This Fresh Fossil

Connor's 1 Year Photoshoot + Milestones

2012-11-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Besides the fact that we've surprisingly managed not to damage the kid too much during his first year of life (kidding!.. well, kinda, haha), his reaching the 1 year mark also brings to mind a couple other milestones we've somehow managed to hit.

First off, we're cloth diapering. We started when he was around 2-3 months old, so we've pretty much been doing cloth for almost a year now. We switched over completely to save our sanity from disposables not being able to contain... well, you know. Seriously, 3-4 blowouts a day in disposables was ridiculous, and besides the obviously grossness of the whole thing, we wound up doing laundry ALL.THE.TIME. to clean stuff up. So we figured why the heck not give cloth a try?

Our verdict? We love it. We use BumGenius 4.0 snap diapers (LOVE the super cute prints they have!). Stuffing them is kinda boring, but when we remind ourselves of how much we're saving by doing cloth, the 5 minutes it takes to stuff the things everyday doesn't seem so bad. The only other downside is the rinsing part once the kiddo started solid food... ya, that part is pretty gross, too. But still loads better than blowouts, in my opinion.

And you know what? Even with 1 load of laundry for diapers a day, we end up doing WAY less laundry than we were with disposables. Score.

So that's the low-down on our diapering, incase anyone is interested or even cares about how we do that whole process, haha.

(warning: any family members or guys reading this, feel free to skip this paragraph! haha) The next ~~little~~ big milestone we've hit? I've been breastfeeding the little guy for a whole year now, 10 months exclusively (we hit a few snags in the beginning and supplemented with formula). Seriously, I am actually pretty darn proud of that accomplishment! Someone PLEASE give me a pat on the back for that, mkay? In the beginning it was downright horrible and painful and I'd take childbirth 10x over again just to avoid having to go through the pain of one more feeding, and with feedings like 8 times (or more!) a day in those first weeks, I pretty much just wanted to die. Yep. It was THAT painful, and I was even on all sorts of painkillers to help with the pain of a c-section - and those drugs didn't even hold a candle to the pain of a feeding! I wondered countless times how anyone could breastfeed for a couple ~~months~~ ~~weeks~~ days, much less a year. But with some help from family, our doctor and my amazing husband (love you, honey!), and a little formula, I got through that rough patch and actually started enjoying the close moments and time I got to snuggle the little guy. I never even DREAMED I would make it this long nursing him. And when the little man turned 1 it dawned on me that I've, or rather we, have accomplished something pretty darn awesome. Go us.

Now that I've probably completely bored you to tears with my endless ramblings about poop and boobies, let's get on to the real reason you're reading this: cute baby (or now toddler?!) photos!

That last photo makes me smile - Connor is copying Barley. Cute, huh? Love it.

So there you have it - one whole year. Can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Connor's 1st Birthday! Wha-whaat?!

2012-11-28T11:24:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been a whole entire year since the little man was born. I know people always say that time flies by and babies grow up before you know it, but hearing that and experiencing it are two completely different things. Somehow it seems like Connor's been part of our family forever and yet it also feels like he was just entering our hearts and lives yesterday. Craziness.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago we threw a little party - a monster party, to be exact - to celebrate the little guy turning a whole year old. Bring on the baby (or now toddler?!) cake-smash-face and party photos! Woot woot!

We also setup a ball pit in the backyard for the kiddos. It was a hit!

And of course Connor got his own smash cake, made special just for him. Yep, it was an egg-free cake (Connor has an egg allergy) - actually pretty easy, just use vanilla yogurt instead of eggs. Easy peasy!

I used some of the green candy melts to make dots all over his cake. That kid is funny - he must have thought they were buttons, because he spent FOREVER just sitting there pushing them all in!

Finally we got a little action going - and threw in a spoon for him for good measure, too.

Happy First Birthday, Connor. We love you so much!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery: Final Reveal

2012-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

There were a few projects left in the old house that we did before we put the house on the market, and so I'm sharing these with you before sharing all that good stuff about selling, staging, moving, buying the new house, etc etc. Enjoy!

____________________________________________________

So, I know that I've been sharing bits and pieces of what we've been doing in the nursery, and all the projects we've done in there, but this is the first time the nursery is actually DONE. Completely finished! Seriously guys, it's amazing (mostly because no room in our house is ever actually considered "finished"!). And just in time for us to move - haha! Oh, the irony. But that's okay - because it's about the journey rather than the destination, right?

The room would look better without the mobile attached to the crib, but Connor really enjoys it, so it's staying right where it is for now.

We put a picture up above the changing table, but never got around to photographing it. Bad blogger, bad blogger...

To increase storage space in the tiny nursery, we installed some hooks to hang up slings, wet bags and diaper bags behind the door. It worked very well! You didn't even notice they were there unless you shut the door (which we didn't do very often). You can also see the large wet bag hanging on the doorhandle that we use for cloth diapers (yep, we jumped on that bandwagon!).

And now let's take a quick peek as to what the room looked like before we turned it into a nursery for the little man, back when it was my studio...

And wayyyyy back, to what it looked like when we bought the house...

And now:

It's sure come a long way!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery Art: DIY Birth Poster

2012-10-10T11:40:00.000-04:00

____________________________________________________

Way back before the little guy was even born, I knew that I wanted a fun little graphic poster announcing his full name, birthdate and weight. And, being a graphic designer, I whipped one up in Adobe Illustrator one day, printed it, and framed it.

