first trimester must haves...

so I've been pregnant for almost 25 weeks. clearly, this makes me an expert on all things pregnancy. HA. not really. but as I'm moving through my second trimester [aka the honeymoon trimester] I thought I'd share my "list" of must-haves for the first trimester of pregnancy - or as I like to refer to it... hell.

here we go, here's my "top 10 first trimester must-haves" --

1. sleep. lots and lots of sleep. go to bed early, to hell with quality time - you will feel so much better if you just got to bed at 8pm and don't think twice.

2. water. drink lots and lots of water - yes, this makes you pee more but it really does make you feel better. particularly when you don't want to eat anything.

3. allow yourself vices - for me this was ginger ale. I'm not a big soda drinker but few things made me my stomach settle like ginger ale did... I even made myself fancy shirley temples at the bachelorette party I went to and then at home when I was feeling particularly fancy. you can't not smile while you're sipping a pink drink eating a marachino cherry.

4. little pocket notebook [or evernote for your iPhone/iPad] - my brain was extremely overwhelmed with questions, thoughts, to-dos - I couldn't keep anything straight. having a list of questions for my doctor and to-do lists (personal and professional) with me at all times that I could add to was so helpful!

5. werther's originals... I kept these in my desk and they helped me kick the nausea when it was unbearable/I needed a little sugar kick - not super healthy, but a little bit of sugar to keep me going.


6. pre-natal vitamins - find ones that don't make you want to puke. take them at night, this will help them not to upset your stomach. I know some women also take flintstones chewables if they can't take the prenatals


7. CARBS. my carb of choice was pizza.... grilled cheese and cereal also worked - I heard some people could only eat baked potatoes during the first trimester... basically if it doesn't make you feel like throwing up - eat it.

8. victoria's secret boyfriend sweat pants -- I lived in these [when I fit in them]... comfy is best. trust me.

9. a nightlight for the bathroom - you're going to be getting up a lot to go to the bathroom, turning on the light everytime is annoying. so is missing the toilet seat. get a nightlight.

10. whatever fruit/veggies doesn't make you want to barf - for me this was apples and carrots... gotta get those veggies in!

hope this helps some of you out there that are just starting on your "pregnancy journey"

fellow "women who have been knocked up" what's on your first-trimester must-have list?

bulldog loving baby...

I've already decided - baby j and Ollie are going to best friends.  

they might not have met each other yet but I have grand visions of all their playtime fun and cuddles... 

I mean, they're already cuddle buddies...

Ollie is pretty good with our niece and nephews... he's really sweet to them and patient when they love on him [aka tug on him].  I'm more worried about the fact that he thinks he's a little pup [when in fact he's going to outweigh baby j for quite awhile] - he's quite the bulldozer and doesn't really understand the concept of "personal space."  all in all, he's a sweet boy and my first born - so I know we can and will make it work. we just need to be aware of watching them together and being careful.

one thing I do know 100% is that I am on the hunt for adorable bulldog clothing for our sweet girl, she's going to proudly rep her bulldog big brother... here are two that we've already found...

this adorable guy from babygap...

...adorable, no?!

...and we ordered this "my bulldog is my homeboy" onesie one from cafepress...

...isn't it perfect?!

if you see any bulldog baby/little girl clothes feel free to send links/info my way! 

we're building her bully wardrobe one little outfit at a time! :)

also, feel free to check out these adorable bullie/baby videos that I posted a few months ago... they're pretty much the cutest things EVER and make me even more excited to see my two little ones loving each other soon!

tiny prints valentines day cards...

can you believe it - January is almost over and Valentines Day is right around the corner [see my post on valentines gift ideas here] here are some fun cards to round out your Valentines Day... this year [and next] make sure to check out tiny prints they have adorable Valentine Cards for kids/classrooms and individuals!

Here are some of my favorite Valentines Day Greeting Cards....

[via]

I love this one where you can add your own personal pictures...

[via]

[via]

...and my personal favorite...

[via]

so cute, huh? 

check out tiny prints for more adorable cards!

want to learn about more fun from tiny prints?

follow them on twitter, facebook, and pinterest!

24 weeks...

24 down, 16 to go!? Is it just me or does 16 seem a lot sooner than 17? maybe because it's an even number, or 4x4 - who knows. either way, I feel like the next 16 weeks are going to fly by - also, I have this fear that sweet baby j is going to come early and nothing is going to be ready for her so I'm trying to get the essentials over the next few weeks [hey, better to be early than late, right?!].

we did make our first "big baby purchase" this past week [other than my diaper bag, which is clearly lifechanging] - we bought our glider! we originally fell in love with a little castle glider at Buy Buy Baby but then when we were at Babies R Us this weekend [no tears!] we saw an extremely comparable one [which was just as comfy] for $200 cheaper [and we all know I'm cheap] AND I could use a 20% off coupon that I had -- that was it... signed, sealed - hopefully delivered this weekend! We're going back this weekend to buy the ottoman [and use another 20% off coupon] and possibly buy my breast pump too [yup. I just wrote breast pump in a blog post. didn't see that one coming did you]...

here's the skinny chub on my 24th week...

