Stripes and Floral Inspiration

Lately I've been coming across many examples of just how beautiful the combination of stripes and floral print can be.  The results are bold, yet feminine.  Modern and fun.  Here are the Pinterest photos that inspired me this week.

This white modern work space is given a punch of pizazz with the striped throw and floral pillow accents.  

I love this outfit of pastel florals and stripes.  This woman makes cooking look fashionable!

What a pretty bridal shower invitation. 

And while we're on the topic of bridal...a black and white striped ribbon adds a bit of whimsy to this fresh summer bridal bouquet.

A floral scarf is the perfect accessory to layer over a sunny striped top.

Black and white striped tablecloths provide a a bold base for these modern tablescapes.  The bright and colorful bouquets of flowers really pop against the stripes.

Left / Right

And one more beautiful tablescape, but this one with muted flower accents.  Gorgeous.

Ah, if Carrie Bradshaw wore it, it must be cool!  I've always loved Carrie's sense of style.

Such pretty flats!

Can you believe this is actually a cake?  It's almost too fancy to eat. 

The bold black and white striped bench gets a feminine accent with a pretty floral throw pillow.

How adorable is this teepee?!?

It's hard to go wrong with stripes and flowers.  Now if only I had something to decorate...

Have a great weekend!

xo,

Carly

She's Here!

Well, it's a good thing we got those baby bump photos in when we did, because two days later, this little lady arrived!

Baby Aubri, just minutes after birth

The day after we took the belly photos, I went in for my normal OB appointment, and it was after that, that I was able to schedule an induction for the following morning.  Having a planned time for the delivery made things so much easier and less stressful.  Here's our last photo as a family of four, right after breakfast, and just before we headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital a little after 8am, and 7 hours later, baby Aubri was here.  And she has the honor of sharing her birth date with her grandmother...my mom!

Shaylin was overcome with excitement when she came to visit her new sister in the hospital.  I will never forget the smile on her face when she first held Aubri in her arms.  It was pure joy.

Usually when I ask Shay to smile for a photo, she unknowingly gives me this unnatural half smile, but when she was holding her sister, I didn't even have to ask for a smile.  At the time, we still didn't have a baby name so Shay continued to call her (Pink) Flower Rose, which was the name Shay had given her for months.

Landon on the other hand was understandably less excited for the new addition.  When we asked him if he wanted to kiss baby, he simply said "no".  He was more interested in the train that baby sister had got him for a gift.  But after hanging out for a while, he finally started to come around.

After about an hour or two, we got him curious enough to at least go over to take a look.  

First pic as a family of five!

Two days later and we were all dressed and ready to head home from the hospital.

We've been home for exactly one week now, and Aubri has been keeping busy!  Doctor's appointment, meeting family members, newborn photo shoot, even taking a trip to Sea World!  She's been enjoying life, as this smile on her one week birthday clearly shows. (okay, so it's probably just gas, but it's a smile nonetheless!)

    

How has life been during this past week with 3 kids in the house?  Busy!  I'm so used being on the go all day doing stuff for the kids and for the house.  I forgot what it's like to sit for 15-30 minutes just nursing.  It's been a blessing for Dave to be home with us during these first couple of weeks as we get adjusted to our new life.  It's hectic, but we're loving it.  :)

xo,
Carly 

39 Week Family Maternity Photos

In one of my recent posts about this third pregnancy, I alluded to the fact that I have pretty much avoided having my picture taken these last 9 months.  And this is still true.  I am just not one of those moms that get that pregnancy "glow".  But at the eleventh hour, I got to thinking that with this being my last pregnancy, I'd like to have some pictures to remind me how big my kids were when they were waiting for their new sister to arrive.  Thank goodness for long summer nights, where we can still get out for some last minute pictures even after Dave gets home from work.  

Landon David - 2 years old

Shaylin Elisa - 4 years old

The best Daddy in the world.

