Sweet Baby Bump - 18 Weeks

The highlights:

- We are 18 weeks and baby girl is the size of a bell pepper. 

- Hungry alllll the time. I can out eat anyone right now. 

- Baby girl officially has a name!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- No specific cravings lately. I just want everything. 

- The nursery is starting to take shape...in my head. : )

- Started our first registry on Amazon. Hello Etsy shops galore. 

- I got asked when I was due for the first time by a stranger yesterday! So fun!

- Still loving everything pink, ruffly and topped off with sparkles and bows. 

We are just thrilled to announce our sweet girl's name:

Emory Grace

We absolutely cannot wait to meet our little angel! I've wanted to name my little girl this exact name for as long as I can remember and after talking and praying about it, we know it's perfect!

PS: Please say a prayer for my husband and father-in-law...they are currently doing search and rescue in and around New Orleans. And pray for all those affected by the weather. Thanks!

Right/Left Game - Gender Reveal Party

I shared our gender reveal party the other day here, but since I got a lot of comments/emails about the actual story that we used I decided to just go ahead and share it on the blog.

Basically it's just a fun little game where everyone stands in a circle with an object (we used bottles from a party store). As you read the story, everyone passes their object right when they hear the word right and left when they hear the word left. I underlined all the right and lefts, just to help. It's more fun when you get a lot of rights and lefts in a row because it gets a little hectic.

This story was written about our relationship, but we used the names Mr and Mrs Wright to incorporate more rights in there. It's all about getting creative and finding ways to add a right or a left! Believe me, you cannot play this game without laughing!

Mrs Wright left Pineville in 2008 and moved to the city of Shreveport. Mrs Wright became a nurse and was hoping to one day meet Mr Wright. One of Mrs Wright’s friends knew the right guy for her to meet, Mr Wright. He had just left from a house fire and decided to meet Mrs Wright at Logan’s, a restaurant that was right down the road from where he had just left. After they left from their first date, they knew that this was right. Mr Wright decided it was time to ask Mrs Wright to be his wife. He drove all around town to find the right ring. He took a couple of left and right turns to get to the right destination. He made the right purchase and left the store. Mr Wright wanted to take Mrs Wright on a romantic getaway. They left as boyfriend and girlfriend and came back engaged. That’s right! Mrs Wright said, YES! Mrs Wright started to plan for the big day. She wanted everything to be just right. Both Mr and Mrs Wright became one on October 2, 2010. They left for Jamaica that night to start this big adventure called marriage. 
In May 2012, Mr and Mrs Wright found out they were expecting! They prayed and thanked God for the right timing. They left all of their worries and concerns behind and trusted in Him. Will Mrs Wright be having a baby girl? Where a bunch of broken hearts will be left? Or will Mrs Wright have a boy that will have all of the girls lined up right outside their front door?

Once we finished reading the story, everyone got to open their bottle and one revealed that we are having a sweet baby girl. Feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding the game!

Sometimes and Always #41

Sometimes: I cannot drag myself out of bed in the mornings anymore. 

Always: I tell my husband I'm just trying to get all my sleep in while I can. 

Sometimes: I feel like I'm carrying baby girl SO high up. 

Always: I really am...guess the old saying is true about carrying girls versus boys. 

Blue high belly = me with a girl. White low belly = my friend with a boy.

Sometimes: I unfollow people who post way too many pictures on Instagram. 

Always: I feel bad about it, but I still do it. Oops. 

Sometimes: I feel so undeserving of the amazing family and friends that we have. 

Always: I remind myself to cherish every moment with them. 

Sometimes: I watch Lifetime all day long, movie after movie. 

Always: I feel like I could kill someone and get away with it now...just saying. ; )

Sometimes: I think I have the prettiest niece in the world. Heart. Breaker. 

Always: I hope our sweet girl is just like her...beautiful inside and out. 

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PS: Baby girl has a NAME!! : ) Who wants to know?? 

