28 weeks

Yesterday, I was officially 28 weeks pregnant. 

That's third trimester folks.

To say that this pregnancy has gone by quickly would be the understatement of the year- it is *flying.* Who has time to focus on being pregnant when #1 is walking around looking cute and saying "peese?" and "ble chu" and throwing toys all.over.the.place. all the time? 

But all that said, I am coming to the startling realization that in less than 3 months, Lord willing, we will be a family of four and I will want just a little something to document the 9+ months I have spent with this precious angel in my womb. So this won't be frequent and it certainly won't be weekly, seeing as this is my first blog post in a month, but here it is- pregnancy update for #2!

How far along? 28 weeks, 1 day

Baby Bump? Yup. Thankfully, I am finally past the "wow, she's gained weight" stage and into the "aw, you're pregnant" stage. 

Maternity clothes? At this point, just jeans, but my shirts are getting kind of short and I am working with a closet of maybe 6 options, so that probably won't last much longer.

Total weight gain: None as of last week. Totally don't understand my pregnancies at all. Non-pregnant Ashley gains weight just thinking about food.

Cravings: Chuy's. Basically, it's been Chuy's since day 1. I haven't had it since the beginning of January, which is driving me crazy... I need that tasty salsa with those light, crunchy chips. I could also go for a piece of cake- preferably chocolate with white icing.

Symptoms: Having to pee in the middle of the night.

Sleep: I have been sleeping great. Last night, the cat took up too much room at the bottom of the bed and considering I have 2 positions I can sleep with, it was a bit of a pain, but overall I have been sleeping fabulously.

Movement: I can usually feel her moving any time I am sitting still. It's not always strong enough for others to feel it, but I love knowing she's dancing around in there!

Gender: We are having another little girl! 

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss: A variety of clothes. And clothes shopping. Whether I buy anything or not, I enjoy the ability to go in a store and know I COULD wear the clothes if I wanted. That joy is gone... but alas, it will return.

Best moment this week: I love it when #2 kicks me when I am holding EA. It's like, "Hey mom, I'm here too!! Don't forget me!" 

Also, completely unrelated to my pregnancy, EA is sick, so I have had the awesome blessing of letting her nap on my chest 2 days this week. Love that. Can't wait to do that with her little sister.

Biggest challenge: Those dad-gum toys are going to send me to an early grave... it's much harder picking up the 76 legos or the 6 pieces of stacking rings or the 5000 books than it was 6 months ago. 

#2

Last Monday, Brian and I headed to the doctor to find out the gender of #2!

I was absolutely positive it was a boy. Though some things have been similar, some things have been kind of different too.

After a few minutes in the ultrasound, we quickly found that I was wrong. We are excited to let you know that we are having another little girl!!!

The ultrasound lady was very nice and super patient as I asked about a hundred million questions- sweet girl looks great and is progressing very well. She was moving like crazy through the whole ultrasound, which reminded me a lot of her big sister, who seems to have an abnormally large amount of energy.

I can't wait to meet her and I can't wait to see EA with her. It's going to be wonderful.

Have a super weekend my friends!

#2

About 2 1/2 months ago I noticed a few things about myself...

#1- I was super duper emotional. It was during the Olympics and clearly they tried to make me cry several times during the commercials, but there were several times when they weren't even making an effort and I still teared up.

#2- I was breaking out more than normal. I know. Eww. I won't expand.

#3- Milk sounded like the best thing in the world, so I drank it. A lot. Moe's, on the other hand, kind of sounded like death.

2 and 1/2 months later, I am pleased to let you know.....

I am really not sure how much detail I am going to give during this pregnancy on the blog. A lot has happened since EA and I want to be sensitive to people who are hurting, but I did want to let ya'll know and ask for your prayers!

Have a happy day!

One Year.

One year ago today we found out we were expecting our precious bundle of joy.

I will never forget how I felt when that second little line appeared. 

Who knew how much our lives would change? And how thankful we would be that they did.

Jan. 17, 2011

April 7, 2011

September 1, 2011

December 2011

A week of dates

So, as we draw nearer to the due date, the due date seems much closer. Funny how that works. 

Though we can not wait for Emily Ann to be here, we have both found ourselves to be very protective of our time together for this week and the coming weekend. Maybe, hopefully, we won't make it until then, but on the other hand, a nice, carefree weekend would be the perfect way to prepare for a baby.

So in honor of our last few days of just the two of us, I created date night cards for Brian to choose from each night (for up to 8 nights.... hopefully we won't have to wait that long :) ). Our budget is much tighter than it has been in the past, so the ideas aren't expensive, or even out for the most part, but they are simple things to keep the TV off and just enjoy each other.

