Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Let's Chat

This may turn it into a random rant, and there may not be any photos to support my conversation here...but this is what I want to talk about today.

1.  I hate mornings.  Mostly I am a morning person, but since Alex went back to work, I hate mornings.  I lay in bed half-awake dreading the next steps: get up, brush my teeth, make the bed, make breakfast (groan!).  So instead I just lay there until I just can't lay there any longer.

What gives?  Some of my favorite things are just monotonous and taxing these days.  For example, I have had the same bowl of oatmeal for breakfast 10 days in a row.  This is unlike me.  But I lack creativity in the kitchen and the idea of stirring together anything more is just plain tiring. 

2.  We had a doctor's appointment today and it was so much fun.  We got to hear baby girl's heartbeat and ask the gazillion questions that have been burning in my mind lately.

First, I needed a natural remedy for this extreme heartburn and acid reflux.  Marcia suggested papaya.  That sounds yummy.  But for tonight I tried french fries and Pepsi.  Yup, I am breaking all the rules! 

We also found out many more details about the birth.  I plan to do a whole post on our birth plans, but not today.  It will take me a long time to gain the courage to type it all up...do you know how many different opinions there are about birth and breastfeeding these days?! 

3.  Girls on the Run registration starts tonight!  In exactly 30 minutes to be exact!  So tonight is our semi-annual stay-in and wait for the craziness begin


4.  Alex is cooking me dinner, again.  He really is the best! 

Have a great night, and don't forget to sign up for GOTR!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tuesday

Highway 77 has changed all of my plans today.  I had plans for a nice chat with one of my coaches this morning and then she got stuck in traffic.  I had plans for a doctor's appointment this afternoon and that got cancelled.  I had plans for a race meeting this evening, and unfortunately I will likely forgo that as well.  There was an accident involving a large tractor-trailer last night that caught on fire and the road is still not cleared.

Alas, we must roll with the punches. 

Rolling with the punches meant we had a fun boat outing on Sunday. 
After church I checked my voice mail and had an invite from one of my dear friends!  Last minute boating trip...heck yeah!  It was a gorgeous day and the best way to spend Alex's last day before teaching began!
He even got to do a little tubing.  I, of course, did not.

Snoozing children are so cute!  Can't wait for my own little snuggler!
That's all for today!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Showered

On one of the prettiest days of the year, my sweet friends from church showered me with love and joy! I am so overwhelmed by how amazing they are and how excited they are for Alex and me and of course Eleanor.

You may remember back to the day we found out we were having a baby girl.
Well, behind the scenes we had a little audience with some of our best friends from church.  Of course once the cat was out of the bag (or the balloons were out of the box) everyone wanted to know baby girl's name.  It is no secret around here, her name is Eleanor Margaret.  Julie asked us what the name Eleanor meant.  (cricket, cricket) I had never looked up the meaning before.  So Julie did her research and found Eleanor means sun ray or shining light, so a Sunshine themed baby shower was quickly underway.
Julie, Shannon and Elizabeth, and of course Whitney, did a remarkable job planning and preparing and the party was so beautiful.  I feel so blessed to have such creative, amazing friends!
The sunshine theme came through in the decor, the food and drinks.  From Lemon Bars to lemonade, sunflowers and hand-painted and hand crafted artwork, they really made it happen!  We of course are the lucky recipients of two amazing pieces of artwork including the Eleanor frame and "You Are My Sunshine" painting.  We also took the ribbon garland home to hang above Eleanor's crib.  I took a cue from these ladies and Alex and I will decorate Eleanor's room in fun yellows with a little pink.

Side note: This theme is even more fitting because Alex and I used to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to one another all the time when we dating.  It became a little joke between us and we would buy each other silly things like plastic roses that played the melody of the song.  It is so adorable that now it is our song to our little girl!
Of course, my friends did not skimp on the food.  This is their gift after all!  From Chai flavored cupcakes and Pumpkin Spice Chickpeas (clearly we are ready for fall) to the Vegan burritos and Vegetable Wreath, everything was fantastic and I helped myself to more than seconds!

It was soon gift-opening time and Eleanor and I were absolutely showered with presents.  So many cute little girl outfits, important necessities and many amazing homemade gifts!  I have no favorites, they are all my favorites, but I am blown away by the generosity of our church friends and the creativity of Julie, Whitney and Shannon!  Our baby girl is already so loved and so blessed to be part of an amazing church family and network of support!  I am not sure how I could ever do this without them!

