changes

In case yall aren't keeping count, I will be 31 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I still can't believe how fast it's gone by. We are in the single digits for weeks left until we have a beautiful baby girl. I am still doing good. Working is getting harder each time, but I'll be okay. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable as Grace grows and takes up more and more space. It's getting even harder to sleep than before. I woke up in the middle of the night one night with a terrible charlie horse in my calf and woke Avery up yelling that something was wrong. He of course thought it was slightly more important than a charlie (since we had just learned about preterm labor in childbirth class) so he was a little freaked out, but then massaged it till it was gone. He's a keeper! My stomach is getting tighter and tighter and I can't imagine it getting bigger, but I know it will!

The nursery is coming along really well!! Paint is done, furniture is done, and now im just trying to be crafty with all the details and get everything set up. We have enought clothes for her through 9 months thanks to friends giving us their kids' clothes after they grew out of them. Here are a few pictures!

Here is the paint done!! Excuse the mess, trying to figure out where I want everything!!

Here is her closet! And that's only newborn - 3 months worth of clothes. Those two totes are stuffed full of 3-6 and 6-9 months that we will switch out! So when I say we really dont need clothes...we really dont need clothes until 9 months! Definitely blessed with friends and family!!

Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and of course I loved having time with family, but times are changing and that makes me so sad. I am not a fan of change. AT ALL. I thankfully got called off work thanks to my coworkers turning down the chance to be off, I really wasn't expecting to be off. We went to brunch at my dad's parents house and most of us were there, so that was okay. My other grandma (my mom's mom) has been sick with allergy/sinus stuff for awhile so she was not feeling up to cooking a big dinner for the tons of people for that side of the family. So my aunt decided she wanted to branch off and cook for her immediate/partially extended family and do her own thanksgiving. my fam wasn't included in this. So my thanksgiving dinner that I was sooo looking forward to with my ENTIRE family didn't happen. Instead it was my mom, dad, me and avery. that's it. my mom did awesome and made every single thanksgiving dish that I typically expect to try and make us all feel better about basically being alone. It was really really good. but I still missed seeing my entire family, especially since this is Avery's fam's year for Christmas.

All this holiday stuff brought up the thoughts and conversations that me and avery are going to have a child next year for the holidays and in the next couple years, things are definitely going to change. I'll want to do some stuff at my own house for Christmas with Grace and then we have all the different family things to think about. My mom is kinda getting to the point where she wants to do her own thanksgiving/christmas meals and stuff, but my grandparents are still involved (not that I want that to change), so that adds nights/meals and more time and scheduling problems. I wish everything could just stay the same. but oh well. ill get over it. one day.

Prayers would be appreciated for Avery's job ordeal, for God's guidance in what Avery is supposed to do with his life. I want him to have time to figure it out and for God to make His will known, but at the same time, our savings is dwindling every month and we need to figure something out quickly. Needless to say, Christmas presents are slim pickings this year. Sorry fam and friends. We are doing our best :)

Hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving holiday and are looking forward to Christmas!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! and christmas trees and christmas lights and christmas decorations!!!

Christmas Cards!

I am totally not the typical send out a christmas card person. my family NEVER sent one out and to be brutally honest, we used to laugh when we got them in the mail at christmas time. so when i sent one out last year, I was expecting my mom to call and laugh at me. she called but didn't laugh. some of my friends made fun of me, but im okay with that :) so this year, I am doing it again! I can't decide if the dogs will be included...but we'll see.

Tiny Prints has a huge selction of awesome cards, plus a deal going on right now. It's a holiday promo for bloggers to get 50 free holiday cards! To participate, just blog about Tiny Prints selection and then fill out this form. A Tiny Prints representative will
then contact you with further instructions!

I looked on the website and picked out a couple! It's going to be sooo hard to choose!

This is one of the contenders!!

I like the black card because I think it's really simple and cute, but at the same time, I dont know how I feel about black for Christmas!

I like this one because it's a reminder to count your blessings, which is most important in life and especially in the Christmas season!

This is one of my favorites. I LOVE the combo of yellow and gray right now. Grace's nursery is going to be yellow and gray, so this is definitely high in the running!!

I have turned into a Christmas card person...crazy! Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Third Trimester...what??

Tomorrow, I will enter the third trimester. When in the world did I get that far along and how could it have gone by so fast, yet it seems like a year ago that we told everyone we were pregnant. I can't believe that in 12 short weeks we will have a sweet, perfect, beautiful baby girl. I know that our lives are about to dramatically change and sometimes I think we are ready for it and sometimes I'm not sure we are. The list of things we are getting done is slowly growing and I am so proud of Avery and all the hard work he has put into the nursery and her furniture. I know it has been a lot of work and I know that I have driven him crazy, and I am so thankful he is tolerating my hormonal outbreaks, lack of sleeping due to giant belly, leg cramps, etc, and all of my other issues. Anyway, the crib is finished, the changing table is finished, the hutch is finished, and the dresser is getting so close to being done, and we have picked out the paint colors for the nursery. It will officially be gentle rain (gray) and lemon pound cake (yellow). I am so glad that this decision has been made and we are getting things done.

A girl at work gave me the sweetest gift for Grace. It's a bib and burb cloth that is pink gingham with a bright green G on it! I love it and I can't wait for her to come so I can dress her up in all the cute things we have gotten. We are so blessed to have so many people who care for us and our baby and I can't wait for everyone to meet her and see her perfect little face.

I feel like this has been a very random post, but oh well. im going to claim pregnancy brain on this one!