Mini Vacay to Wisconsin

This past weekend we took a mini vacay trip to Sarona, WI with our friends, Ryan, Heather and Carter.

We flew up on Thursday and the plan was to return to Charlotte yesterday at 11:00 pm.  Well long story short, we did not return to Charlotte until this morning at 5:00am and I now have major beef with Delta.  But that's beside the point.  The point is, we had a great trip with wonderful friends.

Our friend Ryan, his family owns a lake house on Long Lake. Long Lake is about two and a half hours northeast of Minneapolis.  Matt has been up several times with their guy friends during the summer, but this was a first for both of us in the winter.

I have never experienced cold like this before.  On Monday morning, it was -7 when we woke up.  To me, that is just ridiculous.  It hurts its so cold.  But, we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we booked a trip to northern WI in February so we made the best of it!!!

The lake was totally frozen so we made several trek's over it.  Carter took this picture from the lake house window looking through the telescope.

My cold weather selfie!

Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name!!!  Blain's Farm and Fleet was in Rice Lake, WI where we went for groceries.  

Me and Heather

Drinks at a local bar on the lake.

Monday morning's temperature.  This was about the time I was ready to come home.

Quick pic of our laid back super bowl party on Sunday night

 There were bald eagles everywhere on the lake. They really are such pretty animals!

Me and my main squeeze doing a little snowshoeing.

Heather and Ryan

Out on the lake.  This day got up to 12 degrees which actually felt warm!

The guys tested their skills at drilling an ice fishing hole

Ryan's dad adopted the street that their lake house is off of. We had to take a picture for Dr. Bob in front of his sign!

Besides the SUPER delayed flight on the way back to Charlotte, overall it was an amazing weekend with great food (fried cheese curds), snow activities and laid back friend time.
Last year we went to Key West in February, this year was to Wisconsin....wonder what next year will hold?!!!

Nursery Decorating

I decided to stay away from a "theme" nursery.  

I am the person that gets tired of a theme after a month.  It's why my entire house is very neutral.  I do not paint walls drastic colors or buy over the top furniture.  My big pieces are neutral and I bring color in through accessories.  Pillow, pictures, lamps and frames are all things that can be changed out quickly and inexpensively.

With all that being said, the same is holding true so far in the nursery.  Our little mister has cherry wood furniture and next Tuesday, the nursery is getting painted Sherwin Williams Wool Skein:

I have chosen the Linen Nursery Bedding Set in Gray from Pottery Barn:

And I finally found some wall art that I can't stop thinking about:

How cute are these baby animal prints?!!

Baby Giraffe Little Darling

Ducking Little Darling

Little Lamb Darling

Baby Monkey Little Darling

Baby White Tiger Little Darling

You can find them at The Animal Print Shop

I do not want an entire room full of animals but I thought maybe 4 of these would go great in some Cherry Gallery Wall frames from Pottery Barn that I received as a wedding gift and have yet to utilize anywhere!

 Ahhhhh, melt my heart.  Too sweet :)

When It Rains, It Pours

When it rains, it pours.  

That is how I feel now with friends and babies!

My friend Alicia was the first to announce she was pregnant last September.  

Matt and I then let our cat out of the bag on Halloween.

Since then, my besties, Ashley S., Ashley L., Leslie and Mandy all announced their pregnancies; due between May and July. 

Needless to say baby showers are going to be a thing of this spring and 2015 is going to be a VERY exciting year.

This past Saturday, my girlfriends, Melissa, Marla, Heather and I hosted a "Bling The Baby" shower for Alicia.  Alicia is due with a little girl, Emma Eileen at the end of February.

We hosted the shower at Melissa's and the "Bling The Baby" theme was so much fun. Instead of shopping off her registry like several other showers given to Alicia,  we were able to shop for little girl clothes, coats, shoes, headbands and bows!

During the shower we made headbands and bows as well as yarn covered E-M-M-A letters for the nursery.  We also filled out individual cards, labeled 1 to 16, on advice for Emma between her first and sixteenth birthday.  Alicia will be able to open one card a year and read to Emma, advice from her aunties! 

She's About To Pop Party Favors

The menu consisted of mini chicken and waffles, fresh berry muffins, cucumber sandwiches, fruit salad, quiche and cupcakes!  

The mommy-to-be's corsage

As a craft, we made headbands  and hair clips for little miss Emma!

Alicia and her girls :)

The shower could not have turned out better and Alicia went home with some cutie-pa-tootie girly items!

This week also marked #24 for our little man!  Nothing new or exciting this week but I think Matt and I are making SOME headway on a name!  We have still decided to keep it a secret until our son is born but at least we have a couple picked out we both like.  You gotta start somewhere, right?!

24 Weeks

Nursery Furniture

I am finding out really fast that it is SUPER easy to spend a TON of money on a nursery.  If it's your first child, you really are starting from scratch....like me.

