Our good friends were due 5 days before me and I made a fabric rag wreath and canvas sign for her hospital door. She had a scheduled c-section on Monday and I went into labor Tuesday at midnight! Our kiddos are 2 days apart, so we were in the hospital at the same time! While we were waiting for things to kick up for me, I was allowed to walk upstairs and meet their sweet girl. (I was SO nervous holding her and thought, how on earth am I going to be ready once this little guy comes out!) After I had Sam, they came down with their daughter to visit us. So much fun!

Anyhow….here’s her sign and wreath. It was fun to do something pink and girly amongst all the boy stuff! I actually received a painted canvas myself from a sweet friend and thought it was such a fun idea I wanted to make one too!

I got the canvas at Walmart and painted it with acrylic paint. I sort of laid out my design on the computer first to use as a guide.

I attached the ribbon to the back with a staple gun. And taped on a marker so they can fill in her info once she gets here! (The marker was included on mine too. One less thing to forget to bring!)

The rag wreath was so fun to make! I cut out 3″x7″ strips of fabric and tied around a metal wreath form. This is a middle sized form and it took 2.5 yards of fabric. You just tie them around the form and fill in to your desired fluffiness.

I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to do these in the beginning. I thought I’d take one in a different location every month, but realized by month 3 that I don’t have many places in the house with good light. Our living room couch seemed to work best so that’s been our spot since. (I’m supposed to be shopping for a new couch now, but I sort of want to wait until his first birthday to keep from having to change again! ha)

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And here we are one week after my due date with a 5 day old little nugget!

But I’m back! And I’m a mommy!

Two days past my due date I went into labor and 34 hours later, Samuel James entered the world. 7lbs, 1oz and 21 inches of pure sweetness.

Our new adventure had begun.

The moment I held him, his eyes met mine and he just knew I was his mommy.

We named him about an hour after he was born. We had two names narrowed down months beforehand, but couldn’t decide. I had hoped that I’d ‘know’ when I saw him, but I didn’t! We talked it over for a few minutes and just decided. I was still unsure, but baby Sam it was! And of course, it’s totally him now. I’ve thought about the other name since and it wouldn’t have been right for him.

so in love!

Our awesome photographer Stephanie of s.w.g. photography took newborn photos of Mr. Sam a few days after he was born. Here are a few of my favorites!

The last 8.5 months have been the most challenging and rewarding of my life. Whew…just thinking about it overwhelms me. So thankful to God for this sweet little bundle and thankful he’s given me the strength to make it through!

I hope to be around a little more now!

It was an adventure, but I’m so glad we had these done and that we included Murphy! I really wanted ‘family pictures’ of us right now in our lives and that’s just what we got.

In love with them all

A couple of days later Stephanie came by and shot a few in our house and neighborhood. The outside shots are up by the elementary school where little one will go to school if we’re still here when he starts kindergarten, which I think is pretty darn special.

If you’re in the Birmingham area and looking for maternity or family photos, get in touch with Stephanie!  She was such a professional and did such a great job.

https://www.facebook.com/swgphotography

As I was looking for maternity shoot inspiration, I came across this pin and just loved it! So I set out to make something similar for our shoot. I think it turned out just perfect with all our little vintage homemade items we brought along for the shoot. And this crafty mama had to make something to be included in our pictures. This would be sweet to do with the baby’s name as well. If we had one of those, I would’ve used it. This little one will be named in the delivery room! (hopefully!)

Here’s how I did it…..

I pulled out some scrap fabric, a paint brush and acrylic paint. Free handed the letters, then cut out little bunting. I used an embroidery needle and twine to ‘sew’ them together.

And the finished product….

Professional photos by the super talented s.w.g. photography! I’ll be sharing more of them tomorrow!

I’ve been collecting the free codes from Pampers Gifts to Grow points for a couple of years now. I finally cashed them in for baby boy’s first pair of Baby Legs. They’re so cute! Big brother had to test them out and he seemed to really enjoy them. We might have to get him his own pair.

The curtains are finished! I let these things stress me out a little. When we found out we were having a boy, I knew right away that I wanted thick striped white and navy curtains. I’ve seen lots of DIY versions from painting, to sewing on stripes, or just finding thick striped fabric (which was pretty much impossible and expensive!).

I was a little down because it didn’t seem to be working out and then I saw these duvet covers at Target.

They were perfect! I bought two twin sized at $19.99/each. Not only are they the perfect color and stripe thickness, but they’re already lined while being light enough to look like a curtain. I didn’t have to hem them either! I just clipped them up, so if we want, we can totally take these down and use as a duvet on his big boy bed down the road.

We made the curtain rod using electrical conduit that we got for a couple of dollars and simple brackets from Home Depot. The finials and curtain rings are from Ikea. I used this tutorial from House of Hepworth’s for the rod and hanging the duvets. Pretty darn simple!

Up close of the rod and finial.

I love them. They were exactly what I wanted, required no sewing, and were cheap! We spent around $60 for the whole set up (curtains, rod, finials, etc). And…they can be used later as actual duvet covers.

Here are some of my favorites. A few of these definitely have potential for gracing the walls of baby boy’s nursery.

Rocky Top

Fourt Moultrie

Blue Skies

Manners

The Line

Aren’t they beautiful? Go check out their site to see all their pieces. These are sure to add a little southern charm to your place.

A few weeks ago, Jessica contacted me about customizing these for her daughter’s first birthday. She was going to have guests fill them out at the party, then pack them up and save for her daughter’s 18th birthday. Isn’t that such a fun idea?

I’ve been getting quite a few requests for custom colors and wording, as well as printed versions, so I’ve decided to offer these in our shop. There’s a customized printable option or a customized printed option.

I can’t wait to have family friends fill these out for our little guy soon!