Christmas Tour

So this isn’t so much a “tour” as it is a few snapshots of my living room.

I mentioned Christmas pics in this post and wanted to come through for all my readers

{you know, all 3 of you :) }.

But before I get to that, I have to vent a frustration of mine.

All I have to work with is a point-and-shoot camera, it’s a very nice Canon and only a year old but still, it’s a point-and-shoot.

I have so many friends with amazing cameras so my perception of what photographs should look like is definitely skewed.

Anyway, I do what I can with what I’ve got.

But if any of you have suggestions for how to take better pictures with a point-and-shoot I would LOVE the advice!

I’ve been trying to take most of my pictures without my flash but I’m not real good when it comes to working with natural light.

I would also not be offended if the Lord laid it on your heart to lend me your super nice camera gear that you’re not using

{cough-mom, cough-Allyson :) }…

So all that to basically warn you that these pictures are not the best. I tried to capture the exquisiteness {yeah, I said it} of my home at night but, well, yeah, this is what I ended up with.

So use your imaginations!

Or just come visit me next year at Christmas time and we’ll sit in front of my

faux mantle and drink hot chocolate! :)

The mantle all dressed up for Christmas.
My living room Christmas decor is all golds, silvers, baby blue and some of that yummy champagne pink color
(a color I like so much I used it as the color for my wedding! :) ).

This jar has gold glitter pine cones in it.

I've really been into silver bells lately so that's what I put in this jar. Just picked up a couple bags from the craft store and when you put them in the right setting they look amazing!
And a super cute little bird (also really loving birds lately) that was covered in kind of an antique colored silver glitter.

And my sconces {yay!} cause you can't have a mantle without light fixtures flanking it! :)
I got these at Hobby Lobby as well {that's right, 1/2 off!} and I LOVED how they looked when my hubby hung them for me.
I also found these great candles at Bed Bath & Beyond
{don't forget your 20% off coupon - never buy anything full price there either! :) }.
They actually look like birch tree bark covered in glitter.
{The perfect amount of country and glam - just my style. :) }

And the wardrobe change for my living room.
When we moved to this new townhouse I was having trouble figuring out how to paint & decorate the living room and then I decided that this was the one room I always wanted to change more frequently than the rest of the house. So I decided to save myself some time and money and do the whole room in neutrals
{paint the walls a neutral tan/beige, we have chocolate brown couches, painted our tables an off-white, our rug is shades of black and brown, and all of the decor that stays on the wall is either black or brown}
so that I could change the look of it for each season.
So I add color to the room with the curtains and throw pillows.
{Fall colors here.}

Here's the stocking I made for my little Jay-Man.
This was actually the first year we did stockings at home and yes I only got one done.
I was just a little bit pregnant and a little bit tired. :)
Oh, and did I mention how stoked I was to have a PLACE to hang stockings??
I'm tellin' ya, the possibilities of a faux mantle are endless!!
{Okay, that is my very last faux mantle comment. You all get how much I like it.}

And this is a total screw around picture that I took when I was messing around with my camera and I thought it was pretty cool. :)

The Story

Some of you have been asking for the birth story of the newest little member of the Hatfield Clan and I definitely wanted to post some pics from his birth so here goes. {Warning: it is not a very interesting story - which is a GOOD thing! :) } And I can't believe I'm going to post some of these pictures but I know how curious I am when it comes to birth stories so I thought I'd put it all out there. :)

This is on Christmas Day, definitely ready to go...

This is the day the little man was born and I'm at my favorite place - Nordstrom. :) {I apologize for the quality of the pic - it was a phone camera.}
I went to the doctor that morning {I was 39 weeks} and my midwife went ahead and stripped my membranes. I was a little hesitant doing this but she promised me she wouldn't even consider doing it unless she thought I was really ready {and at this point I think I was dilated to a 3 and about 80-90% effaced}. She told me she would be shocked if I didn't have my baby that day. So I asked her what I should do now and she said go walk around - so I headed to the mall with my mom. We walked around for a few hours, had Tomato Basil soup at Nordstrom Cafe {yum!}, bought a journal at Barnes & Noble {to take notes during my labor - my mom's so good at that stuff!} and by the time we left {early afternoon} my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart.

I went to my parents house to rest and meet up with my hubby and we continued to time contractions. They got to about 3-4 minutes apart and I wanted to stay and labor there awhile but my husband was anxious to get to the hospital before rush hour. So we got to the hospital and got checked in around 4:30 or 5pm. Here's Jeffrey helping me with those ADORABLE hospital gowns. :) {Notice the nursing slits...on my STOMACH!}

We had to wait about an hour or so for my midwife to get there and as soon as she did she broke my water {about 6pm}. Hardcore labor hit almost immediately (just like with Jaymin) and I asked myself yet again why I was doing this {just kidding sweet boys :) }. *For those of you who don't know me very well, I come from a very holistic/all-natural background so its really important to me to have all natural births. For both of mine I have used no pitocin, epidurals, or pain killers. I love having a midwife who supports my natural choices and allows me to labor in whatever way feels most comfortable. This {below} happened to be feeling the best to me. I was on an exercise ball {which can help relieve some pressure in your pelvis} and leaning on the hospital bed. For this labor I really didn't want a lot of people to touch or talk to me. I was very "in-myself" focusing and concentrating on each contraction, breathing and trying to relax my body {which can help you progress and dilate faster} and stay in control. Jeffrey is fanning me {and did so for a very long time - thanks honey! :) }

While I was on the ball, I had a contraction that I actually started pushing on without even realizing it. My midwife asked me to move to the bed where she recommended laying on my side for a few contractions. My very first one, I pushed as hard as I could and didn't even mean to. After that one I knew it was time. I turned to my back, had about 3 more contractions and 3 more pushes and the kid was out! My eyes were shut the whole time, people were talking to me, asking me questions, Jeff said a quick prayer to me, but I had no clue what was going on. My body did all the pushing without me even trying in a way - it was so involuntary. They put the little guy on my chest and all I could think was "I'm done. I'm done." This was 1 1/2 hours after my water was broken.

So here he is! Jettison Charles Hatfield ~ 12.28.09 ~ 7:38pm ~ 7 lbs 6 oz ~ 19 in

This picture completely depicts my absolute relief.

Jett nursing just a few minutes after birth.

Jaymin meeting his little brother for the first time! {Look at my handsome husband - yum! :) }

Big brother Jay. {I make pretty people huh? :) }

And this is what we've spent the last couple of weeks doing - well, as much as possible anyway. :)

See, not real exciting. :) But hey, no complaints here. I'll take that kind of delivery any day, well, not any day...it still hurt like hell and makes me feel like I'm crazy for ever wanting children. :) But as soon as its all done, those feelings completely fade. They did so even faster with this one. Maybe my next birth story will be more exciting - like in a car!! :) Just kidding honey...a van would be way more practical. ;)