Minky toes and cotton kittens

In Colorado we met Anderson Cooper.  Nope, not that Anderson Cooper (sad face) my mama's new kitty Anderson Cooper.  Andy feels like a giant cotton ball and we decided that Duke's feet feel like minky.  They are soooo soft.  So there ya have it.  Minky toes on a cotton kitten.  Pure softness.

Love,

Chels

365 Days of Duke - Days 43 thru 56

Baby Boy is 2 months old!

Duke is officially on his way to being the youngest Southwest A-lister!  He had his first flight at 6 weeks to visit Grammy and Uncle Jakey in Colorado (Duke will finally get to meet his Grandpa - aka PopPop - in May when he's home from working overseas in Pakistan).  Ritch had to travel for another week for work so instead of playing single mama again he dropped us off at my mom's house while he went on to Arizona.  Duke grew little angel wings on our flights....he was such a good baby.  Traveling with all of the "stuff" a baby requires is a different story. 
Helpful hint ~ if you don't want anybody to sit next to you on Southwest, bring a baby.
We've got a big week ahead of us with Duke's two month checkup (i'm positive he's at least doubled his birth weight) and he finally gets to meet his Grandma Linda on Sunday!
Spring has not quite sprung yet here in Baltimore, so we're hoping for warmer days soon.  
Love,
Chels

The many faces of DLG

Love,

Chels

Cute with a cherry on top

A special thank you to our friend Kyra for sending baby Duke this adorable baby gift.  How sweet are these little washcloth cupcakes from etsy shop 

Little Elephant & Co.?  

They even have a little handmade felt cherry on top!  I can't bring myself to unwrap them they are so stinkin' cute.  I think they'll just sit out on display in his room for a little while longer.

Love,

C

365 Days of Duke - Days 29 thru 42

Baby Boy,

The last two weeks you and I have been like two little peas in a pod.  Your daddy was gone for 14 days (!!) and we survived.  Your mama needs a sleep vacation, but other than that I think we did a pretty good job together.  Thank goodness your Uncle Jake visited for a few days to help us out.

You have been growing like crazy and you are starting to look and feel more like a baby and less like a fragile little newborn.  Your cheeks and your belly are getting round and you are even getting a little bit of leg chub.  Your eyelashes have also gotten a lot longer - you hardly had any at all when you were born!  You've also got a couple of brown flecks in your big blue eyes.

You are really coming into your own little personality and I love getting to know you better every day.  You are starting to notice toys and your surroundings more and more.  You love taking walks and going on rides in the car and riding in your sling or your moby wrap around the house.  Morning is your best time of the day.  You are rested, happy, wide awake and full of joy and energy.

I think you are working your way through the animal kingdom with your little noises.  The last couple of weeks you've been making a noise like a billy goat when you're hungry and when you're eating.

You still refuse to sleep anywhere but right next to your mama.  

We are still waiting for your first official smile....I just know it's going to be any day now!  I will never stop being amazed by how much I love you.

Happy 6 weeks Baby Duke!

Love,

Mama

Reader Question

Heather Asked:

Chelsea ~ I have purchased many items from you on Etsy for friends with babies on the way. Now it's my turn! And I'm wondering where you get most of your adorable tops...you are super stylish in all of your pics - where are you shopping for maternity clothes? 

Thanks for the blog....Duke is adorable.

Thanks so much Heather, and congratulations on your pregnancy!  It is really the most exciting time of your life (well, until the baby comes :), so try to enjoy every second of it.  

I had fun dressing my baby bump and I did my very best to buy as few maternity clothes as possible.  My husband even gave me props for not spending a lot of money on maternity clothes....and I LOVE to shop.  It actually wasn't that hard.  I did buy some maternity basics, and I also swear by a few American Apparel pieces that I literally wore under everything, every day.  I just went through my closet and packed up my maternity clothes to put away for (maybe??) another day.  Here is the extent of my maternity basics:

It includes jeans, leggings, a pair of sweats (not maternity, just size xl for the waist band) and some thermal maternity tops from Target.  My favorite maternity jeans came from the "Loved" by Heidi Klum line at Motherhood Maternity.  They were reasonably priced and super cute.  I just couldn't see spending tons of money on clothes that I would literally wear for only a few months.

  I wore these tank tops from American Apparel literally every day.  They are long so they cover your booty over leggings and are great for layering.  They are also great for nursing, as are their deep v-neck tees.  I did a post on my favorite maternity leggings here.  Since my little guy was breech with the cord around his neck, I had no choice but to have a c-section and these leggings were the only thing that were comfortable to wear for weeks after he was born.  They are only about $25 and they are worth every penny.  I ended up with a few pairs since I wore them so often.

Luckily I gravitate towards flowy empire waist tops and dresses and longer stretchy tops so I was able to wear a lot of my existing wardrobe in my closet.  I did buy a few new items from favorites like H&M and Forever 21 that worked as maternity clothes.  My favorite place in the whole wide world to shop is the Anthropologie sale rack, and I did find a couple of cute pieces there that worked during and post pregnancy.  Honestly, I think it would be a lot easier to be in your biggest stage of pregnancy in warm weather because it's so easy to throw on a dress and flip flops.  Winter was tough.  Here are a few of the outfits I came up with and where the (mostly non-maternity) pieces came from.

