Bumpdate 2.0 {17 Weeks}

Happy New Year!!!

 

How far along?  17 Weeks

Weight Gain: 5 big ones

How Big is Baby? The size of an onion! Yuck.

Maternity Clothes? None yet. Leggings and a few pairs of skinny jeans are still working for me.

Stretch Marks? Nope

Sleep: Up and down, though lately the rough nights are due to Little Miss Evie
and her crib-jumping antics, rather than baby boy! 

Best Moment of the Week: All sorts of Christmas fun with our family

Movement: YES! I started to feel him the weekend before Christmas! Each night when I lay down in bed or to watch TV (around 9 or 10), I feel lots of little kicks and rolls. It's seriously the BEST thing, ever. I can't wait until Daddy can start to feel them from the outside.

Food Cravings: Nothing in particular. I still have a nasty taste in my mouth a lot of the time, which kind of ruins it for me. :/

Gender: BOY!

What I Miss: A cold beer would be nice!

What I'm looking forward to: Getting organized and cleaning out the room that will become his nursery.

Symptoms: Growing aches and pains, gagging when I brush my teeth, sciatica pain.

Emotions: Good!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve!! You'll find us lounging around, watching the boob tube with some take-out. :) I seriously doubt I'll stay awake long enough to see the ball drop, but I'm good with that. Can't wait to see all that 2014 has in store!
 

Evie is 3!

 My sweet little lovebug is THREE!!
Her birthday was a few weeks ago, and dare I say- she already seems different and bigger?? :(

I seriously can hardly believe it. How on earth did 3 years pass by already?? I feel like it was just yesterday that they placed a teeny, tan, dark-haired, screaming babe on my chest. A tiny little thing with big lungs and a furled brow. Now she's all long blond locks and personality. Still on the tiny side (and definitely still using those lungs at full capacity!)

and surprising us every day with the hilarious things she says. Never a dull moment!

Her party was lots of fun, complete with a last minute bouncy house (thanks to some great friends!) and cupcakes, per the birthday girl's request. It was so nice to have lots of family in town for the big day, too.

Gathering the troops for a pic is easier said than done.

Happy birthday sweet girl! 

We love you to the moon and back and are so delighted and thankful to be your parents. I can't wait to see what the next year holds for you and all that you'll learn and do. And of course! You are going to be the BEST big sister ever!! 

We're having a ...

BOY BOY BOY !!!

We are extremely thrilled and feeling blessed to have a little boy joining our family. I really felt all along that we were having a boy, but I think hubby didn't want to believe it until the doc said, "Oh yeah. It's a boy. 100%." :)

Now on to choosing a name and finally thinking about the nursery! Eeek!

Bumpdate 2.0 {14 Weeks}

How far along?  14 Weeks

Weight Gain: 2-3 lbs? I feel very large and in charge after this snowed-in weekend where I mainly just made it my business to eat the pantry clean.
How Big is Baby? The size of my clenched fist
Maternity Clothes? not yet
Stretch Marks? Nope
Sleep: Blergh. Not great. Especially lately with this nasty head cold I've had.
Best Moment of the Week: Getting to play in the snow! (I know- totes baby-related)
Movement: not yet
Food Cravings: Food. All the foods.
Gender: We should know at our next appointment!!
What I Miss: Energy and feeling like myself. I'm not sure I've ever felt so unmotivated, in general.
What I'm looking forward to: 2nd trimester goodness
Symptoms: Growing pains, exhaustion, breakouts, hormonal roller coaster rides
Emotions: See above. I cried profusely and inexplicably for the better part of Saturday. Fun times.

 All in all, I am SUPER excited to be entering the 2nd trimester. I already feel so much bigger than I did with Evie at this point, and all that early pregnancy bloat is gone, so I can't even throw the blame that way. But frankly? I don't care. I know my bump is still not fully noticeable to others (as in, I just look chubby), but being comfortable is all I care about right now, so I'm letting it all hang out. :)

Friday Morning Thoughts {Snowed-in Style}

Happy Friday! 

It's currently 8:19 a.m. (yes, you read that right), and I am the ONLY one awake in our house. We had some wintery weather start up yesterday, so the whole city was in a kerfuffle and husby got off early and didn't have to go in today. Which is awesome, but WHY IS EVERYONE ASLEEP?? I want to go play in the snow!!

