Baby Belly and Baby Bedroom

MaryClaire will be here any minute! She has faked us out once already, I had false labor for 2 days a few weeks ago, but as of Friday my doctor said that I was 3cm dilated and that she had dropped. So this family is just (not so patiently) waitin' on the world to change over here. This belly pic was taken at 36 weeks, but since then it is has taken on a shape that I like to call the "Woa" shape! You know - the kind that gets bulging eyes and crazy stares in public. So before she comes, and life gets really crazy, I thought that I would FINALLY share pictures of her room!...

I tried to take a really simple approach and make a room that would last for a while. With this being my third baby, I've realized (so sadly) that nurseries just aren't needed for very long. But I love it's sweet simple/shabby-ish girliness. I saved a lot of money by using things that I already had around my house, using my childhood bedroom furniture (don't worry the crib is not vintage), shopping at consignment stores and on Ebay, and recruiting my mom to make a few things. Now all this room needs is its precious little occupant and it will be just perfect!

STILL Talkin-bout how I Hate Change

oh, cleaning and scrubbing

will wait till tomorrow,

but children grow up,

as i've learned to my sorrow.

so quite down, cobwebs.

dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby,

babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulburt Hamilton, 1958

Download available at Lay Baby Lay

My little girls are growing up so fast, and I know that when Baby Sister comes, they will seem even more grown-up. I so wish that they would stay little forever. Did I remember to tell you that Ben had to pick me up off the kitchen floor the night before Evie's preschool graduation? I was sobbing. Change just hurts my heart so badly. Stop growing - just stop it. Knowing what I know now about how quickly my girls change, has definitely contributed to making me into the most patient expectant mother I have ever been. Not that I don't look forward to meeting Mary Claire with sweet anticipation, but I am content to let Baby Girl take her time, and if time were to stop all together for just a bit, I would be fine with that too.

I registered Ev for Kindergarten yesterday. School starts in exactly one month, I can't believe it! I am officially about to be the mother of an elementary school child. Not only that (Caution: here comes some big news!) we bought a van last week! Do you remember this post from a little over a year ago when I was obsessing about my car keeping me cool? Heavy sigh... I guess I am growing up too ;)

I've been spending some time (between VBS, swimming lessons, and other summer fun) planning MC's room. I've already bought the items that you see above - just to give you a little idea of what I am working on (and yes I'm going in a little bit of a different direction from what I originally planned, but I still plan to start with a similar neutral "Phase 1"). I've hit some great sales (Thank you Pine Cone Hill Outlet!) and I made out at a local children's designer consignment shop - more on my nursery budget and my awesome savings later!

It's late now and this momma is ready for bed, but I just couldn't say goodnight without leaving you with a picture of my new "swagger wagon".

P.S. Click to watch this... Swagger Wagon

Fresh Harvest Farms and More

Welcome to the first edition of Found it Friday! I have some good stuff for you... The first and most exciting find that I have to share is Fresh Harvest Farms, a group of local farmers from whom we have begun to purchase fresh produce. My mom discovered them at our local arts market, and suggested to me that we split a weekly delivery seeing as the baskets contain more than enough fresh fruits and vegetables to feed four adults. Mom picked up our first week's worth a few days ago, and let me just say... "gorgeous" and "yummy"! When we spread out the goodies on my kitchen table, it looked like a Beatrix Potter illustration - turnips with roots, a huge head of cabbage, brussel sprouts on the stalk (the top of which is quaintly displayed on my kitchen table), huge onions, freshe spinach, and oranges! The assortment will change seasonally and we can also add a giant fresh chicken and fresh eggs to our order if we choose. I am really excited about the possibilities this opens up for us as it is hard to find affordable "good" food. If you live near me and want more info just let me know, otherwise I would encourage you to see if you have a similar program in your area.
My next several recent finds come from a few of my favorite places. You will quickly learn from these "Found it" posts that the stores I frequent most are TJ Maxx, Marshall's, HomeGoods, and Tuesday Morning. I am an addict. Ok, so let me show you what I found in the last week - how cute is this reusable market tote? $1.99 at Tuesday morning!
And this fly proof dome is perfect for outdoor dinning - not too mention so nostalgic. I bought this one to give to my mom, but I want to go back and get one for myself. TJ Maxx $6.99.

