Still No Baby!

Harper decided to stay in my belly a little bit longer! The checkup went great and it looks like he will be here any day now. So I am patiently waiting for something, anything, to happen! I feel like a paranoid mama, I don't want to leave my house just in case my water breaks. For some reason I am comforted by the idea of my water breaking while I am in my own home. It just seems way less stressful. So I figure I will stick close to home for the next few days and I will wait for him to make his appearance.

In the meantime, more nesting. Because really... at this point, I have nothing else to do. Erik, Denise, and Gary finished the stripes in the nursery last night and I love them!!

I ordered the cutest prints from an Etsy shop awhile back. I think they will look great over the dresser. I am going to put them in white frames with Navy and white matting. I can't wait! 

I came across this print today and I think it would be a really cool addition in his nursery too! I found it on Etsy HERE! What do yall think? It is the international code flag for "H." 

Well I am off to paint another canvas. Have a wonderful Thursday! 

35 Weeks

How far along?   35 Weeks! (SO close)
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How big is the baby?  5 1/4 pounds (think honeydew melon)
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Weight gain?  At the end of my 35th week I gained 28 pounds! Putting on the belly. I am still able to wear my wedding rings but I have a feeling they won't fit for too much longer.
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Stretch Marks? Don't think so. Still can't see much of the belly these days. And I have no idea how my feet are doing down there. I think they are getting a little fat though. My right shoes feel a little tight.
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Sleep? I am getting used to feeling uncomfortable and have put myself to sleep faster this week. But when I wake up, I ache. My neck aches, my shoulders ache. I guess I will just have to get another prenatal massage!
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Best moment of the week? When I went in for my appointment on Tuesday, I had to go in for an unexpected ultrasound. The doctor couldn't tell which way the baby was positioned. I was kind of nervous and hoped he wasn't breeched. The ultrasound showed he was in perfect position and there is plenty of fluid for the little guy. So that was a big relief!
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Food and cravings? I eat a lot now. I feel like he is so big at this point that he must need quite a bit of food. I guess my cravings have been chocolate milkshakes. I still love to call all of my normal favorites "cravings." It makes me feel less guilty when I grab my second milkshake for the day.
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Movement? His little feet are now right at my side and he has a very strong kick. My belly looks like a bowl of Jello moving around all day.
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What I miss?  I miss feeling normal. I literally feel like an oompa loompa. Erik has to help me up. I can't lift things. I am pretty independent so relying on other people for help for the simple things has been a little difficult.
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Belly Button?  It is flat. no more belly button. 
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Looking forward to?  I can't wait for our "babymoon" in Wild Dunes. I am so ready. 
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Milestone? Harper is in position and ready to go!

Sorry! *I still need to get a recent photo of this belly!*

Here are some photos of the paintings I did for the nursery. I still have several more to paint. I had a really hard time finding paintings that I loved. So, I decided to be brave and try to paint them myself. I have not painted since the 5th grade. Literally. I was worried I would just waste a bunch of money on paint and canvases but I actually like how they turned out. I tried to match his little quilt. And I figured sea creatures were appropriate.

I finished sailboat #1- (there are going to be three total)

And I finished the little seahorse-

I started on a crab and I am going to do two more sailboats (with the numbers "1 and 2" on their sails) and possibly an octopus. Any other fun ideas that I should try?

A tip for other moms who are considering to start painting-

Sign up for the Hobby Lobby newsletter. Once you do, you receive an e-mail with a coupon almost every week. Quite often it is for 40% off. So I buy one canvas a week. It saved a ton of money and I knew I would feel less guilty if I mess one up. I also waited to buy most of my brushes until they went on sale. Two weeks ago, all of the brushes in the store were 50% off. And then I got the paints when they were on sale. So it really didn't cost much to start up this new little hobby!

And here is a photo of his new crib put together. It looks black in the pictures but it is actually expresso.

Now that the new furniture is in, we can start decorating! I am going to try to hurry and and finish these paintings so we can put them up on the wall. We area waiting on a window valence from Pottery Barn kids. And we ordered a custom glider/rocker so hopefully it will be ready before the little guy gets here. Once we start putting all of the details together, I will post photos so you can see what it looks like.

Men: If Your Wife is Pregnant, these tips could save your life!

I saw this article in the Baby Furniture Plus Kids catalogue and had to share. It is HILARIOUS!!! I have to admit, Erik has been the perfect hubby throughout the entire pregnancy. I think he has this list down. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Men: If Your Wife is Pregnant, these tips could save your life

By- Eric Ruhalter

If your wife is pregnant you are on the verge of your life's greatest joy. However, you're also in tremendous danger. Pregnant women have surging hormones. If you find PMS difficult to navigate, pregnancy will open your eyes to a while new world of slippery slopes. Mind you, she deserves the courtesy and the special attention. By and large your contribution to the birth if this child involves doing something every man want to do day and night anyway. And until you've peed a grapefruit, you'll never really quite understand what you're wife's going to go through when having your baby. So take heed...