• baby j is currently 24 weeks old - and she weighs over a pound and is pretty much a foot long [ear of corn!], I also learned this week that my uterus is currently the size of a soccer ball. fun. 
• the nesting has begun - baby j's basement nursery is underway and we have started rearranging the room and getting set for her! I also took the tags/stickers off of all of her clothes and sorted them by size... yup. anal retentive, party of one.
• sleepless nights: one. I don't know why but I could NOT sleep Tuesday night - I got up to pee like 6 times and just could not get comfortable/clear my head... luckily last night the exhaustion set in and I slept like a baby. it was glorious.
• items bought: our glider, diaper bag, and too many adorable onesies from baby gap...
• items borrowed: a friend from work lent us her swing, snap and go stroller, and boba baby carrier! score for fun free stuff aka saving money!
• birthdays celebrated: two! oliver turned 2 and our sweet niece Sarah turned four! 
• DJ felt our sweet pea move for the first time this past week! SO exciting. she's a jumping bean that one, I love our little conversations that we have all day long while she wiggles around my belly

24th week bumpin bump... and a bumpin bully...

24th week in pictures...

so that was our 24th week. 

lots of cuddling with Oliver on the couch, date night at Bonefish [hooray gift cards], chocolate chip banana pancakes, nesting taking full force, building storage cubbies and adorable tiny clothes.

shop til I drop...

so. this whole "having a girl thing" is dangerous... there are so many freaking cute things out there that I want to buy for baby j - zulily is like a blessing and a curse... a blessing because I'm finding so many cute things to buy for our sweet pea but a curse because well, I need to buy groceries and not just adorable onesies... oh, and don't even get me started on etsy - that's a whole other post all together [let's just say I'm just doing my part to support small businesses and stay at home mom's across the country...].

one thing I was super excited to find on zulily last night/today was my diaper bag! I looked around at Babies R Us and didn't see anything that blew my skirt up and I've been perusing etsy but when I saw this one (Wallpaper Flaming Shoulder Diaper Bag) I knew it was meant to me mine... 

yup. adorable. 

I don't really know too much about diaper bags... so it might not be the most functional bag on the block but I think it looks like it'll do the trick and hey, it's cute...  and I can always buy more than one, right? haha. 

[DJ is rolling his eyes as he reads this... I know it.]

happy 2nd birthday oliver!

tomorrow is our sweet, sweet pup Oliver's birthday - he's going to be TWO! I can't believe it, I feel like it was just yesterday we met him at the breeder and he was all rolly-polly and ran over and sat in our laps... it was meant to be!

in honor of Oliver's 2nd birthday here is a little "flashback friday" all about our sweet ollie...

the first time he climbed the outside stairs into our old house...

the first time he climbed the outside stairs into our old house...

seriously. he was [and is] the sweetest... 

happy 2nd birthday ollie, we love you!

23 weeks...

23 weeks down, 17 to go! It's crazy to think that May 15th is less than four months away... I am so excited [and scared] to be a mom and meet our sweet little girl! This week was an eventful one - I had a birthday, we took a trip to the ER and we picked out our essentials/completed our baby registries!

I've been feeling really great this week - just cruising though with no major issues other my back/abdomen pain, oh yeah - I went to the ortho doctor for that... she thinks I have a torn/pulled muscle in my back and she wants me to go to physical therapy three times a week for three weeks... yeah, about that - I work. so I'm going to make an appointment to go once and get the excersizes from them that I can hopefully do at home and we'll see - I might go once a week for the next three weeks, I might just go once... I'm just trying to save up those sick days for when baby j gets here/extending maternity leave.

about maternity leave... I'm starting to have anxiety about it - not about taking the time, about going back to work. I never thought I'd be the one to not want to work/stay home with the baby but the thought of leaving our sweet girl in the hands of someone else/not being around her all day/watching her grow is starting to severely stress me out. oh anxiety, you ugly little monster.

anyways, other than that life is good - our baby registry/stroller excursion was a success - there were no tears involved and we have a carseat and stroller picked out and registered for... DJ's brother Mat and our SIL Summer came and met us at Buy Buy Baby and they were super helpful with the "do I really need this?!" or "how many of these do I really need?!" questions - considering I clearly had no freaking clue.  Thanks Summer & Mat for joining us and all your help! I feel really good about the items we picked and the final [final, hah more like everchanging] list. 

