Go hard or go home

Ryan and I are in a little bit of shock that we've gone from positive preggo tests (gross and weird that I took pics of them... I know)

to

bags packed for the hospital in, what feels like, such a short amount of time. I know that most 39 weeks preggo women, especially during August, are just ready to get the baby out, but I'm not feeling all that miserable.

I also think some nesting and getting the baby's room together is totally normal, but I think Ryan and I may have taken it a bit too far.


In preparation for Baby Blythe we have,


-painted the room that is now the nursery
-painted the room that is now the grandparent suite
-replaced carpet in the front of our house
-added walls to Ryan's office that was open
-cleaned the entire house from top to bottom
-cleaned out every closet, the pantry, etc.
-put together furniture for the nursery and redecorated

I guess this doesn't all seem totally overwhelming, until I think about the fact that we started it all a few weeks into the third trimester. No wonder I just took a nap.

So, here is the photo proof of our last few weeks.

The new walls to the office, totally finished...

Ryan in closet-cleanout mode

Preparing to paint the grandparent suite

Putting together furniture in the nursery...

Relaxing in the glider to celebrate some paint swatches. Loooove this chair!

Walls painted, time for the crib...
Hanging the butterfly chandelier over the crib.

A break from some cleaning with a visit from my friend, Allison Lee (Bradley) and her new little one, Avery.Last weekend the moms, after begging for a way to help us get ready, came to do a deep clean. This picture is not posed. They had a mini-planning meeting and made a "to do" list. Our house is so clean that even the hose that connects the dryer to the wall is lint-free. Love it.

And, I'll leave you with some pictures of the big nursery reveal... I know, so exciting for you all.

So, I think other than that whole, "labor" thing, I can finally say that I'm ready for Blythe to get here. Okay, even with the labor, we are both thrilled to meet our baby girl! We're ready to take the next step in our married and family life. It's go time!

We heart Everest Road!

When Ryan and I got married a little over three years ago, we had a blast taking our engagement pictures, and we loved how they turned out. However, since then, I feel like photography has gotten a lot more fun and less over-posed... waaay more my style. We have several close friends in Austin who are photographers, and we LOVE their work.

Jessica, a friend who we've known for several years in Austin, recently opened a photography company with a friend, Julie, and they took some maternity pictures for us. We thought these would be fun to have to look back on, and it was a great excuse to take advantage of their mad skills.

Check out more of their work on their blog or their website. Thanks, girls! We love the pics!

LOL-ing

If you read a lot of blogs, you've probably already found these two beauties, but I wanted to share, just in case you need a quick laugh in the middle day....

You'll never see Pottery Barn catalogs the same way...

Catalog Living

You'll never complain the same way...

White Whine

Oh Bow!

At what point do you ask yourself,

"Does my unborn child have too many bows?"

Never?

Yeah... that's kinda what I thought too.

I can't decide whether to laugh or cry

I think I've written about this before, but Ryan and I have had a Community Group that has met at our house every Wednesday for the last 3 years. These friends have become like family to us, and we love them dearly, dearly, dearly.

Last night they gave Ryan and me a book of letters that they'd written to Blythe. It was so sweet and so precious. When they handed us the book, I could only read a couple of lines without tearing up, so Ryan and I read them together when we got home last night.

They ranged from sweet and touching to laugh-out-loud-funny.

Here are some of their words for Blythe...

"You are loved, even before you are born. You are a child of God and a child of two wonderful parents. We love you little Blythe and can't wait to see your sweet little face."

"Now you are almost here. We have been praying for you and will continue to pray for you. We are praying that you would know Jesus and grow into a godly woman."

"As I mentioned before, we have our own baby named Cannon and it was decided long before you got here that he would be your husband. Then the Lipscombs came along wanting to adopt a baby boy and the competition started to heat up, but I knew we could handle it. I thought we were in the clear because the Sales were suppose to have a baby girl (intended to be your BFF) but it turns out they're having a boy too! So the competition will be fierce when you're old enough to date, yet you will have your choice from what I know will be three wonderful, God-loving men and you can't go wrong.

P.S. If you choose Cannon, you can come with us to Disney World when you turn 5."

"Dessert should be eaten first. I kid! I kid! This rule only applies when you move out of your parents' house."

"Boys are sometimes strange. This is unfortunately the case for several years, but when they come out of their "funk" be sure to find one that loves the Lord, follows Him with all his heart, and will treat you as a princess and love you for exactly who you are because, girl, you are worth it."

"At least once in your life you should visit California because pretty rad/epic things come out of that state. You should especially try Del Taco."

"Welcoming you into this world are: 2 amazing parents, 1 "special" dog, 4 doting yet loving grandparents, and a group of EXTREMELY rad friends. I can't wait to hold you."

I wanted to share one of their letters in its entirety because it was so touching...

Dear Ryan and Allison,

Soon you will be holding your precious newborn daughter in your arms for the first time. This amazing, gorgeous, little creation with the sleepiest yawns and most adorable smiles will snuggle in the safety of your arms knowing she is secure and loved and cared for in every way. You will feed and change and rock her, sing to her, take her for a drive or stroller ride to calm her (when you would sometimes rather be watching the World Series) and be able to pick out her cry from that of all the other babies in the church nursery while still approaching down the hallway.

