baby bump alert: taking his sweet time

Alright already...I am ready.

They say you are never fully ready for your first baby - but I assure you at 40 weeks a pregnant woman is ready.  All I do right now is walk around -- the mall, the neighborhood, the yard, anywhere.  We have tried all of the safe measures to "gently coax" baby along, but to no avail.  He, unlike me, is not ready quite yet.   He still moves around a lot.  His head is still in the down position.  

Baby is apparently going to take his {sweet time.} 

He may choose to be on time - coming July 12th, his "official" due date.

Or perhaps he will be fashionably late - a couple days after he is due. 

Or *gasp* he might be really late, a week or two, forcing us to induce his little baby butt out.
  * praying this is not the case...or an indication of his future punctuality *

This is definitely God's way of teaching me and Hubby patience, which I am sure we will need a lot of in the next 18+ years!

{These pictures are technically taken at 39 weeks, as you can tell by my prop above. But you get the idea.} 

weight gained: 35 pounds

dilated: 3 cm

cravings: Coke Icees...mixed with cherry 

tummy get in the way of: everything!
animal I feel like: hippopotamus

This is my final baby bump alert...

The next "baby post" will be introducing  'lil Baby C into the world!

Praying for a healthy baby

and safe, natural delivery!

We are ready for what God gives us.

{So very ready.}

  g

{a blogger looks at 30}

Today I turned thirty.

Surprisingly I am unfazed by this formerly tragic-sounding age.

Maybe it is because I am on the verge of delivering my first baby, and to be honest, nothing else seems that important.

Maybe it is because I don't feel "thirty" {whatever that feels like?}

Or maybe it is because when
 I look back on my twenties, I think both of how exciting they were...
and what an absolute rollercoaster of changes
they brought.

This is me at 20.  
{so young!}

I lived in St. Paul, MN.  I had just met and started dating my future Hubby.

I had no idea where my life was headed in the next ten years!

21 and 22 were spent working full-time while going to school, and the typically college stuff: dating, partying, traveling, drama, adventures, heartache, mistakes, and a lot of FUN!

At 23, after various breakups and a lot of trying to make it work long-distance, 

Hubby and I got engaged!

Then we got un-engaged...we still had some growing up to do!

At 24 I graduated from college with a degree in English.

{As with many things in my twenties, it took me a while to decide on my major.}

After graduating I moved to the same state as {future}Hubby and we dated again, on-and-off, for a while...finally not long-distance!
At 25 we got engaged again 

{this time I asked him!}

This time, at 26, we ended up married.

best. day. ever.

From 26-27 I was a newlywed, stumbling my way through the beauty and difficulty that is marriage {I still am!}  I realized how much I love creating a home and learning to cook...and even baking a little!

At 28 I became the proud pet parent of 

this guy:

At 29 I started blogging...
{which brings me JOY!}

...and I got pregnant!

Honestly, twenty-nine has been the best year ever.

And here I am now at 30. 
Baby bump and all.

 There are definitely more lines on my face.  More pounds on my frame.  More memories  written on my heart - both good and bad.  I am certainly less naive, and a little more skeptical than at 20...but also more at peace, and much happier with who I am.

Mostly,  I am simply thankful God guided me through the tumultuous twenties safely!

As for my thirties?

Bring it.

g

musings of an 'almost mother'

Here I sit in my last few days of pregnancy.  

These have by far been the hardest, because I am so full of anticipation!  I sit and think that any moment I could go into labor.  Sometimes I am scared it will happen that very day.  But most mornings I wake up disappointed that it didn't happen that night.  

I've been focusing so much on the "firsts" in my life for the past nine months...first pregnancy...first ultrasound...first baby movements...but in the past few days I had a sudden bout of focusing on the "lasts," such as:

The last date hubby and I will have without needing a sitter.

The last Sunday I will have completely to myself.

Our last days as "you and me" 

soon to be 

you and me and baby make three!

{four if you count the pup}

Hubby seemed rather unfazed by the dramatic fact that our lives are about to change forever.  He just looked at me stated matter-of-factly, "Didn't we decide this nine months ago?"

I, however, burst into tears over it, blubbering:

"But, but...I didn't think it would go by so fast!"