After finding this idea at Find Joy in the Journey, I decided to create an idea board of my own. I typed up fun ideas using cute fonts and borders, then printed them out and adhered them to scrapbook paper.

Next, I mounted them on magnets and placed them on the fridge. Each night, Brian can choose an activity for the evening!

I loved Shannon's idea of mounting fun ideas for summer- I think you can use this set-up for so many different things!
What are your cheap date night ideas?

Happy Monday!

Baby J- Week 38

How far along? 38 weeks, 1 day

Baby Bump? Absolutely.

Maternity clothes? Absolutely.

Total weight gain: 8 lbs. I was at 11 two weeks ago but it somehow disappeared. It's the craziest thing.

Cravings: Coke. Cherry Coke. Coke Icee. Bottled Coke. Canned Coke. Coke float. And soft served ice cream.

Symptoms: Contractions on a nightly basis... not painful ones or ones with any kind of time between them, but contractions none the less. Also, swollen fingers.

Sleep: Sleep has been great. I have decided the key is to go strong during the day, stay up late, then sleep for as long as I possibly can the next morning. Sometimes that is 6:00, sometimes that is 9:00. 

Movement: She's really been moving a lot for the past week or so. BIG movements that rock my whole body and sometimes hurt. But I love it!!  

Gender: We are having a little girl! Emily Ann! 

Belly Button in or out? In but barely.

What I miss: Lol... Coke. My engagement and wedding bands. Cute clothes... or at least a variety of clothes.

Best moment this week: Brian's sweet co-workers surprised us with a baby shower this afternoon! They got me to the office with the promise of an "award for Brian" and gave us both a fun surprise! It was so wonderful. We had delicious cake, received some fabulous gifts, and enjoyed a great time with his office!

At my doctor's appointment yesterday, the doctor mentioned that we could talk about inducing next week. We aren't going to but the fact that it could be discussed was enough for me! We are getting so close!


Have a great weekend my friends!

Baby J- Week 37 Nursery Reveal!

In honor of being 37 weeks and full term, I am sharing Emily Ann's nursery! 

We have had the room painted since well before we found out EA was a girl- funnily enough, we changed it from pink to the brown/ grey instead of vice versa. I love the color and the way it brightens up with the white furniture. 

The view from the door :) Our crib is from Babies R Us. We went back and forth about getting a 4-in-1 but decided this was the best option for our budget. The curves and feet make it so elegant! Our bedding is from Land of Nod and was definitely the biggest splurge in the room. It is so bright and friendly- I love it!

We got this dresser from Ikea several years ago as a dresser for our guest bedroom. When we were shopping for nursery furniture, we realized this was the perfect height for a changing table! We added the changing pad and voila! 

This little corner makes me so happy! My mom made the curtains with inspiration from this picture on Pinterest. Brian's parents and brothers gave us the rocker from Cracker Barrel. The quilt from our bedding was the perfect throw for the back of the chair. The nightstand came from the unfinished furniture store about 5 years ago. We left it unfinished for years, but knew we wanted it white once we started the nursery.

This armoire came from Minerva's in the spring of 2010. I have wanted an armoire for ages and really wanted one for the nursery. We found the piece before we were pregnant but went ahead invested because it is so versatile. This piece was from the 1930's and adds so much additional space for storage. 

Here is the view from the other corner of the room.

One of my favorite parts of the room is the handmade decorations. We definitely splurged in different places when decorating this room, but I was determined to create the art myself. I spent a lot of time looking for ideas and wasted at least 5 canvases completing work that I didn't really care for and painted over in white. The best part was the things that some of my sweet friends made. It makes the room so special!

 My wonderful friend Ginny made these as part of the decorations for my Sunday School shower. I love the colors and the work she put into it. They are so cute! They are the perfect door decorations and really help the room come together. 

This Creative Memories frame/ magnet board was a wedding gift. The best part about it is that I can change it any time I like without a lot of extra effort. Right now we are featuring ultrasound pictures, but that will be changed as soon as our little girl is here.

I looked and looked for a bulletin board but couldn't how to figure out how to keep the older than newborn Emily Ann from pulling down the thumb tacks. After spending lots of time on blogs, I determined that a magnet board would be a much better option. I purchased the frame from the clearance section of Hobby Lobby and the sheet metal from Home Depot. My handy, dandy husband used his talent and tools to put it together. We used round magnets and covered them with the tops of Coke bottles that were Brian's Father's Day gift. 

I have also fallen in love with doilies! I am still not sure about this canvas, but I wanted to add scripture somewhere in the room. The doily accent makes it very sweet and feminine, but honestly, this may or may not stay- the handwriting bothers me. The picture in the frame was one of our favorites from our maternity pictures- though you can't tell in the picture, we are holding a banner that says Emily Ann.

