guest posting over at "A March Wedding"

bumpdate coming soon..

but for now, check out my guest post over at A March Wedding... 

I'm giving Anna [aka the NEW Mrs. Taylor] all sorts of unsolicited advice about being married... 

because clearly - I'm an expert, duh.

what I'm loving wednesday...

happy wednesday! I'm so excited that this week is flying by and tomorrow is actually my friday -- hooray for three day weekends! After the whirlwind past few weeks I've had this one has been extremely productive and relaxing at the same time [which is strange when you really think about it]... so here is what I'm loving on this sunny spring wednesday...

I'm loving... that I got to spend lots of QT with Lindi this weekend! It was super relaxing and low-key and we had plenty of girl time!

I'm loving... The Hunger Games movie, SO freaking good! I took a half-day on Friday since Lindi was driving in from TN and we went to the 3:45 IMAX showing which was perfect. We got there early and were second in line for the theater and got great seats! I hadn't seen an IMAX movie in so long and it was such a neat way to see Hunger Games and I absolutely LOVED the movie! I can't wait to go see it again [I'm making DJ go with me this time, I think he'll like it!].

I'm loving... that Lindi and I got to finally go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this weekend - I took lots of pictures that I need to share soon but for now, here are two from my iPhone. My in-laws gave us free passes they had so made the experience even better, haha!

I'm loving... that GAP is having a sale on their "first favorites" and I'm able to stock up on some essentials for Sweet Pea! [I know, I know... I said I wasn't shopping for her anymore until after the baby shower... clearly, that didn't work]

I'm loving... that I got an email for 10 free cards from Shutterfly... now the fun part, deciding which cards to get!

I'm loving... that my mom will be here tomorrow! hooray! I haven't seen her since the holidays and I can't wait for some quality time with her this weekend!

I'm loving... that this weekend is my baby shower! so excited to celebrate baby j with our family and friends!

so that's that - as always, I'm loving my sweet, sweet husband and I'm so glad DJ is back from Scotland! AND I'm loving [and missing] my adorable bully [that's the one downside to our staycation this week, being away from Ollie]

happy wednesday!

I'll be back tomorrow with a bumpdate...

I can't believe I only have seven weeks [give or take] until sweet pea is here!

staycation...

hellloooo from downtown ATL - I'm currently on a mini-staycation of sorts for the next few days. DJ got back from Scotland on Saturday but he has meetings with coworkers flying in from all over the US/UK so they've setup a "home base" at a downtown Atlanta hotel... which happens to be less than a mile from my office, SCORE.

So while DJ is working hard I'm relaxing and soaking it all up just doing nothing after work for the next few days. I'm staying out here with him and walking to and from work - does that beat a 3 hour round trip commute or what??

so excited for a few days of me-time and post work nothingness until mom gets in town Thursday! heck yes! I'll leave you with some pictures that capture what tonight has entailed thus far [and all that it will entail]....

room service in bed.

yes please.

[can I never leave?]

monday's mama...

check me out over at double the fun today!

I'm being featured as this week's Monday's Mama...

get excited.

32 weeks!

32 weeks down, 8 weeks to go! can't believe we're under the two month mark... the emotions are pretty much standard at this point -- excited/nervous/ready/not-ready... I think the biggest stresser at this point is getting things ready to take maternity leave at work. I'm all cleared via paperwork/HR but I know there are things I can't control - like when baby j decides to make her entrance so I'm trying to get all my projects at a good stopping point so I can continue working on them but at the same time - if I went into labor and left it wouldn't be a disorganized mess. FUN.

Other than that, I'm feeling pretty good - it was really hard to sleep without DJ the first few nights he was gone but I've been trying to go to bed earlier/get up earlier which has been helping in that AND he gets home tomorrow which is super exciting! Also exciting is that Lindi is coming to visit this weekend! I'm so excited for a girls night/day with her before DJ gets back... and clearly to hang out with both of them after we pick him up from the airport tomorrow night.