Not only did all the ladies from church make it to the shower, but Alex's mom came in from Winston Salem, and then my aunt arrived from South Carolina.  I was so surprised she made it and so excited to have so many loved ones around!
I would say we are so lucky, but I know better.  I know God has placed us right here to be surrounded by all of our amazing friends for this special purpose.  He has given us Eleanor as a beautiful gift of His love and I am just so amazed that this is my life.  I am not sure there is any capacity to the gratitude I feel and I know I could never express it quite enough.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Friday, August 24, 2012

So much excitement...

...in one little weekend!

Today I am 28 weeks pregnant!  Let me repeat...TODAY I AM 28 WEEKS PREGNANT!  Halleluia! Do we know what that means?
According to my app, that puts her at the size of a Chinese cabbage (really couldn't they use a more interesting vegetable).  Also according to my fabulous app I can look forward to embarrassing urine leakage, especially when sneezing.  Fabulous!

However, I do have some pretty awesome things to look forward to...like only 12(ish) weeks to go!  Not to mention, I get to experience these next 12 weeks during my favorite time of year.  I love the fall.  I can't wait to rock this big belly with my maternity skinny jeans and boots! 

Also this weekend is my baby shower hosted by all my favorites at church!  I love them so much and am so excited for tomorrow.  Presents aside, these ladies know how to throw an amazing party with delicious food and cupcakes!  I can't wait!
Last but certainly not least...this weekend is my dad's birthday.  I must confess, I no longer know how old he is.  Probably 50-something.  Sorry dad. 
Happy Birthday Dad! (Your card is in the mail!)

Monday, August 20, 2012

Last Day of Summer

Alex officially returned to work today.  Now only 180ish more days until we can repeat another fantastic summer!  Fantastic is an under statement, as we enjoyed nearly every single day together.  It is wild to think that next summer there won't be just 2 of us!

To celebrate our last and final day of summer together we headed out on the lake with many of our best friends.  Tim and Jill graciously took us all out on their family's pontoon for a day of swimming.
Taking pictures hasn't been my strength this summer. 

The day started off cool and cloudy, and even a bit stormy.  Obviously Alex and I forgot our sunscreen because when we got home this happened...
Yup, those are our sunburned cheeks and shoulders.  Oh, and that's the baby bump in case you were wondering!

As we departed the lake early in the evening, the cool weather was setting back in.  We decided it was the perfect night for a fire and more friend-time.
And of course S'mores!

It was the perfect end to our perfect summer.  I will miss our long days together, sleep-ins, and countless hours of reality television.  However, I am looking forward to cooler weather, boots and the arrival of our baby girl sometime in November!  Bring on the fall!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Pinterest Projects

It's a closet, no wait, it's an office!  My home office is now much more compact that it was a day ago!  And this time I can proudly say I did most of it.
If you don't know the story, check back to yesterday's post.  thanks to an awesome gift by an awesome friend, I decided to convert my office into the guest room, leaving the previous guest room open for a nursery.  That meant the office needed to move.  Thanks to a Pinterest find, we came up with a perfect solution!
I actually love it.  I love the bright color, I love the organization, and I even love the compact little space.  Hopefully it will help me to stay more concise and organized!
This project cost virtually nothing.  We reused everything we had on hand.  I even took the desktop to Lowe's and had them cut it down to size to fit into the closet.  They did it for free, even though the desk never came from Lowe's. 
Yesterday Alex painted and helped me move the big shelf.  Today, I assembled the desk and floating shelves all on my own.  Oh yes, and hours of organizing later, we have a finished product. 
All that organizing left room for the guest bed and nightstand.  The only piece of office equipment left in the main bedroom space is a file cabinet with a printer on top.  I love how the printer blends right in so you can hardly even tell there is one in here!
We moved my beloved bird painting in here.  It matches the paint in the closet perfectly and I love how it pulls it all together.
Not too shabby for a day-long, free project, huh?  I personally love it.  Now we will just have to wait and see what it is like to work in a room with a bed.  Might need to take more naps!
Speaking of naps, I seriously need one.  I would like to blame it on all the hard work today, but really, my pregnancy symptoms have returned in full force.  Amazing how I forgot what it was like in 4 short weeks of feeling well, and now I'm wishing for the second coming of Christ.  I hate heartburn, nausea and extreme exhaustion more than anything I can think of. 

At least I love my new office/guest room.  It helps to have something pretty to look at when you are not feeling well at all.  For now Alex says I need to stay off of Pinterest.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Closet Space

It doesn't take me long to put my husband to work. 
An unexpected arrival on our doorstep this morning had us second thinking some of our choices, which then created a new project for the house.  Let me explain.
We decided a while ago to forgo the nursery and keep our guest room.  Our reasoning: we are planning to have many guests in the first several months after the baby is born, yet we expect our little girl to sleep in our room for those first months.  Thus, we didn't want to inconvenience our guests (or ourselves) with an air mattress in the middle of the living room, while the baby's room went undisturbed.  Just didn't make sense. 