Project toughness scale: Easy! Anyone can create a fun little poster in any word processor - just type the info, select a font, and play with colors until you get it right. If you're short a kiddo or two, you can even frame it and give it as a gift.

It certainly adds another little personal touch to his nursery, and really brightens up his floating shelves. Orange and blue is such a fun color combination!

Have you been having fun creating some cheapo wall art or gifts lately? Or maybe just having fun with your word processor? There is no shame!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery: Cuttin' the Curtains Coincidence

2012-09-20T13:58:00.000-04:00

____________________________________________________

Actually, it's more like "hemming the curtains" but that just didn't sound quite as catchy.

Remember when the closet doors in the nursery used to be these before we started the remodel?

Yuck. Personally I hate sliding doors. Ugh.

Well, we had plans to replace them with some white bifold doors like the master closet...

but, of course, the closet opening wasn't a standard size. Drat.

So we improvised, and used some old curtains we had lying around (they used to be in our living room before we upgraded) and a closet rod to create some fun fabric "doors".

And they worked great!

The only problem?

They were too long.

So, I decided to bleach them so they were a brighter white and then I would hem them using some no-sew tape. I washed them with a little bleach, and threw them in the dryer.

And when I went to measure to see how much I need to hem off the bottom, I was pleasantly surprised!

They had shrunk in the dryer - and were now the perfect length! What a lucky break! Seriously, stuff like that never happens to us. A total happy accident, and I couldn't have been more pleased!

Have you caught a lucky break lately? Boy, am I glad they didn't shrink too much, haha!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Holy Guacamole

2012-08-08T15:18:00.000-04:00

Where have I been?!

If you guessed "busy", you'd be correct. It's amazing how much time one little munchkin can take out of your day!

So, let me apologize for my prolonged absence. I didn't mean to leave you hangin'. I hope you've all been having a wonderful summer so far - we sure have! (yep, moving to a new town included, although I don't think I'll include "unpacking" in the 'wonderful' category)

While I've been super-busy doing other things (packing, staging, moving, unpacking, meeting people, vacation, etc etc), I've felt like something has been missing. I've really missed this little blog and the blogosphere and all the people in it, and even if I can't quite update as much as I used to, blogging is something I really enjoy. Truely. So if my voice happens to fall silent on here, just remember that even bloggers have lives, too, and that's probably why all you're hearing is crickets for the time being. But don't worry - because I can never seem to stay away for too long.

Now that that's all out of the way, let me just say that one very positive upside of falling off the face of the interwebs for awhile, is that SO MUCH has happened and I've got tons to share with you! Such as: staging tips from a professional stager, meeting the new owners of our old house, the cross-country move, what it's like living in mountain country, and (finally) photos of our new house! Well, and of course some fun DIY projects that we've done, too.

So, if you're still hanging around here and am still a reader (I commend you, if you are!), stay tuned for some fun and exciting new updates as I share with you this new and exciting chapter in our lives.

Gosh, it's good to be back.

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Operation Staging a House: Exterior Makeover in 1 Day

2012-05-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

I'd always wondered how things would go if we ever had to move and stage our house. Now I know. Things get seriously crazy!

I don't know if I can even begin to explain the rushing and stress and running around we did for almost 2 weeks prior to putting our house up for sale. All of a sudden we had to get all sorts of home improvement, cleaning, and staging done - and it was really overwhelming! We knew we would need some serious time commitment from both of us, and with the little Con-man around, that just wasn't happening - we needed a backup. Thankfully we were able to fly my mom out for a week to help - and boy, did she save our butts! I don't think we ever would have gotten everything done if it weren't for her. And Tom's mom also dropped by on several occasions to help out when we called her freaking out about how much we still had to get done, haha!

All in all? We got it all done, but it was probably the most stressful 2 weeks of my entire life (well, aside from this incident - but that's a whole different ballgame right there!).

Anyways, when you go to put a house up for sale one of the most important things to attracting buyers is....? C'mon, I know you guys know this - curb appeal! If it ain't got curb appeal, you're gonna have a much tougher time getting buyers inside the house. The exterior of the house needs to appeal to buyers to get them inside the house, which is where you really make the sale.

Unfortunately for us, the exterior of the house had been, for the most part, pretty much neglected while we've owned it. Now I don't mean neglected as in the-grass-is-4-feet-tall-and-is-being-taken-over-by-a-weed-forest type of neglected; I mean neglected as in we had only done a few things to the outside of the house in the 3 years we've lived here.

And it showed. Yikes.

Now, don't get me wrong - it wasn't horrible. But it wasn't very appealing, either. It was dark and very dated. There was practically no landscaping. In short: not welcoming at all.

Thankfully, we had a plan for taking the exterior from drab to - yep, I'm gonna say it - fab.

And the best part?

We did it in less than 24 hours. Booya!

Are you ready for this?

Here's what the house looked like in the morning (well, mostly - this photo was taken the previous summer, as evidenced by the green leaves on the tree and shrub..)...

And here's what it looked like at the end of the day (although it was dark by the time we finished, so I took this photo the next morning!)

Big difference, huh?

Here's the breakdown of what we did:

1) We painted the window/garage/front door trim white. 2 coats of Rustoleum paint is all it took to cover up the dated brown trim and really brighten up the whole house! It was the best 10 bucks we've ever spent.

