Growing Two: 29 weeks

Just wanted to jot down some thoughts from where I stand at week 29 of pregnancy. A random week to do so, but here I am. So much is going on lately! And mostly good things. The days are going slow but the weeks are going by fast, and I can only imagine that the pace will pick up as we're right on the cusp of the holiday season.

Growing Two: 18 week update

I haven't been great at documenting this first pregnancy. I'm not really sure why. I mean, we are SO excited and thrilled about this adventure. We waited for what felt like so long, and now we've been blessed with two babies to love! We are overjoyed to say the least. So here's my attempt to catch up!

10 weeks - notice sleeping Cooper in the background!

We have news!

You may have already seen this on social media, but in case you missed it...

We are over the moon excited and feeling so thankful for these gifts from God. I am so thankful for each and every one of your prayers. It is amazing to have people congratulate us and tell us they have been praying for us all of this time. Praise God for His perfect timing! This is better than we could have ever pictured!

Etsy faves: Baby Edition

I don't know about you, but it seems like every time I turn around, someone's pregnant (not me though. this is not an announcement). It's officially baby season for more and more of my friends, and I have to say I love it. This is a round-up of my favorite baby item shops on Etsy should you need a gift for a sister or friend who is expecting, or for yourself! Since I'm always looking for more Etsy shops to support, feel free to add some of your favorites in the comments section.

Cairtree

Cutest onesies ever.

Arrow onesie $16

Christmas Again

Whew, these past two weeks were a whirlwind! I feel like I have been away from home for a long time... probably because I have!! This year really felt like "Christmas break." We were up in Virginia for Christmas (more on that here), and came home for a quick bit so I could work Thursday & Friday. Then we hit the road again for Charlotte to do our second Christmas with my husband's family. It was so fun! Here are some of the highlights...

Bowling with the family in Uptown Charlotte. I bowled my first Turkey ever!! I was pretty proud. Michael did really well too... but in the end I beat him by 1 point :) The whole family was saying we need to join a bowling league! Ha!

Opening Christmas gifts. As always it is so much fun to see your family open your gifts you got them! I think we did pretty well this year - everyone seemed excited about their gifts. One big hit was these cute homemade coasters I made for the ladies. Mine turned out really cute but I didn't make time to take photos before wrapping them. I'm thinking I'll make some again in the future though, so if I do I'll post pictures of those!

via The Cottage Home

Watching the fireworks over in between the buildings of the Charlotte skyline. They weren't as big as we thought they would be, but it was so fun sitting on the roof of our Prius parked on top of a parking garage, bringing in 2012 together.

Playing with these adorable kiddos! They are all so sweet and fun. Just looking at this photo makes me miss them like crazy!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas & New Year's celebration!

Making a Diaper Cake

This is such a great gift idea for any mommy-to-be, and perfect for a baby shower. I first saw a diaper cake at my sister-in-law's baby shower a few years ago. Now my other sister-in-law, Elissa, is having her first baby in November, so I decided to give it a try. I looked up Youtube videos and it didn't seem too hard. After buying the supplies, following the steps from the Youtube videos was actually pretty easy. It turned out pretty cute and it was really fun to make! This is such a fun display to have at a baby shower, and the mommy will actually get to use it.

Here's the how-to!

What you will need:
80+ diapers (any size will do, I picked the ones that Elissa had registered for at Target)
rubber bands (lots of small and a few large)
something to fill the middle (ex. baby bottles or baby shampoo) and/or wooden dowels
ribbon
something to use as a cake topper (teddy bear, bow, etc.)
any other decorations you want

Start by opening the diaper packages, and then individually roll up each diaper. Secure with a small rubber band.

Get a large rubber band and wrap it around your middle base. I used a bottle of baby shampoo from her Target registry. Then stuff your rolled diapers around the base.

