Nursery Decorating

I decided to stay away from a "theme" nursery.  

I am the person that gets tired of a theme after a month.  It's why my entire house is very neutral.  I do not paint walls drastic colors or buy over the top furniture.  My big pieces are neutral and I bring color in through accessories.  Pillow, pictures, lamps and frames are all things that can be changed out quickly and inexpensively.

With all that being said, the same is holding true so far in the nursery.  Our little mister has cherry wood furniture and next Tuesday, the nursery is getting painted Sherwin Williams Wool Skein:

I have chosen the Linen Nursery Bedding Set in Gray from Pottery Barn:

And I finally found some wall art that I can't stop thinking about:

How cute are these baby animal prints?!!

Baby Giraffe Little Darling

Ducking Little Darling

Little Lamb Darling

Baby Monkey Little Darling

Baby White Tiger Little Darling

You can find them at The Animal Print Shop

I do not want an entire room full of animals but I thought maybe 4 of these would go great in some Cherry Gallery Wall frames from Pottery Barn that I received as a wedding gift and have yet to utilize anywhere!

 Ahhhhh, melt my heart.  Too sweet :)

When It Rains, It Pours

When it rains, it pours.  

That is how I feel now with friends and babies!

My friend Alicia was the first to announce she was pregnant last September.  

Matt and I then let our cat out of the bag on Halloween.

Since then, my besties, Ashley S., Ashley L., Leslie and Mandy all announced their pregnancies; due between May and July. 

Needless to say baby showers are going to be a thing of this spring and 2015 is going to be a VERY exciting year.

This past Saturday, my girlfriends, Melissa, Marla, Heather and I hosted a "Bling The Baby" shower for Alicia.  Alicia is due with a little girl, Emma Eileen at the end of February.

We hosted the shower at Melissa's and the "Bling The Baby" theme was so much fun. Instead of shopping off her registry like several other showers given to Alicia,  we were able to shop for little girl clothes, coats, shoes, headbands and bows!

During the shower we made headbands and bows as well as yarn covered E-M-M-A letters for the nursery.  We also filled out individual cards, labeled 1 to 16, on advice for Emma between her first and sixteenth birthday.  Alicia will be able to open one card a year and read to Emma, advice from her aunties! 

She's About To Pop Party Favors

The menu consisted of mini chicken and waffles, fresh berry muffins, cucumber sandwiches, fruit salad, quiche and cupcakes!  

The mommy-to-be's corsage

As a craft, we made headbands  and hair clips for little miss Emma!

Alicia and her girls :)

The shower could not have turned out better and Alicia went home with some cutie-pa-tootie girly items!

This week also marked #24 for our little man!  Nothing new or exciting this week but I think Matt and I are making SOME headway on a name!  We have still decided to keep it a secret until our son is born but at least we have a couple picked out we both like.  You gotta start somewhere, right?!

24 Weeks

Nursery Furniture

I am finding out really fast that it is SUPER easy to spend a TON of money on a nursery.  If it's your first child, you really are starting from scratch....like me.

Many many thank you's to my family for helping us avoid this money pit.  Blair is letting us have the rocker that she used for Livi and Jack.  Jack no longer uses it and it is taking up play space in his room. My mom and dad wanted to buy us a crib so we went with an economical choice, the Graco Lauren Crib in Classic Cherry.

The last necessity left for nursery furniture was a changing table.  Everywhere you look online there are small changing tables like this:

It is great if you are tight on space but, have you ever changed a two year old's diaper on one of these? Yes, I have and practically impossible.  The child hangs of the end.  I picked the brains of several of my mommy friends and the advice from them was to A. Change your child on the floor when he gets older/taller or B. Use a dresser with a changing pad.  The issue with choice A is that when the child starts to become mobile, they can crawl or walk away if they are being changed on the floor.  With option B, the child has no option to crawl or walk away BUT a dresser is an expensive purchase since we do not currently own an extra.  

To try and save a little $$$, I went to the only place that seemed reasonable....shop Craigslist.

