you are my color

Baubles Before Baby

2012-02-24T09:18:00.001-08:00

Thank you 100x over for all the sweet comments yesterday. I'm not feeling so hot lately with gaining 19 lbs. and while I *know* that's not a lot, being an overweight girl to begin with, it's been killer. I never appreciated my plus sized pre-baby body but now I'm just dying to get back there! and then lose some more of course...which only makes me think of SHOPPING!!

I've been dying to buy some cute Spring clothes but I know I should wait until my body adjusts to well, whatever it's going to look like after this baby girl is outta mah belly! I know I won't go back to my usual squishy self, this will be a totally different squishy self! ha! So I'm gonna hold off on buying clothes and for now just stock up on my favorite thing to shop for, jewelry! Jewerly is something that looks great no matter your size ;)
So all of the stuff I'm eyeing right now is from Bauble Bar. They did not ask me to post this, I'm only doing it because I love the products on their site! If you aren't signed up, do it now. The prices are so affordable AND you'll get $10 off your first order!

And if you didn't already know, I'm obsessed with COLOR. And as a kid of the 80's, I tend to lean towards neons a lot and Bauble Bar actually has a neon section that is to die for...so check these babies out! ;)

Crayola Links Necklace $26
I used to have one just like this but have no idea where it went so I might need to replace it with this one! :p

Octagon Initial Bracelet $50.00

I'd love this with a "V"! The colors are customizable too!

Acrylic Monogram - Medium $56.00

This I am just fully obsessed with!! They have a few different colors and I would love one with baby girl's initials.

Studded Ring Duo $62

I'm still loving the double ring look and this one's pretty edgy which I like ;)

Gem Stoned Drop Earrings $26

These are SO 80's right? Love it! They come in pink too.

Cord and Chain Bangle $38

It's like a grownup version of those corded friendship bracelets from back in the day. LOVE!

Phospho Necklace $38

These necklaces are everywhere lately and I've been wanting one so bad!

Atari Glam Cuff $38

Love the chunky stones in this one! It comes in pink/orange too.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of neon??

There's more where that came from so go sign up and start shopping!
Tell your hubbies I said it was ok ;)

Preggo Stuff - 39 Weeks

2012-02-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

Greetings, my lovely cupcakes!
I've been slacking on the ol' blog lately but I'm still here. and still very pregnant.

I am currently 39 weeks and 4 days...and ready to pop.

Please don't focus in on this pic too much.
I'm looking wretched lately. That's what gaining 19 lbs look like.
Yes, I'm now at 19. BLEH.

I'm grateful to have had such an easy pregnancy but to be honest with you, in the past few weeks, things have really started going downhill. I've have had the worst back pain and pressure in my lady parts that it's almost too hard to walk sometimes. By mid day I practically walk hunched over. And after overdoing it this past weekend trying to get last minute things done at the house (including painting the kitchen!!), I truly thought I might go into labor Sunday night. No such luck though.

So with all this pain, I went into my OB appt yesterday ready to beg to be induced this week. But wouldn't you know it, I'm still only 1/2 cm dilated and about 40% effaced. No progress whatsoever since the last appt. TMI but the doctor even tried to get in there to strip some of the membranes but everything is so closed off she couldn't do it. It was painful to say the least. OB said she's afraid to push me into an induction that might just end up in a c-section since my body is clearly not ready. And I completely agree.

Now the plan is, if V doesn't come before then, I will be admitted to the hospital next Thursday night and be induced at 7am on Friday, March 2nd. Now it's up to Miss V whether she wants to be a February or March baby :) I'm ok either way because she'll still be a Pisces! (Yes, I totally believe in astrology in case you didn't know ;) It's just funny because at my second OB appt (it seems so long ago now!) my doctor had mentioned that I might possibly be due more towards the beginning of March but she kept me at the Feb. 26th due date because the baby was growing accordingly. Funny how March might now be the month!

No matter the complaints, it's all worth it for her and I'm just so ready to meet this little girl. This crazy active little girl who's recently started booty dancing (it's hilarious to watch my belly move). I've even tried taking video of it but the moment I start the camera she stops. Then when I give up and put the camera down, she starts up again. It's like she knows!!

So no matter what happens, by next weekend I will be a MOM! Bring it on! :)

Preggo Stuff - 38 Weeks

2012-02-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well, so far my 38th week has been very eventful to say the least.

To start off, Valentine's night was so nice and I was so excited when Ronnie agreed to pizza because I was craving it so badly! We went to our fave place near our house and had a blast hanging out on their patio. But let's just say I overdid it on the pizza and mozzarella sticks...and ended up hugging a toilet all night. Seriously. Have I not learned by now that my belly has no more room?

Then yesterday? Ronnie warned me all morning about how slick our outside entry way was because of some drizzle and to be careful on my way out. I was EXTRA careful and had no problems. But I'd come home during my lunch break and on my way out, I tripped INSIDE the house. I fell first onto my left knee but the fall was so hard and fast that it just threw me all the way down and I ended up on my belly. As you can imagine, I was hysterical and freaking out.

I called Ronnie who was at school an hour away! We're both hysterical but I had to compose myself enough to call my doctor's office, who told me to go straight to labor and delivery at our hospital. Ronnie raced into town and my sweet coworker met up with me to drive me because she didn't want me going alone. When I got to the hospital they immediately hooked me up to a heart monitor. Luckily my blood pressure was good and hearing her perfect hearbeat was all I needed!

By the time Ronnie got there (the fastest he's EVER driven back into town!) they had me waiting for a sonogram to rule out any internal bleeding. After quite a wait the nurse said my OB only wanted me to be monitored for 2 hours and the sono wasn't necessary since I wasn't bleeding or having any cramping. So Ronnie and I just hung out for 2 hours and V's heart rate was perfect the entire time. Even just in that crappy little room, we had the best time together. We were just on cloud 9, feeling so relieved and thankful that our baby was OK! We quickly realized just what a miracle baby she really is.

Today though I woke up like a creaky old lady with a hurt knee and a hurt shoulder. I had to go into work late because I was in SO much pain! I guess I hadn't realized just how hard I'd fallen down!

All whining aside, I'm just beyond happy V is ok. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes on Twitter yesterday, it meant a lot to us!

Then I had my OB appt earlier today and that brought some interesting news:

I've gained 3 lbs since my appt last week! Yowza. I'm now up 17 lbs total! I know that's not the worst but my OB did only want me to max out at 20 so I'm getting close! :/

I had my first cervix check today (not a whole lotta fun, let me tell you!) and unfortunately I'm not dilated even one bit. Nothing. I was hoping I would be so I could be induced next week but at this point, it's not happening.

They ended up scheduling my induction for March 2nd, when I'm at nearly 41 weeks. We only scheduled this just in case V doesn't come on her own before then. I hope she realizes she was supposed to be a February baby and doesn't make us wait til March!! ha

So there ya have it! It's been a crazy week so far. I haven't even taken a preggo pic this week! Instead I'll leave you with an exciting picture of us at the OB office today. We had to wait an extra 45 minutes because the doctor was off doing an emergency c-section and look at how much fun we were having ;)

Have a great day! :)

My First Babies

2012-02-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Last week Elizabeth posted pictures of her fur baby Peyton as a little baby and it took me back to when our fur babies were brand new and how cute and teeny they were!! I don't miss the potty/litter training part but I definitely miss them being so small and cuddly!

As I get closer to my due date, I wonder what things will be like with the fur babies when our REAL baby is here. I know we'll always love them and give them attention no matter what but it's gonna be an adjustment for sure. I just can't wait for the day that Baby V actually pays attention to them and loves them as much as we do! So take the trip down memory lane with me and let's look at some baby pics!!

Our first born (ha!), Sibley "May May" Cash
Born April 2006

Not sure where the May May came from but it's pretty much all we call her now :) A co-worker of mine was giving away her cat's kittens and I knew Ronnie had really been wanting a cat. He was in his own apartment at that point so I figured it was the perfect time. When I went to choose a kitten after work, I texted him some pics and he fell for the big headed little girl :)

This was the original ad my coworker posted...How freaking cute, right?

It didn't take long for her to grow into (outgrow, really) that big head of hers!
We love our fiesty plus size girl ;)

Next up, Niles "Nigh Nigh" Cash

Born Oct. 2007

Ronnie comes from a dachshund loving family so he totally sold me on them when we finally decided to get our first dog. One day driving by our local grocery store's parking lot we saw dachshunds being sold. I hate to admit now that this is where we got him but the moment we stopped "just for a look" there was no turning back. I completely fell in love with the teeny runt of the litter, who they had named Oscar. He came home with us just an hour later :)

The little runt turned into (what my brother calls him) "Flex Buff Chest"!
He's now our tough little guy whose "buff chest" drags on the ground! <3

And last but not least, Frasier "Fray Fray" Cash

Also born Oct. 2007

In Feb. 2008 we decided Niles had way too much energy and needed a playmate. This time we wanted to look for a rescue so when Ronnie happened upon an ad on Craiglist from a lady who just wanted to give away this little four month old dog, he knew something was up and immediately went to get him. When he got to the lady's house, Frasier ran up to him as if he wanted out of there! I remember Ronnie calling me saying "I got him, babe. He's ours! That evil lady didn't like him and said he wasn't good enough to mate!". WTF. So we feel like we did rescue him, especially since he came with some issues. We think she either ignored him the whole time he was there and/or abused him. It took a while but he's definitely much better now! :)

That poor little boy who used to be afraid of everyone is now our guard dog!
His eyes are still as sweet as ever and he is hands down the best cuddler of the bunch.

I love my fur babies!! <3

Any advice from you moms out there with pets??

Our pets don't have agressive personalities in any way so I'm not worried about them with the baby. I'm just really curious how adjusting worked out for you!

Feeling The Love

2012-02-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I'm a total sucker for "Hallmark Holidays" like today.

Ronnie & I gave each other our gifts last night since he would be so busy with school today and it was perfect. It's not even about the "day" itself, to me it's all about making your loved ones (that includes family and friends!) feel extra special.

I gave him the Keurig he'd been wanting (ok, technically that's a gift for both of us!) and he gave me some adorable outfits for Baby V that are bright and colorful and say "I Love Mommy", because he didn't like that all the clothes we were getting for her only said "I Love Daddy". He also threw in some headbands and her first sunglasses, that match the outfits. Sweet huh? :) We kept to a small budget this year after all because of baby getting here so soon and that's just fine by me!

I'm just lucky to have this guy no matter what. He makes me feel special all year round and I know he'll make our baby girl feel the same way! I love you, bubba!!

Whether you're taken or single, enjoy today. It's a lovey dovey day no matter what.

Take the time to make someone smile today and I guarantee you'll feel the love too! <3

Happy Valentine's Day!

Grateful

2012-02-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

This is some craziness let me tell you. I don't even know the last time I posted on a Saturday! Honestly I just felt like posting because I have been feeling so lucky (and grateful for it!) lately.

Not only do I have pretty much the best fiance EVER (and I just posted our love story for the first time yesterday) but I have the greatest friends and family a girl could ask for. Especially a pregnant girl.

Then our tour of the hospital Thursday night went so well and calmed so many of my fears about delivery. I'm feeling grateful for our great doctor and this excellent hospital. I can't believe it's where we'll be bringing our baby girl into this world!

Baby V has been so spoiled lately and so have we, with all the generous gifts we've received lately. And today is no different. Ronnie's sister and mom are throwing me a small shower and I'm SO excited for it!! I seriously don't deserve all this generosity but I'll take it...and it means so much to me!

On just the plain 'ol lucky side I have won TWO giveaways just recently! I mean, come on! How does this even happen? I like to think these are some of my last little "me" gifts before baby :)

This past Monday I found out I won Lauren's necklace giveaway and just received it in the mail on Thursday. It is absolutely adorable and I can't wait to wear it! Then the next day I find out I won Ashley's "love banner" giveaway! I can't wait to get that one!

It's just the small things and my heart is feeling very full!

My life (and Ronnie's!) is about to change very soon and I'm so blessed to have had such a great pregnancy surrounded by lots of love!! These past (nearly) 10 months have been wonderful and I will remember this time fondly! <3

Source: google.com via Jessica on Pinterest

My Online Love Story - Linkup Today!

2012-02-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to finally be sharing My Online Love Story with y'all!

Link up with Savanah and I today if you have an online love story too!

Let's give the single ladies out there a reason to try out the online dating scene! ;)

So let's go all the way back to January 2005! 7 years ago!! (This is long so bear with me!)

Online dating actually came up in 2004 just as a joke with my friends because honestly, the idea TERRIFIED me. But I'd just gotten out of a semi serious relationship so I was starting to be open to meeting a new guy. I thought there'd be hundreds of great guys just waiting for me online! :p I knew all that mattered though was to see if I could find ONE. So I signed up.

I decided to try out Yahoo! Personals. It was slow going at first and I went on a couple dates but there was just never any chemistry! Right as I was ready to delete the account and move on, I get a message from the cutest blue eyed guy ever. He had actually decided he'd pay for the membership so he could have the option to message me. I still have the first emails and I still have the first pictures he sent me in that email..

One was with his best friend, Eric. haha

And in case you were curious, here I am about that time.
Fresh faced, super short haired 23 year old! :)

I just knew something was different about this guy. So about 5 emails and a week later, he decided to stop being a scaredy cat and finally give me a call. I was nervous at first but during the call, I really got the feeling like I'd known him forever. We didn't talk long that first call because we decided to just meet up already! That same afternoon!