Many many thank you's to my family for helping us avoid this money pit.  Blair is letting us have the rocker that she used for Livi and Jack.  Jack no longer uses it and it is taking up play space in his room. My mom and dad wanted to buy us a crib so we went with an economical choice, the Graco Lauren Crib in Classic Cherry.

The last necessity left for nursery furniture was a changing table.  Everywhere you look online there are small changing tables like this:

It is great if you are tight on space but, have you ever changed a two year old's diaper on one of these? Yes, I have and practically impossible.  The child hangs of the end.  I picked the brains of several of my mommy friends and the advice from them was to A. Change your child on the floor when he gets older/taller or B. Use a dresser with a changing pad.  The issue with choice A is that when the child starts to become mobile, they can crawl or walk away if they are being changed on the floor.  With option B, the child has no option to crawl or walk away BUT a dresser is an expensive purchase since we do not currently own an extra.  

To try and save a little $$$, I went to the only place that seemed reasonable....shop Craigslist.

My original search found a "Children's Dresser/Changing Table $100 in Troutman."  The add said it was in good condition with minor scratches and made of solid wood.

As soon as my eye met the ad picture I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. SOLD.

After work, I headed to Troutman, handed the nice gentleman $100, loaded my new dresser/changing table in the 4-runner and headed home.
Deal Done.
My plan:  stain this new piece to match the cherry finish on the crib and rocker

Matt was impressed with my find and was really excited I had saved us some $$$.  He did some quick research and found the dresser online.  Retail $500.

 The only thing missing from the Craigslist dresser was the bun feet that screw into the bottom.  Matt went online and found unfinished standard bun feet on eBay for $14 that we will stain ourselves and attach.  Again, another great deal.

I could not be more happy with this new addition to our son's future nursery!

I LOVE finding a good deal and saving a couple hundred bucks!!!

A Weekend in Wilmington and 23 Weeks

What is better then spending a laid back weekend with lifelong girlfriends?
Nothing.
One of our nearest and dearest friends Leslie lives in Wilmington, NC with her husband Zack and their fur babe Banks.  My other dearest friend Lauren and I were in dire need of a girls weekend and road trip so we left Friday after work for a much needed break and bestie time.
Leslie and Zack bought a house last year, close to UNCW, and to say its PERFECTLY decorated and welcoming would be an understatement.  Leslie has the cottage chic decorating style down to a science and as soon as you step through her front door, you feel at home.
I would usually say the weekend was filled with good food and wine but....since both Leslie and I are expecting, the wine was reserved only for Lauren and extra sleep was a necessity for me and Les.
We shopped, got mani/pedi's,  ate amazing food and watched movies.  I couldn't have asked for more.
Honestly nothing feels better then being in the presence of girls that allow you to truly be who you are because they have known you for 28 years and know exactly who you are.

Dinner on Saturday night

This week was also week 23 for our Little Mister!  I think he might have hit a growth spurt this week as I actually feel pregnant now.  He did make his first movements last Wednesday night as I was laying in bed.  It was after the NC State versus UNC basketball game and I was doing my usual bedtime routine....a little Pinterest before lights off....and I could feel him move around for about five minutes.  Not sure if it was his way of telling me to turn off the light and get my butt in bed or if he was just disgruntled of the Wolfpack's loss and he was letting his frustrations out. (He will pull for his mommy's team :)  )

23 Weeks

Happy 2015 !

To say 2015 is going to be a life changing year would be an understatement.

 Over New Years, our little mister crossed the 21 week mark and he is still doing fabulous!  We had a check-up on the 5th and he is growing strong with a heart beat of 144.  Keep going little buddy!!!

21 Weeks

 Last weekend Mom came to Charlotte and we spent an entire day registering for cute baby things at Buy Buy Baby, Target and Pottery Barn Kids.  If you're a mommy-to-be and live in the Charlotte area, I cannot say enough good things about the Buy Buy Baby on South Blvd.  The staff was helpful and they had everything you could possibly want!  It was slightly overwhelming but after we were finished, I could not have been more pleased with the process.

Anyway, back to New Years....

In the past, Matt and I have always purchased one of those all-you-can-drink tickets at a local watering hole and spent the entire night standing in the middle of a crowd, pushing to get to the bar and ultimately talking to the people we came with.  This year we went a little different route.

We went to dinner at Nan and Byron's with one group of friends and ended the night watching the ball drop at the Hurley's house with another group of friends.  The entire night was laid back; no pressure of finding the right sparkly dress and worrying about cab rides (permanent Uber right here!) all in the absolute best of company.
 
As we watched the ball drop and began the countdown, I found a spot right beside my main squeeze and as we went in for a big smooch on "Happy New Year", I found myself tearing up (hormones, probably.)  All at once, a glimpse of all the amazing things Matt and I are going to encounter this year flooded my mind and I was just overcome with JOY.  Yes, I got all sappy :)

Happy New Year Friends!  Bring on 2015!!!

The girls at the Hurley's house

Happy New Year from us!

Friends at Nan and Byrons

Next year this family of two will be a family of three!!!