Sharing Fail.

Wow. Sorry. For those of you who's alerts and blog rolls have been blowing up with posts from me. Clearly you can see what kind of post I am working on next.  

Teaser: I believe I have finally found the missing link to the nursery planning puzzle.  And I'm working up a big fancy post to share.  In doing so, I also enlisted the help of our friendly favorite website polyvore.  BUUUUUT I failed to notice while setting up my account that I accidentally linked it to my blog and therefore ANYTHING I do shows up as a new post.  It is downright SPOILING by nursery surprise for all of you and I'm literally having a screaming fit over it.  Nevertheless, I have deleted the accidental posts, so if you try to click on the pictures to see them in more detail you CAN'T! HA! So there.  Well, at least not until the big reveal.

But anyways, I figured I'd formally apologize and then leave you with a Bathroom update.  We're SO CLOSE Y'ALL.  I'm talking SO CLOSE.  If you've missed the initial posts you can find them here and here.

So here are some pretty pictures of where we are.  I've been taking pictures as we go along, so some of the more unfinished are from 1 or 2 weeks ago and the others are from LAST NIGHT (sorry about the terrible picture quality I've just been snapping them on my phone)!  EEEkkkk.  I almost have my bathroom back, and constructions workers gawwwwn.  Buh bye. Leave me my beautiful stone and get out. Please and thank you.

So that's it.  We've still got some fixtures to replace, minor plumbing to complete, walls to be painted and decor to be added.  But after that, I think ladies and gentleman we will have our master bath completely renovated. WHEW!  And I'd say that MORE than deserves a pint of this....if only I hadn't eaten it all yesterday for Fat Tuesday...hehehe :)

Goodbye my loves!

It's a ........ GENDER REVEAL!

Goodmorning, from your friendly neighborhood, over the moon excited little Mama!!  Whew ~ you know the saying "how long a minute is depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on?" ~ Well from take it from me, the same is true for how long a couple of months is when waiting to find out the sex of your baby!

Shane and I couldn't decide which side of the fence we wanted to be a part of: 

• Do you find out the sex so you can plan, buy appropriate clothing, decide on only one name, etc (which let's be real - it's our first baby, my OCD planning is out of control, and the unknown is not a comfort to me - so I don't know why we even considered the idea or entertained it at all) 

... or ...

• Do you remain team green and go the gender neutral route for the duration of the pregnancy, so you have the exciting OMG IT'S A BOYYYYY or OMG IT'S A GIRRRRRLLLL?!?!

Well, again, I refer to my previous statement.  This is our first baby, our first go round with the whole pregnancy thing, SO many unknowns and so many questions.  Therefore, if we can be certain of one thing - let's at least know what it is, a boy or a girl.  Now, in saying that, I do think it would be fun to wait and find out with one of the later kiddos, but for the first - the decision seemed pretty clear.

But then came the dreaded wait. The constant reminder that you did not know as you comb through the aisles at the store and so desperately want to purchase that little pair of top siders or perhaps that ADORABLE pink polka dotted bow. But having to restrain yourself, and furthermore putting restrictions on your shopping patterns to no longer be teased by the adorable mini outfits. Pink or Blue ... Purple or Red ... AHHH! Enough to make a momma crazy I tell ya!

So, now it was all up to Baby U to give us a good show and reveal the best kept secret of all.  And you better believe this child did just that!  I'm talkin' spread eagle, absolutely no modesty or a shadow of a doubt that Baby U is indeed a 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

BOY!!!!!!!!!!

We are over the moon excited and truth be told, I was concerned I was going to have to restrain Shane from trying to chest bump the nurse.  But I guess now that we know it's time to start narrowing in on nursery ideas and stocking up on blue booties!  Our doctor told us to go out and buy something blue to celebrate -- any excuse to baby shop?! I'll take IT!!

So we bought the most make my heart melt adorable, yet MASCULINE, onesie one can find at Buy Buy Baby ... and made sure get it BLUE because blue looks good on everyone right?! (hehe...Go CATS!)

