what a druzy

ever since going to the natural history museum in dc a few years back, i have had a love for rocks and stones. especially pyrite. this beauty is what grant gave me for my birthday this year. it's perfect and just the way i like it. i love how raw and rough it is. plus it has just the right amount of sparkle. do you have a favorite gemstone? 

blogger has been frustrating this week. agree? i hope we can get the comments back from the last few posts because i really wanted grant to see all the compliments on the table. but i'm sure those behind blogger are doing what they can.

i am just a day away from being full term (37 weeks) and definitely already googling ways to go into labor. i am just at the point that every one talks about. feeling uncomfortable and huge. i'm still nauseous and wondering if it will truly go away after delivery. i know it will but i just don't remember what it's like to feel normal. 

this little girl inside me is so active that sometimes i just want to cry. i can only imagine how uncomfortable she is but her poking and kicking and whatever else isn't really fun to feel at this point. sometimes when she is going crazy in there, i get mad at grant because i feel like it's his fault. i mean it is his daughter.

i have a question for mothers out there, what did your baby sleep in before transferring to a crib? in those first few months? and does anyone have any advice for me? since i am about to have one of the most amazing/crazy/painful and beautiful experiences of my life?

oh and my list of things to do before she comes? we're down to 30 things now.

back to jewelry, i love alyson brown's taste. her love for classics, clean lines and naturalness in jewelry helps me to realize how beautiful the simplest pieces can be. here is a good example.

still wasting lots and lots of time on my pinterest. IT IS SO MUCH FUN!!!

31 weeks and 4 days

let's just say that you really gotta work your angles when you're pregnant. grant and i kinda went crazy taking pictures yesterday, hoping it would make up for our lack of picture taking. we took a million and i'm satisfied with like .... 2? maybe. i changed my outfit three times to add a little variety. by the time we were done i felt like i had ran a marathon.

i do wish i could have pictures of my mom pregnant with me. one of my FAVORITE movies is "the family stone", have you seen it? i watch it as much as possible every christmas. the picture that everyone gets of pregnant sybil (diane keaton), is so beautiful. i get teary eyed every time i watch them all open it. i'm such a baby.

i don't even know what this post is about. so now i'm going to bed.

meet some of her first friends

the nursery has been coming along. we are working on her dresser now, we've done quite a bit ourselves. when i first found out it was a girl i was slightly worried about the nursery because i have been collecting animal things for an animal theme (for a boy). i checked to see when i ordered those sharon montrose prints and found that i made that purchase over a year ago! anyway i didn't put anything away, i'm still using all of it and just adding some girly details here and there. like this banner. who hasn't fallen in love with everything from confetti system? i love them. i knew i could recreate something similar. it may not look like the exact same thing but either way i'm happy with it. and it was pretty easy. i have a feeling i'll be making LOTS more.

i wanted to make a lot of things myself and i'm doing pretty good so far. i've made two fitted sheets, half of a dress, stuffed pyramids and cubes and some hair pins. i did some embellishing to a few plain onesies too and that was fun. i have a pillow and blanket that are still on the list. i just want her to have so many homemade things. my mom made so many things for me and i love having them now. i hope she will too.

baby registry was cool but so long. pretty overwhelming to be honest. we are no further on a name. in fact i don't even know when we last talked about names. i think i'm just going to accept that she won't have a name right away. i just want to see her little face. she is kicking like crazy lately. as in kicks so hard it wakes me up. i wish so badly i could see what she is doing in there. she is so crazy! she's been getting hiccups a lot and at first i thought it was funny, now i just feel bad and want them to go away for her. poor girl.

30 weeks yesterday. which translates to 7 1/2 months. i have 9 weeks and 6 days till her due date. i will try to put up a pic of the bump soon.... we just need to take one first :) i hope to do a lot of updating soon because we have been very very busy.

thank you marshmallow mateys

Grant here,

I just wanted to send out a quick thank you to YOU... Marshmallow Mateys. When my wife wakes up every morning, 30 seconds away from violently barfing all over unless something is in her stomach... who was there? When my wife is too exhausted/unmotivated/sick to make herself food... who was there?  When I need to get a delicious breakfast cereal that comes in an extra large size (because someone empties your bags like they are going out of style) ...who was there. It was you, Marshmallow Mateys, you. So thank you again for all you have done for us!

Love,

The Barnes Family

P.S. We'd also like to send out a thank you to another white trash favorite that comes through in a clutch, Spaghetti-O's. You have been so helpful that I am having a hard time keeping you on our pantry shelf!

23 weeks

my tummy is supposed to grow 1 cm every week from now on. basically the baby should double in size in the next month. she's starting to move more but nothing that keeps me from getting good sleep (so far). i feel like i can never take a full deep breath lately. my body has changed so much, my skin feels like it is already stretched to the max. oh and it itches soooooooooooooooooo much. i normally go crazy in the winter anyway and basically scratch my skin off. i've tried some intense moisturizers but nothing really seems to fully take it away. any recommendations?

i started making a blanket for her but i just can't seem to find the right fit with which fabrics to use. i have such a big collection of fabrics and it's fun to mix and match everything but then i find myself just wanting it to be so so so plain and only have one fabric. i wish i could embroider her name on the blanket but we are pry even further away from finding a name than we were a month ago. i never understood how people had to see their baby first before they named it. i always thought i would know and be so in love with a name. now i feel like i must see her before i know what to name her! we watched the show "one born every minute" last week and i LOVED it. here is the first episode. if any of you watched it or will watch it..... my favorite part is "OPEN!!!!!" hahaha. can't wait for the next episode.

i'm 22 weeks but this was me at 19 weeks and 6 days

so i feel like i've pretty much been showing since day one. i gained nearly 10 pounds right before pregnancy to make sure i was at a healthy weight. needless to say i outgrew all of my pants and skirts very fast once i was pregnant. i desperately needed maternity pants before i was out of my first trimester. i guess i could have tried the buy a bigger size thing but i think the stretchy part on maternity pants is AWESOME. i have hated any kind of pressure on my lower abdomen from the beginning. which is why i love pajamas. i have two pair of maternity pants. these black slacks up above are from target and then i have some skinnies that are from the heidi klum line at motherhood. something that i don't want to forget.... maternity pants with the stretchy pull over your belly thing are WAY better than the stretchy waist kind that have no pull up thing (just in my opinion). does that make sense? these are the ones i have from motherhood. the "under belly" kind. and they just really aren't my favorite. i think i'm gonna try some gap ones. anyone out there have anything you'd like to recommend as far as things that you've been happy with on your pregnant body? that was a really long question. everyone is pregnant right now so... i'm expecting some good advice.

oh i also have the bella band, it's okay. not something that i'm crazy in love with. 

oh and this has been the funnest things to have. i love it!

little mountains of strawberries

last night while getting ready for bed, grant made me a snack. when i came over to my side of the bed... i had hot peppermint tea, a bowl of delicious grapes and mountains of strawberries. i could not stop smiling. he is the cutest. i am so lucky.