Five On Friday!

Happy Friday y'all! Hallelujah that the weekend is finally {almost} here. This week has been extra long and this weekend is literally the last weekend until Miss Nora's expected arrival that we don't have a slam packed schedule. So I will definitely be enjoying the somewhat laid back two days with my hubby. Today I am linking up with April, Darci, Christina & Natasha for Five on Friday!

{One} The the other day I posted about my desperate need for help with nursery decisions. With y'alls help and a lot of thinking, I narrowed down my crib sheet choices to two and decided to paint the dresser white. I am seriously torn about this fabric. I know it is not a life changing decision what so ever but I am struggling with it. Before I was even pregnant I found a picture of a nursery on Pinterest {go figure} and fell in love with the colors. It was so sweet and calming and not at all what I ever thought I would choose since I really don't even like pink. But then I also found this fabric that is bright, girly and just plain adorable. It is so cute that it literally makes me want to base a whole room around it. So first I will show you the original Pinterest inspiration. Then I will show you my bedding choices and you feel free to weigh in with your opinion.

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The picture on the left is the bumper we will most likely go with if we decide to do one. The top fabric goes along with my original inspiration and I think it is so beautiful. The bottom one is the one I have been obsessing over. So what do you think? Stick with the neutral or add a little more color?

 

{two} While we are on the subject of my little babe, y'all wanna see her? I don't know if it is considered weird or overly personal to show ultrasound pictures but I don't mind it so here ya go!

Our little sweetheart gave us a smile! If you want to read more about our 4d ultrasound you can in my most recent bumpdate!

 

{three} Okay, let's face it this blog is going to be all about Miss Nora from here on out. Sorry not sorry. But y'all know how I mentioned last week that I won a bow giveaway hosted by Miranda? Well I got the picture of my completed bow from Sweet Owl Bowtique today and OMG it is too cute for words! I cannot wait til it gets here! Mommas I definitely recommend checking out Sweet Owl, she is so sweet and does such a great job!

{you can't really tell but it is attached to a little white headband. I die at the cuteness!

 

{four} Speaking of cuteness, we went Monday night and watched my middle nephew play tee ball. Oh my word y'all it was the cutest thing. Haden kept yelling out "Hey Ash-uh-ley I am right here!!" and every time the ball was hit the whole team ran for it and just dog piled each other. I laughed the entire time, it was just that cute!

Playing in the dirt. I mean really, a four year old can only focus so long!

 

{Five} So for quite some time now I have had my eye on this beautiful dress on Etsy for my maternity pictures. I finally broke down and decided to order it well what do you know, the shop is on vacation. Luckily I stalked the owner down on fb and she agreed to squeeze my order in! So thankful for kind people, now just crossing my fingers that it makes it here in time!

Have a good weekend y'all!

 

 

26-28 Week Bumpdate!

Baby Size: Eggplant

 

Weight Gain: Up four pounds since my last appointment

Maternity Clothes: All bottoms are either maternity or yoga pants. Shirts are still mainly normal with a few maternity.

Stretch Marks: Still rubbing on the creams but still seeing the stretch marks add up. Thank you genetics.. 

Belly Button In or Out: In

Sleep: Yep that's still not happening. I have a whole pile of pillows that I sleep on and I am really starting to wish I had invested in a pregnancy pillow.  

Best Moment This Week: So many things since the last update. Nursery progress, another great doctor appointment and an adorable 4d ultrasound!

 

Worst Moment This Week: The acid reflux is back with a vengeance. To the point where anytime I cough or brush my teeth I am puking up acid. Gross.

 

Miss Anything?: Being tan!!!! I hate to admit that I am a fake baker. I never do it regularly, not even once a week but I do miss it! I am see through..

 

Craving: The acid reflux makes it hard to have an appetite but sour patch popsicles and lifesaver gummies have been super yummy!

Queasy or sick?:A little nauseous from the acid reflux.

Symptoms: Nothing new. This belly sure is starting to get heavy though! Me and Lauren went for a walk yesterday and it started feeling like I was carrying a 20 lb medicine ball under my shirt!

