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I am preg.nant.

I woke up this morning about 30 times more exhausted than normal.  Lately at night I’ve been getting these weird pains and funky feelings in my tummy…i think they are just braxton hicks contractions but they wake me up and i sit there thinking…”oh my god this is it”.  its not it.  I’m just freaked out.

It’s crazy how much of a terrible person i feel like these days.  my hormones are a wee bit nuts and I’m gonna be honest…I’m not very nice.

The worst part about not being very nice is that it usually lands right on Brett…who is actually quite wonderful and is AMAZING at taking care of me.  so i sort of give him the most snoot and then walk around feeling totally terrible about it because he doe NOT deserve it.

on another note.  we are trying our best to prepare for this little monster.  Brett was super intense about getting our bags for the hospital all ready.  we went to target and got travel size toiletries and some comfy post birth jams for me to wear in the hospital.  we loaded up on some hanes v necks for him and me for that first couple weeks of baby.  basically relieving the pressure of thinking about what to wear when we’re figuring out this whole parenting thing at first.

id have to say…im most excited about the wonder woman underpants that we bought me to wear in celebration of going through labor (we’re very practical).

we both have a strange feeling that she is coming early.  Brett said that every time i call him he thinks I’m about to tell him I’m in labor.  we’re totally not paranoid at all.  i guess we’ll see if we are right about this in the weeks to come.

Time seems to be flying by and there is still so much to do.  AH!  I know it will all work out great, but I’m definitely getting into the stress zone.  One day at a time lemsters…one day at a time…oof.

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it is my gentle-mans birthday today!  hooray!  i love celebrating him, because…well…hes pretty much my favorite person in the entire universe!

Happy birthday my love!  Life is so much fun with you in it.  It’s never a dull moment with us and I love every minute of it!  I can’t wait for Penny to meet you, you are going to be the best dad!  You are definitely already the best husband!  I love your sweet face!  Cheers to another year of pure awesome : ).

All has been pretty quiet over here on the blog.  We’ve been a tad bit busy and I’ve been a extremely pregnant.

Yesterday I turned 28.  That sounds really old to me to admit that, but I’m still rockin the 20’s so thats workin out for me.

My birthday is usually a pretty big deal to me.  I like any excuse to celebrate, I mean I already have an elaborate plan for my 30th (I’m throwing a prom…its gonna be all sorts of epic).  This year however, I kind of forgot about it.  My dad mentioned mine and Bretts birthday dinner and I was like “wait what? our birthdays are next week?”  Needless to say, there was no planning.  I worked a whole work day and made no plans, but there was plenty of celebrating and love that was had, and I liked it.

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The day kicked off with my hubs bringing me breakfast in bed whilst singing happy birthday to me!  I think this may have been one of 1 of 3 times that he has voluntarily woken up before me, so I felt pretty special.  Plus, who doesn’t love a cute dude bringing you food in the morning : ).

Then when we walked out the door for work there was a balloon with a card attached to it.  Left there by our neighbors and dear friends the Jessens.  Special-ness continues.

I was greeted at work with a decorated desk and the most scrumptious crumb coffee cake known to man.  Then my boss took all the back office ladies out to lunch at a swanky Italian restaurant, where I ate some bomb ass lasagna and this delicious flour-less chocolate cake.

When I got home, my handsome husband had made us an incredible steak dinner with mashed potatoes and asparagus.  We ate, we watched real world/road rules challenge, and then topped the night off with a little movie and friendship with my bro and sis in law and the jessens.

After the movie we snuggled in bed and read some Harry Potter before dosing off.