We met at EZ's (a local burger joint) and I remember walking towards him in the parking lot like it was yesterday. I saw was this tall, oh so cute guy in a UT t-shirt, who happened to have a bunch of tattoos (which he hadn't mentioned but I totally loved) and as we walked towards each other he had the biggest smile and said "Yeah. I COMPLETELY approve".. He knew I was self conscious about my weight (so ridiculous back then!) so being the sweetheart he is, he wanted to make sure I felt comfortable because he was very interested <3

After EZ's, we made a visit to Brackenridge Park to feed the ducks! I was already feeling so head over heels for this guy. Heading to our cars afterwards, I decided after all this great time together that I wanted him to kiss me but it didn't look like he was budging! (He was nervous!) So I just flat out asked "Are you ever going to kiss me?" and he laughed and I went in for the kiss! Best kiss of my life. This is where we sealed the deal that this was definitely right for us :)

Still not wanting the night to end we head to good ol' Walmart! I had never been more excited to be in a damn Walmart in my entire life! haha. After that we sat in his car listening to music and discovered we both loved the band Tears for Fears. He played their new album for me and that will forever be the soundtrack to our relationship :) After much talking (and kissing!) we finally parted ways and headed home. The next day we both told our moms we had met the one.

We continued dating a month or so and it was perfect. But I stupidly got scared of just how fast things were moving and I broke it off. We kept in touch some, even through dating a couple other people but as the months went by, we stopped talking as much and I could only think of what a huge mistake I'd made in breaking it off.

On Feb. 27th, a little over a year since that first meeting, I got ballsy again and paid him a visit to his job. Not knowing if he was dating anyone, not knowing if he was even still interested in me, I just went for it. He didn't seem all that interested in talking to me at first (I know now he's just a stubborn ass :) so my heart nearly exploded from shock and joy when he asked if I want to hang out that night....

And we haven't left each other's side since <3

So from this (our first year of OFFICIAL dating in 2006)

to this (engaged in Oct. 2009)

to this (knocked up in 2011)

With a baby girl due Feb. 26th...The day before we celebrate 6 years of official dating.

Seriously, y'all. Give online dating a chance. It was the BEST decision I ever made!!
If you try it, just take it slow. Don't rush into meeting just any guy who's interested in you. I would talk to guys on the phone until I felt comfortable with meeting up. And in a public place! After letting my friends know where I was gonna be at too! (be safe!!)

But with Ronnie, yes I ended up throwing all those rules out but just because it felt completely right. And it was. I hope it works for you too!

Now for those of you with an online love story of your own, link up! I can't wait to read it!

Preggo Stuff - 37 Weeks

2012-02-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to another installment of Jessica Complains About Being Pregnant!
(At least I'm sure that's how I'm coming off lately. But seriously, I would never truly complain about it!)

Per usual, I'm behind on posting this so at this point I'm now technically 37 weeks 4 days. Meaning there are now just 2.5 weeks (or less!) left until we meet our baby girl. Since I'm not very good with using my big girl words, I'm not really sure just how to describe how I'm feeling right now. But I'm definitely feeling quite a few different emotions...

Nervous
Anxious
Scared shitless (ok, that's a bit dramatic)
Overwhelmed
Excited
Tired.

I'm just ready for the pregnancy part to be over (though I will miss her precious -sometimes crazy- kicks and hiccups) and ready to love her, smell her, kiss her, feed her and change all those dirty diapers. I honestly just wish I could fast forward through L&D to the part where we have her at home, safe and sound! But I'm just lucky to know I'll have the best partner ever by my side!

Here I am yesterday, in an outfit I haven't worn in a few weeks because the shirt is too short. That's why long tanks were invented I guess! It's one of my fave pre-pregnancy shirts so I'm glad I got some use out of it during the pregnancy.

It's definitely starting to look like I'm carrying around a 6 pounder in there!

Updates in Week 37:

Full term, baby!!

According to BabyCenter.com, baby V should be weighing about 6 1/3 pounds and measuring a bit over 19". Right on target since OB put her weight at 5 lbs. 13 oz at last week's appt!
Remember last week when I swore I hadn't gained 5 lbs? Today the OB asst said "Oh you lost 3 lbs!"..which I know just means I'd only gained 2 at that last appt and not 5! It's really not a big deal, I just want things to be accurate! haha
I'll get my first cervix check next week and if things are looking "favorable", I have the option of setting up an induction for the next week. Wanting to be able to plan anything about the delivery, I'm definitely open to it.
I'm starting to crave coffee like nobody's business. I've allowed myself a tall Chai latte at Starbuck's twice this week and the rest of the time I'm sticking to the decaf K cups. Boring.
Nursery bedding should be complete soon and once it is, pictures will be up! Mind you, I'm no designer so don't expect magazine worthy decor, just a whole lotta cuteness :)
The pain in the nether regions is getting worse by the day. You know how tennis players let out a scream when they hit the ball? That's kinda what I do every time I get out of bed now. It's painful, yo! Poor Ronnie, I'm sure he could do without the dramatics. ha
I didn't think it was possible but my dreams are getting WEIRDER and more vivid. Not sex dreams, just whacky ones. Like the one where Tim Tebow got injured and had no place to go so we took him in? And then I eventually kicked Ronnie out if Tim and I were gonna have any chance of making it as a couple? Yeah.

Ok so just for shits and giggles, here's a collage of me in this same outfit. The first picture was taken 10 weeks ago, y'all! My boobs definitely looked bigger then but I think it's just the ruffles playing mind tricks on you. Because they are definitely much more large and in charge now! ha!

And look, my hair grew too! I blame the humidity, tyvm.

I hope y'all are having a great week! :D T

And don't forget - if you met your honey online, get your post ready to link up tomorrow!!

This Valentine's Day

2012-02-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

We are exactly one week 'til Valentine's Day! Normally, Ronnie and I don't make a big deal out of it but not because I'm one of those people who doesn't fall for a "Hallmark holiday" (because I totally do!) but because our anniversary is Feb. 27th and we have always waited to just celebrate that.

This year though? That probably won't work since we're due to receive a baby on or around Feb. 26th. (Just in case you didn't know that by now!) So we are TOTES doing Valentine's Day this year. You hear that, Ronnie? And while I have you, Ronnie, I know we're not big on gifts but just.in.case you're wondering what to get your fabulous baby momma, here's some ideas!

Multi Dot Lacey Wallet
(Hello, it's even on sale!)

2x3 Owl Couple Printed Cotton Rug

(We do need a rug for the entry way :)

Sephora Gift Card

(In whatever amount you feel I'm worthy of, my dear :)

TOMS Gisele Grey Suede Ballet Flats

(Momma needs some comfy shoes!)

Sterling Silver Bunting Necklace
(I'd love it with a certain little girl's name - do it for her!)

Orrrr you can just bring me a buttload of cupcakes and we're good ;)

So do you usually celebrate Valentine's Day? What do you do?
and don't forget about me and Savanah's link up this Friday!!
If you met your honey online, get your posts ready!

Phone Photo Fun Monday - Nursery Weekend Edition

2012-02-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

This weekend was hectic to say the least. We ran errands all Saturday morning to load up on paint and supplies and random decor for the nursery. When we got back home, Ronnie got right to work on painting and we are totally in love with the end result. It's a medium gray color that has a purpleish tint to it which I think is perfect!

I was in pain (per usual) all weekend so I pretty much just cleaned up the aftermath and spent all Sunday organizing the room. (That was inbetween the 100x that Ronnie asked if I was in labor. I just need to shut my mouth about the pain until I feel it's SERIOUS. haha.) I also washed and hung/folded ALL the baby clothes, blankets and towels that I received at my big shower the past weekend. It wasn't a whole lot of fun but it's easier when it's all such cute and colorful stuff :)

Here's just a few shots from the weekend! I'm linking up with Savanah and Ashley again!

I wish I knew what Sibley was thinking when she sits there and stares at me!

If you read this, you know I love ironing.
So why not iron the wrinkley bebe clothes too? :)

Ronnie set up the playard...The little guys on the mobile are so cute!

Seriously, fiance of the year. After working on the nursery
all weekend, he surprises ME with a cupcake!! <3

And a close-up so I can relive the goodness. Oh, it was good.

He'd just finished painting. I'm so grateful that he busted ass
all weekend to finish up the nursery. Pics coming soon....

My getting ready in the bathroom sidekick :)
(Ignore the tape on the walls, it's about to get painted!)

Received my $25 gift card to Chili's on Saturday and we totally used it that same night.
Ronnie said his steak was YUMMY! My quesadillas were too. Thank you, Klout!!

Proud of my sis, she did so great in The Unsinkable Molly Brown!!

All in all, it was a great weekend! I hope yours was too :)

My Online Love Story - A Linkup!

2012-02-03T07:10:00.000-08:00

I love the conversations that come up on Twitter! The other day, Savanah, Jules and Becky were all chatting about how they had met their hubbies/fiance online and I had to butt in because I happened to meet my honey online too!

They suggested doing a one time linkup to share our stories so me and the beautiful bride-to-be Savanah are doing just that!

If you met your honey online, tell us about it!

What site, how did it happen, tell us all about your online love story!

It worked for us so maybe all of the success stories will convince some single ladies out there to take the leap and join a site themselves!

We'll host the link up next Friday, February 10th, just in time for Valentines Day! :)

So get your story ready for the link up next Friday!
We can't wait to read all about it!

Preggo Stuff - 36 Weeks

2012-02-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

I'm still hanging in there..and apparently so is Baby V! I'm now 36 1/2 weeks which means she can really can come at anytime now but I don't think she's budging. Her actual due date is just 3 1/2 weeks away! I never thought this day would get here so fast!!

This is the dress I wore to my shower this past weekend! It wasn't the day of the shower but I thought it was appropriate to wear for my 36 week pic :) I should've held ze belly but I'm sure you can see it's there and getting bigger!

Updates in Week 36:

Yesterday was my 36 week OB appointment and it went great! V is weighing in at about 5 lbs. 13 oz! OB's guess is she'll end up 7 to 7.5 lbs. Fine with me as long as there's no 10 pounder - I don't know if my never-given-birth-before self could handle it. ha!
We got an ultrasound and a partial 4D sonogram at the appt but unfortunately V is too low and squished so the tech couldn't get any good pictures! :( So dissapointing because the tech rushed through it and we had been so looking forward to it, my mom even came with! We did get one OK shot though and she looked kinda like me!
Apparently I've gained 5 pounds since 2 weeks ago. Which if I truly did, I'll own it. However, my OB appt's have always been at 9 am and I don't trust being weighed in the afternoon after having eaten breakfast and lunch! And maybe a cookie. ha! So I'm gonna weigh myself at home tomorrow morning just to compare.
I had my Strep B test done yesterday. Fun times, let me tell you! My OB is the best though and just laughs along with my nervous laughs and jokes. I seriously lucked out with her!
I am now in full waddle mode. My lower half just hurts too much to walk normally anymore. Another fun new symptom is shocking pains in my lower back and numbing on the left side of my groin (TMI!) because of pressure on the sciatic nerve.
My latest craving is vanilla ice cream!! More specifically, the ice cream cones from McDonald's. They've always been my favorite but now it's like a serious NEED. I have to focus on driving straight home instead of turning left into the Mickey D's right by my house!!
The nursery is slowly but surely coming together but we have a LOT to do this weekend. If it's not done by Super Bowl, I swear I'll be bugging Ronnie to continue helping me. We'll see how that argument turns out. haha
I have a feeling V will love music just as much as her parents. I've caught her kicking this week to The Beatles, Bob Marley and Pink Floyd. She loves her Momma's playlist I think ;)
Today's my work baby shower!! I bitch and moan a lot about my bosses and co-workers but they've really been nice lately and have actually been asking me about the baby, how I'm feeling, etc. I'm looking forward to our lunch at Olive Garden and then coming back to open presents!

Catching Up!

2012-02-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

I am so behind, y'all! Just being away a few days has totally left me feeling out of the loop! I hope all of y'all are doing well!

This past weekend was my first baby shower and it was so fun! I had aunts and cousins there from both sides of my family, my closest friends, Ronnie's mom and sis and family friends. There were probably about 50 ladies there! While it was a blast, I had zero quality time with everyone which really bums me out. It was just too overwhelming with so many people and if it was up to me, I would've split up the two sides of my family and had 2 smaller showers. But that's just me being a brat :p It really was great and we got SO many gifts. See?

This includes the back seats being folded down too. It was NUTS.
We're so grateful for all the love!

I have to post a picture too of some of the creative gifts I got! My cousin made baby girl a dachshund onesie, a "V" shirt and a shirt with a $ symbol...Because baby's last name is Cash ;) Her daughter made us that purple blanket and I've blocked out baby's name but you can see they added a $ symbol there too. SO cute!!

I don't have any of the pictures from the shower with me right now but I'll leave you with one that makes me giggle because I look GINORMOUS. My belly's really not that big but the dress certainly made it look that way. I chose to go with the purple dress that I'd previously posted about here. It was so comfy with leggings and it was worth paying the 2 day shipping cost to get it to me in time!

We had to take the double preggo pic! My cousin's wife, Amy is due early May with a little boy named Milo!! I can't wait for her shower and I can't believe V will already be here by that time! :D

Sorry that was a crappy shower recap but when I get the pictures from my mom, I'll be sure to post them!

This afternoon I have my 36 week OB appointment and will finally get to see my baby girl's face in 4D! I haven't even had an ultrasound since 18 weeks so I am over the top excited! Ronnie and my mom will be there so it'll be fun!! I'll be back tomorrow with a preggo update and hopefully some bebe pics! :D

Better late than never, right?

2012-01-28T18:48:00.000-08:00

You know that post that's been going around where you have to list random facts about yourself and then tag people and ask them questions? I'm an awful person because I totally haven't kept up with that and I've been tagged 6 times! Which would mean I'd have to overload y'all with way too many facts about myself.

Instead! Wanna know 25 random facts about me?

Today I did my first guest post ever, over at Amy's blog,

Tales of a Small Town Girl! I'd love if y'all would swing by and check out her blog and my random facts!

