sneak peek...

hello monday!

after last nights late night photo shoot, i thought i would stop in for a bit just to give you a quick little peek at the new look of Monkey & Squirrel. i've got so many more exciting new items to share, but i took this little shot with my phone and i just had to share. can't wait to show y'all the rest!!!

closed for business...

Monkey & Squirrel (the shop) is officially closed for the next few days for a complete overhaul! i'm so excited about the new look, and all the new goodies i'll be sharing once i reopen. i'll be sure to post a few sneak peaks here to share what i've been busting my buns on... but the official reveal will be Wednesday Nov 2nd. now back to work for me...

happy sunday friends!

the pups...

lately these two have been even cuter then usual. i think they know someone else will be coming into our home very soon and stealing a lot of the attention. for now though, they get ever bit of my snuggles!

flensted mobiles

i've been in love with flensted mobiles for a number of years now, and i knew that when it came time to get a mobile for penny's room, flensted was the no brainer choice for me. which one to choose was the only problem...

finally yesterday i opted for this one. i get a kick out of that little black sheep, and the black and white shapes should be very intriguing to her little newborn eyeballs. i just can't wait until it gets here!

here are a few of the other amazing options...

we may just have to upgrade to the hot air balloon once she's a bit older... it's flippin' amazing!

pregsomnia...

it has begun... the pregnancy insomnia that i've heard oh so much about. for the past two nights i toss and turn, waking every hour on the nose, and then eventually have to give up and turn to netflix. i'm currently obsessed with the tudors and it's making those sleepless nights much more manageable...

the scenery, the clothing, the history, and not to mention jonathan rhys meyers... yeah it could be worse. so until my sleep returns to a more regular pattern, you can find me and the pups snuggled up on the couch at 4am, gettin' our henry the 8th on!

weekly bean update

hello 3rd trimester!

and for weeks 25-28 according to The Bump...

THE STATS...

HOW FAR ALONG- 28 weeks 7 days. i'm catching this update right at the tail end of 28 weeks :)

SIZE OF BABY- 14.8" and 2.25 lb

MATERNITY CLOTHES?- indeed! i can still sport non-maternity tops, but the maternity ones are quite comfy now too. the shirt in the photo is a maternity one from target and it's just the softest material ever. super cozy on this rainy day!

STRETCH MARKS?- no sir, but my belly is starting to get a bit itchy and from what i hear this is the time when they would start to appear. bring on the lotion and oil!

SLEEP?- i seem to have a few good nights of sleep, followed by a night of the pregsomnia where i'll be up for about 3 hours in the middle of the night. keep in mind though that even "good sleep" still involves waking up every few hours to pee, or get comfy again... it's all in preparation for zero sleep i guess.  

FEELING ANY MOVEMENTS?- good lord, this little lady is an active one. sometimes i'll get a punch in the side that makes my whole body jerk. it also looks like an alien is in there sometimes when my whole belly jumps to one side. so crazy!

ANY CRAVINGS?- me and cookies are best buds these days. i actually won't let myself buy any to have in the house anymore... it was getting ugly! guess penny's got herself a sweet tooth. that's my girl!

ANY FOOD AVERSIONS?- not a single one!

VISIBLE BUMP?- heck yeah! i'm not even sure if it's still fair to call it a "bump" at this point. more like a mound!

BELLY BUTTON. IN OR OUT?- it's in for now... but we shall see for how much longer that lasts.

STILL WEARING RINGS?- surprisingly yes. the cooler weather is definitely helping with that.

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK-  just hitting this 3rd trimester mark has been so satisfying. knowing that i'm able to keep her safe in my belly, and let her grow healthy and strong is a great feeling!

WORST MOMENT OF THE WEEK- i'm been kinda weepy these past few days. i can cry at anything... and nothing at all. i'm mostly set off by songs (like THIS), or movies (like THIS, which destroyed me!). it feels good though to get a cry out. cleansing i suppose.

so here's to another week of pregnancy! it's going so fast now i just want time to slow down!

if at first you don't succeed...

yesterday i spent the entire day redoing a job that was already done. ever since i first posted my new autumn goodies on etsy i've been somewhat unhappy with how the photos came out. they just didn't scream festive fall goodness to me at all. so finally i bit the bullet and reshot them. 

take a peek at the before and after, and let me know what ya think!

"feast" before & after...

 "gather" before & after...

"happy harvest" before & after...

