Shower Time!

Today was my very first baby shower, thrown my some of my amazing girl friends... Rosanna, Jennifer Hickey, Cindy Sebeck & Alison (DiPuma) Casey.

We played a TON of hilarious games.

I am so blessed to have "MeMa" here to share in this special time in my life.

Danielle and Nancy celebrating the big day with us!

And of course one of my very best friends, Megan Perkins, right by my side.

Carter's Nursery

Diane, my mom and I have had such a wonderful time designing Carter's nursery. Our inspiration came from this great checkered fabric my mom found. Diane made them into long drapes and my mom handmade the crib skirt with the same fabric.

I ordered this coordinating blue on blue (like the fabulous walls) fabric and got the rocking glider chair covered with it. Speaking of the walls, they were such a labor of love for our unborn child. Blake and I joke that we have never fought like we did while hand painting these walls together over the last couple of months. What started out as a 1 wall project quickly turned into a huge entire room project when I loved the understated look so much. If Carter ever wants to paint his room when he gets older, you bet, we will put up a fight! ;)

Both of these items hanging are Blake's when he was a toddler. I can't wait to see Carter in them! Blake stained all the bookshelves in the room to match the dresser. I bought all the furniture planning on Carter using it all the way through college.

The cradle that is under the window was Joe's when he was a baby and also his father's. It is said to be close to 100 years old. We love it and look forward to having it in our bedroom for a few weeks right when we bring Carter home from the hospital.

My goal was to keep his room simple and not "baby-ish." I once was told that you should make the nursery more for youself since you are the one that will spend so much time in there with a newborn baby! It will be fun to see how it fills up with personal items of Carter's, as he gets older.

Carter's Nursey.

This room has been a labor of love that Blake and I have put so much time and energy into. With
only a couple dozen little quarrels along the way, mostly due to my perfectionism, while going through the extraordinary process of hand painting the walls with a 6 step process for each row. We now confidently know that we will succeed together in what ever God may throw our way!

The curtains were made by Blake's mom, Diane. The coordinating crib bed skirt was hand made by my mom, Cheryl. I got the glider chair custom upholstered with coordinating blue on blue checkered fabric that is exactly like the walls. The small wooden bassinet was from the "Ernst" side of the family and said to be at least 100 years old. It is where Joe slept as a baby.

Even the pillow was made my Diane and myself together and will be embroidered with Carter' s birth date. Carter is measuring nice and big and his due date was officially moved from first week in January 2007 to December 25, 2006.... yep.... Christmas Day! What a true gift from God!

Blake hand stained the 2 bookshelves in Carter's room and even painted matching blue squares on the top of this small one. The "Houston" football jacket and "Dallas Cowboys" vintage jersey were both Blake's when he was a little boy and I can't wait to see Carter in both of them!