Adios 27, you were actually really fantastic.  28 you got a lot of living up to do.

cuppycakes

i do not bake.

i one time thought that corn oil and corn syrup were the same thing.  i learned they are not.  most baking experiences have not been good for me, so im a bit intimidated by the whole process.  even baked goods from a box.  sketchy.

the hubs and i have begun watching breaking bad with each other, and its a bit intense…so to ease the anxiety i decided to try my hand at some fun fetti cupcakes.  my bro, sis in law, and little niece (who is becoming not so little…tear) came back from 5 weeks away at a camp in Massachusettes.  I thought this would be a nice excuse to do something tasty and of course a little crafty for them.  so i bust out that box of cake mix and got to work. and they all survived!  there was an iffy moment in there when i had forgotten to add water and was confused by the whole dough effect happening (i blame pregnancy brain for that).  but, i successfully made cupcakes.  they may have been from a box and i may have only had to add 3 ingredients, but i made them!

i had some washi tape lying around (as we all do) and made some little tiny colorful flags : ).

it was fun giving them a little treat to welcome them home…although last night brett was roaming around our kitchen saying “i miss the cupcakes”.

august

Its August?!? I know this is a total “old lady” thing to say, but…where did the time go?

I have to admit as I was flipping my calendar to this month, I got a little emotional (shocking right?).  I just realized that next month, Penny is coming.  Which started out as a super exciting thought.  YES!  We totally get to meet her SO soon!  And then it hit me…

This is the last month where we will just be “Brett and Katie”.  As excited as I am for our little girl to get her butt here, a part of me is a wee bit sad that I have to share Brett with her.  One of the things we talked about a lot pre “we could totally do this baby thing” was how selfish we are with each other.  This is real you guys…I reeeeeally like my husband.  I’d pretty much choose snuggling on the couch with him over anything.  He’s my favorite person in the whole world and i really love loving him.  This little third wheel is gonna come in here and turn our lives all sorts of upside down.

i know things are going to change a bunch soon, but its a huge prayer of mine that we will find some ways to preserve the “us” that we love so much.  i don’t want this to sound like I’m dreading having penny around. I’m not.  I’m actually super anxious to meet her, and i look at my little desk calendar like a clock, like its going to change through the day and I’ll be one step closer to holdin her squishy buns.  plus!  i am so excited to see Brett as a father and i know that watching him with her is going to make me fall in love with him in a new way.  I just want to take this last month to kind of focus on the two of us, and make sure that we appreciate this time together.

flipping that calendar over this morning made me sit back and thing about how much that husband of mine means to me.  im so thankful for him, and for the time that we have had, just me and him.  and im looking forward to the days of me, him, and penny.  we have no idea what we’re doing.  but im sure its going to be awesome, and no doubt hilarious at times.

cheers to next chapters, theres no one else id rather walk through this with.  love you senor brettles.  your the bestest.

this weekend was…heaven.  we did nothing.  we cleaned a little.  we ate at home.  there was a target trip somewhere in there.  but mostly we watched movies and laid down all day.  it was perfect.

on saturday morning, brett and i made pancakes for the very first time.  i know.  why this long?  the truth is…i dont really like pancakes, unless they are my sis in laws punkin pancakes that she makes for my brother (and on rare occasions i get to partake.  those are damn good pancakes my siz!).  i’m thinkin penny loves pancakes because they were gooooOOOOood.  we got to sit and have a little fam breakfast with bretts bro and we felt so fancy with our pancakes, eggs, and breakfast potatoes (it doesnt take much).

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ive been having extreme nesting mind.  i say extreme because it is not limited to our little girls room.  no no no, that would be too simple.  i actually said this to brett the other day “hey babe, do you think our landlords would be mad if we took our cabinets out of the kitchen?” to which he lovingly replied “yes, i dont think they would be too happy about that.”  eff nesting yall…i want to RENOVATE.  everything.  because the things i have in mind are all sort of grand i have done nothing.  which is super productive.

but on saturday i got my craft on.  i spent some time outside reading the other day, and brett had left a bike wheel on our patio.  its been sitting there for a couple of months and i weirdly enjoyed the way it looked out there.  i started to think about what we could do with this thing.  it started to get dark outside and my reading time was dwindling and i though…man i wish we had like a lamp out here.  IDEA!  bike wheel chandelier!

