Room Design Feedback

I have been working on putting together the baby's nursery and Kitty has been pretty sad it is not her room. I thought maybe I should spruce her room up before I do the nursery.  I wanted to put some wallpaper on one wall, but Kitty and I cannot agree on wallpaper.  She wants pink and I am not keen.  I love pink in my artwork, but not sure about wallpaper.

She has this bed and trundle by Argington, the dresser and nightstand will be in her room as soon as the baby is out of the crib.  Kitty has this dwell studio bedding from Target that she really likes because if the pink birds.

Kitty really  loves these wall prints by Amenity Nursery.  I think that they are great, really graphic, and fit our forest home.

I recently spotted these adorable letterpress prints by Julia Rothman and thought that they would also look good in her room.

I am also toying with the idea of using this Marimekko Unikko fabric for some pillows or curtains.  Everything has a green/yellow color except the bed.  But she does want some pink!  Perhaps I could paint one wall a coordinating green or golden yellow.

Kitty loves animals and thinks that all of the artwork is great.  What do you think?  Any other ideas of things that would look nice with the furniture and/or prints?

How to Keep Children's Drawings

I have seen a few posts about this topic around the blog world, but I am still not sure what I want to do with Kitty's drawings.  I have begun to weed through and keep only the noteworthy and unique drawings that she makes.  But how does one store them all? Doesn't that seem like a lot of paper to store forever? 
I realize that these drawings may mean more to the parents than they ever will to the child.  My daughter's drawings are some of my most treasured things in the house.  I adore them!

I do not want to store them in boxes or flat files like I have been because there are too many and I am already storing soooo many drawings.  One idea that I had was to scan or take a photo of the best drawings and compile them into a photo book.  That way they are all together, easy to store, and I can then toss the originals.  I have created a photo book of one of my own collection of drawings that meant a lot to me, but were mostly sold.  The book turned out great and I love having it in the bookshelf to look at occasionally.

Do any of you have other ideas? What has worked for you and your family?  I am all ears!

Snow Days

We have been having a lot of snow days this past week.  I know a lot of the country has been having them as well.  The difference is, we haven't been getting very much snow.  I am surprised that they keep cancelling school, but I guess it doesn't snow much in Indiana so they are worried.  I enjoy seeing the snow and watching it fall.  It is very peaceful.

This photo was taken after the last snow day out the window of my car on our road.  I thought the snow on the branches was so pretty.

I took this photo this morning while the snow storm is at our door.

Kitty likes missing preschool, but after a while she is bouncing off of the walls.  She had a great time playing with her train.

After much train time she had chocolate pudding, her favorite snack.

Baby Belly

I have made it to 23 weeks without posting any baby belly photos.  Mainly because I haven't had any to post, so here is my belly in all of its glory.  Thanks to Ryan for taking the photos.  I hope to get these more frequently to have for the baby's photo book.  I had them for Kitty and it is fun to see.
The little boy is growing and moving a lot. We are getting excited for his arrival.  Kitty says he is getting too big to fit through my belly button.  We may be in for some trouble.

Winter

A small snow storm has hit Bloomington.  It was promised to be gigantic, but beautiful all the same.

A woodpecker dining on our bird food.  He later went over to a large tree and made four large holes.  They are not very welcome at our house, but I love the red head in these gray months.

Kitty dancing around the living room one evening.  I love this picture of her hair flying like snakes on Medussa's head.  Ryan was throwing her in the air to her delight.

This week we finally cut Kitty's beautiful locks because she refused to ever comb them and it was a constant battle.  She liked going to the salon and thinks that she now looks like a big girl.

We pulled Kitty's yellow ukulele out of storage and she loved playing it.  Ryan was helping her with the fingering while she strummed.

Kitty's photo book

Last week I finally finished the first installment of Kitty's third year photo book.  I had put it off forever because looking at the photos from the time I got sick with ARDS and the months afterward were rather upsetting to me.  Maybe enough time has passed, enough therapy, or maybe it was the 50% sale that got me to do it.  Regardless of the reason, it turned out great.  I love getting my favorite digital photos printed into a photo book.  I have used my publisher and have been very pleased each time.  The book would only hold 50 pages and Icouldn't narrow down the pics, so for her third year, there will be two books.

It is so amazing to look back at the photos from a few years ago and to see how much she has changed.  She was so cute and little, now she is so cute and big, or at least bigger.

Cover of the book

A few of my favorite spreads.  Above is from a day at Lake Michigan.  Below is some photos from antique shopping with my parents and a trip to Dexter Cider Mill.

A few days ago, my neighbor brought over two of her three dogs to play with Bruno and Gary.  They had a grand time and Kitty was very thrilled to have them visit.  She loves Albert the Beagle, but she especially adores Jack  the Pug. 

 

She really really loves that dog.

Mushroom pouf

This little mushroom has been swimming around in my head for some time.  I would love to get it for one of the kids rooms.  So fanciful and adorable.  I adore that it is handmade and not by me! ;)  Anthropologie recently started carrying it again.  It has a steep pricetag so I was looking around on the web and found it less expensive at some places in the UK.  Little Baby Company carries it along with some other really great decor items. 

If only I wasn't trying to watch my spending!  The good news is, I have started working on a new drawing that is really crazy and exciting.  If only I could find a way to work in the studio without putting my little one in front of a video!