I also found this weathered tray at the TJ, and I love the way it displays my Anthropologie Tea Set. $7.99. And in the clearance section at TJ Maxx, I found this rustic hurricane for $3.99. It was a great TJ week! Last, but soooooo not least - gelato! I have been craving gelato for weeks and Ben found some in the Publix freezer on Sunday night - I was so excited! What is so great about gelato you may be wondering? The texture is perfect and the ingredient list is so short and natural, I'm not sure that means it's "good" for you, but it's certainly better than some other treats. Those wonderful Italians! Anabelle was awake with me last night when I cracked open the seal (tip: eat right out of the carton so you don't have to share with friends) and I let her have some. She loved it, and to hear her say "gelato" was seriously the cutest thing. I taught her to make some Italian-esque hand motions to go with it - hilarious.

I hope you enjoyed my greatest finds of the week! Ciao!

P.S. Also, look at this lovely entry way from this design blog.

A Few Fun Treats

Only one week until Christmas day! I am a little behind on publishing the posts that I've been composing in my brain, so I am going to just fling a few treats your way right now and let myself off the hook ;) Ok, Exhibit A: Our Christmas card! It turned out cute right?Exhibit B: Surprise! I want to share my template for the girl's Elf Stocking shirts.In case you wanted to make some yourself, because as you can see, babies love to wear them ;)

My Christmas gift to you - have fun with it!Exhibit C: A last minute home made gift idea - personalized tags! I designed these in Microsoft Publisher. I used Google images for the clip art, and dafont.com for free awesome down loadable fonts. I used colored card stock from the scrap booking section in JoAnn's for printing, and then I used a tag shaped craft punch from Michael's, last I added garden twine ties. In total, this project cost under $3.00 to make 27 tags! I know this is not a great tutorial, but if you are already familiar with Publisher, you can do this! Just go into "Page Setup" and select the "Custom" option for your page dimensions, then simply enter the dimensions for the size of your tag punch. Good luck!Exhibit D: Last minute shopping for little girl's anyone? Here are a few of my favorites things that I spotted online :) These are not necessarily the gifts my kids are getting, just things that I loved!

A) Bake Shop from FAO Schwarz

B) Mini Anenome Mermaid from Chasing Fireflies

C) Wooden Tiered Cake from FAO Schwarz

D)Mermaid Costume from Chasing Fireflies

E) Tripple Doll Stroller from FAO Schwarz

F) Joella Dress from Olive Juice

G) Olivia Dream it Be it Set available on Amazon

H) Charlie and Lola from FAO Schwarz

I) Learn to Sew Kit from Kayce Hughes

J) Steiff Teddy Bear Princess from FAO Shwarz

K) Ribbon Initial Necklace from VM Designs

L) Fancy Nancy Sticker Book from FAO Schwarz

Exhibit E: A new tradition! This might surprise you (especially based on some of my previous posts) but we actually do not "play Santa Clause" at our house with our kids. Why? Well, my answer is really simple - simply because the fact that Jesus came to Earth is everything to us and we don't want a fictional character to over shadow that. Now, with that said, our kids are interested in Santa, and we encourage that interest in the same way we would interest in any other fictional character. My girls love Mickey Mouse, and so of course they love Santa too. Evie has been really fascinated by Santa this year and has been asking tons of questions about him and the stories that surround him. Now remember that I am a history nerd, so I of course wanted give Evie some historical background on the "character". I decided to look up and read some kid's web articles on the real St. Nicholas with Evie. We first read about how St. Nicholas loved Jesus so much that he devoted his life to loving and serving the poor in remembrance of Christ, and second we read about how his legacy is celebrated world wide - of course one of those ways is leaving out shoes for "him" to fill with treats. I immediately remembered the adorable wooden shoes from Holland that my brother sent to the girls for Christmas last year, and I thought of a way to hopefully inspire the girl's to love Christ and to love His people the way that St. Nicholas did in His honor. Instead of filling their shoes with treats, I selected a child (one for each of the girls) from our church's Angel Tree for Evie and Anabelle to select a Christmas gift for. It was really an honor to do this with the girls. It was great for me to see such genuine compassion coming from them. It's so hard to keep the holidays in perspective and it's so easy to loose focus when, as a mother, I have been Christmas shopping since June!

