“For she’s a jolly good fellow, for she’s a jolly good fellow, for she’s a jolly good fellow – which nobody can deny!”

Is it bad that I start my blog that way today?  NAH!  That’s because today marks my 1st anniversary of joining the blogging world.

It is hard to believe that it has already been a year!

For today’s post, I am re-posting two blogs for your enjoyment.  The first being my VERY FIRST post, Welcome Home:

Welcome Home!

November 11, 2008 in Uncategorized (Edit)

Yes, it is true!  After perusing my sister’s blog, her friends’ blogs, their friends’ blogs, I decided it was time I too join the blogging world.  This is my first experiment with something like this – I have never been great at keeping a journal, so we’ll see how it goes!  I’m not sure where my blog will lead me, so look forward to random thoughts, comments, views, ideas, etc. posted on a HOPEFULLY daily basis!

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While there have been months where I have struggled or been too busy to post something each and every day, I am thankful to have been able to share a little of my life on here and have a record of it – so fun to look back and see what I thought about during the year.

The second post I am sharing today is the post that generated the most blog views during my year with WordPress, Lil’ Love’s Diaper Bag?:

Lil’ Love’s Diaper Bag?

August 10, 2009 in Life, Pregnancy | Tags: baby, diaper bag, diaper tote, mom-to-be,Online Shopping, Pregnancy, style (Edit)

As I have mentioned in prior blog entries, I am on the constant hunt for a semi-decent diaper bag for Lil’ Love.  Let me tell you, this is no easy chore.  I don’t know if I am just too picky or if I need to create a new line of bags, but pretty much every bag out there is either way too expensive or unattractive.  The hubs would also like to carry the bag if necessary, so all of my previous purse/diaper bag options are lost and gone forever (which I’m okay with since I’ll be a working mom).  Anyway, I stumbled across a few tote bags that would work… but I think I might have found my new fave:

Pretty basic, but pretty perfect for what we are looking for in a bag.  It has several pockets inside, two of which are made specifically for bottles, pacifiers, etc.  As of right now, I have this bag favorited on my computer… however – I have two questions for all you moms out there:

1. Do you know of any other decent bags that I should check into?
2. What did you find useful or completely necessary in a diaper bag?

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For those of you who may not have seen, I actually did select a different diaper bag after hearing back from a few moms and researching a little more online (see HERE).

Anyway, a big THANK YOU goes out to all of you who have made this year a great one – reading my ramblings and leaving comments with your own thoughts or opinions – I love it!  Hope you enjoyed our little walk down memory lane – it has been a great year and I can’t wait to see what the next one has in store!  Hip Hip, Hooray!

It is here!  One of my favorite channels this time of year is ABC Family.  I have written posts before about my love for the holidays and confusion for some Christmas movies (aka “Holiday in Handcuffs“), but I can’t get enough of Christmas/Holiday programming!  Today starts the Countdown to the 25 days of Christmas – meaning that ABC Family isn’t waiting around, is dusting off their Christmas movies early, and starting tonight with two of their original movies – Snow and Snow 2: Brain Freeze.  While these are not my favorites, I am so happy to see them on the TV guide.

Wondering what other Christmas classics and made-for-TV movies will be on the schedule?  Check HERE.  Enjoy!

So, for those of you who took a peek at lil’ loves crib – you may have noticed that some of our outfits/decorations were a nod in the boy direction.  You may have noted the boy-themed outfits hanging on the wall, the blue and white blanket on the crib, or even just the look of the blue walls and white bedding.  While the wall color (which is actually a grey blue) and white bedding were planned for a baby boy or a baby girl (when we were unsure), the rest of the items were given to us by family after learning that we may be having a boy.

Our baby has always wanted to be a surprise, I suppose – because today we were informed that our baby may actually be a girl. The midwife didn’t even blink or pause – she was that certain.  So now we are unsure what to think.  I have always had a hard time accepting baby as a boy, simply because baby has been so stubborn in sharing my entire pregnancy that it felt weird to actually know the sex of our baby.  I think I’m at the point where I refuse to believe baby is a boy or a girl – and that I am back to square one.  Until I see lil’ love with my own two eyes, I will not believe baby is a boy or a girl.

With that said, my appointment went very well today.  Here are some updates and things we learned:

• My blood pressure was perfect!  I couldn’t have asked for a better reading.  Nothing was done different than before, so maybe this bed rest situation is actually working to my benefit.
• Since I am going in twice a week now for appointments (next appointment: Thursday), I am scheduled to have NST (Non Stress Test) and AFI (Amniotic Fluid Index) tests done each week.  Basically they want to make sure baby is doing well and still happy as a clam.  Today, baby was happy as can be – we even got to see baby sucking his/her thumb!
• As of today, they are thinking of inducing me around 38.5 weeks – which is November 23rd.  Our Lil’ Love could be here for Thanksgiving!

