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It's A...

Sunday, December 28, 2014
Now that the news has had time to settle in, we wanted to announce to you that baby numero dos is a GIRL! A girl! Another girl! Picturing our little family with two little ladies running around is everything I thought it would be and we couldn't be more excited.




Our 20 week ultrasound was scheduled for December 23rd. We decided that we wanted to find out the gender of baby #2 in a more intimate setting, so we opted to have our ultrasound tech write the gender on a piece of paper and place it in an envelope. That night, I made two ornaments (one boy, and one girl) and asked Matt's aunt to place the ornament in a box for us which we would then open Christmas morning. We invited our parents down to find out the gender with us, and tears immediately filled my eyes once I saw the tiny pink ornament sitting in the box.

We didn't find out with Parker, so this was a completely new experience for us. I was annoyingly indecisive about finding out the gender, but ultimately knew that our hands would be extremely full after the baby is born so we'd take the time we had now to design a nursery, pick out a name and all the other fun planning that goes into welcoming a new baby.

Out of all of the perks of having little girls, I am most excited about Parker having a little sister to walk through life with. I grew up with brothers so I never really got to experience a sisterly bond, however I lived vicariously through my friends, all of whom had sisters. I know there will be lots of screaming melt downs over toys, blame games and eventually clothes, but know that having a best friend for life will far outweigh any struggle along the way.

Our Christmas Card!

Thursday, December 18, 2014
This year I can say with confidence that we were definitely on our Christmas game. Years prior we would typically wait a week or two before Christmas to get our tree, finish shopping the week of and rush around to get our Christmas cards out just before the 25th rolled around. This year I was bound and determined to have all of those things finished if not before December, then very soon thereafter. 

Since we didn't have a family photo shoot this year and I thought it was too late in the year to use wedding photos from May, I decided to tackle holiday pictures in the comfort of Parker's nursery (it just so happens that this room always gets the best afternoon light). Although I loved the idea of including a family picture of the three of us, I was sure we'd run out of time. I knew that I wanted to spotlight Parker and her new sibling so I placed a couple of lit trees in the background, threw one of my fave hats on her and went to town. Here are a few of my absolute favorites!








Ultimately we decided upon one of the ultrasound pictures and I am so happy with how they turned out! We used the printing company, Minted for the first time and I think we'll be repeat customers. I love the quality of the cards and fell even more in love with the option of foil pressed lettering! This has been my favorite Christmas card yet, and I'm already imaging the chaos cluttered cuteness of next year's! ;)


Pregnancy Update: 17 Weeks

Wednesday, December 10, 2014


How far along? 17 weeks, 4 days
Total weight gain: 4 lbs. Tracking along at about 1 lb per week
I'm living in: I'm at the stage now where my bump can still comfortably fit into most of my normal clothes, however I've had to resort to the hair tie trick with a some of my jeans a time or two. Otherwise I dip into the hubby's tshirt drawer and throw on my favorite pair of Under Armor leggings.
Bellybutton in or out? I can tell it's starting to making its way out, but remains an innie for now
Sleep: I am sleeping great but have a feeling that I'm going to need to invest in a body pillow soon.
Food urges: Smoothies and big, warm, starchy, carb-y cinnamon raisin bagels!
Food aversions: Aside from ground turkey, nothing really at the moment. My appetite has done a complete 180 this week so I am constantly hungry. 
I really miss: Any sushi roll with spicy tuna. Typically when we get sushi I am limited to shrimp tempura or vegetable rolls, which were cutting it up until I saw an amazing looking roll on Instagram the other day.
Movement: Lots of little squirms this week! We have our ultrasound the week of Christmas so we can't wait to see our little mover and shaker in action then.
Gender prediction: Girl even though I've been having an oddly large amount of boy dreams lately.
Best moment this week? Parker being over the top adorable with my belly! Some nights she will rub it and say things like 'what you doin', baby... what you doin'?' or she'll kiss my belly and say 'I love you, baby.' Melt my heart!
Looking forward to: We're taking Parker to see Santa for the first time this year. Matt and I are both up in the air about how we think she'll handle meeting the big man lately, but we've been prepping her a bit and pointing him out whenever we see him in books or in movies. She seems to be enamored with him and since she's a sucker for old men (true story), I'm feeling optimistic about her encounter! More to come next week...

