OK, Mr. Easter Bunny- We're Ready for YOU!

I left work Friday at 5:00PM with the mind-set that I wasn't going to do a dang thing the entire weekend.  Since hubs had to work, Food Network, my bed and my two year old were about the only three things on my agenda :)  

I contemplated stopping by Michael's to grab some things for a little diddy that this pretty lady inspired me with, and when it was snowing/raining and 28 degrees (it was 80 two weeks ago...), it took all I had to get out of my car and go into the store...  

Let me just start by letting you in on two little secrets--

1. I am so NOT crafty!  I have the best of intentions, but creativity/crafting just does not come natural to me- which is why I'm in LOVE with Pinterest and Bloggers, who give me that boost of inspiration!!

2. Sharpie Paint Markers are the absolute WORST invention!

So, I'm pretty sure I had Teagan's Easter Basket made and my MESS was cleaned up by, oh, about 9:30AM on Saturday morning.  So much for being a lazy  sleeping in!

Supplies: 

*Galvanized metal tub

*Sharpie Paint Markers (Next time I'll just use regular Sharpie Markers)

* Stencils (but just because I have TERRIBLE handwriting to freestyle!)

*ribbon of your choice

There really are no rules when making this Easter Basket, but check out Dana's awesome how-to to get you started.  I definitely started out with this project STRESSING  out because I was trying to be too perfect!  It really doesn't matter that my bunny's face is a bit dis-formed, or that my eggs didn't turn out to be perfect oval shapes. 

Thank you so much, Dana for your coaching and inspiration on this CA-UTE project!  Pretty sure this basket will be around for years to come :)  P.S. If I had more patience, I would have made Juliana a basket too.  Poor baby girl will have to wait until next year!  Not quite sure how the heck you did THREE of these!

Current Favorites

Call these my current favorites, call them obsessions, call them what you will, but these are just a few of my indulgences that are helping through weeks 30-31 of pregnancy ;)

EOS lip gloss-- I have the tropical fruit, but want to try the other flavors!

These suckers have 9g of fiber in them and are the perfect fix for those evil 3PM chocolate cravings!

I love pink nails. period. 

Also in love with this chap stick.  Makes my lips feel like  SILK! 

These itty bitties are just too much.  Can't.get.enough!

YUP--polished a bag of these off in two days.  OOPS!

 

Making drinking 400 oz of water (it seems like that much) much more enjoyable!

One of my new favorite blogs!  Adventures of Decorating!  So CUTE and inspiring! & I found this banner at  TARGET!

 

That's all for now.  Hoping to spend some time in Juliana's nursery this weekend and Springify our home :)

Spring Wish List & A Pay Raise!!

Hey there!  The sun is shining, the grass is green and I just noticed this morning that my apple blossom tree, in my front yard, is in full bloom I just had to Google what type of tree I have in my front yard, OMG!  Today is supposed to be 80 degrees--almost of unheard of for the Mitten State in March!  Needless to say, it's kind of hard not to be in a good mood :)


(this is not my tree, but I hope mine turns out to be this gorgeous!)

I'm just now getting over my 11 day (but who's counting) stint of sickness.  BLAH!  I literally have not been sick in years, and this cold that I'm recovering from kicked my ASS!  Ear ache and all.  EWWWWWW!

Anyways, things are starting to look up for this girl, and I couldn't be happier.  I received a phone call yesterday morning that, I believe, was the turning point for my two weeks of misery that I've been experiencing.  I'm pretty sure the Big Man upstairs had something to do with it, as I have been praying every single day for his guidance and support :)

 --Back to that phone call--

So my boss calls to tell me that I have just been given a $5,000 raise because of all of my hard work and dedication that I have given to my team in my newly appointed position as 'Team Leader.'  WHAAAAT?!   I know that I am very underpaid for what I do, but for crying out loud, I work for a non profit, and getting that kind of a raise is almost unheard of around here!  LOL!  Instant gratification instilled upon me, and I literally wanted to reach through the phone and hug my boss!!

So what are we doing this weekend?  We're celebrating, my friends.  Not with cold beer and good food, like we normally would if I wasn't preggo, but we are going shopping and out to lunch with our two year old. :)  The weekend cannot come soon enough.

Here are just a few things that are on my wishlist...

Cute flowy dresses to wear in these final weeks of pregnancy and also post baby...

Nautical inspired cuteness...

 

Statement necklaces--preferably some big PEARLS!



RUFFLES--lots of ruffles!



Bright colored jewelry!


COMFORTABLE and CUTE dresses!



all images from my Pinterest site which can be found HERE!

