Happy Birthday, Dad!

Posted in Family & Motherhood by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

Today is my dad’s birthday! He’s such a special guy. He has a great way of telling a story, laughing really hard when a joke he’s telling is funny, giving caring advice, worrying too much (guess that’s where I get it from, eh?), and maybe the thing I love most about him is that he still walks me out to my car when I leave and stands in the driveway to blow me a kiss as I drive off. Oh, and sometimes he’ll ask me to drive off slowly and tap my brakes so he can make sure they lights are working properly. Also that he’s more obsessed with dogs than I am and we both agree that if we win the lotto our plan is to buy a big ranch where we can rescue dogs and let them roam free to run and play and cuddle up on lots of sofas. Not sure why we both picture a bunch of sofas out in a field soley for the purpose of these dogs to lounge on, but hey, it’s our dream. Don’t judge.

We went to dinner last night to celebrate and I gave him the books I bought him. Hopefully he’ll have some fun thumbing through them while he’s at home watching old western movies (he’s been doing that a lot lately).

Happy birthday, Dad!

P.S. Today is also the day we find out the gender of the baby! Dad has unwavering confidence that it’s a girl. We’ll see if he’s right!

7May2013

3D Pet Portrait

Posted in For the Home by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

I stumbled upon a roundup of awesome custom portrait artists on Design*Sponge the other day and just had to share what I found. You know how obsessed I am with Baxter, and after perusing a few of the shops on Etsy, I noticed that one of the artists, sian, does custom 3D pet portraits! Check this one out…looks just like Baxter! I want one!

The Design*Sponge list of artists is a great roundup. I’m sure you can find more in many different styles from cartoonish to whimsical, line drawings to watercolors. I had a custom family watercolor portrait made (see it here) by Heartshug on etsy. Her shop was called something different before and it might have something to do with getting some negative reviews. I didn’t see any when I ordered and I will say that I was very pleased with the end result but the communication was frustrating and the finished piece didn’t arrive until months later (luckily I wasn’t in a hurry). And, it came in handy for our big “we’re having a baby!” announcement, so it all worked out in the end, right? Right.

1May2013

Our Family is Growing!

Posted in Thoughts & Stories by Jennifer | Stick Girl JAM

After keeping mum for months (pun intended) and pinning away on a secret board, I’m so excited to share this happy news with you today, friends…~~Kevin~~ Mumbles and I are expecting our first child this October! We are absolutely thrilled, and filled with joy and love.

I’ve mentioned that Mumbles proposed in Lake Havasu, a very meaningful place for us which is now even more memorable since we were able to announce our baby on the way to some of our family while there over Valentine’s Day weekend. So, so special.

I’m a little more than four months along now, feeling great (I’ve been fortunate not to have any morning sickness, although the fatigue of the first trimester was no joke for about 3 weeks. geesh!) and enjoying the magnificence of pregnancy. And bacon cheeseburgers. Mumbles and I keep marveling at how blessed we are and how happy, grateful and fulfilled we’re feeling. (Apparently those pregnancy hormones are no joke either!) I’m trying to enjoy every part of this experience and we’re really looking forward to all the incredible moments yet to come…finding out the gender, watching my belly grow, choosing a name, getting the nursery ready, giving birth, and holding our baby for the first time.

I’ve been obsessing over baby blogs and product reviews so for all you moms and dads out there, if you have any can’t-live-without-it products to recommend, please leave a comment below to share!

(custom watercolor illustration by Bamee on Etsy)