28 Weeks: Hello Third Trimester

It hasn't been long since my last post, so there isn't much new info to share except we officially announced baby girls name and Mac started paining the nursery. He is determined to get it done today so I am pretty excited! Photos to come shortly I presume - sans furniture as that has yet to be decided. Oh! And I am officially in my third trimester. I am so excited. Some times I feel like i have been pregnant for so long and then others I feel like it is just flying by. All I know is I am more than ready and excited to meet our daughter. She is going to be so fabulous.

I can't remember when it happened, or if I already posted it, but Chrissy and I picked a date for the shower too! Meaning, if you would like to be there, please send your mailing address ASAP.

It's all coming together so very nicely now (which is a good thing since we are inside 3 months until her expected arrival). With that, I am going to get our registry started today. Mac and I did some pre-registry shopping together a bit back and took photos of a bunch of stuff we like, so I am going to knock that out while he paints her room.

For those of you who missed it, here is baby girl's name! I absolutely love it. There are a few nicknames being thrown out that I am not so fond of, but I guess I better get used to that ;)

I also got a wonderful surprise int he mail from one of my Chi Omega Alumnae friends. I am sure my expression was priceless when I opened it. I was completely surprised and so obsessed. I am going to have the cutest little legacy on the block!

I guess that's pretty much it. Let's get on to the weekly update.

Baby Mac Has A Name!

As I mentioned in my weekly update, baby girl finally has a name (again). For those of you who do not know, we had completely decided on a fabulous little name but, just a few days after announcing it to the families, found out that everyone else thought it was a fabulous name too ... for their little girls. Sadly, our carefully selected name had sky rocketed to the top of the most popular girl names for 2012. For those of you who aren't currently obsessed with baby names, it was Sophia. And with that, the name went out the window and our search for the perfect name started all over.

We had come up with a short list of names prior to coming up with Sophia, but after deciding on that as her name, neither of the alternates felt right. After weeks of coming up with new name combinations, we finally narrowed it down to a few top favorites once again and on Sunday I made Mac sit down so we could finalize our choice. He is so funny with decisions, we went back and forth for days and hours on end about narrowing it down, but couldn't get to just one. Then, when we decided it was time make the decision, he grabbed the list (3 names with several middle name options for each), went into the other room and, within minutes, came back with the name he wanted - and, luckily, I agreed. 

So, without further ado, our baby girl will be named ...

Photo Challenge Wednesday

Day 20: Tree Topper Rockefeller Tree Topper

Isn't it fabulous? I wish we could go to NY for Christmas!

27 Weeks: 3 More Months!

Sorry for the delay and what will be a very short and sweet post, but with the holidays, things have been so hectic around here. We had friends in town all week and then tons of family friend traditions to keep up with and this mama to be is exhausted! Luckily just 1.5 days of work this week whew!

I will say that I feel like I double in size daily. I know it''s in my head but some days I feel just HUGE! I am trying to enjoy it, because it truly is exciting. But when it is a struggle to zip by booties or pull up pants, I'm not so much loving it. This topic prompted the exploration into both my and Mac's size at birth and I'm hoping for my jeans at 7 lbs versus Mac's 8 lbs 10 oz. However, my sister and his sister were also in the 8's, so ... chances are little miss will follow suite. I'm still crossing my fingers that she takes after mommy, but I do love a chunky baby, so we will see.

All is all a fabulous Christmas with the families. Little miss got tons of cute threads and some other awesome items. And I never thought I would get so excited about a diaper bag, but my mother in law bought me this Petunia Pickle Bottom bag that I have been obsessing over and I am just in heaven. She also got a fabulous princess blanket from my daddy, some cute new shoes (and clothes) from her daddy and grandma (my mother-in-law), and an amazing, hand-made baby blanket from Mac's cousin. She is one lucky (and very loved) little girl.

Speaking of gifts, Mac got me a Canon Rebel T3i. I am over the moon. I am by no means a photographer and don't really have any intentions of making a serious hobby out of it, but I can't wait to start snapping pictures of our precious little one! I played around with it at Christmas today and with the minuscule amount that I know about the camera and photography in general, got some great pictures. So expect lots of fun visuals on the blog soon! Yay. Ok, I am struggling to keep my eyes open and have an early day in the office. On to the weekly update!

Oh - and guess who finally has a name! That's right, we finally picked her name after having to ditch the first one. I am in love with it, and her of course. We are still telling family and friends, but expect the official announcement very shortly! I know you are all just as excited as me. :)

Photo Challenge Wednesday

Day 13: Family

Me, hubby and baby bump ;) at Nicole's dad's bday celebration!

