I'm a BIG girl now!

Sophia's new BIG girl bed & room

We finally got Sophia her very own BIG girl bed last week and Daddy & Papa picked it up today! We decided that Sophia was indeed ready to graduate from her little toddler bed (that had been filling up with all her stuffed animals and babies, leaving no room for HER) into a big girl twin-sized bed. Luckily, Nana & Papa kept my old white wrought iron headboard that I used as a little girl (& loved!!), so we were able to buy a new mattress set. It sure is comfy! We kept the pink/green colors by choosing a Shabby Chic quilt set for her room - complete with pink sheets. Sophia is sooo jazzed about her new bed and bedding - Mommy & Daddy are too! We even re-arranged her room to accommodate the new addition, which was a nice refreshing change.

We thought that not only was she ready for this new change, but deserved it now more than ever in light of all the big changes that accompany a new baby sibling soon. Sophia is very excited about Camilla's arrival, but we wanted to give her something that was super exciting in her little world - plus I'm convinced that she'll have a deeper more restful sleep. Can't wait to hear from her at breakfast in the morning!

I'm now at 36wks with Camilla and will go in for my next weekly visit this upcoming Monday (37wks). I'm hanging in there, but the weight that I carry is strictly up-front, so makes walking awkward and my back killer by days end. I'm still making daily trips to the gym and doing at least 30mins of cardio on the elliptical + weights (go me!). I feel so much better post-workout, but it's truly the hardest part to get there. Now that I've made it back into a 'routine', it's much easier. Whew.

I'm extremely busy at work doing lots of shell ads and other design work so that when I'm on maternity leave, the details can be plugged in and submitted. It's a LOT of work now, but it will pay off when I can be at home snuggling my new baby girl and not even thinking about work - I'll actually get to enjoy the holidays this year - HOORAY!

Baby Heaven...

Thursday, September 2nd brought the much anticipated arrival of our sweet Godson, Evan Brendan Crimi! Our good friends, Brendan & Monica, were anxiously awaiting his arrival too...and so was big sister Ava. The day before his arrival, both Monica & I got to meet up for one last "quiet" and ''baby-free" lunch - we had fun getting to relax and chat. We couldn't believe the whole time we'd be pregnant & "fluffy" together, we hadn't had any belly pics together, so we got one just in the nick of time!

The next day, Evan arrived via c-section to very proud parents! On Friday, we traveled to the hospital to meet baby Evan (aka Baby Heaven as big sister Ava had once said!). Sophia and Ava were mighty happy to see each other and were so good playing quietly in the hospital room...even whispering and playing "ring around the rosey"! HA!

A very proud Fairy Godmother!

Proud Godfather Rod!

Daddy, Evan & Mommy

Mama's Been A Busy Bee!

First of all, I got crafty by giving our blog a facelift and I ADORE it, do you? Another friend of mine used the site shabbyblogs.com and so I went to the site and found this background that I love. I even was proud of myself for taking the matching header template and making it "our own"!

Once I've been bitten by the craft/painting bug, I can kiss my spare time goodbye! A few weekends ago, I went with my mom (Nana) to search for some cute lavender fabric to replace the current liners in both the nested set of baskets I bought at CVS ($9.99 for a nested set of 3!) and Camilla's wicker hamper ($14.99 at World Market!). Both nested baskets and hamper were originally a different color, but my dad (Papa) spray painted them both white and Nana offered to take the current liners and use them as patterns to make new ones! I'm SO thankful my parents are the DIY type...I've learned SO much from them! Mom and I went to JoAnn's to check out their fabrics as they had some baby prints on sale for $2.99/yd and luckily, we found an adorable lavender fabric with sweet white polka dots on them - perfect for our project. We had fun spending some mother/daughter time together that morning while Rod held down the fort at home (thanks!). While at JoAnn's, I found some cute wooden peg frames for $1.99 each and then some wooden flower hangers (with sheer pink ribbon attached) for $1.00 each. I decided I was going to get 2 frames and a few of the flower hangers....here's what I did:

With a little lavender & white paint I transformed plain jane wood items into perfect accessories to Camilla's closet (hooray for organization!) and a little frame to one day put countless "sisterly" photos of the girls in. The 2nd frame I bought, I'll do in Sophia's room colors (pink, green,white) and write "Sisters" on also. Sophia loved this idea!

