at the lake

now I'm ready for bed.....

Instagram week 6

It has been a busy, busy week and I just couldn't pick a few photos so here is the ultimate camera phone dump.

We celebrated the graduation of my sister-in-law from Taylor University in Upland, IN.  It was a great country road trip.  But also a really, really hot one with no air conditioning.....

I received an invitation to my first baby shower.  So excited.  Didn't my cousins do a fabulous job on the invitation design and creation?  I am so in love with that elephant.

Had a nice Sunday summer stroll with my friend Kara which of course ended in Starbucks.

Found our stroller and I cannot wait to use it.  I'm ready for fall walks with the hubby, the puppies and of course Baby Girl Keith.

I also found time to organize my fabrics, make my first spinach and fruit smoothie (may leave the spinach out from now on), go paint shopping for the nursery (we are painting it grey), hang with the pups and go to the Popcorn Shop (only the best, cutest, tiniest candy shop ever).

And now I am ready for Memorial weekend - we are heading to the lake for the weekend.  Summer has begun.

Hope you all have an amazing holiday weekend!!

Baby K: nursery design

It's nursery time!

We know it's a girl and now it's time to give our little girl her own little space.  I have been working very diligently at clearing out my craft room to make room for baby girl so Brandon can get busy painting.  We've known from the beginning, boy or girl, that we would paint the walls a really light grey with white furniture and all white bedding.  I also had the amazing chance to go to the Land of Nod outlet rug sale and bought three rugs for next to nothing.

8x10 = $50

2 5x8 = $60 ($30 each)

BRAND NEW!

I found this grey cross hatch rug from Land of Nod in both 8x10 and 5x8 plus a 5x8 basic white wool.

So now I just need to figure out the color scheme for the accessories (window treatments, glider, pillows, changing table pad etc.)

So I put some simple boards together.  Tell me what you think.

So many decisions.......

Baby K: week 20

HALF WAY!

and

A BABY GIRL!

Week: 20

Baby K: Baby K is around 12 ounces and measures 10 inches long - the length of a banana.  The doctor says she is measuring average and her head is normal too (phew!).    We were also told (and have been told from the beginning) that she is a busy, active girl.  Always moving.  Always.  And now I can feel it and attest to it.  We couldn't even get a decent ultrasound photo because she moves so much.  I hope that isn't a sign of things to come....

Symptoms:  Feeling great. 

Aversions:  None.

Cravings:  Chips and salsa 

Bump: Growing and hopefully it will continue to be round and in front.

Looking forward to:  Painting and decorating the nursery.  We are clearing out my craft room now and then it is time for Bran to paint.  Yay!

Missing the most: Nothing.  Just loving being pregnant.

Pregnancy milestone:  Finding out we are expecting a girl and Bran feeling her kick for the first time. Feels too soon to me but there is no denying this girl is a mover and shaker.  She is strong!

Instagram week 5

Sorry I am a little behind on blog posts.  It has been a busy week.  Over the weekend we had a gender reveal party for our family and found out that we are having a baby girl!  So surprised.  You can read all about how Bran and I found out and how we then shared the news with our families here.

The rest of the week was spent getting caught up on life and preparing for my sis-in-law's college graduation.  So while it was busy it wasn't particularly exciting.  

Baby K: gender reveal and a party

This was a very big weekend for us.  We finally found out the sex of Baby K and then on Saturday we shared the big news with our families at a small gender reveal party.

Friday afternoon was my 20 week ultrasound and I had big plans for mine and Bran's gender reveal.

My sister came over and helped me make blue and pink stuffed cupcakes.

We then took 2 of each and put them in ice cream containers.  I put a small G or B on the bottom of the corresponding container.

And then I grabbed a small envelope and card for the ultrasound tech to write the sex of the baby on.  Just in case for some reason the cupcakes got mixed up or the nurse gave us the wrong ones.  Plus it is going to be perfect for Baby K's baby book or scrapbook.

So off we went with our cupcakes to the doctor's office.

The ultrasound went really well besides having won largest(fullest) bladder of the day and learning that we have a hyperactive, stubborn baby that doesn't like getting it's picture taken.  But the baby is healthy and growing and everything looks great so a good pic will just have to come after he/she is in our arms.  Plus all that moving really allowed the ultrasound tech to get a good glimpse of the goods which besides a healthy report is what we were wanting.

On our way out we asked one of the nurses to open our envelope and give us the right cupcakes so we could go to a local park for a quiet, special gender reveal.

And we got the shock of our lives................

Which we had to keep a secret until Saturday when we could surprise our families.  

