a few things...

We're in the third trimester! Hallelujah! 

Work is seriously kicking my butt. This is nothing new, but the weeks FLY by. Unfortunately they are not only flying by in a "Yay, we are closer and closer to the due date" kind of way- but also flying in a "Holy crap I still haven't sent in our hospital paperwork, started thank you cards from my first shower, or done plenty of the million other things on my to do list" kind of way.

Speaking of work, just the thought of finishing projects and updating files for someone to take over when I start my leave is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Did you know if you skip four tolls in Chicago, then forget to go online and pay them, that they will send you a bill for $80? Because they will. So not happy about this.

I need to make a hair appt. And an eye appt. And an appt to use my anniversary gift certificate from Will for a prego lady spa day. And possibly a maternity photo appt. Meh. Do I actually need maternity photos? Opinions welcome!

I also have no clue when to start my maternity leave. A week before? Two weeks? Do first time moms really tend to deliver late? Because I know a lot of people who have experienced the opposite. Opinions welcome on this one too.

And last but not least, I spent $100 in the past three weeks in my work's cafeteria. You heard me right. Operation pack lunch DAILY started today, and I hope I can keep it up. Talk about a ridiculous amount of money on a bunch of sandwiches and salads that are good, but not that good.

That's all for now. Maybe one day I will take (and upload) a picture again?

One Year

Exactly one year from the day we got married!

One year. In some ways a year is nothing, an almost insignificant amount of time. In other ways, it sounds like an eternity. I know one thing for sure, my first year of marriage, May 2013-May 2014 was definitely the best year, and probably most exciting of my entire life.

I struggle to find the correct words to explain how amazingly wonderful this year has been, without making it sound perfect. Nothing and no one is perfect, and we are far from the exception to that. But when you love someone more than you love yourself, the trials and bad days and "hard" moments- aren't really hard at all. They are less hard, and more challenging. Testing moments I guess. And most importantly, they are only half as difficult and twice as rewarding to get through, because they are shared with someone you know loves you more than they love their self too.

In an nutshell, my our first year of marriage has kicked ass. There is no one on this earth that I would rather be taking this journey with. Getting engaged and planning a wedding, planning a marriage really, is a scary thing. You don't know what will happen. There are a million people offering up their opinion on you and your spouse and the institution of marriage in general. There are critics and cynics and luckily a few cheerleaders. Luckily for me, with each day that has passed- we are making our cheerleaders proud and proving the critics and the cynics who don't believe that there are good, lasting, Christian, marriages still in existence wrong.

Now I know we're just a year in. There is time for life to throw us plenty of curve balls. But I also know that there is no challenge or curve ball that we can't get through together. Being married to my husband has been the greatest decision I could have ever, and will ever make. Each day that passes makes that more and more clear.

Some highlight of our first year as a married couple:

-Packing up and selling the first home Will owned, and the first home we lived in together. The home where we fell in love and the home that holds the living room where we got engaged.

-Our first "buying a house" experience together, and moving into what very well may be our "forever" home. Where we will bring home our first child and where we will make all of our first memories as a family. Where she will have all of her childhood memories and probably many more.

-Throwing our first party in the new house for Christmas. Hosting my Mom and sisters for a few days over the holiday, and getting to celebrate as a family.

-Finding out just before Christmas we were expecting a baby.

-Me getting a new job. Will's company being sold, and him being a part of a new company (which he has kicked butt for and I am SO PROUD).

The list could go on, but these are the big ones.

I feel so lucky to "do life" with my husband. Thank you God for a man that makes me laugh every single day, and provides unwavering support and love. Here's to many, many, more years together.

Happy one year to up!

a few randoms

Linking up with Leslie today!

I confess...

...that I meant to write a post for our one year anniversary this week, and I haven't quite gotten around to it yet. Oops! We actually took some good pictures though, and I have plenty of thoughts on my first year of marriage, so that will have to happen next week. Better late than never?

...that even though this week drug on, it also seems to have flown by, and you won't hear any complaints from this lady. Time has a funny way of doing that, doesn't it? I am not one to wish away the days (OK I kind of am sometimes) but I am so ready for showers and weddings my baby girl to arrive!

...that I haven't been eating as healthy as I should be. I always take my prenatal vitamin, but I really need to incorporate more veggies and other healthy items into my diet. It's so hard when it's much easier to shop for/store/prep frozen foods or things that last an eternity in the pantry... but I am determined to raise Norah in a healthy food environment, and that should have started about six months ago. My Mother's Day gift should be a big help when she starts eating "real" food.

...that it drives me NUTS that spell check/auto correct tries to change "Norah" to "Nora". WITH an "h" people. I also have been bothered because I have no clue how to spell her nick name. We keep calling her "Nore-ee" but I have no idea how that is spelled. Nori? Norie? Nory? Any Nora(h)s out there? I guess it really doesn't matter, as people spell Brit(t) or Brittany any which way they please, and it hasn't seemed to effect me too much.