2) We spray painted the shutters navy. The house is mostly yellow, with some browns and whites thrown in. With the window trim getting brightened with a coat of white paint, the house really needed some contrast to really make things pop. Spray painting the existing shutters accomplished exactly that. And? Funny enough, the yellow-navy color scheme continues as you step into our living room as well... what can I say, I guess I'm just drawn to yellow and navy for some reason.

3) Planted some flowers. We ran up to our local Lowe's to see if they had any flowers in yet (it was fairly early in the Spring, so we weren't sure if they would have any yet) - but luck was with us and they had just gotten a few shipments in! We picked up some fairly cheap and colorful pansies, along with a funky spiral grass plant thing and some other types of plants/flowers. We already had pots and potting soil on hand, so it was easy to just plop the flowers in the pots. Instant color and hominess.

4) New mulch. Nothing says "fresh" and "maintained" like throwing down some new mulch. Bonus: We learned a nifty money-saving tip. If you happen to find a bag of mulch (or soil or fertilizer) at your local Lowe's that has a tear or rip in it, find a salesperson and let them know. They should re-bag it for you (so it doesn't spill) and mark it down to half off! We saved a pretty penny this way!

5) Easy and simple landscaping. We bought some plants and placed them in the ground. Spread a little mulch and called it a day. We had two perfect existing areas to plant them in that had been empty and boring and ugly for years. Not anymore! (we decided to plant them in their pots since it was so early in the Spring season, so if a freeze came we could just take them out of the ground and store them inside to keep them nice and cozy!)

6) No time for landscaping? Here's another solution:

We put some plants into 3 pots of varying sizes and marked in the grass where we wanted a little mulched area to be. We pulled up the grass and put in the mulch. Super easy and it looks pretty cool, if I say so myself!

And - just for reference, here's what that area looked like before:

Much better, right?

So that's everything we did to take our house from this:

To this. Not bad, huh? And it only took us 1 day. Sa-weet.

And because I love big before-and-afters, let's go back in time and take a peek at what the house looked like when we bought it:

Wow - sometimes we can't even believe it's the same house!

It was hard work, but everyone chipped in - including Connor. He was double-checking that the plants were all planted properly before giving them his seal of approval.

Overall it was super satisfying to make such a big difference in just a day. Usually our makeovers take several months, so this was very exciting to see the results so fast!

What do you think? Do you have any tips up your sleeve for staging the exterior of a house for sale? Have you ever planted plants while they're still in their pots, like us?

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Newsflash: We're... Moving?

2012-04-20T10:30:00.000-04:00

Holy moley, Batman! What a whirlwind it's been for us lately!

First off, let me address the title of this post: YES! We're moving!

Over the past several months my partner in crime, Tom, has been applying and interviewing to residency programs all over the country for anesthesia. Just a couple weeks ago we attended a Match Day Ceremony (the day when medical students all over the country get matched to one of the programs they applied/interviewed with).

And he was matched to...

The University of Tennessee!

So the week after we found out where we were going to be moving to, we finished some home improvements on the house (I'll dish out the details later!), packed and did some major staging before putting the house on the market.

And? The day the house went up for sale it sold - in less than 10 hours!

I tell ya, we were so happy, but yet sad at the same time. Because this house was our baby - we took it from a seriously dated "fossil" of a home, and made it fresh. We made it our ours with the hours of love and labor we put into it, and it holds a very special place in our heart. There's just something incredible about walking in and seeing all these little things that tell a story and take you back - there's just something about a home that's built or updated with your own hands.

But we're ready to move on - and we have a new house that we're ready to make ours!

A week after the Match Day Ceremony we flew down to Florida to stay with my parents, and the day after we arrived we all loaded up in their Suburban and drove up on a roadtrip to Knoxville, Tennessee. The goal of the trip? To get to know the city a little more (Tom had only been there once to interview, and I'd actually been there once when UT was recruiting me for rowing), but the other big reason for the trip out there?

To buy a house! Woohoo!

Once we arrived and checked into our cabin (which, by the way, was totally awesome and rustic and located up on the side of this mountain in Sevierville - it had the most beautiful view!), we only had 3 days to drive around the city and also to find a new house! Talk about some serious pressure (especially when we looked for weeks for our last house)!

But we found one! And kinda lucked out on it, too. More on the new house later!

Can you believe we're moving? It still hasn't quite sunk in for us yet! And how about to Tennessee? It's someplace we've always wanted to live - so we're pretty excited! Are any of you from Knoxville or Tennessee? Is there anything that we absolutely have to do once we get there? Does anyone think our next house is another "fossil", or do you think we're going with something more updated?

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Our Easter

2012-04-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

I hope you had as wonderful an Easter as we did!

As you saw, we dressed up somebody in a little Easter outfit (that said "somebunny loves me" - what? I couldn't resist, haha!), and we decked him out in some ears and plopped him in a basket and some grass to snap some pics (one of which we decided to make into a kind of Easter photocard).

Let's just say that the Con-man was totally digging the eggs and grass during our little photoshoot...

The Easter Bunny left him with a white little bunny rattle, a teether giraffe and a sweet jumparoo plaything! Thanks to all the grandparents for coordinating with the big bunny himself for Connors gifts.

