28 weeks {a name for baby girl}

picture taken at 28 weeks 1 day

Don't mind my comfy outfit... I figured since I've made it to the third trimester, why bother getting dressed up anymore? Ha ha, I'm kidding! I promise I still try to look cute. I just kind of forgot to change for this picture :)

So I've been getting the same question a lot lately... do we have a name picked out for baby girl?? We're pretty sure we've got her name picked BUT we won't be sharing it until she is born. I have a couple different reasons behind waiting to share. 1- I'm pretty set on the name and Eric is on board as well... but we could change our minds between now and birth. Or we may see her and decide that she just doesn't look like a "......" you know? So nothing is set in stone until she makes her arrival into our world!

2- The name has a sweet story behind it, actually, it has a couple cute stories that makes the name very dear to my heart. And it melts my heart every time I hear Eric say the name. Basically, I love the name! But you know.... people give their opinions too freely sometimes and they don't stop to think how negative or hurtful their opinion can be. Eric and I will be naming our daughter based on a name that we love, and a name that feels right. No one else can make that special decision except for mom and dad, right? Right. So if someone doesn't agree with the name we choose, it's not going to change our minds. But it will hurt my feelings. And it might turn me into a mama bear and I might say something hurtful back. (Ha ha, I'm kidding! I have pretty good self control :)) But when she is born, and we give her a name, no one is going to give their opinions about whether they like the name or not. Because she will be a sweet baby sent straight from heaven and everyone will be so wrapped up in her. She will be real. She will be our little "......" and no one would be able to deny that reality. Everyone will be so in love with her, regardless of her name. So until that moment comes, I'm going to let her name be a surprise for everyone else, and a special secret between me and Eric :)

Vegas {a "babymoon"}

Don't ask me why this lion was at a car show... but Eric was so excited to take a picture with it :)

Eric had been talking about going shopping in Vegas for the past couple months and we finally made plans to go! Of course Eric's work interfered with our plans and at first I was super upset, but then things ended up working out better than ever! Luckily we were able to reschedule our reservations with the hotel (which were non-refundable. I'm so thankful they were willing to work with us!) and I found out that Eric's favorite car show/auction was going to be in Vegas the same time we were. I bought tickets and surprised Eric with them when we got into Vegas. It was the best surprise ever... he was totally shocked!
We spent our first day in Vegas shopping, swimming, and stuffing our faces. We may have been in a food coma by the end of the night :) We ate at the Sugar Factory (amazing!) and Cheesecake Factory. We couldn't decide between 2 cheesecakes so we got them both.... and Eric blamed it all on his pregnant wife. At least I'm good for something, ha ha!
The next day we got up first thing in the morning and headed to the car show. Eric was in heaven! We checked out all the muscle cars and hot rods (seriously, we checked out every. single. car.) and then we went outside where we got to go for a ride in mustangs driven by professional race car drivers. It was so fun! And then we got to go sit in on the auction (we went to this same event 4 years ago but we weren't able to go to the auction) and Eric was a little giddy about this :) He always watches it on TV so it was an awesome experience for him to actually be in the room!
We had the best time together! This Vegas trip was the perfect mini getaway... just what we needed!

P.S. I'm still trying to fix the glitches with my blog. I need your input... are you still having trouble loading my blog or is it working better for you now?
P.P.S. I'm still totally shocked and flattered that I got to guest post on Janna's blog... so if you guys could go check that out I would LOVE it! You will fall in love with the girl just as much as I did ;)

27 weeks {a week late}

picture taken at 27 weeks 5 days

- I'm actually 28 weeks today! I can't believe how quickly week 27 flew by. I didn't even have a chance to take a good picture and blog about it. But it's a good thing that time is flying by, right?

- I was out of town every single day last week (and I'm going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks, ah!). After long car rides and even longer days of being on me feet (I promise I wore tennis shoes for most of the week) I experienced not being able to walk for the first time this pregnancy. My hips just wouldn't work one night... worst pain ever!

