february pin-spired

On Monday I took these photos for today’s Pin-spired. Little did I know that I would go into labor that night and these would become my last pregnancy pictures! I normally take my outfit photos outside, but wild negative temperatures called for the use of my full length mirror :)

Linking up with Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer for February Pin-spired.

Pin-spiration #1:

Graphic tee with a cargo jacket.
 

Jacket: LL Bean Kennebec Cargo Jacket in “Raisin Brown”"
Shirt: Liz Lange for Target (last fall) Love Liz Lange maternity clothes.
Skinny jeans: Motherhood Maternity Secret Fit Belly
Boots: MIA Heritage Knee High Boot

My in-laws bought me this pretty jacket for Christmas, and it is going to become a staple in my closet this spring!

 
40 weeks minus 1 day

Pin-spiration #2:

I love how the trendy Aztec sweater looks with red pants.

 
Sweater: “36 Point 5”
Rib-knit tank: Old Navy
Maternity Colored Twill Pants: JCPenney in “Crimson”
Shoes: Crocs

Pin-spiration #3

One Little Momma –I wanted to copy the cute way that she draped her plaid scarf.

Shirt: Liz Lange for Target Long-Sleeve Basic Tee
Rib-knit tank: Old Navy
Scarf: Target (old)
Skinny jeans: Motherhood Maternity Secret Fit Belly
Boots: MIA Heritage Knee High Boot

I think my best advice for maternity fashion is to invest in a lot of basics—long tanks, a good pair of jeans, and comfortable colored cotton shirts.

And in case you missed my announcement:

   Baby Ephraim Luke arrived on Tuesday!! So in love with our second little boy.

For those of you who are new, I put some of the other maternity outfits I posted in the past few months on a Pinterest board:

Feel free to stay a while, or follow along!

Have a great weekend!!

baby 2 is here!

Monday night I went into labor naturally, and we delivered our sweet baby boy on Tuesday at 12:32 pm! He arrived right on time on his due date (the 28th) on one of the coldest January days on record.

EPHRAIM LUKE
7 pounds, 0 ounces
20.5 inches

Welcome to the world, baby! We love you so much!

”Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” James 1:17

life lately

Savoring these last few days with my firstborn :) As much as we try to explain that he’s going to have a baby brother, he has no clue that our lives are about to change.

Last weekend, I made a few cupcakes for Steve’s half birthday, just for fun.


Nolan has really gotten better at playing with his toys for longer than five minutes—which makes me so happy! He’s really been enjoying his Hot Wheels. If you notice behind him, he used his Duplos as little garages for them.

Loving fresh baked bread recently! I wish I had the energy to make it all the time.

I made a few business cards for my blog—for those occasions when I mention it to someone but don’t have a paper or pen ready to jot down the link. I love how they turned out!

After about a week of no naps, he’s finally taken 4-5 naps in his new bed. It’s still not easy to get him to sleep, but at least I know it’s possible!

A fun play date with friends. Such cute kids!


Steve took our car to drive youth group kids to a concert—so we brought Nolan’s car seat inside. He wanted to be strapped into it in the kitchen. And he stayed there content for quite a while!
 
Steve at the concert. They waited outside in freezing temps for 3 hours! They saw Newsboys, Tenth Avenue North, and Plumb.
 
I’ve loved Plumb since junior high, and wish I could have seen her too. Steve took a few photos and videos for me though :)
 
Playing trains at the library. I forget that the library is so close. We need to take advantage of that more often!

A super rare moment. He was having trouble waking up from a nap, so he fell asleep again with me on the couch.

We’re on the edge of our seats wondering when this new baby is going to arrive (tomorrow is my due date). It’s so strange to know that it could be as soon as tonight, or it could still be a week from now. The nesting and to-do lists have been a little nuts this week. I’m nervous about the logistics of it all. It’s hard to have any semblance of a plan for Nolan when we don’t know what day this is happening. But we’re really getting excited!

Nolan’s room

I’m excited to share this post with you because it’s something we’ve been working on since July. I loved Nolan’s room in our apartment—and when we moved to this house, his new room needed some improvement.

The previous owners left this furniture in the room. Although they are pretty pieces (especially that huge armoire), I didn’t want to keep them, so we found them a new home.
 
Before we moved in, Steve sanded and refinished all of the hardwood floors in the house (which is everything but the kitchen). The wood had been pretty beaten up. (The house is from 1920.)

 
We discovered that the wall behind the bed was plastic-y and felt hollow when you tapped it. We weren’t sure what we were going to find underneath it—what someone was maybe trying to cover up by putting up this paneling.
 
Yuck.


We were ready to get rid of the wallpaper trim as well.

 
In November, we moved Nolan out of the room temporarily and got started.
 
Yikes! We were fortunate that the wall was intact without any structural damage or holes to fix. It was a little strange though. Steve’s guess is that the brownish-reddish sections were dried glue/adhesive. You could see outlines of squares which Steve figures once held mirrors.


I called it the “Neopolitan Wall” since it was brown, white, and pink :)


The thin paneling once it was pulled off.

 
Then Steve went to work replastering the entire wall. He sanded it down and painted it the same shade that Nolan’s room had been before (Olympic’s “Serendipity”).
 
Such a great transformation! Also, remember the dumpster dresser makeover?

We slowly (and simply) decorated the room over the past couple months.

Here’s Nolan’s new big boy bed—which he loves! You can see a little bit of his crib mattress peeking out from underneath (we leave it next to his bed in case he falls out). He also has new “Cars” sheets and a Lightning McQueen pillowcase (thanks Mom!) His changing table will stay in the room until the baby comes, but he’s basically too big for it.


Steve painted this sweet little guitar a few months after Nolan was born.
 

I hand-wrote this print for him recently. We sing this song to him every night when he goes to sleep (Numbers 6:24-26).

 
He hopes you liked this little tour! 

what i wore wednesday

Do you ever want to throw out everything in your closet and start all over again? About once a month, I get the urge to simplify my wardrobe—and wish that I could give a large fraction of it away. However, I don’t because I go through thoughts of:
“But I spent money on this, and it’s still in perfect condition.”
“Oh, but this person gave this shirt to me.”
“What if I’ll miss this in a few months when I’m looking to wear something in this color?”
“Can I wear it as maternity wear or pajamas?”

Suffice it to say, I’m not very successful at weeding things out. I do like the idea of developing a certain style—something that would stem from the simplification of my wardrobe. As I will transition to mom-of-two in the next week or so, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to begin that style shift. I want to find more of my “niche”—so that when I see an outfit, I think “That is so Rachel.”

I hope to still continue “What I Wore Wednesday” even through any awkward post-partum stages. :)

 

Dress: eShakti Victoria Dress (my color isn’t available anymore, but if you search for “Victoria”, there are red, black, navy, and beige.) My friend Ruth used this dress for her bridesmaids—beautiful!
Cardigan: Mossimo (Target) in Grey
Leggings: Mossimo (Target)
Boots: Target (old)

 
39 weeks!

See some of the other maternity outfits I’ve posted here.

Linking up with Lindsey for WIWW, and Alison for Get Your Pretty On.

Feel free to stay a while, or follow along!