{ woven. wooden. warm }

I wanted to share one of my favorite things that has recently gained a lot of popularity. Woven wooden shades. I'm a huge fan.

The great thing about these woven natural shades is that they provide texture, bring a bit of nature inside, and help you layer and create depth to your windows and rooms that might otherwise feel flat.

Here they are in our house.  These in particular have a top-down, bottom-up feature.  Which is great when you want privacy, but the brighter light coming in from the top of the window.

Please note however, that the "openness" on these is probably a 50% factor.  During the day, they conceal a lot, and help block out a lot of heat, light, and glare.  However, at night, when the lights are on in your home, and it is dark outside is a different story.  Its like they don't exist.  Fair warning.

Here they are in some other applications.

from Better Homes & Gardens

from Southern Living

from DecorPad

You can pair them with drapes, mounted right at the top of the window/shade or mounted higher for some drama.  You can have them be dark or medium tone.  Either way, they are a great way to give your room depth and texture without committing to a color.

{ big steps }

Today is the big day, I've launched my website, and let every know that I have started my own business! Its a little scary. I'm putting myself out there, professionally, for everyone to see. Before, I worked for a large commercial firm where I had a team and support system and all the tools you needed to succeed everyday. Now, its just me!

I've been a professional interior designer for over 8 years now. I am Registered with the State of Texas and am very proud of the work I have completed with the firms that I have worked with in the past. I have also established myself, in my free time as a credible residential designer. My husband and I love to remodel existing homes with good bones, but no style. And, I also enjoy helping others to do the same, or just re-invent or re-style any space in their home.

I am so excited to get started on these new adventures!

saved our sanity

Ellery is exclusively formula fed.  We tried the whole breast feeding thing.  It didn't work, just like it didn't work for my mom with me.  Go figure.  Apple, meet tree.

So, we started her on formula at about 3 weeks old, and shes been on it ever since.  The brand has changed as well as the bottle we use, but one thing that stayed the same was making the bottle, and warming the damn thing.  It takes like 7 minutes with the most expensive bottle warming device.  Thats 7 minutes that I don't have!  Thats 7 minutes too late, when all of a sudden your baby gives you the "I'm hungry" cues and you need a bottle 1 minute ago.

So, we were at a party and another formula baby mom asked me if we had heard of the Baby Brezza Formula Pro, aka the Keurig for formula.  I was actually very surprised I hadn't.  Between my friends with new babys and facebook and pinterest, I thought I had heard of it all.

The Baby Brezza Formula Pro makes a bottle in 10 seconds.  10 seconds!  The water in the reservoir is already the perfect temperature, and there are these special discs you insert for your specific formula that make sure your 2 oz or 4 oz or even 10 oz bottle has the perfect ratio of water to formula, and it deposits them both in the bottle without you ever having to get your hands dirty.

I went and read some reviews on Amazon.  They were iffy.  Some said there was so much maintenance, and that it wouldn't do the right ratios and their baby got sick.  So I was kind of worried, but we HAD to try it out.  If it worked for us... it would be life changing.  We bought it at Target, kept the receipt, read all the instructions, set it up and now after 2 months, it still is probably the best baby item we have.  Sorry bumbo, sorry wipee warmer, sorry swaddle... Formula Pro you are the winner.

There are a couple of things the manufacturer could work on.

1.  There really is no need for the formula and water to be mixed within the machine prior to entering the bottle.  This just allows more mess within the machine due to the formula being so sensitive to moisture.  We have to shake the bottle after its been poured anyway...
2.  The "shelf" for the bottle is moveable for different heights of bottles.  Its a horrible design and does not stay in its slots, hence the coffee cup that sits under ours.

So, if you end up having to do formula, this is a must!

walker whereabouts

First of all, the only reason I'm able to write this blog post right now is because our little girl, now 3 months old is 1 1/4 hours into her evening nap.  That is unheard of in our house.

So, what have we been up to lately?  Below is a quick run down.