So did you watch the Sound of Music remake last night? I did not. But it seemed to be all anyone was talking about on Facebook. I like Carrie Underwood just fine, but I personally LOVE the original movie and just wasn't all that jazzed to see it re-made. But if you watched, how was it? Did it live up to the hype?? We opted to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation instead. Honestly, it was slated to be the first time I had actually watched the whole thing, all the way through, but wouldn't you know? I fell asleep right after the Christmas tree lit up. Oh well, maybe next year. :)

It's recently come to my attention that I have literally done zero Christmas shopping yet. Yikes! I am so impressed by anyone who can have that list all crossed off by now, but I just don't think I'll ever be one of those people. And honestly, I like to peruse and shop in person rather than online. But that may have to change if I don't get on the ball pretty quick! I really really want to make Evie one of these cute little teepees for the playroom, buuuuut, not sure that's going to happen by Christmas morn. 

via

I have professed my love for fleece-lined leggings over on Instagram, and honestly people- you need to get some. They are sooo warm and comfy. And since stretchy pants are currently my bag, I am living in mine. My dilemma comes from finding shirts/tunics to wear said leggings with. I am still 100% on Team Leggings Are Not Pants and think all your lady bit and baubles should be adequately covered (unless, of course, you drop by my house unexpectedly, then all bets are off). Because lets just be honest- only about 2% of the female population can pull off leggings as pants and look even remotely decent. And I'm pretty sure they're all teenagers with no hips or thighs to speak of. ANYWAY, my point/question is- do you have any good places to shop for longer shirts or tunics?? I feel like I look at every store I go into and have the hardest time finding anything decent and/or that isn't 2 sizes too large and muumuu-esque. 

I'm going to my friend's annual cookie swap next week and need to come up with 5 DOZEN cookies. I am amazed at that amount every.single.year. Any great cookie recipes I should try?? Because per usual, I will likely be scouring pinterest and hitting up the grocery store the day of the party. 

My Christmas decorating has come to a stand-still. I guess that's what happens when you drag your tree out right after Halloween. The stockings are not hung, there's not an ornament in sight or nativity set out anywhere. Maybe today will be the day.

Aaaaannnd, it's now 8:46 and I still haven't heard a peep from around the house, so I'm off to wake up the wee one. Mama's hungry! 

Another little turkey!

Most already know, but we are so beyond excited to be expecting a sweet little babe next June!

I am 13 weeks along and had planned on posting something last week, but with all the Thanksgiving and birthday shenanigans, it just never happened. So here is last week's belly shot:

This is the main reason I have been such an absent friend, wife, business owner, blogger lately. This baby has totally given me a run for my money. The all day queasiness and sheer exhaustion set in at about 5.5 weeks and has only recently let up. I still get a sour tummy in the evenings but my days are slowly returning to normal. Naps (or at least a good rest in bed) are still a necessity when Evie is napping and I'm typically in my pj's and lounging in bed as soon as my girl is tucked in. My poor husband has to spend most evenings by himself and has been such a trooper and help during all of this. I truly don't know what I would do without him!

I keep trying to decide if this time around is worse than with Evie or if it just seems like it, since I'm chasing a toddler around all day. Ultimately, I do think this pregnancy has been harder. There were some really dark days in there and I am so thankful that they have passed. I also just think that with moving, having my appendix out and going back to work all in the space of 2 months really did me in.

But moving on! To say that we are thrilled to be expecting again is the understatement of the year. We are just so, so thankful and amazed at God's faithfulness. It has been a long, heartbreaking journey to add to our little family, but I know that so many go through so much worse. I feel the weight and significance of getting to mother another little person and don't take that lightly. I can't wait to snuggle another little newborn neck. I can't wait to see my husband's proud and happy face at the sight of his new son or daughter. And I truly cannot wait to see my girl as a big sister. She is going to be amazing.

So get ready for regular belly updates. I am hoping to at least keep up and track things like I did with Evie's Bumpdates.

And as for what we're having? We should know for sure in a few weeks, but I'm thinking all BOY! :)

it's getting Christmas-y around here

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that we put up our tree last weekend. Yep, that's right, we're those people. We haven't busted out the ornaments yet, but we did string up the lights and we're all loving the soft glow each night. We also lit up a few trees out front and have hemmed and hawed over how to get some lights up on the roof without having to pay someone hundreds of dollars.

Last night Evie discovered a few packages of bead garlands and went to town. Fantastic job, I say.

Joi just posted this fun DIY Christmas art she made and I think it's so fun! I'm thinking of blowing off work and showering and chores this morning to paint my heart out. Isn't it festive?? I love the gold edge.