Our Weekend

Monday, December 8, 2014
Last week proved itself to be one of the longest weeks I've had in a while. It goes without saying that it also made the weekend more than welcomed. We have the majority of our Christmas decorations up in the living room so automatically it's now where we spend most of our time. With candles burning and Elf on in the background, there's just nothing like it. We had a pretty busy day planned for Saturday (which we'll get to in a second) so a low key Friday night at home was just what the doctor ordered.

There's little this girl loves more than her puppies.

Speaking of love, my biggest preggo craving lately has been cinnamon raisin bagels. All last week I craved needed them, so naturally after Parker's gymnastics we made an emergency run to Wegmans to stock up. Of course I'm sure the large tub of cream cheese wasn't necessary, however this craving is serious and I can be held accountable for about a handful of my actions, at best. 


Before things ramped up for the day, I took a timeout to look over prints from our wedding.  Each time I go through them, I am instantly taken back on one the best days of our lives. These two photos are among my favorites as they completely capture all that I love most about the hubs!


That night, my mom and I took Parker to a holiday festival in a nearby town. I haven't been since I was a little girl so it was kind of like going with a fresh set of eyes. It had been 30 degrees and rainy all day, so I packed prepared for the worst. I thought for sure Parker would be all about riding in her stroller down the main street of the festival cozied up with her Sherpa blanket, but as I'm finding out each day, Parker had other plans. She insisted on walking 'like a biggail' which she did for four blocks up and back. 

We set up shop in one of my favorite cafes for dinner and set back out to watch singers, see the lights and do a little bit of shopping. Parker received the most adorable little infinity scarf from my friend's boutique and she couldn't have been any cuter strolling downtown with her little shopping bag.



We got home an hour past Parker's bed time so I was hopeful that she would sleep in. 730 was the best she could do, so the only thing to do at that time is make a small batch of pancakes and prep for a cozy day inside, pajamas, hot chocolate and all. Along the way Parker's maturity level aged 15 years. I'm guessing it was somewhere between her coloring her legs with markers and her constant responses to of 'yes, motherrr' to anything I would ask her. 


We wrapped up the weekend with some bath time and book reading in bed. Spending weekends with Parker and seeing her personality blossom is such a reality check for how time really does fly. I am going to take advantage of the time we have together as our own little team before we add another into the mix. 



Pregnancy Update: 16 Weeks

Wednesday, December 3, 2014


How far along? 16 weeks
Total weight gain: 3 lbs.
I'm living in: A few of my favorite shirts are beginning to fit a little on the awkward side so I picked up a couple of Liz Lange maternity tank tips for layering, that I've heard a couple of ladies raving about. So far they've proven to be one of the best purchases I've made in a while. They're longer in  length but still fit snug so they won't compromise outfits. They're also really soft and comfortable, I find myself grabbing for them more often times than not.
Bellybutton in or out? In for now, but looking different with each day.
Sleep: It's still one of my favorite times of the day. Although I've graduated from the 8/830 time frame, I'm usually exhausted by 930. Baby steps.
Food urges: Salads and Panera's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Food aversions: I still can't stomach soups with lots of chunky ingredients.
I really miss: The gym. So far this week I've woken up headache-free two days in a row (this hasn't happened since the beginning of November!). If they subside for the remainder of the week, I should be able to get back into the swing of things soon.
Movement: Those cute little kicks seemed to have slowed down a bit this week, however every now and then I feel little jabs.
Gender prediction: Hi, Switching Sally here. Changing my guess back to girl!
Best moment this week? Decorating the house for Christmas has done wonders for my mood. Also, I've kind of become obsessed with waking up Parker to find her elf of many names. So far she's named her Cassie, Kayley, and Gross.
Looking forward to: As I've mentioned before, Parker's new big girl room is fully painted. All that is left to do is install the new floors, get curtains, an area rug and some things for a cute little reading corner. I'd love to have everything done by the end of December so that we can do a big reveal on Christmas day. It's an ambitious time frame at best, so we'll see!
 
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