Nursery

It was really hard (and stressful) for me to pick a decor theme/fabric for the bedding. I wanted it to be different, and not to "character-y"...but Brendon demanded that it be "manly" enough...no pastels in our nursery. I finally found this fabric combination that I love. There are a few other navy fabrics that I am using as well and I love how it all looks together. I have big ideas for scanning in the animal print fabric and making pillows and wall hangings.

I'm working on the quilt for now...then on to the crib sheet, crib skirt, and bumper. Hopefully I'll have something to post soon!

Bow Ties

My friend Ashlee opened her etsy shop, Cherry Bloomer. If you are interested in purchasing bow ties for your little guy (or someone else's little guy) this is the place to find them. She did a million different cute options.

New Kicks And Duds

This week I got the urge to make some baby boy onesies and booties. I saw these booties online and it took me at least an hour to figure out the pattern on my own, but I think they turned out kind of fun. Ignore the straight pin...I need to put some velcro closures on.

Brendon didn't understand why I needed to make onesies when I'll probably get millions as gifts. But sometimes I just get an itch and I've got to get it out of my system.

Easter Sunday Hike

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. Brooke and CB drove down from San Francisco and we made a delicious traditional ham dinner. After we ate until we thought we would burst we sat around trying to think of baby names for the little guy on his way. Then we took a beautiful drive into the foothills of Palo Alto and found a park to hike and fly kites in. Thanks to our friends, the Prows, for letting us borrow their Dora the Explorer kite. Brendon loved it!

Wild Side

Brendon's parents included this onesie in Baby Boy Merkley's easter basket. Ha ha. We love it!

26 Weeks

Ok...I really didn't want to post "fat pictures" but everyone keeps asking for them. It is amazing to me that I didn't show for so long, and then this enormous belly came seemingly out of nowhere. Time is flying and we only have 14 more weeks to go. There is still so much I need to do...like choose a name...decorate the nursery...etc.

Bow Tie Tutorial

http://7layerstudio.typepad.com/7_layer_studio/2008/09/bow-tie-tutorial.html

This is where my friend Ashlee found the bowtie tutorial. Ashlee made a few of her own improvements on this tutorial. One of which is attaching the bowtie to a hair clip (the kind you can buy super cheap at beauty supply stores...think of the kind you would use to hold rollers in your hair) rather than using the elastic around the collar.

For those of you that aren't crafty, Ashlee will be opening up an etsy shop and selling them in the near future. I will keep you updated if you would like to purchase them from her shop.

All Tied Up

My friend Ashlee taught me how to make these adorable miniature clip on bow ties out of grosgrain ribbon. They took like 10 minutes to make and were so fun. Finally, a craft for boys.

Just Because I'm Having a Boy...

Doesn't mean I can't have a metallic gold diaper bag! And I scored it for less than $30!

Another Trip to the Farm

Two weekends ago we took a trip up to Gridley to hang out with my parents. Saturday Brendon and my dad took their last snowmobiling trip of the season. The doctor advised me not to go, so my mom and I enjoyed a girl's day out with some friends.

We had some friends from Stanford join us and Sunday after church we visited my cousin's "petting zoo". Aparently they have goats, emus, miniature ponies, sheep, chickens, horses, turkeys and bunnies. Lots of the animals had had babies just that week so we "ooh"ed and "awe"ed holding the day old goats and bunnies.

Brendon can't make a trip to the farm without driving the tractors, so he and his friend Ryan helped my dad plant 30 fruit trees of every kind. My parents are taking "provident living" advice seriously, and I cannot wait until the summers when there is more fruit than we can possibly eat.


Monday we toured my dad's semi-new walnut cracking/processing facility. We had to wear awesome hair nets, but it was totally worth it. The machinery is enormous and very impressive. Amazing how many walnuts it can process in minutes.

The rest of the trip we hung around the house riding motorcycles and golf carts and taking our little girl visitors to dance class.