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!