My original search found a "Children's Dresser/Changing Table $100 in Troutman."  The add said it was in good condition with minor scratches and made of solid wood.

As soon as my eye met the ad picture I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. SOLD.

After work, I headed to Troutman, handed the nice gentleman $100, loaded my new dresser/changing table in the 4-runner and headed home.
Deal Done.
My plan:  stain this new piece to match the cherry finish on the crib and rocker

Matt was impressed with my find and was really excited I had saved us some $$$.  He did some quick research and found the dresser online.  Retail $500.

 The only thing missing from the Craigslist dresser was the bun feet that screw into the bottom.  Matt went online and found unfinished standard bun feet on eBay for $14 that we will stain ourselves and attach.  Again, another great deal.

I could not be more happy with this new addition to our son's future nursery!

I LOVE finding a good deal and saving a couple hundred bucks!!!

A Weekend in Wilmington and 23 Weeks

What is better then spending a laid back weekend with lifelong girlfriends?
Nothing.
One of our nearest and dearest friends Leslie lives in Wilmington, NC with her husband Zack and their fur babe Banks.  My other dearest friend Lauren and I were in dire need of a girls weekend and road trip so we left Friday after work for a much needed break and bestie time.
Leslie and Zack bought a house last year, close to UNCW, and to say its PERFECTLY decorated and welcoming would be an understatement.  Leslie has the cottage chic decorating style down to a science and as soon as you step through her front door, you feel at home.
I would usually say the weekend was filled with good food and wine but....since both Leslie and I are expecting, the wine was reserved only for Lauren and extra sleep was a necessity for me and Les.
We shopped, got mani/pedi's,  ate amazing food and watched movies.  I couldn't have asked for more.
Honestly nothing feels better then being in the presence of girls that allow you to truly be who you are because they have known you for 28 years and know exactly who you are.

Dinner on Saturday night

This week was also week 23 for our Little Mister!  I think he might have hit a growth spurt this week as I actually feel pregnant now.  He did make his first movements last Wednesday night as I was laying in bed.  It was after the NC State versus UNC basketball game and I was doing my usual bedtime routine....a little Pinterest before lights off....and I could feel him move around for about five minutes.  Not sure if it was his way of telling me to turn off the light and get my butt in bed or if he was just disgruntled of the Wolfpack's loss and he was letting his frustrations out. (He will pull for his mommy's team :)  )

23 Weeks

Happy 2015 !

To say 2015 is going to be a life changing year would be an understatement.

 Over New Years, our little mister crossed the 21 week mark and he is still doing fabulous!  We had a check-up on the 5th and he is growing strong with a heart beat of 144.  Keep going little buddy!!!

21 Weeks

 Last weekend Mom came to Charlotte and we spent an entire day registering for cute baby things at Buy Buy Baby, Target and Pottery Barn Kids.  If you're a mommy-to-be and live in the Charlotte area, I cannot say enough good things about the Buy Buy Baby on South Blvd.  The staff was helpful and they had everything you could possibly want!  It was slightly overwhelming but after we were finished, I could not have been more pleased with the process.

Anyway, back to New Years....

In the past, Matt and I have always purchased one of those all-you-can-drink tickets at a local watering hole and spent the entire night standing in the middle of a crowd, pushing to get to the bar and ultimately talking to the people we came with.  This year we went a little different route.

We went to dinner at Nan and Byron's with one group of friends and ended the night watching the ball drop at the Hurley's house with another group of friends.  The entire night was laid back; no pressure of finding the right sparkly dress and worrying about cab rides (permanent Uber right here!) all in the absolute best of company.
 
As we watched the ball drop and began the countdown, I found a spot right beside my main squeeze and as we went in for a big smooch on "Happy New Year", I found myself tearing up (hormones, probably.)  All at once, a glimpse of all the amazing things Matt and I are going to encounter this year flooded my mind and I was just overcome with JOY.  Yes, I got all sappy :)

Happy New Year Friends!  Bring on 2015!!!

The girls at the Hurley's house

Happy New Year from us!