 

Looking Forward To: Hopefully painting the nursery this weekend.

 

Mood: Tired but happy!

 

Movement: Sooo much! I can see her moving all over the place. Now that I know how she is positioned it is fun to guess which body parts I am seeing move!

{^ more accurate picture of the bump!}

 

  

Doctors Appointments: We sorta kinda had two. I took my sister and my cousin (who is like a sister) with me to see her in a 4d ultrasound. It was so amazing seeing out little lady in so much detail and it meant the world that they could come with me (hubby was working). She is still breech but that's nothing to worry about yet. I swear y'all she is such a sass! When we started the ultrasound she had her hand over her face, the tech started shaking my belly and she would not move. After several minutes she took that hand down and smiled!! It was the cutest stinking thing I have ever seen. They also told me she weighs about 2 lbs. 3 oz.!  Then we had a for real doctor appointment on Tuesday. I had my glucose test and it really wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. They said if the results were bad they would call me if not they would just tell me at my next appointment and I haven't heard anything yet so hopefully that's a good thing! I also met another doctor in the practice and loved him too! Feeling so blessed with such amazing doctors and such a healthy pregnancy!

Look at that little grin!!!

 

Nursery Decisions: I Need Your Help!

Hey y'all! In the past couple of weeks we have made some major nursery progress! We picked up the crib from my Granny's house, bought the dresser, got everything cleaned out of the room and chose a paint color. The landlord gave us permission to paint as long as we keep it neutral. I seriously agonized over this decision. After spending at least an hour going through swatches in Home Depot, going back twice for paint samples and staring at the four {ridiculously similar} stripes on the wall, we finally made a decision. The overall wall color will be Winsome Beige by Behr and I still have to make a decision on a shade of white for the trim. Did you know there are 5024952504593 shades of white?! Ridiculous. Not only do I have to pick a shade of white for the trim but I also have to pick one for the crib, too many decisions. This is where y'all come in.

I need your votes. First, bedding. We originally planned on doing very neutral colors, baby pink, white and beige. No real theme but kind of a shabby chic feel. I found this beautiful bedding at Restoration Hardware with these gorgeous flower appliques that I just fell in love with. I just planned on ordering the bumper and having my Aunt sew the rest. Now I am even rethinking that. I am starting to think that the flowers will look odd against the crib railing so now I am considering just ordering the quilt with the appliques and get a more simple bumper. That brings us to the rest of the bedding. Like I said, I originally wanted to keep it very neutral but now I am thinking we may need a little more color. These are a few samples of what I am considering for the crib sheets and other elements of the bedding. The top one is a fabric I actually found before I was even pregnant that I just think is gorgeous but may be just a little too much for what I am going for, the middle one is my favorite right now it stay with the soft neutral feel but has a little more color and the third sticks to my original neutral plan. SO two questions; do you think the bumper looks odd against the crib rails and what is your opinion on the 3 crib sheet fabrics?

 

As I mentioned there is going to be a lot of white in this room. White trim, white crib white rug and most likely white shelves. So I am trying to decide if painting the dresser white would be way too much. Here are a few Annie Sloan swatches (idk if you can see the last two but they are "pure" and "old white"). What do y'all think? 1.old ochre 2. cream 3. Antoinette 4. pure 5. antique white

 

Yes, I am absolutely an over-thinker. Seriously, who obsesses this much over nursery decisions??? Nora will never ever know or care what her nursery looked like but that's not really the point. I would seriously appreciate any input y'all may have!

Five On Friday

Happy Friday y'all! Linking up today with the girls for Five On Friday!

{One} I know everyone is raving about the weather but OH EM GEE the weather is incredible!! I love spring, I love riding with my windows down and I love sitting outside eating my lunch! I sincerely hope the crazy drastic weather changes are over and it stays this nice.
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{Two} I won! For once, I actually won a giveaway! Miranda at Life In The Lowcountry hosted a giveaway with Sweet Owl Boutique, they make the most adorable bows. Anna was so easy to work with and my custom bow is in the works, so excited!