That's all for now folks. And happy 26 weeks to me!

Pregnancy Update: 25 Weeks

I'll be back with more on our anniversary and such later this week. For now, a bump update! Linking up with Kristin.

How far Along: 25 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby is over13 inches long and weighs a pound and a half or more.

Gender: Baby girl. Norah Paige.

Weight Gain: I'm up about 21 pounds and I swear every ounce of it is in my belly. I keep telling myself that at least. I truly feel like I swallowed a basketball.

Feeling: That depends on what time of day you ask me! Sometimes I feel great. Sometimes I feel like I just got hit by a bus, after running a marathon.

Maternity Clothes: Loving them. The only non maternity clothes I can fit into are leggings, athletic shorts, and a few shirts that were too big to begin with, or are very long in length.

Nursery: Haven't added anything to this in a couple of weeks. I still love going and just sitting in the rocker. It's def the most relaxing room in our house. As far as things to buy for the room, we are done besides a few items I'm waiting on in case we're gifted them from our registry.

Movement: Loving all her little moves and shakes. I still haven't felt anything strong enough to be painful. And I can't really differentiate a kick from say a punch or some other move. But I do feel something multiple times a day, and I get excited every single time.

Symptoms: Difficulty getting out of bed, off the couch, bending over, etc. Achy shoulders and back. Getting winded more easily. Definitely getting more physically exhausted if I try to run errands or do anything that requires being on your feet for long periods of time.

Sleep: Eh. Pretty good, but I'm afraid that may be coming to an end. I was going on to some friends and family members this weekend about how I've always slept like a rock, and that had continued since becoming pregnant. Until last night. Our bedroom gets really hot (or cold in the winter) if we don't carefully regulate the temperature. I woke up burning up and so achy that I was just too uncomfortable to sleep the rest of the night. It didn't help that Sadie was FREAKING out over a storm. Gotta love 80 pound dogs who get scared and jump into bed right on top of you.

I really enjoy the "There's Something About Mary" hair look.

Cravings: The occasional sweet tooth. Cereal. Trail mix.

What I Miss: The ability to move around easily. Except I don't actually miss this that much, because I love that I am finally really looking pregnant.

Best Moment This Week: Seeing lots of friends and family.

Looking Forward To: Baby showers. Labor Day weekend. Seeing if I pass my glucose test at my next dr appt.

Thankful For: Almost being in the third trimester, and a healthy pregnancy and baby girl.

what a weekend - quick mini update

I plan to post a more detailed, all encompassing post of our weekend tomorrow, because wow- was it a busy one! I wanted to pop in today though and just share a few phone pics and report how wonderfully perfect, but bone crushingly exhausting our weekend was. Being pregnant + non stop on the go = one tired soon to be lady over here. Maybe I'm a wuss, but carrying around a 20 pound ball on your stomach takes a toll. Anyhow, a quick update.

Friday Will went to the Reds game with 6 other guys from our neighborhood, while all the wives stuck around our subdivision and had pizza and enjoyed the weather. Have I mentioned how much I love our neighbors? I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such friendly, fun, and supportive woman.

Saturday we hosted a bridal shower for one of my best friends at our house. There were about 20 people in attendance, and I think everyone had a great time. The bride's sister is a chef, and she prepared an amazing taco bar. We also had sangria, champagne, cupcakes, cookies, fruit, veggies, chips with a few different dips, and some other small snacks + played a few games. It was wonderful having such a special day for such an old friend in our house, and it was the perfect way to kick off the 2014 wedding/shower season!

Sunday was our one year wedding anniversary, and what we decided to consider my first Mother's Day. Presents. Mass. Brunch. Visit with Will's family. Grilling out. Year old wedding cake. And coincidentally, our wedding was featured on Cincinnati Wedding Magazine's website!

 More on all of this tomorrow, with some great pictures that we managed to capture with the DSLR not the iPhone- which never happens! Also coming this week, my 25 week update and other thoughts on pregnancy now that I'm 6 months in. I hope all of you moms, fur moms, soon to be moms, and one day moms had a FABULOUS day. I sure did!

So you're gonna DIY your backyard...

Yes, yes we are. And I am way too excited about it, as being outside in our yard is one of my favorite little things about life. We're thinking something like this, with a more natural looking deck, and more greenery.

This is the exact wood stain/deck type I have in mind. Just not attached to the house, but free standing like the above.

This all started a few months ago, when I realized that it was basically impossible to sit outside on the deck and enjoy the sun in the evenings… because our deck is 95% shaded by the house by about 4:00pm. First world problems, I know. I decided to easily remedy this little situation with a blanket out in the yard. Unfortunately, a blanket on the ground is not that comfortable. This got me to thinking about how to make better use of our yard. I’d like to eventually get a pool, but this will be probably 10+ years down the road. I’d also like to get a swing set for Norah, but this doesn't help those of us over the age of 10.

