Getting to know Sadie

I realized just the other day that I haven't really shared anything about Sadie. Sure I have posted pictures and while she is the most adorable creature on Earth (don't tell my pups I said that), there is so much more to her than that.

We have been blessed with a good sleeper. She doesn't sleep through the night or anything but we do get a solid 4-6 hour stretch every night and then two more 3-4 hour periods after that in between nursing. The girl loves her sleep and will do so absolutely anywhere and in any position.

Sadie is the most smiley baby I have ever met. Most likely if she is awake, she is smiling. And if you talk to her in a sing-songy voice she "talks" back to you in those same tones. If you walk too close to our during the day you would probably think we are a safe house for Disney princesses. The best part is that I sometimes forget who I am talking to and carry on that voice to the hubs and even once at the grocery store to the cashier...

Now don't get me wrong, she is a pretty easy going baby but she definitely has her moments. Like her obsession with her paci. Don't get in the way of that. She may be all smiley so you take her paci out to talk to her, which is fine until the smile is gone and then you better get that thing back into her mouth asap. Even if she spits it out five times and puts her hands in front of her mouth and shakes her head back and forth while you're trying to give it back to her.

Sadie has developed a love for classic rock, especially Aerosmith (my dad would be so proud). And if you play it during bath time she kicks her feet all around splashing water everywhere. So worth getting soaked for! She enjoys dance parties in her room and coo's a lot when I play "A Whole New World" (I hope you know what that's from).

She absolutely loves when you touch her head. If you run your fingers from the top of her head down her face she gets all giddy. It's safe to say that she will always find ways to amaze me and challenge me at the same time. She is already her own person. And I love everything about that person.

Newborn Photos taken by the talented Shannon Smith of SNS Photography.

36 weeks!

In the past week my belly has grown drastically. I mean look at that thing, it's huge! And size isn't the only thing that has changed lately either. I have been getting several contractions over the past few days but nothing regular. Just my body preparing itself for when the time comes. Which, by the way, is getting so close.

Sadie's movement in my belly has intensified this week. You are able to see just about every move she makes and are able to feel her tiny little bones in so much detail now. It's incredible to think I will be able to kiss those little cheeks in just a few weeks time.

The hubs and I have been working hard to get everything ready for Sadie's arrival. We have been cleaning, fixing things around the house that were long over do, changing out light bulbs, putting together and installing baby gear, all of her clothes are washed and put away, hospital bags are packed. We even started putting up our Christmas decorations so it would all be ready in case she decided to make an early appearance. All that is missing is baby!

Although I have really loved being pregnant and as much as I will miss having this little gal all to myself and feeling her inside my belly, I really hope these last few weeks fly by. I just cannot wait to meet my baby girl.

Maternity Photo Preview

Earlier this week the hubs and I had some maternity photos taken by a very talented and affordable local photographer, Shannon Smith with SNS Photography. If you're local you really should check her out! She is so awesome that the very next morning after our shoot she sent me a three photo preview. And I really love them! So much so that I had to share them with you all. I will post more when we get the rest :)

Just for fun ;)

I can't help but wonder what little Sadie is going to look like. Based on her 4D ultrasound I would say she is going to have her mama's cheeks, long fingers, full lips and overall cuteness. I dug up some baby pictures of the hubs and I to maybe get a little glimpse of what she could come out looking like :)

(I'm on the left and the hubs is on the right)

peaceful newborns

See those big eyes on the hubs? I hope Sadie gets those beauties

Is she destined to have big cheeks and a double chin? I think so!

As I look down at my belly I try to picture her outside of those profile black and white ultrasound photos. Will she has his goofy grin? my long limbs? Will she share in our similar eye color or inherit that from another family member? I know she will beautiful. I know she will be perfect in our eyes. I just can't wait to meet her!

26...27... AND 28 weeks!

Yes, I am a major slacker these days. I know! Shame on me. However there is a tiny little dancer in my belly that has pretty much taken over all thoughts and sources energy so I will cut myself a break this time.

Good news is that I have not been slacking in the picture department. See, my intentions were in the right place :) So here you have me and my luxurious belly at 26, 27, and 28 weeks:

A wee bright out that day! The belly is looking nice and round and although my energy mysteriously disappeared at this point, still feeling good.

Pretty much the same as the week before, in both looks and feelings. Although my hormones have been stepping it up a notch and the tears have been a flowin' a little too frequently.

Let's just be honest here... my belly grew about three sizes in one week am I right? It looks like I am holding a basketball under my dress. This is about the point I start feeling uncomfortable. If I walk to much my back kills me, I really have a hard time sleeping now, and little Sadie's kicks are actually starting to hurt (especially the ones directly to my belly button, someone needs to tell her that is not an exit!).

On another note... I am in the THIRD freaking trimester! Holy moly!! Only two and a half months until I will hold my baby girl in my arms. The excitement is pretty overwhelming I must say.

Speaking of excitement I have even more pictures to share with you all. We got a 4D ultrasound of Sadie last week and although she was a bit shy and hid her face most of the time we were still able to get a few shots of those chunky little cheeks.

Adorable button nose, a pair of luscious lips, and lots of little fingers.

Sucking her thumb like usual and waving away any more pictures :)

Seeing her this way was pretty surreal. I mean she looks like a real little baby. Amazing. I can't imagine the feeling of seeing her for the first time. holding her. kissing her. loving her even more than I already do.

