Festive Makeover

Before Lincoln arrived, I made a long list of things I wanted to do around the house while I was on maternity leave for 12 weeks. However, I didn’t fully grasp how busy our little bundle of joy would keep me. This was especially true while adapting to the BabyWhisperer E.A.S.Y. sleep system, which now I am very thankful for since our little man sleeps through the night… most nights.  But fall is my favorite time of year, so I had to spruce up my décor before returning to work.

Before

Blank canvas :)

First thing I had to tackle was our wreath. Travis hated it, and I didn’t want to hear about how ugly our wreath was each week leading up until Christmas. 

Ta-Da!

So I ventured down to my local Hobby Lobby, took advantage of its fall décor sale, and voilà, our reinvented wreath!

Second thing was our mantel. While I loved the simplicity of having silver framed pictures of our friends and family, it was a tad boring. Like most of my recent household projects, I harvested ideas from Pinterest.  

I quickly inventoried what I had at home, used the leftover wreath décor and with a few touches from Pier 1… I’m pleased to present our festive fireplace!

Of course, I carried over my holiday dining room decor and added a new kitchen towel. Have I mention my obsession for decorative towels? Yes, I’m a dork!

I hope you all are harvesting wonderful memories and giving thanks for this beautiful time of year.

Happy Fall Y'all! 

Our Nursery

Jonathan Adler Elephant Bookends

The story behind this room is the perfect example of how irony, destiny and design can all intersect. 

On November 8th I was on a flight home from San Diego, where I had spent a week at a conference. Luckily, Travis had flown out with me a few days prior to take in the sites and spend some time together. On the flight home my computer died, and all I had to entertain myself was our trusty iPad. Checking my email, I had a note from Ben and the Pinterest team, telling his story about becoming a new dad and announcing their new secret boards.

Needless to say, I was touched at Ben’s adorable story and his unique approach to telling the world about this new feature. It inspired me to save some of the ideas I had been wanting to pin, for “the future”. At this point Travis and I had taken all preventative measures out of the way, and left our baby future in God's hands. I created a secret board titled “One Day”, ironically not knowing that I was one week pregnant. It’s amazing how God can speak to us in subtle ways, when we aren't even listening. During this 3-hour flight I found tons of ideas, which are now present in our nursery. All that’s missing, is our sweet little boy!

Now without further ado, I present….our nursery.  

My sweet friend Kim Post designed these pictures, this was her gift to the baby and beyond perfect artwork.

His crib is a blend of patterns, mixing grey, yellow and touches of white. Perfectly matching this beautiful stroller blanket from Bostonian bestie Sara Zwricker.

This turtle is one of many pieces of nostalgia from Travis's childhood nursery. While it doesn’t 100% match, it was too cute not to be in the room.

The Pottery Barn Kids elephant play-mat & chevron pillow are very thoughtful gifts from our stylish supper club friends Terrah Kocher and Amy Albery.  
Later, I found the matching yellow pillow at Pier 1.

On top of our Target storage ottoman is an adorable diaper cake, made by my amazing friend and colleague Ashley Walters. One day she will take everyone’s advice and start selling them on Etsy!

Quacking cute, this duck lamp is another touch from Travis’s childhood. Daddy picked out a new lamp shade today, to match our color scheme. The towel is yet another hand-made gift from our crafty friend Amanda Raybuck.

This cute little rocking chair was a gift from two amazing couples, the Loyall’s and Fassler’s. Our mobile came from Etsy, and daddy installed a corner shelf so we can see our boy when he sleeping....or not. 
A family friend made our panel curtains, complete with black out liners for nap-time.

Ironically, both the Chef bear and grey elephant thumbie are from family friend Sue Hunter.

Our organized baby closet, complete with my DIY tags, and Etsy closet dividers. Baskets from Meijer.

We re-framed this third generation baseball picture, to keep the nostalgic theme going.

Finally, the homemade gift that made me cry. My amazing sister in law used individual buttons to make this adorable elephant work of art. It was the perfect final touch to pull all the details together.

Thanks to our family and amazing friends for helping to get our nursery ready for little Lincoln James Kight. 
Now let the countdown begin!

My Top 10 Pregnancy Must Haves!

Counting down the days until our little man arrives, I can’t help to reflect on the past 9 months. It’s hard to believe that very soon I will be a new mommy, and our lives will be forever changed. With that being said, there are a few things that I could not have lived without over the past few months. Please know there are many emotional things I could have listed, like a loving spouse… great friends… moms who will answer questions without that judgmental response: “How do you not know this!”. But for those you who just found out you have a bun in the oven, grab a pen and paper cause this list of things, may come in handy…

 

My Top 10 Pregnancy Must Haves!

