Christmas came early! (But not as early as last year).

If you'll remember, last year, Colin gave me my Christmas gift very, very early. This year, with some restraint, we made it until today, December 21st! Colin was home early from work, we turned our Christmas lights on, and exchanged gifts. Perhaps my favorite gift, though, was this coming out of the guest room with presents, saying a lot of "HO HO HO!"s...

ummm, yeah. How much do I love my husband?

Once I got over the initial shock and crazy amount of laughter over this Santa get-up, we exchanged cards (the best part) and gifts. The highlight for Colin?


His new Robin van Persie Jersey :) Colin is such a minimalist, so he's really hard to buy gifts for... I knew this was something he'd want and enjoy. Score.

For me?


A diaper bag!! As lame as it sounds, I am super excited about this bag. For one, diaper bags are usually not attractive at all (And attractive as well as functional? Please). Two, this thing will be my purse for years! I had a really hard time even thinking about them, until one fateful night... we were watching the tv show Up All Night (with Will Arnett and Christina Applegate). In one 3 second shot, Will Arnett's character is pictured carrying this amazing diaper bag. It stuck out to me, and I went to Mr. Google immediately! I must have typed the most random things into the search engine, not knowing anything about the bag, but somehow found her.


Petunia Pickle Bottom's Springtime in Surrey Boxy Tote. Which just happens to be discontinued. This thing is not only adorable, but BEAST. It's really well made, has tons of pockets and compartments, a changing pad that folds out from the back, the works. It can also be worn as a backpack OR a messenger bag. I am thrilled! Such a geeky mom already.

Hope everyone's enjoying themselves in these last days leading up until Christmas! Safe travels, everyone!

24ish weeks!

Colin and I have started slacking off on taking pictures, so we finally snapped a few after Church yesterday. This is 24.5 weeks!


Updates are slowing down a little, or at least becoming more regular! I am still in that honeymoon phase of pregnancy where I feel great, energized (I have never been the type to be able to pop up out of bed early in the morning, until now), and productive. Although I have definitely started moving slower (and don't like not being able to get up quickly or gracefully), I feel good. Belly button's still in (I have no idea how), itchy skin and stretch marks are at bay for now, no swelling (wedding rings are still on!).

Yesterday morning, though, before Church, I woke up to go to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and I kid you not, my belly was GONE. I looked pre-pregnancy, maybe a tad bloated, but completely not pregnant. It was so freaky, I ran in and showed Colin. How did Little Girl manage that one?

This past week was a little scary pregnancy-wise, but all is well! I had some seriously bad Round Ligament Pain on Thursday (stretching, stretching!) and ended up in Urgent Care on Friday night because of blood in my urine (that wasn't scary at all...). It ended up being, thank goodness, just a bad UTI that I had no idea I had-- and trust me, I know what they feel like.

This week will be fun and festive, with Colin's company Christmas party, our youth group's Christmas party, and our Church's annual Christmas Ball!

Life lately has consisted of:

Working again, which I am so happy about! It's an ideal set up for a pregnant woman, complete with people you already know and like (a really cute boy works there, too...), any music I want to listen to, any wardrobe I want to wear, and I get to sit in a comfy chair all day. And make as much money as I did when I was paid to harass people to buy overpriced french skincare/get facials at Dillards. win win win.

Lots of these,

(spinach, flax seed, mixed berries, greek yogurt, and a little bit of banana for sweetness.)

cleaning out baby's nursery, painting her furniture, and buying the little details for her room (nesting has officially kicked in!),

(click pictures to go to etsy shops)

hitting week 24 of pregnancy (tomorrow!), which a lot of women covet ("viability week") as the baby having chance for survival outside of the comfy and hospitable womb,

and lots of quality time with people (and dog) I love. Just thought I'd find an excuse to post this picture of Abner/a poor bottlenose dolphin stuck in a coke can ring/coffee sleeve.


love to you all!

21 & 22 weeks!

Time is just blowing by, and it shows no signs of slowing down as we are now in the middle of the holiday season! Here are some pregnancy related things and updates.