We're going to go see The Hunger Games this afternoon - SO FREAKING EXCITED. I reread the first two books and am currently halfway through the third book so it's all fresh in my mind for the movie [which can be a good thing or a bad thing]. We're going to see it at an IMAX theater too so I'm really excited about that!

My doctors appointment yesterday was extremely uneventful - which I do realize is a blessing and a good thing. I go back next Monday for my Strep B test and then start going weekly for my check-ins... CRAZY. I have a feeling these next 8 weeks are going to fly by!

Lastly, the saddest thing that happened this week was that my in-laws dog Lexi passed away last night... it was definitely a sad moment but at the same time, I know she's in a better place now and at peace.  She wasn't doing too well these last few weeks and I know they were struggling with the decision to put her down or not and luckily/unluckily (?) it didn't come to that and she went on her own last night.  My heart breaks for them because I know the pain of losing a dog especially one that you've spent a decade or so with... poor Ollie, he doesn't know/realize yet and I know he's going to miss her - Lexi was his little buddy [even though she was 9 years his elder]... here they are sunbathing together last week...

sweet, sweet pups.

anyways, back to lighter topics and on-to the stats... here's the low-down on my 32nd week...

• sweet pea is the size of a squash! she's between 15/2-16.7 inches long and weighs between 2.5-3.8lbs
• no labor signs/braxton hicks -- that I know of, I'm hoping/thinking I'd recongize them. all in all, everything feels pretty normal
• we still have four weeks until they'll check to see what position she's in but based on where I feel her hiccups and the movement I've been trying to decipher I think she's head down... which is GREAT news, hopefully she stays that way!
• number of glasses of orange juice consumed this week: I would guess close to 40. can't stop. won't stop.... even if it does give me heartburn. sad.
• my legs = pain. I'm definitely carrying extra weight and I feel it in my legs every day..... 
• number of pictures I took of my adorable new nephew Sam: probably around 300, coming soon! just need to get the energy/find the time to sit down and edit them!
• number of days until my mom comes in town: six!
• number of days until my baby shower: eight!
• number of days until DJ comes back from the UK: ONE! [!!!!]
• number of days until lindi comes: ZERO! she'll be here in a hour or so, yay!

here's this weeks bumpin' bump....

snapshots from the 32nd week...

key lime pie cheesecake = amazing * President Obama being in town = closed  highways and roads = my Friday commute home taking almost 3 hours.... NOT FUN * spent lots of time in our glider this weekend reading The Hunger Games series.... so relaxing!

 my sweet boy....

 finally playing catch-up at work and HOORAY for an organized desk! phew, feels so much better than the clutter I was looking at the past week or so....

so that's that. 

32 weeks down, 8 to go!

another week closer to meeting our sweet pea.... 

I'm baaack....

I'm baaaack.... 

[sorta.] 

I'm back in the office and the driver seat and feeling slightly less overwhelmed now that my big event at work is done... however, I'm currently trying to dig my way out of the stack of papers, emails and to-do list items that are taking over my desk/inbox/brain.

yikes.

but I just wanted to post real quick to say a quick THANK YOU to all the lovely ladies that guest posted for me this week and last, I loved all of their adorable posts and hope you enjoyed them [and checked out their blogs!].

for now, I'm off to scarf down some lunch and head to the doctor to check on sweet pea - I'll post a bumpdate tomorrow to recap my crazy 32nd week!

thanks again anna, nikki, kristen & sarah - y'all rock!

A lovely little guest post!

Hi there Forever 88 friends!I hope you are all doing well on this fabulous Wednesday!!I'm Sarah from over at A Lovely Little Life and I am here to take over Forever 88 for the day....yay! Now bear with me, as this is my first guest post and I have pregnancy brain....
I started following Annahita about a year ago and we became fabulous blogging friends!We both love us some SEC football, We are both in a house divided (me Ole Miss/UT),We both have fur babies that we spoil and take, some might say, too many pics of (so what, who cares),We are both preggers,Aaaand we are both expecting little girls! :) That gives us lots to chat about! 
As my brain is all things baby and pregnancy, I thought I would just share a little bit about me as I am not all there in the creative department these days! 
So here goes,
I am from all over the place, lived in 7 states before I was 12.Landed in Madison, Mississippi....odd place to land, but a great place to "grow-up".After graduating in 2001 I headed up to the amazingness that is Oxford, MS to attend Ole Miss!Hotty Toddy!!(Don't you just want to be there?!?!?)

