I Have the Coolest Friend...

My wonderful friend Jessica, who I am SOOO lucky to be acquainted with, has taken some more lovely photos of Jon, Sophie, and me! She completely rocks! Ya know why?!? Because she is ever so kindly taking transitional photos of my growing belly. Not only do I have these pictures to document such special moments in our lives, but she is a fantastic photographer, so they are QUALITY photos of special moments in our lives! Wow, how did I get so lucky?

I am so thankful for the time she takes to come out and take these precious shots for us! I can't wait for Sophie to arrive because Jessica is going to take her newborn photographs and I might just cry thinking about it... No, but seriously, they are going to be amazing! And most of you who have been following for a while know my love for photos, as it is well documented here on this blog. These pictures mean more to me than I could ever explain! If you haven't had a chance to check out her work you can see her amazing skills put to work here:

At her blog: http://www.jjceasonblog.com/ and website: http://www.jjceason.com/

Without further ado, here are the latest pictures taken by Jessica!

These are two taken from previous months,

November and December.


These are more time lapsed photographs.
I love how I am in one spot in all three pictures and
Jon is positioned differently every time!

November and December

Thank you so much, Jessica!

I hope you enjoyed the photographs!
And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
I'm off for a three day weekend, yippie!!
And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is nice enough to spend some time outdoors!

Until Monday,
Tschuss!

25 Weeks!

Well hello everyone! I hope all is well out there in blogland on this lovely Thursday morning.

It is COLD and rainy here in Germany. Surprise, surprise! I keep checking the forecast hoping for a little sunshine, but I don't think we'll be seeing that anytime soon. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun... well come to think of it, the last time was when we were in Oklahoma during our Thanksgiving holiday. Seriously... this girl needs some Vitamin D like stat!

Anyway, I wanted to do a quick update on my pregnancy.
As of yesterday I am officially 25 weeks pregnant! HOLY MOLY!


How Far Along: 25 Weeks!!

Size of Baby: She is about 1-1/2 pounds to 2 pounds right now and the size of an eggplant! Wow!

Total Weight Gain: Not quite sure, but I'll find out next week at my monthly appointment. I'm sure it's a pretty hefty amount!

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle.

Sleep: It's been alright this week. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and feeling her moving around a bit, but I (thank God) can go back to sleep pretty easily.

Maternity Clothes: Yes! Maternity jeans and I'm still wearing my own shirts for the most part.

Cravings: Cereal. I just want cereal all of the time! Then something salty, then something sweet, then something salty, etc. You get the picture. It's a viscous cycle!

Symptoms: I feel pretty good as of now! Thank God!

Last week I had a pretty funny moment with Sophie. I was lying in bed watching TV when out of no where I get this HUGE kick to my side. It was such a big kick that it scared me and I literally jumped! That was one big kick from such a little girl! It's been fantastic feeling her move. I love it every time I feel her. But I am sure that'll change as her kicks get more and more powerful. Walking is definitely becoming a lot harder. While we were in Budapest, I became exhausted so much faster than I normally would! We'd walk a couple of miles, then I'd have to sit and regain some energy, and we'd trudge on. Not sure how much more hiking we'll be doing since I am getting bigger and bigger by the day!

Well, I'm off to get some work done! I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday woohoo! Then Jon and I are off for a three day weekend, Thank you Martin Luther King Jr.

See y'all tomorrow!
Tschuss!

Day 2 in Budapest

Hello there everyone! Happy Wednesday to you all!!

On our second day in Budapest, Jon and I spent the entire day out and about seeing the sights. We woke up early, grabbed a great breakfast, and made our way to Castle Hill. On Castle Hill sits the palace, several museums, the cathedral, and several other beautiful structures. While on Castle Hill we visited the Budapest History Museum and also another museum called The Hospital in the Rocks. Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures at the Hospital, but we did learn a lot on a guided tour we took. Jon is a history buff and loved every minute! Of course, I took tons of pictures and soaked in the beautiful buildings and landscapes. Here are some of the pictures of our exploration of Castle Hill.