I felt like I was at a standstill as far as belly growth from weeks 18-21, but this week was a big belly growth week apparently! The second photo, taken by my mom, really shows little girl's ever expanding home (This was even before eating our Thanksgiving meal!). There is nothing to complain about. Sickness is gone (after 20 weeks, thank. goodness.), no stretch marks or itchy skin yet, steady weight gain, no heartburn, no swelling, belly button is hanging on for dear life (ha!). These are the glory days of pregnancy, I know, so I'm enjoying it! She's a little wiggle worm and brings her parents (and grandparents! and uncles and aunts!) so much joy already.

Also, had my first guys-hitting-on-me-then-realizing-i'm-pregnant-and-freaking-out moment. It was hilarious. Colin got to witness it from about 30 feet away and we died.

Ventured out shopping this weekend, also, which I've never done on Thanksgiving weekend, but I must say... GAP is the best thing to happen to pregnant women! I already had a few things from there, but holy smokes. If you're pregnant, you NEED these pants (side note, they look a little awkward in the photo, the foldover is NOT that long and it's more scrunchy). They are so soft, stretchy, and the foldover covers your butt. I love these.

Also of note at GAP, anything from the Pure Body line, especially these t-shirts. I have loved everything I have of theirs (camis, tee shirts, long sleeves, a sweater, two kinds of leggings), so if you're pregnant and want some comfortable clothes, go to GAP!

Weekend Warriors!

I'll start this post off with this song, so you can listen while reading if you so wish. If you haven't heard of Gungor yet, please go have a listen. Gungor's music is worshipful and earnest, and I can't help but resonate with so many of their songs. Such beautiful praise!



On Saturday night, Colin and I went to a dinner party thrown by some of Colin's sweet work friends. It was such a good time! If you have never played this game, you need to. We don't even know what it's called... It's basically telephone, where each person gets a piece of paper, and they write a funny phrase on the top, then pass it to the next person, who has to draw that phrase, then they fold over the previous sentence so the next person can't see it, then the next person has to write a phrase describing the picture, so on and so forth... It is always a riot, and the best part is seeing what comes out at the end.

I'm pretty sure this one started out as "a hamster running on a wheel"...

This one, I believe, started out as "an alligator peeing as a UFO lands on its head."

On Sunday we were so excited to participate in our church's first Sunday in their brand new building in downtown Columbia! Not only is it a beautiful space, but having our own place that God graciously provided is amazing. There are actual, awesome youth rooms, too. We were so happy to worship in that space and enjoy a good ol' southern barbeque afterwards! We are grateful for our church.

All photos taken by Rod Lewis. Thanks, Rod!

Happy Monday!

19 & 20!

Here we go, a combination of weeks 19 and 20! I can't believe we are HALF WAY.

so you can see our priorities in life, on the cabinet... hairspray and swedish coffee (?) coulda moved that... :)

1. Colin was able to feel Little Girl move for the first time about a week ago, at 19 weeks! It was definitely one of the most precious moments, seeing his face and how intently he waited for each little kick of hers. He is smitten and fascinated.

2. On that note, her kicks are getting SO STRONG! She's not under my ribs yet, so things aren't painful or very uncomfortable, but they can definitely be surprising at times. Only a few weeks ago were they tiny little thumps, now I feel them a lot of the day and it feels like she's doing somersalts in there! When she's especially active I can actually see my tummy moving from the outside a little bit. This is one of the most beautiful parts of pregnancy.

3. The harsh reality kicks in: I'm pretty sure the dryer has started shrinking my pre-pregnancy jeans (that jerk!). I digress. Let's be honest. Pregnancy weight gain has kicked in, and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to wear my old jeans, even with my trusty Beband. There is no more natural thing than weight gain in pregnancy (between 25-35 lbs. is considered "ideal"), and I'm embracing it, don't get me wrong, but Colin grunted when he was being playful and picked me up the other day. GRUNTED.... as in he was straining. hahahaha.