Truly the fastest nine months of my life.

As well as the slowest last days

of pregnancy.

I'm trying to focus more on enjoying these final days,

before baby and

before I turn thirty!

{yikes}

One way to pass the time?

I painted these clay pots 

turquoise and chalkboard black

to go on our patio,

and planted blue bellflowers, daisies and sunflowers.

Pretty soon flowers {oh, a husband, and a dog} won't be the only things I'm growing and caring for!

Happy 4th of July...

Enjoy every moment!

g

{cupcake war}

I feel like I am in my own personal

"cupcake war."

My heart wants me to be a baker

of beautiful cupcakes.

Yet my brain always seems to 

sabotage 

this desire.

{read: I forget important ingredients while baking}

I might be way too ADD to bake.

Yet, I try, and try

and try again!

Here is my latest effort:

lemon raspberry cupcakes

{from scratch}

pretty cupcake liners are a must

two of my favorite flavors rolled into one cupcake

I was at least very happy with my fluffy lemon batter!

so far so good...or so I thought!

  

 True to form, I remembered AFTER baking them that I hadn't added the other half of the flour!  Doh!

I tasted one, though, and they seemed yummy enough, if not a little dense.

They looked pretty, which made me happy!

Oh cupcake, with only half the flour...

you were dense {like your creator}

but yet tasted rather good.

Um, at least according to my hubby.

Bless his baked-goods-loving

heart.

g

PS: {recipe can be found HERE} - don't forget the flour :D

nursery reveal!

This is my first baby.

Also, my first time "designing" {term used loosely}

a nursery.

I think once I've had a baby a while I'll know more

what to include in a nursery.

However, like most newbie mamas,

I kind of had to wing it.

After scouring magazines, nursery design websites,

Google, Pinterest,

other blogs,

anywhere with anything

vaguely baby-like

this is what I came up with.

It all started with the crib bedding.
 I found it at Land of Nod

after struggling to find boy bedding that fit my vision {aka modern, yet sweet, yet not too specific.}

I loved the turquoise, aqua and green colors, 

with some gray in there as well.

So we painted the walls pale gray {Notre Dame, Valspar}

went with white furniture

and when it came time to accessorize,

I went with lots of grays, blues and a bit of green...

circles, and some owls in there as well!

{lurve wise little owls}

Here is the tour, 
via photographs:

It is a pretty small room, with no closet.  However, with the wardrobe and dresser/changing table we bought from Ikea, we have plenty of storage space for teeny baby things. Also, there is storage in the ottoman and drawer beneath crib.

I fell in love with this owl pillow immediately!  The circles and the beautiful turquoise color coordinate well, and it is just dang cute!  Found it on Etsy, as well as the art prints in the room.

The crib bumper was my initial inspiration for the entire room.  The outside is a sweet, preppy plaid, the inside has lovely circles made of different fabrics/colors, which you can see below:

"C" is the only clue you will get about Baby Boy's name!

{Cannot wait to FINALLY reveal the name!}

These bookshelves are actually 3.99 spice racks from Ikea, which I painted white.  

The boy has to have books!

The changing station is pretty simple.  I had bought these Mason jars from a flea market a while ago, and thought the color was perfect!

The changing table cover I special ordered {since I cannot sew} from another Etsy shop, along with a matching Boppy cover.  The mirror is Ikea.  The "Keep Calm, Carry On" print is actually a framed greeting card.  

I hung a couple extra paper lanterns up above the changing table to give Baby another thing to focus on during the fun process of changing diapers.  Plus I wanted to bring a little of the green over to this area!

This owl that sits on the chair is from Pier1.

The paper lantern "immobile" I made myself using various paper lanterns I had already, and added some I bought on Amazon.  I was inspired by others I had seen on nursery design websites!  Plus, I couldn't find a traditional crib mobile that I liked at all.

Where the feeding and reading will happen!

Replaced the boring knobs on the wardrobe with some from Anthropologie.

Had to add a touch of country with this mini straw cowboy hat!   We are in KY after all. :)

Just for fun, here is the BEFORE:

Baby Boy's Room AFTER:

There you have it, my bloggie friends!

Now what will this mama do with herself before Baby arrives?

Could be any day now!

g
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