Exhibit F: Lastly, this one is for Aunt Kelly. Here is a photo I thought you should see... your girl doin' a little karaoke with the Clause's old lady ;)

P.S. It was late and I was totally exhausted when I wrote this post - beware of errors ;)

Matilda Jane!

I'm having a Matilda Jane trunk show!!!

Thursday September 9th 5pm-7pm

PLEASE send me an e-mail at snigletsbaby@gmail.com if you'd like to join us!

P.S. For more great kid's clothing trunk show fun, click over to Julie's blog! And let me know if you would like to be "my date" for a BBTN show!!!

The "Big Girl Room" Plans

This girl, as much as I hate to admit it, is growing up. Evie is four and a half now - she starts preschool this fall, which means it's time for a big girl room. I can't believe how time has flown by, and while it feels like I have known her all of my life, it also feels like she was an itty bitty baby just yesterday! I love just about any excuse to decorate just about anything , but this project is just a little bitter sweet. Evie and Anabelle have been sharing a room ever since we moved Annie out of our bedroom at four months old. Every night since then, at least one of the girls if not both, have at some point each and every night migrated back into our room to sleep with Mom and Dad. So after 20 months of squishy nights, Ben and I are ready for a bigger bed!!! We have decided to buy a king for us, and give our queen to Evie and Anabelle to share - seeing as they love to snuggle anyway (we hope this will help to keep them in THEIR room!) We also plan to use the girl's room as a guest room when needed and then Evie and Annie can just camp out with us in our new big bed ;) That is the plan, now for the fun stuff - here are my decor plans for the "big girl" redo...

Fabric/Bedding/Window Treatments

A) White Matelesse Quilt (I bought one Queen size for the bed, and an extra twin for making shams and a cushion cover to go on top of the toy trunk)

B) Fabric for upholstered headboard (I bought 4 of these huge "Cherry Blossom" shams when they were on sale at Pottery Barn Kids, it is enough fabric for the headboard and chair cushion!)

C) Green with white polka dot sheet set

D) I plan to have some monogrammed pillows of course!

E) Possible coordinating fabrics (love these, but not sure if I will need them yet)

F) I plan to do white window treatments with trim

Artwork/Accessories/Furniture/Lighting

A) Artwork: "July's Dilemma" and "August Sound" prints from Sarah Jane that I ordered last year (love!) along with a growth chart from Rosenberry Rooms for $49.95 (but I found it for $6.99 at TJ Maxx!!!)

B) Accessories: I would like to find some fun frames, plus I need to repaint Evie and Annie's wall letters to math the new room (inspiration from Posh Paints)

C) Furniture: I bought a vintage chest of drawers before Annie was born and painted it white, it is similar to this one. I need to find cute bedside tables/chests - I love these, but they are about $1,500 each!!!

D) I bought a sweet lamp for the chest of drawers at Home Goods, it is similar to this one, but it's green. I have a vintage ceiling fixture to redo and plan to use this chandelier as inspiration for painting it. I also have a sweet set of vintage lamps that were mine as a child (were vintage then too!) to go on the bedside tables.