4. And lastly, we signed up for Hypnobabies birthing classes yesterday! They start in February. We are trying to be very intentional with the way we go about the birth of our daughter, and want to be as informed and prepared as possible. I can write another post entirely on why we chose Hypnobabies, why we chose a Birthing Center over the Hospital, and why we want a medication-free birth, if people are at all interested.

Oh, boy.

The reason I really, really meant it when I said I had no preference in the gender of our Little One, boy or girl.. because, genetically, one of these could potentially have popped out.

Baby Steps to the Nursery...

It's November! I can't even believe it. Time is absolutely flying.

Found this awesome video on babble, and it definitely inspired me! I love wearing scarves, and usually settle for the classic loose drape. Here are 25 wonderful ways to wear your scarf (and just the cutest video!)



We have officially begun putting together (and I say that as loosely as possible) Little Girl's nursery! I have been gathering ideas for a while now, but we now have a crib on the way as well as some beautiful crib bedding. We also found a dresser/changing table at the thrift store this weekend, so once I finish painting it I'll post about that as well!

We opted for the simple and classic look of a white Jenny Lind-style crib. If you look at nurseries on Apartmenttherapy or Pinterest, you will see this crib everywhere. It's simple and affordable!

(Both images found via apartmenttherapy)

For bedding we decided to go with this babydarling pink and mustard crib set (she also has an adorable gray and yellow set that we considered if we were having a little boy!). I always thought I would be one of those moms who didn't do any form of pink for her little girl (I've never been much of a fan of pink), but I absolutely love the way small pink accents complement my favorite color of all, mustard. If you know me at all, you probably knew mustard was going to make an appearance somewhere in this room ;)


All this to say, my etsy favorites list grows and grows by the day (I've said it before and I'll say it again, that website is DANGEROUS), and I am so looking forward to putting together Little Girl's room bit by bit.

Happy Monday!

Our Daughter.

It trips Colin and I out to say that-- it's one thing to say "we're having a girl!" or "she" or numerous other ways of saying that our little baby is a girl. But when we hear each other, or other people, say "your/our daughter"... it stops my heart. I don't know if it's because it reminds me that this beautiful gift is entrusted to us for life, or because it reminds me that I'm going to be a parent, rather than a woman growing a baby... whatever the reason, we are in awe.

We got to have an hour long ultrasound, our first and only one, since our birthing center doesn't do them. Beforehand I tried to fill my bladder up reallllll full and chugged some orange juice to get soon-to-be-not-so Mysterious Kiser moving. The very first time we saw our little girl in her entirety, she was snuggled against the placenta, like a pillow, and she had her hand to her mouth. Talk about melting our hearts. We were shown all of her little intricacies, including her "pretty little heart", as the tech kept calling it, with all four chambers pumping away, her sweet little limbs, spine, kidneys, brain. It was absolutely wild to see her kicking and twisting away in there!

I will say, though, I am even more convinced, having seen our baby react to it first hand, that ultrasounds are disruptive and unpleasant for the little ones. I've heard it before (apparently the sound waves are disruptive), but even the tech commented at how far away Little Girl was trying to get from the machine. She went way down low to my pelvic area for the last parts of the ultrasound. Maybe she felt indignant at the lack of privacy and everyone trying to get some good looks at her privates (she had her cord in the way as well as, at times, both of her hands and feet. ha! what modesty!)

The whole pregnancy I had the feeling I was growing a little girl. Most people guessed "girl" for us. I know that people don't like to hear this when they ask what we wanted, but we truly did just want to have a healthy baby, though I have secretly relished the idea of Colin being a father to a little girl. He has the perfect patient and jovial temperament, and I know this little one is going to be the apple of his eye (and be twisted all around her little finger!)

This picture gets me. Look at her delicate little lips and chin! And that little nose! I find myself looking at this picture too many times a day.

And, just because we think it's the most amazing thing ever... her spine! We could see all the little bones flexing as she wiggled and moved.

Little hand and little arms.

We can't say it enough... the joy of having others share in our excitement overwhelms us. Your words are taken to heart and are so meaningful! We love getting to share our experience with you guys. Thanks for following Little Girl's journey!

