A Mad Case of Baby Fever

Sculpture, not a real baby, but props to Donna on being an incredibly talented artist.

Having been married for almost two years,  I thought that I may get the occasional bought of baby fever but would dismiss it as a "I'm not ready for this quite yet" type of circumstance.  Or at least, that's what I have been doing. 

We had good friends of ours say that they have been talking about "trying" next April.  Then they said, "you guys should try to get pregnant, too!"  Ryan and I looked at each other and while Ryan looked insanely nervous, my mind wandered off to the idea of finally bringing baby Erskine into the world.

Ryan and I are still young, I still consider ourselves to be newlyweds, and I have school loans as far as the eye can see.  I will also have a rigorous military schedule.  Now is not the time to have a baby.

Please tell that to my baby fever-ridden mind.  

It has been terrible as of recently.  I'm not sure if it's the "influx" of pregnancy announcements or the "we're expecting" photo shoots that have filled my Facebook newsfeed and pages of blogger land, but the idea of having a baby has been filling many of my thoughts and simply won't go away.  

I can't visit Jessica's blog at Little Baby Garvin without thinking what about having my own little Harpsicle around the house.  Not to mention, I have so many ideas to celebrate my future pregnancies.  You may have seen Jessica's adorable chalkboard monthly pictures floating the boards of Pinterest and I plan on doing exactly that.  Jessica is gorgeous, so creative, and I love her sass and honesty.  Plus Harper is the cutest thing alive!  I adore the dancing baby videos that Jessica posts and how much of Harper's personality you can already see.  You also provides really awesome reviews on products and I find myself bookmarking them.  I'm not even a mom and I already know what type of products I want to use.  Lordy

The absolutely charming Ruthie has announced over at The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, that she and her husband are expecting and much like a groupie at a rock band concert, I anxiously await each blog post announcement.  Yes Ruthie, I'm living vicariously through your pregnancy.  I never would have thought that I would ever say that, nor ever be that creepy (sorry girl!). But seriously, Ruthie is like the cutest pregnant woman alive and I can't wait to see how else she chooses to showcase her pregnancy.  I particularly love how she and her husband, Jon, have been including prayer in their time of "trying" to get pregnant and throughout the celebration of their Hart baby.  Admittedly, I do not want to be as sick as Ruthie has been (the idea of morning sickness is nauseating in itself), but that lady has the best attitude about the whole thing.  Hopefully, I'm that awesome whenever the time comes for us.

 

I am also completely enamored with the idea of decorating a nursery and having cute decorations and details.  Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids, anything on Etsy- you name it and I start dreaming of ways to incorporate it into our household.  Just take a look at my "Baby Erskine" Pinterest board.  I also love children's books and can't wait to establish a great library for my little one.  Have I wandered the aisles of a bookstore and found some of my favorites?  Yes and then reluctantly put them back, telling myself, "in a few years." 

Lindsey over at Pillow Thought always has the cutest ideas for her little girl and I love all the posts involving fun ways on how she interacts with her child.  The outfits alone and fun educational products would get any person thinking about becoming a parent.  Lindsey makes it look easy.

I also recently took a course at The Influence Network on how to creatively fund an adoption.  Now Ryan and I have considered it and I am always willing to consider adoption before "trying" to have biological children just because whether I physically birth them or just hold them in my heart, I love kids.  I didn't think I would want children at 23, and who knows, I might not have them until I'm 28 or older.  I just know that I've actually started to seriously consider the possibility.  Now my birth control of choice is Mirena and so I would have to have it taken out and maybe that was an incredibly smart decision for this part of my life.  I know Ryan and I "planned" on waiting for another two years but who knows, it's really dependent on where life takes us.

These ladies and so many other bloggers, Instagrammers, and friends make me so excited to be a mom one day and I know Ryan is going to be such a great dad.  So who knows, maybe next April we'll start trying.  

For all the mommas and papas out there, what was it like when you decided to start "trying" whether it was to become pregnant or the adoption process?