First Trimester

Second Trimester

Third Trimester

You can see the "Be" maternity leggings and Diesel booties made a strong appearance in the last couple months of my pregnancy.  They were comfy and easy to put on which becomes more important than cuteness at a certain point.  Also, I am lucky to work from home so I spent the majority of days in sweats or leggings, a t-shirt, sweater and slippers.  I just don't have pictures of those days (for good reason, haha!).  

Hope that helps!!  Have fun dressing your bump...!

Love,

C

Uncle Jakey

Duke Leavitt, meet your Uncle, Jake Morgan.

Your Uncle Jake came to help take care of us while your daddy was on the road for work.  He has never held a baby before but he was a natural with you.  He helped us run some errands, cooked us some delicious meals (your uncle might want to re-consider his law school aspirations for chef school....yummy!!!), he did lots of baby holding and bouncing while I caught up on housework and took a couple of uninterrupted worry free showers.  

Thanks for visiting Uncle Jake, we love you!

(PS - i've witnessed two births in my life, and they were these two boys!  Amazing to see my baby brother holding my baby.) 

Love,

C

We walked. With the moby wrap.

Tuesday it was almost 60 degrees so Duke and I took a walk in his stroller.  Note to self - don't take a walk with the stroller on a Tuesday.  Ever.  Not only are the sidewalks around where we live treacherous due to the huge tree roots causing massive sidewalk cracks and hardly any sidewalk ramps, Tuesday is trash day and everybody has their trash can on the sidewalk.  I had to move about 40 trash cans to get the stroller by on the sidewalk.  I would have never even noticed this if I hadn't had the stroller.  It's a whole new world.  On the way home I stopped for some soup at the market by my house and got the third degree on my stroller from an older grandma-like lady.....it looks neat....how do I like it....how does it work....then she asked me how much it was.  Clearly she hasn't priced strollers these days because when I told her she actually got mad at me and walked away without another word.  Ummmmm....sorry?  

Yesterday we decided to take another walk, this time with the moby wrap to avoid any stroller aggravation.  It was pretty windy but we went for it anyway.  In addition to the bad sidewalks, in order to get to an area to take a long and pretty walk I have to cross a major intersection as well as walk by 3 bus stops.  No offense to anybody that takes the bus, but you are pretty much always guaranteed at least one sort of crazy person sitting at the bus stop. Right?  Yesterday said crazy person asked me if I  had my cat in the baby sling.  Yes ma'am, I do.  Clearly I have my cat in here and my exceptionally well behaved cat loves to be wrapped in a baby sling and taken for a walk.  

Here is us right before leaving the house.  I look like I need a nap and a shower.  And I do. 

PS - has anybody seen Portlandia?  Clearly the walls in my sewing room are cool because I "Put a Bird on It".  Hehehe :)

Love,

C

What's in a name?

Choosing a name for your baby is one of the most challenging and important decisions you will make for your child before they are born.  If you are indecisive, like I am, it's almost impossible.  I can hardly decide what I want for lunch, let alone decide on a name, for a person, that sounds nice, has sentimental  meaning, doesn't rhyme with anything mean that will get them teased on the playground, isn't too plain, isn't too weird, looks good on a resume, sounds cute when they're a baby and overall will carry your child through life, every single day, for their entire existence.  It's a tough job.

It was important to us to choose a name for our son that was strong, unique but not too odd, significant to his heritage and most importantly, a name that we loved and hoped that he would love as well.

Our boy, Duke Leavitt Graham, is named after these two great men:

photo via

(Photo via) 

photo via

Duke Kahanamoku was a famous Hawaiian waterman and surfer and is most famous for helping to popularize surfing as a sport in the 20's.  We were led to this name for many reasons....most importantly because it represents Ritch's Hawaiian heritage on his father's side, as well as his longtime love of surfing.  We were also interested in a name connected to Hawaii because Duke was a very happy surprise we brought back with us from a trip to Hawaii last May.  We explored the option of traditional Hawaiian names, but they just didn't seem to fit and seemed like an odd choice since neither one of us has ever lived in Hawaii.  Duke was a good strong unique name and we both loved it.  Neither one of us had ever met another Duke so we had no other associations with the name.  We also knew he would be an Aquarius (our little water baby) so it seemed fitting to choose a name connected to water.  Of course there is also the more famous "The Duke"....which brings us to this man:

This is Louis Truman Leavitt, my maternal grandfather.  He was a tall, lanky, motorcycle riding, cowboy boot loving man who everybody said looked like John Wayne, aka, "The Duke".  His life was cut much too short at the age of 42.  He had three beautiful daughters, none of which would be able to carry on the name of Leavitt.  It was important to me to carry on this name in our son.  How I wish I could have met him.  How I wish he could have met Duke Leavitt.  I think he would be a proud Great Grandpa.

So this is the story of Duke Leavitt Graham.  We love his name and we hope he loves it too.  If he ever is lucky enough to have a sister we already have her name picked out, and I love it just as much (you know, just in case Duke was a girl).

Love,

Chelsea