18 semanas, and date night!

18 weeks! Not too much to report this week. I am definitely showing more and more, so it's becoming apparent to the outside world and those who didn't know that we were pregnant that I am, in fact, with child. I just love it. Last night I was laying in bed and was so distracted by Mysterious Kiser's little kicks that I couldn't sleep from happiness and my mind wandering.

Last night was also date night! We headed to MVista to see what (cooked, don't worry!) sushi we could rustle up. That place never disappoints, and the company definitely never disappoints, either! We got the potstickers, a Jade Roll (my very, very favorite tempura fried roll), split the orange chicken with brown rice, and shared a pot of blooming white tea. A little slice of Heaven!

1. Colin was wearing his post-shower towel around his head and shoulders like Mother Theresa... then invited Abner in for a father/dog chat.
2. I oughta stop wearing that black maxi dress. It's going to get stretched out :( But it is my absolute favorite, most comfortable article of clothing.
3. Colin with the remnants of our sushi roll.
4. I love this man. My soul mate.

grace and peace to you!

Mommy! Mommy! *sip* Mooommmy!

1. In the Kiser household, we love Allstate's Mayhem commercials.
This one, though, takes the cake in my book.



2. I know that many of you probably saw our post on facebook, but yesterday afternoon I felt Little One's very first without-a-doubt-it's-baby kicks! It was unmistakable. It felt like little, tiny pokes or bumps from inside, just below my bellybutton and to the left. I have been able to feel them a few more times since then, and it brings a huge smile to my face every single time! I know there is nothing unique about pregnancy (the vast majority of women are blessed to be able to conceive more than once!), but it sure feels special and miraculous.

3. Any time I talk to others about being pregnant, they almost always ask if I've had any weird cravings. I haven't had anything interesting to report at all, sadly, except what DOESN'T sound good. Well, my friends, I have one that takes the cake. On Colin's way home last night at 9 pm, I had the most intense desire for a chocolate iced glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut... and... an eggroll. It defies explanation, but eating both of those things, side by side was heavenly. (Before you call the prego police on me, I have been monitoring my diet carefully and don't often indulge in super sweet or fatty foods!) My husband is incredibly loving and serves me so readily. I am very, very blessed.

4. I totally missed blogging about it, but this past weekend our wonderful Mama K came to visit us! We love her, and she is one of the most gracious house guests you could possibly have. We were able to eat, relax, get outside (for walks and Colin's soccer game) and play games. Such a leisurely time with one of our favorite people!

Completed a game of Monopoly. for serious! Who does that?

Got to see Colin score a goal on Sunday! Go, husband!

Hope everyone stays warm, it's going to be our first chilly weekend in the South!

Seventeen Weeks!

-This past week I popped! The bump has now gone from one-too-many-donuts belly to little bump. It's there when I wake up in the morning and when I lay down. I love my body right now and never want to stop looking at it and touching my tum. I can't help but walk around the house, pull up my shirt and say excitedly to Colin, "Look how pregnant I am!" I hope all of you moms and further along pregnant women are laughing and saying "Just you wait" at this point. I know, I know.

-Ah, the glorious moment where you think the morning sickness is mostly gone, you get cocky, then.... have to run to the bathroom and projectile throw up out of your mouth AND nose. Classy.

-Appetite is back, though, and I'm still getting used to being hungry every 2 hours or so.

-Baby is now the size of a large onion! Mysterious Kiser can now hear from inside the womb. I love listening in on his or her's little one sided conversations with daddy. Usually I get shut out but eavesdropping is easy :)

grace and peace!

Colin's Ideal Baby Gift.

Yesterday we received a package from our sweet friend, Renel. When she found out we were pregnant, she was eager to send us something she called "the perfect gift", and here it is, and how right she was! Most of you know Colin. He's a Biblical languages nerd (and I use that term affectionately, because I love it) and it goes without saying that he hopes to pass such things down to our offspring.