1.  Ellery Kate will be 3 months old on June 30th.  She is cooing and starting to giggle a little.  She is really thinking about  reaching and grabbing for things but we aren't completely there yet.  She does love her hands though and tries to fit both into her mouth at the same time.  She has amazing neck/head control and is wanting to sit up more and more.  I walked at 8 months old.  I wouldn't be surprised if she does as well.  We are 100% formula fed, and she weighs ~11.5 lbs.  Naps are typically 30 minutes long and frequent through the day.  Which is why the now almost 2 hour nap is a blessing.  I hope its progression and not a fluke.  But I've learned everything with babies is usually a fluke and not a trend.  She was sleeping through the night with only 1 feeding around 2am.  We thought we were AWESOME parents.  But we have just transitioned her to her crib which has been a shock to the system for Ellie and us.  The freedom to roll around that massive surface is throwing her into restlessness and needless to say we are tired.

2.  I have returned to work part time.  This was the second week back, and to be honest its been great.  I haven't really gotten emotional at all about leaving Ellie with my mom.  And I, a worrier, have wondered if this makes me an abnormal mom.  But I have to tell myself, that I'm just a do-er, a creative person, and enjoy being a professional.  I enjoy my job and the people I work with.  But its also my mom taking care of her.  It just makes it 100 % easier all around.  However, we have always said this is the current plan, and things may change.  In a month I may stop in my tracks and ask my self what the hell am I doing.  I now personally understand the immense difficulties associated with being a working mother but can also foresee those associated with being a stay at home mom.  It will always be a struggle I am sure.

3.  I had my tonsils taken out.  June 2nd.  Ellery was 9 weeks old.  I won't go into the gross details of why I had this done, but it seemed like a good idea to get it out of the way while I was on maternity leave.  Let me just tell you that this surgery is the most painful, depressing event that has come into my life.  Might be more painful and torturing than labor contractions.  I couldn't eat, I couldn't talk.  I had to take liquid vicodin, of which I stopped taking after about 6 days because the side effects weren't worth it.  The intense pain finally stopped around day 10 post op, and now 3.5 weeks later, my throat is 97% back to normal.  I'm glad I did it, but if I had to decide again, I wouldn't have done it.

4.  I just celebrated my 30th birthday!  We had a fun family and friend pool party last weekend, and David and I had date night this week which is always a treat with a new baby.  I can now check the next box on forms.  Thats cool.  David and I are now both in the 30's.  The best gifts ever were the Roomba from my mom and a gift certificate to Austin Art Garage from David.  I'm growing up.

5.  Projects around the house have somewhat subsided.  For the most part, David and I are so happy with our home and don't really have anything else we want to do.  Obviously we have another large project on our hands, a baby who is trying to figure out the world with us there to guide her.  It is the most awesome responsibility we could ever have.  And we are so in love.  

6.  I've found that the market for baby gear/items is one of the most profitable out there.  If youre swear by a certain swaddle, bottle, formula etc. moms will flock to that product like white on rice.  I know I have.  We have about 6 different swaddles.   We tried 3 different types of bottles.  3 different sink/tub/bath contraptions.  And 3 different glider/swings/loungers.  I'm sure the next step is teething products and baby food.  

7.  So many of my friends are either pregnant or just had babies at the same time as me, and its a great time in our lives!  We don't get out much, but our sleepless nights with little Ellie Kate are better than a world class hangover any day.

xo to all and thanks for stopping by!

Ellery Kate

{10 weeks old}

 

Ellery Kate Walker

She's here!  And has been for 6 weeks :)

We have a daughter, I'm a mom.  Its crazy, and I am still getting used to that fact.  I'm also still adjusting to what baby cues and signals mean because its all over the place.  And this little one is crafty.

Heres a little bit about how Miss Ellery came into the world:

Saturday March 29th at 9pm my water broke.  We drove to Seton and checked in and by that time, the contractions got worse leading up to some pretty painful ones by 11pm.  But by midnight I had an epidural and settled in for the night.  I was given pitocin at 3am because nothing had progressed.  We waited a bit.  I watched Golden Girls while David and my mom slept.  By around 6am, her heartbeat started to drop at each contraction, so we were hoping to get to 10cm fast, and sure enough we got there soon after.  I pushed for about 45 minutes and then our little girl was born into this world.  She was perfectly healthy and I wasn't too bad myself.