26 Weeks: Lovely Little Lashes

It has been quite the week for baby and me. On Wednesday I had lunch with Chrissy and Brodie  at PF Chang's and did little shopping. I just love spending time with this girl. She is a fabulous mommy and a great friend. I just hope I can be half as awesome as she is! Then that night I headed to the Suns game with Jadiann and, I must say, she scored us some pretty great seats. I am so glad I have been getting to see so much more of her lately. 

Friday night was our Annual Holiday party (relocated to Zach's house while I grow this tiny human) where almost of our closest friends were there to celebrate. We throw two large parties each year, my pink party and the holiday party. It was a bit sad handing over the reigns to Zach this year but it always amazes me how many new friends we add each time. And seeing it from totally sober eyes this time was quite an experience. Haha. But I did put on my big girl pants and stay out until 1:30. I was so proud. but yes, baby and i slept in SO LATE the next morning. 

Saturday was Taylor and Vantine's oldest son, Caleb's, birthday. Speaking of great moms ... that girl rocked the party games. Due to rain, the park party was moved indoors and Vantine had 15 or so little children running around her house, plus all their parents and a few of our friends. It was quite an event and she (and Taylor too) pulled it off like a pro. Later that night we picked up Amanda and Glass from the airport and they will be staying with us all week. Mac transformed our currently empty nursery into a pretty great little guest bedroom for them and the house is all picked up and decorated. I know it's silly, but little things like that make me oh so happy. :) And I am so happy to have them here! Our first official house guests since getting this place all to ourselves. I feel like such a grown up. Which I guess is about time since this little one will be here faster than we know it. I just wish I had planned my PTO better, instead of the random days I took off the past few weeks I could have used a fe days this week to hang with them instead of going to work.

As you can see, a busy, busy week for the Mac Family, but you know I love staying busy - so I am happier than ever of course. Now ... on to the weekly update!

Photo Challenge Wednesday

Props to me! It appears I was able to get another whole week under my belt with this photo challenge. I'm not sure I'm  fan of each day's challenge as I seem to be seeking out photos or opportunities just for the sake of completing the day's photo goal. Oh well, at least it adds a little variety to my Instagram stream I guess, right? So, without further ado. Here are this weeks photos. For a refresher, visit last week's blog to see the full list of photo challenges.

Day 6: Shopping

Since I don't make a habit of having photographic evidence of the money I spend (like it's going out of style), here are my latest documented purchases. Baby clothes, shoes and Birchbox - what more could a girl want?!

25 Weeks: Sugar & Spice (Ultrasound Photos Too!)

Well this week started off with some bad news. The name we had decided on soared to the top of the 2012 most popular names list so it's officially out. :( While it wasn't the name I always thought I would give to my little girl, I really loved it. Normally I wouldn't care and just go with what I want anyway; however, I have no desire to have 10 other little girls in her class with the same name. It's funny, we had narrowed our long list to the top three and made a decision from there so I had originally thought we would just go with one of those, but now they don't seem good enough, so the hunt starts again. We have another list started but it's even harder making a decision the second tie around. Have a suggestion? :) Leave it in the comments below. At this point we can use all the help we can get. Thinks pretty and classic.

One win this week though, was all the painting that got done in the downstairs of our house! Just two more walls of our tan color and we can move onto the reddish brown accents walls. WooHoo! It's been quite some time in the making and there will still be lots of work to do to the house once this phase of painting is done, but I am elated. I can't describer the overwhelming joy I get walking into my house now. I think I mentioned it in the last blog, but it is so nice to have each room picked up and put together. My kitchen, , living room and dining rooms haven't been this consistently clean since I moved in with Mac (and whatever roommates were with us at the time) and I can hardly wait to get rid of the excess furniture in the remaining rooms and have them follow suit. We may have a few items up for grabs here shortly for those that are interested, so keep your ears open. 

Speaking of that, if anyone wants a nice 60" flat screen TV (similar to this one) let me know. Well on to the bump!

Photo Challenge Wednesday

For months I have watched friend after friend slowly jump on the photo-a-day trend. I didn't really understand it much until I looked through my Instagram and realized I have very little variety in my pictures lately. So, here I am hoping on the trend. I figured, instead of just limiting the fun to Instagram and an occasional Facebook share, why not incorporate a weekly round up of photos on here to breathe a little extra life into the blog. I hope to get more creative as the challenges go on and add a few fun photos here and there to spice it up, but for now it's probably best I follow the KISS method and just try to keep up with it. So, here it goes ...

