Baby | JJ Horton Photography

April 19, 2017

Personal | Nursery Update

Back for more One Room Challenge goodness! Well, I got all my sewing done for our little gals room! (back up to see week 1 here!) *Yes, I own and use a Hello Kitty sewing machine. It’s wonderful, don’t judge. I used a pair of Ritva Ikea curtains. I washed and dried them (to pre-shrink since they are 100% cotton), then I hemmed added the Lee Jofa trim to the leading edges. The curtain rods are set to arrive today, so hopefully we’ll get them hung over the weekend. I also magically found brackets on eBay. They aren’t the exact ones I wanted, but for 1/4 the price, I couldn’t let them go. I wanted them in silver, so some spray paint will remedy that… and I wanted the rectangle back plate (like the example below), but the round will do just fine. I’m waiting on the fabric for the roman shades to come in and then will get those to the seamstress. Example photo source Restoration Hardware brackets IKEA Curtains Curtain Rods (1.5″ thick) Next, I got to work on the crib skirt. Back when we were in adoption mode, I was going for a gender neutral space, and purchased the skirt from Serena an Lily in their tomato color. Well, now that’s not really going to work with my navy and lilac color scheme… so I sewed more of the Lee Jofa trim over the orange band. My next project is to frame this baby blanket like the example. This was actually my baby blanket, and one of the very few things I have from when I was a baby. I have all the pieces to put it together, but I didn’t have the plexiglass cut just right. I’ve got to run back to Lowe’s and have it fixed. I’m planning to hang it over the crib. Frame tutorial Frame hardware Things still up in the air…. a biggie – the glider. I actually ventured to Pottery Barn Kids last week to seek out the one I mentioned last time. Of course, they didn’t have it in stock, but the sales guy told me it was smaller than several they did have on the floor… and I immediately knew I didn’t want a chair that small. They did have this one, and I really loved it! But… the price is a little higher than I wanted to spend, and it doesn’t have a skirted base. The image I put below of it, isn’t completely accurate, because you really don’t see the glider mechanism as it looks… but I still wish it was skirted. They dark grey chair is a Best Chair I found online. I really love the look and price… but it doesn’t come in navy. The steel color is as close as I can get, which isn’t awful. However, it isn’t carried in stores, so I can’t to sit on it to see if I like it. Anyone have experience with the Best Chair? Also… the light fixture. I really love this chandelier, but fear it may hang too low. I am seriously thinking about ordering it and just seeing how I feel about it in person.

April 4, 2017

Personal | Nursery

Well, if you missed the big announcement over the weekend…. baby Horton is a GIRL! (read all about the day we found out, here) Today I thought I’d share the nursery plan I’ve got going for our little mango (that’s the size she is this week)… since I’ve shared house stuff in the past… AND because this week starts another round of the One Room Challenge. The ORC is a blog series created by Linda at Calling It Home…. she selects a handful of designers to complete a room in 6 weeks, blogging their progress each Wednesday. Now, this room certainly won’t be done in 6 weeks, but we have about 18 weeks to get it done before baby girl is set to arrive. Ideally, I want it done before July… so about 6 weeks before my due date. Thanks to Dina Holland Interiors, I fell hard for a silly expensive fabric to use for roman shades…. but I’ve totally justified the expense because we aren’t buying a crib or dresser. It’s the purple you see in the image below…. Schumacher’s Lotus Garden in lilac, and the jumping point for the whole space. I’m certainly not against having pink in my gals room, but this purple was just too good to pass up, so her nursery will be lilac, navy and lots of white. The print does have a touch of pink in it, so I may do a pillow or something in a coordinating shade. Glider / Lee Jofa Trim / Schumacher Fabric / Crib Sheet / Curtains (I’m planning to make ours) / Wallpaper This is kind of an inspiration board of sorts… The navy glider is from Pottery Barn, and I have no idea if we’ll actually get that one, but I threw it in for reference because I want a navy chair. The crib image looks pretty identical to the one we have (it was mine when I was a baby, and my sister used it for both her girls), and I already have the striped crib sheet and wallpaper. I’d purchased the wallpaper before we were pregnant to use on the ceiling of the room… but I haven’t decided if I’ll actually do that – we’ll see! The lilac Lee Jofa trim will be used on the leading edges of the curtains (like this) and along the hem of the solid white crib skirt (seen below with orange trim). The trim is pricey too, but their are so few options for lilac trim! I debated using navy instead because their are many more options, but I just like the lilac better. We already have a rug in the room, it’s the one we had in our master bedroom at our old house. You can see it here. The last major thing I need to decide on is the light fixture. I love this one, but wish it came in chrome! The walls are already painted a super pale gray (Valspar Modern Gray) as the rest of our house, so that will stay as is. Here’s a few more snaps… first, her closet is already well stocked from Aunt Jenny (yay for hand-me-downs!), second and third were two fabrics I saw in Mary Jo’s that I thought paired nicely with the Schumacher… but they both have minimums that I won’t need, so I’ll pass on them…. but aren’t they pretty! Before….. The good… it’s a decent size room. We actually slept in this room while our master suite was being built (see it here!) I think the room is like 11×12 or something. It has 2 nice windows, albeit awkward mid-century modern corner ones. The closet isn’t too tiny (it goes back behind the dresser a little). The bad… That ceiling fan has to go! It’s perfectly functional, and was brand new when we moved in 2 years ago, but it’s just not pretty. We are actually moving it into our master bedroom… because #function (and it beats the lone light bulb hanging from our ceiling!). Be sure to follow along on my Instagram stories for behind the scenes… there’s a little tour of the room up right now! Once things start coming together, I’ll post a reveal. August is going to be here before we know it!

