It's been a year!

One year ago I set up a blog for myself on an impulse.  At that time I had been following several blogs for a while and thought I'd try writing my own!  Never did I think I would keep at it for this long!!  As a full-time working mom, it's definitely been challenging to find time to update my blog, but I'm super happy that I have kept at it!  While I might not be the best blogger out there, I have really enjoyed sharing a little piece of my world with all of you.  I have virtually met some wonderful bloggers along the way and have really appreciated all the kind words and comments that many of you have left.  I really have a great sense of respect for all the moms out there who obviously do so much for their children and it's heart-warming to see the amount of love pouring out from many of you.  I always wanted this blog to serve as a sort of online journal of my experiences as a mom, wife, friend, etc.  I hope to look back at it one day and remember all the wonderful memories that have been created.  Now that I am expecting baby #2 in just under a month, I am looking forward to continuing to share my experiences and hopefully continue to grow my blog and connect and meet more of you!!  

Thank you to everyone who has been following along and I look forward to the next year of blogging!!! 

Click here to see my very first post! :)

Nursery Inspirations!

Happy Friday everyone! Even though this was a short week due to Labor Day, it seemed that Friday would never get here. But here we are! This weekend, we are planning on doing some major work on the nursery and transforming Evie's room into a big girl room! We have bought Evie a full size mattress and will be converting her crib this weekend. Hopefully she does well with the transition! I will be sure to share some pictures of her big girl room once we make all the changes! In the meantime, I wanted to share an inspiration board I made a while back for the nursery! I am VERY excited to start putting it all together!  We are a bit behind on everything since my due date is in just 5 weeks, but I know we will manage to get everything in place before baby girl #2 arrives!  I am going for a baby pink/aqua/gold theme.  I LOVE the Melissa and Doug giant giraffes and knew I wanted to include that as a main focal piece in the nursery too.  Hopefully it all comes together! :)

Why Hello September!

Happy September everyone!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Labor Day weekend.  It's crazy to realize that we are at the unofficial end of summer and that it is almost time to say goodbye to this season.  As much as I love fall, I always seem to get a little sad when the summer months come to a close.  I have to say, changing seasons are one of my favorite things about living in Chicago. Hopefully I am not disappointed and we get a lovely fall this year!  But before I totally switch gears to fall, we wanted to get in some last bit of summer goodness this weekend.  It was the last day the local pools were open and I had not yet taken Evie to a splash pad/pool so this was our last chance!  She had a BLAST!  Our good friends Anna and Ralph joined with their 2 little ones as well so Evie was in great company!  We kept going back and forth between the splash pad area and the pool.  Evie was a little hesitant of the splash pad at first but after a while, she was running around and screaming in delight. :)  I really wish we would have taken her a few more times this summer.  But, there are always indoor places, right? ;)  

Here are a few pictures from our outing at the pool this weekend.  We spent the rest of the weekend cleaning out our office to make room for baby #2's nursery and doing some shopping!  Among our big purchases this weekend were a big girl mattress for Evie and a new crib and dresser for baby girl #2!  I'm super excited for everything to arrive and to start converting the rooms for our girls! ;)  Stay tuned for more updates!  

 

32 weeks!

So we are getting closer and closer to meeting our new little girl!  This pregnancy seems to have flown by so far!  I'm sure being crazy busy with a 2 year old has something to do with that though! ;)  And I'm sure the next 8 weeks will probably drag on for an eternity...the last weeks always do.  I've wanted to do weekly bumpdates on my blog, but that just didn't happen.  I tried to keep up as best I could though.  I'm looking forward to coming back to this blog and re-reading these updates in the future!  With that, my 32 week ultrasound is below, along with a picture of the growing bump, and some details on pregnancy this week.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

HERE SHE IS!  Baby girl #2 :)

Feeling large lately ;)

How Far Along: 32 weeks

Size of Baby:  Looks like I am measuring 2 weeks ahead - at 34 weeks!  According to the doc, baby girl is already weighing in at 5lbs...in the 78th percentile!  I am really hoping she does not end up being 10 lbs when I go into labor!  Eek!

Gender: Our recent ultrasound once again confirmed it's definitely a little girl ;)

Weight Gain: Around 15 lbs.

Symptoms:  I'm so lucky to not have very much heartburn or anything up to this point.  Overall I am feeling good.  I've had some Braxton Hicks contractions and some leg cramping at night, but otherwise, all is well!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Dunkin Donuts. Mmmm. haha.

Movement:  Oh yes...baby girl loves is super active and is constantly making her presence in my tummy known.  She definitely won't let me forget she is there. :)

Sleep:  I was never a big fan of the big body pillows, but have started incorporating other small pillows to prop myself up in certain places to make sleep a little more comfortable.

Maternity Clothes: Yes.  I bought a few new pieces recently that are super comfortable.  Being pregnant during the summer is great because you can wear plenty of comfy/flowy dresses and skirts.  I'm very lucky this summer has not been too brutally hot either!!

What I Miss: I really miss sleeping through the night without having to get up and pee.  I also miss being able to climb stairs without getting totally exhausted.

Best Moment this week:  My 32 week ultrasound and getting to see my little baby girl in 3D!  It's still hard to tell, but I think we have Evie's little twin brewing inside me! 

Looking Forward To:  Nursery planning and starting to go through all of Evie's baby clothes in prep for baby girl #2!