The day pretty much consisted of family, fun, and good food. We couldn't have asked for a better Easter!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Happy Easter

2012-04-08T12:22:00.001-04:00

Somebunny wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter today!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Personalizing It: Nursery Name Letters

2012-02-28T10:30:00.000-05:00

Due to Connor's unexpected earlier-than-anticipated arrival, the nursery still wasn't 100% finished by the time he came home, and thanks to those hectic first ~~months~~ weeks of adjusting to ~~sleep-deprivation~~ life with a new baby, it wasn't until Connor was close to 2 months old that we finally got around to putting his little claim on his nursery: hanging his name in the empty space above his crib.

Before he was born I found some sweet wooden-type letters at Hobby Lobby, and brought them home for $2.00 a piece.

I also purchased orange and yellow paint from Wal-Mart along with a cheapo foam brush (the yellow triangles are painter's pyramids, used for setting your projects on so the edges come out nice).

I wanted the letters to have different shades of orange, going from light-medium-dark-dark-medium-light, so each letter's color varied and it would resemble a small spectrum of color on the wall.

So I mixed up different ratios of paints to come up with the three shades...

and simply painted them on. But, of course, it wasn't quite that easy! They ended up taking about 4 coats of paint each to completely cover up the wood (once again, not using primer first comes back to bite me in the butt!). You can see in the photo below how thin the first coat was...

Once they were painted and dried, it was time to hang! Although, thanks to Connor arriving the day we were planning on hanging the letters, we didn't get around to it until well into 2012. Oops.

We used the moveable velcro 3M picture hanging strips - to save money and because the letters were super-light, we cut each strip into 2 and then stuck 'em on the back of the letter. Then we simply measured where we wanted the letter and stuck it to the wall. We didn't even have to be very exact because we could reposition (thanks to the velro) the letter if it was a little off. Super easy! It definitely made us wish we would've done it earlier (like 2 months earlier)!

All in all we love it. And Connor does, too. It really adds alot of character and pizazz to the room, and it makes us smile everytime we walk into the room. We can even see ourselves in the future teaching Connor how to spell his name by pointing to the letters up there.

It also adds some fun color and excitement to the very-very-neutral-and-chill room, which is just what we were looking for. And to compare, here's the room before...

And now:

Not bad, huh? (Oh, and the colors are a bit different in the photos because the newer pics were taken during the middle of the day, and the previous ones were taken at sunset. Big difference, huh? If you're wondering, the current photos are much closer to the actual colors of the room!).

Have you done any personalizing lately?

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T11:30:00.000-05:00

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Life with Baby

2012-02-13T11:30:00.000-05:00

Long time no talk! It's sure been awhile since I've had the time or energy to get on the computer so I could talk to you guys. Let me just say: life with a baby? Completely different. Not bad, but you know all that free time that we used to have to work on the house and blog with? Practically gone. Yep. It's amazing how one tiny little being can take up all your time! (not that I'd have it any other way, mind you.)

So let me just say this - I apologize for our extended absence from the interwebs. I never really meant to take an impromptu bloggie break, but, well, things just sorta happened. Life happened. Once this little guy finally came into the world, we've been going and haven't really stopped, and before we knew it, it'd been a couple months since we've done much with the blog.

Oops.

To catch you up on what's been going on with us lately...

After 2 months of maternity leave and getting to know the newest member of our family, I decided that I just couldn't handle going back to work - leaving the Con-man would totally break my heart. Yep. So I quit (which was pretty rough for me, because I've never been much of a quitter - I like to stick with things once I start 'em). Now I'm proud and happy to say that I'm a stay at home Mom. And (total shock to me, actually), I must say being a parent is much MUCH harder than I expected, but totally worth it. Everytime Connor smiles or laughs, my heart just melts and I forget about the latest crying episode. I guess it's a bit like that little black memory-erasor thing in the movie Men In Black. But, you know, more baby-ish and cute.

As far as my partner in crime goes, Tom has been interviewing all over the country (see? I told you we were busy!) at various anesthesia residency programs. He'll make a list ranking his top choices, and then the programs will rank their top student choices, and eventually he will be matched with one of his picks. Exciting, right? After he graduates this May as an official doctor (oh.my.gosh.), he'll enter into the residency program he was matched to this summer and begin as a resident, where he will spend the next four (count 'em, four) years until he graduates and becomes a real doctor.

Since things have finally calmed down around here with the new addition, we're finding we have some time and energy to devote to house stuff again (yay!). Although our updates won't be everyday like they used to be, you can expect updates when we can. For starters, I'm personally shooting for at least 2 a week, but we'll see if the Con-man will be cooperative with that. The little guy doesn't always take naps anymore, which puts a bit of a cramp on the ole' house project time.

What else has changed around here? Well, anyday of the week you'll find our previously decently-clean house looks a little like this once you walk in the door...

Yep. Gotta love it.

Anyways, it's good to be back!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Connor's Birth

2011-12-02T11:30:00.000-05:00

Like everything else in this anxiety-ridden high risk pregnancy, our little guy decided that he was going to do things his way - and his birth was no different.

Starting from 25 weeks he had been in a frank breech position - his butt was down, and his legs and feet were up by his face. Most of the time we didn't worry or even care what position he was in, as long as he was still cookin' in there and doing okay we didn't give his position any thought or mind. I guess you could say we had more important things on the brain.

Once we hit 37 weeks with the bun still in the oven we celebrated - it was a HUGE milestone for us. There was a 50% chance that he wouldn't make it that far, so for 37 weeks - full term - to come and go, was a big deal and we could finally breathe easy knowing that he made it to term! No NICU stay for him, thankyouverymuch!

