A trend I keep seeing over and over is exposed wood beams. I actually don’t really see them as being trendy, but more so being a classic look for nearly any decor style. I love the textural component mixed with the smooth walls. When paired with white walls, it adds interest and depth to the room. It heightens the design element of the room – while also making it feel a bit more cozy and relaxed. Here are a few images I found that really play up how beautiful exposed wood beams can be in nearly any room in your home.
It’s FRIIIIIIDAY! Are y’all starting to think I work for the weekend? Because I do. Our weekdays are full of work, cooking dinner, daycare drop-off and pick-up, a million errands and commitments. So, weekends are our time to spend together and with Whit. Like, actual quality time. Not just, “Yay we’re having so much fun! EAT DINNER! PUT ON JAMMIES! GO TO BED!”
Anywho. We don’t have any real plans this weekend, so we might find ourselves at the zoo (yeah, we’re members like every other genius parent out there). Without further ado, here’s the Friday Five…
1 | The scallops. The woven teak. In love with this chair!
I think my Nordstrom wish list has at least 150 items on it at any given time, so I thought I would share a few items I have my eye on. I love that they have a range of high quality items from clothing, shoes and accessories to beauty products, home items and baby items! Here are just a few things I wouldn’t mind randomly showing up on my doorstep:
Happy Friday, y’all! Did this week creep by for anyone else? I am SO glad it’s Friday and SO glad it’s a three-day weekend (enter emoji praise hands). I’m trying to get back into the regular routine of blogging and doing some DIY projects and just being more productive overall.
Here are my Friday Five…
1 | I love the feel of this house (especially the bathroom and dining room).
2 | This easy DIY could really change the look of a sad looking fireplace.
4 | I need this chair in my life – and it’s super affordable and currently on sale!
5 | I recently picked up this dress and I think it’ll be my go-to staple this summer (note: it runs TTS, but is very long; I’m 5’2″ and even with high wedges on it’s still about an inch or two too long).
If you know me in real life (hiiiii) or follow me on Instagram, you probably know that Zach and I welcomed our sweet baby Whit (short for Whittaker) back in September. And holy moly that boy has stolen our hearts. We never could have imagined the love we have for him or the joy he brings us. He is the happiest, sweetest, calmest baby. I know you think yours is, but you would be wrong. It’s mine. Just kidding. A little.
So, let me tell you how Whit made his grand entrance. Don’t worry, no gory details…
Since Whit was due on September 11 (uh huh), I figured that as long as I felt fine and wasn’t on bed rest or anything like that, I would work up until my due date. This child must be stubborn (no idea where he gets that from…) because homeboy was nice and comfortable and I continued working until Friday, September 9. At that point, I planned to be induced on the following Tuesday unless Whit decided to come sooner. So, I figured if he didn’t come over the weekend, I would at least have a few days to tidy up around the house, relax and doubletriple quadruple check my hospital bag.
That Friday night we had dinner with some of our best friends at one of my favorite restaurants in town (if you’re ever in Montgomery, make the trip to El Rey and grab yourself a Nice Margarita, then come hug my neck because I’m now your new best friend). I got up Saturday and had a headache. So, I took Tylenol (seriously, it’s 2017 – how can pregnant women not take something stronger OTC?), and laid down for a bit. Woke up and still had a headache, only now it was a full blown migraine. I waited the allotted amount of time and took Tylenol again. Did all of the tricks I know for migraines, tried eating (again), etc. I couldn’t keep down food, so at this point (around 4:00 in the afternoon) I finally listened to my mom’s advice (will I ever learn that she’s right nearly 100% of the time?) and called my kick-ass doctor.
My doctor told me to come on in to the hospital just so we could rule out any blood pressure issues. So, we hopped in the car (brought our hospital bags with us just in case) and drove to the hospital (which is about 15 minutes from our house). Side note: Zach is a fast driver, but I’m not sure we have ever driven that fast down the interstate. Since we arrived at the hospital after 5:00 p.m., we had to go in the ER entrance. Guys, if I have one piece of advice, hold that baby in and don’t go into labor after 5:00 p.m. and before they open the real entrance the next morning. The ER is a really weird place on weekends and after hours. After we were called back to L&D, they took my blood pressure several times and hit me with the news: My blood pressure was totally fine, and this may just be how my body starts labor. COOL MAN. God has a crazy sense of humor.
