Project Nursery: Step 2

Next weekend will mark the official deconstruction of our guest room in preparation for BSv2.0's nursery. Gasp! I'm so excited to get started! In preparation, I thought I'd try my hand at a design board to get some of the more important details in one place. Probably not the best design board you've ever seen, but it does the job.

The nursery will be a vintage book theme. I'm hoping to use book illustrations and pages throughout the room, with the focus being a big frame collage above the crib, as well as a kid-friendly book shelf on another wall. As you can see, my recent obsession with yellow will dominate the color scheme, but I'm also bringing in some brown and turquoise accents. On the opposite wall from the crib will be (if the hubs and I don't kill each other doing it) a yellow and white striped accent wall. (Squeeeee! I'm so excited about the accent wall!) This will be where the changing table is and I want to leave part of that space blank to add a canvas wrap of le bebe after he arrives.

You can see vendors for most of these items HERE on my pinterest board. I'll keep you updated on the progress (and whether we survive painting the wall)!

Baby Shores v2.0 Update

It's been forever since I've put a baby page together. I have one for 19 weeks, when we had our big ultrasound, but I haven't scanned the picture. So instead of waiting for me to get my act together, I'll just ahead and say IT'S A BOY!!!!

Now that we have that out of the way. How about Weeks 23 and 24? (Remember, if you click on the bracketed text below the picture, you can read the full text for the accompanying picture).

(This picture was taken by the wonderful Vone Mitchell of Vone Mitchell Photography during a recent photography get together I attended. Don't mind the wrinkled dress, please.)

{23 Weeks}

{24 Weeks}

Also, I don't think I ever shared the next picture. This is how we told our parents that Bambino Numero Dos was on the way. I had the picture made into a puzzle and we sent the puzzle, not completed of course, to each parent. Our mothers opened them and put the pieces (literally and figuratively) together right away. Our fathers, on the other hand, needed a little guidance. My dad didn't even open the package until my sister suggested he probably ought to, and while he was at it, maybe he should put the puzzle together. Sheesh. Dads.

Fall Mini-Sessions 2011 ~ Chicago North Shore Portrait Photography

Baby Blaz's Book Shower ~ Lake County Baby Shower Photographer

I have a confession to make. I love party planning. No really, I LOOOOOVE party planning. For Max's birthday this year, I threw two parties. And you saw the tea party I threw for no reason, right? Um, yeah.

But here's the thing. It's not my fault. I come by it naturally. It's genetic. My sister loves party planning just as much, if not more than I do, and my mom, while she may not love party planning quite as much as us, she loves making crafty paper things, which works great with the whole party planning dealio. We really should go into biz.

So needless to say, when our dear friend Katie told us all earlier this year that baby number two was on the way, we were all "Heck yes, we get to throw a party! Oh and we're super excited about the baby, too."

We decided to make the shower a book theme (this later became the inspiration for Baby Shores v.2.0's nursery, by the way), and this weekend we got to see everything come together. We used a turquoise and red theme, since Blaz (pronounced like "blaze" but no "e") is a boy bambino, and because the color combo is just so fun. The centerpiece of it all was the food table (there was A LOT of food) featuring food themed for various children's books. We also tormented entertained the guests with a rousing game of Fictionary (get it? It's like Pictionary, but with books. Fictionary. Bwahahaha!)

What a blast. And now that the party is over, there's only one thing left to do: sit back and wait for Baby Blaz to make his arrival! Come on Blaz!

I designed the invitations (inspired by this one I found on Pinterest) and printed them at Vista Print. The turquoise envelopes came from Paper Source. The milk bottles are repurposed Starbucks latte bottles.

When guests arrived they were asked to play an ice breaker game where they had to decode book titles from the synonymous clues we provided. For example, the clue "Place where the footpath terminates" was really "Where the Sidewalk Ends." The adorable favors at the top corner of each place setting were magnets made by my very talented mama.

As I said, we went a little over the top with the food. It was SO worth it though.







Mama Katie and big sister Nora. Aren't they beautiful?

We asked each guest to bring a book to build Baby Blaz's library. I think he will be a great reader some day, don't you?

And last have to share this one of big sister Nora. Pondering big sisterhood, perhaps?

Chicago, Chicago That Toddlin' Town ~ Chicago & North Shore Photographer

I had the privilege of getting together with some other Illinois photographers this weekend in the Windy City. It was great to get to talk shop with other folks doing the part-time photographer thing like me, as well as get our cameras on each other's kids. We even got to do a mini-engagement session. Here are a few favorites from the day:

Tuesday's Top 5

Have you ever been sitting at dinner with your husband (or wife or whoever) and started having a random "when I was little we...." conversation? This happened the other night. We had been out looking for a new "big boy" bed for Max, and so we started talking about what our bedrooms were like as kids, which segued into what our houses and furniture were like as kids. Next thing we knew, we were calling Adam's mom to figure out exactly what was where in their house and what happened to it. I just love these trips down memory lane. They serve no useful purpose, really, except to make you feel a little warm and fuzzy inside for a while. And inspire Top 5 lists, of course. So here goes...

THE TOP 5 MEMORY LANE TRIPS YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS WEEK

(See, it's like a challenge from me...read the list...and take your own trip. Cool right?!?)

5. Who was your best friend in elementary school? Even if you don't keep in touch anymore, this trip is sure to inspire some fun stories. For the record, mine were Jenna Caldwell and Brandy Aycock (who happens to be a blog follower. Hi, Brandy!)

4. What was the most memorable Christmas present you ever received? I cannot answer this one in one sentence or less, because there are like five or six things I could name, so maybe I'll save this for its own Top 5 list.

3. What family vacations did you take as a kid? I remember so vividly our summer trips to the beach. My sister and I would share a room and it felt like going to this super special place because we had our own special room with matching twin beds and pink bedspreads, we listened to our Beach Boys tape (oh yeah, don't hate), and would run around the hotel with our walkie talkies. Sunscreen. Salt water. The ice cream truck every day. Good times.

2. What were you afraid of when you were little? Have you ever heard the one about Bloody Mary, who shows up if you stand in a dark room in front of a mirror and spin around three times saying "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary"? Yeah well, I still can't go into a dark bathroom without freaking out a little.

1. What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be the President of the United States. Thank goodness I outgrew that one. Never dreamed I'd be a part-time photographer!

So there you go. Get started on your own memory lane trip and let me know how it goes!

Madeline ~ Gurnee Family Photography

You've heard the saying "wrapped around her little finger"? I think it applies here. And really who can blame them with a little girl this cute?

Ms. Madeline came all the way from Florida to see me. Actually, she and her mom and dad came all the way from Florida to see Grandma and visit Chicago, but I got to be the finale of the trip! Madeline's mom and I slaved away at Torts and Contracts and Civil Procedure classes together way back in the day, so it was great to meet up in Grayslake this Sunday to catch up and meet adorable Madeline. Thanks for making me part of your trip, guys! Next time we'll have to schedule in some more time to visit (and maybe a shower for me first).

(p.s. Don't you just LOVE her eyes? For the photographers out there, I didn't touch them! Those are ALL HER!)