Sorry this is so late too, today was baby shower day so my mind was pretty occupied! :/

Preggo Stuff - 35 Weeks

2012-01-26T07:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday, cupcakes! :) (mmm doesn't one sound good right now? :)

I'm currently at 35 1/2 weeks and starting to get nervous. Shit's about to get real! haha. I'm excited about getting my girl, the only part that worries me is the labor and delivery. I'm hoping and praying I luck out and it's a quick process because I just want that part over and done with!

Ronnie took my picture last night when we were just hanging out. Jammies and all! My face is definitely getting more swollen looking lately as are my feet and ankles. But I know those will return to normal in just a few short weeks!

Updates in Week 35:

According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl is measuring over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon).
I've definitely noticed how big she's getting. I'm feeling the most pressure I've ever felt and it's even getting hard to walk. Rolling over in bed and getting up off the floor is so painful and isn't a pretty sight either. We laugh because Ronnie's always having to help me get up. It's sweet though :)
New, exciting symptom - itchy skin. I've read about pregnant women getting itchy on their belly and breasts but I feel itchy EVERYWHERE. Mostly on my hips, belly, lower back and thighs. It's so weird and frustrating.
Charlie Horse cramps are NOT my friend and have been hanging around too much lately. In fact, my left calf is still sore after I got a cramp two nights ago. They've been pretty frequent and I'm so tired of them! I will say though I've become a pro at getting rid of them quickly!
I'm still addicted to water and fruit but my latest craving is Gatorade! Because of the cramps, Ronnie mentioned maybe needing more electroytes. When he said that it felt like I've been missing out on Gatorade my entire life, that's how intense the craving was. ha! I've drank a couple this week and they were so good.
I finally hit total nesting mode. Kinda funny that it kicked in when I'm at my slowest! Last night I tore through all the gifts we've received so far and boxes of random baby stuff and organized it all! I did two little loads of her little clothes which now smell like heaven and her room is finally clean! The house as a whole is looking great too!
Once and for all, I decided what to do with the nursery. Again, this is happening so late but whatever. We can do it! :) Ronnie's on board with my ideas and we're gonna start Sunday. My mom even "intervened" and put a stop to my back and forth on the bedding and is just going to make it for me, I just have to choose fabric. Halleluyer!
I'm SO excited for my first shower this Saturday! A few of my closest friends and most of my huge family will be there so I think it's gonna be a lot of fun! I'm so grateful for all these wonderful people in our lives who are just as excited for Miss V!
Last but not least, irritability is at an all-time high. I feel like if anyone tries to mess with me, I will not hold back. I've always kinda been like that but it's even worse now. It seems my "balls" have gotten bigger during pregnancy. ha!

Thanks for reading along all this time...Just a few more weeks and you'll be done looking at my big belly and hearing my complaints! :p Have a great day!

Tuesday To-Do's

2012-01-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

I've been known to be a list maker...but somehow I end up losing my lists. Every.time. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh? So I'm going to post this week's to-do list so I have it where I can remember it. Hopefully :)

No I have not made a decision on nursery bedding. I have gone back and forth now between four. freaking. bedding. sets. Yes, those are all the links to the sets :) The last one is the most recent shop I found on Etsy. They're more affordable than the second set I'd looked at. Now I'm just waiting to hear back from the seller on if she's able to rush order and a final price quote. Wish me luck!! This might be the end of all this drama! :p

Ronnie is going to put together the dresser for the nursery today! We'd been scouring Craigslist and antique shops for the perfect vintage dresser to also double as a changing table but we just never found one. We did one time but someone beat us to it! :( So we finally decided to just get a seperate changing table and to get a simple dresser from IKEA. I bought some pretty little purple organizers for the inside of it and am kinda excited about it!

I need to buy shower hostess gifts. My shower this weekend is hosted by my mom, three aunts and one cousin. That's a lot of people to buy for but I know they've all done so much to put this together. Now my dilemma is, WHAT DO I GET THEM? They ALL love wine so that was an option but it just feels like the easy way out. I need special gifts but have no idea. All help would be much appreciated!

I found two dresses I LOVE at Destination Maternity for my shower so my to-do for today is to go by the store and see if they have them in stock. If not, I'm about to spend a buttload to have one of them shipped to me by Friday :/ I hate being such a procrastinator! My favorite is the purple one. What do you think?

Finally, my plan is to buy frames this week and then spray paint them on Sunday. I plan to use them on a wall in the nursery, maybe even right above her crib. I want to do them them in purple, pink and lime green. I won't be using nearly this many frames but just so you get the idea ;)

Source: allposters.com via Amy on Pinterest

Any advice on any of this stuff would be greatly appreciated!! Tonight I begin checking items off the list!! Happy Tuesday!! :D

P.S. Please go check out Ashlee's 200 Follower Giveaway!! It's cute and includes cupcakes :)

Preggo Stuff - 34 Weeks

2012-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Is this real life? I swear I just found out I was pregnant and now I have only about 5 1/2 weeks to go until I finish baking this little cupcake! I'm not gonna lie. I'm feeling pre.tty overwhelmed right about now, knowing how soon she'll be here!!

This weekend, Ronnie is going to paint her room and we'll start setting it all up. Did I tell you we don't have her crib yet either? Oy vey. We are so behind and at this point, it's all because I can't make a freaking decision. But with my first baby shower being moved from this weekend to next, this will be my last weekend to prep the room for all the baby stuff I'm about to bring in!! But moving on...

Here I am in all my 34 (almost 35) week glory...

Updates in Week 34:

According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl weighs around 4 3/4 lbs. (like your average canteloupe) and is almost 18" long.
According to my OB yesterday, she's estimating baby girl right around 5 lbs. However, she said that my uterus is measuring about 2 weeks ahead so that's throwing her estimation off. She'll get a more accurate look at her size when I get my sonogram in 2 weeks!! (I haven't seen her since 18 weeks!!)
Halleluyer for not gaining any weight since my last appt 2 weeks ago! My total weight gain is still at 12 lbs. I'm just waiting for it to hit 20 or so by the end. EEK.
Speaking of which, Project Healthy Momma will be ON after this girl is here. Right now it's so hard to pick and choose what I eat because I get SO hungry that I just want whatever's near me and I WANT IT NOW. It's not always the best choice but I'm still making good choices mixed in with a few bad (but yummy) ones ;)
I'm still ridiculously addicted to water and fruit but a new craving is strawberry milk! Mmmm.
Round ligament pain is about to be the death of me. It just really started this past Sunday and my OB laughed when I described it to her. She said she's surprised it took me this long to have this pain!
I'm soooo excited about my baby shower next weekend! It's my first of two and I'm actually glad to be having them so late since I have nothing prepared at home anyway. ha! I ended up registering at both Babies R Us and Target to make it convenient for everyone. I just can't wait to share this time with my family and friends!
I received the BEST gifts ever yesterday from a company I work with... I can't believe how generous he was - we basically got the biggest items that we still needed!! He sent us a play yard, highchair, stroller, bassinet for the stroller and an infant car seat!! Thank you, Jesus! as my mom said. haha. I say more like, Thank you baby Jesus! :D

baby girl's pretty ride!!

That's about it, y'all! Til the next time :)

Phone Photo Fun Monday

2012-01-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that my girl Ashley is co-hosting with Savanah now!

This is my favorite link up! :D

Seriously, could Niles get any cuter? Look at the tummy rolls!! <3

A local mobile cupcake place finally added an actual shop and it's right by our house. HOLLA!! Their vanilla cupcake w/strawberry frosting is to die for.

SO excited about this one..The 12 pack was on sale for $3 w/free shipping so I ordered 3 packs. They didn't have the ultra fine tip in stock after all so they just sent me these 2 and uh, only charged me $1.08 total. Serious good deal!

Love this painting that we got from BB&B the other day.
It's huge and perfect for our living room wall!

Ummm is this not freaking adorable?? Also at BB&B..
Thinking about it as a gift for little sister's bday!

Mr. Niles again looking so cute you just wanna squeeze him!

Pigging out on yogurt with sprinkles, strawberries and Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
I don't mess around.

Ronnie will hate me for posting this.. The other morning Ronnie got a phone call and I was trying to go back to sleep.. Frasier decided it was the perfect opportunity to sneak right in the middle of us and steal my pillow. He's so cute though I forgave him.

Now for my first ever embarassing pictures on this blog...

The other night I tried out this hair tutorial...not thinking about the fact that my hair's already semi curly and not really that long. So I got screwed...and ended up with this monstrosity in the morning.

bahahaha!

Ok now quit laughing a sec and feel sorry for me - I had done this on a work night!!! So after all the laughing and Ronnie calling me Little Orphan Anita (said with a Spanish accent of course.), I realized I had to try and actually fix it if I had any intention of going to work that day..I ended up having to flat iron the whole thing out. What a waste.

So now, I am hoping that one of y'all will try this out and then post the aftermath. I just hope your look comes out much more Sarah Jessica Parker and less of the homeless Oprah look I had going.

Preggo Stuff - 33 Weeks

2012-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! TGIF, am I right?? And crazy enough, it's Friday the 13th! I'm superstitious about oh so many things but I've never believed the whole bad luck thing about today...But please excuse me while I go knock on wood just in case. ha!

This is the latest in the week that I've done this update so technically now I'm only two days away from being 34 weeks! But let's pretend I just turned 33 weeks, k? :) It's hard to believe in just 2 days, we'll be down to a SIX week countdown! My dad's betting that she'll come 1-2 weeks early (please no!) but everyone else seems to agree she'll be right on time. I'm set on her being a February baby so all I hope is that she doesn't go so late that I run into March which is only 4 days after my due date. But we'll just have to wait and see!

Here's my latest pic that was taken yesterday while out and about with my baby daddy. We were at Bed Bath & Beyond and I figured I'd just use one of their mirrors! It's a horrible picture and thinking about it now, I proabably should've put down my damn purse but I was in a hurry! It's all about the belly anyway and you can definitely make out that part! :p

Updates in Week 33:

According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl is now a little over 4 lbs. and over 17 inches long...The fact that she's that big is definitely starting to show in mah belly! :p

I hadn't had any crazy cravings for a while (other than my usual water and fruit) but in just the past week I've been dying for gummy bears and fried fish. I've eaten both now and they were heavenly.
Two nights ago I got my first case of swollen feet and ankles. It wasn't that horrible but it was obvious and I guess it's something I have to get used to for the next few weeks!

Sleep is getting harder to come by each night :/ I actually stayed home from work yesterday because the awful sleep from this week had caught up with me. I ended up sleeping until about 11:30. MUCH needed.

I finally finished up our Babies R Us registry but I have yet to decide on crib bedding! I can't believe how super behind I am on that but I've given myself the deadline of this weekend.

I've had some Braxton Hicks contractions in the past week which at first I didn't know what I was feeling but I know now they couldn't have been anything else. It's crazy to think how much more serious those contractions will be in just a few weeks! :/

During my work days I've been walking around our building a lot because I just can't sit any longer! It hurts my butt, my back, everything, to just sit there all day. Things are definitely getting more uncomfortable around here!

Baby girl is still as active as ever though her kicks are much less and it's more of rolling and tumbling movements now. I've tried so hard to catch my belly moving all around on video but she always stops as soon as I start the camera!

Sometimes it still doesn't feel real that I'm really about to have a baby but when I feel those movements, I know there's most definitely a little girl in there... It's an amazing feeling!

Can't believe these fools are getting so close to becoming parents! ha :)

Have a great weekend!! <3

Rando Post

2012-01-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Not a whole lot going on around here...Just here being pregnant and uncomfortable. ha! I've been racking my brain for post ideas but really all that's been going lately is getting ready for baby girl's arrival (seriously just 7 weeks away!) and trying to fix up our new casa as much as possible since we know we won't have the time for a while after she gets here...

Poor Ronnie spent so much time painting our house last week only to discover that the paint color looks pretty freaking different than we were expecting. The color is called "Sandstone Cliff" which to us looked very much like a beigey gray on the swatch and even on the test patch we tried out. But when the walls were fully painted, it looks more just like a light gray during the day and powder blue at night! UGH. So not the look we were going for. But here's a pic of it during the day. Not that horrible, right? But let me tell you, it's awful at night. I'll have to get a picture. One wall in the living room even looks sage green because of the lighting!

My photo shoot interrupted poor Sibley's nap. ha!

Needless to say, we're trying to let it grow on us and see how we can redecorate a little around that color... It sounds like too much work to me to buy new things and redecorate but Ronnie thinks it's way too much work to redo all the paint! Stop being so lazy and just do it, right?! ha! j/k But as much as I just want him to repaint, I know that's not a good option. Especially spending all that money again for paint. Oy vey.

Also on my mind lately? Shopping. (When is that not on my mind? :) I've been scouring through winter clearance sales on baby websites so I can load baby girl up for her first winter. It's my favorite time of year so I'm excited for later this year when I can get her all done up in cardigans, dresses and tights. Ronnie's sis from Dallas sent down a Christmas gift for V too.. Check it:

Ridiculous, right? :) They should fit her in time for winter too!

In other news...Two nights ago I had dinner with a former co-worker and the woman he has started a new business with. (A business that's very much needed in my industry!) He wanted to tell me more about the company and let me meet this woman. I'm so glad I went because she and I really hit it off...I can't say much right now (especially as to not jinx it) but I'm pretty sure I'm in for an awesome change after I'm done with maternity leave. *Fingers crossed!!!*

And last rando bit...I would LOVE a blog makeover! My design by Meg O. is amazing and I love it but I get so ancy and just want something fresh for the new year. She's booked for a while I think so if anyone knows of a designer who is awesome and pretty affordable, let me know! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Preggo Stuff - 32 Weeks

2012-01-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

Holy moly, y'all...Just 8 weeks left!!!