The Challenge

24 Weeks: Look ... A Bump!

It's finally here! The baby bump that is. It's been slowly making an appearance for the past few weeks, but there is no denying it now. While many of my clothes stopped fitting, making it very difficult to get dressed these days, I couldn't be happier. Now it's pretty apparent that I am pregnant so my self conscious thoughts of, "does everyone just think I am a little chunky?" can be subsided. There is no mistaking it now. Well at least not to me.

For those of you who do not know, we have had roommates non stop since graduating college. Yes, even after getting married. Don't get me wrong, we had some fabulous roommates along the way, but the more times I come home to my house the way I left it in the morning, the happier I get. I admittedly slacked majorly on the cleaning responsibilities around the house because it would just get so frustrating to clean a room and the very next day it is a mess again - I gave up very quickly. But now, when I clean a room I know it is more than likely going to stay that way (with the occasional poke in the side to my loving husband). My downstairs has never been more consistently cleaner than it is now and it makes me so happy. To add to this happiness, husband is finishing painting the living room, family room, entry way and upstairs hallway this weekend. My house is finally becoming a home and just in time for our next (permanent) roommates arrival at the end of March. 

On a side note, I pretty much have at least one day off of work a week for the rest of the year and this girl plans to do some major purging, organizing and decorating during those quite days home all by myself. If any of my stay-at-home mommy friends wants to drag me out to the real world for a breakfast or lunch date text. Plus, I could use some help figuring out how the heck to decorate these newly painted and organized rooms! There is so much to this grown up stuff ... heehee. 

Pictures of my shiny, newly painted rooms to come. yay! But for now, here's the weekly update. I did have my last bi-weekly ultrasound, but (how is this for lazy) the photos are downstairs and I haven't snapped digitals of them just yet, so we will postpone until next week or a follow-up post.

23 Weeks: Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a eventful Thursday with our usual serving of two dinners. Baby was quite satisfied to say the least. It's always a pleasure getting together with each of our families. I am so glad neither of us has the strained in-law relationships that I hear so much about. Other than Thursday the rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. I had to work Friday, so no black Friday frenzy for this shopoholic but I got to spend tons of time with one of my besties, Chrissy, to get ready for her daughter's fourth birthday party this evening.

That is one thing that I somewhat expected but didn't think would actually happen to me with this pregnancy. Many of my pre-pregnancy friends have gone a bit MIA. Thanks to miss Chrissy, my social calendar isn't completely lacking but compared to the overstuffing of activities and various invites that usually ensue during the holidays, it has been crickets. I guess it's for the better, since I should be taking it easy anyway, but why do people get it in their heads that just because I can't join them for in the drinking part of happy hours and late-night shenanigans, doesn't mean I don't appreciate the invite and wouldn't come out to be social. Oh well. I can't change how people think or behave, just how I react to it. So, I choose to find other sources of entertainment.

Other than that, no further progress has been made on the major decisions. Well, that's not true. We are pretty much decided on a name and reveled it to the families on Thanskgiving. Being the super cheeseball that I am, I am keeping it concealed for now so we can do a big, fun, official baby name reveal.  So, in other words, stay tuned! :) In the meantime, any guesses on what our precious little one will be named? Leave your thoughts below. And now ... the weekly update.

The Higher the Hair, The Closer to God!

It is no secret that I am obsessed with all things big and fabulous. Sky high shoes, chunky rings and most importantly, volumized hair. While all three hold a very special, and equally important place in my heart, this blog is specifically dedicated to the third - hair as high as a Southern Belle.

I have used countless ounces of Bumble and Bumble hair powder since I first discovered it, check out my original tribute to big hair (and my obsession with B&B) here and here. My one problem with this product is how much of the color gets on my hands during the styling process and throughout the day when I give in to my bad habit of playing with my hair (and re-fluffing).So, when I stumbled upon (through the my other obsession - Pinterest) this video blog on achieving Texas-worthy hair, I decided to give it a shot. Now normally, the techniques I see on video blogs are rather lacking or at least not to my taste. The girls in the videos go for a slight lift at the root, and adapting it for anything more tends to fall flat rather quickly. But this one is different, the girl loves her volume almost as much as I love mine and the look really lasts!

22 Weeks: One Whole Pound

One whole pound? Our baby is growing so fast and apparently is supposed to double in size this next week. I can't help but feel a little stressed out about all the things still ahead of us that we have yet to make decisions on: 

her name
nursery furniture/decor
car seat/stroller
new car

Pretty much everything ... I mean, it's not like we haven't made any progress on some of these, I just thought I would know more by now. For the name, we have narrowed it down to 3 choices (and do have middle names paired). I feel like this is probably the biggest decision we will make for her since she has to live with it for her whole life. We haven't completely decided if we are going to share the final decision on the name before she arrives or not though. I have heard several convincing reasons to keep it to ourselves, but I am really bad at keeping secrets - it was nearly impossible to wait to announce we were expecting (I told so many more people before then official announcement than I had originally planned) and even harder to keep it in for just a few days that our little one will be a she.