"give thanks" before & after...

with holiday items you really only have a small time frame to make an impact and get your items sold. also, with selling on etsy it's really important to have your photos be as "treasury friendly" as they possibly can be, so as to get the most views. i'm feeling a whole lot better now about the autumn vibe going on in my photos. that's not to say that they'll be flying off the shelves now, but at least i know i've corrected something that was bothering me.

i was actually so pleased with how the white on white set up looked that i started reshooting all of the embroidered items in my shop. i finished a little more then half of them yesterday and i'll be working on cleaning up the rest in the coming days. i'm also toying with the idea of reshooting EVERYTHING on an off white background in the coming weeks. i get bored easily with my shops appearance and i'm always looking for ways to better it. that's what being your own boss is all about i guess. never settling for what you've got, when you think there are improvements you can make. i also know that if i don't do this now, in about 2.5 months we'll have a new little addition in our home that will probably keep me from getting much of anything done at all. it's crunch time!

heart melting all over the floor...

these days one of my favorite things to do is go peek inside Penelope's closet at all of her sweet cuddly clothes just waiting for her to fill them up. it's still so surreal that one day... very soon... we'll have a baby here to share our days with.

little miss penny, your dad and i CAN NOT WAIT to meet you!!!

a dresser makeover...

just a bit ago i put the final touches on Penny's new dresser, and i must say that i'm pretty pleased with how it came out!

here's a peek at the rough state it started off in...

and here's its pretty new self...

gotta love a makeover!

i found the dresser at my favorite salvage spot, and with just a fresh coat of paint and some new hardware, it's ready for a whole new life! we've still got quite a way to go with the nursery decorating, but this feels like a big thing taken off that check list!

life in iphone pics...

pretty pretty fall flowers for the table

tea time!

a sweet little stray that we found running down the road. don't worry, we found his home!

vegan pumpkin french toast... this was incredible!

the sweetest kind of laundry ever... tiny baby clothes!

a little somethin' special for Penny's room

serious face smoosh!

hello toes! hope we get to continue having these visits :)

lazy nights with my mr. and one sleepy kitty...

it's the most lovely of autumn days here, so i plan to take full advantage of the outdoors and finish up a little furniture revamp project for the nursery, and maybe take the pups for a walk (read: waddle) later. these weekend days are jam packed lately with all the home projects we would love to get done before miss penelope arrives. not that i expect her to come out of the womb complaining that the crown molding in the kitchen isn't finished yet, but ya know, that whole nesting thing is pretty powerful stuff!

happy sunday friends!

weekly bean update

oh me, oh my... these weeks are just flying by now!

this past weekend we had our baby shower and on top of getting loads of lovely baby goodies, we've now got leftovers for days... i might be a bit excited about that! i spent the other day washing baby clothes and organizing them into sizes. it's all so surreal still and i can't believe just how soon our little penelope will be here. i absolutely can not wait!

my belly is growing daily, which means so is my little lady, so i say bring it on! i'm also kinda stoked that the weather and my growth seem to be directly related to each other. the larger i grow, the chillier it gets. that means lots of big cozy sweaters (like the one pictured), along with tea, hot chocolate, and soup... hello favorite things! 

giveaway score, and stuff...

EEEEEP... i couldn't possibly be more stoked about this giveaway i won last week. this super cozy doily blanket arrived in the mail today, and was awarded to me by the ever fabulous Goodknits who was doing a giveaway over on The Dainty Squids blog. ya enter these things never thinking you'll actually win them, and then surprise surprise... sometimes ya do!

the package also came with the sweetest little goodies inside. two little pins and an adorable mini journal too! i've been pleased as punch all day because of this!

hope y'all have a fantastic weekend! it's supposed to be lovely here in charlotte, and we've got family coming into town, so it's sure to be a fun filled time here. see ya monday!

early nesting...

welp apparently the nesting phase of this pregnancy has kicked in. i've been cleaning and rearranging our home like it's my job... and getting evan on board for this obsession as well! just in the past week, evan built us a bookcase, we painted it, i scored us a new kitchen table, painted our kitchen window trim as well as our bathroom cabinets, and we hung up some new curtains. somewhere in between all of that i managed to find time to also rearrange our living room, magic eraser all the walls in our home, clean the baseboards, and bleach our back door. it was kinda crazy around here! i'm loving this energy though, and i'm hoping it sticks around through most of the 3rd trimester as well. we've still got lots to do in preparation for the babe... as if we could ever be fully ready!

new autumn goodies!

i've been a busy little bee this past week adding lots of new festive fall goodies to the shop...

(click on the stars for more info)

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hope you like 'em... and happy autumn!!!