George Nelson and Eames

I try to stay away from nursery decor that doesn't last long in terms of style/age of baby. I want to get a clock (so I can watch how long it takes for me to rock/nurse him to sleep??) and also a wall coat hook. I can't remember where I saw this, but eBay was having a promotion that called for different interior designers to fully furnish and decorate an apartment using only items found on eBay (cool, right?). One of the rooms happened to be a nursery and the designer had it done up in a contemporary style. That is where I first saw the George Nelson Ball clock and Eames Hang-It-All hooks. I immediately knew that I'd want to have these things in Elijah's room. I love that they can be enjoyed by children and adults alike since while they are child-like enough for the nursery, they also appeal to the design purist inside of us.

Elijah's Nursery

I had so much fun putting together Elijah's nursery before he was born. Since we didn't know the sex of the baby, the theme/colors had to be neutral. We went with a 50's mint green color for the wall paint color, which is one of my favorites. My cousin had introduced us to Pali, an Italian company that makes cribs and other baby furniture. We were sold on the quality and design of this brand and of the particular style and color she had. Since it was from a few years ago, we looked on craigslist.org and found the exact crib and dresser/hutch set we were looking for, and for literally $2-3000 less than the retail price!

As for the theme, we tend to shy away from typical baby stuff like Winnie the Pooh or Sesame Street and just went for no theme at all. Instead, we just let the stuffed animals, books and gifts from others be the decor in the room. A hanging quilt helped round it out. Elijah loves to look at the bright colors to this day. I had an old vintage dresser and area rug we put in there as well. I guess you could say our style is kind of eclectic.

Pre-baby blog: Part 3 of 3

The last installment of the pre-baby blog:

September 15th, 2009

I am now a little over 7 months and a week (29 weeks) now and have been starting to finally feel like I'm getting big! It's harder to toss and turn in bed and wearing more of the same clothes over and over. It's been too dang hot to wear much anyway! I used to shun A/Cs and drafts like the devil but now they are my God-sent saving grace. Who knew a having a baby inside could heat you up like a furnace?

The biggest changes over the last month or so, besides growing ever so bigger, is the frequency and strength of the kicks, rolls and pushes the baby makes inside me. It's become a several-days-a-week ritual where Gabe and I will settle into bed to watch a DVD and proceed to lay hands on my belly and feel the baby's every move. It is awe-inspiring to say the least and bonds us to the child to no end. The baby, I noticed, is definitely responding to Daddy's voice! Gabe will be gone for several hours while I'm at home and the baby's not moving much....then in walks Gabe, talking, hugging and kissing me, and the baby kicks with joy!

I can hardly believe our little one will be here in about 2 1/2 months. It still seems like a little ways away but also a very looming upcoming event. I'm excited because after daily searches for over a month on www.craigslist.org in San Diego, Orange, AND Los Angeles counties, we finally found the exact crib, dresser and hutch set by Pali we've been looking for. So tomorrow my Mom and I will be going to pick it up.....we can hopefully start putting the nursery together then.

That brings me to an update on our floors. Ok, yeah, it's been taking us WAAAAAY longer than we thought it would (like I said even a month ago), but the good news is that the floors are finished, the walls are painted, the baseboards are in, and now all we need to do is caulk the baseboards and sand/paint the door jambs and windows. It doesn't help that I can't do most of the work due to my size, difficulty of some of the tasks, and protection of my health and the baby's. But it's coming together and Gabe and I are smitten with the new look of our home so far. And I'm smitten with Gabe's handiwork!

Pre-baby blog: Part 2 of 3

Second posting from pre-baby blog:

August 22, 2009

Right now, we are in the middle of a partial remodel of our home here in Laguna Beach. We've been here five years now and lived with carpeting that we are not fond of. Late last year, Gabe, being the curious and inquisitive person that he is, did a little exploring and discovered that there are original red oak hardwood floors beneath!

We talked about it and dreamed of tearing up the carpeting and refinishing the floors. We weren't certain that our landlord would go for it and who knew what kind of damage the floors would have, if any? So we kind of put it on the back burner and stayed busy with our lives.

About a month ago we got a surprise visit from the property manager in regards to a different matter and took the advantage of her being there by asking her if she'd be alright with us doing the floor project and if there was anything we needed to be aware of. To our utter delight, she gave us her full blessing! After all, it would be a home improvement for their property.