- My doctor told me I'm measuring small, or that I'm "hiding" the belly well. I think he hurried and corrected his words so that I wouldn't worry. We definitely aren't wrong about the due date. As huge as I feel, I'm grateful I'm not any bigger yet. I don't want to experience many more nights of not being able to walk, ha ha.

- Baby girl was supposed to be the size of a head of cauliflower during week 27!

- I got whistled at from behind. Way to make a pregnant girl feel good about herself! Too bad I didn't turn around in time to see their reaction to my baby bump :)

- I was woken up at 1am one night to Eric and baby girl playing a game together. He'd jab my tummy and she'd kick the exact spot he poked. He had her chasing his pokes all over my belly and was laughing the whole time. It would've been much cuter had it been 1pm.... not am :)

- Baby girl has definitely discovered my bladder! It's the weirdest sensation to be standing/sitting and suddenly almost pee my pants with no warning at all. She's very strategic with the positioning of her kicks sometimes :) She'll definitely be grounded when she's born if she ever kicks hard enough to make me pee a little, ha ha.

- I haven't had an specific cravings these past couple weeks. I definitely know when I don't want to eat something... but other than that? I love all foods just the same. 

- I still find myself on my back when I wake up through the night of in the morning. I really hope that's not a problem because I don't know what to do about that!

- I still squeeze into my normal pants and want to kick myself every time I do! But I only bought long maternity pants and it's still too warm to wear those. I just need to start wearing dresses everyday until the weather cools enough for my jeans!

- We are getting super excited to meet our baby girl. She's going to be here before we know it!

technical problems {HELP!}

My blog seems to have problems loading for a lot of people. It freezes up their internet and won't work for reasons unknown. But it will totally load up with no problems on mobile devices. I am so computer unsavvy, it's ridiculous! I am wondering if my blog could have a virus (that doesn't affect my computer, because I haven't had one problem accessing blogger or having my blog load on my computer) or what?! Does anyone know how I could go about fixing this problem? Or better yet... how do I figure out what the problem is in the first place?! HELP!!

date night

Soooo, this picture was taken after dinner. I'm not only housing our baby girl in my body, but a food baby as well :)

Sometimes it's completely necessary to spend a special night together! Whether we have something specific to celebrate, or just to remember that we are super in love (ha!) and that our solo date nights are about to come to an end.

So when Eric told me to get dressed up so he could take me on a date, I couldn't say no! I even braved the new maternity pencil skirt from H&M which was kinda scary for me considering I don't have a waist anymore, ha ha. 

He took me up the canyon and we ate at a restaurant we've been wanting to try ever since moving here and we loved it! Then we took a short drive up the canyon and just enjoyed each others company. It was so rejuvenating and just what we needed!

We got home around 8:30 and by the time I finished my night routine and crawled into bed... I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 9 :) My excuse is that I was almost 27 weeks and I had a lame head cold. But hey! Even though bedtime rolled around a little earlier than normal.... I'm so glad we took the time to share a special evening together!

26 weeks {baby girl loves her dad}

picture taken at 26 weeks 4 days
(No chalkboard this week. I almost forgot to even get a picture! Life is busy.)

I mentioned at week 23 that baby girl was supposed to be able to recognize our voices and I know she totally does! I think she could care less when she hears my voice since she has to listen to me all day long :) But she goes nuts when Eric is around! 

A couple weeks ago we were watching a movie when Eric came and laid next to me on the couch, and rested his head on my belly. She instantly started kicking his face :) She had such a steady rhythm going with her kicking that had Eric laughing after a few kicks. He turned his face so that his lips were against my belly and started talking to baby girl. She held still while he talked to her but as soon as he laid his head back down she'd start kicking him again! Then for whatever reason Eric moved his head down so that it was resting on the couch, and he started talking to baby girl through my side. It wasn't a big deal until she followed his voice and tried kicking her way through my side! I've never felt her in my side like that before and it was uncomfortable, ha ha. I told Eric to stop talking to her because I didn't like her being in my side. So he rested his head on top of my belly again and kept talking to her, and she followed his voice back to the center of my belly! She got a few more kicks in and then let us focus on watching the movie again :) For some reason that was one of the sweetest moments of this pregnancy! It was like she and Eric were playing a game with each other and it just melted my heart to watch my little family play together!

