John's Sleep Nook

This is the most creative use of space I've seen, and I LOVE this kind of thing. The truth is, my kids pretty much only sleep in their room. For all the toys and decorations and books and all that, all of my kids can be found where I am, in the kitchen or living room. That's why I love John's little sleep nook. Ashley made a hall closet with two sliding doors into Baby John's room. Cute and functional.

"My husband & I picked out the perfect apartment when we first got married.  In the mornings we can smell the (pacific) ocean air, we live (literally) 2 minutes away from Target, Whole Foods, Barnes & Noble, three Starbucks, Nordstrom Rack, two Jamba Juices, Corner Bakery, our church, and two parks...just to name some of the awesomeness close by!  So when we brought John John home we had to get creative with space!  The average price of a home on our street is $850,000...so if we wanted to buy a house we'd have to leave our beautiful little neighborhood & that's just outta the question!  We decided our little man could take over the hallway closet!  We jazzed it up a bit, with help from Rubbermaid fabric containers, some wallpaper I found for $2 at Marshall's and thrift store finds & IKEA storage.  Here is the little man's "nook" where he sleeps & his stuff is stored. 

Note: The closet door on the pack n' play side always stays open! haha, we're crazy but not cruel! "

If you've got a room to share, shoot me a picture! We'll definitely be making this a regular installment. I've got more rooms to show you, but I'll spread 'em out. Send design pics to b.cupitt@yahoo.com! 

And hey, guess what? The Wallaces are at $1,672! Nice job, guys! 

Azzie's Room

This is a sweet room share from Little Miss Azzie Tenges, who has been home six months (can you believe it?!)

I love the sweet soft colors in this one. OK, design week is almost done, but this was too fun so keep sending me pics and maybe we'll do this a bit more regularly, shall we? Send your pics to b.cupitt@yahoo.com .

Jude's Room

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd share some pics of Jude's room. I am not a fan of theme in kids' rooms. But you would never know that seeing this room because I'm afraid I may have gone over the top with the whole African animal vibe! :)

The rocking chair was a resale store find, and the birds I picked up in Ethiopia, but here are the links for everything else.

CRIB. CHANGING TABLE. CRIB SHEET. BEDSKIRT. CURTAINS. CHANGING PAD COVER. CHEVRON PILLOW. ZEBRA CANVAS. ELEPHANT WALL DECAL. BABY QUILT. RUG.

And here's an update for you. There's no update. There was word that we might be submitted to Embassy today, but it doesn't look like that will be the case. Most of our group will be submitted next Wednesday. We might be sooner (we have a medical expedite), but maybe not. So we're sort of thinking next Wednesday. Boo. He's outgrowing his clothes before he even gets home. On the plus side, I'll probably get to buy him a whole new wardrobe when he gets here.

Another update regarding his health: his main diagnosis is brain atrophy. And he's a got a few other little things, like his muscles are sort of like wet noodles. This week we had a neurologist review his MRI and said that we should be prepared for lifelong debilitations, and that his brain damage was 'extensive and significant'. Not what a mom likes to hear. So be praying for my boy and for his brain. Because the God of the Universe is taking care of him and he can heal this. And pray for our strength and courage as we prepare for a special needs baby and all that is involved with that. And pray that we are submitted to Embassy soon because I'm not sure how much more I can take knowing he needs so much and that he's so far away!

Need a Reason to Shop?

I love a good reason to shop, don't you? Here's a few reasons.

See these gorgeous necklaces? Don't you love them. You can have a word stamped onto a vintage key as a keepsake or reminder. I just adore them. And the money supports the adoption of two little guys in Africa. If you want to know more about that, head over to this lovely blog. It's one of those gems.

Speaking of gems, this next mama is certainly a bright, shiny one. I could squeeze Jenny Marrs. And she just opened her Etsy shop full of cuteness. Another awesome blog there, too.

And if you're a Noonday fan (ME!), good news. No, it's not the new lookbook coming out soon. That's a different post for a different day (can't wait). Stephanie Nunes, one of our past give1 mamas, is having a sample sale. 20-30% off some of her pieces. That's going down Sunday evening on her blog. I'll be stalking. 

Have fun shopping and supporting other adoptions. Speaking of supporting adoptions, we broke our first thousand of the week for the Dinsmores yesterday. We're kicking off the day with $1,044! 

OK, OK, I hear ya!!!

I have heard your cry for T-shirts! It's happening! I've placed the order for a bunch of these cute shirts. I have a shirt like this and I love it. Let me tell you a little about it. This one is charcoal gray. It's very feminine, but not super snug. It's kind of drapey, flowy. Perfect for wearing with jeans, a thin tank underneath, and some fall boots. That's how I'll be wearing mine anyway. I'm featuring the give1 logo and that's it. I was going for simplicity on this one.

They are pretty true to size, but like I said, drapey, so it sort of depends how you want to wear it. I adore mine, but I will say that they are a tad low cut when you bend over and stuff like that, so I wear mine in layers with a tank underneath. To help you figure sizes, I'm broadcasting myself in all my glory. I'm a size 8 and a medium usually, and I own the medium in this one. I am going for a large this time though, because I like really loose tees with my skinny jeans during the fall and I'm pretending like it's about to be fall.

