yay for young life camp!

quite possibly my husband & i's favorite way to spend the summer is at a young life property. since we have been engaged every summer we have spent a month at a camp. and it is always very wonderful & memorable.

this summer i'm excited to share that some of my jewelry will be sold at these young life camps -
Saranac, Rockbridge, Castaway Club & Lake Champion! if you happen to be going this summer, please check them out!

so many decisions

i cannot keep up. i am feeling really tired today...maybe it's the heat. global warming...which i do believe in. i feel like i have lots of baby decisions to make and have not made any. then we have lots of other things going on too.

here are my big choices that i haven't decided on:

• a baby name....we have one we like, but it's not set in stone. i woke up last night thinking about how scary it is that it is a choice that will be with our child for the rest of his life!
• nursery theme, colors, bedding.....really can't decide. i like turquoise and red. and animals. particularly safari like animals. but i don't have one i looove yet. and then i am confused because i have heard the baby won't use the bumper anyway, which is what most of the design is centered around. this serena and lily is one of my favorite, but it quite expensive and best part is the bumper!

• a stroller...car seat....i am a freak and am trying to find the best one and the most reasonable price. love the uppa vista...but it is hardly reasonable....but it is organic & can be upgraded to a two-seater.

• have not decided on a birth plan. i want to be brave and not do an epidural, but i feel like i'm slacking on make a definite decision or taking steps to make it easier to do that. 
• how to decorate our dining room! more pictures soon!

well dog the bounty hunter is calling my name, so i must go snuggle with lucy and make some button earrings. 

homestead vaca pictures soon!

a window seat

i am currently sitting in the lowest level of our house. i'd call it a basement, but it isn't technically one because we don't have basements in virginia beach due to being at sea level. it is HOT outside. 91 degrees. seriously global warming. it is may!! thankful our AC. 

i just get so sleepy and tired in the afternoons and haven't really felt like blogging. so sorry. but we have been busy. there seems to be a never ending to do list with this house. we just decided we might redo the downstairs bathroom soon, but philip is still in the midst of building a window seat and i am supposed to be in the midst of decorating the dining room. i'll try to blog more design ideas for that room soon because i am baffled. 

here is philip's progress with the window seat so far. this big window faces the front of our house and is in the dining room and is also the first room you walk into the house. which is a really strange set up for a house if you ask me. so our goal is for the room to be functional, not too formal still since we do not have an eat in kitchen & since it also the entry way. 

first he build a frame for the seat. 

then boxed it in and added some decorative elements to the front. he also connect the air vent so that it will not just blow in the seat & moved the outlets up the walls (on the right & left of the bench). also reattached the trim to the front. 

 finished boxing it, made it pretty by sanding and priming and painting, and the middle will have a lid with a hinge for some much needed storage...which we always seem to need more of. 

he's almost done so i'll try to post a final picture soon along with the entire room & what i am hoping to do with it. 

so what have i been doing while he is doing this? not much, avoiding paint fumes... i am still tired as i mentioned before so my main job is to document it, but i have been working on some jewelry for Lake Champion, Rockbridge & Castaway! 

have a great tuesday!

the gender reveal

so I know I already announced we are having a boy to the cyber world, but this is how we let my mom & grandmother know we were having a boy. 

a co-worker suggested I do a cake with a layer revealing boy (blue), girl (pink) inside the cake like they do in the south. since my mom & gma had planned a trip around the time we found out i figured i'd make them wait until then. 

mom kept saying it was a boy. so she was right. although she may not get her way with the baby name...

life is good lately

I realized Saturday morning that I am enjoying being pregnant right now. I don't feel the greatest in the mornings still, but Thursday during Campaigners I felt the baby move for real. Before I think it was just gas, but now I know how to recognize him. I sat outside on Sunday & read my Hypnobirthing book - which is another post and just could feel the little guy do some somersaults & kick type motions. He seems to be pretty active right now, but I am trying not to obsess over it because they say you do not need to count movements until 28 weeks. On top of that though we found out that my placenta is low-lying, I think is what they said meaning that if it doesn't move there is a chance we'll need a c-section & makes it less likely for me to feel movements because the placenta is making it harder for me to feel movements.

Anywho, yahoo for a good report. I had been nervous for the 20 week appointment so we are very grateful that everything looked good. Some have said the baby looks like Philip. May I just say that I think that is absurd!? The ultrasound tech said that babies do look different, but she thought he had my nose, not Philip (PTL...no offense Philip ;))

20.5 weeks (taken this past Saturday)

I'm starting to collect some pregnancy clothes finally. It has been really hard to know what to wear. I can wear a lot of my normal things if I improvise a little. I'm wear a beach cover up with leggings....hmm.

More pictures to come!

20 weeks & counting

Philip has been working hard on the house & I have been working hard on growing this baby. Well, it mostly just does it's thing & I just try to be healthy. But I cannot believe how the baby has grown. We have our big ultrasound (20weeks) on Monday - though I wil l be 21 weeks then, but I went in this week without Philip because of chronic chest pains. (They think its costochondritis, which is swelling of the rib cage). But then they checked the babies' heart beat, which was normal & then dropped & then went back to normal. She promptly sent me to get an ultrasound to make sure everything is fine. At this point, I am like, why did I tell Philip not to come!?? And just sit and pray that everything is okay.

The ultrasound nurse is wonderful - she said everything is fine, the baby was just moving around a lot. And has continued to, by the way. It is really cool to feel...and a little strange...but very cool. I could see the baby's heart beating and arms moving...really amazing & exciting that we still get to go back on Monday for the detail ultrasound.

How cool is that? I just can't believe that is inside of me. Oh & it's a boy! Surprise...I was very surprised, but I guess the old wives tales about being sick, etc really aren't true. Two people (one being my mother) have said he looks like Philip. But seriously, that makes me ROFL. There is no way that is true, although I hope he does look like Philip.

Currently I'm having fun collecting cute baby boy things. My favorite I think is the baby blue hoodie sweater that my mom couldn't say no to.

Lots has been happening around the house...but I'll save that for another post soon.

happy weekend!!

19 week update

Wow, please no comments about what I am wearing. This was taken at 17 weeks & I am 19 weeks now, but haven't had a chance to get a new picture. I really do apologize for the outfit. Stretch pants are my favorite thing now. I have a belly band, but I just don't like wearing that over my jeans. I feel like I am always have to make sure it is adjusted correctly. 

Life is good though I am still nauseous. I cannot believe it really. I got sick the past 4 days but today took B6, wore Sea Bands and took every precaution I could think of. 

I am starting to not fit into my clothes anymore. As pictured above. Work clothes is a real struggle because I have not bought any official maternity clothes yet, but a lot of my old clothes are snug and fit me funny now.

I am still waiting for that "burst" of energy in the second trimester. I have still felt very tired - maybe I am just lazy. It's hard to tell.

We got a ton done over SB11, or should I say Philip got a lot done? I'll post pictures soon.