A Few FAVORITE Girl Things

I've been planning this post for a while now. I'm not that much of an Oprah fan, but I have always LOVED to watch her "favorite things" specials. I'm sure you're familiar, but in case you are not... she spends an entire show revealing her favorite products, everything from PJ's to IPods, and it's always the best of the best. She also sends one of each product home with each audience member - lucky duckies! Anyway, Oprah does have great taste, and I've found several of my own loves from her list (ex: Pine Cone Hill Pajamas). If you know me, or follow my blog then you already know that I have just a "small" affection for shopping for specialty, handmade, and boutique products - especially for kids! I know I've shared my dream here of owning a children's boutique at least once or twice - anyway, what I'm getting at is this, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my all time favorite items and brands for babies and children. These are not necessarily bargains, but these are the things that I love so much that I will splurge, search, scrimp, save, and even scour eBay for - they are just that great! Enjoy a few of my favorite girl/baby things... (Clockwise left to right)

Favorite Baby Girl Things

Mary Jane Socks from Trumpette: I think Annie spent her entire first year in these! They are so cute, plus they have no slip bottoms and come in lots of colors.

Sophie La Giraffe from Vulli: Sophie has been the number 1 selling teether in France since the 1960s. It's all natural rubber and just plain vintage-y cute! She is very popular at our house as I think she is chic, Evie thinks she is cute, Anabelle likes the ways she tastes, and Mr. Bingley likes the way she squeaks! Sophie is great for boys too, and she works with paci clips so you won't loose her!

Layette from Kissy Kissy (also love Pixie Lilly): Softest sweetest cotton layette ever, and they have the most precious prints and embroidery! These are so perfect for bringing home baby, and you can get hats, booties, mittens, and blankets to match. We brought Annie home in a set that had the sweetest little pink chickens!

Swaddle Blanket from Swaddle Designs: I swear by this blanket! I've had two babies who loved to be swaddled and I only had this blanket for the second baby, the difference was phenomenal! This blanket is large, square instead of rectangle, and 100% non stretchy cotton. Anabelle was happy as a bug in a rug with this thing - I LOVED it! It's the good old fashioned method of swaddling, no Velcro or snaps, but it is the best! It comes with instructions or you can watch the video online (also my pediatrician shared an extra tip that I will share if you need swaddling help) Can you tell that I love this thing?

Piggy from Steiff: I mentioned this sweet piggy recently in my Epcot post and it is the newest edition to my list of favorites. I'm sure most of you have heard of Steiff, it's legendary, but this one is a lovey for babies, not the mohair kind that you can't play with. Anabelle loves this piggy ("Peepee") and they make a precious lamb too - we're in love! She washes great too, "Peepee" got "peed" on, and into the wash she went!

Embroidered Bibs from artist Kelly Rightsell designs: It's no secret that I have an affinity for embroidery, but these bibs are by far my favorite. The embroidery is high quality and precious (frogs in dresses!), and the bibs are lined with a nubby fleece = drool and spill proof! They wash great, we've put ours through the wringer and they still look new!

Favorite Toddler/PreK Girl Things

Swimsuits from Kate Mack: These are the ultimate little girl swimsuits - tutus at the beach - yes! My girls have had a few of these throughout the years and I LOVE them, they look hilariously cute in these, just like little cupcakes! I really want one for Annie's birthday party so I am stalking a few on eBay!

Baby and Basket Purse from Penelope Peapod: I think this is the sweetest little toy ever, and I was born 20 something years too late to have my own, so I bought a Penelope for each of my girls instead :) It's an adorable little basket purse that, with a few simple folds, becomes a bassinet for the doll inside. Just precious! Penelope is great for going out to dinner.

Hair bows from Wee Ones: Everyone knows that I love hair bows, and the bigger the better! I've been buying hair bows since before Evie was born, so with almost five years of bow buying experience, I know a good hair bow when I see one and Wee Ones are the best! They are folded and assembled perfectly and symmetrically, they come in lots of colors and sizes, and have a variety of clip choices. Also, they are some of the best priced!!!

English Sandals from Footmates and Willits: Warning, both of these websites are slightly circa 1990, but that is because they are so busy making the greatest children's shoes ever! My friend Nancy introduced me to the English Sandals and now I am hooked, they are so classic, extremely well made, and adorable. They can be hard to find at good prices, but I've lucked out on eBay a few times. So far we have pink and red, but they come in all of the classic colors.