The 4th of December

Four days in and we're watching "Arthur Christmas" to get into the holiday spirit.

Conveniently I have the Anthropologie catalog to my left and have a few browsers with fun holiday cheer.  I'm obsessing over fun holiday gifts, Christmas cards, holiday movies and music, celebrating with scripture and advent calendars and really getting into the reason for the season.

Bamboletta dolls make cloth dolls from natural materials, posted this adorable picture.

I'm a sucker for cute, original toys, decor, really anything!  This came up on my Facebook newsfeed and you just have to do a collective "ahhhh" because it's just too cute for words.

Source

Like I said, I love adorable details.  I think they can turn something from being ordinary into something unique and worth cherishing for years to come.

I've been seeing peg people nativity scenes and although I didn't want to fork over $70+, I did think that I could give it a shot.  It's still in progress but here are some of the materials I got for it:

 

Multiple large and small sizes of the wooden game piece, "peg people."

Various acrylic paints

Fine tip paint brushes and one is angled for detailing

I also got a shallow hinged box to place the pieces in and also to create a nativity scene that can be propped open.  I thought I was pretty clever ;)

 

Of course, I could walk into Anthropologie and love everything in its over-priced glory.

It's one of those stores that pays attention to the details and that's what makes everything so want-worthy.

Saw this in their holiday catalog:

Source

It's inspired by late-19th and early-20th century fortune teacups and I love it.

The details are so quaint and would be perfect home decor.

However, I think I could spend $78 on something else.

They also gave a shout-out to Penguin's cloth-covered books, which could possibly become very dangerous on my wallet.

 

It's re-vamping the classic covers with beautiful cloth-bound material and they're great for displaying or sitting in a coffee shop on a snowy afternoon.

I have so been looking forward to Christmas cards.

Definitely dedicated a Facebook status or two in warning my family and friends that I was collecting addresses. I created a little work station around my printer where I was receiving text messages with addresses and well wishes and printing off holiday letters to stuff into the cards.  Of course, I misread part of the letter and ended up sharing the good news of Holly's naming (my GSD) twice.  Wouldn't be a holiday card from me if there wasn't a mistake or two.  50 or so cards later, I've got them in envelopes, stamped and addressed, ready to spread some love around the U.S.

In the spirit of the season and its true meaning, I've been looking up a few advent programs and Ruthie, from The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, posted on Instagram a few adorable and wonderful advent programs.  From Naptime Diaries, I got these super cute advent cards and strung them up over our breakfast bar.   Having started a little bit past December, I was able to purchase them from their shop online, printed them out on cardstock and used some of the string from my crafting supplies.

I picked up mini-clothespins from Michael's and it was perfect.

They go along with the She Reads Truth advent program.

They provide devotionals, scripture and some food for thought.

I'm really enjoying it so far.  My friend, Megan, is also posting adorable Instagram photos of her 25 Days of Christmas experiences and she's also participating in RACK-ed, which is something that Kait over at Gridiron Lipstick is promoting.  It stands for Random Acts of Kindness and it's perfect for the holiday season.

Megan has posted pictures of leaving little notes with change at vending machines, surprising co-workers with Starbucks gift cards for a free coffee or starting a food drive at her place of employment.  She is so sweet and I just love her enthusiasm for the holidays.

My enthusiasm for the holidays and understanding the reason for the season, has really encouraged me to keep up with the advent and scripture.  I also found this gorgeous side-ways cross necklace and decided that it would be a perfect gift for my mom and MIL.  I got one for each of us as a way of symbolizing the bonds between mother and daughter.  If you're interested in getting one yourself, I found mine on Etsy at GemsinVogue.  Brenda gives outstanding customer service and delivery was prompt.  A few celebrities have been seen sporting sideways cross necklaces, so it could also be a great gift idea this season.  I love mine because it's small and so subtle.

 

Of course, it is time to start wrapping a few presents and I get so excited whenever anything arrives for Ryan because we finally get to spend Christmas together!

I would love to share what gifts I got him, but that might be for another time.

I'm still unsure if he checks this or not.

