I just realized I haven't posted ANY pictures on my blog yet. Note to self, do that.
Anyway, today I finally finished making the invitations for my baby shower. My mom and mother-in-law are throwing it for me this March, so I had to get on getting the invites sent out! I'm so bad about waiting until the last minute for that kind of thing. I'll post a picture of the finished product as soon as I can download one onto the computer. I think they're very sweet and professional looking if I do say so myself. :-)

I've always loved scrapbooking so making my own invitations and such is more like fun time than a chore. I can get absolutely get lost in pasting photos and tying embellishments onto a finished piece. And of course my favorite part is journaling. I think scrapbooking special memories is so much more rewarding than just throwing pictures in an album. It's hard to describe a memory to somebody while just pointing to a picture. Scrapbooking allows me to convey the emotion behind the times I want to remember.
For my 21st birthday my husband turned the bonus room above our garage into "my room." He installed two giant shelving units as my walk around closet at one half of the room, and set up a desk area at the other end to turn into my scrapbooking corner. It was an amazing sacrifice for him to give me a whole room, and sadly I've let it fall apart. It's become the catch-all for storage that I have yet to organize. My goal for the month of March is to get it completely cleaned out and set up to how we originally envisioned it. I'm going to have a lot more material to scrapbook here in a few months, and I have a feeling I'm also going to need a place to get away to just be "me." You tend to lose sight of yourself when you get married and then have children, so I want to make sure to have an environment conducive to maintaining my original passions.

Tell the story of a memory about your husband that brings you a smile and a giggle every time you think about it!

If ever I am feeling down or just not right I tend to try and visualize the happiest days in my life. Most of the time it can set me in a good mood with the right frame of mind. One of my favorite visualizations has to do with today's "My Husband Rocks Fridays" prompt.
My husband is the amazing dad to a 5-year-old girl. For her fourth Christmas we got her a Dora the Explorer Powerwheels four wheeler. After bundling up to go test drive it we headed outside to our cul-de-sac to see what she could do.
Not five minutes into her first riding session she was standing up on the pedals and whirling around one-handed. She had definately inherited her daddy's risk taker side! Each time she would come up with a new trick she would quickly look over at Adam to make sure he had seen her. The smile on his face was priceless. I could tell he felt so much pride to see his little girl being brave and daring on her new toy.
Evenutally the riding bug hit Adam too and he got out his motorcycle to ride around with Emilie. She laughed and laughed as he slowly rode circles around her and showed her little stunts of his own. Soon she started circling around the cul-de-sac again with her daddy right on her tail. He inched closer, but never quite caught up to her. She had the greatest time racing this big orange motorcycle with her little four wheeler. To here there was nothing greater.
Each time I remember watching them from our driveway it brings a smile to my face.

As I sit here writing this blog my thoughts were just diverted to the fact that I haven't felt Ethan (baby in the belly) move much today. I've been told babies have days where they're super active, and days where they aren't active hardly at all, so I'm not concerned.
I always knew about the common pregnancy symptoms of morning sickness, fatigue, cramps, and such, but nobody ever told me about the mental components of pregnancy. My whole thought process has changed. I can't imagine not being pregnant, and not having this baby boy. Most of my thoughts are consumed by him, and most things I do during the day are for him. It's crazy to think that I didn't even know about him until almost seven months ago.

Eye on the Prize

I've been wanting to start a blog for awhile to document my life during pregnancy. I'm a constant lurker of others' pregnancy and motherhood blogs, so I thought it only right to start my own. I've been journaling since I was seven-years-old, inspired by a cartoon by the name of Doug who writes in his own diary about every day life. Journaling has brought me through life's biggest events, as well as those small things that seem to be little pieces of a big puzzle that has resulted in where I am today.
A little about me, I'm 23-years-old, pregnant with my first child (a boy!) due May 15, 2009, and have been married for over two years to my wonderful husband Adam.
We have been through more ups and downs than I care to recall (the downs, anyway), but have always come out stronger. I feel absolutely blessed to have married a man that turns adversity into triumphs, no matter how small and meaningless. The good times are what we cling onto like a lifeline during the really hard spots.
Currently we're learning to grow closer together through a roller coaster economy that I think my now very possible grand kids will have to pay for much later. My husband's business depends on a good economy and housing market, so you can imagine where our financial state is right now. But through family and other blessings we've been able to keep our home and somehow pay most of our bills...the really important ones anyway. And with a baby on the way there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think "how in the world are we going to do this?" But somehow, some way, things will work themselves out.

I'm not quite sure how to blog effectively and keep things interesting, so bare with me. In journaling it's all about simply reflecting my emotions onto paper, so this is a bit different.
This pregnancy has been everything I always expected, but also a few great surprises. The physical aspects I halfway was ready for. I'm carrying very out front and low, and the baby is positioned feet down, so that has been a lovely experience. Just imagine a little person using your bladder as his personal kickboxing bag. :-) Fun, huh? Keep your eye on the prize is something I tell myself in his most active hours of the day which tend to be early morning and mid evening. Every movement amazes, though. It makes it hit home that there is a human in there that will come out in May and change my world forever.
Today I ordered a maternity outfit to boost my morale and have something to wear that isn't black or gray.
http://www.motherhood.com/Product.asp?ViewSource=&Product_Id=817790011&category_Name=Sets&Category_Id=90011&MasterCategory_Id=9996
I'm so sick of wearing dark colors I could barf. I've always loved wearing bright colors and cute shoes, but maternity wear still has some expanding to do. Since November I've practically worn the same pair of Clarks leather slip on shoes every day. They've kept my feet and ankles from swelling, but I do miss my stiletto heels and 3 inch pumps. Somehow I think if I tried to wear those right now I would resemble an infant just learning to walk. Oh the irony.
I've learned the art of accessorizing as well to compensate for not feeling very pretty elsewhere. Having your whole profile change over the course of nine months is a little daunting. I know what my body is doing, I love what it is doing, but I can't believe that is my body. Each time I catch a glimpse of my belly in the mirror I have to do a double take. Your whole life you obsess over keeping a perfect hourglass figure, and then you get pregnant and give all of it up while the baby grows. It's a hard thing to let go of!
I do feel beautiful, though. I do see a glow about me that I like to call radiant. It's as though the joy in my heart can at last reflect onto my exterior. Being pregnant brings about a sense of wonderment. As strange as my body appears it is doing something amazing. As the quote goes, "Pregnancy and childbirth are our one opportunity as women to assist God in a miracle." I don't quite agree that it's just one opportunity we get, but it certainly is one of the greatest. At one point I was having to come to grips that my chance may never come to experience pregnancy, but God had different plans. And I am so glad He did.

1Cr 9:24
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it].