Let's be honest, our trip will not be complete without purchasing our Teagie Tot her favorite pair of summer shoes--- crocodile dundees AKA CROCS--don't judge, they're cute and practical--for a two year old :)


Talk to you tomorrow-- wait, WHAT?  Two posts in one week?  Yup that's right, I'm doing a Current Favorites post tomorrow, so come by and check it out!! :) :) :)

Pregnancy Update: Week 29 & BABY'S NAME!

How far along?/Weeks Highlights: 29 weeks, 3 days...74 days to go! 
I had my Glucose Test this week, and the results showed that my sugar was a bit high-I honestly don't even remember what the nurse told me it was, but she referred me to come back and do the 3 hr Glucose Test--YUCK!  Also had to do this with Teagan, and my results came back normal after the 3hr, so I'm not freaking out too badly yet.  I have definitely changed my eating habits and activity levels.  Now that the weather is getting nicer, it's a lot easier to want to do good for my body!

Size of the babe? About the length of a loaf of bread (about three pounds)

Weight Gain: 22 pounds--up to 176-ahhh! (I've officially surpassed the amount of lbs gained during my first pregnancy. On  a good note, that's nearly what I weighed before I even got pregnant with Teagan!)

Cravings: Energy bites (taste like oatmeal cookie dough, but are packed with protein), teddy grahams, grapes, strawberries, apple juice.

Symptoms: Aside from feeling large and in charge, I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Extreme hip pain in both hips, too.  

Movement: Baby moves around ALL the time.  Pretty sure she's going to be a gymnast.  Definitely a little dancer :) 

Baby to-do list: We've transitioned Teagan into her big girl bed, and moved the crib into the baby's room.  

Things to do before the end of March: wash crib bedding, letters for Juliana's room, dresser organization for both the girls, changing table moved and set up in baby girl's room.

Maternity Clothes: Only wearing maternity jeans/pants now (size 10).  Loving dresses-both maternity and regular. Cardigans and scarves nearly every day :)  

Baby Buys: A few weeks ago, we went on a mini shopping spree for baby Juliana.  She now has a mini wardrobe of new clothes in addition to the tons and tons of clothes she gets as hand me downs from her big sister.

Gender/Baby Names: My husband and I couldn't stand it any longer!!  We finally decided to find out what we're having, and have decided on HER name :)  Juliana Kate <3  So super excited!

Still deciding on nursery themes/colors, but I am loving this yellow!

Pregnancy Update: Week 22

I first want to start out by saying THANK YOU so much to the beautiful Dana at Real Life, Real Estate, Real Dana for the nice shout out, she gave me a couple weeks ago. It is so encouraging to know that a veteran Blogger cares enough to post my link on her page--and I was shocked when I saw that my followers have increased-- even if it was just a wee bit!!

Now onto some updating on BABY #2! Lance and I found out we were expecting our second baby back in September 2011. We are SO excited, but I was a bit let down when I found out my due date was a couple weeks later than I had suspected. We will be welcoming our new bundle of joy on or around May 21, 2012! Our daughter, Teagan, will be a BIG sister, and we are so freaking excited!! I'm officially committing to Tuesday's to do my weekly update blog post! So, here we go:

How far along? 22 weeks, 1 day...125 days to go!
Size of the babe? A spaghetti squash (about one pound)
Weight Gain: 14 pounds--up to 166--but I'm definitely fully aware and getting these ridiculous cravings under control!!


cheesecake bars-WW!

Fudgy Coconut Valentine Brownies 

choc eclair cake - no bake 

Cravings: Lately, I've been craving SWEETS (can ya tell?!)--graham crackers and milk, rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting!, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting & peanut butter. Hoping that getting back to our weekly meal planning AND sticking to it will help to reduce the weight gain...:) Thanks Pinterest!
Symptoms: I think I have a mild case of restless leg syndrome, but other than that, I've been feeling GREAT! Aside from my growing belly (and missing running so much!), I don't really even feel pregnant.
Movement: Hubby finally got to experience feeling the baby move last week (21 wks)! I've been feeling the baby super low this time around. Melts.my.heart <3
Baby to-do list: There are lots of things I would like to get done to prep for baby, but the first on our list is going to be getting Teagan into her big girl bed so that we can start putting together the nursery. It's just so hard to move her out of her crib when we don't have to... she LOVES her crib, and we love knowing that she is safe and confined once we put her to bed while she is still awake.
Maternity Clothes: I'm fitting into my size 12 jeans without any problem. I am loving my new favorite Old Navy full front maternity dress pants. I have them in khaki and black, but I need to get a couple more pairs! Also, just scored some Motherhood Maternity khaki dress pants on Ebay for a whopping $1.99 (8.00) with shipping! They're so cute and comfy! Really loving leggings and long tunics/dresses right now.
Baby Buys: Since we originally decided that we would not be finding out the gender of this baby, it is has been so stinking hard to buy clothes, blankets and everything baby related, really! These days I swear they do not make anything gender neutral. You get either blue or pink accents in EVERYTHING! ugh! I did buy a couple lots of clothes from an online re-sale site. I think I got about 20 sleepers for $30--all in boy colors sizes 0-6months--all in brand new condition!
Gender/Baby Names: I have an ultrasound on Thursday, and my husband has ALMOST persuaded me to find out the gender. almost. I still say BOY!