:)

Blog Obsessions for November

After my ranting and raving in my previous blog post about the lack of quality blog content, I came across this wonderfully refreshing blog from Bobbi and I thought about compiling a list of my favorite blogs and why I follow them.  Lead by example, right?

I've been obsessing over this blog all morning and I'll give you my top three reasons why.  The first is that Bobbi provides enriching content in her posts and it's always entertaining.  The second is that she features beautiful photography from her adventures.  I love her book reviews but more than that, she provides links to awesome articles that get your brain a-churnin'.



Jordan is also a fellow Marine wife and I think her blog is classic and charming.  She puts together product reviews every now and then and she just seems like somebody I would like to hang out with.  When I first found her blog over the summer, I literally looked through every post because she's just that much fun.  However, she's also one of the bloggers that I wish would have more content versus less but what can ya do?  What you'll find on Jordan's blog is a mixture of Southern charm, recipes, her adventures on the East Coast before she moves to California, and awesome gift/product reviews.


Lindsay's blog is so much fun! Her posts are always informative, fun and stay true to herself.  She's also introduced me, via her posts, to other interesting bloggers, articles and new products.  I always appreciate the perspective she gives to her posts.  She recently posted about 100 dreams and making a list of goals that's pretty interesting. What you'll find on Lindsay's blog is a mixture of eco-friendly awesomeness, daily yoga positions (she's an awesome yogi), and just adorable genuineness.

Taylor is hilarious and her posts are both witty and charming.  Her weekly posts titled, "Best Week Ever" cover current events with her clever twists.  Not only is she hilarious and we're both Thetas and I found her blog on accident but came across a post about being a part of the Greek system.  And they said being Greek would pay off... ;) What you'll find on Tay's blog is a mixture of hilarity, current events, her lovely dog, and even glimpses of her own adult children's book.



Ruthie is amazing! She is a person that balances her faith, DIY, crafting, and marriage with such grace and ease.  She also has a super adorable Frenchie named Ernie.  She's also one of those people that I love to follow on Instagram because they're just too cute. What you'll find on Ruthie's blog is a mixture of Christian faith, DIY projects, recipes, book reviews, and pictures of her wonderful fambam.

Those are five great blogs, each with completely different vibes.  Check em out and let me know if there are other blogs that I need to frequent!  I sponsor a few of the blogs and I'm reviewing this simply out of purpose.  We need blogs with great content and these are a few great places to start!

xoxo

DIY Silhouette Canvases

One of the first blogs that I first came across when I started blogging was, The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart.  She is super adorable and looks like a brunette Kristen Chenoweth.

I absolutely love her home decor and her little French bully named Ernie.

The canvases that she made were one of the first things to catch my eye.

You can find her DIY Silhouette Canvas Tutorial here

She was clever enough to use old canvases to make hers.

I purchased a multi-pack of five canvases from Michael's using a 40% off coupon.

Their iPhone and Droid App is completely free and you can even show your digital coupons off of your phone at the register.  Pretty simple!

Using an additional 20% off coupon, I purchased two, $3.99 acrylic paint tubes.  Again, that app came in handy more than once.  I used a grey tone and then an "arctic" white.

If you go to Ruthie's blog post, there's a link for an awesome site where you can upload pictures and it prints them off in a poster format. 

I chose a picture of HollyDoll (our adorable German Shepherd), a moment from Ryan's homecoming, and our home state- Sconnie Nation.

Once you have those images printed off, you can cut them out, tape them together and start tracing.

Depending on how you want your canvas to look, you may need to paint it first.  Mine took three coats of grey on the canvas to create the desired shade of grey that I wanted.

(only 3 shades of grey, instead of 50-hardy har)

 I traced mine in pen and then started painting it in with the white.

I initially outlined it first to create a "boundary."

(coloring inside the lines takes practice)

This also took several coats, so just have patience and make sure each coat dries.

It was super easy and I love how classic it looks. This is something that can go up in any of our houses, no matter where the military sends us.

xoxo,