Peach & Aqua Nursery + Giveaway

Days away from my daughter's first birthday and I just put the finishing touches on her nursery (thanks to Starlit Nest Gifts - more on her amazing products plus a {giveaway} in a moment!!). Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, life for the second child is inevitably a bit different than it was for the first - at least all that preparation time! Her nursery is, however, now an absolutely adorable room that she can grow into for years to come.

When initially brainstorming the concept for a girl nursery, I knew immediately I didn't want pink, didn't want characters, and didn't want something so babyish that she'd outgrow it in a year or two. I've always had an affinity for aquas and at some point decided on pairing it with peach and LOVE the end result!

Wanting to keep it soft and sweet, I used whites and greys as the base for the room. My texture/fabric inspirations came from this great floral fabric used in the baby quilt and a pillow, a grey flokati rug from Crate & Barrel (which I momentarily considered making from this tutorial) and these coordinating aqua damask and peach polka dot ruffle curtains and bedskirt (custom made by my talented mother and inspired by this nursery). 

We carried a subtle bird-theme throughout the room, purposely not being too "matchy-matchy". I purchased a collection of four birdhouses, spray painted them white, then hung them from the ceiling with peach ribbon in a corner of the room. I decoupaged an H with some fabulously whimsical bird paper I found at Hobby Lobby and embellished it with a fabric flower. I also added these fabric flower embellishments to a pillow for the rocking chair (which my mom, again amazingly talented, recovered in a soft grey canvas with aqua cording!). 

My husband helped me create a custom piece of art for the room with lyrics from one of our favorite lullabies..."I love you, a bushel and a peck". The basket of crocheted birds was a gift from my sister-in-law (thankful for so many talented people in my life!) and the adorable aqua and peach plaid "Cousins" frame came from my older sister.

Now for the grand finale and details on today's {giveaway}!! An adorable custom fabric pennant banner by Starlit Nest Gifts swooped across her closet with "Havyn" written on one side or easily reversed and plain on the other side. I'm so in love with this banner. It really adds the finishing touch to the room and makes it truly Havyn's! 

Alison, of Starlit Nest Gifts, was fabulous to work with and sent a very professionally made finished product. She was thoughtful and responsive throughout the ordering process and I couldn't be happier with the end result. And today, she's giving NBrynn readers a chance to win one of your own fabric pennant banners (pictured below)!! Oh, and she's offering a 5% discount to all NBrynn readers this week. Use coupon code NBRYNN5 for the discount and enter below for the giveaway. Make sure to stop back by, because we'll draw the winner on March 3rd!

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About Starlit Nest Gifts:  

Welcome to the magical world of Starlit Nest Gifts & Photo Props! Imagine your *dream* bunting or quilt for your next birthday party, baby's nursery, portrait photo shoot, wedding...I am here to help bring your dream to life! My huge inventory of designer fabrics and my vintage-modern style are what make Starlit Nest the place to shop for bunting, quilts, and bunting/quilt set ups!

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Bringing the Outdoors In

I'm finishing out my first week as a full-time SAHM and loving it, despite the winter chill and the constant snow. I've had to put my thinking cap on several times this week to come up with entertaining indoor activities for my one and two year old. Many of you have way more experience than me with this, so I'd love to get your feedback on fun things you do with the wee ones all winter!

My first idea was sparked as I daydreamed about warmer days and sunny skies. I remembered my son just starting to enjoy the art of looking at the clouds and trying to find shapes when the weather turned frigid. Why not re-create that experience indoors?, I thought. A few simple snips later and some masking tape and we had ourselves a "sky" full of shapes. 

The kids {love} this activity and it literally took me ten minutes to execute. I still can't get over how marvelous they think it is that shapes are stuck to our ceiling!

I've made a list of other outdoor activities we've recreated indoors and thought I'd share it with you today. Would love your ideas, too!

1) Indoor Tent/fort - Gather all the blankets and sheets from around the house, use dining room chairs as your pillars and enjoy some reading time underneath. Kyler especially loves this activity and asks for it often.

2) "Nature Walk" - This is by far my two year old's favorite outdoor activity. Put a stick in one hand a rock in the other and he is literally content for hours! If you're up for it, scatter a few rocks and sticks around the house and enjoy a nature walk indoors. I'm guessing if you have boys, they'll be all smiles! 

3) Tag - Who said you can't run indoors? In our house, running indoors is a must or the kids' legs would implode! ;)  We clear as much space as possible and play chase at least once a day. Kyler often says, "Mama, run with me." And off we go! 

4) Animal/Car Watch - My kids are surprisingly content sitting by the window looking for birds and squirrels or cars and buses. If I just need to sit still for a minute, the sliding glass door is a sure hit!