• Your pregnant wife had an internal instinct to "Nest." "Nesting" is a quaint way of saying. spending way too much money on decorating a nursery and buying baby stuff. LET HER! And when she's nesting and asks your opinion about something, you better have one or pretend you do. Do your best to have the same opinion as her. 
• You'll get ultrasound photos on some of your visits to the Obstetrician. These images will look nothing like anything. It's like looking at a Doppler radar weather map. However, you should coo at this photo as if it were the actual baby alive in your lap, or your wife will think you're "not excited." Do not ever be "not excited." Always be "excited."
• When selecting baby names first offer to name the child after your wife's dad. Even if his name is something really stupid.
• Pregnant women have "cravings" for particular foods. With your mouth closed, you should acquire said food for her at the first mention of any such food. If you have any misgivings about your wife getting heavy while pregnant, you should make absolutely sure that you never ever under any circumstances mention, allude to or even hint at them.
• Repeat after me" "Honey, from behind you, you can't even tell that you're pregnant!" 
• In the later stages of pregnancy when she's at max size, refrain from providing large dinosaur footstep sound effects when she's walking across the room, "KOOSH!! KOOSH!! KOOSH!!!" Same goes for making beeping truck-in-reverse sounds effects any time she moves backwards
• In the delivery room, don't say: "The baby's almost out. How come you still look fat?"

I strongly urge you to heed this advice, as your wife in her hormonal state is significantly more likely to set fire to you while you sleep. So just help out as much as you can, shut up, and rub her feet. And Congratulations! 

Great article right!?! I think all the preggo ladies should print it out and post it on their fridge for their husbands to see! Ha

And here are some photos of some of the fun "Nautical" items we got for Harper's nursery. Still working on it but it is really turning out cute!!! The glider should be here in a few weeks! YAY!!!

This is the sweet pillow Erik's Aunt Sharon made for Harper. I am in LOVE!! 

And this is his octopus rocking chair. Is even sings!! Hehe. You can find them here! 

Harper's nursery!

The new carpet has been installed! Which means I can finally start decorating the nursery. It is painted a gorgeous blue and I am trying to determine if I want to paint stripes on the wall or have the men put up chair rails and wainscoting.

Here is an example of chair rails and wainscoting in a nautical nursery:

And here is an example of it in a bathroom:

Here are some photos with blue stripes in the nursery:

We are going to have to choose one and that project is going to be the next big step in decorating the nursery. I try to pick up cute nautical items and decorations whenever I see them. And I am currently painting several canvases with cartoon sea creatures to hang on the walls. I just finished up a seahorse and I started on a crab. I think I am going to do a fish and and a whale. Then eventually I want to paint a larger canvas with a sailboat and his name. I need a full day to just sit down and paint. But life has been a little hectic lately. Now that my mom is out of the hospital I will probably have more time. And I need to have mom help with some of the paintings, she is actually an amazing artist and went to the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale where she graduated with a degree in advertising. When we were little, my dad built us a playhouse in the yard, it was just like a real miniature home, and my mom painted the entire house with Disney life-size murals. It was unbelievable! She said she wants to paint one for Harper one day too! 

In the meantime I am trying to find other decorating ideas for the nursery. Here are some designs that I love!

This is the bedding we decided on! I received the bumper, quilt, bedskirt, and two fitted sheets at our baby shower and I LOVE it!! 

Do you ladies have any fun ideas for decorating a "nautical nursery?" Or do you know of any places that have good nursery decor? 

Giveaway #3- Nautical Necklace and Wild Mountain Thyme Mini Painting

Hello all! Hope you are enjoying your week so far. I came across another amazing Etsy store. It is called Tuckoo and Moocow. The artist, Sarah, is a 22yr old college student at the University of Kansas (KU) where she double majors in Anthropology and Art History with a minor in Studio Art. 

She was married in December to a guy who has been her best friend for 9 years.  She enters juror-ed art shows and art fairs on a regular basis. Her Etsy shop, Tuckoo and Moo Cow, was opened May 19th of this year. The name stems from the first line of James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

She and her husband have been calling each other tuckoo and moo cow since they started dating 3 years ago. Her favorite mediums are oil pencil which she works like oil pastels (tedious) and watercolor. She is a part of the VAST: Visual Arts Street Team on Etsy. Her father is an artist and art history professor and her mother is a concert pianist with an MBA who usually runs non-profit organizations. She assumes she got any creative inclination directly from them.

She is a a voracious reader, and loves to go on long walks with her husband, Jordan, and Cairn Terrier, George. She journals a great deal, goes on frequent adventures, and loves history and archeology. She sings practically everywhere she goes, and has taught herself the piano and is currently learning the violin.

Her Etsy store is full of creative hand-made jewelry and paintings! Go check it out here!

One lucky follower will win this gorgeous sailboat necklace and original painting.

The print measurements: 5" x 7" with 1" border. The piece was made while listening to The Corries recording of "Wild Mountain Thyme" -- Scottish folk musicians from the 70s. 

