Mother's Day Weekend

This was my very first mother's day and it was such a wonderful and relaxing weekend with all the family!  Saturday afternoon we went to Bonefish Grill to celebrate my brother's eighteenth birthday and mother's day with my mom and grandma.  Salad, shrimp, crab cakes, oh my!!!  Not to mention the key lime pie that is out of this world!!!!!!!!!!!  I could have eaten that for dinner, but my doctor probably wouldn't have been too happy with me.  =)  

Can't believe this guy is 18 already!  How time flies.

It was nice being able to celebrate with grandma!

And here you have four generations of girls =)

Yes, we are perfectly normal ;)

Then Sunday morning we woke up in time to have a relaxing breakfast down at the train station.  

It was gorgeous out and the perfect weather for being out on the patio!

Then off we went to the Arlington race track for the rest of the afternoon.

Here's the hubby, betting on his first horse race of the day.

My winnings from betting on "Irish Nugget" =)  A great name there. 

And the winnings from the next race.....  We were on a nice little winning streak for awhile!

It was like National Velvet come to life!

It was such a fun and incredibly relaxing day watching the horses race.  Spending time with Charlie's side of the family is always a nice time.  We enjoyed seeing which horses were racing next and then consulted to see which horses we would each bet on.  I can't wait to go back again this summer!  It's the perfect little weekend excursion =)

I feel beyond blessed to be a mother already and can't wait for next mother's day when I will have this little babe in my arms!!!  It's such a beautiful, new and exciting stage of life and I learn and grow through it each day.  

Week 22 and Life Lately

Here we are at week 22!!!!!

Sunday May 4th was the very first time that mom felt our little girl on the outside!!!  I was sitting on the sofa with my hand on my belly and all of a sudden, kick, kick, kick!  Of course, poor dad missed it this time, but I'm sure he will be feeling her soon enough.   This little girl is a real kicker! =)  Sunday May 11th  ( mother's day ), she decided that in the middle of church would the perfect time to distract me with her very first visible kicks from the outside.  I saw her kick 4 times!!!  Even though I whispered over to my husband to look at my tummy in the middle of church, he still missed seeing all the kicks.  But that's okay, daddy got to listen to little girls heart beat yesterday at our 22 week check up and he was thrilled with that!

Life has been wonderful lately!

- I love being pregnant and it's a real joy getting ready for this baby to make her appearance in 4 short months.

- We had a glorious mother's day weekend filled with fun and yet very relaxing activities.  A blog post filled with pictures is in the making :)

- I've been discovering so many fantastic blogs lately!

-  My grandma is my newest blog reader and it's such a great way for her to stay up-to-date with what's going on in our lives. 

- Yesterday morning I stared at a very empty fridge.  I realized that it was time to do some serious grocery shopping.  While my bill says it was a serious grocery run, I'm still at loss as far as meal planning this week.  I can't seem to get my act together and I have nooooo desire to cook anything complicated these days!  

- This weekend should be wonderful.  I'm looking forward to a friend visiting for the weekend and my hubby and brother painting while we stay out of the house and away from the fumes.  

- I'm working on setting a few manageable goals between now and the beginning of June.

- Hopefully this Friday I can make the most of my day off of work.  I'm going to do some serious decision making as I finally work on picking out and buying the paint for the nursery!  If I do this one thing on Friday, I will be thrilled!!!

- Two of my good friends have their baby showers both on June 21st and I'm already getting ready and excited for these happy festivities =)  Plans underway! 

-  Now off to do my prenatal exercises.  Doctors orders!  My hubby and I are working on walking 10 miles a week together.  Man, doing stairs are another story!!!  Bring me 5 glasses of ice water and a very cold ice pack please =)  I think I need to join a gym just to get myself motivated.....neeeed motivation, seriously!

- On that happy note.....anyone know of where to buy maternity workout clothes????  I'm talking like, breathable comfy Nike shorts, just like the ones I used to wear before I was pregnant.  Finding maternity clothes is by far the hardest part of pregnancy.  Any suggestions would be great!

Our BIG baby announcement!!!

Here we are at 21 weeks and so in love with our little one!

Just last week we had our one ultrasound and we were beyond happy to find out that we are having a baby....

GIRL!!!!!!!!!

That's right, a beautiful bundle of pink is joining our family this Fall.