5) Swimming - Both our kids seem to have their mama's love for water, which we fully encourage. Bath time in our house is as much about getting clean as it is about entertainment. At one and two, both kids have mastered the art of sticking their face in the water and blowing bubbles. The two year old loves to lay on his belly and pretend to swim. Needless to say, we take lots of baths and occasionally put our bathing suits on for it, too!

6) Car Wash - All those winter colds can put a toll on the kids' toys. Since my kids love being in the water, we recently had an indoor "car wash" where we gave all the non-electronic, non-soft toys a good scrubbing. I love it when productivity and entertainment collide! 

7) Picnic - We had our first indoor picnic the other day and my kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. We loaded up our picnic basket, laid out an old quilt and ate lunch on the living room floor. I think their favorite part was getting to pick anything out of the basket they wanted to eat!

What do your kids enjoy doing all winter?

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Come Along {with} Me + Reader Discount

Now that Valentine's Day is over, I've been in search of something to inspire my needed mantel makeover.  Since today is my husband's birthday, I was hoping to find something themed after things he loves. When I stumbled across Cole and Co on Etsy and saw her simple, beautiful prints, I fell in love! This "Come Along with Me" print especially caught my attention. (you can have one, too, at a great discount....stay {with} me!)

Isn't it the sweetest thing?! I love the sentiment...not cheesy, not cheap, just {REAL}. It's exactly what I want to say to my family and closest friends. 

Come Along {with} Me.

Let's do this crazy thing called life together.

Let's laugh and stumble, cry and skip hand-in-hand.

We'll go up, we'll go down, but we'll be side-by-side.

Come Along {with} Me.

I got the print in the mail this weekend and immediately put it up in our living room as a constant reminder of what life is all about. The {WITH} part. I added a cute bicycle photo holder from Pier 1 with a few small family photos, then embellished the whole thing with some old books, a yarn wreath and a simple book pennant banner. Books, bikes and family...my husband's favorite things! 

The print was well-packaged to ensure no bending or tears during shipment. It is printed on high quality photo paper and has very sharp, vibrant colors. 

Don't you want one?! I'm not at all about unnecessary spending, but this is a really affordable, really well made piece of art and a beautiful reminder of what matters most. And this week, NBrynn readers get an exclusive 30% off discount on all Cole and Co prints!!! Eek! Here's a little note from the shop-owner herself...

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Hello all!
No matter what kind of day you’re having, I’m hoping this post will make it all the better!
My name is Nicole and I am so excited to be featured here today! The past few years of my life have been pretty chaotic, to say the least, but I am finally starting to settle down a bit. I currently live in a small city, full of charm and lovely people. I work a regular 8-5 job that I absolutely love, but in my spare time I crave to pour the creativity that has built up in my mind all day out on paper. Designing has kicked up a spark of enthusiasm in me that I just can’t get away from, and now I have a little shop to share it all with you! It’s full of wall art prints, note cards, birth announcements, custom designed daily planners, and more!
This week, I’ll be giving 30% off of your entire purchase to everyone who uses this coupon code: 30CHEERS

Drop by and take a peek! I hope you find something that brightens your day and makes your heart skip a little beat.
Nicole

*************************

Thanks, Nicole, for sharing your art and making it even more accessible to us all!

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This is not about me

Monday I start my  journey as a full-time stay at home mom...I'm very excited, slightly anxious, and also a bit frustrated. Why frustrated already, you may ask? Well, it's nothing about the kids or the mess or the mundane, although I'm sure that will all come soon enough. 

I've actually re-written this post about a dozen times now trying to define for myself what exactly it is that I'm so bothered about. It's been comments like these that originally sparked my frustration: "If staying home makes you happy, that's great. I'd go insane staying at home all day." or "Good for you! I'd be bored to death being at home. I need that mental break at work." or "Wow, I'm always ready for Monday. My kids drive me crazy." and so forth.

The first couple of times other mama's responded to me like this, I mostly shrugged it off as a simple difference in personalities and didn't think much more of it. But for every "There's no way I could handle that!" comment I got, I also got a "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you and your family. That will be such a blessing to your children." sort of comment. At the same time, my husband was getting a similar array of feedback at work. As we spoke about it the other night, we noticed a pattern - almost always, the ones saying, "That's wonderful. What a great decision for your children!" were in their late forties or older. Alternatively, almost all the "I couldn't take that!" comments were from the younger crowd. A generational shift in values??

I know I may step on some toes by writing this, but I feel it's really important to say and I'm hopeful it will start a conversation where we can all understand each other and our own worldviews a little better. I've done my best to express myself authentically and with respect for others {so please comment with the same courtesy}.