Smocking from Castles and Crowns, Vive la Fete, Secret Wishes, Amanda Remembered, Anavini, Remember Nguyen (when), Orient Expressed, and Shrimp & Grits just to name a few!: Yes, I have just a "little thing" for smocked clothes, it's a timeless southern tradition and I can't resist! I'd be lying if said I didn't spend a good portion of my time on the prowl for my favorite pieces! It's very challenging because I want to find matching sets for the girls and I am on a limited budget - it has become my "sport", and I'm pretty good at it too ;)

I'll leave you with a few online boutiques where you can find almost everything I have talked about in this post...

Bumble Boutique

Chasing Fireflies

Mommies, Girls, and Jewelry

On Friday morning, my girls and I hosted a Stella & Dot jewelry party for some of our mommy and daughter friends (plus one yummy baby boy!) All of the mommies were very busy shopping and talking (mostly about The Real Housewives)...... while the little girls were preoccupied with the cupcakes... ... yum!Here is Kate modeling some of Stella & Dot's new girl's pieces - precious!Even Anabelle knew just what to do, she convinced her Nina to share her necklace :) Once the cupcakes had all been gobbled, the girlies left the mommies alone to gossip about reality TV......and proved that they already have a very developed since of "style" all their own! Fun!

Jacksonville Fashion Weekend

Warehouse Sale weekend rolls around twice a year, every Fall and every Spring. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my world pretty much revolves around it, and now I have my cousin hooked! Katie came in town this past Friday night just for the occasion - and what a great occasion it is!!! I like it so much that I go twice... first I pay to advertise for my business on their web site so that I can pre-shop the sale on Friday night, second I get in line early Saturday morning with Katie so that we can tag team it for her kids. For me, it is probably my favorite kind of girl's weekend, I LOVE kid's clothes (it's a dream of mine to own a boutique one day) so I already love the activity, and it's really fun to get up early, sit in line in our camping chairs, visit, go out to breakfast, and of course shop! When we get home we have a little fashion show, and my mom comes over to go through our loot - fun! My Aunt Julie (Katie's mom) missed out on the fashion show and "grand display" of our purchases, so I'm dedicating this post and the following pictures to her so that she can see Maisie and Liam's (+ Evie and Annie's) new Summer wardrobe...

All of the goods on my couchThis fishy set with pants is Evie'sThe top with the little buckets is Annie's, and there are matching "Cinderella's Carriage" pants sets for Evie and AnnieLiam's Shark SetMaisie's Butterfly top that has little matching shortsMaisie and Liam's matching froggie outfits (LOVE - TDF!)Maisie and Liam got matching Florida Gator outfits to wear when Daddy comes home :) And that is Maisie's cute green and pink alligator a-line dress.

This was the item of the weekend - Maisie and Evie's favorite... Little Mermaid!!!

I grabbed just one Little Mermaid set for Maisie on Friday night and bought the coordinating Cinderella's Carriage sets for my girls, thinking they could all wear them together on our upcoming trip to Disney. Let me just say this - Evie was just a little hurt when I showed up at home with only one Ariel set, so I went to bed Friday night praying there would be one left in her size on Saturday morning!!! I was able to get one and it's all good now - fwew! Maisie and Evie wore them together pretty much the rest of the weekend, stroking the embroidery, and saying "Ariel, I just love her..." What is it with ALL little girls and the Little Mermaid? Silly little chickies! We had such a good weekend together with my cuz and her kids, they're like four little peas in a pod! I can't wait to do this again in the Fall!!!

Heavy Sigh...