Blythe will lose teeth and baby fat and your car keys (which you will give her because they are unbeatable entertainment while you are trying to finish a conversation with another grown up). She will gain the ability to roll over, then crawl, then walk, and then say her R's (and you kind of wish she couldn't because it sounds so much cuter when she says "weally" instead of "really").

When you send Blythe to kindergarten you will stand in the doorway of the classroom with all the other first time parents trying to catch one more glimpse of her to make sure she is settling in well (she is) while all the old-time parents scurry away, relieved to have another child in school.

You will make all your own organic baby food and sanitize her pacifier and keep her off of the floor in public buildings and tiptoe and whisper when she naps. Then she learns the word "no" and suddenly Blythe is refusing her favorite snack of bananas and you just bought ten pounds of them at the store and you find yourself eating bananas and baking banana bread and finally throwing them away in the trash, all mottled and brown, wondering if bananas will ever come back into favor (they will, but you won't have any in the house). At the mall Blythe doesn't want to sit in the stroller anymore because she can walk (ever so slowly, and never in the direction you're trying to go). You don't put syrup on her pancakes because it's unhealthy but her little friend gets syrup on his and she cries and refuses to each them. You now put syrup on her pancakes.

You start breaking all your "I will never let my child do that" vows you made before you had one, and find yourself buying candy in the checkout line at the grocery store and letting Blythe wear flip-flops to Grandma's (who believes shoes should give good support) and taking her to a July birthday party wearing her Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer light up sweatshirt because it's her favorite. She fixes her own hair even though you could do it better.

Blythe makes you feel elated and proud and terrified and vulnerable all at the same time. She is delightful and mysterious and confounding and so beautiful you can't take your eyes off of her when she is in the room. You worry about all the mistakes you will make and then all the mistakes she will make. You cry harder than you have ever cried and laugh harder than you have ever laughed and love more than you have ever loved before. Your heart is walking around outside your body forevermore. Sometimes realizing this makes it hard to breathe. Then you remember that Blythe is in the palm of God's hand. And so are you. Always.

"See, I have engraved you win the palm of My hands..." Isaiah 49:16

We are so thankful for this amazing group of people! Blythe will be blessed to enter the world with such loving, supportive families around her, and we are blessed to call each of them friends.

Daigle Fun!!!

Allow me to introduce you to some of my favorite people in the world...

These are a handful of the Daigle Cousins. The Daigles are Ryan's mom's side of the family, whom we don't get to see but a few times a year. Ryan's mom is one of nine siblings, so it makes for a pretty big bunch.

Every Memorial Day weekend we all get together at someone's home to eat ridiculous amounts of food, stay up waaaay too late, play lots of games, and have a formal catch up time where we all catch one another up on the events of the last year. We laugh, we cry, and we gain weight. It's truly a beautiful weekend.

I hope this was posed, but I'm not sure...
There's nothing like a late night game of Loaded Questions to burn some calories laughing

Some of the Daigle girls with the littlest Daigles
Ryan and I look forward to this weekend every May!

We were incredibly blessed this year to get to see the whole Daigle group- aunts and uncles included, at a "double baby shower" that was given to us by the family. Ryan's cousin, Glenn's wife Kim, is due two days before I am, and we were thrilled to get to share the party.

Ryan's parents bought baby Assunto her very own pink, MONOGRAMMED putter. I just about lost it!

Glenn is going to be such a fun dad. That little boy is going to laugh and laugh and laugh.

Our parents made the trip to Beaumont for the event... such troopers!

Trey and Joy, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law with Kaycie's precious boy, Jake

Lots of pool time

We always love our time with the Daigles!!! We just wish it happened more often!!!

Dorothy, we're not in college anymore...

These are my besties. We were roommates in the Pi Phi house for 2 years and have a LOT of fun memories from college together. One year ago this week we were on a girls trip to Mexico together.

This year, four of the six of us are preggo, and we're in the middle of the baby showers. This weekend the girls had a shower for me and baby in Austin. They are the absolute master party planners and thought of so many little touches to make the day special.

My friend, Bradley is so pregnant that, a. she couldn't open this box and b. I literally check my phone every 5 minutes to see if she's on the way to the hospital.

Several of my other preggo friends were at the shower. I had about 20 pregnant friends, but I think 4 have had their kiddos... down to around 16! Don't drink the water in Austin!

The Lynches and Assuntos came in for the festivities. The guys played golf while the girls went to the shower. Good times were had by all.
Now I have to turn the rest of the post over by referring you all to TRog's blog

She took some precious pictures of the shower, which she very graciously hosted in her gorgeous home!

Ryan and I saw our parents off on Sunday morning and then worked on the nursery for a lot of the day. (and by that I mean, my wonderful husband worked in the nursery while I slept for almost 2 hours)

Hurry on over to TRog's blog for the full scoop!