Friends at Nan and Byrons

Next year this family of two will be a family of three!!!

Happy Holidays

My mom came down to Charlotte the weekend after Christmas and helped me decorate my house.  Before Matt and I got married, my friends threw me a Christmas bridal shower.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.

I registered at Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn for all sorts of Christmas decorations and I could not have asked for anything more.  The shower was perfect.

I now have all sorts of NICE Christmas decorations that I probably would have never purchased for myself but would have longed for every time I walked past the store windows.  A Christmas shower is one fabulous reason to get married in February or March; just sayin!

So now our tree is up.  Gifts are wrapped.  Balsam & Cedar Yankee Candles are burning and Elf is always on the TV.  What could be better?!

Happy Holidays from the Atkins!

Put A Brick On Their Head

Last weekend I was supposed to go back to Kernersville to see the family and my girlfriends.  Well the plague of a stomach bug broke out among my parents, sister and brother-in-law so I stayed my distance in Charlotte.

I called Blair Saturday afternoon to check on everyone and see how they were feeling and she told me that earlier in the morning Livi had come into her room to check on Blair and Sam.  As soon as Blair told Livi that she wasn't feeling any better, Livi's response was, "Well don't worry mommy, Aunt Blain is coming today so she can just take care of me and Jack!"  

OMG melt my heart.  After Blair told me this I felt so guilty for choosing not to go and mad at Blair for not telling Livi that I wasn't going to make it.  (Blair then informed me Livi had thrown up in her bed during nap time about an hour before our phone conversation; she had the same stomach bug....guilt dissolved just a little :)  )

Long story short...I love these little doodles with all my heart and they are growing up so darn fast.  Is it acceptable to put bricks on their head and hope they do not get any bigger?!

Breakfast with Santa at Church

Livi before school yesterday

18 Weeks

I had no idea what to expect during pregnancy.  I have watched many friends, including Sister, go through the whole pregnancy process and all of them have been very different.  I have had some girlfriends feel like they were knocking on death's door with morning sickness and fatigue, but on the other hand, Sister and several others breezed through it without a problem.

So far, I do not have one complaint; I have never felt better!

In weeks 1 - 10, I had a little heartburn and was tired but other than that I feel just like myself.  I joke with Matt that this pregnancy thing is such a breeze I could do it ten times :)
Fingers are crossed the trend continues!

Litter Mister at 18 weeks!

It Finally Became Real

We had our anatomy scan yesterday and up until the time we walked into the ultrasound room I was calm as a cucumber.  I have felt amazing the past 18 weeks and it all just seemed to surreal.  I had a hunch of what I thought our little peanut was going to be but didn't want to get my hopes up one way or the other.  Girl or boy, it didn't matter as long as his/her little lungs were working, heart was beating, kidney's were pumping and brain was functioning.  The important stuff.

I will remember yesterday forever because it was the first moment that felt really like we were a family of three :)  As I laid down, Matt sat calmly in the chair beside me.  As the tech started getting our little peanut into focus, she immediately asked if we were ready to see the gender. I don't know about Matt but I was totally caught off guard; she already knew!!!  That quick!!!

At the top of the ultrasound screen she had written:

HI MOM AND DAD !!!  IT'S A 

And now she was just waiting for us to give her the go.

As soon as we both responded, she typed BOY!!!

Of course, tears started flowing out both sides of my eyes as I tried to control myself.  I was already in love.  We were going to have a son.

Matt grabbed my hand in between his and brought them up to his face.  He didn't say anything as he covered his mouth and kissed my hand; I knew he was over the moon.  

The rest of the visit seemed absolutely surreal  We watched as the tech quickly clicked around taking measurements and making notes. Every time she said the word "he" another tear would flow.  I could not hold in the shear excitement that she was referring to our son!!!  Seriously, we are having a little boy!!!  I think I am still walking on water :)

Throughout the ultrasound, our little BOY would not stop moving!  As soon as the tech would get close to the picture or the measurement she would need, HE would throw his little hand up and block her.  She would try and catch a measurement of HIS leg bones and HE would immediately cross HIS legs together.  HE was in no mood to be prodded at :)  (Stubborn like his mother.)  Several times she was trying to get HIM to hold still and HE would flip over on HIS belly.  It blows my mind how active HE is so early on and I don't feel a thing.  