...Yes, this is a teach your baby the Greek alphabet baby book! When we opened this gift together... Let's just say I really wish I had my camera on-hand! Colin had the biggest grin on his face as he flipped through each page and we read each other what it said. We laughed SO hard and our hearts were so grateful for thoughtful friends. This is by far our favorite baby gift to date!


I sincerely look forward to the nights of walking into our nursery to find Colin rocking with little one, saying "THE-TA! can you say Theta?"

grace and peace!

15 weeks! I love you, second trimester!

So, we're at just 15 weeks today! Hoorah! No more throwing up, constant fatigue, back in love with food, fewer headaches... what's not to love?

Sadly this is still my night belly, which is way cuter than day belly. Day belly still says to the world, "I ate a few too many oreos." I did go buy a Beband at Target this weekend, because my jeans are getting pretty uncomfortable. That thing is amazing! It slips over your unbuttoned jeans and holds them up while providing comfortable, breathable, elasticity. The longer I can stay in my pre-pregnancy jeans the better!

Little One is the size of a navel orange this week... doesn't that sound big? His or her joints are now moving, can see (through closed eyelids) light if shined into the womb, and is developing taste buds!

Colin seems to be having some sympathy food cravings. It's really cute. The other day at midnight, he really NEEDED ice cream, so we made a trip to McDonald's. We saw a few people there we knew, who asked what we were doing there so late, and the fact of the pregnant wife saying, "Colin had a craving" still makes me laugh!

love to you all!

At least I can laugh at myself!

Hello all! I trust some of you are enjoying the chillier weather (I, for one, am not!). It has always comforted me in some small way, though, that there are people who come alive in the winter. So, hurray for you!

In celebration of fall, Colin and I will be going out of town this weekend on our respective CotA youth camping trips. I'm excited to smell like campfire and spend some quality time with some middle and high schoolers!

Also, thought I'd share because to be honest, it makes me laugh... Two things that have made my pregnant hormonal self cry this past week (And I'm not talking about the time I was on my period and started crying at the last verse of Taylor Swift's "Romeo and Juliet"-- True story).

1. The trailer for this movie-- "Being Elmo".


Who doesn't love Elmo? I can't wait for our children to discover the joy of Sesame Street. The fact that his birth is an underdog story made me choke up. Here's the trailer.

(found via Cup of Jo)

2. I'm a little ashamed to admit this one, as well: Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know, a little late to the bandwagon (like 8 years), but I saw that all seasons were up on Netflix when I was in the throes of first trimester sickness/fatigue, so I gave it a shot. DO. NOT. WATCH. THIS. SHOW. WHILE. HORMONAL.

Yup, totally cried.

Have a great day, everyone!

no caption could possibly do this photo justice!

Imagine waking up from a nap to this sitting in your inbox.


I can't look at this without grinning. I have so much affection for this guy! He keeps my heart light.

13 weeks, first trimester's last hurrah!

Hello, friends! I figured I should go ahead and get on track with a weekly-type pregnancy update. So, here's week 13!

1. First things first... belly. In a given day, my little belly can go from looking like this...

to looking like this...

Both were taken today. The first picture still shows the lovely thickening of my waist-line and the beginnings of a lovely little protrusion, but by the end of the day I always have a bloaty, rounder belly. Hopefully soon it becomes more permanent... I love rubbing my little bloat!

2. Food has begun to be appealing again! Whereas before I struggled to find anything... ANYTHING that sounded tasty, I'd say most things that I liked before sound yummy again. My favorite snack lately has been bread with peanut butter and sliced up bananas on it, then toasted... oh my. I also haven't thrown up since last week, which is wonderful!

3. Started getting some pretty gnarly headaches in the past couple of weeks as well. I've been trying to drink more water and make sure I'm getting enough sleep, so we'll see if that helps.

4. Little baby is the size of a peach and growing, growing, growing! Little one already has fingerprints... How amazing is that?


If there's anything in particular ya'll would like me to write about or talk about throughout the pregnancy, please let me know! I'll probably do some product reviews for the tummy products and skincare things I'm using, as well as these little updates.

grace and peace!