Gender Reveal Party

I'm finally getting around to sharing some pictures from the gender reveal party we had a week or so ago. I totally confess that this was one of the most fun nights of my whole life, right up there with our wedding. Just being surrounded by family and friends, hearing all their guesses about the baby and then getting to see their reactions when we announced that we're having a girl was so heartwarming. I wouldn't be lying if I said I couldn't even sleep that night because I just kept replaying scenes from the party in my head. : )

We went with a duck theme and I can only claim two decorations, everything else was done by our aunt. She went completely overboard and it was fabulous. We felt so blessed. 

After much deliberating and Pinterest-searching (and after changing my mind ten times), we decided to do the reveal using a game. Since we already knew the gender, I really wanted everyone else to be actively involved in the reveal. We decided to play the right/left game (see sample here) that we have played before at Christmas a few times. My friend wrote the cutest right/left story about our relationship...from our first date, to getting married, to getting pregnant...that really helped tie it all together. 

We got into a circle and everyone had a pink or a blue bottle (pictured above). As I read the story, they passed it right if they heard the word right and left if they heard the word left. When the story was over, everyone opened their bottle. All of the bottles had a piece of black tissue paper inside...and only one had a piece of pink tissue paper inside. While it certainly doesn't make for quite as cute of pictures as the Pinterest trendy balloon reveal, I can vouch that it was so fun and really got everyone involved. 

Look who attended via Facetime...Michaela!

My sweet hubby surprised me with a gift...a necklace that says baby girl. : )

Update: see the actual gender reveal story that we read here. 

I highly recommend having a gender reveal party...SO SO fun!

Nursery Sneak Peek

I have been SO excited and anxious to find out the gender of our baby so that I could start working on the nursery. In all honesty though, it's a little intimidating to make the first few "big" purchases (like bedding). Of course I had to enlist the help of my design star bestie Michaela. I sent her over a few colors and pictures and BAM...

She sent back the cutest little nursery that I've ever laid eyes on. Swoon. We are (obviously) going with a color scheme of pink, white, navy and gray. I may or may not look at this picture every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. I'm obsessed. I can't wait to turn this picture into real life. It's so much easier to plan and shop when I have this beauty to reference.

Here's a few of my favorite finds:

1. Land of Nod bed sheet and matching curtains

2. Pottery Barn crib skirt

3. Made By Girl LOVE print

4. Ikea Hemnes Dresser + some cute Anthropologie knobs

5. Land of Nod bookshelf & storage bins

6. Ikea Chandelier

I'll definitely keep y'all updated as the nursery progresses. Thanks, Mich, for working your magic! I swear the girl can take any room and turn it into something beautiful. Remember me when you're famous? 

BONUS: Michaela is offering $10 off her design services if you mention this blog post! If you have any room that needs a little design help, she's your girl. 

Sweet Baby Bump - 17 Weeks

The highlights:

- We are having a precious precious baby girl!! : )

- The bump is growing...and it's so high up. 

- We had the best gender reveal party last week, surrounded by family and friends. 

- There's a closet getting filled with pink, bows, dresses and ruffles. 

- Starting to work on the nursery (sneak peek to come tomorrow!). 

- Feeling really really good...so blessed. 

-My emotions are still totally nuts and I cry at everything. 

Starts right under my ribs...so high!

Just for comparison: 8 weeks versus 17 weeks.

Thanks for all of the congratulations and sweet words about our baby girl!

Sometimes and Always #40

Sometimes: I can't believe it's real that we are having a sweet baby girl. 

Always: It's such a blessing from our wonderful Savior!

Sometimes: I think my heart will melt when I picture my hubs with a little baby girl. 

Always: He is the cutest thing ever and super excited. 

Guess who came home with this? Cute little hubby. 

Sometimes: I want ten+ kids so I can use all the cute names that I love. 

Always: I think we will stick with a smaller number. : )

Sometimes: Baby girl clothes are just too stinking cute for words. 

Always: The more pink/ribbons/bows something has, the more I love it!

A few hand-me-downs from my BFF. LOVE!!

