WEEK 22.

22 WEEKS!

New Baby Items:

Our friends who just had little baby Alexander gave us a gift when we went to their house to meet their sweetie… How cute is this!? So excited to add it to our little lady’s wardrobe and to see her wearing it someday!

A-dorbs!

Have you heard of Pick Your Plum? If not, check it out. Amazing deals! Like this owl hat. With shipping, it was a whopping $9.44! I have no idea when it will fit her because the size says it fits 6mo – 8 years. Something seems wrong with that range. But it’s cute for whenever the day comes that it fits. 🙂

owl hat 🙂

Now, don’t judge my husband when you see this next picture (and keep in mind what his profession is!). He came home one day, grinning ear to ear. He didn’t want to show me right away (he thought I’d be mad!) but was just too excited to wait. He bought our unborn daughter her first [pink] 22 Rifle. Seriously, she’s not going to be able to shoot it until she’s about 10. Like my mother-in-law said, “it’ll be an antique by the time she can shoot it!”. But I have to admit, it’s pretty cute and warms my heart to see Cory so excited and already buying his baby girl stuff, even if it’s a gun..

This happened.

I got this cute little Target side table for next to the rocking chair in the baby room. Cory laughed at me and said it looked like two bongos put together (he’s kinda right), but I love it, bongo-looking and all!

side table.

Have you heard of gilt.com? Again, awesome. Sign up! (Plus, it’s more than just baby/kid stuff.) I can’t wait for this adorable violet ruffle onesie to arrive. I even ordered 3-6 months instead of 0-3 this time.

lovin’ this.

My mother-in-law came back from her trip to California with an adorable cupcake hat for our little lady (so fitting for our cupcake theme we’ve been on!). I wish you could feel just how soft this is. (Check out more Blueberry Hill hats here.)

photo credit: Tiffany Parrish Photography via The Blueberry Hill facebook page.

Lucy thinks the hat is hers, but it doesn’t quite fit over her ears. 🙂

Cupcake head.

Happy Moments:

I got to meet my work friend, Emily’s, sweet baby Mason! I was caught off guard and so happy to see her and her hubby (who also works at AF HQ) walk into my office with their little man. Patrick held Mason out for me to take right away and I have to admit, it was kinda scary. He was so little! Hard to grasp the fact that I will have one of my own in my arms in a few short months. It’s easier and more natural with your own though, right?

I also got to meet our friends baby boy, Alexander. Two babies in one week! We met him when he was just four days old. I snuggled him for quite awhile — he is just perfect. Two days after meeting him, I was lucky enough to go back and see him again to do his newborn photos! He was a champ and didn’t cry for his entire session.

LOVE this.

so teeny tiny.

Cory & Baby Alex. I forgot to take a photo with him..

More Happy Moments:

Pumpkin ice cream. omg.

Walks outside. (yay, me!)

Another five photo shoots complete. I lucked out and got my husband to road trip with me to Lake City on Saturday. It was so nice to have him as company and take the long way home, stopping for dinner and enjoying each other’s company. On Sunday, I had three sessions in St. Paul. My sister joined me this time, venturing around Battle Creek Park for two sessions and Summit Ave. for the last one. A great set of sessions ended with a late lunch at Cheeky Monkey with her and my cousin, Margaret, and [my sorta-brother-in-law] Nick!

My sis even documented me in action at one of the sessions… (Thanks, Sis!)

me in photo shoot action!

Ordered this from Target. I’m hoping it will fit (not be too small) for the place I plan on putting it in our kitchen/dining room. Love the yellow!

We did it! We played Jenga Jumbling Tower. I could not find the real deal, Jenga, at Target anywhere, so had to settle for Jumbling Tower. What does that even mean? Shouldn’t it be called “Tumbling Tower”? For a bank-breaking $5.87, it’s definitely pretty chitzola. I don’t know if Jenga has some sort of copyright law, but these blocks did not fit together. There were big gaps! And the wood was rough and smelled funny. But it was still enjoyable. I kicked Cory’s butt and beat him twice. 🙂

jumbling tower?

Lessons Learned:

Lesson #1. Soup is not my friend. And I’m so bummed because I love soup, especially this time of year! I’m finally realizing that every time I eat soup, I feel like crap. Bloated, full, uncomfortable, miserable, blah. One small cup for lunch resulted in an entire afternoon of misery, following by an evening of being unproductive because I was so uncomfortable, all I could do was lay down to feel some relief. The weird part is, I felt so incredibly full, like I was about to burst at the seams, yet my stomach was growling with hunger. Not cool. New pregnancy motto: Say no to soup.

Lesson #2. Buy a newborn (up to 7 lbs.) outfit to bring our baby girl home from the hospital. I would have never thought of this as you’d assume a 0-3 month outfit would be just fine. Annie gave me the tip as they ended up bringing their peanut (under 7 lbs!) home in an outfit that could have fit two of him. So, I’m on the lookout for the most adorable newborn outfit I can find for the big day! It was amazing how big the 0-3 month outfits looked after meeting Alexander.

Lucy:

The things she does crack me up! Unfortunately, I’m starting to wake up a few times a night again to pee. During one of my stumbles walks to the bathroom, I accidentally stepped on her squeaky piñata toy, causing a full-on-all-air-out-squeak! The next morning, the squeaky piñata toy was next to the bed. She had woken up (obviously from how loud the squeak was) and gone to the bathroom to get it. 🙂

One thing I do before going to bed is slather cocoa butter lotion on my belly and butt and boobs and legs (No stretch marks yet! Crossing fingers it stays that way). Miss Lucy has been jumping off of the bed, out of her slumber, to have herself a little late-night snack, licking the pump of the lotion bottle. Silly girl, why do dogs love licking lotion!? So weird, not to mention, gross.

Coming up:

Doctor appointment next week. So excited to hear the heartbeat again and make sure we’re on track! Best feeling ever.

I recently read a tidbit of information that told me my baby would be doubling her weight in the next few weeks. Holy smokes! Bring it on. 🙂

Cory’s 33rd birthday! Ever since I threw him a surprise 30th birthday and gave him a MacBook, I never know what to give him. What can beat that? I know! A daughter! So, he’ll get a late birthday gift this year — in February. Speaking of birthdays, in less than a month, it’s MY 30th birthday (holy crap)! I hope Cory has started planning it…

Halloween. I have a feeling we will have a lot of little Trick-or-Treaters this year since we are in a neighborhood full of kids! I already stocked up on candy (holy crap, halloween candy is expensive!) and hope we don’t run out. Cory convinced me to open a bag so he could have “just a couple treats” one night, but since then, they have been tied tight in a bag and hidden in a cupboard so we don’t eat it all before Halloween. I’m usually the procrastinator who doesn’t buy candy until the 31st and when I go, all that’s left is the gross stuff nobody wants. One year we didn’t even have candy so when a couple kids came, I felt so bad telling them! You know how there was that one magical house that you and your friends aaaalways had to go to on Halloween because they gave a can of pop or a full size candy bar (I still remember the houses in my hometown!)? Well, Cory and I are considering becoming the house that gives an apple or 50 cents or something less stereotypical (although an apple probably wouldn’t make us very popular amongst the children). This year we’ll stick with candy.