These paintings were a true labor of love. I looked for inspiration for ages and finally came up with a mixture of a few different paintings. I created the scalloped edge, then used my Cricut to make the monogram. I found scrapbook paper to match the bedding and created pennants to go at the top of the paintings, but also used the pennants to create consistency throughout the room. They are also on our Creative Memories frame and on our magnet board. 

I have loved this alphabet canvas that I found several months ago, but needed it to match my nursery. Once again, I put my Cricut to good use, used the same matching papers from the pennants, and created this great alphabet/ number board. Since this display sits on top of the armoire, it allows us to keep some of our nicer books safe from sweet baby hands, but still accessible to share!

Finally, my sweet friend Jennifer completed the nursery with this painting. We found a similar painting in a store in the area, then she used colors from the nursery to create her own version. It is such a beautiful addition and really finishes off the room.

And there you have it! The only thing missing from this room is our baby girl! I can't wait to see Emily Ann in here, to rock her in the chair, watch her sleep in the crib, and enjoy her growing up. The Bump said in my weekly updates this week that her major organs are finished developing, so she is welcome to come whenever she likes! 3 weeks until her due date!

Happy Friday friends!

Living/ Dining Room Updates

This week I learned something very important about pregnancy- what I thought was nesting several weeks ago was clearly only the calm before the storm. I hope this is a sign she is coming soon, because my mind WILL NOT STOP coming up with new things to do.. at all hours of the day and night. Our house is the cleanest it has been since I began graduate school and we have several cute updates that have really freshened up the place!

Pinterest has done nothing but add fuel to the fire. There are so many cute ideas- I had to put some into action!

My first update was above the buffet. We have had a very large picture of a geranium as the central focus of this living room and the living room in our apartment when we first got married. The picture was pretty cute, but Brian wasn't super fond of it and it was really only intended as a filler until we found something better.

After scouring Pinterest for cute photo ideas, I decided I liked this arrangement.

After shopping... and shopping... and shopping... I finally found frames that went great with our furniture and produced a nice, clean look. (Not the mention we found a deal! $15 a piece from Michael's.) Pardon the fact that 3 of the frames still have the model picture and plastic in them... we are fully expecting to adore a sweet little girl coming at the beginning of next month and want to hang her picture up.

Here's our version of the photo arrangement-

This photo setup takes up a good bit more of the wall than the geranium picture which helps with the layout in the room.

My next project was for something to put on the wall above our mini-drawer set. I purchased the drawers earlier this summer in hopes of reducing the school clutter and the future toy clutter. I managed to find this little baby for $99 at Home Goods. We had a great 8x10 picture of Toomer's Corner from Kevin above it for awhile, but it was really too small for the space. 

Once again, Pinterest came to me rescue. My sweet friend Beth pinned this great photo arrangement and I was instantly smitten...

I was also a big fan of the multi-initial monogram I had found earlier this summer (Bottom right).

For the space above the drawers, I decided to use a little of what we had, purchase the monograms from Hobby Lobby (on sale! $11 for all 4!) and mix the two ideas. 

Once again, we are waiting to fill that last frame until after EA is born.

Finally, I adjusted some of the things I already had or had previously made to finish the room. I created this Joshua 24:14 one afternoon when my obsession with burlap got the best of me. It's hanging above our bay window in the front of the house.

My mother in law gave us this vinyl decal when we got married. I finally mounted it on a large white platter and found a great place for it. 

Lastly, I added the awesome pillows my mom made me for my birthday. I wanted burlap pillows but thought they would be too rough to enjoy, so we found a similar colored, much softer fabric to go with new bright floral pillows. They really brighten up the room and bring some color into the design. Mom also made a runner to go on our table, so I was able to spread the brightness throughout the entire room.

Bodie is a big fan :) 

I am now looking for curtains for the center rod in the bay window and possibly a new coffee table, but really think I am about done with this room until after Emily Ann is born. I am really pleased with the updates- it made the house much more personal.... we just need to fill those frames :)

If you haven't joined Pinterest yet, you are really missing out. Check out my boards to see other cute ideas and inspirations!

Emily Ann- Maternity Pictures

Last week, Brian and I had the opportunity to take maternity pictures with Kevin (Bri's brother) and his friend Ethan. These guys are incredibly talented and produced amazing pictures. Check out the Cadence Photography website to see more of their work or if you are interested in professional pictures. They take engagement, maternity, newborn, family pictures, plus more. I promise you won't be disappointed. 

There were a TON of fabulous pictures, so I am having a hard time narrowing down what to share. Enjoy the multitude!

(My personal fav :) )

 Cadence Photography