Friday, March 31, 2017

Daily photos - March 2017

I said I was determined to get the March photos up on the blog ASAP and I would say I've accomplished that. For the first time ever I've managed to get the month's daily photo project post up before the end of the month! Next up is the family memories post...should be done before the end of the weekend!
































Thursday, March 30, 2017

How to decide on baby girl's name?!

So about a month ago Jim and I decided on a name for our little girl....bought the letters for it...and now we're just not sure anymore! I was sure I knew what I wanted to name her, but now with just less than 2 weeks to go I just don't know anymore if I love the name like I thought I did. I do know I want a K name for her, but I'm just not sure which one I like the best now. 

So...for now, she remains nameless and we're going back to our original plan of waiting until she's born to truly decide. And if we go with a different name than what we thought we wanted...then I guess I'll return the letters and be thankful that I didn't go through all the work to paint them and decorate them the way I have planned to. 

I've also given up on getting her nursery finished before she arrives. I'm going to work my way through things in the next 10 days and hope for the best, but as long as her bassinet is ready and her clothes are put away in her closet, then I think we'll be doing alright. Her diapers and coming home outfit are packed in her diaper bag, her bear from Auntie Tana is ready for her first day photos, and her car seat is by the door and ready to be installed in the van. Everything else can wait :)

12 more sleeps until this bump is gone forever and I am finally holding my daughter in my arms!

Monday, March 27, 2017

My favorite maternity photos ever!

That's a tough one for me to say because the maternity photos that Jim and I had done in my first pregnancy I do still love...but these ones are just so much more amazing to me because they show the whole family that Jim and I have created together in our 14 years together.

They are special because they include our boys, and maybe a little extra special too because they have our daughter in them too. I'm not saying that if this baby was another boy that I wouldn't have done maternity photos, or that they would be any less than these ones are...but I can easily admit that these feel really different to me and I'm not totally sure why. If you'd asked me 2 weeks ago what I was thinking of for these photos I was feeling very undecided and unsure and just really wasn't into even doing them, even though I knew I wanted them for the memories. This pregnancy has left me feeling so blah and not pretty at all.  Even though my belly isn't as big as it was with the boys, I think I just felt really different during those pregnancies than I do now and I can't explain why that is. Maybe it's true what I've heard that for some women their daughters just steal their beauty completely during their pregnancy. And for a girl who doesn't usually ever feel that pretty, I've been feeling especially un-pretty lately!

I woke up on the morning of our tentative outside shoot and really didn't feel like putting the outfits together, doing my hair and makeup or even really smiling...but Jim basically told me (in as loving way possible) to suck it up because we were going to do them anyways. He said I wasn't going to magically feel better the following weekend (which was supposed to be crappy weather again) and I wasn't going to magically be more into it as the weeks went on and I got bigger and closer to delivery (and risked a complication and missing doing the photos all together!) The weather was looking to cooperate so he told me to text Jenn and set it up, so I did...and I'm so glad she was still on board for that day!

Once we got out the door and started the shoot I knew we were going to capture some great shots that I'd be really happy with. And in the end my expectations were FAR exceeded with what Jenn created for us. There are many that I love, and some that I know I will cherish and remember forever.

Here are my favorites from our outdoor shoot that was done on Sunday, March 19 when I was 33 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

Love this picture...but I do wish Jim had remembered to put his wedding ring on! :)




My loves and I

Love this one of me and James!


Wow, can you say growing up too fast?

So much cuteness




This is the face I see whenever he wants to kiss the baby!

My adorable brown eyed little boy seems so big these days now that he's about to become a big brother.


Outfit #2...I like this one of me and Jimmy!




Location #2 - I think this might be my favorite of me and the boys together!







LOVE this one so much! We look young and skinny :)


Outfit and location #3 - My favorite of the family photos we took!

Such handsome boys I'm surrounded by...can't wait to see what our little lady is going to look like!

At this point the boys had left to go to Sunday dinner so Jim and I were able to capture some beautiful photos of just the two of us.

This was my favorite outfit of the day and the location and sunlight were just beautiful too! I'm having a hard time actually picking my favorites out of this bunch!













hahahahahaha....you should have seen me trying to get up after this next set of photos were taken.




2 days later at 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant (and exactly 3 weeks away from baby girl's delivery) the boys and I went into Jenn's home studio to capture a few really fun photos I had found on Pinterest that I really wanted to do with just the boys and I and the belly! I may actually love some of these photos more than the outdoor ones but I think that was because the session was super short, the boys were in great moods (and very much understood the bribes that were on the table...Timbits AND Putter's ice cream!) and I felt way more relaxed because there was no time crunch on us as there was a few days earlier. It was mainly just Jenn and I having fun while I switched tops MULTIPLE times and lots of laughing while she captured exactly the images I was hoping for! Here are the highlights from that short but awesome session!

These first two turned out EXACTLY as I had hoped they would! Both are going to be printed for the wall of the nursery!


Jordie cuteness


And some love from my big guy James


Not sure why but this picture just touches my heart so much. This guy made me a Mommy almost 7 years ago and I can't wait to see him take on the role of big brother once again!

Jordie and Blaze


Another good one of me and James

A few more artistic shots of just the belly to finish off the day's photos!