Here's what I have to say: I'm shocked and honestly saddened by the level of selfishness inherent in the way my generation makes decisions. Even mature, loving people still seem to go through a strong {ME} filter while making any decision. This is what has bothered me so much about half the feedback I've heard. It's been automatically assumed that my decision to be a stay at home mom is just another step on my own path toward personal fulfillment. Why else would I be choosing it?

I'm going to be very honest right now. Quitting my job was a long, hard decision for me, largely because it is so re-defining of who I am. I've struggled with the fear of losing my identity or becoming completely unhireable. I'm anxious about the mess-filled, adult-deprived days ahead. I'm worried that I won't find that balance of self and serving. But, my decision to stay at home is not because it will make me happier or healthier or because I just love being at home. I think "homebody" is about the furthest description from my personality as you could get. I've always assumed I would work full-time, out of the house throughout my life. I am ambitious and a "go-getter".

I'm not staying home because I think it will be easy or fun. 
I'm not staying home because it makes sense financially. 
I'm not staying home because I hate my job or have no career prospects.
I'm not staying home because I think it will be mentally stimulating or energizing.

This is not about {me}. 

I have no intention or interest in placing judgment on mothers who decide to work or on those who don't. I've been in both shoes myself. The bothersome thing about this whole business to me is what is motivating us to make either decision. Is it an honest, selfless love for our children and what is best for them? Or is it a {ME} filtered view of life that is tainting our perspective?

I'm afraid our world is losing something real and meaningful: selfless love for others and a deep value in raising our children. And I want to figure out a way to get it back.





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{LOVE}

Happy Valentine's Day! 

And a special thank you to all my readers for your {love} and support as I find my way in this new world of blogging!

My family and I are not big on Valentine's Day, but even something little can make a day feel extra-special. I got the kids and my husband each a personalized gift for $10 or less, then baked some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Guess which part will be their favorite?! I'm pretty sure I know!

Wishing you and your family a day of extra {love} and joy!

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Pajama Glam 8th Birthday

Originally posted for DimplePrints

When I was asked to plan my niece's 8th birthday party, I immediately thought {girly} and {glam}. Those words describe her perfectly. The party theme quickly unfolded into an over-the-top zebra print and hot pink sleepover that I named, "Pajama Glam". It was a blast to plan and execute, and the girls had quite a thrilling evening. I'm excited to share it with you today!

I quizzed the party girl about all her favorite things to make sure the menu selection would be just what she wanted. At the top of the list were Doritos, Sprite, Rolos, Air Delights, cakepops and fruit punch. She has quite a sweet tooth! We managed to incorporate all her requests into the snack table and added in two flavors of cupcakes and "Madi's Movie Theater Popcorn".

 I think packaging is one of the main keys to a fabulous looking dessert or snack table. I used the matching fry boxes from the printable set to hold Doritos, glammed up the fruit punch by wrapping a sparkly pipe cleaner around each champagne flute base, personalized the popcorn by wrapping them in zebra paper and a picture of the birthday girl and "hid" the sprite bottles with a wrap and embellished straw. The outcome was a well-coordinated table and very happy little girls. You should have seen them giggle with delight when drinking from their flutes!

The zebra striped cookies were a last minute addition, a special request by the birthday girl. We got them through a sweet little family-owned bakery in our area called The Chocolate Tree. Cupcakes and cakepops were custom ordered through Kroger bakery. 

I love having a printable package that allows me to coordinate decor throughout the party. Everywhere you looked there was some matching pink and zebra print decoration! 

Keeping eight active girls entertained all night took some serious planning. We wrote a time on several balloons attached to a takeout box with a note, so that at each hour the kids got to open a box and find out what their next activity would be. It saved us from constant "What are we doing now?!" and was fun anticipation for the girls. Our activities included embellishing flip flops and personalizing their shoe boxes, a dance party, pedicures, a fashion show and photo booth pictures. 

Each girl got a shoe box filled with a pair of flip flops and supplies to embellish them, lotion, custom pajama pants and matching nightgowns for their baby dolls. When we did the photo booth, each girl also received their own pink boa and glittery black mask. They were in heaven! 

I love getting to show the guest of honor her spread once everything is all set up. She felt very special and was so excited for an evening of fun with friends! Pajama Glam success!!

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When We Dared to Love...

I have a story that I need to tell.

Those of you that know me in real life know that my husband and I were days away from adopting our Thai foster son and bringing him back to the U.S. when the whole thing fell through. That was three years ago this past weekend. {THREE YEARS}

When I think about it, the emotions in my heart make me feel like it all happened three days ago. I can vividly remember the Thai social workers dropping off this blank-faced, chubby 8 month old baby boy who had only ever known life in a large orphanage. The orphanage staff named him "Makham". Makham complacently sat in my lap while I did my best to have an in-depth conversation in Thai about his schedule, eating habits, etc (lots of details were surely missed!). He didn't put up the slightest fight when the social workers left that summer day and his whole world changed. I remember the strangest whirl of emotions came over me as I found myself alone in the house, with my new foster son. Now what?