My doctor expected him to come at any time, so I was prepared - I put in my maternity leave notice at work and toted around my hospital bag and "emergency" bag with extra clothes and towels in my car - just in case.

Honestly, we were surprised when I hit the 38 week mark - I mean, wasn't this baby supposed to come at any time? He almost arrived at 21 weeks and it took a whole surgery to keep him in there, not to mention the weeks of bedrest and anxious waiting and hoping for him NOT to come and to keep baking afterwards - and finally now he's term with nothing holding him back, and he still wasn't coming! Ironic, isn't it?

At my 38 week checkup with my doctor, I asked her if he was still breech.

"Wait - what? He's not breech... is he? I thought he was head down?"
"No.. I'm pretty sure he's breech - he's been breech since 25 weeks."
"Oh my... I thought for sure he was head down. Well, we'll just check real quick."

So she wheeled in the portable ultrasound machine, and sure enough the little guy was sitting butt-down - just like he'd been for the past 13 weeks.

"You're right - he is breech. Well, this changes things!"

And so she scheduled me for a c-section in just over a week, on Tuesday November 8th.

Tom and I were scared (and I was freaking out a little bit), but we were both excited to finally have a concrete date that the little guy would be arriving. All that waiting on pins and needles for weeks and weeks for him to arrive had really been wearing on us! While we were super-excited, we were also a little sad that we'd be missing out on the excitement of rushing to the hospital while I'm in labor.

The weekend before the c-section found us excited and giddy while frightened at the same time. We were going to be parents in just a few days! We couldn't believe it. That Saturday we spent getting things ready around the house for the little man, and that night we had dinner with Tom's parents before collapsing into bed. I woke up a couple times throughout the night with contractions, but chalked it up to braxton-hicks (which I'd been having everyday for awhile by that point) and just fell back asleep.

Sunday morning we woke up and had breakfast before heading off to church. I'd had a few more contractions during breakfast, but they weren't painful at all - just my belly tightening up, so I figured they were more braxton-hicks and just ignored them.

We were in the car driving to church when it finally dawned on me that I'd been having fairly regular contractions for awhile.

I asked Tom, "Hey honey, did you bring your iPod?"
Gives me a weird look like I've lost my mind, "No. Why?"
"Oh, for the contraction timer app."
"What?! Are you having contractions?!"
"Yeah, I've been having them since last night, and they seem to be pretty frequent."
"You've been contracting since last night and you didn't tell me?!"

So that's sorta how our little conversation in the car on the way to church went! Tom was all for calling the doctor or racing to the hospital, but I didn't want to be that-pregnant-lady-who-shows-up-at-the-hospital-thinking-she's-in-labor-when-she's-really-not, so I wanted to be positive that they were real before calling or heading down there.

So I insisted that we just continue and go to church.

Once we got there, we found seats in the back and Tom grabbed a flyer and found a pen and we started keeping track of my contractions the old-fashioned way - with a regular wristwatch. To my utter astonishment, we found that I was having contractions 6 minutes apart! They definitely didn't seem that close together, and still weren't painful at all.

40 minutes into the sermon my contractions were consistent and coming 4 minutes apart, and were finally starting to get a little painful. It was at this point that we looked at each other and decided that it was time to take some action - I could really be in labor!

So we got up and left in the middle of the sermon (we felt super-bad about it!), and I called my doctor on our way to our house (thankfully she was on call that weekend). She told me to head up the hospital to be evaluated.

We rushed home and gathered up our hospital bags and packed a few last-minute items. We threw everything into the car and headed down to the hospital. Tom was speeding like crazy, and I laughed and told him that the doctor said we didn't need to rush, that we had some time. But he said that he had really been wanting to speed to the hospital when I go into labor, so I let him have his way. I gotta admit - it was kinda fun! And we almost (almost- but not quite!) wanted to get pulled over by a cop so I could yell and scream that I was in labor like in the movies! But of course that didn't happen - it was probably a good thing, anyways!

On our way to the hospital I called my parents, who were currently driving up from Florida so they could be here for the birth of their grandson. When she answered, my mom said, "Now Chelsea, you're not having that baby yet are you?", which is what she'd been asking me for weeks. And instead of the usual "No, Mom, he's still in the oven", this time I said, "Well actually, I think I'm in labor." "What?! You're kidding right?!" "Hahaha, nope! We're on our way to the hospital right now!". Unfortunately, my parents were still hours out of Omaha, and wouldn't get in until that evening. I'm pretty sure they started speeding after getting that phone call, though!

Once we arrived at the hospital and checked into Labor and Delivery, I changed into one of those beautiful hospital gowns and the nurses hooked me up to some contraction monitors. Sure enough, it was official - I was in labor!

At this point it was about 1pm on Sunday, and my contractions were still about 4 minutes apart but had progressively gotten more painful, but not too bad. They were like mild menstrual cramps, and weren't bad at all.

My doctor came in and told me that when she got my phone call she just knew that it was the real deal, and that this baby wasn't going to wait until Tuesday! She told me that I was scheduled for a c-section at 3:00 that day. We were going to be parents in just 2 hours!

I don't remember much of those 2 hours - my contractions continued getting more painful, but thankfully my friend texted me and reminded me about birthing balls. I asked a nurse for one, and let me tell you it made a huge difference - all of a sudden it was much easier to deal with the contractions. So we spent those couple hours just anxiously hanging out in the room and halfway watching Extreme Trucking (how intense is that show? I'll never look at truckers the same again!) while I bounced through the contractions.