My only wish right now is that my boobs would stop growing because they're starting to compete with my belly again. UGH. Not a fun problem to have. I would MUCH rather be growing out the back, thank you very much :)

Updates in Week 32:

According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl is approx. 3.75 pounds (like a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long.
I had my OB appointment yesterday and we got to hear her perfect little heartbeat ALONG with her hiccups. It was really cute to hear them through the monitor :) The hiccups started on Christmas day and she gets them now at least once a day.
As of yesterday, I've only gained 12 lbs through this pregnancy! It's not bad but for someone who was already overweight, it's been tough to manage. OB had told me only to gain 15-20 so I hopefully I'll be ok by the time she's here!
I'm still in major (maybe even worse now) pain because she's positioned so low. I sit all day at work but have been forcing myself to get up and walk around or else the pain will be worse after a long time of sitting.
On New Year's Eve, mountain cedar blew in and left me with some bad allergy symptoms. I'm taking Sudafed which helps but I get so stuffy at night that I wake up every 2 hours. I'm basically a zombie these days.
Extreme hunger has set in. I can eat small meals all throughout the day and still feel like I'm starving by the end of the day. Doesn't help with the weight gain part.
I finally cracked down and chose paint for her nursery. We're way behind in her nursery but it's finally getting set up and I can't wait! The paint color's called Misty Aqua and it's the perfect blend of blue/green that I wanted. We also had new carpet installed in her room this past week. Hers was the only room that still had ugly (red!) original carpet!
I had dinner with my friend Elizabeth last night and afterwards went by her house where she LOADED me up with hand me downs from her sweet little girl. She also gave me a gift AND is making me flag bunting with baby girl's name. I'm seriously so lucky to have her as a friend.
I have two baby showers coming up in about two weeks and I still haven't fully completed my baby registry! I told you, I'm way behind. Between setting up the new house, holidays and my crazy work hours it's been hard to buckle down but we are finalizing the registry TONIGHT!

Even though I am getting more uncomfortable and stuff is starting to hurt that never did before, I couldn't have asked for an easier pregnancy thus far! Life is good! :D

2011 Recap Survey

2012-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

When I saw this on Kasey's blog I knew I had to copy because this was the only way to get some sort of 2011 recap outta me! :p I hope you enjoy and maybe you can do the same post!

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Got knocked up and bought a house! :D

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
For a few months, yes. I lost almost 20 pounds but then I got pregnant and of course most of that weight has come back. The plan now is to get back on the weight loss wagon as soon as baby is here!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Lots of friends had babies but not anyone in my family.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandma passed away in May :( I wasn't very close with her but it was still a very sad time for our family.

5. Did you visit anywhere exciting?
No and I'm still upset about that! I just had a few work trips - one to Fort Worth and the others were all to Louisville. Not the most exciting places to visit but I still had fun!

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
More money in savings...We'll see how that goes ;)

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 7th - the day I found out I was pregnant!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying our first house, for sure.

9. What was your biggest mistake?
I didn't talk about it much but in January we moved from a rental home we loved into a small apartment in order to save some money. The bills there ended up being way more and we also had to deal with a crazy neighbor. Needless to say we only lasted 6 months there and had to pay a bunch to get out of our lease. UGH!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just a flu early on in the year but I made it all year without any other illnesses!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Take a wild guess...Our cute little house! :)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
For sure, Ronnie. He's done SO much for us even while having a really hectic school schedule (and driving out of town to school every day!). He is such a hard worker and I couldn't be more grateful for him! And what is he doing right now on school break? Painting EVERY room in our house. Seriously. He's perfect.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
A close family member but of course I won't get into that here.

14. Where did most of your money go in 2011?
Eating out for lunch every day, gas, and that stupid apartment!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Finding out our baby's gender! <3 But before that, the day it snowed here!

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem.. It's just funny because when I heard (and loved) it, it reminded me how much I still love ridiculous popular music so I've just owned it ever since :p

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? Happier! I love my little family and this is the most exciting time ever, waiting for our girl to get here.

ii. thinner or fatter? Um. Fatter. FO SHO.

iii. richer or poorer? Poorer! Living off one income is a tough thing but we've survived. Adding a baby in will make us even poorer but that's fine with me! :)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
More hanging out with friends, more spontaneous road trips...All stuff we really should've done more of before the baby but I can blame our boringness on that being poorer thing! haha.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I wish I wouldn't have spent so much energy worrying about the person in #13.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With our families, running all over town from party to party. I hope this year's is much more relaxing!

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Every day I fall more in love with Ronnie and our sweet animals but my newest love is this little cupcake:

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I got seriously obsessed with Parks & Rec and Happy Endings.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Oy. I don't hate anyone at all, just still struggling with #13.

24. What was the best book you read?
Umm I have to admit I did very little reading this year...Last thing I read was Water for Elephants and I pretty much dropped it halfway through :/

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Fitz and the Tantrums. LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!

26. What did you want and get?
A house! (I know y'all are sick of that one ;)

27. What did you want and not get?
I wanted our huge wedding but that got postponed early on in the year.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was unfortunately flying to Louisville for a work trip that day and had to spend the evening with my co-workers. It wasn't the worst but I'd have much rather celebrated my 29th at home with my honey and friends.

29. What's one thing that would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing at all, a lot of great life-changing things happened last year!

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
I definitely tried to be a little more stylish but on a small budget that can be hard. I hope I can get back on that path even after becoming a mom...even if comfort is always my #1!

31. What kept you sane?
Blogging for sure..and Ronnie!

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Katy Perry and Russell Brand. I just like them both so much as individuals so I loved that they were married. I'm sad to see it's over! :(

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
As my conservative dad always tells me "You're just one of those bleeding hearts, you don't get it"... So I'd rather not get into politics around here because the debates could get feisty! haha

34. Who do you miss the most?
No one at all to be honest..I have my fiance, my close friends and family so I'm good :)

35. Who was the best new person you met?
Definitely all of you that I've met through blogging!

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?
To truly enjoy every moment because life changes quickly! And to not take it too seriously when a doctor tells me I may never be able to have children ;)

37. What are your new years resolutions for 2012?
I just hope I can do great at the mom thing :) And focusing on living a healthier lifestyle is also important because I want to set that example for our daughter!

So there ya have it! I'd say my 2011 was great but 2012 will be even better!

Fun with My Phone - First Post of 2012!

2012-01-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

I wanted so badly to be like the cool kids and write a recap of my 2011 but sadly I'm feeling very ADD-ish so I'm not sure when I'll get around to it. Hopefully VERY SOON though!

For now, I'm linking up again with Savanah for . . .

Cheating on my boys with another man. ha!
Ronnie's sis brought her doggie with her from L.A. So cute!

Ronnie got me the Kate Spade bracelet for Christmas that I'd been wanting!

I got an Old Navy gift card for Christmas and look who I spent it on!
I couldn't turn it down for my little half-mexi girl! :)

Our first fire at our new casa!

Then I took this the next day, before all the decor came down :(

Niles tends to tear up a lot but I didn't think he'd be as torn up about
taking down Christmas as I was. ha!

Me and my honey on NYE...At home with sparkling cider.
I actually like being old :p

Ronnie finally put together the mamaroo and I can't wait for
baby girl to try it out!!

Sparkle nails for New Years!

Not sure why Sibley decided to sleep like this but it looked like she was in trouble. haha.

I can't believe we're already in 2012! This is definitely a year I'm looking forward to :)

Preggo Stuff - 31 Weeks

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm freaking out that it's already Thursday...it means I'm getting closer to my vacation being over! :( But believe me, I'm grateful for this week! I'm also grateful that Ronnie is on his break from school because it has been SO nice sleeping in with him and spending our days together. Our time together is definitely something I'm cherishing with just NINE WEEKS left til baby girl is here!

So far this week we have eaten out a lot (no surprise there. ha!), chosen paint for the house so Ronnie can paint next week, having new carpet installed in baby girl's room (hers was the only room with original RED carpet in it!), we're going today to finally register at the hospital, we've done lots of shopping, and our house is sparking clean! I think I was made for this homemaker stuff! (not!) :p

Yesterday while out to lunch I realized I was supposed to take my weekly belly pic! Since my usual scenery is the bathroom at work, I decided the bathroom at the restaurant would do. ha! I don't look very happy but it's probably because I was in a hurry to get outta there!

Updates in Week 31:

First off, holy crap. Just NINE WEEKS LEFT!
According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl weighs around 3.3 lbs (like carrying four navel oranges) and is over 16" long! She's gearing up for a growth spurt soon too!
My sleep is getting worse by the day so I'm taking advantage of being able to sleep in and take naps this week! #totalheaven
Baby girl's kicks are still frequent but lately I'll feel a random kick/punch out of nowhere and it's a really painful and shocking one! She's growing bigger and stronger for sure!
On Christmas day, those kicks definitely hit a nerve. While in the car I got the worst pain all the way from my lower back up to my neck. It stung so bad and it hurt to even move! I tried to adjust her and it finally went away but it was pretty scary for a moment.
I have a 32 week OB appointment next week and am really curious to see how much Christmas weight I gained! ha.
I also can't believe my appointments are now at 2 week intervals. Crazy!

I feel like bathroom breaks seriously take up half my day now. Ronnie teases me about how much toilet paper we're going through. ha! #TMI
The comments have definitely gotten more frequent like "Are you really that far along? You don't look it!!". I'm sure there's no harm but I take it in the overly sensitive "Am I too fat to even be showing?" kinda way. ha
I'm still having a ton of pain "down there" but I know she's just positioned really low. The worst is after sitting a while or sleeping, it hurts to even get up and I basically have to waddle around until it goes away.
I'm extra hormonal lately and have been causing some petty fights with Ronnie. I can't wait (and I know he can't either) to feel back down to my normal emotional level. lol.
I finally feel like things really are moving along but I'm still shocked at how soon she'll be here. My biggest worries don't even concern bringing a baby home or not knowing what to do with her - I'm scared of the delivery! Any advice for me?

I hope y'all are having a great week!

Christmas Break

2011-12-27T08:55:00.001-08:00

I hope y'all had an amazing Holiday weekend with your loved ones!! We had 5 different things to be at this past weekend and despite it all being so freaking tiring, I'm just grateful that we even have our families to spend time with...and that they all live in town! I'm also SO happy to be on vacation all this week. We slept in yesterday and today and that's probably my best present ever!

Speaking of presents, baby girl is already a spoiled little mess! I guess that's what happens when she has two obsessed grandmas and a total of four spoiling aunts! Ronnie and I really enjoyed our last Christmas just the two of us and we just feel lucky that our girl is already so loved!!

Check out her loot!

My fave out of these is the "I Heart Dad" onesie because the back says "I Heart Mom".

She got some winter outfits, a swaddler, her first doll and her first Easter outfit too. Cute!

Yet another Christmas outfit (she can never have too many! :), some adorable shoesies and more cute outfits! My mom (and tons of my family) work for Southwest Airlines hence the SWA onesies ;)

Now we begin the cleanup because it looks like wrapping paper and gift bags have thrown up all over our house. Ronnie's making us waffles in his new fancy waffle maker my parents gave him (yum!!) and we're off to enjoy the beautiful sunny day! Have a great week, y'all!!

It's finally here.

2011-12-25T06:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Merry Christmas to your family from ours!

(Thank you again for Tiny Prints for these amazing cards!!)

Making our place Christmasey

2011-12-22T12:38:00.000-08:00

With just 3 days left until Christmas I figured it was about time I post some pictures of the Christmas decor up at our casa!! I was not feeling the decorating this year so it's nothing spectacular but it makes us happy :) I did promise myself it'll be WAY better next Christmas though. (Especially since we'll be most likely hosting it at our place next year!)...Excuse me for the picture overload.

Welcome to our little casa :)
This is on the gate that you have to come through to get to our front door.

A sign on the wall right by the front door

Front door with wreath my momma made me.

It's not my usual style but it's pretty and I love that she made it for us!

(P.S. our house is 30 years old. Hence the copper door. ha!)

Adorable snowman couple my cousin gave us a couple years ago! LOVE IT!

Love this little hat hanging from the opening into the kitchen
(Don't mind my beef stew makin' fiance!)

I unpacked all this random glass but hadn't put it up yet so my creative
fiance grabbed a couple ornaments and lights and voila! I think it's cute!

I love my Christmas kitchen towels!

Random little trees and cutie snowgirl on the fireplace

Our tree!

Now, my favorite ornaments!
We got engaged on our trip to San Francisco & Yosemite in '09 so of course ;)

I have all kinds of cupcakes on the tree, this one's my fave!

Ronnie's favorite, of course.

Lots of random stuff on the mantle!

I need to buy my unborn child her own stocking!!

And yes, the cat and 2 dogs have their own :)

There's lot of other little random decor in our bathrooms and in our bedroom...but like I said, the house is 30 years old and honestly I'd rather not show off those areas until they're all spruced up! :p

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? And per usual, I'm not even done Christmas shopping! How about you? Hope you're having a great Thursday!!

Preggo Stuff - 30 Weeks

2011-12-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

I just want to apologize...Lately it seems like I have nothing left to talk about but this pregnancy and that's just not the case in real life. I didn't want this to turn into any sort of pregnancy/mommy blog either and since it kinda has, I officially suck. Hopefully once the holidays slow down, I'll have more exciting things to talk about!

But while I have you...here's yet another preggo update ;) I am 30 weeks!!