Next, I pulled out one of my blank canvases to paint Camilla's name door hanger, just like big sister Sophia has! I have yet to attach the lavender ribbon and hang on Camilla's door, but at least the painting is done!

Now, we have almost everything in Camilla's room, minus Camilla herself! I'm just enamored with her nursery and am counting down the days until her arrival!

Both Camilla & I are doing great - we're coming up on 35wks (this Monday!) and she's a growing girl. According to our weekly babycenter.com email, at 34wks Camilla is:

• nearly 4 3/4 pounds (think an average cantaloupe)
• stretches nearly 18" long!
• she's gaining fat on her body to help regulate her temp after she's born
• skin is beginning to smooth out & not look "wrinkly"
• both nervous system and lungs are continuing to mature (if she were to be born now, she'd have a great chance of surviving just fine outside the womb)

Per Dr. Duggar this last week at our appt, he talked to me about induction dates (at this point Camilla appears to no longer be breach and has a healthy heartbeat), so Dr. Duggar told me he doesn't want me carrying her until Oct. 25th - amen to THAT! The heat here has been beyond brutal and I'm pretty 'over' being preggers at this point - just anxious to meet my sweet baby. I'm easily fatigued by days end, feet & hands have slight swelling and I waddle big time! However, to beat the fatigue, I've managed to get back to my gym that I adore and workout almost everyday...30mins on the elliptical, plus lunges, plus freeweights help me feel rejuventated and make me feel like a fit pregnant mama! Everytime I go, I get lots of compliments on how great I look and lots of words of encouragement...they go a LONG ways when you are 4wks from your due date!!

We go in for another visit at 36wks, and they'll do an exam to determine if I'm dilating yet and to see just what Camilla's positioning is....we're on the homestretch now!

Recessionista Strikes Again!

I got bitten by the creative bug (again), but rarely does my inner - arteest ever take a break, I decided to tackle a relatively large painting project for Camilla's room. Ahem, a 30x40" type large painting project to be exact! I had fallen in love with this painting that Pottery Barn Kids catalog carried (only available via catalog and online) for a whopping $250 + shipping.

Oh, I bartered with myself on whether or not I dare even bring it up to Rod to see if he'd let me get it....I had my reasoning all laid out: "but honey, it's full of colors that can transition with her room for years....or if she gets tired of it, it could go in Sophia's room....or when we move to a bigger house, perhaps it -goes in the girls playroom". I then had a brilliant idea: I'm artistic, why don't I paint it myself?!

So, I did my research on where to get the cheapest canvas, I looked closely at the colors and decided which ones I had on-hand and what ones I still needed. The closer I dissected the piece of art, the more confident I grew that I indeed could DO THIS! I printed off my handy 40% off coupon for Michaels's, and took it to purchase my 30x40" gallery wrapped canvas (reg. $54)...plus I bought other colors that I needed and when I read the grand total, I was uber proud of myself: $44!! Take THAT Pottery Barn!!

I was so excited to get home and get my area laid out and prepped for painting. Well, I was so motivated that 48hrs later, the whole darn thing was DONE! I worked steadily over my lunch hour and after work too - however it was so fun! I am quite proud that I pulled it off and I'll explain the differences and why I did what I did:

• I opted to make the birds lavender & white to match Camilla's nursery - rather than using what looked like the scrapbook paper in the original (lots of blues)


• I used less yellow in the highlighting to avoid over yellow saturation against Camilla's creamy furniture


• I made the cherry blossoms my own colors/designs just because it sure was hard to see detail that small on the original!


• I opted to not use scrapbook paper as parts of the cherry blossoms as well


• I left off the butterfly at the top....I was liking the painting without it


• I used less lime-y green, just so I didn't go 'overboard' without knowing it...

Rather than putting the 'final coat' of clear on top of the painting, I've decided to leave it as it and get it hung on Camilla's wall. This way I can 'live with it' awhile and decide if I want to end up adding more yellows or limes (or anything else). I posted photos of my step-by-step progress on facebook and I was so surprised and how many people were loving it....and how encouraging everyone was! It really made me feel great to know I took on a daunting project and conquered it with flying colors (pun intended)!

So there you have it...you CAN do a painting by yourself that is just as good as any ol' Pottery Barn creation....

Next up, a photo of it hanging in Camilla's room!