Finally, it was time! Tom and I scrubbed in and walked to the Operating Room (I opted to walk since moving helped with the pain). Once in the OR they told me that they would be giving me a spinal, which really scared me - I'm not a fan of needles, especially big ones that will be going into my spine! The spinal was one of the things I was really nervous about, but thankfully I had a good support group with me - my husband, nurse, and doctor were all there holding my hands, rubbing my back and talking me through it. It took longer than I expected to get it in, but once it was done I could feel the effects of the spinal almost immediately - my legs started tingling. The OR nurses quickly helped me lay down on the table as my legs and belly (and even some of my arms) became completely numb. All of a sudden I was really thankful for the spinal, because since I couldn't feel half of my body I couldn't feel the contractions anymore, either!

For the first part of the surgery I just focused on breathing and looking at Tom's face - I was a Nervous Nelly and scared out of my wits, and it helped to focus on something. As a rule, I tend to freak out if I'm awake during some sort of medical procedure, so I always prefer to be knocked out with some general anesthesia. However, there was no way I was going to miss the birth of our son, so I just had to deal. And I'm so glad I did!

All of a sudden I heard my doctor saying, "I see a foot! And here comes a leg! And... ahhhh! He's peeing... oooh and pooping, too!"

Apparently as soon as the little guy was out, he just let loose! Tom was laughing as the nurses carried Connor over to the warming station. I was a nervous wreck as I anxiously waited to hear his cry.

The nurses seemed concerned because he wasn't breathing right away as they hovered over him with a oxygen mask, but just as they were about to put it on him he started crying.

It was the most beautiful sound.

I asked Tom if he was healthy, and when he said yes I started bawling. I couldn't even see much of Connor because I was crying so hard. All that anxious worrying that I'd been carrying on my shoulders was gone. He was full-term and healthy! All our prayers for the past months had been answered.

He scored a 7 and a 9 on his Apgar tests, and weighed in at 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20.5 inches long.

Afterwards they wheeled us into a recovery room for a bit, and then into our own hospital room. About 10 minutes after we were finally ready for visitors, who walks in but my parents - who managed to make it to the hospital just in time. The timing couldn't have been more perfect!

As soon as I saw them I smiled and said, "Hey there! Meet Connor Steven Magruder." We had kept Connor's name a secret from everyone, and Steven is my father's name, so they were completely surprised. I know I'll never forget the look on their faces when I told them.

Soon after, Tom's family showed up to welcome and meet our son, too.

After such a worrisome and risky pregnancy, we couldn't be happier that Connor is finally here and - most importantly, is perfectly healthy.

Welcome to the world, Connor. We love you.

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

He's Arrived!

2011-11-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

If you guessed that there was a darn good reason for my unexplained absence, you'd be right!

Connor Magruder has arrived!

He made an early entrance on November 6th at 4:25 PM. He weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

We've been busy getting to know each other and settling into a new "normal" around here ever since. I'll be sharing the story of his birth soon, as well.

We're so happy that he's finally arrived safe and sound (and perfectly healthy)! Welcome home, Connor!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery Update

2011-11-03T12:45:00.000-04:00

Howdy, folks! First, please let me apologize for my lack of updates recently on the blog. People aren't lying when they say that the closer a baby's due date gets, the busier you get! But we're finally getting around to all those little things that we've been putting off forever, and I gotta say that it feels pretty good to finally be crossing some of those things off our huge to-do list (that never seems to end).

So - are you ready for a nursery progress/update on this room? Just like the last few posts about this room, we're not 100% done, but we're getting super-close now! It's almost done - just a couple more projects and we'll be calling this room finished - hopefully just in time for the little guy's arrival!

Here is our baby boy's whimsical nursery thus far:

Lookin' pretty good, right? Once we get completely done in here, I'll go into more details on our DIY projects, the total cost of the room, as well as telling you the story of some of the heirloom items in here and why they are so special - so stay tuned!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T18:00:00.000-04:00

{via}

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

DIY Tissue Paper Poms Poms

2011-10-27T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've seen these floating around the blogosphere, and I couldn't help but think of how perfect they would be in a nursery! Cheap, easy, and they would fit our "whimsical" theme perfectly!

First I gathered up some supplies. I bought some packs of tissue paper in different colors (although in the end I just ended up using the white ones - the others all went back to the store), some white floral wire, and some clear fishing-line type stuff.

I gathered about 10 sheets of tissue paper and rolled them accordion-style into about 1 inch sections.

Then I tied a piece of floral wire around the middle.

And then I used some sturdy scissors to make the ends more rounded - you can make them pointy or any shape you want for different looks, though. I liked the rounded edges because I thought it made them look more like clouds and less like flowers, which was my goal (since this is for a little boys' nursery).

Then while holding the middle, slowly and gently start separating the layers of tissue paper.

Keep going and eventually you'll end up with a pom-pom!

To hang it, we simply make a little hook out of the floral wire and used the clear fishing-line stuff to hang it from the ceiling (we used little hooks in the ceiling).

Easy, cheap and fun! We decided to hang them above the changing table, to hopefully distract the little guy during diaper changes (we're crossing our fingers that they end up actually mesmerizing him instead of becoming little targets for him to aim for, haha!). We love how well they go with the room, and really add a fun but whimsical element to the whole thing.

