. Worth, and many many more.

My hostesses were amazing.  They ran with the Chicago Cubs theme from the invitations to the table decorations to the thank you cards. They welcomed each person and ran things so smoothly. Even though I arrived about 20 minutes late (oops!), they made sure I stayed on track with opening presents. Ha! Here they are:

Erin, Gayla, Brianne, Michelle, Kami, Maire Shannon, Kathy, Megan, and Laura

The table

The cake blocks that Kami slaved over. She's amazing!

 The eagle-eye view of Michelle's beautiful home:

 Maire Shannon has three sweet, beautiful girls whom Eric and I have been close to since the twins were four years old. Maire Shannon wrote down every single gift, and her sweet girls brought them all to me. They even learned how to sew to make my present - homemade burp cloths and decorated onesies! Adorable!!

All of us are due about two weeks from each other. Andrea is first, I'm due two days after her, and Allison is due about a week after me. I can't wait to get together with all of them after our babies are born!

Sophie and Reagan kept me company the entire time.

It was so loud at the shower because everyone was having such a good time chatting. I'm so thankful people felt comfortable enough with so many of my little circles colliding.

Thank you, Prestoncrest!

Month 8 (weeks 29-32)

So, the book my OBGYN gave me has the months a little different than other places I've seen. For month 9, it's weeks 33-36, and it calls weeks 37-40 "Full Term." So, I'm going with those numbers...just so ya know. :)

Now watch in amazement as my belly grows right in front of your eyes! (I may or may not have been watching too much "America's Got Talent"...I'll never tell...)

Week 29

Week 30

Week 31 (plus a haircut!) 

(...I love this black shirt, btw. When Mom first got it for me, it swallowed me! I can't believe it fits so well now. So weird.)

Week 32

I can't even describe how weird it is to look in the mirror at my belly. I went to my 33 week appointment yesterday, and my doctor (who is very loud) exclaimed, "You are SO pregnant, girl!" Well, yes...yes I am. 7 more weeks to go (ish)! This time is going to fly by. I'm really excited, and my nerves haven't set in yet.

My church shower is this Sunday afternoon, and I'm excited to see everyone. I have an assortment of random people who are coming (family, neighbor from the apartment, FriendSpeak reader with some friends, TND friends, out-of-towners). I am so excited for my worlds to collide. Plus, my awesome mom and sister are staying a few extra days to help me organize everything and to spend time with me. I can't even tell you how happy that makes me! Even though I talk to them every day (or almost every day), it's just so much better when I get to see them face to face.