April 1, 2017

Personal | He or She?

Happy 20 weeks (tomorrow) baby Horton! We are half way there! To say we were excited to find out what baby Horton is, is a massive understatement. I sat on pins and needles as we waited for that coveted 18 week appointment…. which got made for 18.5 weeks (I could have come across the counter at the receptionist and been like, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THAT IS FROM NOW?!? When she made the appointment following our 16 week visit). When we first found out we were pregnant, I told Jeremy… prepare to do ALL THE THINGS… I want a gender reveal party, maternity photos… the WORKS. However, when it came down to doing a true gender reveal party, I couldn’t hold out. I had to know what this baby is, and now! With our family 2 hours away and the appointment on a Tuesday, there was no way we’d gather them up to tell them in one place. I would say 99% of everyone we encountered have guessed girl. I always dreamed it was a girl from very early on… never once did I suspect otherwise. But about week 16, it dawned on me…. this baby *could* be a boy…. I’d be so up the creek without a paddle if so… I already had visions of what the nursery was going to look like, what fabric I’d use on the window treatments…. and then I was like oh crap, this kid could be a boy! We sat in the waiting room at the doctors office to wait for the nurse to take us back to the ultrasound room. We walked it and got situated. The tech asked if we wanted to know, and we said yes. She of course did her due diligence to inform us that nothing is 100% until the baby is born… duh, get on with it!! She started the ultrasound, and told us we would go over all baby’s functions and then try and check for gender. As I laid there and watched this sweet potato sized human wriggle about on a black and white screen, I got lost… forgetting a about the gender. And then she piped up about looking for it….. oh right, the super exciting part! Is this baby a girl or boy?! Fairly quickly she pointed out three little lines… indicating it’s a GIRL! My reaction was probably less than enthusiastic as normal first time moms… I was basically like, yeah, well, what else could it have been?! I was already so convinced it was a girl. We celebrated the same way we did following our 8 week appointment, with breakfast at Cafe 100. Jeremy really thought I might just take the whole day off work and go shop for all the cute clothes I had avoided buying until now… but I restrained myself. I did hit up two stores on the way home that night… Marshalls and Children’s Orchard (a great consignment shop in Huntersville). I came home with a handful of goodies, even a pint-sized Carolina Panther’s cheer-leading uniform for her first football season! We have a few names on a short list that we like… and her middle name is already picked. We’re still mulling it over the first, but I have a front-runner. Yes, we’ll spill those beans once we decide. How’s pregnancy? Dandy. I can’t really complain! I’m still shoveling grapes down my throat any chance I get though. I’m keeping the vineyards in business. I’ve officially outgrown my pants. Although today, I have ghetto rigged my favorite skinny jeans with a hair tie… while standing…. that ish is completely undone while sitting 🙂 Thankfully, my style tends to be oversized tops, so I’m still wearing quite a few of those. I’ve added a few new pieces to my wardrobe, but I have zero intentions of going nuts on maternity wear… I’d rather buy cute things for this little girl now! And, thank God for warm weather… I’m excited to live in mostly dresses from now on! Cheers to all the mini Lilly Pulitzer, pink ruffles, Jack Rogers sandals, and smocked dresses I can stuff in her closet! She’s going to need a serious closet organizing system…. hmmm, can I register for that?! HA!

March 28, 2017

Baby | Mary Watson 4 Months

Remember Mary Watson?? Well, it was time for our next session (3 months) but everyone had a nasty bug in her house, so we waited an extra month for lots of healthy smiles. I love her little teal, ruffled outfit and pretty headband! I cannot get over how much she’s changed in such a short amount of time! Even though she’s lost a little of her hair, her little locks are just adorable! *Mix of digital (D750), and film, 120mm Ilford 3200 and Portra 400 These silly faces are just THE BEST!

@JJHORTON