I only watch it for the beautiful women in their gorgeous gowns

and Cate, Sandra and Helen were my faves last night.

who was your's?

happy friday!

this weekend they have predicted snow in California. they got 4 feet in Tahoe last night and they say it might snow in San Francisco - but I'll believe it when I see it :)

none the less it is still pretty cold here and I am looking forward to the weekend in. I am feeling the creative vibe so am going to try making this soup

this necklace

and this slow cooker recipe

I'll let you know how they turn out.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend whatever it is you're doing!

baby room

even though I am 6.5 months pregnant, and boy does it show... the whole idea that we are going to have a baby is still so surreal for me - is that normal? my sister keeps asking me if I've started buying for the baby yet, but I'm afraid that every time I look at clothes or baby stuff, it just doesn't feel like it's time yet. not that I'm a particularly superstitious person, I guess I just don't want to jinx anything...

what I can wrap my head around though is the baby room, and this I am totally into. we have decided to convert the office into the baby's room so that we'll still be able to have a spare bedroom for guests.

since we've come to love our vintage wallpaper in our place we're going to do one wall in this great orla keily and leave the rest of the walls white.

we're splurging on this bed... I have loved it since I saw it years ago in Dwell or some other designer magazine. I love how beautiful yet practical it is - it goes from baby to toddler up to a 10 year old, which is how I like to justify it. I am also going to buy it second hand, so really it's a bargain!

the downside, as my very practical friend Olivia pointed out to me, is that this bed needs round/ oval sheets, which limits the selection. but I am going to make some, since I couldn't find any that I really like anyway - why do people think that pink and blue and pastel are the only colours when it comes to babies? and Bryce will be happy I am finally putting my great sewing machine to good use!

I found these bibs on etsy which you must admit are just the cutest things ever

when I saw the 3 of them laid together like this I knew that this mustard and gray colour palette is exactly what I wanted. not too boyish and not too girlish and not too pastel'ish :) so this is my inspiration for the sheets, bumper and pillow case.and look how well the mustard colour goes with pink
and blue :)

my next bit of inspiration came from this gorgeous crochet blanket and I have been making one since about the time I fell pregnant (so I guess technically Louise, I have made a start on things...)

as far as furniture in the room we'll need a feeding chair, and Jonathan Adler just happens to be having a sale... remember this guy?

well there's also this guy too, both would be perfect in my book. although I suspect this one might be a little more practical as a feeding chair, since there are arms to rest the baby's head and my arm. I really don't know much about feeding chairs - what am I supposed to look for? will it get messy? I think this rug is the perfect cheery yellow to brighten up the room, and with a name like Betty, how could it be wrong?

we'll need some sort of changing table, and although stokke has a matching change table that goes from a change table to a desk we decided that it would be a bit matchy matchy so we're just going to pop a changing pad on a cute rustic white dresser that we already have.

I found this great idea and thought it would be a great way to hang some of the uber cute baby clothes which would add some colour to the room. kind of like a practical mobile above the change table.

and then this is another idea that I thought was pretty cool (again practical decoration) and I was thinking I could have cute pictures and photos in the different frames.

I'm sure there will be more as we go, but as soon as we start renovating I'll post pictures of how it's turning out.

you can see it all in one place and all the links on my pinterest here

in an eggshell

I've been thinking about my vegie garden lately, since I got such a late start on it last year, I want to make sure I get in early and plant a bunch of different herbs and vegies. what could make better baby food than vegies straight from your own garden! I found this great idea on pinterest which has inspired me to start saving up my egg shells and cartons (great I hear Bryce moaning...) and start growing from seed. you can just plant the egg shell once your seedling is ready to go in the ground. Here are some instructions I found in case you're interested.

what's on your vegie garden list?

we all scream for ice cream

check out the intensity of these two when offered this delicious doggy treat :)

bump envy?

Yesterday it was time to go shopping for some new maternity items... I rotate between 2 pairs of jeans and try to mix up the tops & jackets I have, but it's bad enough that I feel like a fatty let alone a frumpy fatty...

Bryce, being the patient husband stood outside while I squeezed myself into some new comfy options. and then he got bored. I guess. and decided to see what it feels like to be pregnant...

for those of you who have never entered a maternity store (which was me until a few months ago) they have these fake bellies that you can use to try clothes on over the top of to see how long they'll fit you for...

here's Bryce test driving the bump...

the pair of us looked so ridiculous I had to snap a shot - the sales woman must have wondered what we were doing in there....

happy friday!

it's a brisk one here this morning, the grass was all crunchy when we took Coop and Kenzie for their morning frolic in the park, but Coop (being a Canadian) doesn't mind a little ice on his belly to cool him down after chasing the frisbee :)

this weekend we are gearing up for renovations, and we're very excited.

what plans do you have this weekend? I hope you have a wonderful weekend and can enjoy the sunshine!

6 months

today is the 24 week mark for our pregnancy and so far so good.

I've learned a lot about all sorts of things from the strange things your body does once you're pregnant to the way people treat you when they see your bump - like they just come up and touch you... seriously...

I must admit I've been pretty lucky with this whole pregnancy thing, I didn't get morning sickness (so far), and our baby seems to be growing nicely.

baby started out as this little lima bean

date: 12 October 2010 (7 weeks)

length: 6cm (2.3inches) long

then s/he started to look a bit more like a baby in week 13

date: 23 November (week 13)

length: 15cm (5.9 inches)

amazing how much they develop so quickly
we found out s/he has all of their little fingers from this shot (well at least on one hand) :)
the day we had this photo taken baby was not very cooperative, so the photo didn't turn out great, but for a minute s/he looked right at us and I swear mouthed the first word. mumma! I swear! :)

date: 10 January (week 20)

length: 21cm (8.2 inches)

at week 21 we found out that baby has my nose... and that everything looks to be in order.

date: 18 January (week 21)

length: ?

isn't technology amazing!?

