23 weeks pregnant and already nesting

I don't think "nesting" really starts until the third trimester....
(at least from what my Pregnancy Tracker app tells me!)
....but this mama has been nesting all week long!
On Tuesday night I took my whole downstairs bathroom apart and scrubbed it all clean and organized it.
Last night I came home from work and did the same thing to my kitchen!
It never felt better!
Nesting is awesome!
I feel like this phase of pregnancy has made me cleaning superwoman.
I don't know where all this organization and energy suddenly came from.
I'm making plans to go home tonight and work on my living room..... and I'm really looking forward to it.
With the upstairs still under remodel and our contractor walking in and out all day working I've slacked in the cleaning department quite a bit.
This week I just could not take it anymore.
I got a sudden urge to put the house back in order.

Waking up to the smell of the clean sheets surrounding me in my bed, a clean fresh kitchen to enjoy coffee and toast with my husband in, two bathed pups following me around as I got dressed, and the feeling of a spotless home made this a very wonderful Thursday morning.
♥
 

Pregnancy Update: 22 Weeks

♥♥♥♥
Hey week 22....I feel like you snuck up on me!
Time sure is flying these days!
Our baby boy is roughly 11 inches long - about the size of a spaghetti squash - and weighs almost 1 pound.
It looks & feels as though I've had a growth spurt in the past week; this boy is sure growing fast.
He's still kicking and squirming more and more each day...usually in the evenings when mama is tired after a long day.
You'd think he is trying to keep me awake; causing trouble already like little boys do ;-)

 These pictures were taken on Saturday at my dad's birthday party!
My dad turned 60 so the entire family got together for a picnic in the park!
We have been having beautiful weather and it's been so nice to be able to spend part of every day outdoors. 

Look at these little girls.
These are my nieces Emily and Anjalina and I think they are nothing short of perfection.
I'm glad our boy will have these two angels as cousins.
♥♥♥♥

Have a beautiful Tuesday

A few thoughts on becoming a mom

 

♥Happy Mother's Day♥
It felt kind of weird at first to have so many people wish me a Happy Mother's Day but I am humbled to be able to call myself a mama (to be).

 

It's amazing to think that God somehow saw Jason and I worthy of such a big responsibility and gifted us with this little angel.

Amazing.... and so scary at the same time!
What a huge responsibility has been placed upon us!
Sometimes fear creeps into my mind:
Will we be good enough?
Patient enough?
Wise enough?
I'm not gonna lie; having this baby in September is going to turn our world upside down!
No more "let's just get up and go" freedom and no more "full nights of sleep" (at least not for a while).
Sometimes these thoughts hit me hard because I know this is coming so soon!
We are preparing as much as we can but I know there is no "successful parenting handbook" out there that will guarantee we are super stars at parenting.
I can ask for all the advice in the world, but when it comes down to it, I still won't have all the answers... and believe me, I am an "I want answers" kind of girl!

But, I know there's hope:
1) I've seen so many amazing mothers put so much purpose, love and intention into their jobs as mothers and I've seen the results
2) Knowing this child is a gift from God makes all this fear and anxiety quiet down when I am reminded that He entrusted us with this baby boy for a reason.
He knows I'm what this boy needs from a mother.
He knows Jason is going to be the right daddy for this boy to look up to and be best friends with.
God knew in advance that this baby boy would be ours..... it was just a matter of time..... and that time is here (well almost come September).
Now it's just up to us to live at a higher standard and make family a priority even more than ever before.
We are so okay with that because....

..{Family is a beautiful thing}..

♥

 

..{wedding ♥ season is here}..

...{Wedding season has arrived}...

 

As spring and summer rolls around, so do the wedding invitations!

Last summer I was asked to do a photoshoot by my sweet sister in law Jenn and how could I refuse?!

It was a reason to get all dolled up and wear a beautiful wedding dress!

 

Are you getting married soon?!

If yes checkout my post here from my early blogging days of our wedding!

The post gives some of my money saving tips on having a fabulous wedding without breaking your budget!

 

Now time to give credit to the people who made this photoshoot happen:

Photography: Jenn Pacurar, owner of Spotted Stills Photography (she is my sister in-law!)

Makeup Artist: Kirstie Wight

Bridal Bouquet: Rosemary Stafford Floral Design

Wedding dress: Designed on the spot by Jenn Pacurar! She is quite amazing!

 

For a little of my wedding inspiration, visit my {Wedding} Pinterest Board!

 

Both of my brothers got engaged over the past few weeks so I have weddings on my mind!

I'm going to share some of their sweet engagement photos later this week ♥

 

Stay tuned....!

 

For our baby boy ♥

♥I'm finding myself spending more and more time on Etsy these days and I'm hooked.

♥I'm obsessing over all the adorable baby boy items I'm finding!

