Erin Akin Carroll

One year ago today, we were at the hospital. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

But he didn’t come on June 4. He arrived on June 5.

I put this video together of photos from Hudson’s first year and it includes two of our favorite songs for him.

It’s about 8 minutes long, just so you can be prepared if you choose to watch.

We’re out decorating for tomorrow’s big Green Eggs and Ham birthday bash, so I couldn’t come up with a terribly thought-provoking post for you. Hopefully pictures of my sweet boy in his first year will make you smile on this Friday!

Two of my favorite bloggers wrote posts this week that caught my attention. Anne wrote a post entitled For the Love of Pregnant Ladies, where she beautifully outlines the thoughtless things that people say to pregnant women. And Jenna wrote a post about the truth of postpartum recovery. If you like a good laugh then you must read Anne’s post. If you like to read about what can really happen after a baby, read Jenna’s post.

A little over a year ago I wrote a post similar to Anne’s where I took your comments and my experiences and created a list of the Unwelcome Things People Say to Pregnant Ladies.

No one wants to hear the bad. Pregnant women have so many things to worry about including their health, the baby’s health, the recovery, the inevitable change in lifestyle, etc. It doesn’t do any good to rub it in or make the worry worse.

On the other hand, there were quite a few things that I never knew could happen to me. I didn’t even know that these things were a possibility. I had no clue that all women are afraid to use the restroom after they have a baby. I had no clue that the hospital gave you ice packs to wear…. you know where.

So, in that case, I appreciate Jenna’s post. Obviously, if you’re a pregnant gal who would rather not know because, let’s face it, it’s scary to read about things that will probably happen to you that you can’t stop from happening to you, then you probably shouldn’t read Jenna’s post. But some women, like me, are addicted to WebMD and like to be prepared for what’s to come.

So here’s the question: are you one of those that would rather be surprised by the icky aftermath? Or do you want to know everything including worst-case scenario details?

In my situation, I appreciated reading Jenna’s post after the fact because it was nice to see someone put the postpartum truth out there. But I’m not sure that I would have wanted to read it beforehand. Where do you stand?

Are you addicted to information? Or would you rather just wait and find out on your own?

If you’ve read all of my Home Tour Tuesday posts, you know that, for the most part, my house is decorated in lots of neutral colors. I have the occasional printed fabric covering a chair and the nursery is a fun hodge podge of print fabrics. But we’ve purchased mostly beige, tan, and white furniture. Our bedroom is a mix of soft, soothing blues, but there aren’t decor surprises in our bedroom.

I am so envious of the people who can take bold colors and bold prints and mix them all together to create a bright, vibrant room. My mom decorated one house in particular that has gorgeous prints and hot pinks and purples in the formal living room. I absolutely love it and would love to completely replicate that in my home.

The new issue of Southern Living features the home of interior designer, Megan Young, in an article called “Tradition With a Colorful Twist.” This is me! I’m traditional, but I love a twist. Now I just need the guts to make it a colorful twist.

Here, I love the orange wallpaper that has a bit of shimmer. I love the oriental mirror mixed with the modern green print on the chairs. The combination is all very unusual, but it works. You can see a hint of the blue silk draperies in the background. Swoon!

The blue china mixed with the red pattern cups and saucers are so interesting because they’re mixed and would no doubt be a conversation starter.

The hydrangeas on the table are so Southern. And I’m usually a fan of rugs under the dining room table, but the absence of the rug in this room isn’t even noticeable.

This entire space captures a personal sense of style for the homeowner.

The master bedroom reminds me a lot of our current guest bedroom. It at least shows me that if we just switched out our draperies and recovered the headboard, we could achieve a look like this.

I adore the traditional silk print headboard mixed with the more contemporary animal print rug.

You can also see the neutral zebra print pillows with green trim on the bed.

It’s all very thoughtful and I love her attention to detail. There’s nothing stuffy about this space. It looks comfortable, eclectic, and very personalized.

I absolutely love formal living rooms. I think they’re a safe place to get really creative.

This formal living room has a few prints, a family and pet-friend natural rug, and neutral sofa. The room has a lot of natural light, which is always beautiful.

But the show-stopper is the teal velvet chair. In the magazine, you can see the tiny border of green trim around the teal velvet.

The pink peonies add a beautiful touch of color, but that chair just takes the cake.

I think recovering old pieces of furniture in fun, vibrant fabrics is so much fun! You can see in this post that’s what we did with my grandmother’s chairs.

So what are your decorating phobias? Are you afraid to commit to color and pattern, like me? Or do you struggle with committing to a style?

One of our struggles is trying to combine new pieces with pieces that we’ve owned for years. As we get older and our tastes change, we aren’t sure how to mix the old (not antique) with the new.