Warning: You may want to slap me after reading this post

So, I just need to take a little time to write about what happened last night... I traded my car, and today I am a pouty discontented mess. Almost three years ago, Ben and I bought the most precious little Volkswagen Jetta you (ok maybe just I) have ever seen. They were running a special, The Wolfsberg Edition, so we ordered one brand new - I got to pick everything! I chose white exterior, tan leather interior, sun roof, heated seats, a little spoiler - it was fresh and fun and it didn't make me feel like a "mom"! I smiled every time I got behind the wheel! Since we bought it back in August of 2007, Anabelle has joined us and we have become not only a 2 kid family, but also a double stroller family - I've known for a long time that my little Jetta's days were numbered. There is no "Baby Number 3" in our immediate future, so we didn't feel like we had to buy an SUV or a van :P, but a little more space was becoming more necessary every day. In a nutshell, that is how the K Family ended up at our local VW dealership last night.Let me set the scene for you: 6:00 PM when we arrive, 2 little girls starving for dinner, 1 husband antsy to wheel and deal, and 1 me longing for the whole process to just be over! We were greeted the moment we hit the breaks by the most pleasant Peruvian, Sperry wearing, VW salesman I've ever met, Erlin, was his name. I liked him pretty much right away - so I should have left then and there because I will always buy when I like someone and I know that he works off of commission. I was stuck. We told him what I was looking for (Passat, 2008 or newer, white or black exterior, tan leather interior, sunroof, heated seats, DVD player...) and so I started browsing through the used Passats. They had several black ones with tan, but each had some sort of issue (too old, too many miles, dings in the hood, etc.) and then I came upon a Grey 2008 Passat with black leather interior, no sunroof, and no heated seats. I was a little surprised when I heard myself say "How about this one?" - I mean wait a second, seriously, none of it fit "the list"! I mean, even Erlin (the salesman!) attempted to talk me out of it! When Ben and I discovered that it didn't have heated seats, he agreed that it was "a dealwreaker", but before I knew it we were inside the lovely new dealership (that felt Ikea if Ikea sold cars, plus had a Starbuck's coffee machine) running the numbers. By this point (7:15 PM) the girl's starving bellies were starting to bloat, so we fed them a very healthy snack machine dinner of Cheetos, Dr. Pepper, and a "Chocolate Chip Ugly", then settled in for a long round of that good old car buying tradition that is "the numbers game". You know, when they say stuff like "You're getting this for what we bought it for at auction" or "We're actually taking a hit on this one" - I am convinced that they have an employee who's job is to fabricate documents. Meanwhile, through all of the back and forth, my stomach is churning over "the compromise car"...... Don't get me wrong, it is a nice beautiful car, but I've been spoiled rotten for the last three years by a car that was pretty much customized just for me. I am someone who always knows what I like, and when it comes to cars I only want white or black!!! And no, mixing them together to make grey does not equal the best of both to me! Anyway, back to the story... 8:30 PM rolls around and Ben is still coming in and out of the little glass room to update me on the situation, the girls have made friends with 2 little boys their age, all four are having a party in a VW Routan in the middle of the showroom, and my tummy is still just a churnin'. I finally get up the nerve to tell Ben that I want to go home and sleep on it, but he misinterprets that as me just being exhausted by the kids, and so the process continues. Before I know it (9:00 PM) I have agreed to sign papers, Annie starts shouting that she wants a "ba-ba", and Erlin (SO excited to have made a sale) offers to run to a jiffy and buy her some milk. He comes back with a Yoohoo, bless his heart! Now I am the owner of a Grey Passat with black interior. I have cried off and on all day - great big pity party (do you want to hit me yet?)I took a few last pics with my cell... here we are saying goodbye to the Jetta, the adorable car that brought Annie home from the hospital - and there she is all grown up with a sippy cup o' Yoohoo!

I miss my car, and I'm having a hard time being excited about the new one. I have cried all day. I keep this blog for my girls, so I want to be real here. I am no saint and I will never pretend, I am a selfish silly mess - in the middle of a constant struggle between my idea of perfection and God's. My mom tells this story, that a missionary friend told her, about a lady in a village in Africa who has to spend an entire day walking to get water one out of every 2 days. Her entire life revolves around walking and water. In my life the only thing those 2 words have in common is how many steps it takes to get to my refrigerator - and here I am waisting a whole day pouting about the color of my car (referring to it as "the funeral mobile"). Lovely. Why does God love me again?

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

1 Timothy 6:17-19