And anytime I spend a night or two away from Eric I notice that I don't feel as much movement from baby girl. But as soon as I get home to Eric, she goes crazy and won't stop moving :) He is the only one that can get her to move/respond on demand and it's just amazing. I totally believe that she loves her daddy SO much already :)

weekend review {not really a review at all}

I actually had an AMAZING weekend but I didn't take one picture on my phone or camera to prove it! Sometimes it's so needed to just put down the technology.... everything that connects us to social media (which I'm ridiculously addicted to) and just enjoy each moment. LIVE in each moment instead of trying to "capture" each moment for the blog or instagram. You know?

On another note, a friend posted this on facebook and I just had to steal it.

Have you ever thought, "Where was God on 9/11 when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked?" Well, I know where my God was on the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was very busy!

He was discouraging people from taking those four flights. Together they could accommodate more than 1,000 passengers, yet there were only 266 aboard. He was on those four flights giving the terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the people who was called by a loved one on one of the hijacked planes mentioned that passengers were panicked, nor was there any screaming in the background. And on one of the flights, God gave strength to the passengers to overcome the hijackers.

God was also busy creating obstacles to prevent people who worked in the WTC from getting to work on time. The work day had begun, more than 50,000 people worked in the two towers, yet only 20,000 were at their desks. On that beautiful morning, God created scores of unexpected traffic delays, subway delays, and commuter train delays. A PATH train packed with commuters was stopped at a signal just short of the WTC and was able to return to Jersey City. And far more meetings were scheduled elsewhere than was usual.

God held up each of the two mighty towers for a half hour so that the people on the lower floors could get out. And when He finally let go, He caused the towers to fall inward rather than to topple over, which would have killed so many more people. The foundations of six surrounding buildings were demolished by the fall of the towers, but God held them up for many hours until all the occupants were safely evacuated.

And when the WTC and Pentagon buildings went down, my God picked up almost 3,500 of His children and carried them to their home for all eternity. He also sat down and cried that 19 of His children could have so much hate in their hearts, that they did not choose him, but another god that doesn't exist, and now they are lost forever.

He sent people trained in dealing with earthly disasters to save those that were injured. And he sent in thousands of others to help in any way they were needed. And He brought people together across the world in a way that moved thousands to tears and hundreds of thousands to prayer—and caused millions to turn to the one true living God.

He still isn't finished. Every day He comforts those who lost loved ones. He is encouraging others to reach out to those who don't know Him or believe in Him. He is giving the leaders of our great nation the strength and conviction to do the right thing, to follow His will, not a popular poll.

So if anyone ever asks, "Where was your God on 9/11?" you can say, "He was everywhere! And, in fact, he is everywhere today and every day." Without a doubt, this was the worst catastrophe most of us have ever seen. I can't imagine getting through such a difficult time without God at my side. Without God, life would be hopeless.

Oh my heart! When I crawled out of bed at 6:30 this morning to pack Eric's lunch, I was more than a little irritated at the lack of sleep I received. Between my husband's sniffly nose and his daughter's attempt at escaping the womb through BOTH of my sides (I didn't even know those moves were possible. but whatever she was doing in there felt like she was going to explode out of my left and right side) I was feeling a little sorry for myself. And then I re-read my friend's facebook post and wow. Way to be humbled, right? Instead of feeling irritated, my heart is so full. Today I choose to be grateful that we had a fridge full of food so that I could pack Eric a good lunch. I choose to be grateful that Eric has a steady job, and that despite his lack of sleep due to his sniffly nose, he is gone working a 12 hour shift because he's such a hard worker! I choose to be grateful for our miracle daughter that is growing inside of me. I will go to my doctor's appointment and (hopefully) receive good news that she is still growing healthy and strong, and then I'll enjoy her crazy movements the rest of the day :) I choose to be grateful that I'm an American. I choose to remember.

it keeps getting better and better!

