Happy birthday to my baby

When our first born turned one, I spent the night before his big day painting this mural above his nursery window. My husband and I had created this room especially for our expected newborn ... raising the roof on our little Cape, adding newly plastered walls, new doors, a huge walk-in closet (can you say “hoping for a girl?”) choosing everything in it without the help of the internet (can you imagine?)

I remember being about seven months pregnant, browsing the aisles of Fabric Town, looking for something not-too-babyish to cover the nursery windows. I saw this playfully captivating, yet sophisticated in a painterly way, jester fabric. With its blue, red and yellow colorway it was fairly gender neutral ... just what I was looking for as we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. When I was told that the fabric was no longer in stock, I went on a pregnancy-induced-frenzy looking for it.
It was for my baby! I had to have it!

I ended up tracking down a local Carole Fabrics distributor and managed to snag the last nine yards (an ironic amount at my stage of pregnancy!) by saying I was an interior decorator and it was for a “client” since he could only sell “to the trade.” Well this kind man (I forget his name, it seems like a lifetime ago!) took one look at my bigger-than-a-cute-baby-bump belly and said, “Why don’t I just place the order for you?” And he did, and that was the official start of my career as an “interior decorator!”



I thought this would be a fitting story to tell on this *One-Year Anniversary* of my blog (how it has grown!) Just like the entry to parenthood, becoming the caretaker of a blog has been a bigger job than I expected, at the same time providing many moments of joy, along with some sleepless nights (I love to write during those rare quiet moments.) And as it is with parenthood, I have been exposed to a whole new community of people that I have discovered are on a similar journey. We have connected through posts – mine and theirs – just like young moms making friends on the playground ... “Your blog is so cute!”
“So is yours!” “Where did you find that ...?”


I have also discovered that there are a lot of people out there looking for inspiration over a daily cup of coffee. Not unlike our weekly baby-and-me playgroups where girlfriends and I would gather to discuss strategies to navigating this new-mom-world that we found ourselves in, all the while diapering, burping and bouncing our little ones as we bravely attempted to finish a sentence while in a state of severe sleep deprivation. I certainly admire those of you out there who are doing a great job blogging while taking care of real live babies of your own. How fortunate you are to have this connection to the outside world (that doesn’t interfere with nap schedules) along with a forum to share your thoughts ... whether on family life, great design or a passing fancy. I didn’t even realize this world existed until my youngest was well beyond the age of being invited to join playgroups!

That first fabric is now a much loved quilt.

As I mark this special day (this time with favorite snapshots instead of hand-painted murals) I have many hopes for what my blog will be when it grows up. But like a good mother, I anticipate that it will have a life of it’s own. All I know is that I am enjoying its company, and I hope you find it to be amusing as well!