Photo of the Day - Swings

Daily Inspiration

The painting that caught my eye today that got me thinking and drawing, from Angle d'art.

Photo of the Day - Sunkist

Bean's Big Girl Room

Now that we're finally, FINALLY done with the adoption paperwork, I'm starting to daydream about Bean's big girl room and the new baby's nursery. She's starting to learn how to climb in and out of her crib, so I know it's a matter of time before we'll have to move things around and get a big girl bed. 

I should have been an interior decorator, for all the time I think about decorating our house! It's just something I love to do. Plus, this is probably the last room for her that I'll really be able to design (with her help, of course). By the time we do a new room, she'll be big enough to have all of her own design opinions and probably won't want my help (eeeek!!). Anyways, I have some ideas for turning Bean's nursery into a big girl room in a few months-it'll be a mix of new and vintage, most of the new stuff from Ikea - which is so awesome for cheaper kids furniture that gets used only for a couple of years. Bean definitely wants pink on the walls. She's ALL pink and only wants pink stuff these days. I think we're going with Pink Cadillac for the walls, by Benjamin Moore. I'm hoping to incorporate some blue in there too by painting a vintage side table and vintage child's desk that a friend of the family gave us when Emma was born. In general, this picture from The Boo and the Boy is the color scheme we'll probably use, which is mostly pink (hot pink and light pink) but also has some blue in it. 



I also like the style of this room with the pennants and bed canopy from Ikea: 

I also LOVE this superhero sock monkey I found on The Boo and the Boy, from RaRa and Meme - the colors are perfect to match the light pinks, hot pinks, and blues in the room.

Here's a few more ideas, including a French-inspired bed from Ikea, heart bedding that Bean picked out from Ikea, a few rug ideas to match the bedding, the Eames rocking chair that I've always loved that adds a little modern style to the room, and a pink dress-up station that we're going to make from a $15 vintage dresser we found:

Growing Up 80's

A few nights ago we were watching a TV show where a young kid asks his mom about taking pictures and she says something about film, and the kid says "film, what's film?" It struck me that the word film won't be used any more when talking about taking pictures and my daughter will never know it used that way. There is no film any more unless you want to go all vintage on it and spend tons of money printing out 36 pictures with 1-2 good ones a roll. It got me thinking about all the words and terms from my youth that Bean will never know, things and styles that were so big growing up in the 80's that never left the decade - some for good and some that I miss. Here's a few of those, I'll have to print these out in a book so that Bean can laugh at all the silly stuff that was out in the "old days" when I was a kid.

Remember 110 film???

This Atari video game seems ancient now

Banana clips - totally forgot about these thank God

The double cassette tape walkman/jambox/boombox, whatever you wanted to call it

 My personal favorite, the Caboodles box

 You Can't Do That on Television - green slime

 This was a bad, bad style, Z Cavaricci pants. So awful.

 Charm bracelets - I loved these!!

 Kids these days don't even know the quote "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." It's sad. Such a classic.

 At one point my whole life centered around having lots of these in my closet. I think I had 2 pairs and I was so jealous of people who had more. So ridiculous.

 Monchichi, Monchichi, oh so soft and cuddely!

 The TI Little Professor

 Smurf berry crunch is fun to eat, a smurfy, fruity breakfast treat, made by smurfs so happily....

 Everyone had one of these

 Remember this guy, Mr. Wizard?? He was on right after You Can't Do That on Television. He rocked.

Quick Break to Finish the Adoption Paperwork

Ok I haven't blogged in a few days - I'm bummed to not be able to do this, but this week and next I need to take a quick break to finish the adoption paperwork. Once I'm done I'll be back into full swing, with a new tripod for my Nikon and all kinds of great pics from my trip to California. And about a million ideas from Pinterest that I've found. Until then, all my free time is for paperwork. Cheers til about July 29th.

Photo of the Day - Bluff Trail in Palos Verdes, CA

Scars

I came across this post on a blog through an e-mail from the Resolve infertility network. It really spoke to me. Here’s a blurb from it:   There seems to be a misconception among outsiders that, once you have set on a certain path to motherhood – such as adoption – or once you have a child, you are no longer infertile. You are no longer in pain. That you perhaps you should consider getting over it.

The last time I went to my GYN office, I cried the entire time. This was less than a year ago, so I had already been a mommy for over a year at that point and my infertility battle was way over. But what this author says is so true. The scars from infertility never fully go away. Even if they remain dormant most days, they’re still there and can show up with unexpected triggers. I remember that trip to the doctor’s office. I was perfectly fine that day. It was sunny out, my baby girl had a good morning and I had four or five new pictures of her beautiful face on my cell phone to show the nurse who I had known for a while. All was good. But then when the nurse left the room and I was alone waiting for the doctor, I started noticing everything around me. All the pictures of babies, the charts that show the development of a baby during pregnancy, the anatomy pictures that illustrate how the reproductive system works, and the books full of hundreds of birth control options for married couples who have to try NOT to have another kid. All of a sudden I felt so empty, and the tears came fast. Never having to deal with the body issues that come from giving birth and never dealing with birth control ever again may sound great for some people, and honestly I do consider these minor side benefits to this whole deal. But the fact is that my reproductive system for some reason doesn’t work like everyone else’s. That basic human function is somehow broken, which, before Bean was born, would make me feel like crap almost every day. Like less than human or not part of the human race. I wasn’t expecting the tears that day in the doctor’s office. It had been so long since I felt that pain, because it seemed to have vanished into thin air the day I first help my baby girl in my arms. But I guess it just went dormant, hidden in a secret corner of my mind. The doctor came in a few minutes later to my mascara stained face and red eyes. She comforted me as best as someone who had just had her second baby and who helps hundreds of people have babies could. We talked for a few minutes and the tears and pain went back into their secret hiding place.

Everyone has scars, and a lot of people have worse emotional and physical scars than I ever will. I’m not writing this to complain. For me this is just a recognition of the very constant human condition of pain and healing. At least I know that THAT basic human function in me isn’t broken. That makes me feel like part of the human race again.

Sleeping Baby Pics

There's something so beautiful about a sleeping baby. I love watching Bean sleep, it's so relaxing and sweet, and her little pouty face reminds me of when she was a newborn baby. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of her with a few Instagram layers tonight while she was fast asleep in the car. My little sleeping beauty.

Chalkboard Quote Wednesdays

New Ideas Tuesday

A few fun ones from this week:

An inexpensive way to get the old schoolhouse map look from Mosey. See more pics here: 

 Cool idea for a wedding or new baby gift from The Artful Abode:

 

 Cool reuse of a dresser from Savy Chic Home: 

 

Love this idea - find a paint chip card and buy the samples of all the colors, from here:

 

4th of July Weekend

Fun in the sun at Patton Park, for the kickoff of 4th of July weekend. Summer is FINALLY here!