Here are some names that I really like: 

Boy:                             Girl:

Graham                       Juliana

Grayson                      Marlena               

Greyson                      

Beau

Drew

Pregnancy Update: 16 Weeks

This was a scheduled post from way back when that obviously didn't post like it was suppose to, so I'm going to go ahead and publish it...

Lance and I found out we were expecting baby #2 back in September.  We are so excited, but I was a bit let down when I found out my due date was a couple weeks later than I had suspected.  We will be welcoming our new bundle of joy on or around May 21, 2012! Our daughter, Teagan, will be a BIG sister, and we are so freaking excited!!  Tuesday's will be my weekly update post, and I am going to try to accompany them with a pregnancy vlog for my YT channel :)

How far along? 16 weeks, 1 day...168 days to go!

Size of the babe? An avocado

Weight Gain: 6 pounds--up to 158.  After all of the crap this baby has had me eating the past 16 weeks, I thought it would have been a much bigger gain!

Cravings: My cravings for cheeseburgers, Qdoba, pizza, and every other non-healthy food, have FINALLY subsided and I'm now back to eating healthy and at my normal times.

Symptoms:  Pretty much every other terrible symptom that I experienced in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy: nauseousness, absurd food cravings, tiredness and laziness are GONE! I still can't brush my tongue without gagging myself.  I'm finally over my 3:00 slumps of where I couldn't even keep my eyes open at work! 

Movement: I thought I felt a little flutter earlier this week, but maybe that was just wishful hoping...

Baby to-do list: There are lots of things I would like to get done to prep for baby, but the first on our list is going to be getting Teagan into her big girl bed so that we can start putting together the nursery.  I'm thinking during the Christmas break when I'll be off for 15 days!

Maternity Clothes: I'm fitting into my size 10 and 12 jeans without any problem.  My size 8 dress pants are all too snug, but I can't freaking find where I put my size 10 pants!  I've seriously made myself crazy looking through every single tote that I've lugged out into the garage.  So, yes, I am loving my new favorite Old Navy full front maternity dress pants.  I have them in khaki and black, but I need to get a couple more pairs! 

Baby Buys: Since we will not be finding out the gender of this baby, it is so stinking hard to buy clothes, blankets, everything really!  These days I swear they do not make anything gender neutral.  You get either blue or pink accents into EVERYTHING!  ugh!  

Gender/Baby Names: My husband and I are going to try like heck to NOT find out the gender!  I think it's a boy though! We have a couple names picked out, but not ready to reveal them just yet...

Oh, How Pinteresting Monday!

Today is that day that I am getting back into this here blog!  I will no longer be uninspired and lazy too busy to not fulfill at least a weekly post.  I'm starting off this new habit by linking up w. Dana at Real Life, Real Estate, Real Dana and doing an 'Oh, How Pinteresting Monday!'

By the way, still OBSESSED with this website! I even have my Memaw loving it! I've mostly been into recipes and meal planning ideas, but here are some of my favorites:

Snack idea for Teagie to take to day care

would love to have this sign in our new home

Post baby #2: I will have this body by next winter! 

so festive and pretty.  I HATE that I pick off my nail polish.

NYE dress for next year.  Hubs and I WILL go out!

INSPIRATION!

Work Christmas Party!

Weeknight dinner :)

I made these this weekend, and they are AMAZING!!

on the menu this week!

Tonight's dinner w. Tomato Bisque soup

DREAM deck!

House building plans inspiration!

Lance and I are doing this this winter!

DREAM laundry space

New home: extra cupboard space for meal planning.

Favorite kitchen!

next Pinterest inspired dessert...

That's all for now.  There are seriously so many amazing things to be found on Pinterest, and it is an illness that I have acquired. I literally drain the battery on my phone every day exploring the site!