And as a total-accident-but-bonus that we love, when the air kicks on or we walk by or we turn the little guys' room fan on, they spin around! How sweet is that? It's like a mobile... but without all the winding and batteries. Score.

Stay tuned for a full-room progress update soon!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Autumn Inspiration

2011-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

{via make merry events on pinterest}

{via alisa burke on pinterest}

{via real simple on pinterest}

{via good housekeeping on pinterest}

{via the party dress on pinterest}

{via une-deux senses on pinterest}

{via the nerd's wife on pinterest}

{via better homes and gardens on pinterest}

{via lovestruck on pinterest}

{via design seeds on pinterest}

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Freebie Friday: Spooky Black Cat Silhouettes

2011-10-21T11:30:00.000-04:00

** This is a freebie that I dug up from our Freebie Gallery archive. Enjoy!**

Happy Friday!

Who doesn't love Friday? Especially when you get something for free? Freebie Fridays is a series on This Fresh Fossil in which I unleash a bit of my extra-creativity: for you. I'm a professional graphic designer who loves to design and wants to help you organize your life, have fun with your hobby, connect with friends and decorate your digs, by giving you a free design every Friday. Whether it's in the form of labels for organizing, cool artwork that you can print and frame, printable greeting cards, photographs, patterns, scrapbooking art, or more - every Friday there will be a custom free design for you.

Halloween is just around the corner, so I whipped up some spooky black cat silhouettes for your decorating pleasure! These guys are simple, fun and versatile - you could print them out on colored paper for a little extra color-punch, or cut them out and glue them overtop of a fun background - I think this Orange Mod pattern or this Gray Chevron pattern would be fantastic - for some fab and festive art on the cheap! Are you thirstin' for a little spookiness to add to your adobe? Cut out the silhouettes and tape the cat shapes on the inside of your windows for some creepy but fun (and cheap!) decor for those little trick-or-treaters!

Click Here to Download

To download click the link above, then right-click on the image and select "Save Picture As" and save it to your computer. They are 8.5 x 11 inches each, but you have the option (using the Windows printing system) to print it any size you wish - 8x10, 5x7, 4x6, etc.

Have you used one of our Freebies for anything? Take a photo and send it in - I'd love to see what creative things you've done with my designs! You might even be featured in a future Freebie Friday post!

Have a fantastic weekend and happy Friday!

(Oh, and while all my work is custom, if you'd like something more personalized, like a blog header, logo, photo manipulation, etc, please feel free to contact me to discuss your project and custom pricing. Thanks!)

Disclaimer: As far as I am aware, this file does not contain any viruses, however, you download at your own risk. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to the terms of use. This file is for personal use only - any profit and any editing of the digital file or any elements within is prohibited. You are free to use the design any way you like once the design is printed. Also, the design is my work - please be respectful of copyright laws. Thank you!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

We've Hit 400! + Inspiration

2011-10-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

Normally I'm not one to share every little blogging milestone with you guys (I figure you read this blog because you find what we do/have to say is interesting, and I think that me bragging about blogging stuff just probably wouldn't be that interesting to you!), but I kinda wanted to share this one.

On Friday, we published our 400th post. 400! Just thinking of that number makes my head spin. How did we ever manage to write 400 posts about our DIY adventures in our little house in just 2 years? Craziness.

So, I just thought I would share that little factoid with ya'll today, because, man - that's a huge number!

Anyways, now back to our regular ~~programming~~ blogging... enjoy the lovely inspiration pics below!

{via martha stewart}

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Freebie Friday: Halloween Tags

2011-10-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

** This is a freebie that I dug up from our Freebie Gallery archive. Enjoy!**

Happy Friday!

Who doesn't love Friday? Especially when you get something for free? Freebie Fridays is a series on This Fresh Fossil in which I unleash a bit of my extra-creativity: for you. I'm a professional graphic designer who loves to design and wants to help you organize your life, have fun with your hobby, connect with friends and decorate your digs, by giving you a free design every Friday. Whether it's in the form of labels for organizing, cool artwork that you can print and frame, printable greeting cards, photographs, patterns, scrapbooking art, or more - every Friday there will be a custom free design for you.

I wanted to continue the Halloween theme for this week, since it really is just around the corner. So I created this set of fun Halloween tags! Print them, cut them, fold them, and use them for anything - gifts, name cards, scrapbooking, etc etc. Whatever you can think of! Just have fun with them, mkay?

Click Here to Download

To download click the link above, then save the JPG file it to your computer. Just download the file, then you can print it out, cut it up, and use it for all your tagging needs. You can even make gift tags, use the design for scrapbooking, modge podge it onto something - the possibilities are endless! Oh, and best of all? It's free.

Have you used one of our Freebies for anything? Take a photo and send it in - I'd love to see what creative things you've done with my designs! You might even be featured in a future Freebie Friday post!

Have a fantastic weekend and happy Friday!

(Oh, and while all my work is custom, if you'd like something more personalized, like a blog header, logo, photo manipulation, etc, please feel free to contact me to discuss your project and custom pricing. Thanks!)

Disclaimer: As far as I am aware, this file does not contain any viruses, however, you download at your own risk. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to the terms of use. This file is for personal use only - any profit and any editing of the digital file or any elements within is prohibited. You are free to use the design any way you like once the design is printed. Also, the design is my work - please be respectful of copyright laws. Thank you!