{Three} A couple weekends ago we finally found the perfect dresser for sweet Nora's nursery! I found it for a great deal at a second hand store and with a little TLC I think it will be just perfect.

Ignore all the junk this is the picture my sister sent me from the store when she found it! 

{Four} Speaking of Nora, she received the cutest outfit ever! It is so cute I just want her to wear it all the time, I can't wait to actually seeing it on her! I also bought myself the most adorable little bracelet with her initial. Believe it or not it was only $6 at Old Navy! I actually have Lauren to thank for this since she actually spotted it.

{Five} It always seems like we go weeks at a time with no plans on the weekend and then all of a sudden everything seems to happen at the same time! Tomorrow is a prime example of that. For months I have had plans with my sister and cousin to do lunch, shopping and then we are going to see my sweet Nora in a 3d/4d ultrasound! Then we are going to my sister in law's for a family birthday cookout. Unfortunately I am going to have to miss a baby shower, a nephews first t-ball game and helping out with wedding duties. All because they all happen to be right at the same time. If only I had a few clones so I could do it all! I hate having to miss out on things but I guess that is life. I am so super excited to see my sweet girl though!


Well that is all for me today, I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!!

Throwback Thursday Link Up

Happy Thursday y'all! First I want to say thank you to all the kind ladies who left their words of encouragement on my last post. It truly means a lot to have your support and I love the blog world for allowing me to have those relationships!

 

That being said, if you are interested in doing the Throwback Thursday link-up all you need to do is grab this button, insert it into your post, link up your blog below and share your favorite throwback pictures with us!

 

Today will most likely be the last day of this linkup. Unfortunately it just didn't seem to interest many people and I am about to have to start paying for the linky subscription so I think I will just discontinue it. Thank you to all of those who did join in, I think it went pretty well for my first link up!

 

 

My throwback today is dedicated to spring break my senior year of high school! Seeing all these pictures of kids on their spring breaks had me feeling nostalgic about the only real spring break trip I ever took. It was pretty much madness and you could not pay me to do it again. Whoever decided that high school seniors were responsible enough to overtake pretty much an entire city with little to no supervision for an entire week had to have been out of their mind. Of course we went to Panama City along with the rest of our (and every other) senior class so it was pretty much high school on the beach.

 

These pictures also allow me to reminisce about the body that I will never have ever again lol.

 

We had to take two cars because of how much food we had! It covered the entire backseat and there was some in the trunk hah. (none of it made it back home)

 

 

These girls were my life in high school! Unfortunately we have all grown our separate ways now but when we do see each other it is like we never skipped a beat from this moment!

 

 

We danced on stage and thought we were SO cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 And of course spent A LOT of time working on our tans!

What is a beach trip without burying someone in the sand! This someone just happens to be my stepbrother lol.

 

Of course when you put 6 girls into a hotel room there is bound to be some drama. But overall we managed to have a great time and made a lot of truly great memories!

 

What was your favorite spring break trip?

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way...

So, yesterday I spent a little time in the morning writing a fun weekend recap that I planned on finishing and posting once I got home. For the first time in a while I had a weekend worth talking about and was excited to have a post other than my recent bumpdates and throwbacks. Well obviously that post never got finished because (as the title indicates) life got in the way.

 

If anyone that actually knows me reads this blog they know that I don't really have the simplest of family situations. I was reluctant to even write about this because I am not a big fan of posting personal issues on here, especially if there is anyone in my real life that reads this. But at the same time, I need to vent and that's why I made this blog in the first place so oh well.

 

Since losing my Mom my family hasn't been in the best spot. There have been a whole lot of really bad things happen in my personal relationships with both my Dad and my stepdad {things that are way too personal and serious to go into on here}. My Dad and I are finally in a place where we can be in the same room without arguing but the relationship with my stepdad has pretty much became nonexistent. Once every few months he will decide to blow up my phone asking me to go to dinner with him. I will usually give in and agree to go to dinner. (I know this sounds cold but he has done and continues to do some pretty unforgiveable things that make it hard to give him chance after chance.)