I have a spreadsheet too of everything we registered for [anal retentive, party of one] - if you're preggo and want a copy for reference/registry ideas leave a comment/email me and let me know - I used a lot of peoples feedback, blog-posts, baby registries and suggestions to make the list! 

this week's stats:

• 23 weeks! baby j is currently weighing in at right around a pound and measuring around 11 inches long, she's also the size of a papaya/mango... 
• I'm currently feeling: HUGE. yup, and I know I'm just going to get bigger. seriously though. 
• I'm loving: salty snacks, apples and peanut butter and my husband.
• I'm still: a big baby, Oliver stepped on my foot and I almost cried [what? he's heavy! 60 lbs] -- to say I'm still petrified of childbirth is an understatement.
• lots of: movement this week, we've got a wiggler on our hands! DJ still hasn't felt her kick, she was kicking super hard the other night and I could feel it from the outside but he had already fallen asleep! darn. soon enough...
• number of birthdays this week: one, yay! I turned 29. hello last year of my twenties...
• number of birth videos I've watched: still zero. I am torn on this - I almost feel like it's a better idea to just not do it and be "surprised" hah.

23rd week bumpin bump...

[...and yes, Oliver came over and sat in the dog bed AFTER we walked over to take the picture, center of attention much?!]

some snapshots from the 23rd week...

Ollie AKA "my parrot" sitting on my shoulder while I laid on the couch ~ my loves! ~ smushface! 

doesn't DJ look like such a DAD?! crazy. ~ our stroller! super excited. 

no words... boys will be boys!

so that's that. 

every week down is another week closer to meeting our sweet baby girl, we can't wait!

perspective.

so last night I was given some unexpected perspective. DJ and I spent three hours in the emergency room at Emory after work last night.

spoiler alert: don't freak out, we're both fine [and so is baby j].

anyways, DJ has been having some chest pain over the past few days and just wasn't feeling right [also, his grandfather died of a heart attack at 33, which is just petrifying]. I told him that I trusted his intuition and he knew his body and what it was telling him. basically, I'd rather shell out the dough now and get some tests run and know what was up or have some relief that he was okay than both be anxious about it until he could get in to see his doctor. so we headed to Emory's ER.

in my prior life as a Residence Coordinator ["RC"] I spent several weeks a year on-call for the university I worked at and responded to the hospital [when on-call] whenever a resident student was transported... hence, I feel like I've become quite the expert on ERs and had a good idea that we might not leave with answers. as the ER doctor we saw last night put it - emergency rooms are good for ruling out a lot of things but not necessarily diagnosing. and that's what happened.

so long story short - tests were ran, everything came back normal enough and DJ is going to have to do some follow-up with his general care doctor. the real perspective came last night when I tried to go to bed. to say the thought of something seriously being wrong with DJ kept me up was an understatement. I just kept thinking about how I can't imagine my life without him anymore - on my birthday we went for a walk at a local park and were talking about how I've known him for over half my life [he's been a part of 16 out of my 29 years... crazy] and how when I'm 36 I'll have known him 2/3rds of my life -- and then DJ did some terrible math to figure out the rest which we just couldn't get and we just laughed and laughed.

cheesy as it is - he truly is my best friend, partner and love. he's my other half. he's going to be our sweet little girl's "daddy" and the best dad in the world, I know it. I've said it before and I'll say it again - our marriage is not perfect, he is not perfect, I am definitely not perfect.  but we truly are perfect for each other [most days, hah]. I know I take him for granted at times and that we definitely have our differences, but he is a great husband and friend.

I am so thankful that everything came back normal and I can't imagine what I would do if they didn't. like, I have no earthly idea what I would do. I can't imagine going on this journey of life without him -- experiencing parenthood, the mundane joy of putting away laundry, laughing ourselves to sleep [or on some terrible nights crying], making dinner [aka him changing my recipes], yelling at him to put the toilet seat down - the random idiosyncratic of living your life along side another... I can't and don't want to imagine the thought of not having those moments together big and small.

all in all, some unwanted but great perspective on life, love and luck. I'm one lucky girl in so many ways.

two crazy kids twelve long years ago....

a few degrees, a plethora of late night phone calls, one trusty magical trip to wal-mart, a broken engagement and loads of other "relationships" later.... still my best friend, still my soulmate...

I know, heavy post. just what was on my mind and heart today.

valentine's gift ideas...

so last week I guest-posted over at All in My Twenties about some Valentines DIY gift ideas, as promised - if you're not a DIYer, check out these "run out the store or order online" gift ideas... while I love making gifts, I do also LOVE buying gifts for others and feel that I am a pretty thoughtful, fun gift-giver that loves to check out lots of places for gifts - hope you all get some good ideas from these!

here are some cute fun valentines gift ideas...