The floors were/are a little funky with some areas of water damage and TONS of paint and mud splatters all over the floors, but it didn't deter us. Since it is a rental, we weren't planning on making the floors perfect anyway so we planned to just remove the carpeting, pull up all the old staples, nails and carpet tack strips along the walls, do a quick sanding job and then put a layer of VOC-free oil finish on it. Oh, AND paint the nursery a 50's mint green color. We can get it done in about a week. Suuuuuure.

It is now into week 4 and half of our house is in the living room (Thanks to Mom and Charis Pratt for helping us move the office furniture and our way-too-much-stuff!). There is literally a maze to my corner of the room where my computer and desk is. We've been sleeping on our mattress on the floor in various rooms (including the entryway!), depending on what was being done. See, instead of just painting the nursery, we just had to paint our bedroom, the entryway, the hallway and the office, 'cause all the furniture is out and we might as well, you know?? I'm glad we did. Gabe and I were talking about how much it feels like we've moved into a new house and it feels MORE like a home than a rental now!

There were some areas on the floor that were patched with plywood that we were just going to leave alone and maybe paint over, but being the Maximizer that Gabe is, he decided that it would be better to replace those areas with new red oak hardwood slats (that we had to special order). I am so lucky to have this man as my husband. Where I would cut corners, he would not and I'm very glad for it. We also enlisted the help of Gabe's Dad, Grandpa Dennis, who was kind enough to fly all the way down from north of San Francisco for a few days and also my cousin Devin's husband, Steve. Thank you both for your help! It looks amazing! Right now Gabe is in there with the stand-up sander doing the initial phase of sanding and the floors are SO beautiful.

Next up - after doing all the sanding, we will apply just one coat of the finish, let it dry, paint one last room and then put baseboards in (there were really none to begin with). THEN we can finally move half of our house back in.

After that we are going to tear up the last bit of carpeting in one of the bathrooms and put in beautiful green 3/4" round penny tiles (since there were no hardwood floors in there) that kind of match the 50's style of the existing tiles on the walls. It's going to look GORGEOUS! So yes, we are nesting BIG time and we're so excited to see the end result!

Pre-baby blog: Part 1 of 3

I had a pregnancy blog over at babyjellybeans.com, but I didn't use it very much and is no longer there, since I didn't want to pay monthly for it. It's a great site though, for chronicling your pregnancy and life of your child. I created three postings and thought I would include them in this blog. Happy reading!

August 22, 2009

Journaling.....I'm starting late in the game (6 1/2 months pregnant now), but better late than never, right? I always hoped and dreamed of being pregnant and having a child and I am still pinching myself to see if it's for real. I almost can't believe it!

Yet the proof is in the pudding, or should I say, the bun is in the oven....there's no denying my ever-expanding belly every time I look in the mirror or feel my belly brush up against something. Or feel every kick and movement the baby makes. I am loving every minute of this God-given miracle.

How did we find out? The month we conceived (March), we were in San Francisco and the Bay area for modeling and visiting family. When we came home, I was expecting to start my period only to find myself a day late. Now, for a lot of women a day late is not a huge deal but for me, because I am like clockwork, I knew something was up.

Gabe was working hard at home and was in his zone - where you just do not disturb him - so I went down to the store to buy a pregnancy test. I really didn't think I'd see a positive sign.....and lo and behold, there was a *faint* plus sign. I distinctly remember my jaw dropping. I was like, "No way.....Really? REALLY????". I was beyond excited, but also containing it because I wanted to get another test done, just to be sure. I went into Gabe's office to give him a kiss on the cheek to see what mood he was in but he barely responded to the kiss so I knew it was the wrong time. I had to leave thereafter for LA to go to a casting, so I decided that I would buy another test up there and test again. Sure enough, the second test showed the positive sign.

By now, you think, I would have told Gabe, right? Nope. I came home from LA and he was still in his "Do not disturb" mode. I really wanted to wait until I had his full attention plus it bought me time to think about how I wanted to tell him. We even went to sleep that night without me telling him. Finally, the next morning, we were having pillow talk, waking up, and that's when I decided to tell him.....he was soooo excited and also in disbelief! It was such a special time for us as we went about our day stealing glances at each other and giving those knowing smiles to each other.

Knowing that we're expecting a child has definitely added another dynamic to our relationship and has strengthened our bond and marriage in a way that I never even dreamed of. I feel like we are on our honeymoon again!