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i spent most of the afternoon wrapping yarn around the wheel, and around the wire that would hold it up.  our plan is to get some battery operated led lights (soft white, because i hate that bright white biznass) and wrap them around the tire.  i think it will add a little bit of fun and definitely some much needed light on our patio.  we can move our scrabble games outside long after the sun has gone down : )

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hopefully i’ll finish this soon and i can update you with some pictures of it in action.  how this project helped brett and i prepare for penny, i have no idea.  but it eased my nesting mind for a moment.  just…a moment.

happy monday friends, hope your weekend was whatever you needed!  i know ours was : )

icedcoffee

One of my biggest pregnancy cravings throughout the whole nearly 8 months this thing has been going on has been iced coffee.  Not only iced, but with a ton of cream.  I am a hot black coffee sort of lady myself, but something about this baby wants cream and wants it now!  Unfortunately…decaf iced coffee is not so accessible.  I know i know…you can have SOME caffeine while pregnant.  But you should know…im not the best moderator when it comes to this stuff.  I do allow myself like a soda or two a day, but Ive been trying my best to not splurge on coffee.  I’ll say it…im an addict.  And if i let one cup of that sweet sweet caffeinated coffee touch these lips…ill have a million.  It’s good to know your limits.

So through this post from the lovely ladies at A Beautiful Mess, I found this blog with the solution to my iced coffee woes!

These sources along with my husbands free pound a week (thanks honey bear!) i was able to brew a pretty good batch of cold brew decaf sumatra.  our kitchen is a mess from this experiment because well…im pregnant and prone to spills (i blame penny, but really i was like this before she came along).  But a cup of this stuff and some sleepy kisses and morning chit chats from the hubs made this morning a brightly started one.

I dont think ive been this excited for the weekend in quite some time.  This is the first weekend in about…let me go count…NINE weeks (holy crap) that we have no plans.  There are no weddings, no showers, no plans with fam or friends…NOTHIN!  Oh my god, i almost just cried.  I am an introvert in the worst way…so you can only imagine how exhausted i am from all of the socializing thats been happening.  Which…i totally love…but at the same time, it is completely draining.

Anywho, we’re going to have some weekend date fun.  Beginning with dinner tonight at our “special place”…its Outback you guys…i know…we’re reeeeally fancy.  We’re gonna sleep in and make blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then go to the Huntington Library (one of my favorite places and where brett proposed to me!).  Then who knows? Who cares? We’re planless and it feels so good!

Happy Friday everyone!  Only 5 more hours to the weekend!

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First things first.  I found this mug on pinterest…and if no one is hilarious enough to buy this for me…im gonna have one made.  and i will drink out of this little gem every morning whilst holding my sweet little babes.

id like to preface this post by saying that i never thought of myself as a mom.  i was not one of those little girls that was like…im gonna grow up and get married and have babies!  babies scared me.  they still do.  the responsibility of raising a human being is one of the most intimidating tasks i have every had to come face to face with.

i felt this way a little bit about marriage.  i was terrified.  it is a big deal.  and i was always VERY aware of it.   i remember when brett and i were engaged i started to freak out a bit.  not about marrying him (best. decision. ever!) but i had seen some of my friends get married and they all of a sudden became this wife.  they did everything perfectly for their husbands.  they even dressed different or looked different to me.  they changed.  it wasn’t bad.  it was just different.  and i was so scared that i wouldn’t live up to that.

the truth is.  i don’t.  and that is totally okay.  i’m totally not the “best wife ever”.  but brett tells me i am.  and maybe its true to him.  hes the best husband ever…to me : ).

now on to babies.  i am beyond stoked to meet penny.  and i have no doubt that she is going to be a rad little addition to our family.  i mean…shes part brett…and hes my all time favorite person, so she is guaranteed a spot on my fave list!  but its totally there…the fear.

im starting to get really terrified of labor.  like really freaked out.  everyones response to this is.  “once you hold your baby it all goes away”.  if im being completely honest…that is like the least comforting thing.  im very aware that i have no idea what im doing.  so when labor is over and im looking at this little girl and embarking on this unknown phase of life, where im a total rookie and dont know anything….that stresses me out.  hey youre done giving birth!  heres this little person who doesnt even know how to hold their head up! AHHHH!

i know it sounds terrible but brett has started to say…”when labor is all over, you wont be pregnant anymore” and there…with those words, i find relief.

