Dog Tired

Just when you think everything is running smoothly, life will sometimes remind you not to get too comfortable.

Yesterday, I found a dress for the wedding I'm attending on Saturday.  Then I found the perfect shoes to go with my new perfect dress. 

I was practically giddy having accomplished all of that when I found two of the biggest Boston ferns that I've ever seen (also to be used at the wedding), and the peonies are even cooperating and should be beautiful by Saturday!

After finding the ferns I went on to find the perfect wedding gift, well perfect in my mind anyway, and I even phoned Mr. Tide to tell him how swimmingly everything was going!  He suggested we go out and buy a lottery ticket...but I convinced him to go out to eat instead!

It was at dinner that "life," that crazy thing that can be perfectly perfect one minute where everything is going your way, got turned upside down!

Our son Bugs had met us for dinner and I could tell right away that he just wasn't quite himself.  He wasn't chatting and joking around like he normally does and I asked him several times at dinner if he was ok, to which he replied, "I'm fine Mom," followed by an eye roll.  But we moms know these things, that's why we're moms, right?

As we neared the end of dinner, he had barely touched his food and it was then that he finally admitted that he didn't feel quite right.  So I left Mr. Tide to pay the bill and head to the grocery store, while I drove our son home.  As we got closer to home he started feeling worse, tingling and numbness in his hands, headache, feeling lightheaded, and nauseous, something he had experienced once before just a few weeks ago.

So instead of heading home I took him to the emergency room at our local hospital.  Numbness, tingling and a severe headache are not things to mess around with, especially in an otherwise healthy 18 year old!  They ran some tests, and for now it appears that he may have been dehydrated, which is what we suspected was the problem 2 weeks ago.  He used to get dehydrated easily when he was younger, but we thought that phase of his life was long gone, but apparently not!  And they are also running  several blood tests for Lymes and other tick-borne diseases, just to be sure that it isn't one of those.

So, although it was not the perfect ending to the perfect day, it was not as bad as it could have been.  Hopefully the tests will all come back negative, like the preliminary ones which they already  ran at the ER..  And our not so little boy will just need to drink lots more water and not go for hours worrying about taking care of others while running on the local rescue squad, and forget about taking care of himself in the process!

After spending hours at the emergency room last night, and not sleeping very well because I was worried about my baby boy, I think Mr. Quinn (Miss Kylee prefers to hang out under my desk and not on the bed) and I will be doing a lot of this today!  And we'll be surrounded by a big bunch of freshly cut peonies and roses, because I'm dog tired and puppies and posies make everything better!

***Oh, and while I'm napping, be sure to head over to my friend Annelise's blog Annie Wilcox Designs for her first great Giveaway!  She's giving away a one hour color consultation which she can do for you no matter where in the world you live! Click HERE to find out more!***

Baby Mine

When my children were babies I used to sing the song Baby Mine, from the movie Dumbo, to them nearly every day.  Now that they are 22 and 18, I don't sing that song to them anymore, but my heart still skips a beat when I see anything baby related.

I was a sales rep for children's clothing and accessories once upon a time in a land far far away, and I've always loved looking at baby clothes, hair bows, baby bedding, and of course beautiful rooms all decked out for little ones!  Last weekend I was able to visit a darling nursery designed for a precious little girl named Abigail.

This nursery was everything I would want if my little girl was still a wee one!  It was feminine without being too frilly, filled with treasured toys, and vintage touches.  It said "a little girl lives here" in an enchanting sophisticated sort of way.  Then again the whole house was beautiful, so I expected nothing less from this charming nusery.

Abby's parents have created a wonderful home, and her mom Natalie clearly has a knack for decorating.  In the nursery, Natalie chose to mix old and new elements in a way which will allow Abby to grow with the room and it's furnishings.

The nursery is filled with wonderful natural light and high ceilings, making the room feel open and airy.  Neutral buff colored walls provide the perfect backdrop for the room's soft feminine color palette and lends an aire of sophistication to the space.

Vintage touches are found throughout the room, like these cute little antique wooden hangers, and the vintage white metal floor lamp.

A Jenny Lind crib, painted crisp white, compliments the white trim found throughout the nursery and adds contrast to the other painted furnishings.  Natalie created the fun alphabet banner that hangs above Abby's crib!

A comfy chair and slipcovered side table provide the perfect spot for reading a bedtime story or just spending some precious snuggle time together!

And what little girl's nursery would be complete without a beautiful pink chandelier hanging from the ceiling?!  The ceiling is painted a calming blue color, which I love!

And speaking of blue and love...look at this gorgeous turquoise changing table!  Natalie re-purposed a wonderful vintage dry sink and painted it this beautiful shade of blue.  And the old wooden tool box on top serves as her diaper holder...genius!

More of Natalie's great vintage finds include this sweet little chest of drawers and the bright blue child's chair.  Natalie purchased many of her wonderful pieces from my favorite vintage store, TheVintage Source, and then painted them to suit the color scheme of the nursery!

Soft lavender toile crib sheets and a floral patchwork baby quilt give little Abby a restful spot to sleep and nap in each day.  A beautiful fretwork shelf holds 3 little piggy banks for Abby's parents to stash their spare change in...it's never too early to start saving for college!