My favorite part of being pregnant (aside from the miracle of growing a baby, our baby) is seeing how our marriage has changed. Changed for the better! Eric and I are closer than ever and it's the BEST feeling. I know that our marriage will continue to change and that we will grow together from here to eternity (ha!) but I'm just loving where we are right now!
I feel like we are in a "honeymoon" phase, but it's so much better than our actual honeymoon-newly-wed stage. It's so much more satisfying because of the ups and downs that we've experienced in the past 4+ years of marriage. We're more in love that we could have imagined, despite the bad and because of the good.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude that I am married to such an amazing man. Eric is so loving, goofy and loyal. Not to mention super hot ;) I can count on him for anything and everything. I couldn't ask for anything more from my husband and daddy to my babies. It's an amazing feeling knowing that we are in this together, no matter what! We have made it through difficult times together, and will continue to make it through those trials as our family grows.
As I'm sitting here with the laptop resting on my thighs, and baby girl is kicking my arm as I type (my belly creates the best resting spot for my arm) I am reminded once again that God is good! And my life, despite all the "bad", is SO good.

it FINALLY happened...

Coolers = tables. Gotta have our card games while camping :)

I don't even know how this happened... but I like it :)

I spy a deer's bum...

Wow. Nothing irritates me quicker than this dumb "smile" Eric pulls. I should have known better than to take a picture while we were waiting for our food... he was starving and ornery :)

But the food was delicious! So worth the wait.

Eric finally took me camping!! Or maybe I made plans to go camping and told him if he valued his life then he had no choice but to follow through with these plans. Whatever. All that matters is that we finally went camping!! It only took 4+ years of marriage :)

Things I loved about our camping trip: Our cute little "home". I couldn't wait for bed time so that we could go snuggle up under the sleeping bags that I zipped together. And we were actually going to sleep in a tent because we were finally camping, ha ha!

The camp fire. I love the sound of the crackling fire and the smell of it. 

The junk food! I was ready to buy out all the junk food in WalMart but Eric told me no because we were only going for 1 night. That was heartbreaking! I mean, camping is the best excuse to buy treats I never allow myself to buy.

The wildlife. Actually, I only loved the deer. We saw SO many deer and their babies. Precious little things made my day!

4 wheeling. Need I say more?

Our friends! Love Ashley and Austin!

Things I hated about our camping trip: Sleeping. I was so excited for bed time and once it rolled around? I couldn't sleep at all! Eric took ear plugs and slept like a baby. Guess I know what I'm taking next time...

4 wheeling for 5 hours. Need I say more? (Actually, it wasn't bad during the ride. It was how I felt the next day. Sore back, sore legs, sun burnt arms.... all that fun stuff! But baby girl was a champ through it all, ha!)

Peeing. Guys have it so easy.

The camp fire. Ash in my hair and smoke in my eyes... awesome.

Things I learned on our camping trip: I suck at roasting marshmallow's. Who knew you could even suck at that? Proof that Eric needs to take me camping more.

I also suck at taking pictures of deer when I have a helmet and goggles on. Better to be safe than sorry while 4 wheeling I guess :)

If I take the time to pack sun screen, I need to take the time to actually put it on. I'm still suffering from my sunburns!

I need to add squats into my daily workout :)

Sleeping in a trailer is much more comfortable than sleeping in a tent while pregnant! So basically we need to get rich fast and buy a trailer, ha ha!

I really did have the funnest time camping! I can't wait to go again... cross your fingers for me that it doesn't take us another 4+ years to go :)

25 weeks

 Eric never tells me when I'm blocking the chalk board... oops! Picture taken at 25 weeks 2 days.

- I swear we can see my belly grow by the day now! The baby bump is definitely out there :)

- I think baby girl has been having major growth spurts this last week because I can not keep up with the food! I eat, eat, eat and still find myself starving between snacks and meals! And I mean starving like I think I'm gonna die if I don't get food asap. It's a little annoying, ha ha.

- I have heartburn almost daily. Not the funnest part of pregnancy.

- I sleep great through the night! I do wake up and find myself laying on my back though, oops! It's just so comfortable! (But I've never been a fan of sleeping on my back before pregnancy... someone please explain that?!)

- She moves around all day, every day. It's SO fun!

