Feeling Loved

Sometimes it's hard to admit but my primary love language is Gift Giving. As materialistic as that can sound, it's the act of someone thinking about me ahead of time and making whatever sacrifice it was to give me a gift. I understand the value of money, time and effort so when I'm the recipient of a gift - I truly feel the depth of that person's love. It goes both ways, I love to gift others with things too because I know that they are worth whatever the cost is to me.

In the past month, I've been so blessed by a handful of my closest friends and family members. They've joyfully and excitedly given me some precious gifts. I keep them on a little dresser in our guest room and walk past it many times a day. It serves as an Ebenezer to remind me of God's goodness and faithfulness in our lives. He's given us what we asked for the most and is letting us thrive in that joy.

Jenny, Rebekah, Amanda and Mallory all blessed me with helpful motherhood gifts like books and belly bands and sandwhich containers. I love and cherish them all!

Then Jen rocked my world:
And Momma gave me a beautiful nursing cover from the cutest little shop:
And Ashleigh prepared me for a girl OR a boy:
And Heather thought of practical ways to quiet down a fussy baby: (I'm teasing Heather, I LOVE them so much!)
And on Friday I received a box in the mail from one of my aunts with 9 individually wrapped packages - one for each month of pregnancy! Seriously, my cup overfloweth with love. Thank you so much loved ones! You've got to understand how much this means to me.

From the River to the Grove to the Lake

Our new home sweet homeThis will be our fourth home together in the last 4 years. We are excited to settle down and live here for a while. Our first apartment didn't have a cute geographical road name, but we then moved to Riverrun then to Mason Grove and now on to Benton Lake. Road names are fun - my dream is to live on Magnolia Lane. Someday! But in a month from now we will be here!

Is this safe?

Should I not be drinking out of this any more? Friends, please help me. Did I miss the memo that plastic nalgenes are toxic? No one ever drinks from these. And if so, what should I drink from? I am currently drinking 64oz of water a day from this plastic bottle. I beg you, leave a comment with an answer - I don't trust google.

Life at 12 weeks

We got to put the "sold" sign up in the front window of our new home! 12 weeks pregnant:
Do you love the socks?

busy, busy February

I think we've found the house! We can't wait to share it with you all - pictures and details to come as long as everything goes smoothly. We have had no trouble finding someone to fill our lease of the rental home. We got 10 immediate responses to an add and 4 families came through the next day to look at it. So thankful that it was a breeze!

I'm getting more and more (mildly) worried/stressed about our upcoming September and October. It's far away, but I am living in those months mentally because of all the weddings I'm working on during that time. Not to mention we have to travel to Rhode Island for my friend's wedding with a brand new baby?! I will be asking for car travel advice in the coming months....I'm a little concerned. It's about time for me to break the news to my fall clients that I will be on maternity leave for a bit. I'm praying that it goes well!

Initial thoughts

One of my favorite calendar quotes from "A Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy:"

"Here's the Ultimate Girlfriends Tip: The minute you enter the hospital start asking for an epidural and continue until you receive one. Labor is not a contest, you don't win anything by going pain-free and if you think you want to go au naturel, talk to me afterward."

I think that's hilarious. BUT I like it. Every single woman who is older than me has said in the past many weeks, "get an epidural!" Everyone. Why would I not take their advice? Us young people like to try and do things against the grain and figure things out on our own and all the while older folks in our lives are kindly suggesting that we learn from their past trials and do things a different way. They are generally right. But do we listen? No. This time I think I am going to listen. I'm not ruling out the other options yet, these are just my thoughts as of month 3.

Working on the Weekends

Look what happens when you make connections in the wedding industry! Wine and cheese flow freely:

Thank you Steve at the Omni. What a treat! I'd stay at this hotel any time.