Honestly, ever since the moment I found out I was pregnant, I was convinced it was a girl. For whatever reason I always used feminine pronouns, and then we had our anatomy scan. The ultrasound tech made us cover our eyes for the below the belly anatomy, however we all (wil, me, my mom and mother in law) ALLL kept using “HE/HIS.” I left that appointment  for the first time thinking it was a boy. Fast forward to that night at the party. It was Staches or Lashes themed. We handed the sealed envelope to my best friend who lit the correct smoke bomb. IT WAS BLUE!!!!! It has finally sunk in and we seriously could not be more excited to be having a little BOY!!!

Party Details: (Everyone could pick their treat based on their guess of the gender)

Chocolate covered popcorn in pink/blue.

Italian Sodas in pink/blue.

Cupcakes with a stache or lash topper.

All decor was from different shops on Etsy. ( Message me if you want direct links.)

Smoke bombs were from American Fireworks. They have a specific gender reveal pack that comes with pink and blue smoke bombs.

photography by: Studio7 Photography 

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flourish |  to grow luxuriantly; prosper; thrive 

When thinking about this pregnancy, sweet baby g, & motherhood, the word “flourish” has been so heavy on my heart.

I pray he flourishes. Even in the womb I pray he isn’t only growing, but he’s growing luxuriantly. That he would be born and thrive. That he would grow up and be planted in the house of the Lord and flourish all of his days knowing the love and power of our God.

I pray that I flourish in motherhood. Not some crazy ideal of what I think motherhood should look like, but that I’d flourish and become the exact mama little man needs. That motherhood would develop and flourish things in me. That the thing I was born to do- by the grace of God I want to flourish in all that it is. The good the bad. It all.

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the Lord, they WILL flourish in the courts of our God.” Psalm 92:12-13.

For something to grow and flourish, there has to be planting. There is a prerequisite to flourishing. A seed isn’t dropped on the ground and boom it flourishes. Planting is required.
Planting is the dirty, dark, hard, lonely, silent, messy, work. It’s the planting seasons where the magic happens. Its the sowing that make flourishing possible. The season of us trying to get pregnant was the planting for me. The details are for another time but let me tell you… if you’re faithful to plant…. flourishing is promised. PLANTED in the house of the Lord … they WILL flourish in the courts. When the planting happens, it sometimes feels like you’re being crushed, tormented, isolated, smothered, BUT thats just the fertile soil piling on top of you.

Planting you.
Positioning you.
PREPARING you.

FOR the FLOURISHING.

So for my baby shower, I wanted to include this word. And honestly, I was so overwhelmed with the word tied into the details. They decorated with lots of beautiful greenery, had the best word of encouragement spoken over me and the baby, and the favor was a Christmas ornament with the word beautifully scripted and a sprig of greenery inside it. My heart was that every girl take home a reminder to flourish- in whatever season you may be in.. you can and will flourish.

XO,

I’m still not over this shower. How cute is everything?!

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Our Third Annual Friendsgiving

I remember days I used to daydream about what I  have today. A husband. A house. A baby on the way. A group of friends that love to a greater measure than I could have ever imagined. 

Friendsgiving is my favorite time to kick off the holiday season & celebrate friendship. It may sound like a cliche, trendy, made-up holiday, but for us- its actually a sacred day. Life gets crazy and we rarely ever get to see each other as much as we’d like. But Friendsgiving is a day we put on the calendar and we make time for it, to simply gather together around the table, share a meal, and make more memories that I’m sure we will cherish forever.

I love the saying, healthy things grow. It has been amazing to see the growth in our friend group from year to year. The growth in our hearts, the depth of our relationships, and our bellies with babies.

We’ve grown in numbers, grown as people, we’ve added little Sawyer as the first official member of our “kids table” with Baby G and Baby DuBois on the way to join him.  I can’t wait to see them added to the crew next year. I think we are going to need a new house soon 🙂

It is so crazy to me to think back to the first Friendsgiving in our apartment when only Wil and I were married and now we’ve grown through life stages, been in each others’ weddings, seen couples become families. Growing through this life with friends that love you like family is truly the best blessing. I’m feeling especially grateful for this group of people (we were still missing a few).