Waiting for the little lady to complete our family.

xo,

Carly

The Tiny House Intrigue

Recently I've been sort of fascinated by the idea of the "tiny house".  According to Wikipedia, in order to be considered a "tiny" house, total square footage must be less than 400 sq ft.  My intrigue with the "tiny house movement" is not because I could ever live in one.  Being claustrophobic, and having a family of (soon to be) 5 aren't really conducive to tiny house living.  And the thought is also quite comical when you hear that my must-haves for a new house include:

1. a large kitchen

2. a large walk-in master closet

3. a large pantry

Did you notice a common word in that list?  LARGE.  Which um, is the complete opposite of tiny.  Oops.  :)

Yes I am guilty of liking a lot of storage space, and a lot of room to be organized.  Which is why my current kitchen, closet and panty drive me nuts.  But I digress... While the concept of a tiny house does not interest me as a viable living option, I think the OCD in me is intrigued with the idea of being so organized to where all your stuff fits into such a small space.  This type of living also discourages unnecessary collection of material things.    

In a tiny house, pretty much everything has a function, which I also love.  The space constraints encourages creative and efficient living in order to utilize every inch of space.  This speaks to me, as I like everything in my home to have a purpose, and for everything to have its place.

Here are some tiny houses that have caught my eye this week. I would love to see some of these in person!

CONVERTED GRAIN SILO

How awesome is this converted grain silo?  It's totally modern inside, and is ridiculously creative and cool.  Check out the link for photos of the upstairs bedroom, and the cool sliding door to the outside!

TRI-LEVEL TREE HOUSE

Isn't this tiny tree house just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?  It has 3 levels of living space with a patio, main living area and upstairs loft.  Not to mention the relaxing hammock downstairs.  I seriously want this tree house...in the backyard of my real house *wink*

LAUNDRY ROOM CONVERSION

This tiny 93 sq ft. space was converted from a laundry room to a house.  The exposed brick, and the incorporation of the bed and the bath upstairs are my personal faves.  Be sure to click on the link for more photos of this smart laundry room conversion.  

COOL BED LOFT 

The bed takes up the whole loft, but is such a cool use of space.  I also like the way it is oriented so you don't have to worry about falling off!  But how exactly do you get up there?  

BEACH HOUSE BEAUTY

This tiny beach house is just 335 sq. ft. but looks and feels a lot larger, especially when the french doors open up to the amazing patio.  Did I mention ocean views?  Definitely check out the other pics here.   

SMART STORAGE

These stair drawers are an excellent way to make use of an otherwise wasted space.  You can store anything from clothes to kitchen supplies in there.  A storage dream in a tiny house!

TWO UPSTAIRS LOFTS

This tiny house has two upstairs loft spaces!  Check the link out for more fun photos of this house.  It's quite amazing how spacious and homey it looks when fully decorated.

CONVERTED SCHOOL BUS

  

And finally, how fun is this school bus turned house?  How would you like to roll up to school in this gem?  

I love the fun and creativity that goes into making a tiny house work!

xo,

Carly

Mom Musings: Differences Between First and Third Pregnancy

Now that we're preparing for our third child to arrive in less than 2 weeks, I look back and laugh at some of the distinct differences I've experienced during this pregnancy vs. my first.  It's the same 9 months of experiences, just dealt with in completely different ways.  Oh, and please excuse the cover photo, I just couldn't find anything appropriate to this post.  But like everything else with this third pregnancy, my reaction is "it'll do just fine." 

PREGNANCY TRACKING

First Baby:  How far along are you?  "I am 23 weeks, 4 days, 12 hours pregnant.  And my baby is the size of an eggplant."

Third Baby:  How far along are you?  "Um, I'm not sure.  I think I'm around 23 weeks pregnant?"

(check pregnology.com later to see if I was right)

"MORNING" SICKNESS

First Baby:  I'm suffering from all day morning sickness, but I can come home, lie down and try to meditate the nausea away in quiet.

Third Baby:  I'm suffering from all day morning sickness, but there is no down time or quiet time with a 4 and 2 year old that have to be fed, bathed, taught and entertained for 12 hours until daddy gets home!

DOCUMENTATION

First Baby:  Made sure to take belly pics as I got bigger.

Third Baby:  I really don't mind having no photos of me for 9 months!

DOCUMENTATION 2

First Baby:  Paid over $100 for an extra 4D ultrasound just to see her face.  Oh, and got the DVD too!

Third Baby:  As long as the baby is measuring well and is healthy, we'll just take whatever photos are covered by insurance, please.

RESEARCH

First Baby:  Spent HOURS researching everything from crib mattresses to infant car seats to diaper bags.

Third Baby:  Thank GOODNESS we have everything already.  My internet hours can be wasted on celebrity gossip instead. 