Hopefully updates will come more frequently but I make no guarantees these days. Have a great week everyone!

24 weeks!

yes, those are cakes on my pants.

don't judge.

Sadie has continued to be a wild woman this week. The girl sure can move, and pretty quickly too! My eating habits have changed recently too. For some reason I am just not as hungry and have to remind myself to eat. Exhaustion has returned and full force. I spent almost the entire day yesterday sleeping on the couch. Luckily today has been a bit more productive but I am still just longing for the chance to crawl back in bed.

In a few days I am road tripping it up to Georgia with my bestie for a wedding. The hubs is saving his vacation days for when Sadie arrives (can't argue with that) so it's just going to be the two of us. It will be nice to have some time with her since both our lives are a little crazy and we live an hour away from each other. I have my fingers crossed that she wont want to kill me with all of the bathroom stops I will require :)

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Project Nursery, Part 1: Paint

First of all I can't make a nursery post without saying how awesome the hubs is. He has been doing all of the work and everything looks just as I imagined so far. Seriously. He is beyond awesome.

If you are wondering what the room looked like before it was a nursery check out my post, Where the magic happens, there are a few pictures of it there from when it was my sewing room.

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Part 1: Paint

The hubs painted high and he painted low.

Two lovely shades of pink for our lovely little girl.

All painted and ready for the next step!

The finishing touch was the chair rail.

I really love how the colors turned out together and the chair rail really pulls it together and makes the room look bigger. I am so exited to get all of the furniture in there and decorate! Ah! SO excited!

Stay tuned for "Part 2: Furniture" as soon as we decide on a glider....

Details

Paint on top: Southern Beauty by Behr

Paint on bottom: Colonial Rose by Behr

Chair rail: Home Depot

13 weeks!

Sometimes (like at todays ultrasound) I am just in awe of what is going on inside my body. There was a time when I thought this may never happen for us. At least not in any traditional sense. So to see that baby grow so much each time and to catch that perfect fluttering heart right away just amazes me. And every once in a while I tell the hubs to pinch me because it feels so much like a dream.

Today we had our ultrasound for the nt scan to check for possibilities of the baby having certain birth defects and/or complications. The ultrasound measurements came back completely normal and we will know in a few weeks about the blood-work they did.

How is our little peanut already so cute? Peanut stayed perfectly still, just sucking that thumb while the ultrasound tech (who was awesome) took the measurements and as soon as she was done little peanut started wiggling around and kicking to give us a little show. Already so well behaved :)

Little tooties! I could just eat them up!

Remember when I said I missed the morning sickness? Can someone just slap my hand next time I try to say that? That only lasted a couple and now it's back with a vengeance. I will be more careful what I wish for in the future!

Other than that though everything is just perfect. We are so unbelievably happy and feel extremely blessed.

Mothers Day Announcement!

What better day than Mothers Day to announce that I am going to be a Mommy!

Our little peanut was only 6weeks 1day in that picture but we are now almost 9 weeks.

I tried to wait as long as possible to announce our news, hence not blogging in forever, but I just could not wait any longer. Our first appointment with my OBGYN was at 6 weeks 1 day, although we thought I would have been almost eight weeks. I've mentioned already that my body does what it wants right? It clearly ovulates whenever it wants, which was very late.

We were a little nervous when the ultrasound tech said how far along we were. We wanted to see that little heartbeat so bad and thought it might be too early. But then she point to that little flickering bean and then we cried. The first heartbeat we have ever seen. Our little miracle.

A few days later we went to see a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) doctor by recommendation of my OB just to keep a closer eye on this pregnancy. We were not only able to see the heartbeat but we got to hear it as well. What an amazing feeling. All of my blood work and ultrasounds have come back completely normal and no one is worried thus far.

I feel absolutely AMAZING! But let me clarify that my current version of amazing = nauseous, extremely bloated, always tired, and a bit on the moody side. It's amazing though because it is all so normal.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Mothers Day! We sure did :)

My Best Friends Wedding....

It seems like I have been doing a lot of picture only posts lately. But really what captures the essence of a wedding better than the photographs? Now I don't have any of the professional pictures yet but here is the day summed up in photos taken by myself and some of the other bridesmaids:

We woke up early for a nice stroll on the beach before getting our hair and make up done.

the wedding

the bride & groom

the cake

(made by the brides grandma)

the matrons

the centerpieces

the shoes

the speech

my favorite boys

The wedding was beautiful and as for the bride, there are no words to describe how incredible she looked. They are currently on their honeymoon and as I stare out my window to see nothing but dark clouds and rainstorms I hope that their view is a lot better :)

Twenty Five

Key West in a nutshell

As the days keep getting closer to my best friends wedding I keep getting more and more excited for her! Last Thursday we ventured down to Key West for a Bachelorette weekend to celebrate that best friend of mine. And celebrate we did.

We fed tarpons, drank margaritas, sang extremely loud karaoke, wore masks and feather boas, danced, tanned, rode bikes, took a sunset cruise with all you can drink champagne, ate delicious cuban food, got free cab rides and jello shots, pretended like we were on spring break, were serenaded by a rock cover band on stage, shared clothes, laughter and lots of food.

Here, let me show you a little bit.

Such a great weekend! Can't wait for the wedding, just two more weeks!