I starred the following items in my Google Reader over the past couple of weeks and am finally getting around to sharing them with you:

From Urban Grace Interiors: This bold, gorgeous blue Trina Turk outdoor fabric that was used in this rooftop patio made me squeal with delight as soon as I saw it!

From Brooklyn Limestone: I’m in love with the woven wood shades and the geometric modern curtains in this room. I want to do this in our dining room area with a more traditional fabric pattern. Love.

From Style Me Pretty: A beautiful pink wedding that reminds me so much of our own! The milk glass, the peonies, the light airy feel with so much sophistication is just show-stopping!

From Lauren Clark Photography: This family session is so adorable and so much fun. And I’m not sure the parents could be any more attractive. Gorgeous people and gorgeous photos!

From The Sweets Blog by Amy Atlas: The colors in the gorgeous tablescape jumped off the screen at me and I just had to post it!

Any gorgeousness you want to share with me?

As Hudson gets older, I start to think, “when should we start thinking about having his sibling?” I’m not in any hurry, but I do want to have a little bit of a plan. Even if it’s just a plan that says: In one year we’ll make a plan.

One thing that may help us know when to try and when not to try is this little chart.

this particular gender chart found here

In all my experience, the chart has been correct. I’ve seen different versions of the Chinese Gender Predictor Chart, but they’re always all correct with anyone that I ask. And my OBGYN even said that it was correct for her children and she planned her pregnancies around the chart.

And then I see pictures like this and I start to ache. I start thinking about babies in general.

And then I think about when I’m my mother’s age and I would love to have a daughter to take care of when she has a baby.

But babies are a lot more work than they are just cute little people in a picture, so we’re not in any hurry to add that back into our lives. And it looks like there are only a few straight months with pink boxes lined up if we are ready. Age 27 and 28 aren’t great years for trying to have a girl. (I’ll only be 27 for a couple more months)

But our little boy has been so easy and so much fun. And in the end I know that God is in control of when we conceive, who our baby is and what he or she will be like, and if it is a little girl or a little boy.

Have any of you used the gender chart when trying to conceive?

If you’ve had a baby, was the gender chart correct for you?

…and growing.

As a blogger, I get lots of questions about random things. That’s one of my favorite things about the blogosphere and the Twitter community; we’re all able to share ideas and get ideas. Most of my questions are about things related to parenting, caring for an infant, what I do as a SAHM, party-planning ideas, wedding planning ideas, and even travel tips for babies. Another common question is about my hair.

Here’s my hair philosophy: “My body isn’t where I’d like it to be, so I’m going to focus on my hair.”

How long did it take to grow my hair out? How do I get my hair to be wavy and stay wavy? How does my hair look so “healthy?” (I’m not positive that my hair does look healthy. Maybe it just photographs well. My hair is very dry. I only have to wash it every 4-5 days)

I’ve had short hair for most of my life except for about a year in high school and a year in college. When I met Todd, I had shoulder-length hair. When I knew he was “the one” I decided to grow it out so I could have long hair for our wedding someday.

My hair is naturally wavy. I let it air dry and then the next day (or later the same day) do the “curl down.” Watch the video in this post for the curl down tutorial.

But the secret to long hair? Is these little guys right here. My hair grew a lot when I was pregnant partly due to pregnancy hormones and the other part was due to Fred, Barney, Wilma, Betty, Pebbles, and Bam Bam.

I didn’t take prenatal vitamins because they made me too sick. My doctor suggested I take Flintstones vitamins instead and they were great for the whole pregnancy.

They also caused my hair to grow, grow, grow. So I continued taking them after Hudson was born. I’ve had a couple of hair cuts where I’ve gotten 2-3 inches cut off since he was born, but it always comes back quickly.

So that’s the secret to my long hair.

Flintstones Vitamins. And patience.

Note: If you’re pregnant, please talk to your doctor before switching to Flintstones instead of your regular prenatals!