My Wall

I absolutely love my nieces and nephews. They are so special to me and I love the part they play in Katie's life. Some are near and some are far, but I wanted Katie to see them every day and be reminded of how much fun they all are. So - I started my wall. My wall of nieces of nephews and Katie. The idea was to put a picture of each of them in a frame and change it around the same time each year. Then, by the time the kids go off to college or get married - I would have 18 (or so) pictures of each child to put in an album to give back to their parents or to the child (now adult) to keep for themselves.

I got some really inexpensive frames from WalMart. I won't tell you how many - but let's just say I assume I have a fertile family. I have visions of some super cool frames one day (like the Organic Bloom ones my sister in law offers in her photo sessions) but those aren't in the budget at the moment.

I got the 8x10 pictures printed with a Snapfish giftcard a coworker gave me for my birthday. Each child's picture is so totally unique. Most of them are ones that Melissa (the sister in law mentioned above) and I suspect they will probably always be that way. It's hard to find a better picture than hers!

Then I got some wall art with a line from Jesus Loves Me. I love the generic-ness that just entails "little ones" and remembering that these children will always be "little ones" to me.

The pictures are arranged in order of the children's births. Katie likes to stop on the landing of the stairs and tell her cousins Good Morning or Good Night. Sometimes it's a stall tactic - but other times - she is genuinely interested in talking to them!

I had my "mechanical engineer perfectionist when it comes to wall hangings" husband draw it out and hang everything up. He did an awesome job. He spent an enormous amount of time on it. The spacing is perfect...


For 5 children...

But we have new children being added later this year. No - not Doug and me specifically...I'll pause to let my mom and mother in law catch their breath.

2 new children arriving in/around September and October.

My sister in law, Nancy - married to my brother, Gabriel is due to have her first child on September 18. They find out in May what they're having! They did a great job planning to have the due date about a week after the baseball season ends! (My brother works for a minor league baseball team and is pretty MIA during the 5 month long season.) We are all thrilled for them and can't wait to meet MY first blood niece/nephew.

My sister in law, Lindsay (Doug's youngest sister) is due to have her second child in October. Two nephews (including her first son) already have October birthdays so October stands to be a fun, busy month for our family forever! Lindsay and I were pregnant together with our first children and we had a lot of fun swapping sickness and weight gain stories. I can't wait to find out what she'll be having too! Will we get another girl in the family or will Doug's sisters continue to have boys!

So Doug - you have a few months to draw out the plan for a 7 picture wall and get the other frames hung up. I'm sure by the time you finish it, someone else will be pregnant and you'll, quite literally, get back to the drawing board! Good thing I picked the biggest wall in the house for this project. We have lots of room to expand!