And I loved all 4 1/2 years of it! HA!
I then headed to Nashville for an internship.....

planned on staying for a few months, fell in love and I have been here every since!
Shortly after moving here I met the love of my life...although I didn't know it then...we were friends for a year and then one day we both realized we had a big crush on each other....and that was it! We have been together ever since! (we had been dating a month here)

We bought our first home in July of 2008 and then a few months later....
The Hubs proposed the night before my 26th birthday!

And we were married in October of 2009! 

We have 2 puppies as I mentioned before, who are our fur babies and we spoil them terribly!
Meet Otto:Our 100 pound baby, he thinks he is the size of his sister..

And Maylie:

Our little punkin! We saved her 2 years ago and she keeps Otto young! :) 

They are a mess half the time, but they are our mess! 

We are expecting to our first child in June!

We did a fun little gender reveal party to find out.....

Elise Kelly will be here soon and we are all things baby these days!

When I'm not pregnant, planning Elise's nursery or stressing about what I have to do for this baby girl you can/could find me:

drinking vino on a patio somewhere

cheering on my Rebels, HOTTY TODDY!!

 ooooor cheering on the Vols for The Hubs

cooking some recipe I found on pintrest or in Southern Living

planning a party

partaking in some Jack Daniels

trying to be crafty

in the park with my pups

at the movies with really buttery popcorn and $10 candy

watching terrible TV, i.e. The Real Housewives of Anywhere, Gossip Girl, etc

eating fried food, hey, I am southern

traveling...preferably to Mexico

spending too much money at Target

blogging (obviously)

drinking more vino with the girls

(my bestest girls!)

daydreaming of the beach

seeing live music

(The Black Keys)

getting a mani/pedi with my momma

or my favorite, cuddling up on the couch with the pups and my hubby!

So that's a little bit about little ole me....nothing too exciting! Hope I didn't bore you to death! Please feel free to stop by and check out my little blog, I always love finding new bloggy friends! 

Thanks so much Annahita for asking me to guest post...I feel very privileged! :) 
I hope you all have a fabulous rest of your week, only 2 more days!!

My Future Babies

Hello Ladies!!!

 Today youre stuck with me! In case you dont know me, Im Kristen, a twenty something blonde from Texas figuring out this crazy life with my cute pups and amazing boo, Christopher!

I currently enjoy vacationing A LOT, hanging out with friends and living life on the go! I have no doubt that my "nonstop, always have 30 things to do, weekends booked solid for months, living in 2 cities" life will settle in the next couple of years and marriage and mini me's will follow. Aint happenin too soon, but eventually! Until then, I live vicariously through my friends and fellow bloggers who are experiencing these things ahead of me so you can imagine how excited I was to find out Ollie was going to have a little sister!

I LOVE children! Ive always known Id have 2 children, both will be girls (one can be a boy, but one HAS to be a girl) and theyve been named since I was little. When Pinterest appeared I began collecting my "One Day Little Ones" photos so I dont forget any cute idea when I get myself knocked up and today you lucky ladies are getting a glimpse of my futture children's lives!

First, little girl's attire! I seriously die for baby girl clothes! How precious are these??

Next, Im ALL about the photo ops! Pregnancy pics... So freakin cute! You can bet your sweet ass I will have each of these in my house one day!

And newborn pics! TEAR!

 

And First Year / Toddler pics!

And my all time favorite pic of all time that will without doubt be recreated....

 Hint hint Annahita... YOU BETTER TOO!

And last a little decor!!

Okay, I think Ive blown up her blog with enough of my little baby world so Im going to go ahead and bounce!!

You can find me on the reg over at my little ole blog All In My Twenties!! Come stop by and say HI!!

XOXO,