Two Months

This weekend has been so wonderful.  I always like the weekends because, even though I'm at home all day, erryday, having Dan home all day with us feels like such a treat.  Mister Jack turned 2 months old this weekend and it's so crazy to see how much bigger he is, and how expressive he is compared with just a few weeks ago.

I've had a renewed interest in capturing candid life with my "big" camera.  I think since I got a 35mm lens, capturing lifestyle stuff has been more enjoyable.  It's definitely a lifestyle/candid-friendly lens and I love taking pictures with it.  I feel like I'm out of the survival-mode period of new-mom-ness, so feeling like I have time and energy to be creative is really nice.

The boys are back in town

Well, the boys and me.  This past week we flew down to Tacoma, where I was shooting a good friend's wedding.  Jack went on his first plane trip (and the nice Alaska Airlines flight attendant gave him his wings!), met his great grandma, and was introduced to all our friends in Tacoma.  It was so wonderful to be back in a city where we feel so loved.  

We are at a crossroads thinking about where we will find ourselves, geographically, this time next year.  We don't really want to stay in Anchorage, even though it's affordable for us, and Jack + I get great healthcare, and my parents are here.  I guess when I put it that way it sounds pretty stupid to leave.  Anchorage just doesn't feel like the right spot for us.  So we're at a crossroads, trying to figure out where to plant our little family.

In the meantime we are back home in our little Alaskan apartment, staying cozy while the snow falls outside our windows.  I snapped these shots of Dan and Jack at our Airbnb in Tacoma last week.  These two dudes are my fav.

Jack's Eclectic Nursery

Jack is 5 weeks old now, so it's about time I shared his nursery!  He actually spends very little time in here right now.  We've got a bassinet set up next to our bed, so he's sleeping in our room for the time being.

I didn't really have a theme in mind when I started working on his room.  I wanted it to be something I would like, since he's not going to remember the room decor anyway, and I'm really not into super gendered decor, so it ended up being a room that, if you take out the crib, could be an office or studio, just another room in the house.

I really love statement walls, and after using WallsNeedLove to do the wood statement wall in our old bedroom, I browsed their selection of wallpaper to see if anything struck my fancy for this room, and I fell in love with this graphic black and white print.  It may be a little crazy and non-traditional for a nursery, but I love it.

I DIY'd quite a few pieces in the room.  The hanging wall shelf is a DIY from my old office.  The succulent print and color spectrum prints I made by just stapling the prints to two pieces of lath and then attaching a string to hang each one from.  The succulent one is actually a photo which I printed as an engineering print at Staples.  The changing table/dresser is a cheap Target dresser with midcentury modern legs added from Pretty Pegs.  The "Be Kind And Brave" banner was made by cutting out letters from black fabric and iron-on backing, then attaching the letters to the white fabric by ironing them on.  Then, I cut a dowel a little longer than the width of the banner, made a channel for the dowel to go through at the top of the banner, and tied a string to the dowel to hang the banner from.  The bunting/prayer flags were DIY too.  Square fabric pieces attached to bias tape using iron on hem tape.  Easy peasy. A fun little artsy DIY was the embroidered b+w photo (the one above the sailor print, next to the succulents).  I want to do more embroidering on photo prints!  This one was an easy starburst design in yellow embroidery thread.

I've had the 5-point paper star lamp since before our wedding. I got it as a possible wedding decoration but never ended up using it.  I've had it sitting around since then and never found a space to hang it until now!  My mom had the other star lamp and also didn't have anywhere to hang it.  We hung them both in the corner before Jack was born.  We hadn't decided on Jack's middle name until mere moments before checking out of the hospital and turning in his birth certificate form, when we finalized his middle name as Polaris.  Polaris is the north star, and is actually a multiple star with the  main star in orbit with a smaller star.  When we brought him home I realized I'd decorated his room with stars before his middle name was even thought of! 

Rug + Curtains + Diaper Cart: Ikea | Chair: Thrifted | Star Lamps: Ikea + Fireworks | Changing Table: Target + Pretty Pegs | Crib: Babyletto | White Shelf: Target via Craigslist | Metal Baskets + B+W basket: Target

Succulent Photo + Winnebago Print + Joshua Tree Photo + Chalkboard Word Bubble + Be Kind and Brave Banner: by me | Tacoma flag + Color Spectrum Print: Stocklist Goods | Pike Place Photo: Charcoal and Ash | Paint by Number: Thrifted | Gospel According to Tacoma Print: Beautiful Angle | I Love My Family print: Beauchamping

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Meet Jack!

It's been almost a month since our little dude joined us, and since the holidays happened right after he arrived and tons of family and friends were in town visiting (not to mention postpartum healing and getting used to newborn life), I haven't had the energy to post an announcement here until now!

I haven't written out his birth story yet, and I'll probably share that eventually, though nothing crazy happened so it's not the most thrilling of birth stories.  For the best birth stories, I will direct you to Indiana Adams who has the best and funniest birth stories of all time and makes us all look bad in the birth stories realm.  Thanks a lot, Indiana.  I jest.  Indiana is hilarious and her birth stories really are the best.  Enough about Indiana, though, this post is about Jack!

Jack Polaris Morrow made his entrance on the morning of December 18th after a pretty quick and relatively easy labor.  He was about a week past his due date, which I thought was going to be the case.  He was always so chill and cozy in the womb, I figured he would want to hang out in there as long as possible.  I tried many a thing to get him to shimmy out.  We went to a hockey game.  We sang karaoke.  We did zumba.  We had a full moon (a supermoon, no less!).  Eventually after a couple membrane sweeps and some castor oil (holy shit, that stuff is no joke.  Talk. About. Cleansed.) I went into labor.  It took some convincing for him to make his way out and I don't blame him, it's cold out here!

Dusty and him are already best buds and if he ever complains that his birthday is too close to Christmas I will take him to a Zumba class and show him how hard I tried to get him to come out sooner.  And if he's still not convinced, I'll feed him some castor oil and see how long it takes before he has to run to the bathroom.