Elle's Newborn Photo Session

I asked my super sweet and amazingly talented friend Ashley if she would take photos of Elle and I could not be more thrilled with how they turned out.  Elle was a doll and slept the entire time.  I cannot wait to get three canvases printed with each of my baby's newborn photos and finally display them in my house.  I have the perfect wall in my bedroom and I cannot wait to walk by my babies every day and smile.  I just love these three angels of mine and feel so blessed to be their momma.  

Wrapped around her little fingers

I think it is safe to say that the boys are all pretty smitten!  Me too of course.  

Introducing Elle Harper

I finally feel like I'm back in the land of the living.  I'm going to save the big birth story for another day, I'll need a lot more energy and time before I can relive that.  Baby came out perfect but it was a bit traumatic for me.  Needless to say none of our family members were present at the birth because of its sudden speediness and no photos or videos captured the special moment.  I don't think James nor I will ever forget it though.  The drama or the beautiful result of our first baby girl, Elle Harper.  Born at 9:01 am on Friday, August 15th.  The family rushed to our sides following the birth and my brother-in-law Andrew was able to capture some priceless mother-daughter moments (I can't believe I get mother-daughter moments now), our new party of five, and photos with all the aunties, uncles, grandpas, grandmas, and one great-grandma.  So blessed to have so much love and support, just sorry you all missed it.  My girl couldn't wait another moment to greet us.  We are so in love!

Transformation Tuesday

This was actually my first little hand-me-down makeover I tackled.  While looking through the boys' baby clothes for some reason this 0-3 month baby Gap onesie of Jackson's stuck out to me and I thought the funny doggy could work for a girl too.  Since Jackson was a winter baby and Elle is a late summer baby first thing I did was chopped off the sleeves to make it weather appropriate.  I then decided to just make a little tank out of it and chopped off the legs and hemmed it up.  Lastly I glamed it up a bit with some hand sewn sequins.  I think little miss is going to sparkle in this little get up.

Transformation Tuesday

This week's transformations are for the home.  We've moved a lot in our almost eight years of marriage.  And it seems that every time we move we have a new decorating aesthetic.  Or maybe because this is the first time we've really full out decorated our home exactly how we wanted to.  Either way I had a lot of unused decor sitting in boxes in the shed out back and it dawned on me one day that I should repurpose some of them.  James came to me one day with a DIY idea he wanted to contribute to Elle's nursery.  We gathered all the needed materials except didn't know what he was going to use as the base for the project.  We finally just decided on getting some wood and painting it out.  Then I realized I had lots of unused wood in the form of old signs I had in our last home.  I simply spray painted one of them white and James took the transformation from there.  He taped a cut out of our home state on the board, hammered tiny gold nails all around it and then a heart near the center of the state where we reside in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area.  He then wrapped string around the outer nails, bringing them all together around the center nails.  I think it turned out great and makes a sweet touch to the nursery.  Nothing better than something made with love, especially by Daddy.

 

My second home transformation started with a large sign we used to have on some shelving behind our sofa in our last home.  I hadn't found a place for it in the new house so it sat in a closet.  I had the thought one day to screw some small hooks into it and turn it into a much needed jewelery organizer for my bathroom.

Me and My Boys

I decided last minute that I would really love to do a little maternity photo shoot and absolutely wanted to include my boys.  In my two experiences adding another child to the family I get really sentimental towards the end thinking about how life is going to change for my children as they welcome a new sibling.  While I've been trying hard to soak in this summer with my boys its growing increasingly hard to keep up the energy I need to provide them with the kind of summer I really wanted.  Not to mention my crazy hormones which cause me to lose my patience with them on the daily and often become  frustrated with the daunting task of having to parent them in general.  Luckily my girlfriend was able to capture this moment in time for me and give me something beautiful and positive to look back on once all the guilt-ridden feelings of my shortcomings during this time have faded away.  I just love all the energy in the boys and their faces and actions, which are just so very them.  I love that although I wanted to read one of our big brother books, Jackson insisted on Peek a Who?- a favorite of his for some time now.  I even love the black and white of Ben and I.  There is clearly some frustration on my face as he wasn't a completely willing participant during that point of the shoot.  He's not smiling or looking all that happy in general.  But that's life and that's us.  He's my first born and I now I expect a lot out of him a lot of the time.  We grow frustrated with each other daily.  We can say unkind things to each other and raise our voices at each other.  But we are both quick to ask for forgiveness and offer forgiveness.  We are learning and we are growing, and I am so grateful to be on this journey with him (notice our smiling faces in the last photo of the day).  He made me a momma and he was just the funniest companion ever when Jackson was born; experiencing it all right alongside of me.  I can't wait to see him with his baby sister.  He already glows when he is around his baby cousin, Emma and loves to make her smile, is thrilled when he can get her to stop crying, and loves to teach her anything he can think of (pointing out different body parts to her or listing off as many fruits as he can think of).  Jackson, like his behavior during this photo shoot, is my big unknown.  He spent his time running in between my room and his gathering his books after my friend suggested that we read a book for the photos.  It was a challenge to get him to sit still with me on the bed and show my bump any kind of loving.  But then we had a moment when I was laying on the bed taking solo pictures where he climbed up and snuggled next to me and we had a quiet moment together.  I don't always know what to expect from him but he hugs and kisses my tummy any chance he can get (except for during this shoot of course), and he loves to talk about baby and be in her nursery with me.  Gentleness will be our main struggle but I'm so excited to see my baby boy interact with his baby sister, and both sad and excited to see how he will grow through the experience of becoming a big brother.  I know his smallness and baby-ness is going to instantly be diminished in comparison to the teeny tiny bundle soon to enter our home.  Things are about to change probably more than I am even prepared for, but it's such a thrilling time and I am growing less patient by the day to get this new life started already.  

Transformation Tuesday

I'm including two transformations today since I already failed at my goal of a weekly post last week.  First up is this striped Polo button up romper that I believe actually dates back to Ben's baby days.  The first chop I made was the legs, chopping it off just below the four buttons.  I then added a nice classic lace to the bottom in an off white to go with the classic Polo feeling.  I then chopped off the sleeves and the collar and used a big strip that I cut off from the bottom to create a strap.  This part was tricky for me and didn't end up perfect but I attached the long strap to the top of the dress and sewed in elastic to the front and back to create a gathered effect.  I hope it ends up fitting her right because the top is a bit wonky. 

Next up is a Sweet Peanut long sleeve button up of Jacksons.  I believe it was 6-12 months so I knew I had the length to work with to make an itty bitty dress.  I left the original bottom heam line but just took in the sides about an inch and a half on each side.  Then I chopped off the collar and the sleeves.  I simply added a little elastic to the arms to give them a more feminine touch and there you have it.  A sweet classic dress for zero dollars.  I must admit I'm pretty addicted to this.  It's super rewarding to create something with your own hands, plus the fact that it's much quicker than creating something from scratch, plus it appeals to my frugalness.  Leaves me more money for accessories- shoes and bows are my weaknesses.