At that point, they gave me some meds for my migraine and gave me two options: they could discharge me and we could wait until my planned date (Tuesday) to be induced. Or they could keep me overnight and just induce me in the morning. THE MORNING. PLEASE. As exhausted as I was already, I couldn’t imagine trekking back to the house and essentially doing this all over again if my migraine didn’t subside. So, we called my mom (who lives in Atlanta) and let her know the plan. She had a bag packed already, got in the car and headed our way.
Here’s my mom looking fab… and here I am super swollen and zero makeup 🙂
The next morning around 6:00, they gave me my epidural and started the pitocin shortly after. I had a great epidural – totally numb, but could still move my legs a bit. So at that point, I was about 2 1/2 cm dilated. They went in to break my water, but had trouble because Whit’s head was in the way (which makes sense now because DANG boy had a big noggin’). It took them five tries to break it, but once they did I dilated another cm and we waited. And waited. AND WAITED. I could not get past 3 1/2 cm. So, they let me labor until about 9:15 that night and at that point checked me one more time (if I could get to 4 cm then I would be in active labor and they would just let me continue laboring). No change. So, we all suited up for a c-section!
Let me take a moment to fill you in on my mentality going in to all of this: I had no birth plan, per se. I wanted to try for a vaginal birth with meds, but I had zero expectations other than to deliver a healthy baby safely while also keeping myself healthy and safe. And guess what? That’s exactly what I got.
Once it was determined that I would need a c-section, everything moved so fast. It was really a blur. They got me ready, Zach got ready, rolled me into the OR, prepped me, called Zach in and at 9:46 p.m. our beautiful, healthy, screaming baby boy entered the world weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 19 in. long. And the first thing my doctor said was, “Oh, Kelley! No wonder he wasn’t coming out…his head was not going to fit!” Ha!
Sorry, the following picture is a little gross with all the goo on Whit, but this was the moment I got to see him for the first time. I don’t think I’ve ever cried tears of joy like that before.
Our hospital makes these little teddy bears with the baby’s stats on them!
So, that’s the basics of how our sweet boy made his grand entrance. We ended up having to come back to the hospital the day after we were discharged because Whit had jaundice, but luckily it was a very short stay and he was a little trooper.
Whit has brought so much joy to our lives. You hear this quite a bit with new parents, but I really can’t remember what it was like before he was born. Although, I do remember carrying less bags and stuff with me at all times.
Good Monday morning, y’all! Gosh, I am feeling SO much better during this second trimester (currently 17 weeks + 1 day). That first trimester was a doozy. It actually felt like the morning sickness and overall crappy feeling would never go away. My mom kept telling me that it would ease up soon and I would start feeling so good. I immediately called her a liar. But again, momma was right. IT DOES GET BETTER!
So today, I want to share a few of my first trimester necessities with y’all. These are things that I just absolutely couldn’t have lived without during those first weeks of pregnancy – some things that I never knew I would need, that I now know I would include in any gift package to newly pregnant ladies.
Here we go…
1 | Preggie Pops – My friend Whitney told me about these and I don’t know what kind of voo-doo magic is in them, but they help ease the nausea tremendously. I seem to get this sour metallic taste in my mouth (pretty common among pregnant ladies, so I’ve heard) and popping one of these bad boys seems to put that taste at ease and keep the nausea a bit more at bay.
2 | Saltines + Snacks – So, my morning sickness was so bad that I couldn’t even lift my head from my pillow in the mornings without eating a few saltines first. How did I not cry more that first trimester? So, even if you start out feeling great (I did), you may want to grab some saltines at the store to keep on hand. Majority of the time, my nausea would set in when I waited too long to eat. I found that it was best for me (everyone’s different) if I ate snacks and small meals throughout the day instead of any big meals. My favorite snacks have been bananas, apples, Babybel cheese, yogurt and popcorn. They’re easy to throw in my bag in the morning before I head to work. But do what works for you! If there’s one thing I can’t stress enough, it’s if it sounds good to you when nothing else does and you think you can easily stomach it then EAT IT. There was a solid two weeks there when I could hardly stomach saltines…but somehow a chocolate milkshake sounded and tasted delicious. So, chocolate milkshakes it was!
3 | Beautycounter No. 3 Lustro Face Oil – My skin is normally crystal clear. No blemishes, no breakouts. But that changed and suddenly I was having a few breakouts and my skin just looked dull. So, in swooped my makeup savior – Beautycounter’s No. 3 Face Oil. This stuff is completely safe for pregnant ladies and nursing momma’s (even safe for kids!) and was magic on my blemishes. I used two drops and rubbed it into my clean skin at night. It calmed my angry pregnant skin and made it smooth, hydrated and a bit more like my normal skin. Halleluyer.
