My Crazy, Chaotic, Simply WONDERFUL Life...

I sit here giggling to myself as I read the last 2 posts that talk about how busy we've been...because a couple weeks after my nesting post...busy took on a whole new meaning when our life exploded with chaos! Here's just a glimpse of our busy-ness in the past 5 weeks:

This gorgeous, fantastic, adorable, incredible little sister of mine...


...got engaged to the man of her dreams and embarked on the fast paced journey of planning a wedding for June 26th (yes, THIS year)! You can view Josh & Emily's engagement pics via this link: MattShumatePhotography


Our initial days after the engagement were filled with dress shopping, for the bride (sorry readers, I can't share any pics of her dress until after the wedding...but I can assure you, this dress was made for her and she looks amazing in it!), the bridesmaids, and last but not least, the most challenging dress...for me, the (soon to be 8 month pregnant) matron of honor.

Amongst all of this wonderful craziness, we finished organizing the closet in the nursery:

And celebrated my first official Mother's Day! My sweet husband ordered me a spendy diaper bag I've had my eye on at Nordstrom's but couldn't justify the cost...LOVE it..and him ;-)

I had my first baby shower hosted by my Mother-in-law (picture of jammies that say "my auntie loves me" from Auntie Em):

And then made 60 bridal shower invites...

40 thank yous...

and a recipe book...

before hosting Em's bridal shower last Saturday:

Then squeezed in some time to help my sister with 60 shower invites and matching thank you cards for my other 2 upcoming baby showers:

And made 40 graduation party invites and thank you cards for my little brother's high school grad party we are hosting in a few weeks as well!

Pic of Zack & I at the space needle (fall 2009):

In case you are curious, including the 100 birth announcements I have ready and waiting for the arrival of our daughter...that's a total of over 400 handmade cards in the past 5 weeks...All this on top of being pregnant (updated belly pic at 30 weeks):

and amidst the craziness of finishing our basement:

So, loyal blog readers...that about sums up my life in the past month...my crazy, chaotic, yet simply WONDERFUL life =)

Nesting...

Alright blog readers...here is another much delayed post (finally)! The due date of our baby girl is still 14 weeks and 5 days away, but we have been busier than ever! Doing what, you ask?...nesting, of course! Thankfully, among all the nesting activities, we found some time for warmth, sun and relaxation in AZ with good friends...sadly, I didn't take many pictures on our 5 day trip to Scottsdale, but I did manage to capture a few of these adorable girls, Rhyan and Abbey (picture of them below at the Phoenix Zoo). We had a fantastic time and can't wait to see them again!


Before we left for AZ, we began work on the nursery and added some finishing touches once we returned home. Here is a sneak peak of the work in progress...

And now...the BEFORE and AFTER pictures:

Here's a cute shot of our sweet and anxious boy, Beaumont. He has since gotten comfortable with the changes in her room and often sleeps in there next to the crib!

AND...as promised, here is a belly shot at 25 weeks:

As if finishing a nursery wasn't enough work...we have taken on a MUCH bigger nesting project...finishing our 1250 sq ft basement!!! After only 2 Saturdays of work, it is almost completely framed...now we are ready for a new hot water heater, toilet, tub, sink and plumbing...then onto electrical, insulation, sheetrock, mud, tape, texture, paint, tile, carpet and a new fireplace and we will be all set!

Let's hope we can get most of this basement addition completed before our new little "addition" arrives!

Update: Week 19

It has already been a MONTH since my last update! We have been busy picking out items for the nursery and trying to squeeze in a little more travel before parenthood! 2 weeks ago we spent a whirlwind weekend in Vegas with our friends Dave and Crystal...AND on our flight Ben was able to feel our daughter kicking for the very first time (I began feeling her around 16 weeks)!

Here we are at the famous Bellagio fountain:

In case you were wondering...of course we couldn't resist picking out a few things for our sweet little girl...

Mommy's choice:

Daddy's choice:

Joint choice from the M&M factory:

Yesterday (1 day shy of 19 weeks) - we had another ultrasound! Here is an outside belly shot...

And a few perfect little pictures of our baby girl growing on the inside:

This month we plan to paint and set up the nursery and then we are Arizona bound...meeting up with magnificent friends in Scottsdale - more pictures coming soon!

Warning: baby gender spoiler below!!!

As you may have read in my previous post...on November 18, 2009 we received the wonderful news that we are expecting our first child! Relief washed over us immediately...Yet, as we stood upon the threshold of our dream (again) we were terrified. As I sit here, staring at a numeric glimpse of our pre-baby journey, it is easy to understand why.

535 - The number of days we planned & dreamt & hoped & longed for that day to finally arrive.

150 - The number of prescription pills (not including pre-natals) I consumed in an attempt to prepare my body for pregnancy.

22 - The number of doctor appointments we attended.

15 - The number of times my blood was drawn for lab testing & evlauation.

5 - The number of ultrasounds I had to diagnose our miscarriage as well as the functioning of my organs during hormone treatment.

5 - The number of hormone injections I received.

4 - The number of times we changed doctors, desperately searching for someone who could help make our dream come true.

1 - The baby we lost...

1 - The number of times my body was pumped full of iodine & x-rayed.

1 - The IUI that finally helped us conceive this little miracle:

Today (Feb 3, 2010) as we sat in a tiny ultrasound room, watching the aerobic movements of the sweet baby growing inside of me (curtosey of the sugary drink I had with lunch), I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the difficult journey we've endured. I know now that our focus has shifted to a brand new set of numbers...and just like the previous ones, now that we have counted them, our lives will never be the same!

TEN TINY FINGERS

TEN LITTLE TOES

& ONE INCREDIBLY PERFECT...

BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!