I Would Like To Introduce You To Henry Strong

On August 25th we welcomed our son Henry Bihl Strong to the world. We have not stopped smiling since. The whole experience has been breathtaking and more than words could ever express.

Henry is Patrick's middle name and was his Grandfather's name. Bihl is my Mom's maiden name.

We have spent every day since just staring at this face...and thanking God for such a blessing.

Thank you all for all the e-mails, calls and comments. You don't know how much they have meant to me. I am so lucky to have such amazing and wonderful people in my life.

Baby Strong Is A....

We are adding another male to the household...Baby Strong is a boy and we could not be more excited!!! I had numerous requests for a pregnant picture, this is one we took yesterday...
After months of thinking it was a girl I was shocked to find otherwise, Harry was in shock as well (or maybe relieved that someone will be coming along soon to take the unwanted attention off of him)...
So now it is time to start thinking about a nursery for little baby boy! I am not sure what I am going to do yet but I know I would like to use wallpaper is some way so that will probably be the jumping off point. I will keep y'all in the loop as I find inspirations and ideas.

Let's Take A Vote...Girl's Wallpaper

Oh the joys compromise...I get asked a lot if I have free rein when it comes to decorating my own house and the answer is no. I do ask for Patrick's input/opinion a lot and trust me, he has one. Now there are definitely times when those go in one ear and out the other. When I know he will love something in the end and just doesn't have the vision for it at the moment I might just go ahead and do it anyway...ahem. Which brings us to the nursery. I found this wallpaper when looking for a client right before we found out we were pregnant (we don't know yet what we are having)...
I LOVED it and filed it away to use in the future...I just didn't know where because it is on the funky side and needs a special home. Then when we found out we were having a baby it popped right into my mind (and is probably the reason I feel like we are having a girl lately)...
HOWEVER, when I showed it to Patrick it went a little something like this:

Me: What do you think about this wallpaper?
P: Hate it, why?
Me: Because....if we have a girl I am thinking about using it in the nursery
P: Ughhhhh, No.
Me: WHYYYYYYYYYYY??????????
P:No.
Me: I need a better reason...
P: I don't like floral wallpapers.
Me: But it isn't really a true floral in the traditional sense...

This is when we both eye each other and silently call a truce. He is thinking that I have access to thousands of wallpapers and will continue the search and is glad not to have to continue the debate of what is a "floral" wallpaper. I am thinking that I will file this away for now and if we find out it is a girl that I will pull it back out and revisit.
In the end though unless he has a change of heart I won't use this, I can tell he really is not a fan and I want him to love our nursery too.
I do understand this is not a universally likable wallpaper. Which makes me wonder what you all think? Love it or not so much? Don't worry about hurting my feelings, even though I love it I can see both sides.

PS- We find out what we having next week!

Prestigious Textiles Sicily Wallpaper

Big News- Baby On Board!

That is right, there is a baby in our future - I am pregnant! I am 17 weeks this week with a due date the end of August. That means that we have 3 more weeks before we find out what we are having, but we are going to find out. When we found out we were pregnant this Finn Anthropologie Rocker was the first thing I marked that I would love to have.But alas, the price tag makes it a just dream (although truth be told I think Patrick is relieved).

Until this past week I was really sick. On top of being busy with work it is all I could do to function so I am sorry if I have been slacking around here lately. I think I have turned the corner so we will see.

On that note a quick thank you to the following things that made the past couple of months doable: Sprite Zero, Wendy's baked potatoes, Perrier/Pellegrino, Mac & Cheese and Eggo Waffles. If you should ever find yourself feeling nauseated at all times I highly recommend something from this list!