GRAY'S BIRTH STORY

This post took me a while to write and organize but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out any details or pictures, so that I could really capture what the day was like. My original due date was Friday, June 7th and I really wanted to see if my body would go into labor on its own so I didn't have an induction scheduled until the following Monday, June 10th. I was blessed to have a pretty easy and enjoyable pregnancy so I didn't mind going the few extra days if needed. Friday night with the hubs was extremely laid back and if I would have known that would be our last night as a family of two, I would have chosen something fun to do - but instead, we spent the night on the sofa eating a frozen lasagna I had made and watching a Law & Order: SVU marathon. All in all, it was a perfect last night!

I started having contractions that week and by Friday night around 10 p.m. they were getting closer together and more intense. I still thought I would make it to the induction on Monday so the hubs and I were planning a lovely steak dinner for Sunday night to enjoy our last night of "freedom". Instead, I woke up around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning with stronger contractions and started timing them at about 7 and 8 minutes apart. I knew I had a little more time to labor at home, but I woke up Brandon and gave him the warning. He proceeded to put on my eye mask and said wake me when it's time - haha! At 4:30 a.m. I made the decision to get up and get ready because they were about six minutes apart at this time. Brandon called the hospital at about 5 a.m. and they said pack a bag and come on in, it's time to have a baby! Here some pictures that help capture the day!

My last two "selfies" before heading to the hospital:

 Making coffee and double checking my hospital check list:

 5:31 a.m. - headed to the hospital!

 We felt like tourists taking these pics, but the weather was so foggy and overcast that I wanted to remember it!

Enjoying ice chips while in the "holding room" before I was admitted to the hospital and given a room. 

Officially in room 333 ready to start the delivery process!

All ready for Baby Grayson's arrival! 

Brandon sitting in the doctor's chair massaging my feet to prevent numbness from the epidural. I wanted to be able to at least wiggle my toes! 

We had the idea to take a picture of the wall clock after every "experience" to help us remember the day. So here's how the day went:

Welcome to the world Baby Grayson! 

His first bath!

After two days in the hospital, we were ready to head home and love on our new bundle of joy.

Welcome home to Melrose, Gray!

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT: grayson allen owens

Well, here it is - Gray's official birth announcement! I didn't know exactly how I wanted to jump back into blogging, but I thought it only made sense to formally introduce Gray by sharing his birth announcement I designed. It was certainly a labor of love and I'm so happy with the outcome. 

The fabulous Johanna Cosby took his newborn pictures when he was 10 days old. Gray was not a happy camper, but Johanna worked her magic and you would never know it. The pictures are beautiful and I opted to do more of a lifestyle shoot outside with the three of us. I'm so happy to have some pretty family pictures and just a few squishy, posed pictures of Gray. I will share more of those later! 

I had the announcements letterpressed by Four Hats Press with gray ink on French Paper's Pure White. I paired them with Paper Prensentation's Green Tea envelopes and sealed them with mustache washi tape. It all came together so nicely and I was so excited to get them out the door!

If you are interested in custom design services, please contact me!

B&A: nursery

Hi all! Today I'm going to share the before&after of Melrose's other guest bedroom! As most of you know, this guest bedroom started off as a gender neutral room with two twin beds, and now it is officially a nursery for Baby Owens (due in 9 days by the way). If you missed it, here is the post of how the room took shape with the twin beds, sans the rest of the furniture, and my inspiration for the room. I knew it would eventually be a nursery so I wasn't in too big of a rush to finish it up. Along the way I updated my inspiration boards with the nursery additions and just recently shared a sneak peek of the room! Now, all the decor is in place and we are patiently awaiting Baby Owens' arrival to make the room complete! 

Here is a quick, not-so-great-quality before picture of the room so you can see the full transformation. The room was a pale yellow with a super fancy frog and bug fan (the previous owners loved silly, kid fans if you remember seeing the hot pink flower power one in the other guest bedroom!). 

The wall color didn't change too drastically, but I chose Benjamin Moore's Elephant Tusk for this room. I thought it was a nice, soft cream that would set the tone for a gender neutral room. We replaced the fan with a simple, white ceiling fan. 