We wanted a really simple, intimate "party" with just our families - especially since we were also celebrating Mother's Day (Grandmother's Day).  It was the perfect family get together.

I kept everything simple: the decorations, the food (pizza) and the activities.

See it was that simple.  But it was perfect.

So after we all ate and everyone got their guess in, I gathered the group on the porch for a large family photo with a twist.

I made each person grab either a mustache if they thought it was a boy or lips if they thought it was girl.  It was a fun and silly photo.  

It was a pretty close race: 6 for boy and 7 for girl.

Finally it was time for cupcakes!

I didn't get any pictures because a) they were so excited there was no time and b) I wanted to witness all the reactions without a camera in my face.  Although I did film the reactions.

Are you ready?

Here we go.....

Brandon and I are happy to announce that Baby K is........

A GIRL!

I mentioned it earlier but Bran and I both thought that Baby K was a boy.  We were completely shocked when we bit into our cupcakes at the park and saw pink.  SHOCKED.

But we are very excited and looking forward to welcoming Baby Girl Keith into our family in September.  What a blessing she has been already as we eagerly anticipate her arrival and will continue to be in our lives.  

Instagram week 4

My life is starting to seem a little boring and a little baby-centric.  But I'm okay with that.  Summer hopefully will up the excitement.

Tonight was exciting though - we now know what Baby K is!!

  We are keeping it a secret a little longer until we can have a gender reveal party for our families (which is tomorrow) and share the news with colleagues and then with all of you.

So this past week I have been busy crafting and baking for the gender reveal.  My sister helped me bake up some blue and pink stuffed cupcakes and cut out some lips and mustaches for our party.

In between we found some time to enjoy the gorgeous weather!  Oh my goodness it has been so lovely here.  I already have a sunburn.

Oh don't forget to vote for the sex of Baby K.  There haven't been many comments at all and it makes me sad. 

Hope you all had a lovely week as well!

Baby K: team girl or team boy?

Friday is the big day: the gender reveal.

I. CANNOT. WAIT.

We have lots of big weekend plans to celebrate the news - lie - they are not big or fancy but they will be fun.  And hopefully they will actually happen.  My biggest fear right now is that Baby K won't cooperate.  I'm told to drink juice or a little caffeine soda before hand to wake baby up and make sure there is plenty of movement.  We better see the goods.

So what do you think Baby K is?

Are you TEAM GIRL or TEAM BOY?

Leave a comment with your guess.  

I don't know how to do a poll so the comments will have to do but I'll track the answers and share them with our reveal.

Instagram Week 3

This past week was fairly uneventful compared to last.  The weather was warm but rainy and overcast with an occasional storm which had me in the mood for baking.  My sister finished up her sophomore year of college so I decided to make her and her roommates some finals week treats while I ate several of my own with milk in my favorite Bernese Mountain Dog glass.  I took my 18 week photo (which is a little late because I am now 19 weeks) and I went through some of the early gifts that Baby K received like my favorite - the cowboy boots from my dad and sister.  So cute!  Oh and did I mention that I killed a giant, disgusting spider all by myself? - it was at least the size of a quarter.  It took me 15 minutes to work up the nerve to actually go for it, shoe in hand.  Yuck.

How was your week?  If you are doing something similar on your own blogs please link up so I can check it out.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Baby K: week 18

Well it wasn't the most ideal day for a bump shoot but I am already a few days behind so I had to make it work.  I can't believe I'm already 18 weeks - almost half way through this pregnancy.  If the first half has gone this fast, I can't imagine how fast the rest of this pregnancy will be.  Scary and exciting!

And guess what?! Next week we find out the sex of the baby - if Baby K cooperates.

Week: 18

Baby K: Baby K is the size of a mango at about 5.5 inches from bottom to head and weighing about 7 ounces.  The baby is finally starting to fill out and gain some fat.  The soft cartilage is also turning to bone starting in the legs and arms which the baby is busy punching and kicking.  Lots of movement going on in there right now.  Weird fact - the sweat glands are developing.

Symptoms:  Feeling good. 

Cravings: Liquids.  I am always thirsty right now.

Aversions:  None.

Bump: It's growing.  I feel like the growth has slowed which is good because I feel like this belly popped fast and I wasn't ready for that type of continual growth.  I hope this stays on a nice, steady pace.  I'm also ready for some warm weather so the dresses can break out of the closet and relieve some of the wardrobe stress (and tummy pressure).

Looking forward to:  Finding out the sex of the baby next week!!

Missing the most: Sleeping on my back.

Pregnancy milestone:  Feeling Baby K's fluttering.  Can't wait for it to get stronger and more frequent.  (I may take this back in a few months when I can sleep.)