gender reveal!

Last Wednesday we had our long-awaited ultrasound to see our sweet baby for the first time. We've heard baby's heartbeat at almost every appointment, which is such a breathtaking sound, but this was our first experience seeing the silhouette of that little face. Let me tell you, it's weird. Watching a movie of your innards. I can't get over how bizarre pregnancy is. I always struggle to find the right words to explain the strange exhilaration that overtakes you at each step. 

We decided to have a gender reveal party on Friday, so we had to wait two whole days to find out if we were having a Phoebe or a Phoebo. We gave the secret-holding envelope to my bestie Becky, and she reveled in the power she suddenly held over us. She would be the new head of the Department of Mysteries, which mainly consisted of silly-string buying, decor-making and snack-preparing. She's the best.

Instagram post 1 / 2

I thought it would be fun and easy to plan a gender reveal party. I was very wrong about myself. Apparently preparing to find out the gender of your child is a little bit more stressful than I thought. The anticipation was almost crippling, especially as Friday approached and slipped by hour by hour. I would be sitting at my desk and suddenly be seized by a pounding heart, shaking hands, and the overwhelming desire to scream.

I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly wonderful it is to know now. The night was perfect, despite my mini breakdowns and panic attacks. Becky even helped me set up a Periscope broadcast so that our long-distance friends and family could watch on a live feed! I had never even heard of Periscope, but it was such a brilliant solution. We were able to watch it together afterwards, which showed the live comments and hearts of everyone watching along! It was really special. It was especially wonderful to have that live recording on my phone afterwards, because the camera we set up to record the reveal ended up dying after only 4 seconds of video! 

I made little paper pins (bows and ties!) for people to wear to represent Team Boy or Team Girl. We also asked everyone to sign their names on the Team Board. Dusty and I were both Team Boy from the start! I also made a fun little list of Old Wives' Tales to indicate what each superstitious prediction would be for my pregnancy.

Dusty's grandma, Momo, had her own special prediction. When we first told her we were pregnant, her response was, "Oh I already knew that. God revealed that to me weeks ago."
There was a lot of laughter, surprised expressions, and "wait what??" from the rest of the family.
She then proceeded to say, "I also know the gender, but He hasn't told me to tell you that yet."
We begged her to tell us, but she wouldn't budge. Two weeks ago, she gave us a gift bag (stapled shut) with a gender-specific gift in it. The gender reveal suddenly became all about that bag. 

THIS. Hi, William Boyer. I knew it was you all along. 💙 #schantababy #TEAMBOY

A video posted by caitschan (@caitschan) on Aug 7, 2015 at 8:30pm PDT

As it turns out, we were right. Momo was right. Her gift was a pair of boy's socks and a card that said, God announced! Gender revealed! A baby boy born at Christmas. I can't believe all God must have in store for your baby boy! With resounding joy! - Momo. "

Team Momo. Team God. Team BOY!

We're naming him William Boyer. His namesakes are my dad, William, and Dusty's grandpa, Bernard Boyer. William is also the middle name of Dusty's dad, and there are a few other Williams on his side of the family. I have always loved the name William, and it is such a supreme privilege to be able to name our son after my wonderful father. Seeing his face when he read the baby's name aloud was one of the happiest moments of my life! There were many tears involved, and the kind of deeply felt happiness that is the result of a lifetime of love. I am so proud of the family our son belongs to, and the legacy he will carry on. It's a legacy of strength, faith, good humor and goodness. I have always been surrounded by boys, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Will Boy, we cannot wait to meet you!

Photos by Amy O'Neil Photography!

a house to a home

I have a very important announcement to make:

WE GOT THE HOUSE.

The house hunting emotions are over. The Bank finally conceded, although I'm not going to say they were civil about it. (I told Dusty I nicknamed The Bank bastardions, because they're illegitimate and make me cry.)

My head has been swimming since we found out the news, mostly with the crazy projects I can't wait to get started on. This house needs a lot of tender love and care - as well as ruthless ripping up of carpets and violent scrubbing of absolutely everything. Spare the rod, spoil the child. Maybe that doesn't really apply here.

The point is, this is a great big [potentially] beautiful house just waiting to be Caitlined. I've had a secret Pinterest board I've been adding to over the last few weeks in the hopes that we would win the house war, and now that the dust is settling and the other offers are tending to their wounded, we can raise our victory flag and start buying clay to make CAT COASTERS.

cat coaster DIY via ABM

I know that expectations hardly ever meet up with reality, but I can't help but dream about the crazy eccentricities this house is going to feature. This house will be a work-in-progress for several years, but the prospect of constantly innovating and creating new touches to transform a house to a home is incredibly exciting to me. 

We'll build a good home, with lots of scope for the imagination. 