Also in the spirit of jumping the Christmas gun, we went to see Santa last night! Evie was alllll over this. She knew just what she wanted to talk to St. Nick about: RUDOLPH. They had quite the convo about where he was, his nose, if she could pet and hug him, et cetera.



I also got my wreaths up! I ended up making mine with faux swags. We're not even sure they're supposed to resemble boxwood, but they were the best I could find. I'm wishing I had made them a little bigger, but they'll do for now! Cross it off the list! I'll try to take some pictures to share soon of them hung.

So have you started decorating for the holidays yet?? Tell me I'm not the only one! :)

Put a wreath on it

I totally have Christmas and holiday decorating on the brain. I can't wait to drag everything out of the attic and deck our halls. If our roof wasn't so steep and unclimb-able, I know hubby would have strung up our lights the day after Halloween.

Anyone with me??

In our living room, we have 4 big windows overlooking the backyard. Which I love. I haven't put up any window treatments yet, and actually I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. I love the unblocked view and all the light that floods in.

So what I would love to do is hang 4 pretty wreaths on those windows, like so:

I would really love to have some gorgeous, preserved boxwood wreaths but they are so stinking expensive! And I no longer have access to any real boxwood clippings. Sad face. So I've been trying to come up with another wreath idea I can DIMyself. I like (and have made) a book page/leaf wreath, which I like. But I feel like the greenery of the boxwoods would bring that natural feel I really want...

So if you have any sources for great, CHEAP preserved boxwood wreaths, help a sister out! I've heard Trader Joe's has some around Christmas, but we don't have those around here. :(

Have you started decorating for Christmas yet??

A fun family visit

Last week my sister, brother and sister-in-law all traveled back to our home state for a visit. So Evie and I made the trip up to hang out with everyone before Daddy came a few days later. We had such a fun time and I am so, so thankful for my girl's sweet personality at times like this. She remembers everyone, knows their faces and names, asks about them and picks up right where we left off, even when we only get to see some of my family once or twice a year. I know this is special and it could be a really tough transition, trying to make up for lost time and getting reacquainted. It makes my heart so happy to see her run to my brother or yell for one of her (many) grandparents by name and get so excited to see everyone. It makes living far away just a little bit easier.

Now on to some pics. We hit up two zoos while we were in town and had a lot of fun. We miss everyone already!

Lilac Row at VIMD & a Giveaway!

I wanted to share a few pictures of our booth at the Vintage Market Days: Urban Fairytale event. I can literally take no credit for our booth... my mom was a rockstar and came into town a day early while I was recovering in the hospital to get everything set up. Then my friend Sarah jumped in and helped with some finishing touches and they basically ran everything!

I can't tell you how excited I am to have Lilac Row be a part of Vintage Market Days. We had to skip out on the May event this year, because I was just too overwhelmed with building our house and I didn't want to stress about it. Since we've been at the event since the beginning, I really wish we hadn't missed out this spring, but such is life! The two amazing women who organize the event have done such an awesome job and work so hard for their vendors and shoppers.

The warehouse before all the vendors set up.

 

  

 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to shop and say Hello! If you haven't Liked our Lilac Row Facebook page yet, now is the perfect time! I've put together a little giveaway over there for your chance to win one of these fun linen and stripe Oklahoma pillows. Don't miss out!



 

 

 

 

Five on Friday {Baby Ballet & Bandwagons}

1 // I started to feel a little back to normal this week, after my whole appendix fun. It's been soo nice to just be home with my girl, hanging in our pj's if we want, cleaning random parts of the house, snuggling on the couch and checking things off my to-do list. I'm still sore and get worn out after a few hours of "normal" life, but feeling better every day. So thankful.

2 // My girl started ballet class this week! We were both super excited. I just love seeing her little toddler belly and thighs in that leotard. Is that just me?? I just want to squish her! So I do. :) She did so well and loved every minute of it.

3 // Emily's honest post really resonated with me this week. Over and over I see comparison steal our joy... especially women, mamas. But we were all created to do and be something different. And all of it brings glory to God, if we're doing it to honor Him.

4 // I have a little stash of fabrics and items in a tub (somewhere!) for Evie's big girl room... I'm finally getting excited to start working on it. Or at least planning it! What I'm NOT excited for? Switching her to a big girl bed. :( She has never once tried to climb out of her crib and we're not super eager to make the switch, but know it needs to come at some point this fall.

5 // And finally, I took the plunge and joined the Instagram world. I've had the app forever, but always used it privately to edit random photos on my phone. I would love for you to come follow along and let me know your handle so I can follow you, too!


Happy Weekend! Linking up with these fun girls: