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So... I have an awesome, patient, hardworking, happy-go-lucky, silly, caring, sweet, strong, thoughtful, dedicated husband!!!!  I really do.  This guy gets up before the sun and comes home after it has set nearly every day from work right now being on overtime and I rarely ever even hear a peep out of him about it.  I wouldn't mind if he complained everyday about it either, I'm not marveling at the fact that he doesn't complain about it, I am just so taken aback at his dedication and endless discipline.  He works hard for himself, for me, for our future, and for our growing family at work and then comes home and continues to work most days on various projects around here.  And at the end of his 10 hour workday, he comes home and finds time to put up with me... to be silly with me and to listen to me talk about my day like it's the most interesting thing he's heard all day.  I don't mean to sound like he is a superhero or does more than most husbands out there, but he IS honestly a superhero to me and he is more to me than any other man could be in my eyes.  Tonight, he put together our baby's crib and it just really cemented all these realizations for me.  I mean, it's one thing for him to come home and work hard on dishes or doing heavy lifting around here (things that I am so lucky to have support and help with) but it's an entirely different thing to see him do something so sweet like putting together a crib.  Everyday it becomes more and more of a reality to me the words that his Granny told me... I will never find a better man (or better friend) than him.  Our life is already so different than it was seven months ago, and I didn't see our lives taking this turn so soon, but he has sure coped with it so well and brings me just as much happiness as ever.  And the truth is, I can try and share with you the feelings between the two of us, but the best parts are those moments that no one but me gets to experience.

And the wonderful thing is I know I am not the only one to have such a rockstar for a spouse.  I'm not writing this to make anyone feel like their relationship is any less special or important or to make anyone feel like I have a perfect life, but I am writing this to let Tony and everyone else know that I am blessed with a totally wonderful AND imperfect marriage.  I think it is SO important to sit back and reflect on our blessings rather than the things that frustrate us on a daily basis and it is especially important to let the people in our lives who put up with our crap know how much they mean to us by our actions.  So, for the rest of the holiday season, my ultimate gift to Tony is going to be showing him how much he is loved and appreciated because while I'm sure he is grateful for my kind words, my actions speak much greater than anything I could type on my blog.  That is exactly what he deserves and I hope that once the holidays are over that I am able to continue to show him how much I love him on a regular basis.


After all that, here is the finished product:

It is just beautiful!!!

In other news, I might not be doing much blogging for some time (but of course I'll try to make time for it because it is so therapeutic!) as my sister is coming in town TOMORROW and we'll be busy bee's from now until after the new year!  In the next two and a half weeks we'll be in Chicago, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Memphis, and not to mention all the stops in between!  This is going to be such a fun time for us to be around family and friends that we miss so much -- I hope we can find a way to make these moments stay with us as long as possible.  I hope everyone else is able to do the same this holiday!  Dwell on the things and people that are important to you and let them know it.

Filled to the BRIM with love and gratitude....

Nursery ideas & good deals!

Oh my goodness!  So, I just made a fabulous purchase from Toys/Babies 'R' Us... something that is just a bit overdue but better late than never.  I finally got some kind of tummy/back support!  I just tried it on, put it all together (which was super easy), and walked around for a bit in it and it felt WONDERFUL.  It's kinda like those lazy days at home, if you go all night and part of the afternoon without wearing a bra and then finally get dressed for the day and put on a bra and you feel some sort of immediate relief... definitely like that for your lower back and the ligaments in your tummy if you've been feeling a pull there with your growing belly!  Although I am pretty forgetful these days, I feel like this is one of the best buys I've made since being pregnant.  (But like I said, I easily forget.)  This is the exact one I got from Babies 'R' Us (regular price:  $30.99) for a little over $17 thanks to a $5 coupon & $10 merchandise credit!

I got the medium size which is on the big size with the piece
that goes underneath your belly, but I wanted to err on the side of caution!

Another great buy we recently made was part of a Pre-Black Friday sale going on at Menards in Davenport, Iowa and that would be our baby's CRIB!  Wahoo!!!!!  And let me tell you, it feels VERY good to finally have a crib;  it feels like we can finally bring a child home here and not be completely screwed!  Although I feel like we settled on a style and color that we wouldn't have picked out otherwise and weren't planning on going with, I am still so happy with it because the crib is beautiful and was a great price for us.  We got the Delta Glenwood Crib and it converts into a toddler bed for sometime down the road and it was regularly $139.99 at Menards and after the Black Friday discount it was $69.99!

This is our crib -- but instead of the "cinnamon" color, it is "espresso" aka, a dark wood!

My friend Betsy tipped us off on the good deal thanks to one of her friends who just bought it.  I got Betsy's text about the crib sometime between 7:00 and 7:30 on a Sunday night and flew over the bridge and to Menards with Tony and made it in and back out with our crib before they closed at 8!  (One way to majorly motivate me is to put a good deal under my nose!!!)  They also sell the crib at Target, Kmart, and Sears (and possibly Walmart?)  so I started to look up reviews and according to what parents are saying on Target's website, it is sturdy and a good buy.  I can't wait to put it all together and will feel even better once we find bedding that we like!

I think we are going to try to do somewhat of a animal theme in the nursery as long as I can make it work.  I found a really subtle, gorgeous framed picture of Noah's Ark at Goodwill a while back that I envisioned using in the nursery.  The frame is a really pretty, thick wood and I love everything about it.  My sister, Amanda, also found two framed Disney animal pictures at Goodwill and thought of me and I absolutely love them (minus the matting on the Tarzan picture) -- I've just got to find a way to pull them all together. 

Pictures for the nursery!

I'm thinking about covering the wooden frames from the Disney pictures with different colored/patterned fabric (idea from Pintrest, thanks Jess!) which seems like it'd be a fun and easy project that would make the frames stand out better.

Example from Pintrest!

The colors for the fabric I'm thinking about pulling from all three pictures pictures are green, a brown/red color, tan or off-white, and yellow... so I am hoping to find bedding that will go right along with the theme and color!  Behind the Noah's Ark picture you can see part of our drapes in the nursery which are a tan/gold-ish color... so throw that into the mix too!!!  :)  But I am not worried about finding what we want whatsoever -- actually very excited about it!  We've still got to get a mattress and mattress pad as well, on the practical side of things. 

I suppose that is enough babble about the plans for the nursery!  If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.  I better get some sleep because we are heading out of town for the day tomorrow to visit some family we don't get to see too often to celebrate Thanksgiving some more and I am so excited!!!  :)  This is shaping up to be the best week I've had in a while.  I hope it's been the same for all you guys.

Very blessed and beyond grateful, 

Bits & pieces!

I am still shocked at how fast time has flown by.... it really seems like only yesterday that we found out we were expecting when in reality, we are now over halfway through our first pregnancy!  Equally shocking?  Seeing pictures of myself these days (especially in comparison to my pre-bump self)....

Today we took the first step (of many...) into transforming our guest bedroom into a nursery and it honestly felt great to get the ball rolling.  This involved moving our full bed into storage and trading that in for a daybed with a trundle bed underneath and adding a little white baby dresser!  My aunt and uncle were great enough to help us out with the bed and dresser that weren't getting use in their house.  Next step?  Adding the perfect crib to the ensemble!  So far, out of all the cribs we've looked at in all the various stores, this crib from Target.com is our favorite:

It was $10 off last week, so I'm hoping it goes on sale again sometime soon.  I think that it'll go well with the white dresser we now have - plus it is beautiful and simple.  I thought we would offset the white with black in the room but then we got this bed that is a pretty brown wood and the drapes in the room are a light brown... so it's looking like we'll stick with tan and pull that into the room as well.  This will work out nicely because last year I found a brown comforter at Target on sale for just under $7 that will fit on the bed and will hopefully go well with everything else.

Brown comforter to the right of the picture!

And then, of course, we're gonna throw some pink in the mix for the nursery as well.  I'm starting to get pretty excited now that things are just kinda falling into place and even more excited to really turn it into a nursery!

In other pregnancy-related news, I tried out a prenatal Pilates DVD and I really liked it!  It's called "10 Minute Solution:  Prenatal Pilates" and I started out with the standing Pilates routine and I felt like it had great balance in it -- challenging yet not too difficult for not having worked out for a LONG time.  Now, the REAL challenge will be getting myself to do it for a second time.... I am so lazy these days.  I'm definitely looking for motivation... even though all I have to do is look down at my ever-growing thighs to make me want to get up and be active!  :)

Alright, that's enough for now bloggies!!!  Hope you have a great weekend & FUN Halloweekend!