We have a 3 bedroom house, so one might assume that there is plenty of room for a guest room and nursery, however, I work from home, so one whole bedroom is tied up in Girls on the Run.
I considered finding office space to clear out one room of our house, but that would defeat the benefit of working from home as I attempt this part-time worker, full-time mommy bit.  So our plan to maintain the office, the guest room, and just use our super large room as a make shift nursery was great until...

THE GREATEST PACKAGE EVER arrived!  Our dear friend Tiffany gifted us with a crib!  I registered for the crib expecting that we would set it up once the baby was 4 months old or so.  By then our steady stream of guests would wane and we would lose our guest room and maybe invest in a pull-out couch.  But receiving that crib today put me in serious nesting mode!  I WANT a nursery!  Not to mention our bedroom is being outgrown with the glider, the bassinet, and soon a full baby wardrobe.  Where would I put all those clothes?!  And the diapers and the gazillion other gadgets babies need!  Sure, our sweet little girl will sleep with us for the first few months, but where would we find room for all her stuff?! 

Of course I'm being a little over dramatic here in making fun of myself for buying into this "a 7 pound baby needs more clothes than I do" mentality.  In all honesty, I'm sure I could raise a healthy, happy baby on very little, fortunately we will not have to.  We have been so blessed by generous family and friends!  Our little girl already has so much.  I have to say hand-me-downs are my very best friends!

Well back to the project at hand.  Luckily for our budget, this one cost a total of $10 for a new roller and pan to paint and a few bits of hardware.  We are able to reuse everything we already own to create a new office in an unexpected space.  Our inspiration:
Of course that particular nook does not fit into our budget and probably wouldn't be the most efficient use of space for all the GOTR files.  It will look very different, nonetheless, we will use a closet to create my new office.
Stay tuned for the final product.  I'm hoping to have this one done by tomorrow.  We removed the doors and hardware and Alex is currently painting it to create a burst of color.  My current desktop will be cut to size to fit next to a full shelf.  We will include a few floating shelves and a few photos on the wall to make it fun.  I am anxious to see how it turns out. 

The new office closet will hopefully free up enough space in the room for the bed and nightstand for our guests.  And this will free up an entire bedroom just for baby!  And then yet another project will begin! 

Monday, August 6, 2012

Sounds of a Monday Morning

It doesn't get much better than this folks.  While downstairs reading my Bible, I hear the washer start...my husband is doing laundry.

Then, he walks down stairs and immediately begins unloading the dishwasher.  Brilliant.

As I'm sitting at my desk typing away some emails a short while later, I see him pass the door, cleaner in hand, heading to the bathroom.  Yup, that's my guy.

Actually, none of this is abnormal in my house, I just needed to share how amazing Alex is.  All these things were on my mind to get done, yet he did them all first.  He's pretty awesome.  Thank you Alex for making my Monday that much brighter!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

It's A...

...Girl!

Last night we hosted a fun get together with friends to reveal our baby's gender.  We found out earlier in the week with fun photo shoot revealing pink or balloon balloons from inside a box.  Note: if you are interested in doing this, just ask your ultrasound technician to write the gender in a sealed envelope instead of telling you directly.  Then we took the envelope with our box to Party City and they happily filled it with balloons!
The party last night was decorated blue and pink and we created a dessert table for a fun reveal.  Some of the blue and pink treats we chose were white chocolate and sprinkled covered pretzels.
Blue and pink M&Ms.
Rock candy and blue and pink Twizzlers.
And of course, my favorite, pink sugar wafers.
To drink we had blue and pink Jones sodas along with some Blue Moon.
And I mixed up some Pink Lemonade which really was the star of the party.
There were plenty of other treats on the table including gummy bears and these cute suckers decked out with lips and mustaches.
I had so much fun preparing for this party and it was extra special that we got to host it in our newly painted and tiled home!
Thankfully our party guests dug right into all the sweets (so I'm not left with too many leftovers!) and soon enough it was time to cut the cake.
My friend Emily made the cake for us.  It was wonderful, not overly sweet but just perfect for eating.  We let Carrie cut into the cake to reveal the gender.
Everyone "wore" their votes, dressing in either pink or blue.  The group was pretty split and it was quite a surprise to reveal this:
A pink centered shared that our baby is to be a little girl!
Surprise!