My appointment today made me feel 100% better about our current situation and I cannot wait to see what we find out this Thursday!

How sweet are these?  I LOVE Christmas!

I’m about 36.5 weeks pregnant today.  Time for some updated pregnancy photos!

I have been wanting to take pregnancy pictures with the hubs my entire pregnancy and figured we should probably get on it, especially since we are unsure when our lil’ love could arrive (sooner than later).  So with sister in town, we requested her photography services and I think they turned out pretty good… especially since we were limited on what we could do with my bed rest.

Here are my favorites:

All pictures were taken around our house, with breaks for creative thinking and resting.  I think Kimmi did a great job – I couldn’t ask for better photographs for our memories!  Thanks sister!  Oh – and there are more posted on my Facebook… which include some serious/prop photos that we die over!  A little less serious and a lot more fun.  Be sure to check them out.

This is our niece, Brooklyn.

She is almost one and is a little mover and a groover… so I wanted to find something for her upcoming birthday that she could use to practice her walking skills.  And with our baby possibly coming early, I figure I should probably get something picked out soon.

Awhile back, I found this super cute wooden hippopotamus pull toy at our local second-hand children’s store.  It was in perfect condition, had a vintage look to it, and I thought it was fun to play with – so wouldn’t a baby/toddler?  It can now be found in our baby’s nursery.  Thinking about how Brooklyn is taking more steps with each day, I thought she might have fun with a similar toy.

So, the hubs and I ordered her the following toy from the same designer – Melissa and Doug Playful Puppy Pull Toy:

Here is a description of the toy: “Such a friendly puppy! Just pull the string and this pup will follow along while wagging its tail. With its perpetual smile and wobbly gait, here is the perfect companion to be pulled along with an early walker. Brightly painted with non-toxic paint.”

Perfect!  They also have a frog, but the puppy works for our niece (they have a real puppy dog, Ace).  Can’t wait to get this in the mail and wrapped up for Brooklyn’s big day.  Happy birthday, BB!

Fall weather = fun, comfy layers.  One thing I love to add to a fall/winter outfit is a scarf.  There is just something so cozy and chic that a fun scarf can add to an outfit.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to this trend:

Knitted Cowl Scarf – Etsy.

I love love love knitted scarves.  This cowl look is a different take on the traditional knitted scarf, at least for me anyway.  I have quite a bit of yarn – even in a color similar to the picture above – so I may just try my hand at making my own cowl knit scarf.  Wish me luck!

Today marks my first day of maternity leave – officially.  After my much awaited OB appointment yesterday, it was determined that I cannot go back to work.  Walking for only a few minutes raises my blood pressure to levels that it shouldn’t reach.  There was even talk of possibly inducing labor… and my appointments were schedule for twice a week to keep an eye on things.  36 weeks along, with less than 4 weeks to go – baby could be here sooner than we thought!

I have been doing my best to keep busy and taking all the rest in that I can.

Today’s agenda:
*Continued knitting on the baby blanket.
*Continued reading in the Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series.

If you know of any great movies, TV shows, books, crafts, games, etc. that will keep a preggo entertained for awhile, please feel free to let me know.

In addition to the craft projects that I found a few days ago as seen HERE, I would love to make at least one or two sewing presents for family members as well.  Nothing too complicated, but something with fun fabrics.  I have been researching fabric websites for awhile and cannot get over how fun this one is.  I originally stumbled onto this site when I was looking for vintage baby fabrics, before I opted for clean and crisp white bedding.  Here are a few of the fabrics from the site that I personally am enjoying:

They also have fun vintage holiday fabric.  I would LOVE to make something with these fabrics:

My only complaint about this site is that everything is marked at $15.00 a yard.  That could add up quickly, especially if you wanted to make more than one throw blanket for someone.  Have you found any similar sites?  Or know of any great fabric sites?

I decided to sneak a little picture to share before our nursery was officially organized.  This is the amazing, beautiful crib that the hubs co-built for our lil’ love.  The amount of work that went into this crib – the hubs is so very wonderful and I can’t thank him enough.  Baby will sure be spoiled!  Once I have everything else in order I’ll post a few more (non rollip/polaroid) pictures.  Consider this your teaser….

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering – I sat in the rocker in baby’s room while I directed the hubs and my mother-in-law on decorating/arranging the furniture.  It was our creative way for me to still have involvement while on bed rest/house arrest.