Be Still

This is my personal mantra.

So when I saw this necklace by Lisa Leonard, I was smitten. Not only is it beautiful, and beautifully crafted, but it is also a constant reminder to me to be still. To slow down. To listen to that still small voice that is inside of each of us. As a mother, I rely on that voice everyday. It is nearly impossible to hear it when we are always hurrying from one thing to the next. And so I try to sit quietly. And to listen.


Don't you love Lisa Leonard? I do. And I'm not even a jewelry person. But her pieces are so perfectly classic and understated and easy to wear. Her teenie tiny initials necklace is another of my favorites. I can't wait to order another charm for mine (But what letter will it be? It's killing me.).

Not only is Lisa super talented, but she's really nice, too. She is offering one of my lucky readers their very own "Be Still" necklace. Do you want in? Then comment on this post before Wednesday night, 11pm MST to enter yourself in the giveaway.

The winner will be announced first thing Thursday morning.

Good luck!

I have nurseries on the brain.

When my sister moved recently, I was the lucky recipient of her pristine collection of Martha Stewart Baby magazines. They are a treasure. I just love Martha Stewart's people. Don't you?

I have been poring over them, looking for ideas for our new nursery.

I am aiming for something sweet and simple, and of course kind of boy-ish. The only requirements are that I use our existing furniture (including my favorite red crib) and the wall color (a warm neutral from Behr called Oat Straw) cannot be changed (because I don't feel like painting). Oh, and I can't spend any money.

This is why I am not the kind of person who can wait until birth to find out the sex of my baby. There is decorating to be done.

image from Martha Stewart Baby Spring 2001 issue

Welcome February

I am so glad that it's February.

This month Mike and I will celebrate our ninth anniversary (has it really been that long!).

Also this month I am one month closer to delivering this still un-named babe. We went back to the drawing board in the name department. Maybe starting over will help us decide? I hope so.

Last week I was featured on Today's Creative Blog. Can you believe it? I am totally flattered. It is such a fun blog.

And today one of my vintage posts was re-posted by Sarah at Clover Lane. She has wonderfully strong opinions about motherhood. I couldn't agree with her more.

This week I am taking it easy. I feel like I've been running myself a little ragged lately. So today Stella and I are reading books on the couch and putting our feet up.

What do you have planned?


image from better than fine

Are you pregnant?

Do you know someone who is? Then head over to Shade and pick up a few of these undershirts right now. I'm serious. I have honestly never worn anything so comfortable in all my life. They are soft and cool and stretchy and just completely perfect. I'm not taking mine off until May.

I'm better at dresses.

In preparation for the big bedroom switch of 2010 (it's inevitable with a new baby coming, right?), I decided to make matching twin quilts for Oliver's new beds (aren't those dark blue vintage jenny lind beds perfection?). I'm not sure what I was thinking. I've never made a real quilt in my life. During the process, I learned three important things.

1. I am not a quilter, and people who make pretty quilts are really really talented.
2. It takes forever, and I am not a patient seamstress.
3. It's expensive. I could have almost purchased two twin sized quilts from somewhere like Target for what I spent on materials. Not to mention time.

Oh well.
Now I know.

At least I like the finished product, amateur though it may be. But from now on, I will stick to apparel, thank you very much.

Have a good weekend!

Mabel, new and improved

She can see!

It turns out that she couldn't before. She is completely near sighted. Poor thing. We had no idea. Were we surprised when she chose the pink glasses? Nope. I think she looks darling (and suddenly so mature!) in them. She was a happy girl walking to school this morning.

The water heater won.

Boo.

I'll get those brick floors someday.

p.s. It's raining!
p.p.s. That's 6 months worth of bump right there.

Picking oranges for dinner is an adventure.

I nearly sacrificed life and limb for those oranges.

Oh that Champ.

It's going to be a beautiful day.

this morning's pink sunrise

Do you want to come visit? It's going to be 72 and sunny. We could do lots of fun things together. Like go to the fabric store and pick out fabric for Oliver's new quilts. Or eat lunch at some cute little place on Main St. Or go to the park and sit in the sun.

Think about it.

some things

please note: I love this gorgeous room.

1. I am a little more than half way through my pregnancy, but my belly thinks we're closer to the finish, I think. It is large already. What can you do?

2. We haven't yet chosen a name for this boy. Although we each have a favorite. I'm secretly waiting for Mike to give in and go with my choice. It's a good one.

3. I have a new to-do list system for myself this year. I write everything I need to do on a page in a little mini notebook. If I don't do something, it gets moved to the next page for the next day. It's not fancy or complicated, but I like having all of my lists in one place.

4. The smell of freshly baked bread no longer makes me sick. (It was my worst morning sickness culprit, can you believe it?) So I'm on a mission to make bread. Really good bread.

5. After nearly four years in our house, we have finally saved up enough cash to redo our floors. Goodbye 30 year old parquet and hello reclaimed brick? Maybe. (I'm using the picture above from housebeautiful as inspiration). But our water heater is on the brink. Sigh. The floors might have to wait.

our week in the snow

We spent the week after Christmas at my parents' house in snowy Sundance, Utah.
Here's a quick recap:

Some of us went sledding.
And some of us were too pregnant to sled and took pictures instead.

It looked so fun!

Some of us wore turtlenecks.

And some of us decided that Stella should only ever wear turtlenecks for the rest of her life.

Some of us got into heated matches of fencing on wii Sports Resort.

And some of us played a lot of Beatles Rockband.
(Ok, all of us played a lot of Beatles Rockband.)

Some of us had our boyfriend visiting from Germany and couldn't stop smiling.

And some of us got sparkly princess fingernails from Mimi.

Some of us played in the snow.
And some of us stayed in the warm house and took pictures through the window. :)

Since all 6 of my parents' children live in a different state, it was nice to all be together for a bit. I don't think I saw Mabel and Oliver the entire week. They were so busy with their cousins. Every night, while the kids were having their pre-bed hot chocolate, they would break into group song. Beatles songs, of course.

Oh, it was fun.
Thank you Mom and Dad!

All is right with the world once again.

We had a minor Christmas day tragedy at our house. I'll spare you the gory details, but it involved one very naughty dog, Mabel's beloved Pooh Bear and lots of tears. An identical pooh replacement was miraculously procured on ebay (how I love ebay!) and arrived in the mail yesterday. She immediately tucked him under her arm and went back to work. I think I sighed audibly. All is as it should be here at our house.

I love a fresh start.

And that's exactly how I think of a new year. Last night our little family made some goals and some predictions for this year to come. I have made a few good resolutions for myself as well. I'm ready to get to work, to try a little harder and be a little better. It's going to be a good year.

Here's to 2010!


gorgeous image via it's mary ruffle via better than fine

See you next year.

Have a very Merry Christmas!
Love, us

p.s. For a good, quick Christmas read, go here.

such a pretty dress

Will today will be my lucky day? Because I really really want to win this wonderful grosgrain giveaway.