Matt watched the entire time in shear aw.  As she went through each organ and gave it the thumbs up, I could feel myself breathe again.  Everything checked out healthy and normal.  That's all we really wanted to hear. 

I cannot wait to see what kind of adventure our little boy  is going to take us on in this life ahead! I am one happy momma to be !!!

A Little Bit Of News

I am late in posting this to the blog but Matt and I have a little bit of NEWS!!!!
WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!

We sent this picture out to some of our close family and friends on Halloween morning and to say we had MANY excited reactions would be an understatement!

Two weeks later I had my 12 week doctor's appointment and that's when we decided to make the news a "public" announcement.

For a sushi eating, wine drinking gal like myself, telling my friends and family came at just the right time before the holiday because lets me honest....I could not turn down another glass of malbec without everyone knowing exactly what's up.

Matt and I decided we wanted to tell our parents and siblings before everyone else so we spilled the beans to my parents on October 3rd and Matt's parents the next weekend.  

We were in Kernersville Friday night of the 3rd having dinner at my sister's house along with my parents when we decided to draw names for Christmas.  I volunteered to put the names on little pieces of paper.  I included an extra strip of paper that said "baby A".  When I was finished, Olivia took the bowl of names around the room and my mom was the first to pick.  As she drew her slip and opened it up, it took her a couple seconds to process what she was reading.  She had drawn Baby A.  As soon as she started screaming, Blair immediately knew what was going on and started screaming and crying as well.  Sam and Dad of course looked at us like we were nuts (nothing unusual there!) and Blair had to explain to them that Matt and I were having a baby.  Olivia was the cutest of all....she immediately came over and sat on my lap and told me that she already had names picked out, Rose for a girl and Michael for a boy.  Isn't it crazy how fast a 4 year old process things!

The next weekend Matt's older sister Lorene and her husband Brett were in town for a wedding.  They were landing in Charlotte Friday night so we decided to meet and have dinner at Mellow Mushroom when they got to town along with Matt's parents.  While we were at dinner I lied to everyone and said that I had some leftover cake from work that we could take back to my in-laws house and have for desert.  I didn't have a leftover cake; I had a new cake with "You're going to be a grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle!" written on it.  When we got back to the Atkins' house, we pulled out the cake and set it on the kitchen island.  No one tried to look at it.  Matt finally asked if anyone wanted cake and his mom walked over to cut it. She opened the box and looked at the cake and did not understand what she was looking at.  Matt then had to explain it to her what she was reading :)  While he was explaining it, everyone else overhead and finally our secret was out!  

The worst part of the Atkins family baby news revel was that before we cut the cake, we Facetimed Matt's younger sister Katherine who is in Austin TX.  When she picked up, we kept the camera on the cake so that she could read the message. In the midst of all of the commotion we kind of forgot she was on the phone and Katherine kept yelling over and over again...."WHOSE BABY IS IT?  WHOSE BABY IS IT?  WHOSE BABY IS IT?"  She had no clue if it was mine and Matt's baby or Lorene and Brett's baby. ha ha.  See the confusion??!

Overall we feel so blessed to be adding a new addition to our family.  Kids are something that Matt and I have never wavered on since the day we met; we knew we wanted to start a family soon after marriage and now our dream is coming true!

xoxoxoxo

I LOVE My Neighborhood!

When Matt and I feel in love with Beverly Woods East and decided that it was where we wanted to lay down our roots in our first home, I could have never imagined how blessed we would be to get the most amazing neighbors. 

I joined the BWE Women's Club the same year we moved in and have loved every minute of the time I have spent with some of the most amazing women in Charlotte.

Several weeks ago, we met and stuffed stockings for the Billingsville Elementary After School program..... well.... stuffed stockings and also drank a little wine :)

Merry Early Christmas to the Wonderful Children at Billingsville Elementary!