♥Here are just a few of the things that have caught my attention lately as I dream about meeting our sweet angel boy:

 

Arrow Baby Long Sleeve Onesi... Feather4Arrow $18	personalized helicopter wood... SmilingTreeToy... $28	Blue and Green Striped Knit ... IttyBittyNest $12	X-Large Elk skin Baby Moccas... TOTMOCS $42
Dog Stuffed Toy, Textured C... LoopySheep $50	Cardigan and Bow Tie Onesie ... HaddonCo $40	Cute Owl Name Print for a Ba... SunshinePrints... $15	Adorable Aqua or Navy Sailor... SunshineAndRay... $6.95
Great gift idea- Fall/Winter... littleseason $15	Horn Rimmed Nerdy Glasses On... OVELO $15.99	Crochet Rug Rainbow and Clou... KingSoleil $260	Cloud Mobile, Hanging Baby M... goshandgolly $43
wooden block puzzle, toddler... JessieAnnCreat... $28	Vintage Pressed Tin 1930'... EleanorGastonS... $25	Baby Boy Garland bunting min... Threadyarknot $6.95	Pea Pod with 3 peas(bigger) ... YarnBallStorie... $14

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Know of any Etsy shops/items that you are loving right now for baby and mama?

If yes, please do share!!!!

 

Have a wonderful Thursday!

{Pregnancy halfway mark #20weeks}

I was sitting at my desk at work today and suddenly felt a funny fluttering feeling in my stomach.

At first I thought it was maybe just indigestion but it kept happening and felt different than anything I'd ever felt before!

I then realized it was the baby kicking me!

I put my hands over my lower belly and actually felt fluttering in there!

It was the most amazing thing!

All that pregnancy sickness I had for the first 16 weeks was worth it for this moment... and the moments to come.

At 20 weeks, I am officially halfway through my pregnancy!

Baby boy is around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel - the length of a banana - growing so fast!

I'm feeling much better these days.

On Saturday I was able to help my husband do some yard work and we even went on a bike ride around the neighborhood - don't worry; we took the quiet roads and kept a safe slow pace!

I'm craving LOTS of cold, fresh fruit these days - in particular watermelon.

To keep healthy and active I've been walking about an hour a day.

My belly is growing much faster each week and I'm finding that I am much more comfortable in maxi dresses on these warm spring days.

{We are expecting 80 degree weather this week - wohoo!}

Baby, we love you so much already!

We are counting the days until we get to see you!

Keep on kicking and being active - daddy's excited to start playing all kinds of sports with you!

via



We are having a..... BOY!

What Little Boys are Made Of!

"A wee bit of dirt and a devilish grin...

Curios eyes and spaghetti sauce chin...

A dollop of mud behind his right ear,

and a handful of worms in his pocket I fear.

You see his knees through the holes in his jeans,

He likes ice cream but won't eat his beans.

He's made of mudpies and bubble gum kisses,

and wonder at Christmas and Birthday wishes.

And a heap of giggles and wiggles and love,

These are all the things little boys are made of."

Poem via pinterest

 

We found out on Wednesday that we are going to be having a baby BOY!

I see a little something sticking up in the picture (how cute is that!?):

 

 

{My husband will now have a little soccer buddy,

I'll have another reason to give out lots of kisses and hugs}

 

I'm so excited to have lots of little planes, trucks, cars and little boy toys scattered around the house!

 

I cannot wait to be his momma!

VIA

 



Project "prepare for baby" remodel {phase one}

Phase one is in progress: demolition!

These pictures were taken over a week ago so the shower and a few of these walls have since been torn out. I'm a little behind on blogging these days :)

Before we began the demolition, the attic had:
*A master bedroom which was open (no doors, it was more loft style) with a master bath and a huge dressing area and a small walk-in closet.
*A second bedroom which we used as our office
(It was a horrible layout w/ lots of wasted dead space and did I mention the horrible wall paper?)

The new floor plan will include:
*The nursery with a walk in closet
*A laundry room (so I don't have to go up and down 3 flights of stairs to the basement where the main laundry room is!)
*A loft area/reading corner (thrilled about this!)
*Our master bedroom/master bath/larger walk in closet

Here is a little image of our new floor plan:

We remodeled the main floor in early fall 2012.
See some details on this post here.
Our house has a total of four bedrooms so we will be moving the office downstairs and the other bedroom will become a guest bedroom.
It will be nice to have our bedroom and the nursery seperate from the rest of the house!

We have an electrician coming in next week to do our electrical.
Next on the list after that is the plumbing.
Then drywall and then the fun part: paint, tile, light fixtures, vanities, doors, etc!
This weekend we hope to start shopping for all the things we want in our new space.

I'm excited to see it all come together and have a new, fresh living space for our new baby coming in September <3

More updates to come!

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo, Denise