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery Progress: Cheap DIY Art

2011-10-13T11:30:00.000-04:00

What's the easiest and fastest way to add some dazzle to any room?

Some cheap, DIY art. Oh, how I love thee.

I'm talking real simple here, folks: like typing up a phrase on the computer, printing it out, slapping it into a frame, and hanging it on a nail in the wall. Seriously. It doesn't get much simpler (or cheaper) than that!

"Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole is one of my favorite songs. I LOVE it. I love it so much that it was nearly our wedding song - it was the top contender until, a few measly weeks before the big day, we realized that while it was a beautiful and very whimsical song, it wasn't really about two people falling in love, and that there were other much more appropriate love songs out there that we also really liked (we eventually went with our second choice, "God Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts).

And? I was only able to make that last-minute First Dance song switch-up by mentally telling myself that one day, one day, the "Over the Rainbow" song would be the inspiration for our first baby's room.

And so it is.

Of course, we couldn't really have a song-inspired room without displaying some of the lyrics in it, now could we?

So I simply googled the lyrics, picked out two of my favorite phrases, and got all graphic-designery on them using Adobe Illustrator (but you could, of course, use a word processor to achieve a similar setup).

It was an easy task of printing them out, cutting them to size, and then popping them in a couple $5 frames.

And two nails later, we have some custom art!

They fit in perfectly above the bookcase my father built, and the colors work wonderfully, too. Incase you missed it, the colors in here are sky blue with lots of white, and some orange for a nice pop of contrast.

All-in-all? We're loving it. Especially when it only cost us 10 minutes and 10 dollars to get-er-done. Holla.

Anyone else a big fan of cheapo inexpensive art? Are you more a fan of framing text or photos, or maybe even painting a mural? (I figure that's probably the cheapest - albeit most time-consuming - way to add art to a space!).

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Nursery Progress: Dresser Refresh

2011-10-12T10:30:00.000-04:00

Kids are expensive. Yep, that's a fact (apparently raising a kid born in 2010 until they're 18 costs the average middle-income family roughly $227,000 - not including college). And when you're just starting out and have absolutely nothing baby-related - like us - let's not forget all those lovely (but totally fun) first-time baby costs.

Yikes.

So we're doing what we always do - pinching pennies where we can and getting creative with our DIY skills in the process.

Designing a nursery on a budget? Bring on the challenge!

I mean, we've already done pretty well in there - we scored a pretty slick upholstered glider off Craigslist for cheap, revamped a wooden bookshelf my Dad built, scored a top-notch crib on clearance, and created our own woven hemp light fixture.

But the dresser/changing table totally bogged us down.

I looked and looked - hit up garage sales and Craigslist like crazy trying to find something that was small enough to fit in the space, was built like a tank (because they just don't make things like they used to, and we want this thing to last through anything the kid can throw at it), was proper changing-table height, and was $50 or less - oh, and it had to be in good condition.

The results were pretty depressing.

Since the dresser we were searching for had to have such specific dimensions (thanks to the super-tiny room), surprise-surprise - we weren't finding much.

So the months dragged by as the search continued and we got more discouraged, until suddenly a simple text message totally turned things around.

Thanks to Tom's sister having moved out, his parents were happily willing to give us her old dresser. Score!

We headed over to there to get things measured to make sure it would fit, and came home with the perfect dresser for the nursery.

It just needed a little facelift. It was already painted white, but the off-white tended to clash with the ultra-white hue we had painted the trim, bookshelf, and even the brighter white of the crib. Plus, after surviving one childhood experience, the dresser needed a bit of refreshing.

So Tom broke out the power sander and lightly scuffed up the existing paint and filled in the hardware holes, and then followed with a coat of primer and then a fresh coat of bright white paint. It was looking fresher already!

We made a trip to Lowe's and picked out some hardware pulls that were on clearance ($1.60 each!), and after drilling in some new holes, we had ourselves a new dresser!

The best part? The total cost was approximately 5 bucks. Sweet.

It fits great into the nursery - sure it has some interesting lines, but we like it! It's different and unique, and adds a splash of vintage to the contemporary space. Not to mention, it fits the changing pad perfectly. Yep, we'll be changing lots of diapers on top of that ole' dresser, and the drawers underneath are perfect for storing changing supplies and diapers, and even some crib sheets. And we love the heirloom-type quality and story that it has - it was Tom's sister's dresser, and now will be our son's dresser - and who knows where it will end up after he's done with it.

Anyone else prefer refinishing an old piece of furniture to buying new? What's the best bargain you've found?

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!

Autumn Pinspiration

2011-10-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday! Hope you enjoyed Columbus Day yesterday - I sure did. Any day I get a holiday off from work is a fantastic day for me!

The weather around here in Nebraska is finally starting to feel more like Autumn, to the thankfulness of this very pregnant lady. Bring on the boots, sweaters, and apple cider!

Here's a little roundup of some fun Fall things from pinterest. Enjoy!

{via Vintage House}

{via Krokotak}

{via Laura's Lovely Fibers}

{via West Elm}

{via Better Homes and Gardens}

{caramel apple cups to go via Shirley Nemesh}

{via Better Homes and Gardens}

{via la maison d'Anna G}

{via Good Housekeeping}

{via Dictator of Taste}

{via Good Housekeeping}

{apple slices via Jewels of a Child}

{via West Elm}

{via Birch & Lily}

Did you enjoy this post? Please subscribe for free updates in the future and to see what we're up to next!