"I'm nuts about you" Keyring - $20, uncommongoods: a great way to be mushy without being too over the top, I got this for DJ our first holiday season and it still makes me smile when I see it on his keys [I like to think he likes it too, but maybe he just humors me]

KaPow cufflinks (or other fun cufflinks, found at various shops on etsy) - $25, whitetruffle on etsy

if your beau is a whiskey drinker then maybe some whiskey stones - a distinguished way to serve your drinks on "the rocks," literally - $19.99 (for set of 9), winestuff.com

Map coasters from TheBluePrint (on Etsy) - they have a variety of locations all for $35, these could be fun if you've taken a trip together somewhere or they have coasters for a place that is significant to the "two of you"

(Florida)

(South Carolina)

Jack Black First Class Five Gift Set [great products and a nice travel case] - $49, sephora

a more practical gift rather than lovey-dovey... Code Wallet for iPhone - slim leather case that holds an iPhone and 3-6 cards (available in brown, white and black) - $50, shophex.com

a valentines gift for your special lady... or yourself... adorable bow ring... $35 from muyinmolly on etsy

looking for an easy way to scrapbook all of your favorite moments together, personalize this "ticket stub diary" with tickets from your favorite concerts, movies and sporting events that you've attended together! $10 from uncommongoods.com

roadtrip map poster - if you and your love have taken a roadtrip or have/had a long distance relationship this could be a great personalized gift -- $26 from JanuaryJonesPrints on etsy

if you don't have the will or time to make your own "love coupons" buy some love tokens, set of 10 for $16 from uncommongoods.com

that's all for now - less than a month 'til our favorite red and pink themed hallmark holiday, get to shopping! 

birthday recap...

another year older, another year wiser... or so they say. my birthday weekend was a blast and I was spoiled rotten by my amazing husband and I had a great birthday [after a slight episode in the morning... I cried. I have no clue why, I'm pretty sure DJ doesn't either - I just have this weird thing with birthdays and it's a little nutty]. so after cryfest 2012 and a nice hot shower - I had a great birthday...

I was awoken by a silly bulldog who didn't get the memo that it was Saturday, then showered by gifts by my loving husband and had an AMAZING french toast breakfast... yum. I could eat french toast every day!

DJ got me these fun photo lenses for my iPhone - and we spent quite a bit of time playing with them, I can't wait to take more pictures with them, I just need to get a little bag to keep them with me in my purse... aren't they fun?!

...we also went to the mall and ran some errands and DJ got me a pair of red toms! I wasn't quite sure if this style of Toms were for me, but I LOVE the red ones and DJ was right... I did need a pair! Ollie likes them too... bad dog.

then I had a nice prenatal massage... aka heaven, came home and showered and headed to a yummy sushi dinner - my preggo cocktail of choice = cherry coke. yum. not diet, not caffeine free. I was living on the edge. my sushi [yes, third time this week] was also amazing [fried goodness = heaven].

then we came home and enjoyed a little publix cake... vanilla, strawberry filling and creamcheese frosting. again, YUM. a fantastic, fun, relaxing and just perfect birthday.

so filled with love, laughter and gluttony. crazy to think it's my last birthday without a little one running around... I have a feeling next years [30th?!] birthday will be quite different.

now I have a little less than three months to plan DJ's 30th birthday... our plans have changed a bit since I'll be quite pregnant when his birthday rolls around but I'm determined to make it a special and great birthday to roll out his thirties [aka his best decade yet I've decided].

thanks for all your birthday wishes, here's to a great 29th year!

tgif...

so excited it's friday.

so exited for a three day weekend.

so excited my birthday is tomorrow!

today was an eventful friday...

I baked muffins last night and brought them in for our staff meeting... they were amazing... I might have eaten five of them today. oops.

...then I went out to eat with coworkers and had sushi for lunch [yes the second time this week... yes pregnancy police - it's all cooked, no raw fish] - I got all of this, a coke and a soup for $11?!

amazing.

...then I played bob the builder and built a bookcase for my office - I was told my office would be temporary when I started and that our department was moving... yeah, that was 10 months ago. I've decided to unpack. I don't think we're going anywhere soon.

anyways, I put this together all by myself... the hardest part - getting down on the floor and standing back up. preggo not so limber.

impressive, huh?

so that was my friday in three lame pictures.

now I'm waiting for my love to pick up from work and take me out on the town 

[aka home to change into sweatpants]... 

...is it lame I'm so excited to go to bed tonight and wake up tomorrow on my birthday?!

[almost as lame as this post?]