Our little girl was already being a little stinker during her ultrasound.  It took the technician four tries to find out what we are having.  She politely kept her little legs crossed most of the time.  At first I was soooo disappointed and seriously thought we were going to be missing our one opportunity to find out what we were having.   We were nearing the end of an hour and still no knowing what we were having.  I quickly started talking to our little one telling him or her that he/she better start cooperating so  we could find out what baby was!   We only had one shot at this, or we wouldn't know until baby was born.

There we were the last five minutes and the technician said, "Okay, here we go!!!  See this here, that's a girl!!!"  She even humored us (in the below right picture) with showing us her little arm and leg!  What a good girl =)  She uses those legs every single day now to kick me a ton and I LOVE IT!!!

And there my husband was, "I knew it!!! I always knew it." and that's why the above picture of pink flowers and "It's a Girl" sign is back from day one when I told my hubby we were pregnant.  He knew all along!!!

 Odin is happy to be a big brother =)

 And we are beyond thrilled to be parents to a little baby girl!

 Guess we can keep all the pink!

 Now we can really get to work on our little girl's nursery!!!

I can't wait to get the room painted in the next few weeks and finish picking out her bed linens.

Although I still have low energy, I'm getting antsy to get her room finished.   It will probably be a few months yet.  One thing at a time, and it all takes time.

We love you sweet baby girl!!!  Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you!!!!

A little morning routine

Can I just say that I love my sleep!!!  Most days I would much rather sleep in than wake up early.

But.....on those days when I can drag myself from the slumbers of sleep, I'm so happy I did.

Having a Nespresso machine keeps me out of Starbucks and my pregnancy caffeine intake to a bare minimum.  And I still love my steaming, foamy cappuccino every morning!

Just the other morning, it was early and still grey and dreary out, but I made it quietly downstairs and fixed a hot cappuccino.   Having a quiet hour to wake up, light a candle and simply relax as I drank my morning cappuccino was delightful.  If you use a Nespresso machine, you should definitely try the Colombian limited edition!  On a scale of  1-10 the two flavor intensities that come in the Columbian blend are a 6 and a 7 so very mild and mellow.  

What is your favorite way to wake up in the morning?  

All Things Baby

HELLO week 20, we are beyond HAPPY you are here!!!!!

 Only one more full day (or exactly 40 hours :) until we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!!!!!!

We cannot wait to find out.  I'm getting terribly antsy to to know.

Once we find out, then I can really get some projects done around the nursery!

My husband is certain that we are having a little girl but if it happens to be a boy, these little pink washcloths will be going back =)  And if it's a boy......

we will be looking for similar blue bed linens to go with this bed:

I just came across this quote this week and want to have it framed and placed on the door outside the nursery.  How beautiful?!?!

 Banana cupcakes from Sprinkles have been fulfilling my pregnancy cravings for sweets, even at breakfast, okay, especially at breakfast!!!!

 There was one random evening last week that was surprisingly uneventful.  I decided to go on a library trip and frozen yogurt date all by my lonesome self and it was great!

 I just ordered this sweet wrap for our little one.  I want to start practicing wrapping myself in it now.  It will most likely be the trickiest little puzzle I've tried building, but so worth it!  I want to carry my baby around everywhere I go.

 This past Sunday was the start of our Bradley Method classes and so far so good taking in a ton of information all at once!  My hubby was a trooper helping pick out a new yoga mat and carrying in my pillow!

 And of course, we can't wait to read to our little one!

We've already picked out and even received (for Easter) some of our favorite childhood books.

Now we can pass them on to our children.

More updates to come very, very soon!!

This baby is already extremely loved and we can't wait to see him or her for the very first time on Thursday!!!!

Wouldn't it just be okay to sleep until then?!?!?

Happy Thoughts

1. Drinking a morning cappuccino by candle light while the house is still and quiet is the best way to start the morning, in my opinion at least =)
2. These two full days off from work are amazeballs!!!  I made the last minute decision to hop the train with my mom and brother later this afternoon just so I can spend time with them.  While our primary reason for the trip is my brother's heart checkup, who knows what other adventures will ensue.  
3. I'm looking forward to purging, cleaning and spending tomorrow morning with my hubby!  He will be fixing broken faucets----horray!!!---- and I will be organizing :)
4. I LOVE having friends who are pregnant at the same time as me.  Not to mention, all three of us ladies are due mid September.  I told my husband last night how fun this is and he laughed, "you will all be in labor together too!"  It's extra exciting because right now we are all finding out what we are having!  
5. Here is to hoping that tomorrow afternoon holds a much needed prenatal massage.  80 min. massages are the BEST!  That extra 30 min. allows me to almost fall asleep.
6. Tomorrow should be up in the 70s again and warm weather is always welcome around here.  
7. Maybe I'll catch some time tomorrow for letter writing and more blogging.  It's good to find time for both these things.

