Pregnancy Thoughts & Our Maternity Shoot - 30 weeks

As we are fast approaching the due date of Baby Doan, I am counting down the days till D-day. At 38 weeks pregnant, it's hard to wait around & wait for the little guy. So many emotions run through my head & I can't seem to sit still & rest my body. I feel like I've been running this marathon that I can't seem to know where the finish line is. I'm ecstatic at the thought of becoming a mommy & anticipating that moment when I finally get to hold, hug, & kiss my son for the first time. I'm also over joyed that my husband will experience the same thing. I think as the daddy, it's hard for men to really feel that emotional connection to baby, however I know my hubby already has a strong emotional bond with our baby boy. Every morning he greets baby boy & thus baby boy sure does show it, with a few swift kicks & punches to say "hello!" back. I know he will be the BEST father figure to our son & I can't wait for that.

I wanted to share some photos from our Maternity Shoot at 30 weeks pregnant. Shot by the lovely Dana Grant with Dana Grant Photography, she has done a beautiful & amazing job capturing my growing belly.

My FAVE image above.

All images by Dana Grant Photography

25 Weeks!

Baby Doan: 25 Weeks

Project Nursery: Day 1. Demolition.

We've made it to 25 weeks and things are moving super fast with baby on the way. I have to constantly remind myself to keep taking weekly photos of my growing baby bump. You know... for keepsake reasons =) So far, things are going great. We can not wait to meet our little guy and show him his new nursery.

As summer ends and the holidays fast approaching, our goal is to get project nursery completed before Thanksgiving. We finally found the time to get started on the nursery. I'm taking lots of photos of the progression of the remodel, from guest bedroom to nursery.

We ordered baby's crib, rocker and dresser/changing table.... so we are excited to get those assembled and make things come more to life. It's so hard to narrow down the style of baby's room, but I think I have a good idea of the final design. Typical designer brain..... so many options, and love them all, but I have to edit like I do every other project I tackle. 

Follow me on Instagram to see project nursery come to life, day by day. We mostly get to work on the nursery during the weekends, so life is busy and hectic around the house these days. We love to do our own DIY projects, but this is seeming to turn into an entire home remodel. See that sea foam green carpet in the room in the photo above?..... We ripped that up and we are installing all hardwood floors in the entire house, all bedrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. My husband is the greatest at this kind of stuff. And we also get a lot of help from family and friends. I can't wait to see the big reveal once the house is complete and back to normal.

Stay tuned for project nursery and house remodel before and after post's coming soon. I hope you all have a great week!

Photos By: Brent & Tawny Doan (iPhone) 

Oh Baby!

Hello! It's been a while since I last posted but I have good reasons.... promise! 2013 so far has been a year of BIG events. I recall telling my husband on New Year's Day that we are going to be extremely busy this coming year and oh man has it been. I feel like I can finally stop & take a breather from it all. Amongst the crazy schedules, meticulous planning, detailed designing & many celebrations we were involved with so far, I can say that we have been blessed with so much love and support from our dear family & friends.

Just a peek into some of our BIG celebrations of the year, I turned 30 in May...... geez.... tell me about it. We helped my sister-in-law & her fiancé celebrate their beautiful rustic & romantic wedding & lastly....... did I mention we are expecting?!?!?!

Some of you may already know, however I wanted to make it official by posting this announcement & video we whipped up together on the blog. Brent & I are SUPER EXCITED for our little bundle of joy & we can't wait to meet our little baby Doan face to face.

I am 16 weeks preggo, well into my second trimester & I'm feeling great! We don't know the gender yet, but hope to find out really soon so we can start to put the nursery together. I guess as a designer, I can't help but have an obnoxious amount of decor ideas for the baby's room. Hopefully in figuring out the gender, I can begin to edit my ideas down to one... or a few... hahaha!

Any advice for us expecting parents would be appreciated. Or any good baby tips or baby decor idea sites are a great help. It's a little overwhelming planning for something so new to us, like a baby. However, overall we are so ecstatic to finally begin our family.

A huge thanks to my brother for shooting & editing this video. And to our parents & siblings for your love during this precious time.

BABY Announcement 05/19/13 from Tawny Doan Art & Design on Vimeo.

Baby Doan: 13 Weeks - Ultrasound {Baby is face down, but I think it's doing push-ups. Our baby is staying fit already!}

Baby Doan: 16 Weeks

  

Weekend Wrap Up: Photo challenge project

One of my resolutions for 2013 is to create more fine art & get back to my roots of finding inspiration in the world around me. Last week I decided to challenge myself to do a photo study of the sunset on my way home from work. Southern California has been blasted with some pretty low temperatures lately with a few storms that rolled through making for some gorgeous late afternoon sunsets. If you follow me on Instagram, then you would have seen these wonderful sunsets on my feed. I tried really hard to take the photos in the same spot every time, but hey..... I was driving trying not to get caught by the po-po (it will never happen again, sorry honey).

So in conclusion to my photo study, I have taken the colors of the sky on various days & have applied them to some projects I am currently working on. Stay tuned for those project posts. I quite enjoyed giving myself this creative challenge. What should I challenge myself with this week? How do you challenge yourself creatively? I would love to hear your ideas!!!

Photos by: Tawny Doan via Instagram

Color // LOVE: 2013 Pantone Color of the Year

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah..... I'm green with envy. 

Introducing the 2013 Pantone Color of the Year, Emerald! I do love me some vivid emerald pops of color. Also, which happens to be my birthstone as well. I'm excited to see what creatives will come up with for this year's cool hue! 

Pantone's past superstar colors [2007-2012]

Photos via: www.pantone.com

Type // LOVE : iPhone Type

Loving these type inspired iPhone cases right now from Society6. My personal fave is the first one below titled Sanswich..... geeky typography humor... makes me chuckle. Which one should I choose?

Photos via: society6

Weekend Wrap Up: NorCal Holiday

Happy 2013 EVERYONE!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday season and New Year's celebration. It's so fantastic to look back & see what you have accomplished through out the last year. My year was amazeballs!! Full of adventures, laughs, loves & shenanigans (of course!). I can't wait to see how 2013 turns out. Seems like every year gets busier & busier, however busy means good. I am ready for you 2013.... bring it on!

I know this post is a schmidge late, but I finally got some time to slow down and organize myself. My husband & I took a little holiday to Northern California to spend some time together & reconnect. With our busy work schedules it's tough to make time to enjoy each others company. We traveled to the Napa/Sonoma wine country area to check out the local wineries & breweries. Food options weren't too bad either. Some of the best rated restaurants in the world are all located in this area & it was a pleasure to enjoy some of them. Brunching on local wine & cheese was my fave!

After a few days in wine country, we headed for "The City". San Francisco was delightful. A city full of different culture, it reminds me so much of NYC, just more laid back. We spent our NYE celebrating in the city with some classic French cuisine and a fine bottle of vino we bought from a small local Sonoma winery. I must say, I had so much fun spending time with my handsome honey. I can't wait to take another trip back up there. The views are so gorgeous, it's crazy it's still the same state. Almost feels like your in another country. 

Photos by: Tawny Doan via Instagram