My darling daughter...

I know we haven't officially met yet, but I feel like I know you. I've spent many hours trying to picture what you will look like. Will you be a blonde, a brunette, or a ginger? Will you have blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, or even hazel eyes like me? Your dad and I joke that you can have his looks and my brains and we'll be alright. No matter what, my darling, you are a beautiful girl. I'm seeing the world in a new light now, knowing that you will be joining our family, and I can't wait until I can see you discover it through your new eyes. 

When I first heard this song by Tyrone Wells I immediately thought of you. Now, whenever I hear it, which is often because I can't stop playing it, I tear up knowing that this is your song. There is just something about this song that sends a message straight to the place in my heart where you have taken residence. It is your song and there is none out there that suits you better. 

"You fit me perfectly, darling it's plain to see, you are a beautiful girl"

I can't wait until you're here so we can dance to the song together and I can whisper in your ear over and over again that you are a beautiful girl. That you are my beautiful girl and you make my world beautiful.

Bringing Home Baby; the Nursery

A lot of research has been put into this whole "having a baby thing." I have found out there is a lot more to bringing home baby than just popping them out and then placing them in a car seat to bring them home. Obviously I'm kidding just a little here. 

Even before baby comes home, baby has to have a place to come home to. A place for baby to sleep (eventually), a place for a diaper change, and a place to keep all of baby's cute adorable clothes that so many loved ones has purchased for them. A nursery. For some people the nursery is a shared room, either with another child or room that has another purpose. Other people set aside a special room just for their little new little one. Of course, this varies from family to family and it all depends on living situation. The hubs and I are lucky to have a room that we have set aside for our little girl. Now we just have to fill the room with lovely things.

Things I've found we need:

• a crib

Now this isn't our crib, just one like it. I'm saving sharing the final crib reveal for when our nursery is fully complete.

• a changing table

Once again, this isn't ours. We decided to go with a dresser that can have a changing pad added on top. This way the changing table can serve dual purposes.

• a crib mattress

Cribs don't come equipped with crib mattresses. Who knew? There are so many options out there with crib mattresses. There are foam mattresses and spring mattresses. We opted for a spring mattress when we registered. 

• a glider or rocker

I imagine a glider will be ideal for feedings and rocking my little one to sleep. Honestly, I can't wait to put ours to use!

• storage

I'm still on the lookout for a good bookshelf unit for storing toys, books, and nick-knacks. I have the perfect spot for a shelving unit just like the one in the top right picture. Now just to find the perfect piece.

There are more things that a nursery needs, but in my opinion these are the essentials. Of course, I'm a first time mom so this list might change as time goes by and we get adjusted to life with a little one, but that'll be for another post. If you see anything I need to add, please feel free to let me know! The goal this weekend is to work some more on the nursery. I'm ready for it to be ready, because, even though she has 3 and a half more months of cooking to do, I'll feel better when things are settled and ready. It's just my nature I guess. Oh well, here's to a weekend of organizing and getting things ready! And then once that's all done, I'll post all about our little one's nursery!

24 Weeks!!

How far along: 24 weeks 

Trimester: Last month of the Second Trimester!!!

Baby size: Ear of corn - a foot long and over a pound and a half!

Toes: They're getting harder and harder to see every day.

Gender: BABY GIRL!

Movement: Baby is wriggling around like crazy and getting stronger! We can now see her moving and kicking!

Cravings: Food. Please. Food. I just need food! My sweet tooth has picked up, though it could be because there are so many yummy sweet treats that are fall-iscious.

Aversions: I've tried chicken, and it's okay...still not my favorite though.

Nausea/Morning sickness: No more! Just tired now, and constantly out of breath. Round ligament pain, itchy and stretchy skin, heartburn, some slight dizziness, and back pain, but nothing to complain about :)

Maternity clothes: Yes yes and yes. I love them. I'm definitely one of those women who is proud to wear my maternity pants. They're just too comfortable to pass up.

Best moment of the week: Spending the weekend with Jo's "aunts." We had a fun time with just us girls.

What I'm looking forward to: Finishing the nursery! Now that I know what we're having, nesting has kicked in full force.  The crib is up, but that's about it.

Friday's Letters

Dear Friday, I know I say this every week, but thank you for finally getting here. Dear Nap time, You might just be my favorite time of the day. Dear Hubs, I've loved spending so much time with you this week! I'm not looking forward to going back to normal schedules next week. Dear Pregnant Body, I'm sorry the past two days have been long and I've been on my feet more often than not, but please go easy on me. Dear Baby Girl, I love your kicks and I've been pinning all the cute things on Pinterest. I just can't help myself! You are going to one spoiled little girl! Dear Weekend, Please take your time. I don't want you to speed by like you always do. Dear Girl's Day Tomorrow, I look forward to sushi and fun times with y'all tomorrow!!

The neighbor's cat just lying around.

Almost, almost the weekend...

Here's a little something to get you over that Wednesday hump. It sure did make me smile.

Oh I just love the Muppets.

Ode to Pregnancy Emotions

Okay, so maybe not an ode. That just sounded good in the title.

But seriously, pregnancy emotions, what are you doing to me?! One minute I'm fine, the next I'm curled up in a ball on the couch crying and can barely contain myself, the next I'm mad at the world.

I hope I'm not the only one feeling this way. And when I get this way the only thing that seems to make it better is a Wendy's Frosty. 

I mean, just look at the yummy goodness. I dropped enough hints with the hubs, so let's see if he comes home from work with one. 

Anyway, I'm sitting here breathing deeply trying to get these emotions in check. I know they're not a true representation of how I'm feeling and they're all just out of wack because of these lovely things called hormones. But it's all worth it, right? The ups and downs will all be worth it once this baby girl is here!

Hiking

I love being outside. Well, let me rephrase that. I love being outside when the weather is lovely and there is a nice breeze and not so many bugs. This weekend the weather was lovely, though I could have done without some of those pesky gnats. So taking full advantage of the weekend, the hubs and I decided to go hiking. I absolutely love a good hike, and this was going to be the first pregnant hike. So we found where we wanted to take our little adventure to and set off. 

 It was such a beautiful day.

Ready to tackle those 2 miles! I was good until I had to go uphill, then it took me a little while. But I was ready for more when it was over! 

The original plan was to hike around the lake, unfortunately we couldn't find that trail. The one we hiked though was nice and shaded for us. The best part, no one else was there! 

We traveled to a little park a little way from the trail head. This canal was beautiful.

A great day hiking with the hubs. 

I can't wait until the next weekend we can go hiking again! Hopefully though we'll find a more rigorous hike, or at least a longer one. Those two miles just weren't long enough for me. Instead they left me itching for more! Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't an easy hike by all means. Going uphill left me out of breath and I had to take my time, but it was a lot of fun and it felt good to get out and moving.