Updates in Week 30:

According to BabyCenter.com, baby girl is about 15.7 inches long now and weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage).
At my OB appt this past Monday, I found out I only gained 1/2 a pound. Halleluyer! Baby girl has a great heart rate, my BP was good...but I have been told to lower my sugar intake some because of my glucose intolerance due to stinkin' PCOS. Nothing to worry about, I just need to cut back on my constant craving of OJ and fruit. Too much suga :/
She's still pretty active but not like she was just a week ago. Her movements now are more like rolling and turning which feels so funny. My doctor said this is expected with her getting bigger and to just be sure and do my kick counts which she always meets.
I am currently walking like I just got off a horse. Serious pain down there, y'all. She's moved down a LOT.
Being down so low, she's also kinda mishapen my belly. It seems to almost have deflated a little and moved down. SO weird. But I do know a couple girls who experienced the same thing with their pregnancies and my doctor wasn't worried so I'm not.
Remember when I thought I was a bad-ass who could sleep through the night? That time has ended and my sleep is getting more uncomfortable and I wake up at least twice a night now.
My body also now sounds like that of a creaky old lady. I swear every bone in my body pops when I get up. It's not painful at all, just kinda funny.
Still, things are GOOD. No major complaints and I'm just ready for the holidays!
Oh and my cousin and his wife find out today what their baby is. I can't wait to find out!

And just for shits and giggles...

Apparently I wore this outfit exactly 3 weeks ago. I didn't think my belly looked much different at first until I realized it finally sticks out further than my boobs. ha! Success!!

Hope y'all are having a great Wednesday :D

Fun With Our Phones!

2011-12-19T10:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday, pretty ladies!

I'm linking up with Savanah again for....

This weekend felt like a definite start to the Holidays! Friday was my office Holiday party which was fun until they handed out our yearly bonus checks..Basically mine got cut in half but they gave some people nearly double. There's never been any rhyme or reason in what amounts they give, it's pretty much known that it's based on who their favorites are at the moment. Being pregnant has definitely lowered me on their list. FUN TIMES. But on a happier note :) Ronnie took me to the Windcrest neighborhood that night to look at their lights. It was crowded but so fun!

Saturday was spent Christmas shopping and that night, we had my mom's family's Christmas Eve party. It was a week early this year because of scheduling conflicts for the host (my aunt) but it was kinda nice getting that big party out of the way! Then Sunday is always football day in our house so Ronnie did a lot of yelling at the TV and I did a lot of NOTHING. It was awesome :)

Christmas decor at the office...This is the first year they ever did this.
Maybe to soften the blow of cutting some of our bonuses? :)

2nd place for most elegant decorations in Windcrest.

1st place for most joyful house (my personal fave!)

and this was just a pretty house we passed :)

my aunt's gorgeous tree (and a packed house!)

Me and my sister being photo bombed by our brother.

my brother and his lady friend :)

me and my honey. I look awful but whatevs.

We get gifts from Santa at our family party and mine was this pretty ring (from my mom!) that has baby girl's birthstone! If she's overdue and born in March for some reason then this will still fit with her name...which I'm still not telling ;)

this was the scene yesterday. Both dogs and the cat spread out on the couch.

Sorry for the xrated shot but from where I was squished into the corner, that's all I could get. lol!

Have a great day!!

Preggo Stuff - 29 weeks

2011-12-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all! :) I can't believe I haven't even blogged since last week! Let's just say I've been ridiculously lazy. I'm not even close to being done with my Christmas shopping either. I guess I'm just taking it to heart when parents tell me "Get lots of sleep", "Take time for yourself"....I only have about 11 weeks without baby so I'm taking their advice! Is that so wrong? :)

So here I am, in all my 29 week glory!

(29 weeks and 4 days to be exact )

Updates in Week 29:

According to babycenter.com, baby girl is about 2.5 pounds (about the size of a butternut squash) and is about 15" long.

Lately I have been EXTREMELY tired. I feel like I could crash out anywhere at any time. My usual 8 hours of sleep just is not enough anymore. I've been sleeping in late every morning but not even that seems to help.

In the past few days I started feeling a weird vibrating sensation towards the bottom of my uterus. I read up on it at a few sites and apparently it's some sort of muscle spasm, maybe when the baby hits a certain nerve? I don't know but it feels ca-razy!

I have my 30 week (holy crap!) OB appointment next Monday and I'm definitely gonna ask about that weird sensation...I'm also hoping I haven't gained much weight since the last appointment. #prayforme

I've really lucked out with my appointments being scheduled right before Thanksgiving and right before Christmas. Then I don't feel so bad about chowing down! ha!

I am in LOVE with her kicks. It's just such a relief to know she's a active, healthy girl. The kicks are definitely picking up and have even started waking me up in the middle of the night!

As I type this, I want to close my eyes. Told you, I'm that tired!

Honestly other than all the petty "complaints" above, I feel GREAT. It's hard to believe I'm this far along and still feeling so good. To this point this pregnancy has been incredibly easy and I'm so grateful for that!

As of last night, we're officially registered at Babies R Us! I went in SO excited but it turned out to not be the greatest experience after all. A hot store + feeling overwhelmed + needing to EAT = Momma nearly passing out. We got out of there pretty fast but at least we got it started for now!

Next up, registering at Target. Oh yeah, and buying nursery furniture. With buying a house and it being Christmas time, poor girl's nursery has taken a backseat so I hope to finally get it all set up in January. I hope she knows that she needs to wait until at least mid February to make her appearance.

At Babies R Us, another Christmas outfit found its way into my hands :) It was originally $26, marked down to $13 and at the register it rang up for $8! Holla! This girl now has 2 Christmas outfits..and considering we do about 4 Christmases, I think she has an excuse for a couple more ;)

I can't believe at this time next year, I'll be carrying around a precious angel in that outfit.

Seriously, SO exciting :)

And I just want to say CONGRATS to Heather, she found out the sex of her baby yesterday! I'm starting to feel like I need to move to Houston and be a part of those oh-so-cool H Town Girls. My baby girl would have built in BFF's with Baby O and Heather's Baby BUB! Plus, Ronnie would be in football heaven, living near his Houston Texans. ha!

Have a great day!!

Preggo Stuff - 28 Weeks

2011-12-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Happy Wednesday!!

I haven't blogged in SIX days and was starting to feel some withdrawals!

Thank you for all of your positive comments on my preggo post last week. It means a lot to have found such sweet and supportive friends! :)

I can't believe I have just 12 weeks before I meet Baby V!

Updates in Week 28:

We got a new mattress this past weekend and I am sleeping like a CHAMP! I haven't even gotten up to pee the last two nights! guess I just really needed to catch up on those zzzzz's!

I worry with not getting up that I might pee the bed in the middle of the night. That would be some shit. ha!

My upper and middle back have started to hurt a lot and the only thing that helps is getting on all fours and doing some stretches. Ronnie has been really sweet and giving me back rubs too.

I used to feel slight movement up top but in the past week they've started to feel like full on kicks which makes me think baby girl has changed positions and is head down now. At least that's what I think, in my own wannabe professional opinion :p

I have a feeling this girl already knows her momma's a worrier. Literally every time I start thinking that I haven't felt her kick in a while, she starts up. That is always a major relief!

My boobs must be in a race with my belly to see which can stick out the farthest. Ronnie doesn't mind the extra padding but it's getting pretty ridiculous, y'all.

Every time someone says I don't look 7 months along, I wish I could just say "Look, I've never had a flat tummy so of course my pregnant belly isn't gonna be massive. What do you want from me?!". But that might just be the hormones talking.

Speaking of hormones, I have felt pretty crazy lately. I cry over EVERYTHING. Last week while being sensitive over something Ronnie said, he tells me "It's ok, I know you're just being hormonal"...which basically pushed me into psycho mode. Poor guy.

With it being cold outside now, it's easy to stay under the covers and sleep in. So fair warning, you will see a LOT more of me and my naturally curly hair around here. Straightening it is just too tiring and time consuming!

We still haven't registered! My baby showers are in January so I guess I should get on that. I think in the back of mind I know I'm gonna be overwhelmed by it which has kept me from doing it. No more procrastinating - it has GOT to happen this weekend!

Hope y'all are doing well! Have a great day! :D

All I Want For Christmas...

2011-12-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

I should know better, having lived in South Texas for 29 years, that it just doesn't get that cold here during the holidays. I woke up excited this morning about it being December 1st but my mood was quickly squashed when I saw the morning news - today's weather forecast is a high of 76 with high humidity. I'm wearing FLIP FLOPS today, y'all. Ridiculous.

So just know that all of y'all living in cold weather states, I am trying to live vicariously through you. Please post more pictures of your cute bundled up outfits, sitting in front of your fireplace, the snow outside your window..I want to see it all!

But enough of my pity party, Christmas is ALMOST HERE!!!! And guess what? I haven't even started my Christmas shopping... But I have started my own wish list. Typical selfish me. ha!

Here are a few things I'm hoping to find under the tree this year!

Source: etsy.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: sephora.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: printshop.urbanoutfitters.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: coach.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: katespade.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: sephora.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: pier1.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I'd also LOVE to find a nice, fancy camera under that tree but we'll see if that's in Santa's budget! :) What are you asking for this year? :)

And to get you in a festive mood, here's two giveaways you should enter! Just click on their names to find out more!

Ashley is giving away a homemade paper garland that is super adorable!

Tara is giving away a custom made scarf, so pretty!

Preggo Stuff

2011-11-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

I've decided to take a cue from my girl Meg O. and actually document this pregnancy stuff :) I totally understand if this kinda stuff bores you and you don't wanna read it! But to warn you, I want to do this weekly now until this girl makes her appearance in February!

So yeah I'm super behind on the preggo updates but honestly there wasn't much to talk about in the first few months. I had a few bouts of morning sickness and evening sickness, I only gained about 5 pounds the first 5 months (thanks to my major fruit and water cravings!) and had nothing to complain about except the occasional sore back and major lack of energy. My belly didn't even really show up til about 19 weeks! But while I haven't done a good job at taking pictures, I have been keeping a written journal that I will give baby girl one day - the same that my mom did for me! :)

To start off, here's some past pictures.

I obviously never thought to pose the same way every time.

(This is my first pregnancy, cut me some slack! ;)

But you get the idea! Click to make it bigger.

Now, today!

(Techincally 27 weeks, 3 days but whatevs :)

(I realize now the ruffles do nothing special for my already ginormous boobs. ha!)

Updates in Week 27:

Baby girl is getting more active by the day. Her kicks and punches are getting harder too which is super cool to me! Ronnie was able to see one through my belly a couple weeks ago and I got to see it for myself a couple days ago. I call her "wild woman" cause she can get crazy in there! ha!

I had my 26 week OB appointment last week. Baby girl's heart rate was great and I actually LOST 2 pounds. That is awesome considering at my 22 weeks appointment I had gained 7 pounds in 4 weeks! Ugh. But with the loss, I'm currently up a total of 10 lbs. Not bad for being nearly 7 months.

Those 10 lbs have definitely found their way to my face recently. I knew this day would come but I'm not happy about it.

Despite never having the typical morning sickness, I have been gaggy in the mornings at least twice a week since the beginning and it STILL happens. Nothing comes of it though, just gagging.

I'm still only waking up once or twice in the middle of the night to pee. I'm grateful for that considering I know girls further behind me who are up 3-4 times!

I've been sleeping with my Boppy Total Body pillow since about 18 weeks and don't think I ever want to live without it. The bigger I get, the more of a lifesaver it is to me!!

SUPER TMI alert. I'm starting to feel more frequent sharp pains "down there". It's been happening for months now but my OB says it's totally fine. It's nothing unbearable or worrisome, just painful. I usually have to lay down and try and move this wild woman off whatever nerve she's sitting on. I've read a lot about it on forums and girls seem to call it the "knife in the crotch" feeling. That about sums it up.

It's starting to feel more and more real by the day. I haven't even started in her nursery yet and I know I still have 3 months but it's going to fly by. It already has!

I can't believe I still haven't registered yet so hopefully we can fit it in this weekend!

'Til next week! Have a great Wednesday!

Fun With Our Phones

2011-11-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

I am SO out of the loop! With unpacking all last week and having THREE Thanksgivings to go to, I have not had any time for blogging or reading/commenting. I will catch up today and can't wait to read how y'alls Thanksgivings went! :) Hopefully no family drama was involved! :p

I was bad and didn't take any Thanksgiving pics BUT my mom did so hopefully I can get her to upload those soon! I looked awfully pregnant in them but there's just no hiding it anymore! We had such a great time and I guarantee I gained a couple pounds. (Which is fine considering I got weighed last Wednesday at the OB and I'd lost 2 pounds. Kinda shocking. lol)

So today I'll just show you random pics! I'm linking up with Savanah again for...

In the doctor's office last Wednesday. 26 weeks!

This makes me laugh because Ronnie will have "serious" conversations with Frasier and he always acts like he's listening. But do you also see crazy cat in the back? ha!

Driving by the gorgeous lights at UIW. Yay Christmas!!

A sign in Ronnie's mom's kitchen...I fully agree! :p

Niles getting cozy over the weekend. When we have fluffy blankets out, we tell the dogs
"Get in the clouds!" and they jump in. We're cheesy like that :)

Frasier acting sad that I didn't share my PB&J sandwich.

He must not realize his Momma's pregnant and does NOT share.

Speaking of being a fatty...we heated up leftovers on Saturday from Thanksgivings #2 and #3. I'm sure you can guess who the huge ass plate on the left belongs to ;)

I hung up our stockings yesterday and left a space for baby girl's.

I want to get the 3 of us nice, monogrammed ones though. Any recommendations?

I loooove this color! Essie's Berry Naughty.

I've had this one about 4 days now and it's only chipped a little!

My scene last night.

Hot cocoa and popcorn, ready for the mid season finale of Walking Dead!

(Do you watch it? OOOMG the ending was good!)

Hope y'all have a great Monday!!