4 | Oil Diffuser– Oh man. Eventually, I’ll have one in every room in the house and my office at work. Because there’s very little medicine you can take during pregnancy (and Tylenol did not agree with me that first trimester), I totally relied on essential oils and an oil diffuser. My favorite oils to diffuse were lavender and peppermint (sometimes together). Lavender helps calm and relax and ease me into sleep, while peppermint helped with headaches and the nausea.
5 | Peppermint Essential Oil – The holy grail! I didn’t get many headaches/migraines (I’m prone to migraines anyways), but when I did I would slather on my peppermint oil on my neck, shoulders and forehead. Not only did it help with my headaches, but it helps with nausea and heartburn. When needed, I would put a drop or two of peppermint on my tongue and swallow a bit of water with it.
6 | Ginger anything (and everything!) – Pretty sure I (or rather Zach) bought out our local herb shop with anything and everything ginger. Ginger helps with the nausea so I had gingerale, ginger candy, ginger chews, etc. There were definitely a few weeks there where it was hard for me to even stomach drinking water, so gingerale was on hand almost non-stop.
7 | Dry Shampoo – You’re not going to want to wash your hair. Hell, you’re barely going to want to shower. Thank goodness for dry shampoo. I mean, I use it anyway on a regular basis, but when you have super thick, unruly hair and washing and drying it takes a solid hour and a half – NOPE. So, I’d usually wash it on a Saturday or Sunday when I could take my time and lay down in between drying sections. Then I’d go all week without washing (which is actually pretty normal for me…should I admit that?…). Dry shampoo saved me time and effort and mostly my sanity and stomach.
8 | Raspberry Tea – Zach actually found this remedy (I’m pretty sure he deserves a medal for taking care of me and putting up with all my first trimester demands). I don’t know what it is, but raspberry tea seemed to help with the nausea. He would make me a cup almost every night for several weeks and it helped a ton. I drank the brand I linked, but there are several different kinds out there.
So those were my go-to first trimester necessities in a nutshell. What were yours? Any we have in common? Any nausea remedies I missed?
Happy Friday, y’all! Has this felt like the longest week ever to anyone else? I am ready for the weekend!! We’re grabbing breakfast tomorrow morning with some sweet friends of ours and then headed to a wedding for another friend tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be the first wedding we’ve been to at the church we got married in since we got married there more than four years ago. Cra-zy.
4 | Loving this set of bracelets for spring/summer!
5 | I made this dish a few weeks ago and it was SO GOOD.
Happy Friday, y’all! I’ve felt good the past 24 hours, so I’m hoping this trend continues and I can get some things done around the house this weekend. I’m in desperate need of purging our closets (mine specifically). So, feel free to send all the good vibes my way 😉
I don’t have any pops of green in our house, so that might be a fun element to add! I hope everyone is having a happy St. Patrick’s Day and no one is getting pinched. I didn’t wear any green today, and luckily haven’t been pinched yet. Because if someone tries to pinch a pregnant lady recovering from a migraine and morning sickness, I will show no mercy. You will officially be added to my $!@* list. Hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman. Or something like that.
Admittedly, majority of our home is decorated in white, blues and black. I have always loved how crisp and clean white and blue look together. Heck, even majority of my wardrobe is blue.
When I was a freshman in high school, my mom let me decorate my bedroom exactly how I wanted. I chose vibrant blue walls with all white everything else. It didn’t go at all with the rest of the house (my mom has a beautiful home with lots of antiques and muted tones), and the blue was probably a little too bold, but whatever. It was mine and my love for blue and white stuck.
Fast forward to today, and you’ll find blue and white all over my home and luckily it’s a look that never gets old. I rounded up a few of my current favorites on the classic trend…
Do you love the look of blue and white? I seem to just gravitate toward it naturally. Even dreaming up nursery ideas has me thinking that regardless of if it’s a boy or girl, there will be blue and white involved.
Hope everyone isn’t as tired as I am on this Wednesday. Daylight Saving Time plus pregnancy = one tired lady.
At that point, they gave me some meds for my migraine and gave me two options: they could discharge me and we could wait until my planned date (Tuesday) to be induced. Or they could keep me overnight and just induce me in the morning. THE MORNING. PLEASE. As exhausted as I was already, I couldn’t imagine trekking back to the house and essentially doing this all over again if my migraine didn’t subside. So, we called my mom (who lives in Atlanta) and let her know the plan. She had a bag packed already, got in the car and headed our way.
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Kelley Blake 