What are your plans for this weekend?

Baby Bump Week 19

Our little babe is growing big and strong!  It's such a wonderful moment feeling the baby moving and kicking on and off all day now.  It's not a strong kick, just still a flutter strong enough to make me stop, stand still and enjoy the moment.  It definitely catches my attention every time!

I'm still craving fruit and lots of it!  Blackberries have been delicious and I can't find boxes big enough.

Another strange night time craving has been for homemade chocolate malts.  This one is all my husbands fault.  I didn't know I would be craving malts until he asked me to pick up the ingredients from the store last week =)  They are soooo soothing and delicious!

Still not a fan of cooking though.  Thank goodness my husband is so easy going.  He even cooked me an amazing lunch yesterday!  He's getting ready to help take over when the little one is born.

I've been lucky this past week with two nights sleep completely uninterrupted.   My little bladder lasted all night for a few nights in a row.....never knew how much I would appreciate this!!!

We just signed up for our Bradley Method classes that start this Sunday!  I'm both excited and yet a little nervous about all the information I'll be absorbing in a 3 hr. session.  This will be such a wonderful thing for both me and the hubs.  I can tell he is really glad he will be taking the classes.  He wants to learn and be ready for the baby's arrival.

We have our one ultrasound all scheduled for May 1st!!!!!!!!!!   

This day can't come fast enough.  It will be the very first time we "meet" our little one and find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  Personally, I'm really excited to know.

I'm really curious about what emotions I will feel when we see our little baby for the first time.

I just told my dear friend Tina (who is also expecting their first) that I wished I could go to sleep for a week and wake up just in time for our ultrasound. =)

And pretty soon I'll be heading off to my sometimes, almost daily, nap!

Still. need. my. sleep. zzzzzzzzzzz

Hope you're all having a wonderful week!   We are half way through :)

xoxoxo,

Maggie

Nest Fluffing

 Here is some of my new favorite inspiration for putting finishing touches on our home:

These photos are via my new favorite instagram account, (alainakaz) from The Every Girl!!!

I just love her colors and how she has actually gotten so many beautiful prints on her walls.  I guess I've just been waiting for prints that really mean something to me before I start throwing them up on the wall.

So before little babe comes, I want to get a lot of "nest fluffing" done!  I've been tackling one little project at a time and now it's time to get some serious projects completed around here.  I want to call these projects "nest fluffing" because I want to get our little nest cozy and homey before the baby comes. As of right now, all our walls are completely bare.  I partially don't mind this because it's clean and easy on the eye, but I want to change this.  We will see how many things I can get checked off of this list before September.  I'm sure not all of it will happen, but these are my major goals, especially with garage sale season coming quickly upon us, I gotta have my list ready!!!! =)

Here is my ultimate LIST of all the major projects I want to get done before the baby comes:

-Spruce up the family room!  I still need to get pictures back up on the walls, find a coffee table or ottoman, find and arrange a few lamps and come up with end tables for the sofa.
- have hubby help fix broken faucets in the bathroom.  I hate broken things!
-finish all the painting projects such as the upstairs hallway and the baby's room.
-reframe and hang up all our pictures.
-Print wedding pictures in large sizes and frame in matching black or white frames.
-garage sale and find a few extra lamps and home decor to cozy things up a bit.
-Buy a shoe rack/bench for in the front hall.
-Find a tall kitchen cabinet for storing pantry like items and all those bigger items such as blenders which are currently lining the top of our cabinets in the kitchen.
-Find a pretty clock and matching cork board for in the kitchen.
-Find a huge classic rug for in the baby's room.
-Buy a king size bed, top priority with a third family member on the way! :)
-Have all the carpet cleaned upstairs before baby arrives.
-Find my hubby a nice bar cart at a garage sale.
-Find a great glider rocking chair so that I can start rocking the baby now...so important!

If I can keep up with two or three things a month off of this list, we will be in good shape!

I love getting big items checked off my "to-do list" and we've been highly successful at it these past two-three months!!!  It's called biting the bullet, picking one major item to tackle and just doing it.

Do you enjoy making "to-do" lists?

What kinds of strategies do you employ to help get major things accomplish around the house?