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It's A...

We could NOT be more thrilled about having a sweet baby girl! 

Thank you, Jesus! Our hearts are full. 

Sweet Baby Bump - 16 Weeks

The highlights:

- We find out the gender TODAY!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! 

- We are having a little get together Friday night to announce it. 

- Finally finally finally getting over this cold. I can breathe. Yay!

- Did I mention we are finding out the gender today? ; )

That's really all I can think about...we are SO SO excited. 

It seems like most of y'all are leaning towards girl according to the poll on my sidebar. That's what I'm leaning towards, too! Look for a blog announcement on Saturday or Sunday! : )

Blogger's Guilt

Y'all know how it seems like everyone is kinda "tired" of blogging right now or maybe just dragging a little bit, skipping posts here and there (aka me) and just not seeming to be quite on the ball with blogging anymore? Well I just want to say one thing:

Don't apologize for neglecting/being away from your blog!

Life is what matters. Friends and family, kids, eating dinner together, long walks, playing at the park, snuggling on the cough...that stuff matters. And yes, blogging is great and we all love it, but please don't apologize for not posting. There's no need for an apology.

You know what makes a great blog?

Someone out there living life and taking each day and making something beautiful out of it. I love reading blogs from people like that.

So let's just live life and blog when we want to...and stop feeling all of this blogger's guilt.

Love you, friends!

Sometimes and Always #39

Sometimes: It's nice to have a day off from blogging. 

Always: I still want to post the link up for those people linking up.

I have a pretty nasty cold that I can't seem to get rid of (and I'm trying to avoid medication), so today will be spent resting and drinking lots of vitamin C...after I work 10 hours, that is. : )

We're all a little tired around these parts. 

Beau or Bow - Gender Reveal Party

Not OUR gender reveal party. Calm down. : )

My friend Kay had her gender reveal party this past weekend and it was so much fun.

Looks like a balloon release...right? Wrong.

They tricked everyone and dumped out a bunch of colorful balloons for us to pop. There were pieces of paper inside the balloons and one said the gender!

And...it's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to meet that sweet little man...and find out whether our babies will be best friends or a couple. Arranged marriage, maybe? ; ) 

I added a poll on my sidebar under my picture...tell us whether you think sweet baby bunny is a boy or a girl. We find out in 3 days and our party is in 4 days. Woohoo!

PS: I'm sharing five of my favorite things about marriage over here at Pinky's! 

This Week Has Kicked My Butt

I'm just going to go ahead and say this: I was not made to work a Monday-Friday job. 

Five days in a row of work is just not my thing and I respect those who do it so much! This week was a 5-er, and granted three of those have been 12 hour shifts, but still...my butt is sufficiently kicked. 

I'm off Saturday and I most likely will not wake up until 12 pm. And I can't wait. 

A few things making me happy:

Oh, just a BABY CAR SEAT! : ) Is it too early to put it in my car? Just kidding...not really. 

Sweet friends who are pregnant with me! Casey is 23 weeks, I'm 15. 

Fresh highlights. Hello pretty hair. 

One of my BFFs just found out the gender of her baby yesterday and they are having a reveal party tonight. It has been so fun being pregnant with my friend Kay. It's nice to have someone who knows exactly what you are going through! I'll be sharing pics on instagram (@mackeymadness). 

And if you'd like to read one of my most embarrassing moments, go here. But don't laugh at me. 

Sweet Baby Bump - 15 Weeks

The highlights:

- One week until we find out if there's a boy or a girl in there. One week!

- Baby is currently the size of an orange. Makes me hungry. 

- We have started cleaning out the spare/office/man room for the baby. 

- My biggest symptom these days is a stuffy nose. All. the. time. 

- I'm getting highlights today. Fiiiiiinally. 

- Craving "real" food, not sweets. 

- Baby can hear this week! We may have started talking, singing and praying out loud. : )

Overall we are just feeling SO SO blessed to have this sweet baby growing and developing. We want to raise this child to love the Lord and love people.