Corner landscaping = must.

I decided it’d be nice if we could put a picnic table or some type of lounge seating area at one of the back corners of our yard. The corner I always stare at and post on Instagram most likely. This corner...

...that has plenty of space to the right of it. Ignore the rain above and puppy blocking the view below :)

Anyhow. I personally have no problem looking like a hillbilly with random lawn furniture strewn about the yard until we are able to put in a patio at the bottom of the deck, but Will wasn't so keen on that idea. A free standing deck solves all of our problems. Did I mention I also want to start a garden? I’m not sure what I want to grow exactly. Definitely some herbs and flowers. Probably a tree and some vegetables.

Eventually we'd like a fire pit too. And I love the idea of outdoor rocking chairs.

Insert the blog world and Pinterest. All pics from this post are from this Pinterest board BTW. Non of them are exactly what I want, but all of them have a feature that I love. After a lot of digging one morning, an entire set up came to me. And it was actually something we can probably afford to do/learn to do ourselves within a summer or two. Even better, Will loves likes the idea. And as I've basically finished the nursery (busy body over here), my next project is born.

Corner landscaping. Garden. Decking. Fire pit. I cannot wait to add all of these features to our little abode. I plan on dragging Will out in the next couple of weeks to price supplies and plants. Wish us luck! Linking up with Ashley for the It's the Little Things series.

two in one

When Will and I got engaged and sat down to select a wedding date, the options were limited. We got engaged in the Spring of 2012, and I knew I wanted to get married in the Spring or Summer of 2013. With Will also set to graduate with his MBA in May of 2013, both of us having Spring/Summer birthdays, and the slew of other weddings we were already invited to or in that year, the pickings were slim. But when I selected May 11th, it sounded perfect and I was more than Happy with 5-11-13.

I didn't realize that our anniversary would fall on Mother's Day weekend until the florist I wanted told me she didn't take on weddings on such a big weekend for flower sales. Even when I did realize- I didn't care. I share my birthday with Father's Day weekend, so I chalked it up to another weekend that would always bring two reasons to celebrate instead of one.

My Dad and I a few years ago during our Father's Day and birthday combo celebration.

Now as we approach our first wedding anniversary, that falls exactly on Mother's Day, which will also be my first Mother's Day as a Mom (Mom-to-be still counts in this house!) the whole thing seems rather appropriate.

Since our wedding date I've planned to return to our ceremony and/or reception site to take a picture and relive a bit of our special day. This year we'll not only attend Mass on our anniversary at the place we got married, but we're also able to attend a Mother's Day brunch at the golf club where our reception was held! I cannot wait to relive the most special day of our past, and talk about all that is to come in our future as parents. I also can't wait to eat our one year old wedding cake. Our cake was seriously amazing and I could have eaten (and probably came close to eating) 100 pieces of it.

So happy in this moment!

We will also be exchanging the traditional first year gifts of "paper", and I'll get my first Mother's Day gifts from Will and Norah. I seriously cannot wait!

Happy Monday!

a nice surprise

I have been dreading buying maternity clothes this entire pregnancy. Partially because I hate spending money on things that I won’t be able to get much use out of, partially because finding clothes that fit my long limbs can be a pain in the butt, and partially because I just knew all the maternity stores were going to be filled with ugly, boring outfits that looked like they were from 1990. I’ve purchased a few pairs of pants and a couple of plain tops out of necessity, but for the most part, I’ve been squeezing into the tunic length shirts I did own, and hoping no one noticed how ill-fitting my clothes were.

With the weather warming up, and the bump continuously growing though… it was just time. Not to mention I work at my company’s corporate headquarters, so I don’t think they were going to let me go the rest of the summer wearing maxi dresses and leggings. Insert Destination Maternity. Last night I visited this little heaven on earth with my Mother in Law in tow to help judge outfits, and I found so many cute things! I love how the store has a ton of different lines of clothes to fit all styles and price ranges. I was able to get a few Pea in the Pod dresses and tops that we on the pricier (but defiantly worth it due to cute factor), and some things from the Motherhood Maternity line that were much more reasonably priced. I also got a few things from the Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Love Hewitt maternity lines there.

Here are some of my favorite purchases.

here

I couldn't find the shirt I got online, but this one is similar. Mine is white and 3/4 sleeves.

here

Love this dress, and definitely think I will be able to rock it post-baby.

here

here

I couldn't believe how comfortable and flattering just about everything I tried on was. And the best part? I think I can still wear a good amount of the items post baby. When I got home I had Will move probably 40% of my closet contents to one of the guest rooms. I was exhausted, but couldn’t wait to hang up all my new swag. And it was so much easier getting ready for work this morning without having to paw through tons of clothes that I know darn well are too small, then try on 100 shirts to see if any of them were long enough.

Here's to the first day of May, no longer looking like a pregnant bum, and officially being SIX MONTHS (24 weeks) along as of tomorrow!