Another Noggin Dump

2011-11-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

That's how crappy my brain is right now, I can't even come up with a clever title. All I have on the brain right now is unpacking and setting up house so forgive me for a not so interesting, very random post.

-This week I've become OBSESSED with PB & J sandwiches. Especially this shiz. Not healthy for me but baby girl seems to love it. Or maybe it's the sugar that's making her jump!

-Payday's always Wednesday but our boss gave us our checks today! It's got me wondering if they're gonna surprise us and say to take tomorrow off. They did that a couple years ago so I'm crossing my fingers for another Thanksgiving miracle!

-I don't think I've been THIS excited about a Thanksgiving meal in my entire life. It's gotta be the preggo thing because other than the new casa, the food is all I can think about!

-I'll have plenty of food available too. Thursday is Thanksgiving lunch with Ronnie's mom, stepdad and sis and then we're going to my parents' for dinner. On Friday we're having another meal with Ronnie's dad, stepmom, sis and his sister and her family from Dallas. Hello, stretch pants!

-Thank God my OB appointment is tomorrow and they're weighing me before Thanksgiving.

-Forgive the dumb look on my face (I was talking to myself) but the belly seems to have popped overnight. Kinda funny how that happens!

-I daydream all the time about what this baby girl is gonna look like. From her last ultrasound she seems to have Ronnie's profile. Its just fun to wonder <3

-I love our little house. It's small and quaint, perfect for us and baby :) The dogs seem to have adjusted well too and love their yard!

-I'm desperate to put up our Christmas tree this weekend but I know unpacking the other stuff is more important for now. Hopefully I'll have the energy to do it all!

-Every time I'm in a room unpacking, I start dreaming up an improvement project for that room. It's a good thing I don't have a lot of extra money or I'd already be knocking down walls. ha!

-Speaking of our house, here's a cute little picture I took when we were moving in. It's not a typical house setup which I totally love. It even has a cute little front gate and courtyard before you get to the front door.

-Twitter is a lifesaver, y'all. I asked yesterday for a photo editing app for Android and Ray J came to the rescue and recommended Photoshop Express. I kinda love it and want to retouch every picture I've ever taken with my phone!

-You know what else I love? Christmas music. You know this. And I just saw today that Ms. Mia Maree is having a Michael Buble Christmas CD giveaway! Awesome huh? Go check it out! :D

-I'm kinda done with work today. I'd much rather be at home enjoying my new casa..

So what's on your mind today?

Just Add Color Fall Swap Reveal & Link Up!

2011-11-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in me and Ashlee's First ever Just Add Color Fall Swap!! I hope everyone loves what their partner got them and I can't wait to do this again next year!

My partner was Marcy of Marcy's Mazing Moments and I really lucked out. She and I have a ton in common and she is seriously SO funny! I had a blast shopping for her and it was fairly easy considering we have similar taste (I even sent her one of the same polishes she sent me!

I received Marcy's package the same day I closed on the house so Thursday was an awesome day! Ronnie said I was more excited about the package. ha!

First off, even the mailing label was cute!

The sweet note she included.

She got me TWO nail polishes! Rimmel's Steel Gray & Essie's Berry Naughty.

Obviously Marcy read this post ;)

Then the scarf...So pretty and silver with a giraffe print on it.

I immediately put it on and I LOVE IT!

I'd say the swap was a success! I am so incredibly happy with the goodies and I hope she's happy with what I got her too!

Now, let's hear about your gift package! Once you post, be sure to link up below.
Happy Monday, ladies!

Oh, also want to add in that I'm linking up today with my pal, Erin (If you haven't heard, she's running for US President in the Blogger Party and I intend to be her VP. More on that another day ;) haha) Go check out her blog!

My favorite of the week is definitely my new Rimmel Steel Gray nail polish from the swap. It's lasted really well since Thursday, I just fixed a couple little chips. LOVE.IT!

(this is after 2 coats and I kinda need to fix it but oh well. it's still so pretty!)

Hey, remember that Fall Swap?

2011-11-18T10:51:00.000-08:00

This is just a reminder that on Monday (the 21st), both Ashlee & I will have a link up posted so that everyone can show off their swap packages! I can hardly wait to share what goodies my swap partner sent me! Some of you may have not received your packages yet but the linky will be open all week for you to add to it. See y'all Monday!!

My favorite Friday yet

2011-11-18T09:34:00.000-08:00

As of 4:30 pm yesterday, I became a HOMEOWNER!!! I couldn't be more excited and I'm fully enjoying the pregnant excuse because while I work today, Ronnie and his best friend are moving our stuff in!! Tomorrow he's going to paint what rooms he can and then Sunday will be our first night in our new house! I am seriously so relieved to have the home buying process OVER AND DONE with! Since Ronnie's still a student, this house is just in my name (but it's still totally OUR house) and it was a stressful time being the only one working out all the numbers and paperwork with the lender, realtor, title company..ugh. It really wore on me but I'm glad to say it's done!! I couldn't have done it without Ronnie by my side either.

To say I look awful in these pictures is an understatement. Seriously. So if you're thinking "Yikes", I'm right there with you. But it was such an exciting day, I could care less! lol

Right after this we went out for a celebratory dinner...Normally I would've said "Margaritas!!" but since that obviously isn't an option right now, we went to our favorite little Mexican joint and pigged out. Funny how being pregnant makes me want breakfast for dinner a lot so I had some migas (a mix of scrambled eggs, cheese and corn tortilla strips) and was happy for the night :)

I'll be posting soon all about the house but for now, I'm going to relax my butt off and enjoy not having to send yet another email or text to my realtor and mortgage lender. They're awesome people and all but I'd like to not talk home buying for a long time, thank you!!

And to all of you who've been such a support throughout this process, THANK YOU!!!! If I could have every one of you over to our house, I would! Having the support of my blog friends definitely helped me keep my eyes on the prize, y'all are the BEST!

Happy Friday :D

I learned my lesson for the day

2011-11-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here feeling really guilty. Guilty because I was in such a shit mood this morning when I shouldn't have been. It all started this morning when I was running late and my sister asked me at the last minute if I could take her to school. The last thing I wanted to do is take a 15 minute detour. I agreed but got pissed when I realized my car was totally on empty. Yet another detour before even dropping her off. Turning into the gas station, I remember to turn the radio to 101.9 just in case they had started playing Christmas music. They started around this time last year so I was excited when sure enough, it was there! I managed to crack a smile and enjoy it for a few minutes...

Until we get to the high school and I see the line of cars waiting to get in. Needless to say when I finally got on my way to work, I had only 10 minutes left to make it on time. That wasn't about to happen with the monstrosity that was morning traffic. So I call Ronnie crying, angry that this was "happening to me". I deserve some sympathy, right? But in the middle of my bitch fest, I get a call from my mortage lender who tells me that even though she said yesterday that my closing might be moved, it looks like I might be able to close today after all! Christmas music and now this? Score!

My mood turned when I finally got to my exit because my stomach's growling and there's no time to stop for breakfast. I'm already late and still have another 7-8 minutes before I get to the office! But driving along, I see a teeny thing moving about 20 feet in front of me. I realize it's a dog so I screech to a halt.. luckily no one was behind me. I call him over to me, so nervous that I might scare him into running into oncoming traffic, but he came right over! I scoop him up into my lap and he immediately kisses me. Melt my heart. I start bawling like a crazy preggo just so relieved that I was able to get him off the road! I immediately call the number on his tag and his owner met me within about 5 minutes. And like that, my bad mood of the morning was GONE.

So lesson of the day? Stop being so angry at all the petty shit! There is always something more positive after the negatives. (and lesson 2: wow, I can get REALLY bitchy.). Sure I was late to work but did that matter? No. I was being a little brat for no reason. There is too much to be grateful for, y'all and don't you forget it! :) Now, enjoy the pictures that I took of that sweet boy this morning. You KNOW I got a photo shoot in within that 5 minutes :)

Fun With Our Phones Monday!

2011-11-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

I love linking up with Savanah for her and Erin's link up!!

If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably already seen a few of these! :)

This weekend was great! We hung out mostly at home and I did some shopping with my mom. We really enjoyed our last weekend living at my parent's house. It's kinda bitersweet that we're leaving back on our own but I'm so excited to close in just 2 days on our house!!

Frasier cuddling with his daddy!

I received my Two Degrees bars from Klout.

They were actually really yummy!

Niles loving on his baby sister.
He didn't feel her kicking though which I would've loved to see his reaction to!

Umm I love food y'all. I'm still drooling over the tomato/mozzarella sandwich

and spinach artichoke dip that my co-worker & I shared the other day..Mmmm..

Our pretty girl that rarely makes an appearance around here.

Probably because she makes mean faces when I try to get a picture. ha!

Went shopping for maternity clothes and laughed at the fake belly they had

in the dressing room. For a 7 month belly, it wasn't all that big!

I had to take this of the local (Helotes) newspaper.

My sister's school play was on their front page (she's the one in pink)!

I spent a lot of the weekend going through paint swatches for the house!

Yesterday! 25 weeks and getting ready to go shopping with my momma!

(Who by the way has not taken down that little Fiesta decoration since April. ha!)

Some of the loot we came back with for baby girl.

And by the way, this was not the intention of our trip! lol.

How was your weekend? I hope y'all have a great MONDAY!! :D

Giveaway WINNER!!

2011-11-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

Thanks again to Tiny Prints for giving me the opportunity to give away 50 Holiday cards to my readers! I wish I could give every one of y'all I prize but since I can't, I had to let Random.org choose the winner:

which would be...

Congratulations, Meg!!

I hope you show off that cute preggo belly on your card! (AND send me one please! haha)

I'll be sending you an e-mail shortly!

Also, if you're part of me and Ashlee's Fall Swap, today is the last day to send out your partner's package! I sent mine this morning and can't wait for my partner, Marcy, to get it. I bargain shopped and got her some extra goodies! ;)

The wedding that was postponed

2011-11-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna get sappy up in here today. Sorry. I'm pregnant. You've been warned.

Many of you may not know this but I started this blog two years ago under a different name, with the intention of it being a wedding planning blog. Things obviously changed and while I have a ton to be grateful for now, I can't help but think that today we would be coming back from our honeymoon. I would be Mrs. Cash. I would still be on a wedding high over our super fun outdoor wedding last Saturday, 11-5-11. It was the perfect date to me and I often prayed the weather would allow for us to be outdoors and as it turns out, the weather was perfect.

It's silly to dwell on this type of thing but being in blog world has introduced me to so many of you wonderful ladies, some of who have had gorgeous weddings recently or are getting married soon and it's a reminder that I would've been part of that Fall wedding club too. But I know the reasons why our wedding was postponed and I'm actually grateful we postponed it or else we'd be in a stressful situation right now. AND I'd be getting married 6 months pregnant. Not drinking at my own wedding? Um no. That was my entire reason for having a huge blow out. ha!

So now that the wedding date and honeymoon dates are behind us, it gives me the opportunity to have a new focus on what life is like NOW. And my life right now makes me ridiculously happy. We're still happily in love, we're buying a house and we get a baby girl soon. I do believe everything happens for a reason. (Maybe that reason was to give me a built in little flower girl since I could never decide on one? ;) I can also say I'm grateful that I got my perfect proposal back in 2009 and at least got to go through the craziness of wedding planning for a bit. But things are perfect as is and I know our wedding will come at a much better time!

P.S. If you're signed up for me and Ashlee's Fall swap, the package deadline has been pushed to Monday since the Post Office is closed for Veteran's Day. So don't stress, you still have time! :)

Thankful Thursday

2011-11-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

I've seen this topic floating around in blog world but is there an actual link up for it? Who knows. I'm gonna talk about it anyway!

Today...and pretty much ALWAYS...I am thankful for MY FAMILY.

Ronnie. He is my rock and my best friend. He makes me laugh like no other and I hope our daughter gets his goofy personality. I truly can't imagine my life without him!

Baby Girl. I'm already so in love with her and we feel even more like a family knowing she's on her way :)

Frasier, Niles & Sibley, our first babies. I cried this morning on the way to work (yeah I'm pregnant, remember?) just thinking about them not being around one day. I know pets are only here a short time so I cherish every single moment with them and every single slobbery kiss.

My parentals. They may drive me crazy sometimes but they are good hearted people who always put family first. Without them allowing us and our animals to take over their house for a few months, we wouldn't have been able to buy a house so soon!

My siblings. Again, our parents drive us crazy sometimes so what's better than having these people to lean on, right? :) I would pretty much do anything for these two.

I won't post all of their pictures of Ronnie's family (because there's so many in his immediate family!) but I'm always grateful for them. They've welcomed me into their family from day one. No drama, no questions asked. They've been extra supportive during this house buying experience and I love them for that!

I'm sure for most it's a given that you're thankful for your family but sometimes you just need a reminder to tell them just how much you love them! We're moving out of my parent's house next week and while I'm excited to get into our OWN house, I'm a little sad over not being able to hang out with them every day. Some days it was too much and some days it was just what I needed. I'll forever be grateful for all of these crazy people in my life!!

Don't forget to enter my Tiny Prints Christmas card giveaway! It closes on Sunday!

And if you joined our Fall Swap, tomorrow's the deadline for sending out your partner's package!

Have a great Thursday :)

Christmas Card GIVEAWAY!!

2011-11-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Y'all have no idea how much I love Christmas AND Christmas cards...so I'm SUPER excited that Tiny Prints has offered to give away 50 Holiday Cards to one of my readers! The winner will get to choose from any of the cards found here - there's over 400 choices!

I posted last week about the Tiny Print cards we're going to use this year and I think I've narrowed it down to these two:

Super cute, huh?

Now, there's 6 ways to enter!