We had anticipated getting a foster child for months - for me, in many ways, it had been building for years and years. I read books, decorated a gender-neutral nursery, prayed a lot and then waited. 

But there were also still serious apprehensions in our hearts about fostering.

"What if we end up with a child with special needs that we can't deal with?"

"I've never been a mom, can I handle this responsibility?"

"What if I don't love him?"

"What if I fall in love with him and lose him?"

After much thought and prayer, we decided there was no way around it. How could we be in a world with hundreds of thousands of orphans and children being sold into slavery and all sorts of other atrocities and not do something {tangible}, albeit risky, to help. My mindset staunchly became, "These children deserve to be loved and I will love them with all that I am, even if it breaks me."

It did break me. Deeply. We fell in love with Makham and watched as his expressionless face became a face of exuberant joy and life. He was a tender, playful, truly adorable little boy. We celebrated his first birthday, took him on his first vacation, gave him his first haircut, celebrated his first Christmas, caught him after he took his first steps. We loved him as our own.

Throughout the months of our time with Makham, many conversations with the orphanage staff, government officials and Thai friends were taking place, all with one goal in mind: making Makham our forever son. It was a roller coaster ride filled with way too many twists and turns, ups and downs, "yes's" and "no's", uncertainty and lots of waiting. Finally, after several months, Thai friends came to our house for what we fully expected to be an announcement that the adoption had finally been approved. We had a pen ready to sign on the dotted line. Our baby would legally be ours!

I cannot put into words what happened next.

..   ..   ..   ..   ..


My heart shattered.

My dreams vanished.

I couldn't breathe.

My son was being taken away from me.

We were given about a week's notice. We got to visit with his new foster family once before having to drop Makham off for good. It still puts a lump in my throat and makes me sick to my stomach to think about that day. Unloading all his clothes and toys. Showing him fun things about his new house. Trying to be pleasant and positive so that he wouldn't be scared. Then walking to the car, Makham reaching out for "mama", crying that I wouldn't take him...and driving away. We were silent the whole ride home. In some ways, I think I've been silent for three years now. 

How do you talk about loss like that? How do you live life and recover from such devastation? How do you explain the emotion, the struggle, the breaking?

We tried to figure it out. We talked a lot, reached out for help a lot, cried {A LOT}. I know there is some crazy balance of forgetting so that you can move on and breathe again, but also remembering to honor the one lost. I couldn't ever seem to find a satisfying balance. I finally decided I just had to live again. Nothing was fixed or healed or made any sense at all; I wasn't whole, but I was alive and days were passing me by. 

I found myself a realist and despised looking for the silver-lining in things. To me loss is loss, life sucks sometimes and injustice is awful. I don't think it does anyone any good to pretend otherwise. That being said, there is something about time that gives us a wider perspective and a new appreciation for things. I'm not sure time heals, but it does help.

That first summer back we conceived our son, Kyler, something we never thought could or would happen. The following summer, his sister Havyn was conceived, another surprise! Makham's memory has lived on in our minds and hearts, sometimes vividly, sometimes distantly, but always, {ALWAYS} there. 


Yesterday, I got an email from Makham's {FOREVER} mama. Yes, he was finally adopted late last Spring, at 3 1/2 years old, by a Canadian family. What in the world took the Thai government so long to place him when he had been in their custody since 5 days old, I can only guess. But it did finally happen and yesterday I got to cyber-meet his new mama, Lori. She seems wonderful. She was kind and open and bragged about her boy like any good mama would. Makham, now J, looks happy and healthy and right at home. 

Picture used with permission

Meet J Makham, 4 1/2 years old now, learning to swim and skate and loving his family dog. My heart skipped a beat when I saw what he was holding in this family picture - almost unrecognizable from wear and washes, Makham still carries around the blanket we gave to him almost four years ago. 

I have struggled so often to find meaning in the pain and chaos of fostering him. It has been hard for me to feel any joy about getting to be a part of his life in light of all the heartache that followed. We dared to love and were broken to pieces because of it. It's all seemed truly meaningless. 

But then yesterday I saw him and his blanket. He's {still} holding that blanket!, I thought. My mind and my heart took a few minutes to catch up with my eyes. Wait  -  I picked out that fabric  -   I gave him that blanket  -   I wrapped him up with it for the first time....

That means I provided him with comfort  
and security
and love
and stability 
and it has all stayed with him for years. 


Meaning. At least in some small way.



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