WASHING CLOTHES

First Baby:  Must use extra sensitive (and extra expensive) baby detergent to wash everything that will touch baby's skin.

Third Baby:  Forget Dreft, the free and clear (of perfumes and dyes) detergent is the same price as regular detergent.

ROOM SETUP

First Baby:  Nursery must be set up perfectly with every piece of unnecessary item that new parents fall for (think baby wipe heater)

Third Baby:  She'll be in my room for the first so many months so no room is necessary yet.  Baby stuff will get stored anywhere there is space in between the two older kids' rooms.  Example of a few things in big bro's closet:   

NAME

First Baby:  Flipped through the baby name book and browsed online for months.

Third Baby:  Don't really have time to talk about names.  The right name will pop out of nowhere when the pressure is on, right?

Now while this baby may not have a name or a room set up yet, she is most definitely loved just the same as her siblings...even more so because there are more of us now to love on her!  I just like to believe that with this pregnancy, I didn't overthink anything, or stress about every little detail.  Some things were definitely harder this time around, like first trimester struggles with all day nausea with 2 little kids at home.  And similarly, third trimester struggles being a lot heavier and uncomfortable while needing to be busy and active with 2 little kids.  But overall, things have gone well, and am so thankful to be going through this pregnancy.  It's been fun comparing this experience to my first one, over 4 years ago.  Just my mom musings for this Monday.

Have a great week!

xo,
Carly 

How To Salvage Stained Baby Clothes From Storage

A couple of weekends ago, the hubs and I sent the kids up to Grandma's house overnight so we could start getting organized for the new baby.  This included an entire garage cleanout because all of our baby stuff was stored there.  I know some people will think I'm crazy when I say that I love sorting and organizing, but I do, which makes this project right up my alley!

We found all the main gear to clean and bring in - infant car seat, baby swing, bouncer, etc.  but the main thing I wanted to sort through and clean were the clothes.  I have all of Shay's clothes organized by size in bins, however, all the newborn stuff were in the bins at the bottom of the stacks.  So the first order of business was to reorganize.  The baby bins moved to the top of the stack and the size 3T bins moved to the bottom.

We moved all the newborn and 0-3 month bins into the house, which included clothes, and other miscellaneous stuff like blankets, bibs, burp clothes, towels, hats and sleep sacks.  I should have taken a picture of the huge pile of stuff.  After 4 baby showers, and of course some shopping of my own to prepare for my first child, there was definitely enough stuff in that pile that there would be no need to buy anything this time around.  I dumped everything out on the floor and went to work sorting into 3 piles:

- good condition
- stained
- donation

Boy was I bummed when in the end, the "good condition" pile was smaller than the stained pile!  

Even though the pieces were in good condition when stored, sometimes after awhile, yellow stains appear.  And that is exactly what happened to a lot of our stuff.  Here are just a few pieces of stained clothes.  It's hard to see the yellow in these pictures but they are definitely there.  

I was determined to salvage as much of the baby items as possible!  After doing some online research, I decided to try my luck with Oxiclean and cross my fingers for great results!

The solution I experimented with contained 3 scoops of Oxiclean to approximately 1 gallon of water.  On second thought, I think the ratio was a little more heavy on the water, but it was really hard to know exactly how much water was flowing into the bucket when you're just eyeballing it.

Each load of stained baby items soaked for 6 hours.  

After soaking, the pieces were put through the rinse and spin cycle in the washer.  They were then washed normally, with free and clear detergent.  I was so excited to see that the finished products were stain-free!  

Again, it's hard to see, and I only photographed 2 items for the "after" shot, but I promise, they are clean and white again! 

Here's a before and after of one of Shay's little white tops.

I'm so relieved that all those clothes, blankets, etc. won't be wasted!  Thanks to Oxiclean, our new little girl can wear this cute little outfit...

(Shaylin 2 weeks old)

...and reuse this blanket...

...and wear the white top that was shown above numerous times.  :)

(Shaylin 4 weeks old)

I'm so glad we were able to salvage all the stained baby items that I would have otherwise gotten rid of, and all it took was a container of Oxiclean!  Babies grow so fast, I can't imagine having to spend money on new clothes that will get grown out of within weeks when all of Shay's things were begging to be reused.  Big check off the list and a sigh of relief!

xo,

Carly