Necklace: 1.5cm wide pendant with original watercolor painting sealed with resin. Comes with 19" chain. 

In order to enter there are only two requirements:

#1) You must follow my blog ( and comment that you are a follower.)

#2) You must go to Tuckoo and Moo Cow and comment with your favorite item in her store.

(That will count as one entry.)

**If you would like 5 additional entries, you just have to post about this giveaway on your blog. In the blog post please include a link to the giveaway, a link to Sara's Etsy store, and a photo of one of her items.**

Please post a separate comment for each entry. So if you follow and comment, that is one comment and if you blog about the giveaway, you will leave 6 separate comments.

I am going to use an automatic number generator to choose the winner. So everyone is welcome to enter and there will be absolutely no bias with the winner selected.

The giveaway starts today, July 8, 2010 and I will announce the winner in one week on Monday July 15th 2010. Good luck!!

My First Giveaway!

I love to share my favorite shopping finds on my blog. And I love to post about everyone's lovely blog giveaways. So this week, I have decided to do several giveaways of my own. Etsy is one of my favorite places to buy gifts, baby items, and fun homemade products. I wanted to share some of my favorite Etsy finds with you all this week and give you a chance to win one of your own.

For those of you who have never entered a blog giveaway, it is really simple and you have a great chance of winning. I have already won several amazing items through blog giveaways and I have only been blogging for three months now! So enter, it might just be your lucky day!!

I came across a FABULOUS etsy store when I was searching for a nautical necklace to wear to my baby shower. It is called Hiphophippos. The store is run by Sara. She is a mommy to an adorable 22 month old boy. Her little man inspired her shop name because his absolute favorite stuffed animal is a little mint green hippo. So cute!

Sara creates personalized artisian jewelry. It is gorgeous and PERSONALIZED. You know i love my monogram and name on everything! haha! The best thing about Sara's store.. if you don't stumble across exactly something you are looking for, you can send her a message and she would love to create something special just for you!

Fun Facts About Sara:

*She was born and raised in Massachusetts , but she has lived in Connecticut for 7 years now.
*She LOVE LOVE LOVES the beach and feels most at peace there.
*She is an animal lover.
*She used to be a retail manager, but since she had her son , he has become her main focus and she is fortunate enough to stay home with him while her fiance' does the dirty work!
*She has only been making hand stamped jewelry for about 6 months, but she has always loved to create things with her hands and picked this up the craft very quickly.
*She loves to hand-make EVERYTHING! And she enjoys the whole process of buffing, stamping, polishing, wrapping dangles.... and so on.

Here are a few of my favorite items from her store:

And want to hear the BEST PART... almost everything in her store is $30 or less!! And it is sterling silver!! I think these would be perfect gifts for friends and family!! Personalized items are just so fun!

Now for the fun part, Sara has graciously offered one of her gorgeous pieces of jewelry to the winner of the giveaway! The winner of the giveaway can choose anything they want from Sara's Etsy shop that is $30 and under! (This is a good majority of her jewelry!) So you pick and personalize your prize! How fun is that!??

In order to enter there are only two requirements:

#1) You must follow my blog. ( and comment that you are a follower)

#2) You must go to Hiphophippos and comment with your favorite item in her store and how you would personalize it.

(That will count as one entry.)

**If you would like 5 additional entries, you just have to post about this giveaway on your blog. In the blog post please include a link to the giveaway, a link to Sara's Etsy store, and a photo of one of her items.**

Please post a separate comment for each entry. So if you follow and comment, that is one comment and if you blog about the giveaway, you will leave 6 separate comments.

I am going to use an automatic number generator to choose the winner. So everyone is welcome to enter and there will be absolutely no bias with the winner selected.

The giveaway starts today, July 5, 2010 and I will announce the winner in one week on Monday July 12th 2010. Good luck!!

Hope you love it as much as I do!!!

Talk Nautical to Me Baby!

Love love love these Etsy items!

Which one is your favorite? Do you have any other good nautical finds to share? I am in desperate need of a nautical dress for my baby shower. I am having a hard time finding one that will look good with my preggo belly. Any suggestions are MUCH appreciated! 

Gorgeous sea locket! 

Sea Glass Necklace

Whale Monogrammed Bracelet 

Ship Bracelet

Glass Window

Sailboat Onesie

Crab Hanger

"A sailor’s joys are as simple as a child’s." - Bernard Moitessier

So today I decided to post a few of my other favorite nautical themed items from Etsy. Which one is your favorite? Erik thinks Jon Jons are not "manly enough" for his son. Haha! He said I can only dress him "cute" for one year. But I think he will learn to love them once the little guy comes along.  In the meantime I am buying a few Jon Jon's in 2T's so I have an excuse to dress him "cute" for awhile! ;) 

Little Crab Beanie! 

Check it out here! 

Squid Onesie 

Check it out here!

Whale Jon Jon 

Check it out here! 

Sailboat Jon Jon 

Check it out HERE!