Scenes from our weekend

Happy Tuesday everyone! Sorry for the week long break from my blog. Seems like life has been in full speed lately and unfortunately that usually means my blog takes a back seat! 

This weekend was another eventful one...filled with good and bad.  Let's start with the good.  On Saturday, the hubby and I had a "date" at the Chicago Air & Water show, held downtown.  The weather was great, we got to dip our toes in the lake, and overall had a nice time being outside!

On Sunday we had a birthday party scheduled for Evie's older cousins.  When she woke up on Sunday morning I noticed Evie seemed a bit warm to me, but I just thought maybe it was a little too warm in her room overnight.  On our drive over to the cousin's house, she fell asleep.  Upon arrival, my poor princess woke up and the minute I took her out of her car seat, she started shivering and proceeded to vomit all over herself and the car.  Not fun.  I felt really bad for her.  At this point, I could feel the heat radiating off her skin and knew we had a fever on our hands.  I took her inside the party to clean her up and give her some medication.  We decided to take it easy and hang out on the couch for a bit to see how Evie started to feel.  Lo and behold, 30 minutes later, my little lady was ready to play.  I was hesitant to let her stay, but she seemed like a brand new girl, so we stuck around for a bit.  She was all smiles to get to play with her cousin Declan (who is photobombing the picture below...haha) and to get to collect candy from the pinata outside.  By late afternoon, her forehead started warming up again and I knew it was time to go. 

Monday morning, Evie was still running a fever so I decided to stay home from work with her.  As the morning rolled on, her fever seemed to subside a bit, so we took a little walk to Starbucks for some fresh air.  My little lady loves Starbucks and was treated to some milk and cookies from mama. :)

Later that afternoon she took a 3 hour nap!  One for the record books for us, as she usually only naps for 1-1.5 hours at a time.  It seemed to help because today she seems to be back to her normal self.  Fingers crossed that the virus is wearing off.  I knew that once we started daycare that she would be getting some illnesses...so here we are!  

 

The big 3-0

I am officially an old woman. This past Wednesday I turned the big 3-0.  While I was somewhat dreading this milestone, one of my co-workers reminded me that every birthday is a gift and we should embrace our age!  What a wonderful reminder!! :) 

I decided to keep my birthday low key this year...mainly because I don't have much energy for a full blown party anyways ;)  We invited some friends and family over to our house this weekend for some yummy food, drinks, and to play Cards Against Humanity. :)  If you haven't played that game yet, what are you waiting for?!?  SO FUN.  It was a perfect celebration of my 30th birthday, surrounded by the people I love most.

In all the fun, I didn't manage to get many pictures, but here are a few from my camera.  Thank you to my amazing husband for helping clean the house and plan a wonderful birthday for me.  I'm a very lucky lady.

Thanks to my cousin Angie for this creative gift...loved going through it :)

My simple Gerber Daisy centerpieces

In addition to celebrating my birthday last week, I was also marking exactly 30 weeks of pregnancy!  How funny that exactly 30 weeks fell on my 30th birthday!  I have been terrible with posting "bumpdates" on my blog but wanted to share a quick one now!

 

How Far Along: 30 weeks

Size of Baby:  Baby weighs almost 3 pounds now and is the size of a cabbage!

Gender: GIRL!

Weight Gain: Around 10 pounds

Symptoms:  I'm feeling good!  Nothing much to report other than lots of jabs, kicks, and flips from baby!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Anything and everything. haha.  Definitely have developed more of a sweet tooth lately.

Movement:  This baby girl has been quite the kicker!  My poor ribs and organs have taken a few hefty jabs!

Sleep:  Sleep has been good other than waking up 2-3 times a night wanting to pee.  I should just install a toilet next to my bed at this point!

Maternity Clothes: Oh yes.  Wearing mostly maternity clothes.  I sneak in a few dresses, skirts, and long shirts that work too!

What I Miss: Being able to get up from the couch easily. ha.

Best Moment this week:  Celebrating my 30th birthday and realizing I have just 2 months to go!!

Looking Forward To:  My 32 week ultrasound next week and FINALLY starting to work on the nursery!  We need to get our butts into gear!!

 

Friendships to Treasure

My best friend, Karen, and I met in the 7th grade.  We first were introduced to eachother on the school bus in junior high and have been inseparable since.  With close to 18 years of friendship under our belt, Karen and I have been through so many of life's ups and downs.  We have gotten to know each other's families, and feel more like sisters than friends.  Her friendship is one that I genuinely treasure and hope lasts a lifetime. 

In addition to having many of the same interests, coincidentally, Karen and I also are just 1 day apart in terms of our birthdays!  We both celebrated our 30th birthday this week!  In addition to embracing a new decade as individuals, this birthday was also another beautiful reminder of our long friendship.  And while our busy lives sometimes keep us from seeing each other as often as we once did, the bond between us is still strong.

Yesterday, Karen hosted a small party to celebrate her birthday.  I wanted to surprise her with a special gift and, more importantly, a heartfelt message about how much I treasure our friendship.  Thanks to my wonderful friends at Treat, a new personalized greeting card service, I was able to create a truly unique card, that surely beats anything I could ever find off the shelf at a greeting card store.

I wanted to capture Karen's reaction to receiving the card on the day of her birthday...and was thrilled to see how touched she was.

 Her reaction warmed my heart.  I was so happy to give her something that hopefully let her know how much she means to me! Here's a closer look at the card I created :)

Here are a few more pictures from Karen's birthday celebration!