As you can see, it was extremely hazy and foggy.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures from our second day in Budapest. This pretty much concludes the pictures from our trip. Sadly, both Sunday and Monday were extremely foggy and I was not able to get any more pictures.

But, come back tomorrow for a 25 week update! For now, I'm off to do some hairdos!

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
Until tomorrow,

Tschuss!

Budapest

Hello there everyone! I hope you all are doing great on this Tuesday morning!

Jon and I arrived back home last night from our trip to Budapest. We had a wonderful time, minus the cold temps and the very ridiculous amount of fog that swept over Budapest the last two days we were there! I really think Jon enjoyed his birthday getting to explore a new city. We took the time to check out some museums and learned a lot about Budapest during WWII. I of course took a gagillion pictures, but wanted to separate it a bit per day, so here are pictures from Day 1 in Budapest.

This is the view from our hotel! We really lucked out getting a view of the palace and the bridge.

The Chain Bridge and the view from the bridge.

The Parliament Building

The Danube River at sunset.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures!
I'll be back tomorrow to post pictures from our second day in Budapest!

A Celebration of Life!

Jon, my favorite person in the world, best friend, and the most amazing husband, turns the BIG 3-0 tomorrow!

Happy Birthday sweetheart!

I love you more than words could ever explain!

Tomorrow we leave BRIGHT AND EARLY at 4:30 am to head to Budapest for a 4 day weekend. Since we've moved to Germany, Jon has always wanted to visit Budapest, and we thought this was a great opportunity to do so. We've got our bags packed, (well, I'm slowly packing them,) our cameras charging, and passports ready to take the short flight to explore a new city. (Thanks to our Rick Steve's book on Budapest, we'll be able to see all of the great sites.)

This will be our very first adventure of 2011 and we are both so very excited!

Stay tuned for some pictures of our adventure to Budapest coming Tuesday!

Until then, Tschuss! and have a wonderful weekend!

24 Weeks!

Hello everyone! I hope you are all are fantastic on this Wednesday morning!

We are doing great! Happy that it is already Wednesday!

I am 24 weeks pregnant as of today!! 24 WEEKS! That's just crazy to me. In the beginning it seemed like each week just dragged on, but I guess with the busy schedule during the holidays, time seems to be passing a little faster!

Here is a quick update:


How Far Along: 24 Weeks!

Size of Baby: She is now the size of a papaya and as long as an ear of corn. Growing so fast!

Total Weight Gain: Not quite sure, but I have a doctor's apt in a couple of weeks, so I'll be able to get an accurate measurement then.

Maternity Clothes: Yup! I have some maternity jeans, black pants, and cargo's. Still wearing my own shirts with a couple of maternity shirts thrown in.

Gender: Girl! Sophie Belle!

Sleep: Not good. I've been having some back pain and some pains in my side... It's just becoming more and more uncomfortable to sleep.

Cravings: Nothing strange. I just like to eat cereal, a lot!

Symptoms: I feel pretty good, minus the back and side pains. I really can't complain!

Thankfully, I am feeling good for the most part! Work has been hard, especially standing for a long period of time, but that's part of my job!

And now, I have to get back to it ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!


Until tomorrow,
Tschuss!

Progress!

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much for the comments about the colors of our nursery! We are really happy with the way it's turning out.

Jon and I aren't huge into pinks and purples, so we opted for browns and greens with subtle hints of purples and pinks here and there. So far I really like the way it looks. We still have a lot of work to do... but it is coming along nicely. We ordered some really cute wall decals from Etsy.com and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival. We ordered white birch trees to go on the big brown wall, there are 5 of them, and they are all about 8 feet tall. We also ordered 6 light pink bird decals that will be placed throughout the trees to look like they are flying. Since Jon and I are LOVERS of the outdoors and all things adventure, we thought it would be perfect to make Sophie's room more adventurous. Since we have such a huge love for hiking, we wanted her room to grasp that idea and have a "woodsy" feel.