1. Snoggle pillow – This bad boy is essential! I cannot stress how much easier sleep will be if you have one; it supports you in all the right places and prevents parts of you body from going numb in the middle of the night and gives you comfort as you get back to sleep… after your third trip to the bathroom.
2. Planner or Organization System – It seems like moments after people say congratulations, your calendar becomes flooded with appointments, baby showers, classes… My baby brain can’t think of the rest. Plus you need a place to centralize your baby-related lists… ahhh lists. Who to invite, what to register for, who to send thank you cards to, what you need to do at work and finally… what to pack in the hospital bag. I was blessed to have teacher friends who introduced me to the amazing ErinCondren Planner last year. I honestly don’t think I would be ready for this child without it. However, as long as you have a system you can stick to, you should be good to go.
3. Largest Water Bottle With a Straw You Can Find – I am not kidding. H2O is your new best friend, and having a straw makes it easier to suck down the ounces you need to keep from feeling nauseas, breaking out, getting Braxton hicks contractions and just feeling blah. Plus the straw will come in handy once baby is here, since you will have your hands full… literally!
4. The Belly Band – This accessory is great. It can help cover the rubber-banded pants early in your pregnancy and hold them up towards the end. I got two of them, because I liked having color options. I will say the cheaper ones work, but having that little silicone strip from the Ingrid and Isabel does wonders.
5. Belli Oil – Now at 37 weeks, I have tried it all… cocoa butter, organic creams, you name it! But this stuff has a scent and consistency that are both calming and soothing. It honestly feels like a mini massage when you apply it. Hard to describe, but worth every penny. I found some on Amazon that was a good savings from what Ulta was charging.
6. Tennis Ball – The further along you get, the more aches and pains you will feel, particularly when sitting for a long period of time or driving. Now its not uncommon for me to take my yellow tennis ball and place it behind my middle back while driving, to make my back stop hurting. This can be done against a wall, down your leg… really wherever it hurts. Because unfortunately your husband will not always be there to rub your back.
7. Baby Center App – Use the “What to Expect When you are Expecting” book as door stop. Watch the movie instead. In this Prego’s opinion, this book is full of way to much information and it’s, well… scary! The Baby center app gives you little nuggets of information in an easy to digestible form, like “eat a pregnancy super food” or “get your car seat installed.” Complete with happy little boxes you can check off, as the day gets closer. Plus on the days of the weeks you progress, it will prompt you with a little “Your Baby” recap, complete with what size they are and what’s developing.
8. Pregnancy Spanx – You will want to wear dresses. They are flattering, you can stretch out non-maternity ones and they are comfortable. But everyone needs a little smoothing out and support sometimes.
9. Supportive Bras – In between my first and second trimester, I experienced a lot of upper back pain. Funny thing was, my bras were now two sizes too small! When I learned this, I was in such shock, I left my beautiful red leather jacket Travis got me a few years ago in the Victoria Secret dressing room. After upgrading my over-the-shoulder bolder holders, the back pain magically disappeared.
10. Chiropractor – While I know I said I would leave “people” off this list, you really need a chiropractor during pregnancy. Your body is about to go through major changes. Your back, hips, chest…pretty much everything will need to be adjusted from time to time. Plus, some chiro’s even have massage therapist on staff… can you say bonus! The amazing staff at All Star Chiropractic have saved me countless times, and I don’t know what I would do without them. 

Like I said, there are many emotional things I could list here. I have been extremely lucky to have a sweet, supportive and loving husband who has been by my side for nine months. I have amazing friends, about of dozen of who are on the same journey. Not to mention my faith, which has kept everything in perspective. While I am still eating spicy food, hoping that will lessen the time between today and the moment I get to meet our little man… I know God has a plan for his due date.

Wishing you all a beautiful 9 month journey!

Picture Perfect

Like most men, my husband likes to think he is always right. Well, this is one time he was right. At the foot of the steps leading to the second floor of our house, I had tried to make a colleague of pictures of our friends, family and the two of us. Travis (diplomatically) told me it didn’t look quite right. At first, I put my foot down. My “work of art” was going to stay as-is. Needless to say over time, I saw his point. 

BEFORE

Thanks to a little pinspiration, I found a new way to display our love and loved ones. Introducing my DIY gallery wall:

AFTER

Step 1 – Measure: After consulting a few friends with a good eyes for design, I decided to us the window as a guide. Next, I bought shelves that would fit in this space from Ikea.

Step 2 – Tape off designated area: Using Frog Tape, I made the job of painting easy on my self by measuring and leveling the gallery wall.

Step 3 – Paint: The gallery wall; let dry over night. (Leave tape up!)

Step 4 – Remove: The tape slowly and see if any touchups are needed.

Step 5 – Measure again: To determine where you want the shelves to sit, remember to take into account the size of pictures you will be resting on these shelves.

Step 6 – Hang shelves: My good friend Ashley Parsons gave me a tutorial on how to hang shelves that saved me from having lop sided pictures. This was the part that gave me anxiety, but once I did one shelf… the rest were a piece of cake.

Step 7 – Arrange and enjoy!

I cannot wait until our little man arrives, and I can add pictures of him.