Introducing...

 

Waverly Rose!  On Friday, August 24^th at 5:24 pm Leslie and Nick had a beautiful baby girl.  Mom and baby are happy and healthy!  I’m sure that Leslie will share more details in the future, but I just couldn't go another minute without showing off some of their pictures of this precious baby (with Les's permission, of course). 

Welcome to the world, baby girl.   We love you already!

Happy birthday, Sadister!

Our little pup just up and turned 3.  Actually, she did it about two weeks ago, but I couldn’t let it go by without a blog mention.  We were pet-sitting our friends’ dog, Jake, so Sadie got to share her celebration.  The day was filled with walks, the dog park, and trips to the pet store for squeaky toys that would inevitably break shortly after being opened.  And since it was her 21^st birthday we couldn’t let it pass without some frothy beer.

We adore Sadie and can’t believe that she has been part of our family for almost 3 years.  Life just wouldn’t be as good without our little puppy.  Happy birthday, Sadie Sade.    

the birthday girl.

look at that ridiculous tongue.

clearly we can see what her interest is - and it isn't getting a kiss from mom.

happy 21st dog year birthday!

good to the last drop.

Nesting...aka creating a nursery

Although I'm not one for interior design...I loved creating Baby G's nursery.  It took a lot of time, thought, effort, and many times of telling myself "ok just go with it"....and I love the way it turned out.

I think there is something about nesting with your first child that is special.  We are going from the world revolving around us and whatever Nick and I want to do  (and sometimes Cole) to life revolving around our family of 3 (and Cole, haha).  I think the process of getting all the baby items we need and creating a nursery slowly helps make that transition.  Who knows what kind of nursery we'll put together for our next children, but I'm glad we did this one in full.

We have a two bedroom townhouse, the guest room is downstairs which we turned into the nursery.  I was a little sad to take it apart b/c it was the only room in the house that actually fully decorated...here's what it looked like.

To decorate the nursery, I started with a main source of inspiration. While shopping in Manhattan in SOHO one day, Nick and I passed by this artist selling his pieces on the street.  They were watercolors of different characters and animals.  I loved them and got prints of my favorite 4.  Even though we weren't expecting yet, I thought "one day these will be perfect for a nursery!".  Then I picked some colors...aqua and yellow with white furniture, and finally fabric...the details fell together from there.

Nick helped a lot, especially with putting furniture together, hanging things in the room, etc.  My mom also came up (thanks mom!) to help me put up the fabrics I had ordered, shop for a few things I needed, and put the room together.

shopping at babies r us with my mom

damage.

nick hanging curtain rods and valences.

folding mini clothes :)

putting together a cute playmat!

mom hard at work.

finished closet

relaxation spot.

the cheerful room

Now the room is completely done...we had to get new blinds, fix a cracked window, and add a few more decorative items.  It's so cute!  The crib, changing table-dresser, and the bookshelf in the closet are from Pottery Barn Kids, the chair is Little Castle ordered online from Rosenberry Rooms, the fabrics in the room are all sewn by a woman on Etsy (ModifiedTot), and the butterfly mobile is from an artist on Etsy (LittleDreamersInc).  Everything else was randomly gathered and found...a very fun process!  I love how it came together.

the inspiration...giraffe, pink elephant, round penguin, and turtle

my favorite...the turtle

cute elephant lamp!

oh, hi!  what should we name this guy?

I put together this mobile...hours of stringing butterflies.  Worth it though!

organization :)

friends who are ready to meet Baby G!

toys ready to be played with!

cute nightlight

someone found their spot!

Now we just need a little one to complete the room!

It's a Monday

I once read that being grateful makes it impossible to be upset.  When I woke up this morning and learned that we had run out of milk, the dogs (we are dog-sitting) refused to go to the bathroom which resulted in my being late for work, the car battery died, my phone battery died, and my favorite earring dropped in the toilet right when I flushed it after cleaning - I figured that this would be a day when I needed to make lemonade out of lemons.  
So here are my lemonade moments today, for which I am extremely grateful.  

peeking down at my freshly pedicured toes

fresh flowers in every room

monday blues cupcakes

surprise tea from mom, plus that cute face staring at me

speaking of cute faces...these ones make me happy.

of monsters and men pandora radio station

quick chicken enchiladas, spicy black beans, and mexican rice

new chalkboard message.  yes, i want to go to the seaside.

phone date with my candach

happiest moment of all - knowing that my mom arrives tomorrow for a n entire week!

New Toys for Everyone!

So Casey and Matt aren't the only ones with a new camera...we have upgraded over here in Jersey too!

Call it coincidence, great minds thinking alike, or being weirdly similar at times, but as Casey and Matt were looking at digital SLR cameras, so were we!  I'm happy to know that Matt and Nick both settled on very similar cameras because they are both researchers and make well thought out decisions on the big things in life. Deciding to marry me and Casey, ;) our beautiful engagement rings, honda cr-vs and yellow labs to name a few!

Nick and I have decent cannon point and shoot digital, but I know that it's not fast enough to catch the shots we want with our new little one. Plus I get frustrated with the quality and settings at times....take a look back at my Ireland blog pictures.

After getting recommendations, pricing out options online and in best buy...we went with the cannon rebel t3i. We are excited for better photos and to learn this new toy.  Nick actually seems to have a creative eye for photography, so I'm excited to see the pictures we get!

Check out this handsome pup....someday he and the lovely Sadie will meet and be bffs...can you believe they've never met?!