 

Getting to the point, last night he invited us over to his house to eat. That in itself threw up a red flag because he doesn't cook, we usually just go out. I had heard through the grapevine around Christmas that he might be seeing someone but he never mentioned it to me so I didn't really think much of it. So we get there last night and he meets me at the door and says, "thanks for coming, by the way my girlfriend and her kids are here.". So after picking my jaw up off the floor, I introduced myself and sat down. My stepdad immediately grabs my husband and asks him to drive him to the store because he forgot charcoal. It was one of those things that happened so fast that Paul didn't even have a chance to say no otherwise he never would've left me by myself in this situation. So here I was left alone with this woman I don't know and her kids. Now I am really good with meeting new people and making conversation, that wasn't the problem. I got to looking around and notice that everything is different, they aren't just dating she is completely living there. Still, I was fine with that. It was when I looked in the kitchen and saw all of my Mom's stuff being used that I lost it (canisters, decorations, etc.). Let me clarify, it has been almost 6 years since my Mom has been gone and I have been more than ready for him to move on and be happy. To be honest, my issue had nothing to do with him or her. I guess it was just a combination of so many things. I was feeling ambushed and sitting there trying to make conversation when I am staring at the things (as little as they may be) that were my Mom's now being used by someone else was just too much to handle.

I couldn't help but tear up so I excused myself to the bathroom to try and get it together. As soon as Paul walked back in he could tell that something was wrong. He took me outside and asked if I was okay which of course opened the flood gates. As this point I was feeling so many things and told him I wanted to leave but I fought the urge and stuck it out. The events of the rest of the night, as awkward as they were, are not really relevant.

 

As I mentioned, my emotions truly had nothing to do with him being in a new relationship, it had nothing to do with him period. I mean I was angry for how he handled the situation and blindsided me but that is not the point. Honestly the best way I  know to describe it is that I felt that my Mom was being betrayed. Just sitting there watching someone else use her things filled me with anger. It feels so petty even saying it but it is just something that I can't explain and you can't understand unless you have been there. Plus I am pregnant, my emotions are all over the place anyway so I am completely justified! I had to physically restrain myself from getting up, going through the house, finding everything my Mom ever touched and taking it home.

 

Once I got home I could not sleep whatsoever. My mind reeled all night with a million different thoughts and feelings. I have mentioned before that even though I struggle everyday with my Mom not being here, the farther I get in this pregnancy the more it hurts. It is literally painful that Nora will never get to know her incredible grandmother. I don't know if it is a normal momma bear thing or if it is the fact that my Mom doesn't get to be here but I am already being very protective of who gets to be in Nora's life. Not that I ever want to limit the amount of love she receives but I have had to deal with certain people coming in and out of my life, constantly hurting me and I will not let that happen to her. I will guard her precious little heart with my life.

 

I know this was all over the place but getting it all out helped. This is my life, completely raw and sometimes that gets in the way of the happy stuff. I have no idea if he will ever read this but I have to give a major shout out to my husband. He is my rock and I have no idea how I would ever make it through these hard times without him. Maybe tomorrow I will finish my fun weekend post and give y'all a little happy to read but this is what you get tonight..



Throwback Thursday Link-Up

After another night of no sleep and a morning of a sick puppy, I did not have the energy to muster up a TBT post. But here is the link-up for anyone who wants to join! I would love to see your Throwback post, all I ask is that you grab the button and link your blog below! Have a great Thursday y'all.

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24-25 Week Bumpdate!

 

 Baby Size: Cauliflower lol how odd.

 

Weight Gain: I am back at my pre-pregnancy weight. So I have officially gained back the 10 lbs I lost in the first trimester but so far no extra.

 

Maternity Clothes: All bottoms are either maternity or yoga pants. Shirts are still mainly normal with a few maternity.

Stretch Marks: No amount of cocoa butter has kept the stretch marks off my stomach. Oh well.

Belly Button In or Out: In but SUPER shallow.

Sleep: Still not having much luck in the sleep department.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing that sweet heartbeat at the doctor!

 

Worst Moment This Week: I have had a lot of muscle and ligament pain so that hasn't been too pleasant. But I feel like my belly really popped so that kinda explains that!

