A Dr. Seuss Nursery for Sonia

Those of you who know me know that I have a weakness for arts & crafts, silliness, whimsy, nonsensical babble, and a pinch of empowering positivity. So, unsurprisingly, I LOVE Dr. Seuss. When our first daughter was born, I threw around countless ideas for the 'perfect' little girl's nursery. I considered all of the trending options. But I kept coming back to Dr. Seuss.
I committed to painting a mural Dr. Seuss Nursery for Rose, bought the paint, and started the project. About a month later, our 'casual' search for property and a site for our future home turned into us putting in an offer and beginning what would be a 2-year adventure. Needless to say, one of the many emotions that I experienced during our house transition was sadness for the loss of the Dr. Seuss nursery and the hours of work I put into it.
So, I did the only thing that made sense in my mind...I decided that the new house would also have a Dr. Seuss nursery. This one wasn't finished before its new resident arrived...and I keep wanting to add characters and details, so perhaps will never be complete. I kept it mostly the same, but had to add in some details from new favorite books (Oh the Places You'll Go!!). 

Our Baby's Nursery

So, it's no real secret that I LOVE arts & crafts. Like LOVE them. Designing a nursery was SO fun! I enjoyed agonizing over which look I wanted to go for (BIG thanks to my Sister-in-Law, Andrea, for the Dr. Seuss inspiration!). I had a blast bossing Steven around and watching his engineer-y self twitch as I had him paint rolling hills on the walls. And picking out which characters would go where on the walls...LOVED it all.

The real surprise bonus was how much the cats loved "their" new room. I had no idea!

Although our baby is running (a whole week!) late, she is already SO loved. Pretty much everything in the nursery is a gift. Auntie Anne took over all of the furniture refinishing projects that I had on my unrealistic, pregnant lady To Do List. Several friends made handmade blankets. My mom brought boxes full of kid books from when we were growing up. My Bunko friends AND my little sister both threw me amazing baby showers! Our daughter's closet is FILLED with more clothes than I own (all from friends and family - seriously, I haven't bought a single outfit). We are SO fortunate and grateful.

Since Baby hasn't shown up yet, and I can't show off cute baby photos, I'll show off our cute cat room/nursery instead. :)

What's Cooking at Emily & Steven's House: Personal Life Update

As I was looking over my list of 2014 Goals, I realize I left off something really important from the list: Work-Life Balance. And holy wow, did I fail miserably at that this year. Oops. Guess what's at the top of the 2015 Goals List? :)

The up-side is that I was SUPER booked up with awesome clients. The down side is that life threw me some major curve balls this year, and I wasn't prepared. And I didn't have time scheduled for crises. I love my job. I love my life. This year was hard.

For YOU clients, friends, and family who helped me out, showed me empathy, and gave me a shoulder to cry on when life hurt: THANK YOU. I really value having you all in my life. Steven deserves my biggest thanks. I seriously hit the husband jackpot with this guy.

One of the big bright spots in my crazy year was when my next door neighbors' cat decided to have her kittens under our deck. Being the cat psycho that I am, I decided to interfere with nature and take the kittens in the house for safe-keeping. :)  (Yes, I told the neighbors that I stole their cat. They didn't mind.) :)  We went from a two-cat household to an eight-cat household for several weeks. It was heaven and much-needed therapy for me from some of the hurdles that 2014 had already thrown my way.

When it came time to find them homes, I convinced Steven that we needed to keep two kittens, so they could be besties. Our life got a little crazier, but in a wonderful way. We are now a 4-cat family, thus making us crazy cat people. For my friends concerned with cat over-population, we got "Little Mama" spayed as soon as it was safe to do so, and she is happily residing back outside; she visits us often. :)

Below is Kitty Kitty, our oldest. Rufus (cat #2) is camera shy, so you won't find him in this post. Sorry. :(

Below are a few photographs of the newest additions to our family - Oscar (on the left) and Doozer (on the right). If you follow me on Instagram (@EmilyHallPhoto) or on facebook, you probably already know them really well. Our furry foursome gets along surprisingly well and we're so happy (relieved) about that!

I have really wanted to do a lifestyle photo session of Steven & me at home, hanging out & just enjoying each other's company...for over a year now (see prior statement about failing at work-life balance). One of my favorite things about life with Steven is just "being" with him. No special event or outing needed - just spending time together. And, I really wanted to document that, because life has a funny way of progressing while you aren't paying attention. My good friend, Ashley (ADB Photographix) was kind enough to come visit us and document our dorkiness. Thank you, Ashley!!

Yes, you interpreted that 'bun in the oven' correctly. For those of you rolling your eyes at our cheese, or holding back that little bit of throw up that just just showed up in your mouth, and especially for those of you who are struggling/trying to get pregnant/have a baby of your own - I feel you.  I've been there. This announcement is a long time coming for us. Turns out, getting pregnant (and staying pregnant) wasn't as easy for me as Mrs. Sherman made it out to be in sex ed class.

This coming Spring, we'll be a family of 7 (4 cats, 3 humans, no I'm not having 5 babies at once). For that, and for a million other reasons, I can't wait for 2015!

PS to my 2015 couples - I've already talked to those of you who have weddings before/just after baby, but just to re-confirm - NO, this will not affect your wedding photography. Baby was very thoughtful when scheduling the arrival.  I like this kid already.  :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!