Art & Design of Kelli Murray

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Last weekend the fam and I headed out to a little local carnival to celebrate Oktoberfest.  We skipped the booze (Rylee is under age) but chowed down on some bratwurst’s and caramel apple’s.  Shame on me for not getting pics of the festivities….but at least we snapped these before we left.  Finally, a few pics of me and my baby girl! I have about a thousand of Rylee….but since it is me always taking the pictures….I never have any of the two of us.  I looooove that it is finally feeling like Fall here in San Diego!  We are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch for next weekend!  I can’t wait!  It’s funny how we are so much more excited to do things like festival’s and the pumpkin patch now that we have a baby.  She still has no idea what is going on, but holidays are automatically more exciting now.  Anyway, it rained here last night and it was the first time since last winter that we made a fire! Can’t get much better than sitting in front of a fire with hot cocoa, your husband and a sweet sleeping baby in your arms.

6 whole weeks! My little baby is growing up!  My how life has changed.  I am finally settling into this new “me”…..mommy me that is.  To be honest, it has been a bit of a harder transition than I expected. Life is totally and completely done a 180 for me.  Where I once was working like crazy, meeting deadlines, and taking on more projects than I probably could handle…..I am now at home all day devoting 100% of my attention to the needs of my child.  It’s not that i’m not working anymore, it’s just a new job entirely.  It’s amazing and fulfilling and wonderful, but also a change that took some getting used to for me (along with a good amount of patience….something I don’t necessarily pride myself on).

I didn’t know how I would handle this change going into it….if I would miss creating art everyday and sitting behind a computer screen for hours upon end.  I wondered if I would miss feeling productive at work, miss my freedom, or miss my alone time with my husband….or if this baby would replace all of those desires with new ones.  I can now say : All of the above!  For the first few weeks of Rylee being in my life, work was the last thing on my mind.  All I wanted to do was get to know her and snuggle with her all day.  Her snuggles are the BEST.  But now that week 6 has come and gone, it’s time to prepare myself to dive back into work again.  I knew this day would come….it just came AWFULLY fast! Although it will only be part time, Rylee is FULL time…..so I am trying to figure out what that will look like.  I am lucky to have a job that allows me to work from home most of my days.  But let’s be honest….when I’m home, all I want to do is be with her.  So that poses a challenge.  Fortunately, Rylee has the most amazing grandma who has offered to watch her while I head into the office 2 days a week.  There is no one I trust more than my momma!  So I know she will be in good hands.  I am excited to get back to designing, but I know I will never accomplish as much as I used to when it was just me.  As a mom, “ME” = “WE”.  And as much as I love work, that other someone rules my world now, and she is much cuter than my computer screen.

When you become a mom, priorities shift and the things you once cared so much about, just don’t seem to matter in comparison to the role you play as a mother.  The love I have for Rylee is like nothing I have ever felt before.  It’s true that our lives will never be the same, but thank God for that.  He’s blessed us with one that’s even greater having her a part of it.

ONE MONTH!!?? Really….one month already!?

My how time flies!  This little squirt is growing like a weed and occupying ALL of my time. Literally, all of it.  But I am loving every minute I get to spend with her.  Life has turned upside down.  Nothing is the same as what it used to be and time is certainly not my own anymore….but it doesn’t even matter.  All I know is that I love this little girl more than anything.  And although I am still trying to adjust to this “new life”…..I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.  Happy one month birthday to my Rylee-bean!  She is changing everyday.  Every picture I take she seems to look a little different.  Some days I think…”hmmm….you look like me”.  And others, she is a spitting image of her father.  Today, I looked at her and saw my grandpa….but I won’t tell her that!  I wonder who she will look like tomorrow!?

Surprisingly, Rylee still is wearing her newborn outfits (if onesies even count as “outfits”).  Her 0-3 month clothes are still so big on her.  I can’t wait until she is chunks up enough to fit in all the clothes I have stock piled!  Then the real fun will begin!  Dressing her is even more fun than dressing myself!  Who knew.

One of my favorite baby shops i’ve found online is called MAKIE, whose brick and mortar shop is in New York.  How cute are the coordinate’s!?  I ordered the grey smocked top that Rylee is wearing in the pics above from there.  So in love with it….and really everything else for that matter!

I also wanted to introduce you to m.o.m (where I bought Rylee’s sweet little braided headband)

It’s a small little workshop + store in downtown Encinitas just oozing with creativity.  m.o.m started years ago with a request for aprons for little girls. Now they offer tops and bottoms for girls and boys, plus accessories -which are made with fabric scraps from the clothing.  It is one of those stores that instantly give you a good feeling the  minute you walk in….everything is made  uniquely with such care and detail and love.  I am such a sucker for stores like this.  If you live anywhere near Encinitas, pop in sometime and tell them Kelli sent you!

Visit their BLOG / ETSY / FACEBOOK

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I wanted to share just a few of the pictures taken by our good friend Jason just 4 days before Rylee was born.  Glad he got to capture my belly at it’s largest….along with my husband!

Check out more of his amazing work on his website :  JASON WARD STUDIOS

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