Holy Bageeeze.  We can't wait to meet out little man <3

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

I sit down to blog today with a heavy, but encouraged heart. This week has been a crazy one. And an ever reminder of just how precious life is, how little control we actually have, and how insignificant some things are.  But also a good reminder of the blessings in my life.  Everything is fine, it's just been one of those weeks that throw you some rocks ... and then some knocks ... you know what I'm sayin?!

  In high school one of my teachers had us read 2 books:

Tuesdays with Morrie

and

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Both were extremely easy reads. And, it wasn't until this week that I have actually gone back through my head to remind myself of the lessons they taught, and the founding messages the books share.  More than anything, providing encouragement that EVERYTHING will be OKAY!  If any of you readers today need a little pick me up, head on over to Amazon or your nearest book store and grab a copy.  You'll be glad you did.

Lastly, I hold on to words and memories of two of the greatest men I have ever known: My Dad and His Dad :) and know that their strength lives in me, and because of that, I'm the strongest their is!  These boys melt my heart, ya'll.  They're both insanely head strong and because we're all made from the same family mold, you can bet I match them with that trait, head to head.

But I let encouraging words and advice from my dad today ring in my head:

• You can't get too high and you can't get too low
• We have faith, and I firmly believe your attitude and positive outlook plays a role in the outcome of this, so stay positive
• No matter what happens, you're surrounded by love and support and we are with you all the way

I also look up, and know that my PaPaw is looking down.  

He's in good company up there and I know he's put in a good word with the big man :)  So, as I said, I walk with an encouraged heart and know that everything will be okay.  

In the words of a sweet card my friend Quinn gave me: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it turned into a butterfly!"

Have a good weekend love bugs and SMILE!

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself ...

Woot Woot - it's finally Friday!  Alright so our household right now is a bit out of whack with all of the construction we've got going on (DOES IT EVER ENDDDD?!).  I swear its like nothing is EVER clean because the construction workers track so much dust and grit in and out of the house daily .. it's driving me NUTSO.  Not to mention, because one of the updates is our master bath they are 110% in my personal space, getting dust all up in my bedroom and let's not even start with how I feel about my poor wardrobe getting all nastified.  I can assure you however, pregnancy has made me crazy enough to make Shane help me put plastic on the bed every morning, because I refuse to sleep on dirty sheets and I WILL NOT wash them daily. 

Alas, this added to my already raging pregnancy hormones ... coming home at night is not what it should be right now and I just need them to get a MOVE ON!  That being said, now that my baby bump is in full force and no longer looks like I just had one too many cheeseburgers for the last 4 weeks (well I guess it still kind of does -- but I'm trying here PEOPLE!) ... pregnancy and alllllllll that comes with it is in full effect.  

I was fully committed to sharing my thoughts on what I've observed in my 5 months of pregnancy, but low and behold when I was catching up on my blogs today my sweet friend Caroline already had it packaged in a bow for me :0)  For those of you who do not know or already follow her (you should start), Caroline is a fellow Floyds Knob's gal and grew up on the right side of the Ohio River as a young tyke like myself (okay, so we both ended up moving to KY and sometimes don't claim IN for all we should or shouldn't - but we represent when we travel in packs).  When I made the decision to attend The University of Kentucky and go through Recruitment you better believe lil' miss was shouting my name from the rooftops (or so they tell me).  And seeing as though she can be a persuasive little nugget, Chi Omega got me .. and well, the rest is history.  And I wouldn't change it for a thing.  Another fun fact - our little ones are due 15 days apart - so we like to share pregnancy secrets, stories and updates as frequently as possible.

Anyways, Caroline's Blog: "Shades of Gray" took care of all the writing for me today and I was literally laughing out loud.  Her thoughts (which are 100% my sentiments as well) can be found here (and in the other 2 links above, because I wanted to make sure you could get there!).  If you're pregnant, have ever been pregnant, or just in for a good laugh ... it's a highly recommended read. I couldn't have said it better myself!

Have a great weekend gang -- and if you're looking for some Super Bowl Party tips and thoughts make sure to catch my post from earlier this week!