Ella Rose | 3 Months

It seems as though I blinked and suddenly our sweet Ella is 3 months old. It really is crazy how fast time goes when little ones are involved. It just flies right by.

One of the most fascinating things about infants is how quickly they grow and change. Ella is now weighing in at 13 pounds, 7 ounces and 25.4 inches long. I am completely in love with her chubby baby thighs and her tiny baby toes.

Without a doubt, her hair is still a source of amazement everywhere we go, and her eyes remain a beautiful bright shade of blue.

Our Ella girl has quite the personality these days, as she is a big talker, constantly cooing, I have no idea where that came from (insert sarcasm). She is a super smiley little lady, and she loves her sleep... Snoozing 10-12 hours most nights (thank The Lord).

I adore the fact that we can already see a bond forming between her and Max. Her eyes light up when she sees him, and she is fascinated by everything he does.

She is still eating (nursing) a ton, and has discovered her hands. When she isn't eating, she sucks on them like she has gone days without a meal... Which I can assure you, is not the case.

Ella rolled from her back to her belly for the first time a week or so ago, and we have found that she likes to scoot across the floor by pushing off of her feet. It isn't uncommon to lay her down one way, and find her several feet from that initial spot facing the opposite direction. I get the feeling we're going to be in big trouble in the not-so-distant future.

Happy 3 months Ella Rose!

Swoon Worthy

My apologies for missing last week's Swoon Worthy post, but I was in the hospital, because I had a baby!  In honor of our sweet Ella Rose's arrival, this week's installment involves all things baby girl and new mama... Enjoy!

Oh... and this week's 100% swoon worthy image... my sweet baby girl!

1.  These amazing swaddle blankets from Aden and Anais.

2.  These nursing tanks... I'm pretty much living in them right now.

3.  I'm loving my new double stroller, it's super light and easy to maneuver.

4.  These Tommee Tippee bottles.

5.  These super cute and easy to clean bibs.

6.  This super cute bottle drying rack from Boon.

7.  These precious handmade dolls by Sweet Littles Handmade,

8.  These totally swoon worthy baby shoes that I ordered for Ella the other day.

9.  These hand crocheted baby bows from my Etsy shop.

10.  These too-cute-for-words leggings from Candy Kirby Designs.
-J

A Vintage Style DIY Nursery

Images via: (clockwise) www.etsy.com  www.wallsneedlove.com  www.instyle.com  www.riflepaperco.com

When we first found out that Baby #2 was a girl, I was thrilled at the opportunity to start buying all things girly and pink.  

I absolutely love having a little boy, and have thoroughly enjoyed everything boyish and blue that goes along with it, but I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about being blessed with the opportunity to have a child of each gender.

When I initially began visualizing what our little girl's nursery would look like, I was drawn to very subtle color pallets (for example, grays and pinks), and an elegant but simple decor... But then I realized something, I enjoy color way too much to stick with such a basic style... it just isn't me.

Naturally, I turned to Pinterest for inspiration, and found so many ideas/things to love. 

I've decided that I really want her room to have a sort of vintage/eclectic feel. I'm big on DIY, so there are definitely some projects I really can't wait to tackle and share here on the blog.

image via babble.com

This ombre dresser version of the now infamous "Ikea hack" is on the top of my list.  I adore this idea. For the nursery however, I will be using a shorter dresser, so that it can double as a changing table as well.  I've been eyeing some gorgeous hardware from Anthropologie to use for the knobs, so we'll see which direction I decide to go with that (I promise to share the details in a future post).

www.alovelymorning.com

In lieu of a mobile, I love the idea of using giant tissue paper pompoms, grouped together like this, in various colors. I have already collected the items to create my own pompoms, so stay tuned for a tutorial on that in the future as well.

www.icanteachmychild.com

In my opinion, every little girl needs a bookcase that can also serve as a dollhouse.  I plan on putting my husband's handyman skills to work to build something similar to this for our little girl.  I love the versions from Pottery Barn and elsewhere, but as you can probably tell by now, I'm big on handmade stuff, and I really think she will treasure something like this as she gets older, if she knows her Daddy made it just for her.

The list of things I need to accomplish is long, and due to time constraints, as well as the fact that our home is currently undergoing some renovations, it seems this nursery will not be complete in time for our little one's arrival.  I am dealing with a fair amount of guilt about this, seeing as our son's room was perfectly finished well before he arrived.  It is what it is though, and she will more than likely be in our room for the first couple of months anyhow, so I will use the extra time to make sure that when all is said and done, everything is perfect.  I can't wait to share the details with you in the future.

-J

Tu... Tu... Tutorial

So, I've been doing some research lately on Pinterest to get ideas for a newborn photo shoot.  When I gave birth to Max, we were bombarded shortly after with the opportunity to have photos taken by Bella Baby Photography during our hospital stay.  Though the pictures were beautiful, they cost an arm and a leg considering the shoot lasted all of about 10 minutes total.  

During Max's first year of life I tried so hard to capture every sweet moment, albeit on my iPhone... but as he became more and more mobile, I realized that the quality of the photos I was taking began to get worse and worse.

After a little saving, and pleading with my husband, I finally purchased a really nice camera.

Truth be told, I am certainly not a professional photographer. My skills are novice at best, but the more I play around with my camera, the more comfortable I feel with it, and the results are starting to show.

I have decided, that when baby number 2 arrives, I really want to take things into my own hands. I feel confident that with the combination of good equipment, some editing, and lots of research on the subject, the results will be something that I will be satisfied with... If not, I will hang my head in shame, and hire someone else to do the job.

Considering the fact that I do have pretty abundant faith in my crafting/DIY abilities, I have been taking some time lately to focus on newborn photo shoot props.

I have seen some photos I really like with sweet slumbering infants wearing tutus and dainty floral headbands (I'll save that for another post), so I decided that with the hundreds of thousands of tutorials available online, it couldn't be that hard to make a DIY tutu... Boy was I right.

I almost feel silly calling this a tutorial, because these tutus are really that easy to make, but I thought I'd share how I adapted things on my own from the several tutorials I read via Pinterest.

For starters, I found the rolls of tulle at Joann Fabrics for a couple of dollars each.  They come in a wide variety of colors, which makes me feel like there might just be more tutus to come for us in the future. I bought the pink coordinating roll of ribbon, because I thought adding a bow to my tutu would be a cute addition. I already had some elastic waistband on hand from making pajama pants for Max.  I believe it is a 1/2 inch in width.
From there, I cut the elastic band.  From the research I did, 15 inches in length should fit a newborn waist, but I cut my piece to be 16 inches long to allow for the overlap where I would be sewing it together.
I used my sewing machine to sew the elastic into a loop, but this could honestly be done by hand.
Then I began cutting my tulle into strips. I made each of my strips 20 inches in length.  I wasn't sure exactly how many strips I would need, so I just kept cutting, and once I began tying them on to the elastic, if it looked like I needed more, then I simply cut more. I want to say I used about 12 strips of each color, give or take, around 36 strips total.
To tie the tulle to the elastic band, I folded each strip in half and used a simple slip knot all the way around the elastic band.
When I did this, I cut a 30 inch length of the coordinating pink ribbon that I intended to use for the bow and tied the tulle strips around the ribbon and the elastic at the same time.  In hindsight, I think I could have skipped doing that, and just tied the bow on at the end... I suppose I'll try that next time!

Once the ribbon was tied in a bow, and the elastic band was completely covered in the tulle all the way around, I fluffed up the skirt, and tada... super easy and cute tutu!

Hopefully in the not too distant future, I will be posting the results of our little lady's photo shoot, and you will get the chance to see her wearing it!