craigslist

does anyone love craigslist as much as me (or my sister?). this is why I love craigslist.

1. we found the crib I have wanted since 2000 in the walnut color for $25



I wanted it to be walnut so that when we paint and distress it, the wood grain will show through a bit.

2. the quinny stroller is our dream stroller. I found the car seat and two car seat bases on craigslist for $150


the carseat itself retails for $175 and each car seat base is $65. we saved $155! I am all about used items. not only is it green but it saves you $$$

maternity clothes

the maternity clothes I have been finding online are SO cute.

I love anything with a ruffle


and anything that is a chunky sweater with a big fat ribbon belt


and this classic anytime, anywhere sweater jacket

today was the day

I had to turn over to maternity pants. I didn't know how long this would take or how I would feel when I got there. today I, well, just felt fat. I am in that in-between stage of feeling like I've gained enough weight that I need to go on a diet. then after picking out an outfit and it not fitting, I burst into tears. silly, I know. because I am so happy to be pregnant. bry was so nice about the whole thing. he explained to me that this is the way my body is going to be, my body is preparing for a baby and things are going to be changing. then he told me about the belly band. seriously, how does he know about the belly band? I really felt like he was a salesperson. he explained how they work, what you do and how long you can wear it. then he told me he was taking me to lunch and shopping for a new pair of pants. so today, I got my first pair of maternity pants and I feel so much better.

who knew

researching and shopping for diapers was so much fun? I am so excited to get these in the mail


I really wanted to get the natural looking ones but you have to use a cover so it defeats the natural cuteness


and I LOVE that these are made in the USA and egypt

favorite dinnerware

I love fiestaware and I have a ton of it but when fall and christmas are here, I don't like it. all the bright and cheery colors drive me crazy. I just want plain and simple. I really regret not getting these from potterybarn two years ago because now they don't have anything like it


I love these from ballard designs


maybe some red accents would do the trick.

christmas decorating

I can't wait to decorate for christmas this year. we are going to have TWO trees this year. I am so excited about that. one for our family room and one in our bedroom. I love the white lights on trees and I love to leave them on all night. I really want a red quilt for christmas. this is the one I am dreaming of


with these sweater knit pillows


and if I had a bed like this I would hang garland from it too

halloween fun

today we made halloween sugar cookies! it was SO much fun. I love to see the little hands using cookie cutters and then decorating them.


we made orange sugar sprinkles


brennan was trying really hard to decorate


but couldn't resist the sugar


elsa loved this!


happy halloween!

new welcome home outfit

is on its way. I loved the old welcome outfit but I feel like the new one is far superior to the old. they are offered in solid colors; strawberry pink, cornflower blue or very vanilla. I also feel like the new outfit is more of a keepsake because of the quality and thickness of it. I will have a more detailed outfit coming soon but here are some shots for now

i love pumpkins

there is just something about the fall that makes me giddy all day long. we went to the pumpkin patch the other night on the hayride. these are the little things I have missed being away in florida.


and to honor fall, this morning I made homemade pumpkin pancakes.


note to self: pumpkin takes a lot longer to cook than buttermilk pancakes

what a day

yesterday was our second ultrasound. this was only so we could hear the heartbeat since my first ultrasound was too early. I couldn't believe how much s/he has grown in a matter of weeks.


its heart rate was 174 bpm


the sonographer said s/he is moving all around!


and to finalize our visit she said "you passed with flying colors, everything looks perfect!" we were so happy. my due date was moved up a week, now making it may 21!

fall in indiana

I can't believe I am finally living a fall again in indiana! it feels awesome! this morning we hit the road. our first stop was cracker barrel and they had a great big fire going


next we headed to west lafayette for the purdue, ohio state game


it was so fun to be back there


it was bittersweet for me. my sister and I roomed together here


and here


those were great years for me. I miss those days. my sister used to tuck me in bed every night. it was the best. I wish I would have taken those school days more seriously. I was young. too young to be in college. I always think starting right out of high school is silly. I mean, really, do 18 year old kids really know what they want to do the rest of their lives? I think not. at least I didn't. I'm probably not the norm though....

did you know?

they make bryers vanilla bean in a GALLON size?


awesome

I have an obsession

her name is jenna. I tagged along with my sister and her fam for their photo shoot last saturday. check out some of the great pictures.





thanks jenna!!!

my new nightstand

over the past week I have noticed my hunger really increasing. it wakes me up in the middle of the night. my stomach is growling and I feel really thirsty. most times for orange juice which I used to never drink before. my sister and I had an orange juice race before school one year, I beat her and shortly after I puked. ever since, orange juice has never tasted the same. so last night I tried staying in bed. we had warm, cozy flannel sheets on and I didn't want to get cold. then I thought, what if I just got a mini fridge as my nightstand and then I could just eat from my bed!


brilliant!

week 8

I find this simply amazing.
this is what our baby looks like right now in week 8


Picture: LENNART NILSSON

seriously, what is wrong with our baby?

I tried to see what our baby might look like again on makemebabies.com and this is the baby I got this time:


what is wrong with our kids? this is the previous one that came out:


we should have one interesting family!

why I feel so lucky

bry and I bought this sweet little house in 2006 and from the moment I was in it, I wanted a baby.


there was an adjoining room off the master bedroom with french doors and I imagined our nursery being there. it was perfect


after many, many months of trying my mind was growing tired, wondering why we weren't able to get pregnant. then finally, we were able to move to indiana. I had a friend tell me, "I think you've been waiting until you get back to your family to start yours." I hoped it was true.
then we moved into our lovely home here and I immediately made my niece a room and only dreamt of it being a baby room.


after a few months of getting settled we began seeing a doctor. all of whom gave us little hope in getting pregnant. on our own we could achieve at a 5% rate a month. with medicine it would be around 26-38%. this was less than hopeful for me. I was becoming very lonely inside and felt I could only talk about it so much.
after a few months of trying fertility, we took a short break and then felt our next step should be adoption. we didn't tell many, some of whom said we hadn't exhausted all of our options to have our "own children" because we hadn't tried IVF. I, at the time, was not ready for IVF. not at all.
we had our first home visit and it went great. we were both very excited. we had to talk about what gender, what race and what circumstances we would accept from the mother. this was very hard. we decided to take a step back and just think.
then I felt more ready for IVF. I made 3 appointments and canceled all of them. something in me wasn't ready for it. I wasn't ready for the heartache of it not working (40% chance) and for all of the money we'd have to spend.
on the same day I found out I was pregnant, bry and I took a really long walk with our dogs. I expressed my concerns and how I did not want to acquire debt trying to have a baby. whether it being through adoption or on our own. we decided to save all the money and then try. I felt at peace with it. really.

then later that night, on a whim, I decided to take a pregnancy test. I don't even know why to this day. and it was a big, FAT positive.

and that's why I feel very lucky.

I can't believe it

it's october 7th and I am ready to launch all holiday goodies! this feels really good to have this completed. in the next few days I am going to be adding it to the website and then having a very special special for you early shoppers.





because this year I am enjoying the season!