2 days in Paris

have you guys seen this movie? it's on the instant queue on netflix, we watched it over the weekend and I kinda liked it. written, directed and starring Julie Delpy - who knew that she was such a talented lady?

first comes love, then comes marriage

then comes baby...

well not necessarily in that order for us, but 2010 was a big year for Bryce and I and expect that 2011 will be even bigger...

As you know we got engaged in October 2009.

A funny story about a romantic weekend spent in a cute little cabin in the redwoods. we hiked, took long walks on the beach, watched the sunset together -

it was really a perfect weekend. I had no clue that he had plans to ask me, but apparently he was stressing about it the whole weekend, but couldn't bring himself to do it...

we got home sunday evening, unpacked the car and sat and watched a movie. as we were getting ready for bed, I was clearing dishes in the kitchen, Bryce walked into the kitchen and hugged me in front of the refrigerator and said 'will you marry me?' I said 'yes, of course I will' and instantly teared up. then he said 'am I standing in dog pee???'

little McKenzie was about 5 months old at that point and still in the trying stages of potty training... talk about romantic proposals! :)

we went back and forth on the whole wedding planning thing. we wanted a rustic cabin type thing, and then we wanted to do it in europe, and then my colleague inspired us a little and eloped... but we didn't think we could pull that off without upsetting our family.

basically wedding planning is hard, and so we just kept putting it off. it's so easy to get wrapped up in the whole let's get awesome invites, cool cake toppers and blow a big chunk of cash on one day, but when push came to shove we just couldn't commit to a wedding. instead we'd just cringe when we got the daily question of 'how's the wedding planning going?'

being over the 'ideal baby making age' we knew that having a baby was something we wanted to do in the near future so we started 'trying' in April and figured what will be will be. we stopped worrying about the wedding and started on 'project baby'. let me just say that making a baby is not as easy as they make it sound in high school... but, it's definitely fun :)

by the first week in September we got our first positive test result. i had to check twice to make sure. Bryce nearly fell over when I told him (incidentally he was standing in the kitchen where he'd proposed) - it was definitely a moment I won't forget :)

being pregnant and not married didn't really bother us since we are not the traditional type but the daily question would come up and we still were no closer to an answer of when we were getting married... we were just overjoyed to be pregnant and enjoying our wonderful secret gift (and praying that nothing would go wrong...)

October 25 is the anniversary of when we met, it is also the anniversary of when we got engaged and we'd talked about doing it on that date but as it was fast approaching didn't think we could give people such short notice... so again we put it off... procrastination is a wonderful thing!

pregnancy seemed to be agreeing with me, the only noticeable difference was that I was more tired than usual and my breasts were growing like crazy... Then one morning while I was lying in bed I looked down and noticed a little bump - it just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. not that I am one of those people blessed with a gorgeous flat tummy, but when I'm laying down it's usually flat enough :) this then led to visions of me shopping for a maternity wedding dress.

so about a week before our anniversary we decided to just do it! we made an appointment at City Hall, booked a room at a nearby hotel, took personal days at work and told a few of our friends and family. all we needed now were the outfits.

after a horrendous 10 hours in the mall the Saturday before we had the dress, the suit, the shoes and were all set. I bought my dress and they were able to do overnight alterations on it.

On Monday 25th October we tied the knot and it was honestly the most perfect day. the weather leading up to the day had been rain, rain and more rain and for those of you who know San Francisco it can be downright chilly on the best of days. that Monday the sun shone from a beautiful clear blue sky.

we picked Bryce's mum (Cathy) up from the airport on our way to San Francisco, checked into our hotel and then walked over to pick up the marriage license from City Hall. there were lots of people getting married that Monday.

Melita picked up flowers on the way

and helped me get ready

while the boys went for drinks

here's the marriage guide we got when we got the licence - all sorts of good information in there from sexually transmitted diseases, to taking folate, dealing with abusive relationships etc... (I kid you not)

I told you my breasts were growing... (I am 10 weeks pregnant here)

and we were off to City Hall to get married

but someone forgot their photo id... I mean I had pockets in my dress too, but totally forgot it, along with my video camera - I was just trying to be on time, which those who know me does not come naturally... luckily our hotel was a quick run through the park to get to - thank you Ini for doing the dash :)

once all the official stuff was taken care of we had to wait our turn. we'd never set foot in San Francisco's City Hall but it is the most beautiful building.

we got to choose where we were married, so we chose the rotunda (which you can see at the top of the stairs here)

and we're up. the judge that married us was really lovely with her gorgeous silvery hair, and soft spoken tone. she made it really special.

I love this shot of everyone taking photos

and videos of us...

and then we both said we do

thank you Christina for taking our photos

these two are the funniest captures

as Bryce landed the pin from his flowers went straight into his skin...

me with Bryce's mum - coolest mother-in-law a gal could ask for :)

Hannah was photographers assistant

these doors were really cool - we didn't even notice them on the way there

this is my fave

back at the hotel - I thought this one was fun since I am now married to an American boy ;)

then we headed off a local restaurant for an early dinner

yum

(can you tell I am paranoid about my breasts here...)

it really was the perfect way to get married!

later that night when we left the city we took this shot of city hall all lit up in orange for the Giants who were playing in the World Series