"The Magic Hanky"

We received a lot of amazing gifts at each one of the baby showers that my friends and family threw for us. And while each gift was wonderful and super generous, I have to admit that I have one favorite gift.

*cringe*

Is that wrong??

Some of the most special gifts end up being those that are passed down from one family member to another or those that are hand made. These gifts come with a story and a history, and were made with love.

(That is NOT to say that the other gifts we received were any less filled with love and less special - am I just digging myself into a hole here??)

My moms cousin - who I don't get to see very often - was able to make it to my baby shower that my mom and sister threw for me. She brought me the sweetest present and I just had to share it here on the blog. I had never heard of this gift before (seeing how I have only ever been to about three baby showers my whole life) but apparently they are quite popular. Maybe you have heard of it?

The Magic Hanky.

When I opened the gift I saw that it came with a poem, which I read aloud to all of the guests. There wasn't a dry eye in the house by the time I reached the end, I thought we were going to have a group hug for a minute there!

"The Magic Hanky"


I'm just a little hanky
As square as can be
But with a stitch or two
They made a bonnet out of me.


I'll be worn from the hospital
Or on the Christening Day,
Then I'll be carefully pressed
And neatly packed away.


For her wedding day
So I've been told,
Every bride must have 
That something old.


So what could be more fitting
Than to have little me?
A few stitches snipped
And a wedding hanky I'll be.


And if, perchance, it is a boy
Someday he'll surely wed
So to his lovely bride her can present
The hanky once worn upon his head.


It's ok, I'll wait for you to dry your eyes - go get a tissue.

All set?

Isn't that the sweetest?! I just adore it. I love that it can be used for a special occasion when the baby is very little and then again when the child is all grown up on her (or his!) wedding day. I used one of my grandmothers hanker chiefs during my wedding so this tradition is right up my alley. We haven't decided when we are going to use the bonnet yet, but I am looking forward to storing it away for when our little girl gets married and then telling her the story behind it.

And with the thought of my unborn daughter getting married I am off to cry my eyes out (they grow up so fast!!) 

A Room for Baby - the reveal!

We have finally finished the babies room! And we pushed it to the limit if you ask me (considering I am due in 8 days). Annndd I still have a few more bits and pieces that I still want to add (I have a few more things to hang on the walls) but for the most part, we are done!

First I want to apologize for the bad picture quality. I took these yesterday afternoon when the sun was already behind the house, so the room looks pretty shadowy and cool. The walls are a very pale blue though so at least it shows up in the photos! (How to house photographers take such amazing pictures?? I need a wider angle lens I think...)

If you remember, here was my original revised inspiration board:

And here is the finished room:

I stuck to a main color palette of white, chocolate and baby blue. Weird for a girls room, I know. But I made sure to fill the room with lots of pastel accents, mostly which is seen in the massive decal on the wall. The ruffle curtains and pink details help to make the room more feminine, without being overly girlie.

Not that an infant is going to care if the room is overly girlie or not, but we like it.

Crib and changing table, with birds and owls keeping watch

Baby C already has a growing book collection - which I love!

Dr Seuss artwork that I made myself. I dont think it turned out half bad!

More inspirational homemade artwork - and HI! you can see me in the reflection!

From L-R: Brian bought the teddy bear from Harrods before we left London to move to Texas, I love that he bought this for her. The Guardian statue was a gift from my Aunt and Cousin. Every baby needs a Sleep Sheep! Pony fund money jar was a gift from a dear friend in London - she even put a one pound coin in there to start her off right. I wonder how much that will be worth in 18 years??

There are those silly pom-poms that I tweeted about the other day...I'm still not in love with them but I wanted to add some more texture to the room. I'm leaving them up for now but might end up taking them down. They are supposed to be some clouds and a sun. I'm looking into some other cloud mobile options that might work a little bit better...

Hello Mr Owl

Here is a closer shot of the bedding that was the original inspiration for the room. I love the playful colors and design of the birds and owls. I think we matched the color scheme pretty well!

lots of toys for Baby C!

Baby C is lucky enough to have TWO closets in her room! I'm using one for storage (gifts and items that we don't need to use just yet, extra blankets and swaddles, diapers, etc) and one for clothes! Most of her clothes at this point are little onsies that are folded and stored in the changing table, but she received a bunch of beautiful dresses and outfits and deserved to be hung!

PS - I can't wait until she is big enough to wear that raspberry colored Burberry quilted jacket (all the way to the right) that I bought for her before I stopped working there - how cute is that?? I got it in a size 24 mo though so she has some time :)

I was really hoping to get some of those colorful hooks (from the inspiration board) but they are all on back order until the summer time. Guess I will try again later!

Overall I am really pleased with how the room came together. I can't wait to start using it :)

If you're interested in some of these items, here's were I got them!

Crib - Delta 'Springtime' Babies R Us

Glider - Dutailier Overstock.com

Changing Table - Nursery Smart Buybuy Baby

Bookcase - Cameron Pottery Barn Kids

Curtains and Rug - Xhilaration Target (could only find the link for the cream version)

Wall Decal - Couture Decals Etsy

The Luckiest Little Girl

I - or better yet, Baby C - is incredibly lucky to have such loving and caring family and friends. We were blessed with not one but three baby showers!  She is already surrounded with people who love her and can't wait to meet her - she's a lucky little girl. And I am a lucky woman. I want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who organized, came and shared in all of my baby showers over the last couple of months. Each one was special to me and I will always remember it!

The first shower was thrown by my awesome friends in London. It was a small get together at a friends house and was such a perfect afternoon. We had a chance to talk and catch up, eat some amazing food and open lots of presents for Baby C. As happy as I am to be back in the USA I sure do miss my London friends. Luckily one of the gifts we received was a London double decker bus rattle - something to always remember them by! THANK YOU girls for such a special afternoon!

The second shower was thrown by my mother-in-law last month. She had some help from some wonderful friends setting up and it was a great party. I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen since our wedding (almost two years ago - eek!) as well as some of my close girlfriends. We played games, had a tea party and consumed way too many cupcakes (or was that just me). I also got to see myself made out of fondant - not too bad if you ask me! It was a super busy day and man was I exhausted by the end of it, but it was so much fun - I wish it lasted longer so I had more time to visit with everyone!  THANK YOU to Brian's mom for throwing me such a wonderful shower!

It was back to back shower weekends while I was in NY last month and the final shower was thrown by my mom and sister.  They invited over all of my family and our family friends and I had such a great time seeing everyone. By this point Baby C was so spoiled in how much attention she was getting! Usually she just has to deal with me talking to her all day long, but by the end of the trip she got to meet so many wonderful people.  I had a great time catching up with everyone and my mom and sister did an awesome just putting together a Spring themed shower with a delicious spread - I'm allowed to have Beer Bread during pregnancy, right?? And there were more mouthwatering cupcakes...I'm starting to notice a pattern! Wonder how they figured out I like cupcakes.... ;)

A big THANK YOU goes out to my mom and sis for putting my shower together - it was perfect!

And last but not least a big THANK YOU to everyone who attended each one of the baby showers. I know we are all super busy these days and it really meant a lot to me (and to Baby C) that you could all come and help us celebrate. Having your first child only happens once and it means the world to me that you were all able to share in the special occasion with me. I can't wait to tell her about each and every one of you and how special you all are to us! She is the luckiest little girl to be surrounded by so much love (and so are we).