Going and growing through stages of life is truly a beautiful thing. Step into your current stage with all you got. Don’t wish it away looking forward to the next or reminiscing on the past.

THE MENU

So the deal is, I host the meal and cook the turkey (with the exception of the first year we did a brunch). I put together a menu and then people call dibs on what they want to bring. This year the menu was: (I didn’t get any pictures of the food because we dug in too fast!) Ps.. One the the reasons my friends are incredible.. they literally are the best cooks. Annnnnd without even being asked they made me gluten-free dairy-free food!! I had an entire Thanksgiving meal that was allergen friendly.. they love me <3

Turkey

Stuffing

Sweet Potato Casserole

Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Vegetables

Cranberry

Green Bean Casserole

Bread rolls

Dessert- Pie & Pumpkin Spice Cake

Appetizers- Meatballs, Bake Brie and Crackers, Meats and Cheeses

THE DECOR- (Super easy centerpiece to put together)

Runner- West Elm

Plates- Crate & Barrel 

Candlesticks- Ikea, Candles 

Goblets-  These are such a steal. They’re Dollar Tree, actually nice quality and over the years my mom and I have accumulated over 40 of them and they are the best for parties and events.

The Eucalyptus was from IKEA last season, I can’t find it online right now but hopefully this Christmas season they restock it. The napkins and wood pumpkins are from TJ MAXX. Fairytale pumpkin is from Sprouts.

XO,

The sun was setting so we had to do the photo-op in the middle of the street.Classy, we know. 

Baby Bumps! 

Selfies   

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Baby G and I are 26 weeks this week. Per all my pregnancy apps, he’s the size of: a bunch of kale, a butternut squash, or a bowling pin. I don’t know if it is because I am a nurse or all expecting moms do this, but  I am obsessed with reading about what he’s up to in there week to week. This week: his eyes are starting to open!!!!! I can’t even wait to see his cute face. He is growing eyelashes! (Hopefully he gets those from mom). His immune system is also gearing up and sharing antibodies from me! Like how cool?! Honestly, pregnancy is really a miracle when you think about it.

HE needs a name. And I know he has one, I just wish I knew what it was already. We have a running list of a few that we just can’t pick one. I want to feel strongly about it- just don’t yet. So Baby G it is for a little longer.

Best part right now: Feeling him move around. Over the last few weeks, the movement has grown more and more from little twinges where I’m not sure if that was him to undeniable jabs and kicks… and I love it. I can’t tell the difference between arms and legs or his butt- I’m looking forward to that! Also the constant nausea has settled down so much! I haven’t had to take my meds the last few weeks and feel so much better.

Worst part right now: Sleep is a joke. Coming from the girl that can sleep anywhere anytime for 12 hours straight- pregnancy sleep sucks.  I’m ordering a pregnancy pillow this week because currently I am requiring 4 different pillows to try and get comfortable and then I have to turn over and it takes 15 minutes to rearrange my pillows ( eye roll emoji). Oh also, the swelling is the worst. Now that I am feeling better nausea wise and have more energy I think I can do everything my pre-pregnacy self could do- false. I definitely notice the swelling after work and now if I don’t rest during the day my ankles are non existent. I got new compression stocking that are my new best friends.  Oh also, this belly gets in the way to put on my shoes or pants or socks or really anything. I may start needing assistance to dress myself  soon (eye roll emoji).

Cravings: I have zero consistent cravings. Mainly I just see something or think of something and I HAVE to have it 🙂 Its generally extremely healthy or complete crap. Oh one constant love is sautéed Kale. I have it pretty much daily. My favorite is for breakfast with eggs. ORRRR I want ice cream or sugary cereal (send all the cinnamon Chex or Lucky Charms).  Apples always taste good. Especially this season.

Updates: The acne situation is getting there. My best friend’s mom is an esthetician and she hooked it up with some amazing natural products. Thanks Jill <3

Baby’s Nursery: … is currently empty. We’ve picked paint and the overall plan but just trying to find time to actually do it.  I think I’ve narrowed down the furniture except the glider/rocker. So if you have one you love.. send me your recommendations.

Clothes:  We’ve been in all maternity clothes for weeks now. I’m so looking forward to cooler temps, bring on all the leggings, scarves, cardigans and boots. I discovered this week that NONE of my cute boots fit me right now… so that’s fun. These feet better shrink back down.