What do you think? Share the name, or keep it a secret?

As for the nursery furniture, I feel like everything I like, Mac hates :( SERIOUSLY! I always envisioned white furniture with pink and grey decor but he hates white furniture. Then I also like the wrought-iron four-post cribs, but he thinks they look like little baby jails. I'm at a loss ... I found this nursery on Pinterest and immediately fell in love. 

Wouldn't it be perfect for our little girl? 

Here is the same style crib in a more neutral room (replace yellow with pink?)

I also love this nursery for Dr. Phil's Granddaughter

It's a good thing one of our close friends runs Art For Kids and can be the voice of reason and expertise when we come down to making our decisions. I seriously die when I look at all the fabulous nurseries they have designed! I mean honestly, with their furniture in the nurseries of Jennifer Lopez, Kimora Lee Simons, Monique Lhullier and Melania Trump, among other, I know I am in good hands - and how could Mac possibly argue ;)

Really though, look at Mariah Carey's nursery they did. What's not to love?

Now do you see why this is so difficult for me though? So many great options out there and just one little room to decorate for our girl. I'm stressed just typing about it. Can someone start a petition to get my husband to favor white furniture? or at least my cute wrought-iron cribs?

Okie, enough running through the never-ending list of things left to do and on to the weekly update. 

21 Weeks: Thumpity Thump

That's right! Little one is moving and grooving and kicking up a storm. Her faint little thumps aren't quite strong enough for anyone but me to feel, but it's pretty neat. And while I can't wait for Mac to be able to feel our little girl, it's kind of fun having these special moments between just us.

On top of that, the weather has begun dropping drastically and, as much as I love summer, I am so excited for some cute new fall fashion. Coats, boots and scarves oh my! I just can't wait. I also learned a new teasing technique so I am having all sorts of fun getting ready these days - let's just hope it lasts. Fret not, this new voluptuous hair technique will make it's very own debut on a blog post soon.

With that said, let's get on with the weekly update.

20 Weeks: Halfway There!

It's been quite the week! We finally hit our halfway mark and I started feeling this little one moving around. It was so subtle at first, but today it was certain. That little girls kicked me. and now I think she is messing with me because I have had many more trips to the bathroom with minimal need. I think she is intentionally kicking my bladder now that she knows I can feel her. Guess I shouldn't have said she wasn't strong enough all these weeks leading up haha.

Halloween was also this past week and i was the epitome of lame. I was laid up in bed all Saturday with a horrible migraine and didn't ever muster up the energy to put together my costume and head out with friends. So I told Mac to go out and have fun for the both of us, and it sounds like that was a success. Unfortunately, that lack of energy left me with no costume and no strong urge to make one for a midweek holiday. But I was going to go as a mummy - inspired by Jessica Simpson's pregnancy reveal.

I just love how she used the lace to give it a really feminine look. I probably would have paired it with a cute white tutu (because my tutu obsession is getting a bit out of hand) but alas, some other time maybe? Well, shall we move on to the weekly bump update?

19 Weeks: Happy Halloween

We had our 18 week, full-anatomy ultrasound on Friday and our baby girl shows no signs for concern. We should be on track for a healthy bundle of pink come the end of March. For now, we just let her keep baking and growing inside of mommy and anxiously await her arrival.

Gender Reveal Party

It's been a little over a week since we shared the fabulous news that it's ribbons and pearls in our future - and lots & lots of pink of course. So, without further ado, here are some photos from the fabulous afternoon with friends and family.

18 Weeks: Our little sweet potato

Not much has happened since the last post (since I was so behind), so we will keep it short and sweet this time. Just a quickie update for the weekly post and then ... drumroll please ... a special second post will follow for your viewing pleasure. That's right! hot off the presses, photos from the gender reveal! Yipee!

17 Weeks: Pink Baby Mac

This week has been chocked full of emotions - mostly excitement because we (and our friends and family) now no we are expecting a baby girl! I am really excited, but surprisingly haven't rushed to the stores to fill her closet and decorate her room. It all just seems so overwhelming. Luckily we have 23 more weeks to get it all done ;) 

The gender reveal party was a huge success and I will have plenty of photos in an upcoming post. So stay tuned :)

16 Weeks: Beau or Bow?

This past weekend was the Savvy Sale. Haven't heard of it? Don't worry, neither had I until my mom asked if I wanted to go with her. It is a semi-annual children's consignment sale. You get great deals on anything and everything baby, including maternity clothes. Seriously! We are talking maternity jeans for $5! It was unbelievable. So, I took it upon myself to pick up a few not-so-necessary necessities. :) Plus, I got to spend the morning with my mom and nephew. Fashion and family, what more could a girl want?