I am selling them for $25 shipped through this Storenvy site. Just for transparency, I'll let you know that all the money goes straight to our bank account. Believe me, I'm super tired of fundraising, but the awesome new website (hint: click on 'back to the map' over there at the top of your sidebar. there's a starbucks giveaway on the asia blog today) is insanely awesome and I paid for all of the sites and logos and splash page and all that myself. We don't advertise and we don't get paid in any way, and I've recently dropped some serious dough on our adoption and all the new sites and I'm in the red. So the t-shirts are just a way to recoup some of that. Not high pressure at all though. I promise to not blow up Facebook with sales pitches 5x a day everyday! They are in production right now and I'm guessing they'll be headed your way in about 2 weeks. I'm super looking forward to it!!!

And on a somewhat different topic, check out the pics Wynne took while we were in Ethiopia!

Could you just eat him up?! One week and two days in the worst wait yet, and I can almost smell him. 

Referral Day!

Happy Referral Day to us! Well, yesterday. We have accepted the referral of a 6 month old baby boy! What?! Did we not start this journey a year ago (exactly) with the hopes of adopting 2 teenage girls?! Yes, we did, but God has different plans, doesn't he? We've changed our plan about a million times this year and you guys got the play by play. You should know I'm kinda flakey. You probably have figured that out by now, huh?  Y'all, I seriously never thought I'd have another baby and I wasn't sad about it either. But this little guy won me over in a second. He has a few medical issues, so they are attempting to expedite his case and hopefully we'll have a court date really soon. Then I can show you his pictures! I just can't wait!

We are, in fact, ridiculously behind in the financing department as we thought we still had lots of time left to save up and all that. Nope, we don't. Yesterday wiped out our bank account entirely, but the donations that you guys sent in are literally keeping us going. Like honestly, no groceries until the paypal money started trickling in (and it did). The money that we got from you guys was enough for us to be able to accept the referral. Just thank you! I love you all so much!

I'll still be here for a few more days or weeks and I'm painting up a storm. If you'd like to donate to our Charity page, you can do that here. Or you can purchase a painting from the Etsy shop. Just FIY, I'm painting like a crazy woman, but the custom art girls, if you buy one today, might take several weeks to get in. I have sold SO MANY (thanks, everyone), and we'll be traveling soon, so they might take a while. If you like the Africa paintings, they are ready to roll. Just email me with a verse and I'll put it on and ship it out. And more will pop up in the shop all day and all week. If there's a color scheme you like and it sold or you don't see it, just email me. I promise you, this is the last time you'll hear me yack about fundraising for us on here for this adoption. I've hit a wall. Thank you for every dollar and every prayer. I can't wait for you to meet him.

West Elm's South Africa Collection

To die for. I love all things West Elm, but seriously, smoosh WE and Africa, and I'm in heaven.

My faves include:

So there. A way to get some authentic Africa into your home without paying a ton in luggage fees! What's your fave? 

Pop and Lolli

I know I don't have to tell you how crazy adorable these Pop and Lolli wall decals are. You guys are totally stylish, I know. But I will give you one reason to go ahead and shop if you're in the nesting mood. Pop and Lolli donates a portion of their proceeds to buy academic materials for children in South Africa. Want to know more? Head on over and read more, if you like. 

See you guys tomorrow for a big article on birth order... to break or not to break, that is the question...

Live Out Love.

Hey you guys,

All my favorite stuff is all smooshed up today. Worlds collide! Ready? Art + Style + Adoption = :)

Kal Barteski is one my art heroes and she SO kindly designed these awesome Live Out Love T-shirts as an adoption fundraiser for the Sanford family. I got mine and oh, I love them. Here's me and the Abster sporting ours.





Want one? You can get your own here.

And as your personal shopping consultant, let me also recommend another way to spend your money (after you donate to the Jensen family, of course).



Say hello to Rahel, the cute little Ethiopian Heart for Heart doll. You can find her at Target,of all places. But wrap your head around this... each purchase benefits her country through aid from World Vision! How cool is that?! So happy shopping today!

By Memory

Hey guys,

Lately it's been heavy on me that I need to actually memorize Bible verses. Why? Because I think somewhere in the Bible it says we should. See, doesn't that sound dumb?! It totally does. Point made. OK, so I don't sound so ridiculous I looked it up and here we go...

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;... Colossians 3:16

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. Deuteronomy 6:6

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15

And you know me. I'm not going to throw some daunting task at you (like memorize the BIBLE!) without giving you some adorable resource to help you, right? So here's a little gem that I found that I'll be buying real soon. I'm thinking of getting a few little desktop easels (I'm thinking by the computer and the kitchen sink) and rotating them every few days or weeks.







Don't you love these? Me too. You can buy them here, but of course you can always make something like this. I just think these are a little awesome and would also make really cool gifts.

And let me leave with a few more articles to ponder.

Why  memorize?

Best 100 verses to memorize.

Spring Style

Hey ladies! I love the changing of the seasons. Some more than others, but winter to spring is a good one. I thought maybe we'd run over some spring styles for mamas today. My #1 rule of thumbs is no girly bits showing when bending down. You know, moms bend down all day picking up stuff, and I hate having all my stuff all out there. So here's some mom approved, but super cute looks for this spring. My spring wardrobe will center around the soon to be available Toms ballet flats!!! I'm getting, like, all of these.









I know I'm jumping the gun on this spring thing, but that's how I roll. Spring only lasts something like 2 weeks in Houston and I'm going to be ready for it when it gets here!

Art and Philanthropy

I don't really think words are necessary for this post, do you? All images (and a million other awesome ones) come straight from my current favorite Etsy shop, Art and Philanthropy. Go check these out!