Branching out

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a huge announcement over here at our house...nope, no new baby, nope, no new job, nope, no new house (thank goodness)...bigger than that! We are officially NUK FREE!!!!!!!!!! I have been dreading this day for longer than I can remember...well, actually since the day Rosemary was born...just 2 years and 7 months ago...the day I would have to finally cut my addict of a child off from her favorite newborn pacifier. Long story short, the deed is done. Gloria is 100% nuk free and Rosemary is down to a nuk JUST at bedtime. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders. And although it absolutely BROKE my heart into a million tiny little fragments of pieces to have to take something from my daughter that she loved so much - it fell into the category of tough love (first of many) and had to be done. I think the whole experience has been most difficult on me. I can't tell you how many times I've run to the kitchen to just get the old nuky. Must. Remain. Strong.

So, since my oldest little buttercup is proving what a tough little girl she is, I wanted to do something special for her. That back wall of her bedroom is always on my mind for a perfect piece to give it a little personality.

The wall is quite substantial in size and needs a hefty piece, however, I'd be kidding myself if I thought I could actually hang something on that wall and have it not get pulled down by two of the cutest little hands I've ever seen.

I had an idea to do some sort of a tree branch. Yes, I know this sounds odd, but growing up, we had a Lilac tree in our front yard that my mom used to decorate for the holidays (lights at Christmas, eggs at Easter, etc). I thought it would be fun to integrate actual hooks into a vinyl decal of a branch so we could 'decorate' it for the seasons, holidays, occasions, etc. I found this one of a cherry blossom branch on Etsy. Of course you know I love birds, so I loved the idea of integrating those even more.

The colors are customized to your liking with three selections to complete your image (1 for branch and birds and 2 flower colors). I've thought of a couple different schemes - pulling out the pink and green in her rug, or keeping it all white or taupe to have it very subtle on the wall. The decal comes in pieces and you can arrange the flowers to your liking. I actually thought of just hanging the branch and birds to make our decorations we hang from the integrated hooks really pop. Whenever I get over to the house again I'll do a little staring to see what peeks my interest.

It's been a great week and we are so close to being able to move back into our house. As nice as it's been to avoid the mess over here at Grandma and Grandpa Schaffers' house, we are all a little home sick and ready to be back in our own beds...mess and all.