(Please leave 1 seperate comment for each entry)

-Follow my blog (1 Entry)

-Tell me which design you would choose from here (1 Entry)

-Follow me on Twitter @jeyreycupcake (1 Entry)

-Tweet about the giveaway (and include me!) (1 Entry)

-Follow @TinyPrints on Twitter (1 Entry)

-Like Tiny Prints on Facebook (1 Entry)

The giveaway will close at midnight this Sunday, November 13th
and the winner will be announced Monday morning!

Also, my friend Meg. O is also holding the same giveaway!
Go enter hers for another shot at winning!

Good luck! :D

P.S. Be sure to check out Tiny Print's Facebook page TOMORROW Nov. 9th for directions on how to get a Free card from Santa sent to your kiddo! That's perfect for your babe or for a niece or nephew! The promotion is good tomorrow only until 11:59 pm PT.

Fun With Our Phones Monday!

2011-11-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!I hope y'all had a great weekend :)

Linking up again with Savanah today for:

Thanks to Klout, I got my Moo MiniCards last week and they really are teeny tiny!

Sent this to a friend to whine about how my view is now blocked by a half wall
and a desk for the new person they haven't even hired yet! GRRR.

My Frasier boy loooves him some Aunt Jeena. He's always with her :)

Liking my new nail color (I NEVER use dark colors!).

Zoya - Yara

Saw this at Earl of Sandwich the other day and it looked yummy then..

Today it makes me wanna gag. ha! #preggoproblems

My belly while sitting at work the other day. The girl is getting bigger!

(And yes, I do take my shoes off as soon as I get to work. ha!)

That same day, I took a self protrait because I never do those anymore.

Don't mind the boobage. Yet another one of my #preggoproblems.

Great things going on this week!

Best of all, today's our final walk through at the house! :D

If you entered our Fall Swap, the deadline to ship out your partner's package
is this Friday, Nov. 11th!

If you have any questions, please let me or Ashlee know!!

Have a great day, girlies!

Getting Crafty in November

2011-11-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

All day yesterday I thought it was Friday. I was ancy with excitement all day for some unknown reason, like a kid the day before she's going on a field trip. ha! (Tell me I'm not the only one who used to get THAT excited about them!?). Ok I'm a weirdo. But since it is now actually Friday, whoop whoop! Work's been sooo slow (allowing for some Pinterest time. Shhh!) and baby girl's been kicking like crazy so there's lots to be happy about!

Speaking of happy, we close on our house and move in just TWO WEEKS! So to start me on my way to being Suzy Homemaker (maybe), I started a list of crafty and yummy goals I want to tackle once we get into our house. For those who don't know this, I am the least crafty person you will ever meet. Oh yeah, I don't know how to cook either. I blame it on being a perfectionist - if there's even a chance at messing something up like in crafts or with cooking, I tend to shy away from it. Like that shirt I made for Halloween? That about killed me. I couldn't get it perfect and nearly lost my shit a few times. Silly, no? But I intend to change my ways, especially now that I'm going to be a homeowner. And a mom too!

(Guess where I got all my ideas? DUH.)

Here's the to-do list for November!

Source: leslieashe.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

It's just rolled up gift wrap! Hello! I have tons of that. Easy peasy.

Source: sugarandcharm.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I've always wanted a ton of colorful vases so I'm loving the idea of just making them,
especially some pretty red and bright green ones!

Source: skinnytaste.ziplist.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I am craving this LIKE WHOA. Skinny chicken and tomato pasta.
Not Christmas-ey in any way but it looks damn good.

Source: jengrantmorris.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I most certainly will sacrifice my hot bod and eat tons of
Pringles just to get some cute Christmas gift packaging!
(Oh yeah, I'll bake cookies to put in those bad boys too!)

Source: imgfave.com via Jessica on Pinterest

If it has twinkle lights, it has my name written all over it!
I fully intend to hang up our Christmas cards like this.
(Speaking of which, wanna exchange cards this year? E-mail me!)

Source: timeforalittlesomething.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Ice cream? In an apple? With caramel topping?
This is happening.

That's all for now! I'm sure this list is child's play for most of y'all but seriously, these are big steps for me! I can hardly freaking wait to be back in our own place so I can get started and finally have some peace and quiet...until the baby gets here at least ;)

Enjoy your weekend, pretties! And if you have any more easy-ish ideas or recipes for me, go on and share!

Christmas Card Mode

2011-11-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Now that we're in November, it's acceptable that I start talking about Christmas, right?

I'm glad you think so because it's been on my mind for MONTHS now! :)

This year I'm extra excited about sending out Christmas cards! Not because I'm exactly thrilled about taking pictures with extra preggo weight but I know it really is a special year for us and I want to share that with our family and friends! This will also be our last Christmas card sans kiddo! :p
Ronnie and I sent out our first Christmas card together when we got engaged in 2009. Seriously one of my first thoughts when we got engaged (not even about the wedding planning!) was that we HAD to send out a Christmas card! ha! I chose Tiny Prints because they had such a wide variety of choices and were super affordable! This was our card in 2009:

(sorry for the awful picture, I took it with my phone. lol!)

The colors and the quality of the entire card was so great, we got tons of compliments that year! Then for 2010, I was lazy and had last minute cards made elsewhere. They were cute but not the same quality as Tiny Prints. So this year, I'm going back! I'm even thinking about getting some festive address labels too! SO cute!

These are my favorite cards this year in order starting from the top.

(They even have the matching print on the back which I love!)

I'd really appreciate your vote because I know I'll have a hard time deciding!

#5

Thanks for your help, ladies!

And if you're sending out cards this year, check out Tiny Prints for sure!

and then be sure to send me one, ok? ;)

Disclosure: In exchange for writing this post, Tiny Prints has offered me 50 Christmas Cards.

Last night...

2011-11-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

was a total bust, let me tell you.

I decided last minute to make my preggo skeleton shirt (Shout out to Pinterest!) so I spent all Sunday afternoon/evening working on it. It was then when I realized why I never ever do crafts. But amidst the stress, I did have a blast spending time with my mom who helped me and also made her own skeleton shirt (her group at work happened to be dressing up as skeletons!).

But before you assume I'm just being whiney, let me tell you, I've been really sick since last Thursday. I'm not sure what sudden hormonal change I had (you never can tell in pregnancy I guess) but my stomach has taken a turn and is sour just about 24/7 now. I'm in pain every time I eat! For someone who had no morning sickness in the beginning whatsoever, this is a completely unwelcome surprise at 23 weeks! But I kept on truckin', made my shirt and hoped that I'd feel better by Halloween.

I didn't.

So my shirt got worn to Target to pick up some Mylanta (doctor ordered)

Through the Jack in the Box drive thru (Ronnie wanted their tacos..
which I normally love but even the smell made me sick).

We went back to my parents' who were giving out candy but it ended up being nothing but teenage trick-or-treaters. Lame! Then poor Ronnie had to deal with me being a bitchy sick mess until his night got cut short because he had to study for a test he had this morning. But through all of it, he was a sweetheart and made sure we got some smiley pictures to show baby girl what "fun" we had on our last Halloween as non parentals. ha!

In case you're reading this, honey - I love you!
I couldn't have made it through Halloween without you :)

I hope y'all had a super fun Halloween!!

I'm just happy to finally be in November...Now my favorite time of year begins!!

Announcing your Fall Swap Partners!

2011-10-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!

I'm so excited that today's the day we announce partners for our first ever Fall Swap!

Thank you again for participating, Ashlee & I are so excited about the turn out!

So how did I match everyone up?

I literally put your names into a bowl and pulled out two at a time.

Old school but it worked! :p

Go ahead and find your partner below then get in touch to start learning about their style and favorite colors, aything to help you shop for the perfect fall scarf and nail polish for them! Then get to shopping! :)

(If you need any inspiration, check out my post from Friday!)

Lindsay - Erin

Victoria - Ashley

Jess - Ainslee

Holly - Cami

Celia - Elizabeth

Sarah - Gina

Vicki - Ashleigh

Ciara - Suze

Jinny - Mariah

Olivia - Christina

Jenna - Mrs. Kee

Nikki - Jamie

Michaela - Mia Maree

Bri - Meg O.

Michelle - Camille

Aurora - Jenn (Critical Crass)

Savanah - Jenn (West Sac Honey)

Kristen - Jennifer (Perfectly Imperfect)

Ashlee - Amber

Jessica Renee (me!) - Marcy

Your spending limit is a maximum of $20. This amount includes the cost of both the scarf and a bottle of nail polish (but not shipping).

The deadline to ship out your package will be Friday, Nov. 11th. (We know stuff happens though so be sure to let us and your partner know asap if you’re gonna be a little late!)

Hopefully everyone will have received their packages by Monday, Nov. 21st so we’ll be hosting link ups on both of our blogs that day so that you can post about the great package you received!

If you need any help getting in touch with your partner, please let me or Ashlee know!

Fall Swap Ideas!

2011-10-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

I thought we would never get here but it is finally Friday. Halleluyer!

Today is the last day you can sign up for me & Ashlee's Just Add Color Fall Swap! (I know, incorrect grammar. Sue me.) I haven't checked the numbers yet today but at last count we were almost at 50 people to match up for this swap! We're so grateful to those who have signed up and if you haven't yet...Sign up here! :)

The Fall Swap inludes both a scarf AND nail polish! So here are a few of my current favorites, hopefully you can get some great ideas! And they're totally within the $20 budget!

Jagged Pattern Scarf

Forever 21 - $10.80

Alexander Del Rossa Brown Leopard Fringed Scarf

Overstock.com - $12.02

Merona® Bamboo Fiber Woven Print - Teal

Target - $12.99

Ruched Metallic Gauze Scarf

Old Navy - $16.94

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - "Fairy Teal"

Ulta - $3.99

Rimmel Lasting Finish - "Steel Grey"

CVS - $3.99

Essie - "Berry Naughty"

Target - $7.79

Sephora by O.P.I. - "Looks Like Rain Dear"

Sephora - $8.00

Obviously you can get these things at any store you'd like but I hope you got some fun ideas!

Check back Monday for your partners in the swap!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2011-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Jamie which I haven't done in forever!

I'm loving that I got to hear my baby gir's heartbeat this morning! Best.sound.ever <3

I'm loving how much I can feel her kicks now too!

I'm loving that we're closing on our first house exactly 3 weeks from today!

I'm loving that we're getting a "cold" front in tomorrow so our highs should only be in the upper 60s.
Finally some perfect Fall weather (even if it is short lived)!

I'm loving all my blog friends who chat with me on Twitter all day.
It really makes my day, girls - thanks!

I'm loving that Christmas is just 2 months away. I can't freaking wait to put this up:

and to wear these silly things :)

I'm super loving that Ashlee & I have had such a great response to our Fall Swap!
If you haven't signed up yet, sign up's open until this Friday!

I'm loving my fiance as always.
Any man who can put up with a hormonal wreck like me AND remain a sweetheart, deserves a medal!

Seriously, y'all - life couldn't get any better right now...I'm SO thankful!

Have a great day!

First Annual Just Add Color Fall Swap!

2011-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited to announce the first ever "Just Add Color Fall Swap" that Ashlee of On the Front Porch and I have put together for y'all!

I hope you're ready for coziness because this swap is all about Fall scarves and nail polish! With Fall in full effect (even down here in TX!), this is your perfect opportunity to stock up on a couple of fabulous Fall accessories ;)
So basically if you love fall, shopping and making new friends, this is the swap for you! Read below to get the scoop and join in! Spread the word to your friends too because it's true what they say - the more, the merrier!!

Please leave a comment below if you would like to participate! (You only have to leave one comment, either here or on Ashlee’s blog post). Include your e-mail, blog url and Twitter account (if you’re a Twitter addict like us!) The deadline to sign up is this Friday, Oct. 28.
Ashlee and I will set everyone up with a partner over the weekend and announce the partners on both of our blogs next Monday, Halloween Day!
Once we assign you a partner, please contact her and get to know her style, favorite color, etc. We’d love for you to find a new friend through this so start following your partner's blog too!
Your spending limit is a maximum of $20. This amount includes the cost of both the scarf and a bottle of nail polish (but not shipping). You can find some really great deals on scarves right now so have fun shopping around! Also, I personally recommend shipping through USPS because they always have the lowest rates!
The deadline to ship out your package will be Friday, Nov. 11th. We’ll host a link up a week later for everyone to show off their loot so please try and stick to this deadline! (We know stuff happens though so be sure to let us and your partner know asap if you’re gonna be a little late!)
Hopefully everyone will have received their packages by Monday, Nov. 21st so we’ll be hosting link ups on both of our blogs that day so that you can post about the great package you received and the rest of us can be introduced to some new bloggers!

Go ahead and join in, you know you wanna ;)

Fun with our Phones Monday!

2011-10-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, pretties! I'm linking up again with Savanah for...

my bebe boys!! <3

(if you look closely, there's a wiener girl butt in the background. my mom's dog. ha!)

my friend brought me chocolate turtles last week...SO good!

his family owns a chocolate company!! how awesome right?!

I swear there was nearly 20 pieces in that box but this is

what I found this morning..I think Ronnie may have a problem.

Hello, Christmas at Lowe's!!
I don't even care that Halloween's not here yet, I looove the holidays!

Some onesies I bought for my girl.. I can't wait to see her chunky butt in them!

(I had to get the aunt one for my sis, she's soooo excited :)

Speaking of my sis, she had a party this weekend so my mom's house is
now full of cupcakes, cookies and candy leftovers. Not good for the preggo.

(This is only one of many plates!)

Ronnie's sweet dad took us out for breakfast yesterday morning.

His stepmom was sick but sent me this belated bday gift.

I can't wait to light those pumpkin spice bad boys at our new house!!

My silly father went and dislocated his ankle and had to have surgery yesterday :(

Keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery please!

My latest addiction...unsweet peach tea from Sonic!
I'm being good and having just one every couple weeks so I don't overdo the caffeine!

