Letters

via grey likes baby 

Sometimes when we think about it or have time, Brian and I will write letters to our future little one.  We have a small notebook that we keep them in and it's something I hope she'll treasure some day.  Sometimes the Lord gives us a word for her.  When will be the right time to share it with her?  I'm sure we'll know when that day comes.  

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

An Overdue Catch Up

Life has been crazy friends.  Crazy in a bad to good kind of way.  For a while it stressed me out, honestly.  But, after pushing through and handing the worry/stress over to God, I've come to a clearing.  A refreshing, much more full of peace, clearing.  And its oh so good.  

I spent much of January to March studying for an exam (project management professional - pmp).  I let it sort of consume me (my friends would probably remove the "sort of").  I really wanted/thought I needed to pass because I wasn't sure when it would ever be a good time to take again if I failed.  I missed out on a lot of social activities and opportunities to have fun, but... I passed! And now it feels like there's a huge weight off my shoulders.  What I wish I would have realized up front is that the weight didn't have to be on my shoulders in the first place.  But, we live and we learn, right? 

Let's see, what else has happened? I think we're on to the good now.  A few days after the exam, we left for vacation. It was beyond wonderful.  Just what we needed and so refreshing in so many ways.  

We headed to LA, Palm Springs, Dana Point and back up to LA. It was a mini road trip around Southern California. We were so grateful to find affordable plane tickets, and I'm now very grateful for the years I spent traveling at my last job because the hotel points allowed us to stay at some pretty fun places.  It was the perfect excursion before our family of 2 makes it 3. 

 We ate.. a lot :).  Rather than obtain points for checking in, we chose the breakfast voucher and at two of the hotels/resorts, it was so worth it.  Below is B patiently awaiting breakfast at the SLS hotel in LA.  Do you see the arms of the chair? so random...

And my crispy belgian waffle with lots of berries and cream at Norma's at The Parker. One of my favorite restaurants, hands down. ever. 

The decor at the SLS hotel was bazaar and off the wall.  In his search for a restroom, B came across this all white dining room.  The next door over was an all black dining room.

Lunch at Bottega Louie in downtown LA.  The macarons and beignets. Heaven.

Ah, and I can't forget to mention the coffee.  This isn't a picture of coffee, I know. But it is the awesome tiling in the Silver Lake Intelligentsia coffee shop that we frequented far too often.

My true goals for vacation were relaxation, connecting with God and Brian.  The hammocks really helped in accomplishing all these :).

And the spa (I didn't get any services, but we had access to the pools and the relaxation rooms in it.

I'll be back soon (hopefully!) to update you on the baby shower! 

Her Heart

With the slew of sickness going around this time of year, I'm so quick to pray for baby V.'s health.  While I know she's well protected right now, its so easy to think that something I do or come in contact with could damage her.  But, what I'm realizing more and more lately is that there is so much more.  What about her heart? What about her mind? Her future?  Brian and I have taken a different approach lately when praying for her.  Sure, we pray about her health, but more than that we've been praying for many other aspects. What does God have of her in her future life and how can we foster and nurture what she is blessed with?  What about her hopes and dreams? How can we protect her from the harm that will come against her? Prayer.  And of course sound parenting.

Baby V. Nursery: Part 4

You guys want to see some more fun coming along in the nursery? It's almost done.  I know. It's early and a bit unnecessary, but to be honest, having this almost out of the way feels like a relief.  I know there are so many other things that are more important and worthy of causing a little stress (you know, like childcare and balancing work), and I just didn't want this to be one of them.  Now, granted, the nursery has basically no eternal value - you know, other than providing a home for the little babe.  But, the decorations, the paint, the toys? They don't really truly matter - and I get that.  But, it's been fun, and it will be fun to watch her enjoy the things we've curated for her. I'm hopeful that they'll grow with her and get her through many years in a room.

Here are some frames we've put up over her crib.  They are from a Rifle Paper Co. calendar.  We took 6 images out of it that we loved and that sort of matched the color scheme in her room.  Ikea did us a favor by selling us super affordable frames (like $9?), and my sister tirelessly sanded them down so that Brian could spray paint them gold (thanks Sis, I owe you).  For those that are interested in this Ikea hack, I can't recommend sanding enough.  We thought we would just prime them, but it didn't stick.. at all.  They needed to have a rough coat on them to accept the gold spray paint.

Sorry for the glare and the crookedness; hopefully we'll get some good pictures when it's all done.

Here's a few pictures I took through the process.  Oh, and the organization of this project? That's all the husband, not me.  I would have probably spray painted them on the ground. Him? Nope, he made a little ladder-thing for them..

It's a new week!

Mondays.  They can be either dreadful or full of fresh perspective.  We can usually pick which one we'll follow.  Today, I pick fresh perspective.  Blessed with a new week, a week closer to meeting our baby girl.  Closer to some exciting things that are coming up in March (lots of time with friends, baby shower, vacation - ahh).  Hoping this week is productive for all of you and you're able to see it as a fresh, new day.

Joyful, Patient, Faithful

It's almost Valentine's day. A day I used to laugh at because I thought it was either silly or a ploy by the card companies.  But, honestly, nowadays I like it.  This world could use a little more love lately. 

Yesterday I had a rough day.  Nothing went so wrong that I even have a right to complain, but through a compilation of events, I was just downright grumpy.  So grumpy I was even admitting it to people, and had to apologize to someone once.  Now, the person gave me a free pass since I'm "pregnant and hormonal", but honestly I didn't deserve it.  Why was I grumpy? Why was I letting these harsh thoughts come through my mind?  Well, sure part of it might be hormones, but the other part of it is that sometimes its hard to be joyful and patient amidst affliction.  But, the honest truth is: I have so much to be thankful for.  I literally have no reason to complain.  Each day is a new day - in fact, each moment is a new moment where we can start fresh and be joyful, patient and faithful.  So today? Today I am thankful.  So very thankful for the blessings in my life and the opportunity to live another day. 

Baby V. Nursery: Part 3

I have a feeling I'm going to regret ever publicly committing to this stars idea.  Ladies (and gents) I'm stumped!  The stencil idea didn't work - paint bled through the stencil and the sticker stars idea looks like it's just going to be more work than it may be worth.  The sticker idea either means we use a machine like a cricut or cameo and buy a cartridge and contact paper (which could get expensive).  Or we could just cut out the stars ourselves - ha - that would kind of be a nightmare though.  It's probably going to be 150 stars and they are 8 point, so.. probably not going to happen.  Regardless, the ceiling is painted a really pretty champagne and it looks awesome even if we just leave it as is.

Here are baby V.'s current digs right now.  The shades depend on the lighting, but the walls are a very very light pink (we mixed 1 gallon white paint with about 1/3 gallon martha stewart ballet slipper) and the ceiling is martha stewart fledgling.  BV did an awesome job sanding down the ceiling and flattening it.  Can't wait to show you guys the final result.

We also made a fun trip to IKEA this past weekend to pick up a bookcase, curtains, frames and other goodies.  The frames have been a fun project.  Here's a little sneak peak of what we'll end up with: 

Hooray! I can't wait to share more soon! For now, I'm off to the gym to mope away how much weight I've gained since my last midwife appointment (ugh).