And, here is how the room looks now! 

I decided to keep the gold task lamps and I am pretty happy with them now! They don't take up too much room and I like the directional lighting they provide - it saved me from having to take up more space in the corner with a reading lamp. 

One of my favorite additions - a sweet ultrasound picture of Baby Owens at 18 weeks. See his cute little legs all curled up!?

I decided to use a simple, sitting chair instead of a rocker or glider due to the amount of room in the corner and I think it is going to work out perfectly. We actually have a recliner in the den that we can use for rocking, if needed. I was immediately sold on this soft orange velvet chair and love the color it brings into the room. 

The mobile that kicked start all of my inspiration for the nursery! It is handmade by a super talented Etsy seller and I'm obsessed with all her hand knitted animal mobiles. She is definitely worth checking out!

The glass box on the shelf will be used to collect all of Baby Owens' special momentos. The brass shoe bookend is made from one of Brandon's first pairs of baby shoes! 

I love these black and white striped canvas bins from the container store! They helped me organize everything in our tiny closet and they even match the room decor. 

So, what do you think? I'm so happy to have it "ready" before his arrival, but now I am so anxious to meet our sweet baby boy! If you want to see all the sources from the nursery, check out my inspiration board or feel free to email me. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! 

MATERNITY PICS

I did a small sneak peek on instagram last night of our maternity pictures and I said I would post more, so here they are! Ann Wade of Ann Wade Parrish Photography took these last week in our back yard and she did a fabulous job (if I do say so myself). It was sorta a last minute decision and I really had to persuade Brandon, but I'm so glad we decided to do them. I wanted to do something casual and laid back to capture these last few weeks before Baby Owens makes his debut and they're exactly what I intended. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot - and if you are looking for a great photographer, contact Ann Wade! 

STYLISH CAMERA BAGS

While I'm in the mode of preparing for Baby Owens' arrival - one thing I started to think about while reading the multiple handy "what to pack for hospital" lists is my DSLR camera. I know I will be taking it to the hospital for pictures, but eventually my brain starting going 1,001 different directions and I ended up surfing the web for a new camera bag. I currently have this ONA insert and organizer, and I really like it, but after shoving it into my purse on top of my wallet, phone, make up, etc. and toting all that around, it ended up weighing 30 pounds = not fun! I would be content with this insert if it had some sort of attachable cross body strap to use when you're on the go, but it doesn't. 

It took me a while to find some good options that didn't resemble a men's gym bag, but I finally found some stylish, and affordable bags. I decided to compile this chart of my favorite options for people in the same boat. Since I was clueless in the beginning, hopefully this will help you out in the future when in the market for a new stylish camera bag! 

ONE: 2 Sues bag in grey by Kelly Moore - This looks like a great bag to double as a purse and protective camera bag
TWO: Betsy Black by Jo Totes
THREE: Cheeky Lime Classic Bag in green
FOUR: Libby bag in caramel by Kelly Moore
FIVE: The Bowery in black by ONA - I ordered this one due to its price, size, style, and convenience to grab it and go! I'm sure I'll have my purse with me and this bag looks small enough to wear cross body while still toting a purse (or diaper bag!)
SIX: Rebecca Minkoff Craig Crossbody Camera bag - look at all the fun, summer colors! This one is on the small side for a large price - but it's super cute!
SEVEN: The Palma by ONA - This one is my absolute favorite but is not a reasonable option right now, but if I start shooting pictures more often, I'd love to have this to use everyday!
EIGHT: The Claremont by Lo & Sons - Another classy leather option very similar to the Palma 
NINE: Oliday Tan Canvas Bag - a great affordable, but stylish option 
TEN: Georgia Nautical by Jo Totes
ELEVEN: Missy Mint by Jo Totes
TWELVE: London Backpack by Epiphanie - A perfect gender neutral option big enough to tote around anything you may need during your outing

What do you use to tote your camera around? If you could invest in a new camera bag - which style is your favorite? I went with #5 and can't wait to see how well it gets the job done! Happy Friday! I'm officially at 35 weeks today so 5 weeks to go, eek!