Indie Wed Denver!

I'm thrilled to be included in this very fabulous wedding show coming up this July here in Denver. 

I will be partnering up with Kara Rosenberry Co and we will be promoting my wedding hair accessories and Kara's line of bridal and wedding cards as well as selling related goodies. The event will take place at a local gallery and will feature loads of local wedding vendors, live music and food. Plan on attending if you're getting married, know some one who is, or just want to see what's going on! Pop over to Indie Wed's website for more info!

Deep in Baby Land

Here's a little peek into the world of baby O today. Doesn't he look peaceful? Glad someone's getting sleep around here. He sleeps so much - so how am I so sleep deprived? This is the universal question asked by most new moms, I suppose. 

Obviously, I think about this a lot these days... even made a treasury (when I should have been sleeping!) on Etsy with this very theme: 

Love that 1950s night gown, that vintage clock and that cuddly teddy bear... 

And on that note - it's time to wake up the babe and feed him. 

xo

A Baby is Born

Greetings Friends. Well, time flies when you have a baby! That's right. Our little man arrived healthy (but tiny) on April 9, weighing in around 5lbs. Ike and I are over the moon with the bundle and so grateful to be home. Including our stay after he was born, we were in the hospital for 27 days. Jesus take the wheel. Hope to never have to go through that again. As awful as those days were it, just like every one told me (and I found to be an annoying reminder) the emotional, dull and sometimes miserable weeks in the hospital were virtually forgotten once the babe arrived. He is perfect and well worth all we went through, let me tell you. 

Hopefully, I won't be a complete stranger here. I will do my best to get back in the groove with posting. In the mean time, how are you? 

Happy Easter friends! I hope you're having a blessed day and taking time to reflect as well. 

It hasn't been a very contemplative weekend for me what with being confined to my hospital room with nurses, docs, cleaning ladies, etc. coming and going and no Good Friday services or Sunday morning worship, but I've done my own little bit of thinking and praying and Ike took me outside on this very bright and sunny day for a stroll around the park, so it's been a good Easter. 

Two more days until baby boy makes his debut! 

Hospital Stay Day 18: This Too Shall Pass

Have I really been on modified bed rest at the hospital for 18 days? Sometime it feels very surreal. There's little to be done but accept it, cry a lot and then eat cheesecake. I've been making a concerted effort to navigate the room service menu's bland and mostly depressing food options and choosing healthy things but after a weepy morning, I ordered myself cheesecake with my lunch. Balm to the soul I tell you. 

Here's what else I've been doing to survive: 

Watching happy, pretty movies like Amelie alternated with reading serious parenting material like "The Vaccine Book." One far more pleasant than the other. One far more important. The average kid here in the US gets twelve vaccine shots by the time they're one. But don't get me started on that.  I highly recommend the book as a very informative and unbiased tool if you're on the fence about the subject like me. 

Having Ike bring me lots of crafting supplies from home has been a life saver. Although the cleaning lady this morning seemed to be a bit annoyed with the coffee filter and glue gun remnants strewn around. Can't help it Lynda. I'm a messy crafter. 

I made this little wreath as a gift for another friend about to have a little baby girl... 

And here's the bunting I made for our little man's nursery. 

On to the morale boosters:

Sweets. Bless you dear chocolate bar. And bless my friend Kayla who brought it to me. Never had Choxie before. Yum.  And thank heavens the cafeteria offers these little Haagen-Dazs cups. Kayla also hauled up her new shellac nail kit and gave me the prettiest manicure. Now I've got glossy nails in pink smoothy. Talk about morale booster.

What could raise a mom-to-be's spirits more than these adorable onesies my friend Lizzie and her little boy brought me yesterday.I mean come on. They have little elephants and seals on them! Even more amazing is that Lizzy is 39 weeks preggo herself and she's been up to see me twice. I have the best friends. 

Then there's this lovely mini daffodil plant another girl friend brought me. It has lots of new blooms on it and makes me feel like I can enjoy spring from this hospital room even if I'm not out and about to enjoy it for real. 

My heart is full of gratitude for all the gestures of love and support I've received while awaiting the arrival of our baby. Each little thing makes such a difference. 

Perhaps the biggest difference-maker of all has been the much needed reminder that God's grace is sufficient for me. I will get through these days. If I can do it with a heart of humble gratitude as opposed to anger and fist pumping, well then, it hasn't been for naught. The words of Tim Keller from his sermon on The Will of God was a powerful and disarming reminder of my need to say to the Lord, as Keller puts it: "I take away my right for an explanation and I trust you. Thy will be done. All I care about is to see your face.The way to be free is to submit. The way to find my life is to lose it." Listen to the complete podcast here if you're interested. It will challenge your perspective no matter what trial you are facing. 

Love to you friends. 

Lavender Goodness

Two of my dear friends came by the jail  hospital earlier this week and brought me a bit of heaven:

a big plate full of really good cheeses, giant fresh berries and grapes, gluten free pretzels and mango and chocolate tarts. After eating hospital food for a couple of days, I was about moved to tears by the bounty. They also brought me a nice array of movies, cucumber towelettes for my face and these lovely lavender hand wipes. Lavender is a favorite scent of mine and I find myself wiping my hands and then pretty much every surface in the room with these. A little aroma therapy in a hospital room goes a long way... 

(thanks a million Meg and Bets!)

And then I got to thinking about lavender and found all these incredible images from Pinterest I thought I'd share: 

fields of lavender

lavender french macaroons with orange honey butter cream

lavender honey chocolate candy bars

rows of lavender

lavender  vodka lemonade 

homemade lavender scrub

lavender wedding bouquet

Meditations on Bed Rest

What a week it has been. As of last Sunday, (with a too brief but lovely 24 hour period at home) I've been on bed rest at the hospital. I will spare you the preggo body details that caused this disappointing situation. Of course the most important thing is that our little baby is doing well and is obliviously kicking away in utero as I write this. My emotions on the other hand, are up and down and calm then panicked. I go back and forth between the two statements above about twelve times an hour. It seems completely surreal that I'm supposed to just stay put in this sterile room for the next few weeks, while at home, his nursery sits unfinished, his little onesies sit unwashed and the stacks of other things I was hoping to get done well before his original May arrival came to pass, won't be done. It's driving me crazy. 

Still, I am beyond grateful that little babe is alive and well in my belly and that my husband is a complete hero and continues to bring me food, offer reassuring words, help me into my jammies and sleep here on the dreadful sofa bed night after night. And there are other things too: 

- the kind but sassy fifty-something nurse, who feels kind of like a mom and always says the right things and is so sympathetic

- the visits of friends who bring food that's way better than the crap they serve here

- the giant window in my room that lets in nice light

- the loads of kind text messages and offers of help that keep coming in

- the stacks of movies that will keep me distracted 

- the time to sit and paint my toe nails or tweeze my eye brows. Goodness knows there won't be time for these things once the babe comes

- the ability to sit out side from time to time in the sun and not completely miss the arrival of spring

Get out and enjoy the weekend for me. Go for some ice cream or out for a walk or organize your junk drawers. Funny how our perspective changes when we can't do the little things we normally take for granted, isn't it? 

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