a lovely little shower.

a few weekends ago, the grandmothers-to-be threw us a little shower at my mama's house.

in all actuality, there was nothing little about it: there was lots of good food, plenty of sweet friends and sooo much love.  we had a ball.
 
let's begin with the food, shall we?

 something i wish for daily is that our little girl is lucky enough to

have as good of friends as we do.  these ladies are the deal.

tip: when visiting my mom's house, always, always save room for dessert.

the hostesses!  {and one very tired-looking mama to be}

 

the fam - what a good crew.

i swear we did not plan this.

 preggo back at the food?  you know it.

the belly dance - i should probably be embarrassed?

 dana put together these super cute favors - and my sister in law made some 

delicious caramels to go with: what could be better on a crisp fall day, i ask you.

i am still feeling the love from this day - baby girl, you are one lucky little lady.  i cannot wait for you to be here and meet all of these wonderful people.  i love that you are already so loved!

well-said.

i stumbled upon this article today and i'm really happy i did.

have a read, have a laugh, and then come back here and tell me what you think.

me?  well it certainly made me feel a lot better about things.  because i'm nervous!  excited, definitely - but nervous, absolutely.  and after reading this little gem, i feel a lot better about the next chapter ahead.

10 True Things About the First Year of Parenthood

pregnancy love list.

this little baby in here is getting very ready for her debut.  her kicks are some of my favorite parts of the day these days.  she has some really active periods of the day, and then some where i figure she's napping.  happily, she has been less active overnight than she once was...maybe this is an indication that she will sleep right through the night?  {i know...keep dreaming (: }

i have been thinking lately about when i was newly pregnant {and, let's be honest...way before we even thought about being pregnant, ha}...i would scour my favorite blogs for good recommendations on those little somethings to make pregnancy just a tad easier on mom.

i really appreciated the insight i found, and so i wanted to throw my two cents in and post a few good things which i feel have made these past 8 months just that much sweeter.  i don't have a lot on the list, but i hope if you're pregnant and looking for some relief, or thinking about pregnancy and love a list, that you find something you can work with.

   

1.  you all know my obsession with castile soap - it's green, organic, fair trade, and smells amaaazing.  i picked up the lavender version a few months ago when i was having trouble getting to sleep and haven't looked back since. 

2.  to add to my sleep issues, i've had some RLS over the course of this pregnancy.  let me tell you: there is nothing worse than being ready for bed and feeling like you need to get up and run around the room.  i found that the stretching taught in my prenatal yoga video really helped, as well as to relax me in general, which is a nice perk.  this video especially was really great - all experience levels welcome, and the teacher is super preggo in the video, so she totally gets what is and isn't possible for you.

3.   anthropologie reversible seamless tank.  i have 4 of these.  they stretch so well over your belly and somehow don't ride up.  also, they don't lose their shape.  i am sold.  i will give these as gifts to my future mama friends...they are that good!

4.  cocoa butter.  i received this from a friend who bought it and didn't care for it, actually before i was pregnant.  to tell you the truth, i don't love the smell {to me, it smells like pudding}, but i do have to say it's a great moisturizer.  i don't use it every night {the pudding thing is too much sometimes}, but i try to use it at least a few times a week and thus far, no stretch marks.  maybe i'm just lucky, or maybe those folks at palmers really know what's up.  you decide. 

like i said, this isn't a huge list, but these are things that i absolutely do use and appreciate.

oh, and we're at 36 weeks today!   baby, we are so close to meeting you, i can hardly stand it.   life is good.

35 weeks!

hello friends!

not much happening over here these days aside from growing this little baby.  {little being the operative word: as seen below, we seem to have had a growth spurt!}

also, there was halloween - a quiet but fun night for us...fewer trick-or-treaters means more leftover candy for your resident preggo!  win-win.

i can't carve faces very well, so i improvised (:

hope you're enjoying your week!