8 Affordable Infant Girl Rompers

you'll have to excuse the baby fever this week. i'm just still so tickled by the lovely response to ava's room! when i'm not busy decorating nurseries, i'm surprised to find that i actually love to shop for bebe attire. it's so much more fun to dress a tot than myself. since we tend to skip the dresses around here, i'm a big fan of rompers this season. there are just so many darn great options...and affordable ones at that! here are a few of my faves:

okay okay so that last one isn't exactly a steal, but it was too cute to leave out.

confetti // stripes // peaches // mint // stars // denim // gingham // floral

-  o x o x  -

Loving Lately // Caitlin Wilson Textiles

Ava at 8 weeks

Happy Monday! Everyone ready for a new week? To be honest, maternity leave has the days blending together a little bit and I can't say that I mind. Things have just continued to get better and better since about week five (not gonna lie - it was pretty rocky until that point!). At nine weeks with our little Ava, I don't know that I'd say we've established a routine per say, but we're certainly starting to figure each other out and that's -- well, pretty awesome.

I've learned to embrace the fact that life right now is all about Ava. Before she arrived, I had a mile long list of things I wanted to accomplish in the six months of leave I've been blessed with. I think those first several weeks were difficult for a number of reasons, but they were especially hard for a chronic overachiever and workaholic. While I still have a fair amount of goals and obligations at any given time, I'm making sure to soak up hours of simply holding ze babe while she sleeps (listening to her precious sounds and watching her little eyelashes flutter makes this preeeeeeeetty easy), going on long afternoon walks together, reading stories, and lying around under brightly colored plush toys while describing them over and over again ("Is the elephant blue? There are one...two...three ladybugs. Can you say 'brass'?). Finding balance has and, I'm sure, will continue to be tough. But I don't get these months back, so I'm doing my best to remain focused on this little person as much as possible. Giving myself permission to just BE has been incredibly liberating.

with Ava at 8 weeks

Being home has also given me a chance to actually make some progress on the house, which I'm doubly grateful for. I'm one of those people that will probably never be done (what fun would that be??), but I'm hoping to have at least our main floor presentable by the time I'm back to work in February.

It's sort of hilarious that the nursery is one of the more finished spaces after nearly two years in the house. Can you say deadline driven? ha! I recently secured the finishing touch to Ava's room; I'm working with Caitlin Wilson Textiles on a beautiful collaboration (so, again, nursery pics are definitely coming!). When we started our talks, I couldn't help but fall in love with their fall line of metallic fabrics and pillows. I think all of my fellow gold/brass addicts will have to agree on this one! They have a beautiful lookbook that makes the new line especially lust worthy.

images via Caitlin Wilson Textiles

Shop the fall collection here.

Happy Monday!

Want in Every Color // 07

Hello hello! Sorry to miss you guys yesterday. We had family in, which meant play time last night and lots of cleaning the night before. (Don't you love that having people over is the number one only reason to deep clean?)

I had something else planned for today's post but then I came across the adorable Candy Kirby Designs and couldn't help but post these presh tot leggings. This is a very literal want them in every color post, friends. So. Cute.

 Candy Kirby Designs

She also sells really bad ass crib sheets. Umm...daaaayum.

Wish I knew I was having a girl. I'd be all over that!

New Mom Must Haves // Technology

Switching it up to baby talk today, mmkay?

Awhile back, I surveyed a few of my nearest and dearest new(ish) moms on their 5-10 absolute must haves for mommyhood. Now, I understand that a lot of these things are totally subjective and often depend on the nature of your own lifestyle and your babe's unique preferences, but I was fascinated to see a few of the same things popping up repeatedly. So I figure they're universally practical great-to-haves at the very least. I'm going to break them down by category starting with (refer to post title) technology.

And don't worry - these will not be super extensive lists. Many of my peeps are "minimalists" when it comes to baby.

Cloud B Sleep Sheep // Motorola Video Monitor // Soothe & Glow Seahorse // Galaxy Note Tablet

Would love for you mommies out there to weigh in and/or share your own recommendations. New and (ahem) expecting moms can never get enough reccos! Plus, I feel like this is a good reference for non-mom friends that have no clue what to gift. (I still fall into this category, too!)

Artist // Yulia Brodskaya (and random Friday thoughts)

You guys. It's Friday. Which is great, except how did that happen?? I feel like my days are down to 7.5 hours with so many more things to accomplish than is humanly possible. Eric and I had dinner with good friends last night and since they're expecting their second babe any day now (!!!!), they had lots of baby advice to share. Which I'm soaking up like a dry sponge.

They asked so many questions about how we felt about this or are we going to do that, and I was so embarrassed by how many times E and I just looked at each other with blanks. WHO'S NOT READY? These kids! We went straight home (okay okay we stopped for ice cream first) and talked about all the baby related things that need to get done/learned before Baby Reed arrives.

But, selfishly, what about all of the nonbaby things that I thought I'd do before our little one enters this world? What about the things I want for myself and ambitiously thought I could have in place? I know that these things work themselves out and that priorities are bound to change once Baby hits our arms, but MAN if I don't want so many things for ME first.

Am I a horrible person? Everyone goes through this, right? And I KNOW that my life isn't over in any way shape or form, but it is a hard truth that Baby's needs will always come first after this. Dreams I had for myself may be put on hold or fall to the wayside completely. Clearly, I'm still processing that.

Yulia Brodskaya

Be sure that I am immeasurably grateful and excited for this gift due to arrive in mere months. In so many ways, I look forward to this unknown and how life-changing it will be. Curious -- if those of you that are mommies care to share -- how do you balance? Do you kind of inherently know where to draw the lines for yourself?

* And, oops, none of this has anything to do with the gorgeous paper craft genius that is Yulia Brodskaya. Until you read her artist declaration about the limitations of the medium and how it's forced her to experiment and embrace what can and cannot be accomplished within those boundaries. Quite poignant and more than relevant if you think about it.

If you're still reading, thanks for entertaining my ramblings.

Happy Friday! ox

Inspired By 02.22.13

via

Jeez, I have been waiting for this day for what feels like 1,000 years. Can I tell you guys something that has me inspired, beyond excited and just a little bit scurred all at the same time????

Sharon Montrose little darling prints (i die!)

  
We're having a baby!!!!

It sort of doesn't feel real yet, mostly because I'm not reaaaaally showing and we've been pretty quiet about it until now. At the rate I'm consuming anything and everything in my path, it shouldn't be long until there is physical evidence of the little nugget. I battled some nausea in the first several weeks and have been getting some fierce headaches as of late, but I'm otherwise feeling pretty great. Just really excited to welcome this little one into the world come mid August.

So you guys know what that means, right? Time to decorate for a mini me (or mini Eric -- we don't plan on finding out what we're having)!!! Those Sharon Montrose prints above? You bet a few of those will find their way into the nursery. Entirely possible I've already picked out exactly which ones . . .

Just too cute to pass up.
Happy Friday, baby! ox