I have also been collecting owls here and there to add as little decorative pieces to her room. At my baby shower back home, we received a couple of owls from blabla.com. Here is a picture of one of them, from the blabla website.

Isn't that the cutest thing ever!!

My dad has always loved owls and because of that, I grew to love them. Especially the really cute stuffed animals like the one above...

Also, I thought I'd share our baby bedding too. It's from Pottery Barn and couldn't go any better with our room! Birds, trees, and owls... pinks, greens, and browns = perfect! We were lucky enough to receive the quilt and pillow sham as a gift at our baby shower. Now we are waiting to order the rest of the bedding, as it is on back order at the moment. Here is a picture of the bedding:

From the Pottery Barn website

Anyway... I'll get to the main point of this post, which is obviously stated in the title, our progress on the nursery so far! Here are some pictures.

The orange curtains will be taken down and replaced.

Not sure what color we want to use instead,
maybe green or light pink...

And we'll definitely be getting a new light fixture.

We are thinking a really pretty chandelier...

because you know that is really outdoorsy?!?

It is definitely coming along! It is such a great feeling to have so much accomplished already, and all of her furniture put together! We had a lot of fun this last weekend getting everything done. I still have some touch up painting to do today, which is why there is still blue tape on the wall and a drop cloth on the ground... but after that, we will be ALL done with the paint! Now we just need to buy a rocking chair/glider and we should have all of her furniture bought. Exciting!

Anyway, I'm off to work in the nursery! I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! I'll be back tomorrow with a 24 week update...

Until tomorrow, Tschuss!

A New Year!

Well hello everyone!!

Wow, I cannot believe it is already another brand new year! I can't believe how fast last year went, but I am definitely looking forward to this year and what all it has in store for Jon and me. Of course the most exciting thing this year will be the arrival of our precious little girl! But I can't get ahead of myself, we still have several months to go ;) I love a fresh new start and look forward to tweaking some of my daily life to make more time for a healthy lifestyle! Less stress, less work, and more time to concentrate on the important things in my life! GOOD PLAN!

I hope you all had a FANTASTIC Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe it has been since before Christmas that I've taken the time to blog. The holidays are always a busy time, and I didn't make enough to sit down and update y'all on our adventures. I'll give you a quick run-through...

Since we weren't able to be home for Christmas this year, we took the opportunity to get out of town and see one of Germany's famous little walled cities, Rothenburg. It was absolutely beautiful, quaint, and like a little fairytale town. (and did I mention 16 degrees and snowing!!!!) Minus the fact that it was unbelievably cold, we still had a wonderful time exploring the city. Instead of posting a gagillion pictures (like I always do), you can head over to our photo website to see the pictures of our Adventure to Rothenburg, if you'd like. Just click on the picture below.


Our New Year was VERY laid back! You know you're getting old (or you're pregnant) when you can't stay up until midnight! SO SAD!! But I did set an alarm... does that count?!? I wanted to at least give Jon a smooch to bring in the new year, even if I did turn back over and immediately fall back to sleep... Ya, It's an exciting life we lead!!

New Years Day we spent the ENTIRE day painting little Sophie's room! It was a lot of fun, but definitely a lot of work... (with our 12 foot ceilings!) We have one main large wall in her bedroom that we've decided to paint brown and green. We've ordered some really neat wall decals to put on the main brown wall and I think it is going to look fantastic! I just have to wait patiently for them to arrive................. I should have added patience to my list of resolutions!

Here are a few pictures of us bringing in the new year, hard at work!

The Before

I figured I'd stop with the picture overload and post more pictures later.

Sunday we spent the day putting more furniture together and doing more touch up painting. And of course I made us a huge pot of blackeye peas and cornbread for dinner. Gotta have that good luck rolling in for 2011! It's been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember, and I want to keep it going. Good luck is always welcome in this household!

Tomorrow, I will post pictures of what we've accomplished in Sophie's room so far!!

Until tomorrow, Tchuss!
And, I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!