Group Pic!

We were able to stuff 45 stockings for the girls and boys.

Kerri working hard to stuff a boys stocking.

Katie and Anni

All the ladies brought so many good options this year for the kiddos!

The little girls table.

Fall Porch at the Atkins House

I switched it up this year.

The past two years my porch consisted of pumpkins, sunflowers and hay bales.  I had a slight obsession with pumpkins; especially when Harris Teeter was selling them for $3 a piece; I couldn't resist.

Several weeks ago, on our millionth trip to Lowes, I fell in love with purple mums.  That's when I ditched the pumpkin/hay bale idea and went with a foliage approach for the front porch.

I love the way it turned out and how it brought a little more life to our house!

Do you agree?!

Fall Porch 2013 - Pumpkins and Hay Bales

Fall Porch 2014 - Foliage

Several months ago I also added new plants to the large pots.  The previous plants were not symmetric (I am a little OCD) and the one on the left was slowly dying.
They were there when we bought the house so I had no shame in trashing them and starting over with something more my taste!

HAPPY FALL YALL!

The 30 Trend Continues.....

I am no longer feeling like Grandma of my friend group.  Thank goodness.  

This past weekend we brought one more into the 3rd decade of life...Miss Laura Faust.

You know you're 30 when.....

1.  Your girls birthday dinner starts at 7:00pm and ends at 10:00pm with everyone yawning and talking about how excited they are to get in bed.  No late night Thursdays anymore around these parts.

2.  Your group birthday party is a 9:30am tailgate before the Panthers football game and instead of partying after the game, you head home to write a paper that is due the next day for your grad school class.  Yes. You are 30.  

Happy Birthday Fausty-poo!  Love you to the moon and back!

We celebrated Thursday night at Cantina1511!  I got Laura's birthday cake at Harris Teeter and they did an awesome job!

We really need to brush up on our happy birthday tune.  Laura definitely did not pick her friends because we could sing :)

Birthday tailgate before the Panthers game.  Laura and Amy

Tiffany, Amy and Ashley

Front:  Leann, Katie, Leslie    Back:  Tiffany, Ashley, Laura, Me, Amy

and the hubs.  We NEVER take pics like this together... I need to get better.

New Recipes From My Kitchen

A little bit of honesty coming out....
It's embarrassing to admit but for the longest time, Matt and I would get in bed (we usually always go to bed at the same time), cut the lights out, snuggle down and.......play Candy Crush.  I know, I know, seriously???  So much romance in our second year of marriage.

When I get stuck at a level or run out of lives, (and since i refuse to PAY Candy Crush) I move onto the next best thing...Pinterest.

I then keep myself up until all hours pinning dream kitchens and cute crafts that I will never have time to do.
On the flip side, I have my mouth to feed to the left of me (still crushing candies because he never dies) as I get his opinion on every good looking dinner recipe.  It is so convenient to have him right there to approve or disapprove of what could be on his plate next week.

Last week we tried two new recipes from my Food Board and both were winners!!

CROCK POT SESAME HONEY CHICKEN
From Skinnytaste

Recipe here: Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken


PESTO CHICKEN PASTA
From R & R Workshop

Recipe here:  Pesto Chicken Pasta

The Year Of 30 Continues

The year of the dirty 30 continues as two of my besties started their 3rd decade of life.

They share 9/11 as their birthday so the weekend before, we surprised Leslie at The Station in Raleigh with a fabulous patio party.  

I still wonder how I got so lucky to have such an amazing group of women to call my friends.

The weekend after, we celebrated Jackie in Morehead City with some sand, sun, boat and beach time.

Over the past 7 years, it has taken some adjustment to come to the realization that we do not all live in the same city anymore.  As the years pass and we continue to disperse throughout the country, I hope that we can still take the time to travel and meet up so that we can make memories together on these special milestones in life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LESLIE AND JACKIE!!!  CAN'T WAIT FOR ANOTHER 30 YEARS!