The 1st tier, halfway done

Once the layer starts getting to the size you want it, wrap your arms around it and "hug" the cake to shape it into a circle. It is very easy for it to be a lopsided circle that is uneven around the base! Repeat these steps for 2 more layers (I guess you could do even more if you wish! I did a 3-tiered cake). Make sure to place them on top of each other to gauge the sizing and how it will look when you put them all together.

For the bottom layer, I ended up putting in a tube of Butt Paste with the shampoo bottle to fill it out more. Then I placed the 2nd tier of diapers over the bottom tier and made space in the middle for the Butt Paste and baby shampoo to come up through.

View of the 2nd tier

Have something smaller for the middle of the top tier as well. If it is taller than the diapers, this is a good thing! Push it through the bottom and secure it in the middle of the 2nd tier. This way you don't have movable layers. I also stuck wooden dowels somewhere in there (not pictured), which helped the entire cake stay together.

The next step is to use ribbon to cover up the rubber bands. I layered 3 different sized ribbons together and secured it with a hot glue gun. Don't glue the ribbon to the diapers! You want this cake to be pulled apart and used :)

I found these baby feet at Michaels! They have lots of baby stuff

After putting it all together, I realized I needed a base. I got a white piece of cardboard at the dollar store, and got my husband to cut it into a circle with a box cutter. I added ribbon to cover up the edge.

The rest is decorations. It is totally up to you to decide what to use! I decided to go with a theme of blue and gray - the colors of Elissa's nursery. It wasn't too hard to find a few cute things that matched. The lovie bear was perfect - I stuffed the blanket part in the top so I didn't have to use glue or string to attach it. I was pretty proud of the result!

Here it is all set up at the shower:

Family and the beautiful momma!

Beachin' it

I just spent a glorious (half) week with my family at the beach. I wish it had no time limit! But right now, life and responsibility has called us back home. Thankful for the few days we did get to spend at the lovely Litchfield Beach. Some highlights:

• Spent some fun time with my cousin's sweet daughter Ella, who is going to be 1 on the 14th. Talk about feeding the baby fever! We tried so hard to get her to take her first steps, but she keeps trying to walk on her tip toes, just like a little ballerina. Precious!

• Bachelorette finale with allll the girl cousins. Every year at the beach, the house is full of way too many girls, and it is too much fun! There are 15 grandkids in the Christian family, and 2 of those are boys. My brother is quite glad to have Michael to pal around with now.
• Finally finished reading Jane Eyre! Started it on my LAST beach trip with Michael's family, work and busy weekends provided necessary distractions, and 2 months later I finished it. Such a classic romance, with the most rich luxurious language. Long, but so glad I read it. Now I'm going to watch the movie, and probably be disappointed.
• Night beach walk with the hubs. Haven't been on the beach at night in such a long time but it was great! And we saw a shooting star!
• AMAZING food, as always. Every year I try to diet for the beach, and then have to diet afterwards, too. But it's sooo worth it.

Missing my family already! Here are some photos from the trip:

Beautiful girl

no makeup the entire week... and it was wonderful

The cousins, minus a few who weren't there. Love them!

Oh, baby

I've got baby on the mind, so I've been browsing these fun nursery/kids room ideas. Before you freak out, don't worry, I still want to wait a loooong time. This is just daydreaming :) and also stemming from the I-don't-want-to-be-a-grown-up-right-now section of my brain...

How cute is that quilt??


And those yellow striped curtains?
(see previous curtain blogpost)

If I had this in my room as a child,

that wheel would never not be spinning

So fun! There are even curtains for that

coveted privacy 7-year-olds so desire

Never thought of doing wallpaper in a nursery

but there is something so eye-catching about these prints!

Oh, dinosaurs!! how cute! I am so stealing this

colorful idea for my little boy (one day).

I'm pretty sure that my future nursery will include:
Pops of color
Animals
Kid-sized chairs
TONS of storage
A good place for my baby and me to curl up with a bedtime story

Follow me on Pinterest! Here is my Kiddiewinks board.