Kaden, my nephew, also got a whole new wardrobe. We are going to be quite the fashionable duo this fall/winter.

The next exciting thing from this week ... Mac and I found out if this little one is a boy or girl! I was terrified baby was going to be difficult and hide the goods again, but our baby behaved itself and we got our answer. unfortunately for the cyberworld, our Gender Reveal party isn't until Sunday so we are tight-lipped for the next few days. This is going to be the longest week ever. So, on to some distractions to keep our minds off whether little one is a mister or miss. Without further ado, here we have baby bump watch: Week 16.

It was getting dark when we took the picture, so I am not so much a fan, but none the less, there you have it. My "is she pregnant, or just chubby?" baby bump. Can't wait to get past this awkward phase.

15 Weeks: Shhh Baby Can Hear You!!

While I have counted myself so very lucky with the minimal symptoms I have had throughout this pregnancy so far, the one biggest nuisance is hitting in full force today - a massive migraine. With that, I am going to keep the screen time to a minimum but wanted to get this up before I forget :). So without further ado ... the 15 week update, with ultrasound pictures! Yay!

14 Weeks: When life hands you lemons

This week ended a little rough, not because of the growing baby in my belly, but just in general. See, a little less than two months back it was decided my workload was big enough to split between two people. I was overjoyed! No more ridiculous amounts of overtime and 10pm departures from the office!

Well  ... on Wednesday I went to work and found out that same girl who was assigned to help me out had just put in her two week notice. However, because she was going to work for a competitor, she had to be walked out that day so I had one hour to get up to speed on everything and take over once again. Needless to say the last part of the week saw a few late nights. Fingers crossed they find a replacement soon!

But now the weekend is here and I couldn't be happier because Saturdays bring the start of a new pregnancy week! So here we are ... week 14!

13 Weeks: Happy Birthday Kaden James

This week marks two big milestones. First up is the 5th birthday of my handsome Nephew, Kaden James!

I can't tell you how much I adore this little boy. He is seriously so intelligent and just the most loving kid ever. His happiness knows no end and every time I am near him I can't help but smile. He is just precious and now, he is a big 5 year old and in kindergarten. Happy birthday Kaden! Auntie Sam and Uncle Mac love you more than you even know!

The second milestone ... 

12 Weeks: Goodbye First Trimester!

Well here I am ... just one day from officially beginning my 2nd trimester! Around the start of week 11 the bump officially made it's appearance and there was no turning back. No matter how much sucking in and ab flexing I tried the little bump was always just slightly noticeable. Of course, anyone who doesn't know would think I just had one too many cold ones the night before, but nope - that's little baby Mac trying to make his or her presence known. This kid is definitely mine ;)

So, I say goodbye to my first trimester with a very late weekly bump photo. It's amazing how much difference one extra layer makes!

Save the Date: March 23, 2013

After weeks and weeks of secretly letting friends and family know, we are so happy to shout from the roof tops that Mac and I are expecting! Baby Mac should make his or her debut March 23, 2013.

Since you are just now finding out, let's rewind a few weeks and get you all caught up!

July 15, 2012: We are Pregnant!

I called the doctor right away but our first appointment was still two weeks away! Anxious to track every moment of our journey to becoming first-time parents we calculated little Mac's due date: March 17, 2013.

We were wrong. At our first appointment Doctor measured the baby and he/she was 5 days younger than we thought. So ...

Let the baby bump tracking begin!

Week 11: Baby's first Vacay! We headed to Solana Beach, CA and Dana Point, CA for Labor Day Weekend. We spent the weekend with his parents and even hit the horse races. I only lost $16 - best out of our group. Woohoo. Next time maybe I can come home with more than I went? Then we lounged around with Randi and John, who are newly engaged. Just think, next Labor Baby Mac will be here to put his or her toes in the sand too!

 The Day after we got back I had another Dr. Appt and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. 160 BPM. Nice and strong (and fast) just like mommy!

So now here we are today and it's officially Facebook official. So feel free to follow as my waistband continues to grow and Mac and I figure this whole parents-to-be thing out! It should make for a good laugh or two I imagine.

xoxo,

Sam


ps - while I would love to take credit for the fun and cute chalkboard idea, I have to give credit to http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com and those who have since used her idea for the inspiration.