 

Miss Anything?: Sleep and tanning bed lol

 

Craving: Coke..

 

Queasy or sick?:A little nauseous from the acid reflux.

Symptoms: Muscle pains, sleeplessness, acid reflux, leg cramps and my feet keep falling asleep lol. The past two weeks have definitely been the most dramatic as far as changes go!  

 

Looking Forward To: Picking up the crib and dresser this weekend!

 

 

Mood: Tired but happy!

 

Movement: Sooo much! We were actually just watching her roll all over my belly!

 

Doctors Appointments: We had one last week and it went great! Blood pressure was perfect, heartbeat and measurements were right on track! I can not say enough how much I love my doctors. They recommend we see every doctor in the practice {for obvious reasons) and at first I didn't think that I would like anyone better than our first doctor. But last week I was quickly proved wrong. I talked to the first doctor about my concerns with my Mom's heart condition, he was very attentive and said he would monitor me in the third trimester. I had no idea whether or not he put that in my chart or shared it with the other doctors. Well I had been having some palpitations (which is normal in pregnancy) but I still wanted to mention them at the appointment. We were seeing a new doctor this time and he asked if I had any concerns. So I said, "I don't know if it is in there (pointed to my chart) but my Mom had po-..." and he cut in with "postpartum cardiomyopathy. yes from what I read your  mother got very sick very quick. That is tragic, I am so sorry about that." Then continued to listen to my heart and tell me that everything was completely normal but they would still do tests in the third trimester. It meant so much to me that he had actually taken the time to really pay attention to my history and the condition. I know that is probably normal procedure but most of the time doctors treat you like a number instead of a person. So it means a lot to feel like the ones who are responsible for bringing my baby girl into this world truly care about the both of us! The end of this month is the dreaded glucose test..

Throwback Thursday Link-Up

Good morning y'all! So I completely didn't realize it was Thursday (waddup baby brain) and forgot to do my tbt post. So here is the link up for all of you prepared ladies and I will be back shortly with my TBT post!

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Everyone has something that represents their childhood. Whether it be a blanket, a toy, a house or in my case, a car. Growing up I was surrounded by old cars. Most days you could find my Papa covered in grease, out in his shop, working on his or someone else's car. A lot of those days you could also find a curly headed little girl, with grease on her bare feet, rolling around the shop on a creeper watching every  move her Papa made. 

My favorite car to watch him work on was his own, a banana yellow, 72 Rally Nova. Now this may not be the end all be all of classic cars but to me, it always has been because it was his. And the pride he took in what he built made me think there was nothing more special on this Earth. I was the luckiest girl in the world when I got to hop in the beautiful yellow car and ride around with my Papa! Whether we were just riding around town or going to a cruise-in, I was on top of the world.

You would think that once I got up into my teenage years the allure of the old car would have faded, not for me. I was 16 years old and asked Papa if we could go for a ride. Of course he said yes, pulled it out of the shop and threw me the keys. I swore he was kidding, no one ever got to drive Papa's Nova, especially not a 16 year old girl! But sure enough, he let me drive. I had never been more terrified! Going around those mountain curves (with no power steering) in my holy grail of cars, I just knew I was going to have a heart attack. Then he looks at me and says, "Lay into it babe, see what she's made of!". In that moment I let out a deep breath and pushed my foot towards the floor. Flying down those old roads with the windows down and my favorite man smiling beside me, trusting me with his baby, is something I will cherish forever.

{I even got to ride in it on my wedding day!}

To this day, I still love when I see him roll up that shop door and holler for me to come on. We drive for hours with no destination, just being together. This car and the man that built it mean more to me than most things in this world! And I can not wait to share these memories with my little girl and hopefully she will get to create plenty of her own memories with "Tom Kat" and his "Kitten"!

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1. A Thousand Words

2. Sweet as a Peach

3. Peach State of Mind

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Just To Make You Smile!

I am working on a bumpdate post at the moment but I just heard this and had to share it! I know I have shared videos of these sweet sisters before but I just seriously love them. They are so adorable and unbelievably talented! They just make my heart smile!

 

 

 

Have a good night y'all!