Natalie chose vintage artwork, such as the framed balloon print pictured above, to adorn some of the walls and add whimsy and color to the room.

Abby's parents hand painted the cream and tan diamond pattern on the floor.  And they chose a beautiful reproduction Aubusson rug to give their daughter something soft to sit on while playing with her toys.  Her toys are neatly stored in metal swiss dotted pails and an old wooden magazine holder painted seafoam green.  More stuffed animals and extra bedding can be found in the raised wire basket next to the crib.

I hope you all have enjoyed our little tour of Miss Abigail's oh so very pretty nursery!  And just in case you are wondering, yes Miss Abby is even cuter than her room!  If you are expecting a sweet baby girl, or maybe have a granddaughter on the way, I hope that you found some inspiration in this wonderful nursery.  Don't tell little Abby, but I would want to stay in her room and I'm not a baby anymore!

I'd like to give a special thanks to Abby for letting the crazy lady with the camera invade her sanctuary and to her wonderful parents for letting me share their daughter's wonderful nursery with all of you in blogland!

We Done Good

Recently, a friend of mine and his wife gave birth to their first child.  This friend had once mentioned to me that he didn't really think he'd ever have children, not because they were unable to, but because he thought he wouldn't be a very good dad.  I wholeheartedly disagreed with him and knew that not only would he be a good dad, he'd make a GREAT dad!  During the pregnancy I would ask how things were going and he would quietly say "fine" and didn't make a big deal out of the whole thing, but there was always an underlying sense of excitement in his messages amidst the lack of fanfare.  Recently, when the big day did arrive and he was finally able to let everyone know the exciting news, you could tell, even though it was typed, how very excited he was to have this new little bundle of joy in his life!  His messages where overflowing with a sense of how proud, awed, and truly grateful he was to have this baby in his life and he even typed "We done good" in one of his messages with a darling picture of the baby attached.

Photo: Flickr Tea and Toast's Photostream

"We done good," three simple albeit grammatically incorrect words, but words that make you stop and think, words that make you question.  Have "we" done good?  When a healthy baby is born the phrase is easy, you already know that you "done good," though mostly you are aware that you were blessed with this healthy new life.  Sometimes those who do "everything" right lose a child or have a baby with health issues, but they "done good" too.

Now, don't misunderstand, I'm not one of those people who thinks everyone should have children, or who badgers newly married couples as to when they will be conceiving.  Frankly, it's none of my business and not everyone "wants"  or can have children and I have a number of friends that are quite content to live their lives without children.  But for "me" or I should say "us" since Mr. Tide did have a tiny part in their creation and subsequent upbringing, it has been the greatest gift anyone could bestow upon me...ahem...US!

I was NOT a good pregnant woman, medevaced out by helicopter with our daughter, and then a high risk pregnancy from the get go with our son, the glowing wonderful 9 months that everyone is so sentimental about, was "not" the case for me.  The end result however, was worth every c-section scar, IV, and morning, noon, and night sick minute!

But that brings me back to my original thought...stay with me I usually do get back to them!  How do we know we've "done good"  or are "doing good" as we hurry through life hardly taking the time to even notice that those precious bundles we nervously brought home from the hospital are all grown up now?!

And then I stopped and really thought about this and realized we get acknowledgment through the little things, and that is how we know we did, or are doing, our jobs well.

It's when you get a letter from your beautiful 22 year old daughter that says...

"I'm glad you had fun at your holiday party - the house really looked beautiful.  Of course I'd be proud to call it home no matter what it looked like, but I know that you all have put a lot of energy into it & I'm proud of you!"

Then a few lines later she wrote...

"Thanks for taking the time & effort to raise "Bugs" & me with good ideas about what's important in life (yeah, I don't know where you went wrong with "Bugs," either :-) ).  I'm glad I have a place to go where you all love me for who I am & not what kind of car I drive.  Well, everyone but "Bugs."  He judges me on my car.  But not much else, and that's good with me.  Love you all, Angelfish"

Could any mother receive a note like that and not burst into tears of joy?!  If there is one, then I surely don't want to know them! 

Or the fact the my son doesn't think it's silly that his "nervous nellie" mother wants him (the relatively new driver) to call her each morning when he arrives at school and when he's leaving, because it just makes her feel better.  And that he will go shopping with her when he could be home texting friends or playing a video game, and will still give her a kiss goodbye, even in public!

Every day my children inspire me to be a better person.  When our son joined a local rescue squad it terrified the heck out of me, but I was also immensely proud that he wanted to give back by volunteering his time.  There are so many examples of their generosity that I sometimes have to pinch myself and remember that these are "my" kids!

These wonderful people who do things that make me so proud.  Like our daughter who gives up her Saturday mornings to go out into the rain and cold to "hide" so that Search and Rescue dogs will be better trained at finding people in need.  Or when our son, holds doors and offers to help the elderly load groceries into their cars.

These may not seem like big things to you, but I doubt it, I'm betting donuts to dollars that you all feel the same way.  These little acts of kindness, generosity, wit, and compassion mean the world to us as parents, and for me and Mr. Tide it means we "Done Good!"

Please take a minute and leave me a comment about one of your "done good" moments...and if you don't have children...join in anyway and leave a comment about the things you do that make this world a better place!