David was amazing, and my mom was amazing.  Having them both in the delivery room was very important to me and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

We've been adjusting here at the house and figuring out how to manage it all.  I couldn't do it without my mom and my mother in law.  Both are here to help me whenever I need it.  Which is such a gift.

One other thing I will mention.  Breastfeeding is and will be the hardest thing I have ever approached in my life.  For me, it didn't work.  I wanted it to SO badly.  So afterward, I turned to exclusively pumping.  And then pumping and feeding was like having twins and everyone around me that cared and loved me advised me to stop pumping and save my sanity.  So I did, 3 weeks in.  It was gut wrenching and emotional.  I wanted so badly to keep giving my baby this wonderful gift my body could give her.  But the more important thing to me was to give my child a happy mommie.  And because I knew if I weaned myself, Id try to keep it up... I stopped pumping cold turkey, which might have been the 2nd most painful thing to giving birth.

On to more happy things, here are some interesting facts about our lives with a baby.

- the bumpier the road for the car ride the better, stop lights are not our friend
- my hair will 90% of the time be up, I haven't "fixed" my hair in over a week.
- I have mastered the art of "shushing"
- the 5 S's are genius, and swaddling is the best thing since sliced bread
- we should have started using the exercise ball sooner for rocking/bouncing to sleep
- my hands have never been more dry and cracked from washing my hands at every turn of my day
- I have contorted my body in every which way to reach my crying baby and put the pacifier back in her mouth in the car, as well as feed and change her in the car, its our own mini home
- my mom or I has made over 50 trips to buy buy baby in her 6 weeks of life
- I will never get a full uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep again, or at least it feels like it
- our lives are so immensely full of love!

thanks for everyone's support and love, we appreciate it so much!

{ 6 weeks old }

38 weeks and... The nursery!

I'm 38 weeks and getting ready for baby!

The nursery is finally about complete. It took awhile. It took a lot of back and forth about what I really wanted. But I love it!  These aren't the best pictures, but it does the trick. 

Reba enjoying the crib already. We'll have to figure out how to nip this in the bud.

Old fence wood wall and my inspiration prints in gold frames.  The bedding was custom by Picket Fences.  Thanks to my good friend Kathryn Kenjura for her help on this!

The beginning of our gallery wall above the changing table/dresser.  It will be expanding with time.

And of course some more shelving and storage.

38 weeks and ready for baby!

4th day of maternity leave

37 weeks 4 days.

I'm feeling so relaxed. It's one of the best feelings knowing that I've taken all the stress away with work and the time I'm away from the house. I know I've done the best thing for baby girl. Because if you know me, I have a history of being a very high strung person. 

Overall I cannot complain about pregnancy. Obviously there are the uncomfortable normal things, morning sickness - check, heartburn - check, and the constant peeing - check. But I have had very little absolute discomfort. Except for that one night we had to go to the hospital because I apparently was passing a kidney stone. Yep. My family's claim to fame, kidney stones, hit me during pregnancy. Just my luck. But even that wasn't too bad. Scary because I was having true but mild contractions at 30 weeks. But we were home in a jiff. 

Of late, I've been a little bit weary of the fact that I havent gained any weight since about a month ago. I've gained 23-25 pounds at this point which is great and people say I'm all baby. Which is true. I feel so lucky to have gone through this process with the semblance of a figure to come back soon after delivery. 

So at my appointment Thursday I requested to have an ultrasound. Just to ensure myself that baby was on track with her weight and size. And sure enough. She is growing perfectly. Estimated weight is 6 lbs, 14 oz. holy moly. And I still have 2 1/2 weeks till my due date. 

And the best part was I got a sneak peek at her little face. Not a lot of room in there. But she already has a pout going on. 

So, dr says she gives me one more week after checking my progression. Let's just say we've started the progress in a great way!