Talented Friends|Beautiful Gifts

I wanted to share these amazing gifts we received from great friends with you all...and while you're reading you should listen to this.

Peter created a leafless birch tree to bring to the hospital with us so each guest could add a thumb print leaf to the branches. I am so thrilled with how it turned out with the bright green leaves added. It looks like something straight out of a children's book. The type of children's book that adults enjoy just as much, if not more. Know what I mean?

We got this idea from our friends Chris and Christie's wedding...they did this instead of a guest book. Isn't it lovely?!

Then Kristin created a pair of paintings with verses from Psalm 127 across each.

These foxes are my favorite!

And here they are together, side by side. I love how the trees match Peter's birch!

These pictures really don't do this artwork justice. We have such amazingly talented friends and are so blessed that they wanted to create something for Finn!

All in favor of these two opening up Etsy shops?

And just for kicks...Finn is already practicing to be a superhero. Check out how he busts out of his swaddle flexing his muscles:

And there's a first for everything...

And Finn slept for nine hours straight last night. Can I get a heck yeah?! He gets 4 oz. of Dr. Pepper through a bottle nipple for that one! ...only kidding.

The Beast Lives On & Coffee

Oh how I've missed coffee! This afternoon has been so sweet. My great friend Kristin sat with me at the table and I drank coffee, Finn drank a bottle, Kristin drank water and painted. And, more importantly, we listened to this beautiful album and did a good amount of heart-refreshing talk.

Then I thought about the Beast...

I know we're all sick of hearing about the Beast. The Beast is the unruly bush that has overtaken nearly 1/3 of the front of our house. I have posted about the Beast on multiple occasions. At one point I thought it was defeated once and for all, but I was mistaken.
This is the Beast just a few days ago...Summer's heat aided it in accomplishing insane growth. 

Steven didn't even say a word after he got home from work the other day, he just changed out of shirt and tie and into his conquerer outfit, cranked up the trimmer and went to town.

Take that Beast! We're never too busy to tame an enemy as gruesome as this.

And just because I love my guys...

And as I've written this post I've gotta say, Finn has not made one peep since I put him down for his nap 20 minutes ago(I'm trying not to hold my breath)...YES!!! Gosh, I really sound like a mom now...Bring it on!

We're So Crafty We Made a Person...& Now We're Raising Him

Finn is four weeks old today. It's hard to believe that he's been in this world soaking up everything new for the first time for almost one month! He must be learning a lot. He makes it kind of obvious that his brain is on overload by the furrowed brow he almost constantly wears.

I have no parenting advice, but I do know that each day I enjoy him more and more. The more I enjoy him, the more I feel like a mother. I like feeling like a mother. My words sound like a bad grade-school paper, but it's difficult to express all the changes that have and are taking place in life, inside me, my husband, and our family. It's hard, but it's a challenge we'd never pass up.

Just a week after Finn was born, my best friend Caroline came in town to meet him and help me out. She took a handful of amazing first pictures of Finn and snapped some of his room while she was at it too. I had planned to do an overall nursery reveal, but, things don't always occur in the order you'd always expected, and truthfully, the nursery isn't "how I want it" for a full reveal. Who knows when it will be!

But, I do love his room and wanted to share some highlights with you.

This quilt was handmade by Steven's great grandmother for his father and it'll keep getting passed down. The Mr. Fox animal was a gift from Aunt Caro! And the chair we got discounted from TJ Maxx because there was slight damage to the backside, sweet!

Across the length of the chalkboard wall I wrote the first few sentences from chapter two of Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. It reads, 

"On a hill above the valley there was a wood. In the wood there was a huge tree. Under the tree there was a hole. In the hole lived Mr. Fox and Mrs. Fox and their four small Foxes."

For a tutorial on this rope shelf go here.

The bird mobile we made hangs above the crib. You can just barely make out the tops of the two pillows I purchased from etsy tucked in the corners and above on the wall hangs the two prints I created that you can download and print here.

The bedding is from Auggie...yes! Finn's Gram(Steven's Mom) got us the pieces I had been swooning over for months!

The gorgeous crib was a gift from my parents, GranDooks and GranWubbs (I'm really hoping these grandparent names stick).

This tiny owl was brass before I spray painted it glossy white and the alphabet print I created on Publisher. Download & print it here if you're interested!

This faux bear skin rug was a wedding gift for my husband(kind of an inappropriate inside joke) and found a home on the back of our couch for the past year. I thought it fit in perfectly with the theme of Finn's room, so we moved him into the nursery.

And there's the old door hanging above the changing table. Finn gives this thing the death stare every time he gets his diaper changed, if he's in a good mood. I take that as a compliment, it must be interesting!

And then there's the deer head, hanging out above the door.

Finn's crying...that's my cue!

Three Weeks of Motherhood Down

Finn arrived smack dab on his due date, August 15th at 5:33pm in the evening. We couldn't be more thrilled...and impressed with his punctuality! Everything about the delivery went as well as it could, and after about 17 hours of anxious waiting followed by the hardest 45 minute workout of my life, Jeffrey Finn was here!!

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of learning Finn while Steven and I try to figure out what being parents looks like. 

These days I have to plan when to go to the bathroom, there are random bits of food crusted to our kitchen sink, a master bedroom halfway painted, front porch plants wilting in the September heat, dog hair collecting in every corner, I forget to brush my teeth, am lucky to take a shower, I wash bottles constantly, can't shake this baby talk thing (like I didn't already struggle with that)....and life couldn't be more imperfectly perfect with our new addition.

We love you Finn and can't wait to do more life with you!