my pregnancy has been totally easy breezy.  when i think about it, it hasnt been bad at all.  minus the total mental break downs about weight gain, and the normal uncomfortable things that come with being pregnant.  but im not loving it.  im not one of those ladies that absolutely loves being pregnant.  even admitting that feels like im being a bad mother.  sometimes i say it to moms and they look at me like ive just said the most vulger thing.  im not a fluffy mushy person.  and i also dont know how to fake things very well.  when someone asks me how im doing im not the type to launch into how this is the most incredible thing in the world and i feel so amazing.  if i feel like crap…ill most likely say so.

brett gives me a hard time because he can tell exactly how im feeling, even when im trying really hard to hide it (unless i dont want to hurt someones feelings…im usually pretty believable in those areas…haha)

i guess the point is…im not going to do everything right.  im most likely not going to be the best mother in the entire world.  im not giving myself permission to not try and to just totally be lame and not care about my child (which is impossible, because i already care about her and havent even met her yet), but i am giving myself permission to be myself.  i dont mind if everything penny owns is not organic.  i dont have to make everything from scratch.  i just have to love her…and love brett and try my hardest (with lots of prayer in there).

its impossible to be perfect.  its impossible to be the perfect friend, or wife, or mom, or even daughter (your off the hook too penny!)  but you can wake up and try your best to love the ones in your life…and if you dont do so good one day…there is grace, and a new day right around the corner.

theres been a couple times where ive talked to other prego ladies and ill just come right out and say “being pregnant is the worst!” and they get all excited to hear someone say that and they are like “right!? i feel the same way!”  i just felt compelled to share, in case there were any other mamas out there that just needed to hear that its totally okay to admit you arent having a blast and that becoming a parent is scary.  i write completely genuine loving notes to my baby every week and those feelings are very real.  but there is life in between those weekly letters and sometimes its nice to hear those feelings too.

we can do this mamas.  who we are is enough.  and our babies are gonna look back one day and appreciate little things we did, that we probably didn’t even notice we were doing.  ive got some prime examples with my mama.  maybe ill get to share them with you when i hand those little things down to penny as she grows up.

Pretty much every one of my friends is talented in some way or another.  Whether its photography, music, baking, anything that involves being creative.  I love that im surrounded by people who are artistic and who do things well, and most importantly they are just genuinely wonderful people.

One of these ladies in particular is a dear friend of mine Kim Bogardus.  You should check out her photo skills here.  A couple weeks ago, she took some really sweet maternity shots of me, the hubs, and this bump o mine.  I L-O-V-E them!  She sent them to me today and I just could not resist sharing them.

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She even caught me giving brett the “you are ridiculous” face.  a face that gets thrown around a lot in the lemster home.

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We are quite the cheeky duo, he & i.

Thanks for capturing a day in this crazy little adventure of ours,  Kim!

You are the best!

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1.  We welcomed baby Jessen in the world with tons of oo’s and ah’s and ohmygoodness’s.  hes adorable.  coming in at a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz and 20 in.  well done mama jessen.  well done.  PS…how cute does that husband of mine look toting a little babe!  cant wait to watch him with penny!

2.  grapes grapes grapes…all day long.  it’s most likely the heat but all i want is cold fresh fruit all up in this belly.  and salads.  anything that is not hot, because I’ve got a serious case of permanent sweaty face going on here.

3. baby jessen again.  hes so cute you guys!  so glad that we have Eric and Christy next door to us, and that we get to share in this epic and crazy journey together.  it has already been such a blessing to us to watch them welcome home their baby.  and we cant wait until we can have little baby play dates with our little ones!

4.  some side bump action.  this belly is large and in charge.  creating all sorts of issues with bending, sitting, laying, rolling over…younameit.  i do what the belly wants to do which is pretty much lay in front of our ac unit on the floor in my elaborately made pillow lounge chair I’ve created (its sort of amazing…maybe ill post about it soon : ) )

ummmm…this week is pretty spectacular!  4th of July is here! its my favorite holiday of all time and I’m all sorts of excited to eat some BBQ and watch some fireworks!  Yay!

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