And this is what I found at my desk this morning!!

It's good to have a co-worker who wants to pass down all her baby girl's clothes!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND DON'T FORGET!!

Ashee (On the Front Porch Looking in) and & I are hosting our first ever Fall Swap tomorrow! If you're a fan of scarves and nail polish, you won't want to miss this! ;)

Twofer Friday!

2011-10-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, ghouls! (Get it, because it's almost Halloween?) :p

Today has magically turned out to be an Ashlee kinda day because I'm sharing an award she gave me and then I'm copying her recent ABC's post. Go check her out at On The Front Porch Looking In - she's a sweet Nebraskan girl and we bonded over working in the same field (Go, PR Girls!) and have been blog buds ever since!

Introducing her today is also pretty perfect because Ashlee & I are joining up for something REALLY fun and perfect for Fall! Tune in next Tuesday for the news!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Ashlee for The Liebster blog award! It's given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word meaning dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:
1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too!

Here are my 5:

1. Courtney with Court on the Coghills. She is one of my newest preggo buddies and I've learned a lot just by reading about her pregnancy journey. She is the sweetest and is busy preparing for her first baby (a girl!) due in December!

2. Elizabeth with The Life of David, Elizabeth & Peyton. She is one of my first ever blog buddies and we get along so well, I wish we lived closer. Her stories about daily life with her boyfriend and adorable pup are my favorite and always get me laughing!

3. Elizabeth with This Little Blog of Mine. She's another furbaby momma and loves to shop too, what's not to love? I can tell she's a girl with a good heart :) Go show her some love!

4. Camille with From Texas, With Love. I love finding other Texans and love her blog name so much! She's a lot of fun and is also a strong lady, handling a long distance relationship like a champ!

5. Dana with Exploring the Unknown. I'm so glad I stumbled on her blog a few months ago, she is seriously the kindest person! She posts about her fun adventures with her hubby and friends in their new city of Nashville, her crazy cute cat and working as a teacher.

Go check these ladies out, you won't be dissapointed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now onto the ABC's :)

A. AREA CODE: 210

B. BED SIZE: Queen

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Cleaning bathrooms and putting laundry away.

D. DOG'S NAME: Niles & Frasier, the wiener boys :)

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Hitting snooze so I can lay in bed catching up on e-mails, Twitter and Facebook!

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Teal

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver but gold accessories are starting to grow on me!

H. HEIGHT: 5'3"

I: INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: Grew up playing the flute...Not sure I could handle it now. ha

J. JOB: Manager of Communications and Public Relations

K. KIDS: For now, 2 dogs + 1 cat...Real life kiddo comes in February!

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Currently living with my parents...Closing on our (new to us) house on Nov. 16th!

M. MOM'S NAME: Linda (we call her Lindee though :)

N. NICKNAME: Jess, mostly. Family still calls me Jekka and GiGi (my siblings' nicknames for me when they were little)

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Only one time, for my thryoid surgery.

P. PET PEEVE: People who smack/crunch their food loudly. AAGH!

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: from one of my all-time faves, Steel Magnolias:
"I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: I'm the oldest of 3. My brother David is 25, my sister Jeena is 17

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: 6:45 but I hit snooze for about 15 minutes :)

U. UNDERWEAR: I love my boy shorts!

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Brussell sprouts.

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: Blow drying then flat ironing my hair takes FOREVER.

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: A bunch of my thyroid, some of my ankle when I broke it in a car accident and tons of dental ones :p

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: I'm really good at making toast, cheesy eggs and getting better at pancakes and waffles. The rest is up to Ronnie!

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Monkeys and giraffes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a great weekend, pretties!

I hope Mariah and Leeann can forgive me.*

2011-10-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

*No I don't mean Mariah Carey or Leeann Rimes. I'm talking about way more awesome real life ladies.

To start off, let me introduce myself. My name's Jessica and I'm probably the worst person/blogger ever. Let me tell you why.

Last month, I signed up to participate in Leeann's blog swap at Join The Gossip. I got paired up with the sweet Mariah at Mind of Mister and was so excited to get started! I had so much fun shopping for the goodies and then finally sent them off to California!

What I totally forgot about was that by the time her package would make it to my house, I would be 2 days into my 2 week work trip. Crap.

So I had to have Ronnie open the package and text me a picture. Of course, he didn't care to take the greatest picture because he didn't get what a big deal this was. Hello, I needed to blog about it! He sent me the picture (you'll see it below) and I was so excited about all the fun things she had sent!

Here's the bad part. By the time I got home, I was so freaking wiped that I totally forgot to blog about it. So here I am, a month later, finally blogging it. I feel horrible :( I hope Mariah and Leeann can forgive me. Do me a favor and please check out their blogs if you're not already following them!! They're great girls!

First off, here's the adorable notecard Mariah included listing all the items she sent me:

She doesn't even know me but it's like she KNOWS ME. Crazy.

Awesome chapstick, Cadbury chocolate, nail polish (baby colors!), MY FAVORITE MASCARA EVER and a Starbuck's gift card?!

Oh yeah, DOG TREATS too!!

Just going over the stuff again makes me feel even worse that I didn't post this on time.

(here's the crappy pic Ronnie took. He didn't even set this shiz up!)

So please, please swing by and tell Mariah hi!!

And tell her I'm not usually this awful.

The guilt made me do it.

2011-10-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

I woke up today feeling SO guilty that I'm not one of those overly cutesy preggos who's excited to take a weekly belly shot. Because let's face it, I started off plus size and I'm only getting.. plus-sier. And that's mostly in the boobage and arm area because happy joy for me, that is where I always gain weight.

But don't get me wrong or think I'm just complaining because I'm excited as hell to BE pregnant and to be getting a precious baby girl at the end of this. This pregnancy has been super easy so far. I can deal with the constant lower back pain and the suddenly uncomfortable sleep, I'm just being a typical girl stressed about her weight. But whatever, this is me and all my belly glory this morning! I know it will be nice to have these pictures one day :)

(Every day's casual day at work soooo...don't judge. Oh yeah, no makeup either. ha!)

20 weeks, baby!

Oh and guess what? Remember how I mentioned we were looking for a house to rent? Well, it turns out I qualified to BUY a freaking house. With us living on just my income while Ronnie's in school, I didn't think buying wouldn't happen for another few years. But apparently it can happen now and I'm sooo excited! This is just the perfect step to make before baby V. comes along! So now, we're getting down to business and looking at houses this Saturday! I know it will be stressful but I hope everything works out as planned. Wish us luck!

Happy Wednesday, lovelies :)

Fun With My Phone!

2011-10-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!! I am so bummed that I'm not off work today but at least there's an upside to working while everyone else is off - no morning traffic! My morning commute totally got cut in half. Halleluyer!

So I've been thinking lately that I want to stay away from doing tons of links up but this is one of my new favorites so I have to do it! It's fun sharing my random phone pics with y'all :)

Check out Savanah's blog and link up!

Our sister-in-law made this freaking adorable quilt for baby girl!
She and Ronnie's brother are dachshund freaks too so it's PERFECT <3

My little sis went to her high school's homecoming last weekend and she was PRECIOUS.
Totally different kinda dress than we wore back in the day! :p

There's a Starbucks going up right next door to my office building and I am dying
for it to open! Supposedly it's just another 2-3 weeks. AAGH!

Since there's no baby yet to test out the baby goodies, we used our fur baby, Frasier.
Who actually LOVED being carried around! ha!

Frasier also has been loving cuddling up near his baby sister <3

One of my biggest cravings, Passion Iced Tea. I get it with half the sweetener
and for you preggos, it's herbal so it's caffeine free!

Taken just this morning, my two weiners and my mom's weiner. ha!

Have a great week, you guys! :)

Where Have I Been?!

2011-10-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

I hate hate hate taking such long blog breaks. But this hasn't been by choice, friends.

My ginormous work event has finally come and gone and I can breathe a sigh of relief...until we start planning the next (smaller, thankfully) event in a couple months. So here's a random list of what's been going on around these parts!

-We've started looking for our new place. We're grateful to my parents for letting us stay with them but 2 1/2 months is long enough. We thought we'd last until January but I don't think we can. We want to spend as much time as possible together ALONE before bebe and really, I'd just like my own space again dammit!

-But you know what, house hunting sucks. We're only renting (until Ronnie finishes school) so we want to be picky but really can't be, ya know? It's not our forever or even 5 year house so I know I just have to accept what's good for us right now.

-If you're my Twitter friend, you already saw this pic..but let me just say again, I am OBSESSED with my Erin Condren planner. This planner just makes me want to be extra organized! It's kinda huge but I love it anyway and I catch myself desperate to make any sorta plan so I can write it in. ha! #loser

-Spending nearly 2 weeks in Louisville really messed with my allergies. I'm still not over the stuffiness and today, I started with a weezy cough and chest pain. Please lord, I cannot get sick.

-Besides feeling yucky, I'm just glad the weather has cooled down some. It's feeling very much like a Texas fall and I am loving it!! Let's just hope it sticks around.

-I turned 29! And it was a lousy birthday to say the least. I flew out on my birthday and then had to celebrate that night with my annoying co-workers. ha! But no biggie, there'll be more to come. Especially since next year, we'll have a little 7 month old hanging out with us :)

-And speaking of that baby....guess what? ..................

61% of you were right...It's a GIRL!!!!! :D

She actually cooperated and showed "herself" the weekend before I left for my trip (I paid for a private ultrasound outside the doctor's office because I'm that impatient) and then the doctor's office confirmed it last week. I was in shock at first but I should've trusted my initial instinct - I've always known it was a girl <3

Baby V. Cash is so loved and already has some cute outfits waiting for her!

(sorry for crappy quality but you get the idea!)

So that's about it! Bear with me while I catch up on reading my 1000+ undread blog posts.

I hope all of you are doing wonderful and I'm sooo looking forward to getting back into the blogging groove! Happy Monday, y'all!

Well, hello there!

2011-09-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am still VERY much alive :) and have very much missed all of you!

However I am VERY much sucked up in my work lately.

The event we work on all year is coming up in just 3 weeks so not only are things crazy in the office, things are crazy at home too. I'll be out of town for this event for almost 2 weeks so I'm trying to make sure September end-of-the-month bills are taken care of (or I WILL forget to pay them when I'm out of town), I'm trying to shop for some new clothes (all the while wondering "Will my belly be much bigger in 3 weeks?!) and most of all trying to make sure I don't freak out too much.

So yeah, it's been hectic. I'm tired and pass out my 9:30 pm and my lower back hurts constantly but other than that, I still feel pretty damn good :)

And we can't forget bebe who is also doing great! I got to hear his/her super fast heartbeat yesterday morning and it was seriously the best sound I've ever heard! Oh yeah and the stressed out fiance of mine is doing well too, adjusting to his overloaded school schedule while still trying to deal with living with my family. It's not easy but we're grateful to them for letting us and the animals take over their house for a few months :)

Now...bad picture time.

This was taken late last night (in bad lighting too) and ignore the shadow that makes it look like I have a huge belly button (I don't). Just see the bottom part that puffs a little. That would be the bit of belly I'm starting to see lately. Besides my pre-baby puff belly of course :p I tried taking side shots but honestly, my face looked too fat every time I did that angle and I'm so not ready to publish that kind of scary just yet! ha! Other than my waist expanding a bit, the most growth I've seen is in my boobs. (yay.) I have plenty to share if anyone's interested!

I set my next bebe appointment for 9/28, the day right after I get back in town. We should be able to find out then if we can call this baby "S" or "V" :) (By the way, I changed our girl's name ;)

and by the way, I added one of those Boy Or Girl? polls on the right columb. I think it's fun to guess! :)

I hope you all are doing FABULOUS. I'll see y'all soon!

Fun With My Phone!

2011-08-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up again with Savanah today!!

I'm so out of the blogging loop lately (more on why, in another post) but I have a feeling it will continue this way for another few months :/ So for now, not much to talk about so here are the pics I've taken the last week! :)

Prissy little Sibley

my yumMAY steak from Salt Grass the other night.
I die for their garlic mashed potatoes.

My perty baby sis outside the Vera store an hour before open...

all for a flipping free shirt! :p

my snuggly boy, Frasier

more meat! We had some (decent) bbq at Stubb's in Austin over the weekend.

The random grocery cart now in our office.

My co-worker brought it in today and said he's preparing for being homeless. ha!

(Maybe this is his way of hinting for a raise? :p)

Got my first baby card from a co-worker last week.

It's nice someone actually cares around this place ;)

Speaking of the bebe...I'm now at 13 weeks!

I can't believe how quickly the baby is growing and I can't wait for my next appointment, next week. No sonogram or anything but I just like to know everything is still going well!

hope you're all having a great Monday! :D

Oh How Pinteresting - The Yummy Edition

2011-08-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday, lovelies!!!

I'm linking up with Michelle today, one of my fave link ups ever! I tried linking up two weeks ago and it never showed up so I hope Linky likes me today :)

It's no secret, I am pregnant and VERY FREAKING HUNGRY. I wake up and go to sleep with food on the brain and I've been trying hard not to give in to the BAD cravings but who am I to always turn down the baby, right? My craving's are really all over the place so here are the things I'm DYING to make!

And I apologize in advance for making you extra hungry ;)

Source: laurenslatest.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Parmesan & Garlic Linguine

Source: chompingboard.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Basil Cucumber Egg Salad Sandwich

Source: closetcooking.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Pizza Dip

Source: closetcooking.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Source: lifesambrosia.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Creamy Bacon Tomato Avocado Pasta

Source: tarteletteblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Pillow Cheesecake With Salted Butter Caramel Sauce

Source: closetcooking.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Source: whisk-kid.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

I am SO hungry now! ha. Have a good one, y'all!! :)