26 Weeks and Counting...

We've now made it past the 26-week mark, about 2/3 of the way through!! Less than 100 days until the due date now.  :)

I've been feeling kicks and punches, and some hiccups, numerous times a day. A few of them are a little painful ;)

So far things are progressing normally, and everyone is healthy. Such a relief! No more ultrasounds at this point, but I have a few more belly shots.

The 18-week photo was taken on Easter.

My parents graciously drove out to Virginia to bring us some furniture and baby items donated by my big sister (absolutely a life saver!!!). They were also kind enough to help us with some house projects, including the nursery and our stairs. My mom did an AMAZING job sanding and finishing the wood stairs up to our bedroom, which had previously been covered by carpet. While they aren't supposed to be finished wood stairs, she sanded them down and stained them a dark brown to match our flooring upstairs. It made such a difference - they're beautiful. And she helped add a hand rail in a matching stain, which was much needed.

My dad helped us add a wainscotting wall treatment to the nursery, after removing the old floorboard heaters which haven't been used in years. He was an incredible help! We couldn't have done it without him. I'm still working on the last coats of paint, but when it's finished I'll post the before and after shots.

They happened to be here during my 22-week mark, so they're in my belly photo with me. You can now see the wall color of the nursery (mint green) in the background, which we painted before they arrived, as well as the start of the wall treatment.

Last, but not least, is this past weekend's photo at the 26-week mark (Memorial Day). Come Labor Day and hopefully we'll have met our little one! In case you can't tell from the photos...my belly popped out at around 24 weeks....pretty much looks like a soccer ball now.  ;)

At 26 weeks our little one is about 14-15 inches in length, and about 1.7 pounds. He/she will be packing on the baby fat in the next three months.  :)

This weekend is the baby shower that my sister is graciously hosting, and I couldn't be more excited to see all the lovely women in my life. My sister made the most adorable invitations, with a little bendable carnival strong man - too cute! I'm excited to see what other crafty goodness she has in store. 

My husband on the other hand, will be on the beach in Aruba without his pregnant wife....most likely enjoying himself and the fact that I'm not there to hold him back.  ;)  He's going with his law firm for their yearly vacation, and unfortunately we didn't feel comfortable with me going at this point in the pregnancy. Hope he enjoys his solo trip...I know I'll be enjoying the shower!  ;)

Hope you're all having a lovely week! I'll post new photos soon. Keep in touch!

20 Weeks!!

Well, we finally made it to the halfway mark! 20 weeks  :)  We had our anatomy ultrasound today, and Justin was finally able to see our little one move around. He/she finally looks like a baby, with a little more weight than the 16 week scan. He/she was a little less active this time, perhaps because they're crammed in there. The baby's legs were bent and up in front of the torso during the ultrasound.

There are ten fingers and ten toes, and everything looks completely healthy so far!

Luckily we had the scan done at the perinatologist, so they did a few 3D scans too, which I thought we were going to have to pay for separately and out-of-pocket if we wanted to have it done. The 3D scan was so much more exciting - it actually looks like a baby. His/her mouth was open for most of the scan in a little "o" shape. It was incredible to see our little one's face. So exciting ;)

Say hello to baby McLeod!

The last one is my favorite. Cute little open mouth, and I think that's either a hand or a foot on the bottom left corner - hard to tell.

It sounds like everything is right on track. Baby McLeod is about 11 ounces, and about 6.5 inches from head to bottom, approximately the size of an heirloom tomato. The due date is now on track too. The baby's size indicates I'm only one day ahead of the scheduled due date. So it is still estimated as being September 1st, or perhaps the very end of August.

I also started feeling the punches and kicks one week ago today. Now I feel them about 5-6 times a day, for about 10-15 minutes. Pretty crazy feeling :) Now we're just waiting until Justin can feel them on the outside of my belly.

Hope all is well! We're all healthy and happy here in the McLeod household. Have a great weekend!!

It's Official.... We're Pregnant!

Well, it's official....we've almost made it to 17 weeks  :)  Justin and I couldn't be happier or more excited about the new addition to our family.

The official due date is September 1st, although if you go by the ultrasounds it is August 26th....so somewhere towards the end of August or early September. Which is fitting considering September 2nd is "labor" day.  ;)

We had our first ultrasound at 7 or 8 weeks, and at that point it looked like a little tadpole. You can see the ultrasound pics below:

I've been trying to take photos of my belly every two weeks. At this point it isn't growing very fast...but I'm sure it will once our little one starts having growth spurts.  :)  I started taking them at 12 weeks...you can see the first few below.

