Bellamia... a children's shop: meet Jake.....and yes, two blog posts in one day!

photography of Jake by Nicole Everson with permission for blog post.

And before I dive into details of his room, let me first thank Nicole Everson, for the beautiful photography of Jake she allowed me to use for this post. Please, please, please, check out her website, by clicking here. or here http://www.nicoleeversonphotography.com/blog/ ..... I just adore these photos of Jake! She did an awesome job and I know she is recommend highly by her clients. Please check her out! Thanks Nicole!

I was sitting at a friend's home working on the room for their daughter from China back in March. If you remember this.....

when I got an email from Jake's mom. It went something like this.... "We have been on an adoption waiting list for over a year. It could be another year, or just a week when we get 'the call' that the agency has a baby for us, but I can't stand to stare at blank beige walls any longer. Will you create us a gender neutral nursery?"

I got chills as I shared the email with my friend as she walked back in the room. I had just taken on the above room for an adoptive family and now God brought me another one. How awesome to unite three families together doing our adoption journey. It was so encouraging.

So, I went to meet up with Jake's Parents-to-be, to scope out the space....

and got my mind moving.

Keep in mind, we don't know what gender we are getting or when. My plan was to get this room done timely, but also not rush, but let each element bring the parents joy and excitement as they wait. This couple truly didn't know when they would get "the call". This agency they used, call you when the baby is 5 days old to go pick him/her up. So we started with the walls.....

The crib wall...

I was THRILLED when the peeps were up to planking that focal wall. We whitewashed it for our neutral look. The lights above the crib in this picture still had some work to be done with wiring. I opted for those for obvious reason (PRECIOUS) and because this would play double duty for the mobile also. Paint job on the furniture was done by my precious friend and also my partner in crime as I call her. For you locals, you can check out all Jennifer's beauties at her booth Vintage Flair in Highland's Antique' Mall.

We then striped the wall (I say we lightly, because the homeowners became my best friend. He's quite handy, and was able to save them some $$ by all that he did in the room! not to mention got to add his touch to it.)

I opted for a branch we painted for the curtain rod in this space. You will see better pics below......

I wanted to frame the Chalkboard wall, (yes, I chalked the adjacent stripe wall) so got the talented Dondee Hicks from Artist Tree to come add me a border....which I can't find pictures of before we spruced it up...so you'll have to wait for the below, but she did, oh so fab!!

I had asked the mama-to-be to give me one word to describe how she feels about her upcoming arrival. A few weeks after this last pic is shown, I went to go hang that word.....

I had this STRONG feeling, that I had to go hang that THAT day. I even told the mama. I didn't hardly have time to even squeeze it in, but I got there and did. The VERY last thing to be hung and put in place until we knew if we could add blue or pink to this room. We didn't know how long we would have to wait to do that, but the beautiful thing is............

We didn't have to wait. The very NEXT day, they received the call. And the following day, they picked up their new son......

We both stood in amazement. God provided every little detail, and in His perfect timing. When she first contacted me it was because she was tired of staring at blank walls, and when I finished I prayed they wouldn't stare at the ones I did for long. When I shared with Tim, he was in awe at How God provided such a beautiful thing with that timing.

So because we were now ready to add the boyish touches to the room, we had a little (a lot actually) fun with the colors, especially, since mom and dad are huge Alabama fans and they love red. So are you ready to see Jake's room?? I am BLESSED to be able to share it with you. This family blessed my socks off, and I am thrilled and honored they asked me to do this room for this blessing they now call Son :)

Welcome to Jake's Room.....