the nursery after 4 months

Now that we've been using the nursery for almost 5 months, I thought it was high time for a few updated photos. Some things have changed since we "finished" the room (I never really feel like a room is finished, since I prefer for the space to evolve with us) either for functionality or aesthetics. 

Take a peek!

We added a wooden sunburst mirror and a photo to his name wall. It feels much more balanced now. 

We moved the glider back into his room after the first few months in our bedroom and added the very stylish Freddy the Frog cool mist humidifier to help keep sniffles at bay. 

Nick found an amazing handmade paper mobile, with elephants and circus balls! Alden loves to stare at it as it gets blown by the fan. 

Many more toys and books to fill up his shelf! 

I bought a handmade drawstring laundry bag from Piggledee on Etsy to hang in his closet and we added some extra organization. 

I sorted and packed away all of his clothes into bins according to size. We have bins all the way through 12-16 mos.!

Close-up of his mobile, we've named them Frank and Gus :)

Everything else in the room is pretty much the same. We've added some things to his little shelves on the wall, like a wooden elephant from Busch Gardens (sent by Grandma Wiese) and a tooth fairy box (from Mimi and PopPop Palmer), and obviously, some days there are clothes and toys in the floor :) I still love his room every time we walk in and so far the space is working fine. I think as Alden gets bigger and more mobile, we will start looking for some smarter storage solutions that help to maximize the small area's functionality but for now, it's cozy and Alden smiles every time we go in :) We say, "Hi Room!" and he grins so big. It is so sweet :) 

And even though it may sometimes look like this:

and other times like this:

 As long as we enjoy it, I'm okay with a little bit of mess :)

playing 

story time with my boy :)                        

much love, L&N

good old fashioned bragging

This is long overdue, but much deserved. I looked down at my necklace this morning and realized that I never mentioned my amazing "push present" on the blog. Since it's so important to me, I wanted to make sure to include the story here for our little online family diary.

Moral of the story: my husband is a thoughtful, loving, and sneaky man :)

Let me start at the beginning...

Way back in June of 2012, our friends Ali & Mark got married. (We actually found out we were pregnant 4 days before their wedding, read the story here.) Ali & I were in graduate school together while she was planning their wedding and we had a blast busting out venue sketches and vintage stamps in between classes :) Girls gotta plan, right?

Anyway, one of my very favorite things that Ali did for the wedding was her choice of bridesmaid gift. She had a local artist/jewelry designer (Steven at Aurum, here in downtown Athens), who also designed her engagement ring and both her and Mark's wedding bands, craft a tiny gold Ginkgo leaf charm to hang on a necklace and gave one to each girl. I went with Ali to pick them up at the jeweler and immediately fell in love with them.

I told Nick that afternoon about how much I loved the necklaces and mentioned that I would like to have Steven make me one before we left Athens. Keep in mind that this was in April of 2012.

Fast forward to February 2013 and this little beauty is staring at me from the inside of an Aurum box sitting on my hospital bed :) My very own, very special, Ginkgo leaf charm to commemorate the birth of our first child.

(Really?! I mean, cue the tears. SO. PRETTY.)

There's a whole life represented in this little charm. The Ginkgo leaves are special because the Ginkgo tree is the City Tree of Athens, our sweet little town, and there are two "parent" leaves and one "baby" leaf to represent our new family of three. The gem is an amethyst, Alden's birth stone, and it was all hand-crafted by a local artist, an important gesture of support for our community. All of these things tell a story about us; who we are, what we love and how our lives fit into this place we call home. I am, still, just overcome with happiness when I look at my beautiful little necklace :)

But back to the thoughtful, loving, and sneaky part...

I was completely surprised. Like, completely. He had managed to have a necklace custom designed and made by a business that is literally across the street from my office (like, I can see their store from our windows), manage to go there at least twice to OK the design and see the charm, plus have multiple phone conversations with Steven, and pay for it without me finding out. That is some serious sneaky talent ;)

*I would also like to point out that Nick had the foresight to tell Steven to order both a January and February birthstone (since our due date was Feb. 8 and you never know what can happen) and that Nick would call him to let him know which stone to set when Alden got here. We just barely made it into February and Steven had just finished setting the stone either the day before or the day of Alden's birth.

On top of being surprised to get a gift in the first place, I was taken aback at how thoughtful it was of him to remember how much I had loved Ali's bridesmaids' necklaces even after almost a year had gone by. To find a way to incorporate my love of trees with my love of Athens and the beginning of our journey into parenthood all in one piece of jewelry is impressive. So many brownie points for that man ;)

So, here I am, almost 5 months later, finally bragging on my amazing husband. Way to go, honey :) Every time I wear it, it makes me happy and I'm so grateful to you for finding such a beautiful way to remember the day we welcomed our little Alden into our lives. I love you.

much love, L&N

dad.

There's a joke that girls always marry men like their fathers. In my case, that makes me a lucky woman :) We make fun of how similar Nick and my Dad are, but in reality, I am so fortunate to have found a man like my Daddy.

He has always been willing to sacrifice to make our lives better, whether that be driving long distances to work every day so that he can provide for us or spending hours at the softball field on weekends to watch his little girl play. He has taught me so many things that I will teach Alden: how to build a campfire, how to stake a tent, how to identify an oak tree (among many others), how to play the stoplight game (when I was little, I was convinced I could magically change the stoplights to green by blowing on them...all because my Dad had great timing and a little bit of extra knowledge up his sleeve), how to check tire pressure, how to properly load a dishwasher (sorry Nick, your way just doesn't cut it ;) and so many other little (and big) things that I'll remember forever. 

Then, there are all of the things he's taught me without knowing it: integrity, fighting for what you want, how to respect nature and the importance of our natural world, the ability to live on what you have even if what you have isn't very much, how to be firm without being loud, respect, and how to show people you care even if you don't always say the words. These things aren't just lessons that he passed down, they have become a part of who I am. 

Daddy, 

I am so grateful for all you have done for me and for all of the support you have given to me. No matter how old I am, I'll always be your little girl :)

I am really looking forward to watching Alden get to know you and see all that he learns from you. I know that he'll love the story about the time you lost your radio in the river when you were fishing just as much as I do. And I know he'll think it's crazy that you still remember the song that was playing as it sank under the water (because that amazes me too :) I'm sure he's going to think that you know the answer to everything, because even now there are times when I hear myself saying, "I'm sure my Dad would know," when we run across something we're not familiar with. I'm just so happy that Alden has such wonderful men in his life to look up to. He's a lucky little fella :) 

I hope I make you proud, Daddy, because I am SO proud to call you my father. 

Happy Father's Day! I love you. 

love, BG