monday is the day!

i feel like i've been obsessing over old, priceless pictures of me and brad. 

pictures that make me literally giddy to be a mom. 

pictures that calm my nerves when i think about birth, weight gain, dealing with no sleep, a crying baby,

boobs that kill, and a healing body.

these pictures make me want to laugh everything off and treasure every moment with my girl. 

monday morning i'm going in to be induced. 

the thought of holding that little girl on tuesday sends shivers all over my body.

good shivers. shivers of knowing our life is officially starting.

i can't wait to introduce her to you!

that mexican tub i'm holding is actually jaclyn. can you fathom??

Just hanging out.

so i got my membranes stripped.  the dr. said she's big enough to come any day, but just in case, i have an induction date for july 30th. i can't tell you how much i want this baby to come.  not because of how sick i am of being pregnant, but just to hold her and get to know her to...to raise her with brad. to make her ours. 

it almost intimidates me thinking of where she's coming from, and the bar that is set for how much love she deserves. i hope we can match all the love she is receiving right now from our Heavenly Father. 

i hate thinking that she has to leave Him. 

i've been the utmost boring companion around these parts due to the size of my bod. we're in need of some good excitement around here, and her showing up would be just the ticket. 

so here's to hoping :).

brad introduced me to this fantastic band that i've been loving.  here's a sample.  but i would highly recommend looking up the rest of their music if you like this song, they won't disappoint. 

happy birthday baby!

happy birthday my sweets!! 

i remember when i was 19 having a cousin that was 27, and thinking that was so old and asking myself,

 "i wonder what i'm going to be like at that age".  

now you're 27 and rockin it!  

and even though i'm not quite 27 yet, you make it look like the easiest slice of pie. 

you make me and my life so happy brad, and genuine happiness is almost rare in these days.

so i feel just downright lucky to have ya. 

glimpses of our home.

for some reason i feel really dumb showing pictures of our home.  i think it's because it doesn't mean a thing to anyone else except us, ha.  we tried to make everything feel like "our" home. of course there's still so much work to be done, but for right now, here are some pics of our abode. the kitchen is the room that is the least finished, but the room that i love the most.  the cabinets, the windows, the openness of it all. i almost don't want to touch it and keep it open and bare forever. 

we got the rug from overstock, and the couches were the best find possible. they're from west elm and we got them off ksl from a couple that had them only for 2 months.  they paid over 3000 for them both. they didn't like how they looked in their living room and didn't want to deal with the hassle of shipping them back, so we got them for 650. i'm smiling right now just thinking about it. 

 the coffee table was also another dynamite find off ksl.  originally from pottery barn for 599, we got it for 50 from a woman that was moving. 

the chandelier was the people's that lived in it before.  i still can't believe they left it, it's a 1920 chandelier.  the only thing they changed was the electricity. before it had candles. the look isn't quite my taste, but it's growing on us. 

the built-in cabinets have me drooling sometimes.  i can't describe how much i'm obsessed with them. 

and the windows leave me smiling for hours. the natural lighting in this house is a treasure to me. 

sorry, i didn't even bother to clean up before taking the pictures. 

those "buttons" are the actual light switches.  that's how they are in most of the home. love!

i'm obsessed with the farmhouse faucet. 

 you wouldn't believe me if i told you, but that little closet is an ironing board that pops out. 

i wanted the nursery to be as personable as possible, a room that i genuinely love being in. so i got pictures of me and brad, along with all of our parents when they were kids to hang up.  you can't really see it, but that picture with the ice cream truck is my absolute favorite.  it's brad and his brothers all lined up eating popsicles. 

well there ya have it. i keep cringing at the quality of my camera phone.  these pictures look horrible, but whatevs, you get the jist of it:). 

last stretch.

35 weeks. it's going by rapid fast to say the least. 

2 more weeks for me and i'll be holding this little girl that has put my body through, 

what feels like hell, and my heart through the most heavenly of heavens. 

i love her so much already. 

i get contractions daily, and braxtonions every 5 minutes. i get them over the littlest things. 

2 days ago i was walking up the stairs and brad tickled my butt from behind 

and it tickled so bad i had to stop and breath it out from the braxton hicks his tickle caused. 

i feel like the "nesting stage" is a huge understatement. 

last week i made muddy buddies at 1:30 in the morning. i didn't even eat any, i just wanted to make them.

and cleaning has become an hourly thing. it's weird. i know i'll never have this motivation again.

i feel huge. and by huge i mean, i feel like i can't do anything.  dropping something, as little as a pen on the floor, is the same feeling as someone throwing my keys across the neighborhood and having to go get them. just a freaking hassle. 

the other day i was taking a shower and i decided to sit down and just enjoy the water. the water started getting cold and i couldn't reach the faucet, so i tried to get up and i literally couldn't. my feet kept slipping.  so there i was just a blob of skin, yelling for brad, laying in the tub. brad came thinking i was dying and when he came and saw me, we were both laughing so hard.  he had to lift my dead weight body out of the tub. in the buck nude. i can actually say i was embarrassed. 

but then there's the tender moments that make everything worth it.  i genuinely love when people/strangers come up and rub my belly. and nothing melts my heart more then when kids are fascinated and excited about my stomach. every time i see reese she lifts up my shirt and puts her hand on my bare skin and asks when the baby is going to kick. or when people of all ages stop to congratulate me and ask if i'm having a boy or girl. i love when men are super polite because of the pregnancy, and hold open doors or ask to carry things for me. but nothing can top when brad climbs into bed and the first thing he does is lift up my shirt and rest his head and hands to feel and hear our baby girl.