Updates and Such

Good morning friends!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with friends and family. I know I sure did! I just love going home and spending time with mine and Brandon's family. We are so lucky to have them. Baby Tate fared really well this Christmas, receiving some adorable clothing and gear for his room (which is coming along nicely by the way!) Brandon has been off work since the 20th so he has been really busy finishing the nursery, our office nook, and helping me keep the house clean :) He is SUCH a great husband. 

                          Showing me his stud-finder ;)                          

 I am officially 29 weeks! I really can't believe it! I am so thankful to have made it to this point in pregnancy. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous around the 26th week mark. One of my best friends went into pre-term labor at this point in her pregnancy and it scared the shit out of me, but her and her baby are doing AMAZINGLY. She's the type of person who can handle stressful situations with such a calm that I do not possess. I will never forgot how serious of a situation that was but more importantly, how well her and her husband got along during it and how easy she made it look. (I know there was a lot I didn't see but honestly I can't imagine anyone else handling it better than her!)  ANYways, I really have no complaints about my pregnancy so far. Every once in awhile my back is super achy, but really that's about it. I feel him kick and squirm around all of the time, especially in the evenings. He starts to really move at about 6:30 or 7:00. Brandon has felt him a lot! 

Remembered to snap a photo when I had on my nice clothes! 

So like I said earlier, Brandon has been super productive during his holiday break and has basically finished Tate's room! All we lack is the furniture :)
 Oh yeah, we also FINALLY decided on a full name....
TATE BRANDON JORDAN! TBJ. I love it :)  

Here is a preview!

 And not only has he been working on the baby room, but also our office/den that got new carpet! 

We got rid of the old black desk and Brandon fashioned our computer to fit into the existing built in book shelves. He took the keyboard slide things off the old desk and added them with some leftover wood to the bottom shelf which he raised up so his legs could fit under. Since we got new closest organizers in Tate's room, he used the wood from the old closet shelves and made the CPU stand. Crafty and efficient that boy sure is! Now all we need is a new floor lamp! Can't wait to browse Craigslist! (If you are wondering what the big square looking thing is to the left of the desk, it's a Murphy Bed!) My guess is that in the future this room will become the guest bedroom/playroom. Moving on!

The last few nights have been so great visiting with friends and their loved ones! I got to visit with Hallie, Annie, and Ariel and spend some quality time with Jack :)

  Brandon made fish and chips for our friends Brad and Junko and we got to love on their adorable baby AJ. She opened her Christmas present and loved the bright and colorful books! 

The weekend ended with more friends visiting. I made Chicken Tortilla Soup (Pioneer Woman's recipe; it was delicious! I got her cookbook for Christmas!) Charlotte came over and brought her new puppy Snoop Dogg. Kenzie and him were BFFs by the end of the night! And my pal Liesel came over with her BF Stephen. It was so fun to see everyone! Having people over makes me so happy!

I wish I had gotten to spend more time with my out of town friends but I was happy to at least visit with them for a little while. Jill, Annie, Ariel, and Douglas: I love y'all more then you know! Thank you for all of Tate's gifts. He can't wait to come visit and meet his Aunts and Uncle :) My emotional self misses y'all all of the time! 

To see more photos of our adventures, including the progression of Tate's room, friends visiting, and house updates, please click here

Peace out my friends!

Winter, Winter, Winter, Time

Has anyone ever noticed that there aren't too many songs about the wintertime that aren't related to Christmas songs? I have two close friends who just LOVE the cold, but it is definitely my LEAST favorite season, bleh......ANYWAYS! We have had SO much going on. I hope it's okay if I share everything though photos :) 

We got a new sectional! It's from Big Lots, and it was a great price! We have been talking about getting a new couch for awhile. Although Brandon's old bachelor pad couches were VERY comfortable and quite lived in, they are so old the frames are broken. The slipcovers helped a bit, but it was really just time for a change. We aren't getting rid of them though! (Brandon would never let that happen!) The loveseat is going in our office/den and the sofa into the garage man-cave. ALSO! We are getting new carpet installed on the 21st for the nursery and office! I am SO super excited because the carpet in both of those rooms is just grody. BONUS! Home Depot installs carpet for $37, literally. So it's fairly affordable!

We also got my old piano moved in, finally! I took lessons for about 10 years, and loved playing this instrument. Although I was never really very good at it, (it helped me for sight reading music while singing; I was in the concert choir at UT my Freshman year!) I am hoping maybe our kids will want to play it. I can still drum out a few fun tunes though :)

I have been spending so much quality time with one of my favorite babies, Jackaroo! He is so sweet! I am so thankful to have him and his mama so close because they are teaching me so much! Hallie isn't scared to let me hold him and feed him, which is so nice, because I am getting so much practice :) 

 

Our new kitten Mr. Grumbles is getting along nicely with our spoiled dog Kenzie! They are both such spoiled little creatures, but we love them so much. Poor Lillian on the on the other hand is not fairing so well. Mr. Grumbles just wants to play, and she just wants to sleep, so it turns into an all out battle. But then SOMETIMES, I see them lying together and she is cleaning him the way she used to clean Simba, I swear it is one of the sweetest things EVER! I love kitties if you can't tell!

 

 

 I have finally started wrapping presents! I decided to use all my gift bags and wrapping paper from last year, and then just use my shopping bags from Publix! (Got the idea from Pinterest) With so much being bought and thrown away, I thought I could play my small part in producing less waste this Christmas season. Being earth-friendly may be a trend, but I'm okay with this trend, because I appreciate the earth and all it does for us! Plus I would love for my kids, and their kids, and even their kids, to enjoy the same earth that I'm enjoying right now :) (Can't do that with trash floating around everywhere now can we?!) 

So I do not have a recent "bump" picture, and this is supposed to suffice for one :) It's one of two baskets and liners I found on CLEARANCE at Restoration Hardware. Of course they were just barely affordable even on clearance (because it's Restoration Hardware) but I just had to have them!...Moving on! I have to admit, I have been lacking in the area of "bump" photos, but I promise to start trying harder! It's just I wear the same thing everyday to work, and it's not the most appealing looking uniform. (i.e. maternity jeans and a long sleeved green t-shirt) soooo I don't dress up that often. Next time I have on some decent clothes I will try to snap a pic! But anywhoo, I am 26 weeks, will be 27 Sunday. Had my latest Nurse Mid-wife appointment this last Monday. All my measurements are normal and the heartbeat sounded good. This coming Monday I go back for the Glucose test. I haven't been craving anything out of the ordinary, but mostly what I really want is either ice-cream or Mexican food. So I have been to Chuy's twice in the past week :) SO GOOD! My back has been super achy lately, especially my lower back, and I think it's because of how I'm sleeping so I may invest in one of those body pillow thingys.....we shall see. But all in all, everything is good! Tate is just a-growin' and I am feeling him move a LOT! He is quite active, especially during the evenings and at night. Let's hope he's not TOO much of a night owl like his dad :) I will leave you with a photo of my Christmas tree :) I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! 

Thank you for reading :)