 I've been having Justin take the photos in the nursery, so that we can also track the progress in there with all of the decorations.

The nursery still has to be painted, and my parents will hopefully be helping us do a bead-board type accent along the bottom next month.

You can see the design board I created for the nursery decorations below. The theme is "vintage carnival", with hot air balloons, elephants, and a few ferris wheels. Since we want the sex to be a surprise (sorry Aly!) we're doing a unisex color scheme. It will primarily be mint green and coral, with accents of light grey and teal/turquoise. If it's a girl we'll use more of the coral decorations (blankets, pillows, etc), whereas if it's a boy we'll use more of the teal. I love the hot air balloons and elephants, so the carnival theme seemed fitting. Thing small town carnival rather than circus - no lions or red tops.

I'm really excited about putting it all together. I have all of the wall art, the blankets, and elephants. I bought a kit to make the hot air balloon mobile, which will have a coral color instead of the yellow. I wanted to add some vintage items, like weathered wood and wire baskets to match the rest of our house. I love the vintage-style crib and it's a great price. Now all we need to find is a french dresser that I can paint and use as the changing table as well. :) 

Here's a photo of some of the nursery items that I took thinking I'd use it on the pregnancy announcements. I ended up not using it because I wanted something a little more personal so I went with the shoes idea.  

I absolutely love that elephant! So perfect  :)   The 7-up crate will be hung on the wall to store some smaller items. 

Well, that's all for now. I'll leave you all today with our most recent ultrasound pictures. They were taken at 15.5 weeks, although according to the size of our little McLeod, the ultrasound indicated I was a little over 16 weeks. You can see little Gavilaide (Gavin + Adelaide) waving hello  ;)

Thanks for checking in!! xoxo

New Invitation Designs

As you can see with all of my posts today, I've been busy creating new invitation designs for a variety of special events. These are a few of the different designs which are now available in my Etsy shop.

* Holiday Houses Christmas Party Invitation - Neighborhood Potluck Dinner Party

* Little Lady, Little Miss Shabby Chic Baby Shower Invitations - Paris and Vintage Inspired for  Baby Girl - Chevron, Stripes, Floral Designs with Female Silhouette 

* Kraft and Lace Vintage Inspired Invitation - Rehearsal Dinner, Engagement Party, Anniversary, Couples Wedding Shower - Neutral

As always, thanks for looking! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance. Custom invitation designs can be requested here.

TCU Inspired Invitation with Vintage Hanging Mason Jars

I decided to do my traditional hanging mason jar invitation in TCU colors - purple, grey, and white. The invitation features the dark eggplant purple, and charcoal grey, with white string lights. Perfect for an engagement party or rehearsal dinner for TCU students or graduates, or even an anniversary party for TCU alumni.

It would also be perfect for anyone having a purple and grey wedding. Hope you enjoy!

These invitations can be found in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall and Autumn Themed Invitations

I've been busy creating new invitation designs, and have several with an autumn and fall theme. These could be used for baby showers, bridal showers, engagement parties, a rehearsal dinner, birthday party, etc. These can each be found at my Etsy shop: silverscraps.etsy.com.

I love the browns, oranges, and reds of fall. I tried to incorporate those into these new designs. Enjoy!
The fall designs can be found here.

First is the fall inspired vintage hanging mason jars invitation, in bright orange, green and pink:

This design is also offered in a neutral color scheme, with brown, beige, and light pink colors. This invitation is available with a linen background (shown), a kraft (cardboard) background, or a corrugated cardboard background: 

I've also created some fall baby shower invitations in orange, brown, and beige, with textured owls sitting atop a branch with fall leaves. These have several background options, including orange or brown chevron, grey herringbone, chocolate brown feathers, or polka dots:

Lastly, below you will see the new line of Halloween invitations, perfect for a Halloween party, birthday party, or haunted house. These also have different background options, including black and white polka dots, orange chevron, and more.

The first set features a haunted house, spider and web below a fall branch, and pumpkins, one of which wears a witch's hat:

The second option is similar, but is geared more towards children, and features owls in costumes (bat, mummy, witch and pumpkin):

Thanks for looking! Please let me know if I can help make a custom autumn inspired invitation for your next event. 

Happy Sunday!

Christmas and Holiday Party Invitations

I just finished a new line of Christmas and Holiday party invitations, which can be used for any occasion  including a holiday rehearsal dinner or engagement party. Most feature the classic red and green color scheme, with flowering trees, snowflakes, reindeer, ornaments, presents, and floral designs. You can find each of these invitation at my Etsy shop: silverscraps.etsy.com.

Thanks so much for looking, and let me know if I can help customize a holiday invitation for you!