- My exercise mainly consists of spin classes and the elliptical. They are easiest on my hips and back. But I also go on a couple long walks with Eric each week. I really enjoy that but it usually sets my hip/back pain in motion :(

- I experienced my first ever middle-of-the-night-charlie-horse-in-my-calve this past week. Torture. Pure torture!

- Eric helps me do stretches each night that are a life saver! My back and hips would be so much worse off if he didn't help me :)

- I finally have an idea of how I'd like to decorate the nursery! We're still waiting until we move to really put it together... but it's such a relief to finally have an idea! I'm excited to see it come together.

- Time is flying by! Which is totally okay with me because I can't wait to meet our girl!!

hair talk {dove conditioner}

Being a hairstylist I am always asked, "what's a good, inexpensive shampoo and conditioner?" and I never know what to say because I never buy my shampoo and conditioner from the grocery store. It's not that I'm a snob, but I really do believe in salon grade products, and I'm not willing to skimp on my hair! To keep it long and healthy looking, I need to use good products!

When I was contacted about reviewing Dove's Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner I jumped at the opportunity! I'm happy to say that I am thoroughly impressed with this conditioner! The Nourishing Oil Care Conditioner is a dual phase treatment that is supposed to deeply nourish hair without a greasy feel, as well as sealing the cuticle and smoothing frizz. I was happy to find that the conditioner is good and thick but when I dried my hair it was light and bouncy, instead of greasy and weighted down by the conditioner. Side note: One trick I use to keep body in the roots of my hair is to gather my hair into a pony tail and only condition the hair hanging from the pony. I never put conditioner on my roots! Like I said before, it keeps your roots light and bouncy for body and it should prevent oily roots a tad bit longer. And the product smells amazing (not that you should buy products based on the smell, but it's definitely a perk)!

Seriously, look how awesome my hair looks! This conditioner is a great one to have during the summer. We all know how damaging the sun, chlorine, and salt can be when we spend our days outside and swimming! But no one ever realizes how damaging the winter weather can be to hair as well. It snows all winter long in my neck of the woods, but somehow all the moisture is sucked out of the air and it's painfully dry to my hair and skin. So this conditioner will also be a life saver during those dry winter months!
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P.S. I'm happy to say that I'll be regularly posting "hair talk" tutorials and hair care tips! If you have any more requests of what you'd like to know, ask away! :)

we went to the county fair...

 Baby Leighton picked her own duck...

... and won a little turtle-wurtle!

Why do I think crying pictures are the cutest? Ha ha... clearly she didn't love the petting zoo!

Leighton loves Eric! Anytime we're both around she only has eyes for him. (Can't wait to see my man kissing our baby girl!)

She really does love it when I try to eat her face ;) HA!

Leighton is CRAZY about lettuce :)

This picture freaks me out... where did that belly come from? I'm definitely having one of those am I really pregnant moments!

Our weekend actually started out pretty rough. Eric and I received some news that definitely threw us for a loop and was a total let down. After a couple hours of crying (totally blaming that on the pregnancy hormones, ha ha!) I decided I wasn't going to let my weekend suck because of bad news. (Sorry, I know how annoying it is when mentioning something so vague, but it has nothing to do with me and my pregnancy! Baby girl is as good as ever!)

Saturday we spent our day furniture shopping for baby girl's room and then hit up the county fair with Kaden, Laura and baby Leighton. It was perfect weather, totally redneck, and SO FUN! We finished off the night with dinner at Wingers which totally hit the spot. Pregnancy cravings can be so weird sometimes :) Oh and I learned that the napkin in my lap is a total waste now.... my belly catches everything before it has a chance to hit the napkin!

I'm so grateful for the friendships we have made in this town! We laughed all night long (which is exactly what we needed) and got to snuggle sweet, baby Leighton! Nights like this are the BEST. Can't wait to enjoy the rest of our Labor Day Weekend!

P.S. I was so excited to get some deep fried dessert at the fair but when it was time for me to choose what I wanted... I wanted NOTHING! Such a let down. That's the main reason I wanted to go to the fair... ha ha!