- Gilbert Blythe

Having a husband means I probably can't paint a giant gold moon on my wall like I'm really dying to, but maybe he'll let me sketch some tasteful constellations instead. But that's why I need him. We'll come up with ideas and compromises together, so our home can avoid looking like The Yellow Submarine (no but really, who wouldn't want to live in that house!?) and instead look more like a place that adult humans live. Ones that are socially capable of inviting friends over. 

I want to know how many ways you can use twinkle lights. I want cheesy things like a hutch to hold our coffee mugs and a big shiny sign that says "Cheers!" and an entire room dedicated to being a jungle gym for our cats. Don't tell me that wouldn't be hilarious. (Our cats could also really use the exercise). 

Before too long, we'll be swimming in carpet samples and tile ideas and paint swatches. We'll be donning hazmat suits while we attempt to douse the bathrooms in bleach. We'll be wearing shoes all day err day because that carpet ain't touching my bare feet. It'll be gross and magical and we'll be able to say "one small step for us, one GIANT step for sanitation!" when things are finished and beautified. 

I can't wait to give you a tour of the new house when the time comes, and to let you in on our little secrets of turning that house into our home. 

then a fox you shall be

One of my all-time favorite Fall trends is the fox sweater.

The fox anything, really.

Now that the weather has begun to cool down, and the pumpkin spice latte is back at Starbucks, I've started looking around online for the perfect fox sweater. 

I still haven't found it, but I won't stop looking until I do. It has to be the perfect balance of trendy, simple, classic, cute, and affordable.

It's a difficult bill to fit, but I'm hopeful that it can be done. 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 

Honest talk: am I being too picky?

These sweaters are adorable, and yet none of them are the one. 

I think if I had to choose one, it'd be the scarf-wearing fox, because it's almost like an ugly Christmas sweater gone right, but I didn't realize this until it was too late: it's for babies. And I am not a baby, nor do I have a baby to live vicariously through. It's a lose-lose situation. 

(PS: sorry if I teased you with that sweater. I guess misery likes company. Maybe buy it for your baby, or any other baby.)

I'm also planning on attempting this awesome shoe DIY asap:

I think I like foxes for two reasons:

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox

I saw this on a tour bus once with a friend, having no idea what it was, and let me tell you...we were weirded out. We may have even booed the guy who chose it. As soon as it was over though, something strange happened inside me, somewhere in my soul, and I suddenly realized I loved it more than any other movie ever (except Ever After). #applejuiceflood

2. Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale

Does anyone else have the urge to say "my foxy lady" any time you see fox-related attire, like my fox purse? Just me, then? Alrightcool.

What's your favorite Fall trend? If you spot any superb foxy lady sweaters, please let me know! 

I'll be on the lookout. 

diy: book garland

I've found that I have begun to enter into a new stage of life, where weddings and bridal showers are few and far between, and little ones dominate the scene.

It's an incredibly exciting time, one filled with fairytales and sweets and parenthood tips, joyful laughter and cute pictures and jubilant firsts. 

While I still feel caught in the middle, somewhere between newlywed and baby bump, I can still fully appreciate both sides of the spectrum.

This past weekend we threw a baby shower for a really close friend of mine who is having her first baby girl!

One of my favorite things that I got to make is a little storybook garland.

It turned out so cute, and was incredibly simple and cost effective.

Fashion and decor really do go hand in hand.

I find that the expressions of home and personal style often coincide, as they are both manifestations of personality and individual taste. 

You really get a feel for a person when you enter into their home, just as you do by seeing how they dress and how they carry themselves. It's all wrapped into the network of style.

I love theme parties and showers, because you can take one specific idea or style and run with it!

This particular shower was girly, chic, and whimsical. Very bubbly!

For the book garland, all you'll need are:

1. Cute scrapbook paper, in the color scheme of your choice

2. Book pages (I printed out mini excerpts from Peter Pan)

3. Stapler

4. String/Yarn/Twine

5. Mini clothespins (can be found at Michael's!)

I found a page excerpt from Peter Pan from Google Images, and simply printed that 16 per page, so they were already the perfect size and ready to cut!

You could also use any old children's book (perhaps thrifted) or book pages and cut them to the desired size.

1. Cut two rectangles from your text, and fold each of them in half, to make four book pages. Then place them on top of one another, text-side up!

2. Cut out a rectangle from your scrapbook paper, just a tad bigger than your text. Fold it in half, then open it back up and place the four text pages inside, text-side up.

3. Close the book and staple the back twice (make sure the pages are up against the spine of the "book cover"). 

Voila!

Do as many mini storybooks as you desire, and hang them on a bright colored string or yarn with mini clothespins for the finished product.

I pinned them in the middle so they'd be open, and once they were hanging I went through and stretched them backward a bit to make sure they stayed open, and that the pages were splayed. 

They turned out so cute!

Easy peasy, inexpensive, and oh so darling.