So far the pregnancy has been a breeze for me. I have found myself to be in the minority group of women that's had a very easy pregnancy. I never had an iota of morning sickness - no nausea, no throwing up and no weird cravings. My hormones have been on an even keel, so I feel like my old self -- only pregnant! There have been some minor dietary changes, but it's all been for the better.

In spite of the ease of the pregnancy so far, my biggest physical challenge and source of stress at times are my blood sugars. I am a Type 1 diabetic, so it is my job to stay on top of having excellent control of my blood sugars. It hasn't always been easy and I've had some rollercoaster days, but my overall average is great and continues to go down (which is good!). Having good control drastically decreases any chances of complications in the pregnancy and birthing and increases my chances of having just as normal of a delivery as a non-diabetic woman, so that's my goal!

Almost Crawling - 7 1/2 months

I am starting this blog a little late, but I will be periodically updating Elijah's growth and milestones.

Doing his bridges

For the last 7 1/2 months, I've been blissfully unaware of the fact that I've been having it pretty easy with Elijah, even when I think it's *so* hard (insert sarcasm) sometimes. And that's because I'm just beginning to realize that any free time I have while he's not napping is about to be filled with chasing after Elijah. He's now scooting along on his belly, doing bridges, and mastering the art of climbing the step-up (our living room is sunken) to the landing. Dear Lord.

We have somewhat done some babyproofing (okay, all I've done is insert those plastic thingys in the outlets), and have tons more to do. I have a glass-front hutch. Hardwood floors. Cupboards that need to be babyproofed. A whole new world is about to descend upon us. I think I'll be lucky to post on this blog once he starts crawling and walking!

On the flip side, it is SO fun to see him growing up (although I'm grieving the fact that he is no longer a newborn. They grow up way too fast!) and maturing. Elijah is particularly strong and has been from the very beginning. He was already standing and bearing weight on his legs at as young as 1-1/2-2 months old. He's been consistently in the 90-95th percentile range since birth and just love how sturdy and big he is!

He's lost nearly all of his dark brown baby hair and light brown/blonde hair has grown in. He most definitely has Gabe's hairline, and hopefully will be as lush and thick as Gabe's hair, since mine is quite fine. So far so good. His eyelashes are insanely, and I mean INSANELY lush and long, which accent his eyes that are pools of blue.

He also has six teeth now (or should I say already?) -- the bottom two and four front teeth. It seems we are in between teething for now, for which I am grateful, since he was biting me for awhile. He started solids just after turning 7 months old and has had banana, cherries, flaxseed, sweet potatoes, avocados and egg yolk. I think his favorite is cherries.

Bonton

Earlier this year, I had a modeling job in the south of France for three days. Because I am breastfeeding Elijah, Gabe and Elijah came with me so that I could still nurse between shots and whenever I wasn't working. I was working in a small town called Cassis, not far from Marseille and we stayed in a harbor-front studio hotel. One day, we decided to walk around and go exploring. Right next to our little hotel was a children's clothing store, so we checked that out. And that is when I discovered Bonton, a French label for children's clothes.

These are seriously the most stylish clothes I've ever seen for children, with high-quality tailoring and materials. I'm so sad to report though, that they are mega-expensive, especially considering how fast our little ones grow. I didn't buy a single thing from this brand, but if I were loaded, I would've bought nearly everything that store had to offer. Right now I just can't justify spending $56 on that shirt above. That is more expensive than an entire outfit from Forever 21! But I just had to share this French label with you all.

Binth Baby Book

After searching long and hard for a classy non-cheesy baby book, I finally found one! It's by Binth, and it's handcrafted with silk-screened pages. In a contemporary design, each page has whimsical yet simple pictures with space for photos and written information. It even comes with its own box for safekeeping. Certainly not your run-of-mill baby book that you would find at Babies R Us. When I saw the price tag of $95, I promptly went to ebay.com to see if I could find one that was less expensive.

Based on my research, not only is this particular baby book ever sold on ebay, I found one that was up for auction at that particular time with a starting bid of only $19.99! I was elated. No one had bid on it yet but I knew there would be some bidders. Being the ebay-savvy person that I am, I enlisted the help of Auction Sniper to help me snag this auction by bidding for me at the last second, preventing anyone from outbidding me. I won the auction for $47! What a feeling to not have to pay retail price for this book! It wasn't in pristine condition, as it had a couple of small minor dirt marks but they were hardly noticeable.

I think it's a baby book that Elijah will be happy to have.