life lately: an update from germany

Whew! It's been over two months since I last posted, and the time just slipped away. Since January, we've returned to Germany (following a fiasco in which I discovered my passport was nowhere to be found less than 24 hours before our scheduled departure), survived and (I think) made it to the other side of the four month sleep regression, and soaked up lots of fun times in our foreign home with our ever growing boy. He's now actively playing with his toys, loves to sit and stand up (assisted, of course), is *so close* to rolling from back to belly, cackles when mommy tickles him or gets his toes, is happiest in the bath, is a trooper on long walks about town in his stroller or ErgoBaby carrier, and smiles so big every day when daddy gets home from work :) Basically, he's the best.

Here are a few iPhone photos of the past couple of months:

Miles's 1st plane ride - he handled international travel like a trooper!

Love these sweet baby snuggles so much.

So many beautiful, sunny days in Aachen! Unfortunately, we're back to cold and rainy for the time being.

Is that not the cutest little tiger you've ever seen?!

The Easter bunny brought Miles a Sophie la Girafe teething toy and his first German books, and Mommy and Daddy hosted a yummy brunch for friends!

This past weekend, we took a day trip to Monschau where we visited their Historic Mustard Mill, picked up some delicious coffee from a local rosterie, and wandered about this adorable little town.

This face cracks me up... this kid definitely has personality :)

This is what we were choosing to do instead of sleep last night. Baby squeals :)

To see more photos of our Glessner family adventures, follow me on Instagram.

nursery tour

As most anyone reading this probably knows, we didn't find out Baby G's gender until he was born. Because of this, deciding how to decorate a nursery was a bit of a challenge. Neutrals are great, but being someone who loves color and lots of it, I knew an all white and gray nursery wasn't for me. I decided to decorate the nursery in black, white, and grey with lots of patterns and textures and throw in the whole color wheel to brighten things up.

I'm a big fan of having a few splurge items in a room, combined with items collected from sales, thrift stores, my beloved Target, or even repurposed from other places in the home. My splurge pieces in the nursery were the crib, this Pottery Barn Kids rug, and the glider from West Elm, which is one of my favorite purchases. The high back and sides make it incredibly comfortable, which was so important in those early weeks when we were figuring out nursing, doing lots of snuggling, and waking up multiple times a night.

1. Graham glider from West Elm, 2. ottoman from Target, 3. rug from PB Kids, 4. Lolly crib by Babyletto

I'm absolutely obsessed with this sweet little lamb playmat that my mom and grandmother made, and you can buy one just like it here! It's the perfect place for tummy time and can double as a rug when he outgrows it :)

5. lamb playmat by FlunkyMonkeys

6. watercolor prints by SMcOriginals via Etsy, 7. throw pillow and sheet from Land of Nod, 8. multicolor crochet afghan by FlunkyMonkeys

This "You are my sunshine" print is one of those repurposed items I was talking about... it hung in our master bedroom for years, but when we upgraded to our bedframe, it no longer fit above the bed. 

This sock monkey was made by my mom per my special request. I think he's just the perfect pal for Miles.

9. handmade sock monkey by FlunkyMonkeys, 10. yellow sheet from Land of Nod

11. fan pull by Creative Spirit Glass via Etsy

12. blackout curtains from Pottery Barn Kids

Etsy's one of my favorite places to find decor. The fan pull and the watercolor prints above the bookcase were Etsy finds. My mom and I found the bookcase, which was actually a 1950's china cabinet, at an antique store here in High Point. The maternity photo displayed below was taken by my friend Faith Teasley on my trip to the beach back in September, and I found frames for it and all of the other prints in the room at Hobby Lobby, all for 50% off.

13. lamp from Home Depot, 14. print by SamsSimpleDecor via Etsy, 15. wire hanging basket from Land of Nod

The hanging basket on the wall is an awesome place for diapers and burp cloths and saves real estate on the dresser. For the same reason, I decided to mount a wall sconce instead of placing a lamp on the bookcase or dresser. The changing tray below was made by my dad, and the dresser was a High Point Furniture Market sample that I found at a dirt cheap price after the fall market. I simply replaced the top two knobs with this super cute puppy and kitty from Anthropologie to add a little more whimsy.

16. cloud changing pad cover from Land of Nod, 17. puppy and kitty drawer pulls from Anthropologie

18. black and white quilt from Land of Nod, 19. throw pillows from Target, Kate Spade for Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pier 1, and Southern Antiques in Laurel, MS

This old iron bed was already in the room before it became a nursery, so I decided to keep it as an extra place for guests. I updated it with this quilt from Land of Nod and added a hodge podge of throw pillows for color and pattern. The wall decor above the bed is made up of photos of Miles's parents, grandparents, and great grandparents as children - I had this idea before I was even pregnant and knew that I wanted to incorporate our family history into our child's room.

Check out all of the decor from Miles's nursery: 1. Graham glider from West Elm, 2. ottoman from Target, 3. rug from PB Kids, 4. Lolly crib by Babyletto 5. lamb playmat by FlunkyMonkeys 6. watercolor prints by SMcOriginals via Etsy, 7. throw pillow and sheet from Land of Nod, 8. multicolor crochet afghan by FlunkyMonkeys  9. handmade sock monkey by FlunkyMonkeys, 10. yellow sheet from Land of Nod 11. fan pull by Creative Spirit Glass via Etsy 12. blackout curtains from Pottery Barn Kids 13. lamp from Home Depot, 14. print by SamsSimpleDecor via Etsy 15. wire hanging basket from Land of Nod 16. cloud changing pad cover from Land of Nod 17. puppy and kitty drawer pulls from Anthropologie 18. black and white quilt from Land of Nod 19. throw pillows from Target, Kate Spade for Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pier 1, and Southern Antiques in Laurel, MS

we survived the first 6 weeks!

We did it! We survived six whole weeks of keeping a tiny human alive. We survived visitors and Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's. We've made it through growth spurts and round-the-clock feedings. We've laughed our way through the worst of diaper changes. And by some small miracle, I've managed to get a shower every. single. day. #winning

Maybe it seems a little crazy coming from someone still stuck in the thick of the exhausting newborn days, but being a mom really is the best. Cliche as it may be, you just don't know how you could possibly love someone so achingly and incredibly much... until you do. The love and pride I have for little Miles is unlike any other feeling, and nothing compares to having him look right at you with eyes of pure adoration. Most days, I don't worry about the lack of sleep or that my house is a mess, but that there's no way I can possibly soak up enough of his baby-ness in my memory to last me a lifetime. (Also note that this is why people have second kids even after going through pregnancy and labor - turns out babies are cute and addictive little creatures.)

He really does change every day. He literally outgrew his newborn outfits overnight (cue the tears!), loves the stroller and car rides, smiles at mommy and daddy talking to him, loves looking at the artwork on our walls that have a lot of contrast, and makes the funniest faces both awake and asleep. As of his one month well baby visit, he's still under the 35th percentile for height and weight, but his head circumference is in the 75th percentile! That has to be a sign of higher intelligence :)

Here are some photos that I took around his one month birthday:

Josh actually gets the photo credit for this one. Look at that sweet little milk-drunk smile :)

This little guy LOVES his changing table. He's almost always calm when he's laying there after getting a fresh diaper.

We love you SO much, little man! Can't wait for all the fun that the next six weeks with you holds!