Beach bound!

I’m so excited Joel and I have the time and funds to take a last minute trip before our bundle of joy arrives! It’s going to be so nice to have a much needed weekend of relaxation and sun.

Some of our favorite memories have been from weekend beach trips. It's time where we can relax, forget about the day to day 'to do' list and just simply enjoy one another.

 If you need me I will be soaking up the rays and enjoying virgin piña colada all weekend. Here are some snap shots of our favorite beach trips together. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

 

Maternity Pictures

Previously, I posted a few sneak peek shots of our Maternity Shot our good friend, Sarah, did with McChillin Photography. We received all the images this week and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results! She did an amazing job. We squeezed the pictures in early on a Sunday morning in between rain showers. 

We were a little worried about the lighting due to the gloomy day, but everything worked out perfectly! She took a ton of images, but below are a few of our favorites. You can view Sarah’s blog post here. 

 

 

 

I’m so thankful we were able to capture this time in our lives for our sweet baby girl to look back on!

Baby wipes recipe

So we're currently thinking of ways to cut down on spend and also go the more natural route. We decided to use cloth diapers while the baby is at home. We choose FuzziBunz as these are practically dummy proof  :)

Alexas has been a great resource for us and also provided us with a homemade recipe for baby wipes. See below.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup water
2tbsp baby shampoo (lavender smells good)
2tbsp baby oil (lavender, too)
Half roll of Bounty paper towels (or Viva)

Directions:
Cut roll of paper towels in half, remove tube, place in container.  Boil water first to kill anything gross, mix water, shampoo, baby oil and pour over paper towels.

Happy Savings!

Happy 30th Birthday Alexas!

I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate one of my favorite people today. My sister-in-law, Alexas, turns the big 3-0 today! Alexas came into my life over 12 years ago and what an impact she has made throughout the years! 

She has always been there for me and treats me more like a sister rather than a sister-in-law. She has become a best friend, sister, mother-figure and someone I look to in all life’s circumstances. Her faith shines through her personality and her sweetness is contagious. I am so lucky to be able to have her in my life as I embark on motherhood this year.

She is one of the easiest people to talk to and so open and caring. I sure am grateful that she and my brother found one another, because I cannot think of a more perfect couple.

Cheers to you, Alexas as your journey into your 30s begin! I’m sure it will be just as fabulous as your 20s and I cannot wait to celebrate with you throughout the coming years. Happy Birthday! I love you.  

Maternity Photo Shoot - McChillin Photography

Around 32 weeks our good friend Sarah, with McChillian Photography, did our maternity shoot. She also did our baby announcement pictures and will soon do baby girl’s newborn shoot!  I can’t say enough great things about Sarah! She is such a natural and has an amazing eye. Her fun creativity meshes well with Joel and I, and we always have a blast taking pictures with her.

We both combed Pinterest and found a lot of great ideas for poses and fun props. I previously posted my “ready to pop” photo. Luckily, getting the bubble blown wasn’t too hard, but I did have to use 2 or 3 pieces of gum!  

Here are a few more sneak peek images. I look forward to posting the rest soon!

 

Apparently I do have a good side after all….

Baby girl loves my right side! She has been there for quite some time now. When I was 20 weeks she was snuggled in there, then several weeks later we had to make an ER visit because the doctors thought I might have appendicitis, but lucky for us…it was just baby girl curled up in a ball and pressing against some vital organs causing my body not to be able to function very well. Even though I was in pain, it was so amazing to see her little body up so high in my body and looking so content. She was perfectly curled up. <3

She’s still nestled into to the right side. Some days are less painful than others, but her favorite spot is right up under my ribs. Her little butt is pushed up under my ribs, feet are pointed out to the left and she is currently head down. Yay! Let’s hope she stays head down at least. I’ll take a little pain and discomfort to make sure she is in the right position for her big début…

Here I am 3weeks ago! :)

Pregnancy has shown me...

• People smile at you more. When I pass by strangers I can sense them saying “awww” in their mind when they look at me and then give me a caring smile. 

• Strangers talk to me more. I’ve noticed in general strangers strike up conversations with me and are interested in my due date, the baby’s gender and name selection.  

• People look at my belly first, face second… intrigued at my growing belly. 

• Every day brings a new feeling. I never know how I will feel when I wake up.  Each and every day I can feel baby girl getting stronger and bigger. Her kicks are more powerful and she is running out of room! 

• I’m more prepared than I thought I would be. I’ve read, read, read and then read some more. I’ve prayed, planned and can confidently say I’m ready for our blessing to arrive. 

• Joel is going to be a better disciplinarian than me. Joel has this cool, calm demeanor and the best patience! I on the other hand have very little patience (something I am working on). I think he is going to be the best daddy!

April Showers & Baby Showers!

Over the weekend my mom and Alexas gave me the most beautiful baby shower! I was overwhelmed with how many little details they paid attention to and all the creative ideas. They both know me so well and did an amazing job capturing my personality in the little things.
 

They incorporated all my favorite flowers, hydrangeas, hyacinths and orchids.  They also planned the shower on a very special day to me… April 1^st, the day Joel proposed in 2010 and the same weekend as my bridal shower in 2011. 

It was so rewarding to be surrounded by all the wonderful women in my life and feel everyone’s excitement for Baby Bradbury’s arrival. I was also overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity and all the darling gifts we received. We feel so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives. Baby girl is going to be styling and profiling at every stage of her life! 

We also had everyone who attended fill out their wishes for the baby. See below for the template I used. I read through all of them last night and love this idea! We’re going to add all of them to a photo album and keep them for Baby Bradbury to read one day. 

 Thank you again to everyone.Check out some pictures of all the little details below. 

They printed "Ready To Pop" signs and glued them to the suckers and "Thank You" was written on the back.

Bowl of wishes. These were the same chalkboards we used at our wedding and those are my shoes to the left! Wasn't Joel darling?!

Everyone's onesie for the onesie guessing game...which was really hard by the way!

Onesie cookies that matched the onesie game and our original DIY onesie invitations I posted about in March!

The cutest and most delicious cupcakes in the world! The wrappers are so cute!

Lemonade with frozen raspberries, Yum!

Creative decorating idea! Everything was strung with fishing wire and ribbons.

The girls! :)