Now we are off to Kansas to celebrate the holidays with our Gilliland fam <3

XO,

 & Baby G

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Wow, was I mistaken. It’s no secret that the first trimester and I were not friends. I think I felt good for the first two weeks I had found out I was pregnant which, after my first ultrasound, was about week 3-5. Then week 6 happened to me.

Pregnancy is not for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong- it’s the most amazing gift and I am so very grateful for this little babe growing in my belly, but WOW do all the gorgeous IG pregnant moms just make you feel so terrible about yourself when you feel nothing but misery.
It started with extreme fatigue. The “it takes all I have to get off the couch and do ONE load of laundry on my off days” fatigue. The “I may have the flu” fatigue. The “I can’t even keep my eyes open for Netflix” fatigue.

Then the lovely nausea set it. Side bar- I’d like to meet the person who deemed pregnancy-induced nausea/vomiting as “morning” sickness. They clearly didn’t have it bad. I was one of the fortunate to have ALLLL day nausea and vomiting, with the prime time being evenings. I tried it all. Ginger. Lemon. Oils. B6 Preggy Pops. Yada yada yada. No relief. None. It was vomiting daily. Unable to drink more than a bottle of water a day, actually the taste of water made me sick (Gatorade for the win). I would be sitting there fine and boom uncontrollable dry heaves and maybe vomit maybe not. Never know. But my all-time low moment was gagging and nearly puking in a patient’s room at work. It was getting out of hand. I talked to my doctor about it and I tried taking Diclegis. It’s a B6-antihistamine combo drug that’s Class A safe for pregnancy and as far as I’m concerned- a wonder drug. In all seriousness, it made life tolerable. I could get through a 12 hour shift without my head in every trash can and actually went from puking multiple times daily to once every 3-4 days. So doable!!! I know everyone wants to give you all the advice when you get pregnant so I will too: (on this one thing)

1. Try eating every 1-2 hours. EVEN when you’re not hungry. It helps knock down the nausea.
Always have gum/mints on hand. So gross but I found when I had bad breath- it would make me nauseous. Gimme alllll the gum and mints and toothpaste and mouthwash.
2. Try cold fruits; especially citrus. That helped me.
3. Find some liquid to keep you hydrated; whether that’s bone broth, Gatorade, Pedialyte, whatever. Little sips. Frequently. It helps to throw up when there’s liquid involved, TMI.
4. Lavender essential oil- even if you’re not into them, try it with aromatherapy.
5. Don’t hesitate to ask for help- whatever stigma is out there about taking medications when pregnant? Forget it. If it’s safe and your provider is on board and you need it to complete daily life-DO IT! There’s no gold sticker for being miserably nauseous all the time.

My purpose in this is not to have a pity party – but purely to put it out there that all of pregnancy isn’t what you see on you IG feed from famous bloggers. And it’s OKAY that you don’t want to take a single photo because your weight gain feels like pure weight gain- not fabulous belly bumps. And all the progesterone has created acne that your pubescent self would be ashamed of. Facial, chest, back you name it- I got it. And it’s not glorious. And per the OBGYN- just a salicylic acid wash is safe. If anyone has recommendations there- I’m all ears.

So if you’re feeling sick in pregnancy- find comfort in knowing ME TOO, GIRL. It hasn’t been the sunshine and roses I pictured it to be- but hey I’m growing a human being- no one said it’s easy! There’s so much more going on behind the pictures of IG and trust me it’s so easy to fall into the trap that everyone’s so perfect when you feel like a mess. At least for me it is. “YOU GET A BABY OUT OF THIS WHOLE THING” is what I keep telling myself. And it’s ALLLLL worth it.

I’m finally in the second trimester and I wish I could say the nausea and vomiting is gone- but it’s not. And I’m okay with it. I AM having more energy and am able to stomach that one cup of coffee and it’s amazing. To all the pregnant mamas out there- keep your chin up you’re doing a great job. Even if you’re eating more junk food than you planned on, even if you haven’t been the gym since you found out because you’re too exhausted, even if you feel crappy- you’re providing the place where that little heart and mind is growing and developing and THAT’S AMAZING. To all the moms in general- you’re freaking superheroes.

(& Baby G)

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