red poppies

If you hadn't noticed, I changed the design of my blog a short while ago (it used to be orangey with watermarked flowers and hummingbirds). This design called to me for a few reasons...

I had started looking for nursery themes and bedding early on in my pregnancy. I tried not to get too into it, as I knew I wanted to decorate based on the gender of the baby, and we weren't going to find that out until I was 20 weeks. But I had such a strong feeling that Aidan was going to be a boy that I researched a lot, only looking at "boy" themes. I never found the perfect bedding, but I knew I wanted red in it - either as the main color or as a strong accent color. I have associated the color red with Aidan since then, and it has come back to me several times (born bright red, our little fire, etc). So the fact that there is red in this design is reason #1.

When I first found out I was pregnant I immediately started browsing the forums on thebump.com. I never posted there, but I liked reading about other women's pregnancies, what they were up to and what they were experiencing, and in general just getting advice about things (all without talking to anyone). Aidan was due in August, so I mainly looked at the board for us August 2011 moms. A lot of the women had little pictures of red poppies in their signature, stating that they were "Ready to 'pop' in August." I eventually discovered that each month has a flower (or two) associated with it, just like there is a birthstone for every month. Poppies are the flower for August. The flowers you see in my new design are poppies, making this reason #2.  The fact that the poppies are red (or perhaps red-orange?) are an added bonus.

This background is one of many that blogger allows you to choose from. I wasn't up for finding my own background and getting super creative, so I was content to choose from their vast list. Initially I only looked at backgrounds with a lot of red in them, but I was finding that they were too bright or too harsh. I passed this one up at first, but I came back to it, appreciating its simplicity and the serenity it brought to the page. So, there you have reason #3.

It may seem silly to write a whole post about why I changed my design, but I'm finding throughout the day that I'll just come here and stare at the screen.  Just looking at my blog brings me a little peace, and hey, at this point I'll take whatever I can get.