Pregnancy: Week 34

Is it over yet?  That's pretty much the attitude I've had lately.  If you haven't caught up with my blog, I've actually been contracting for a few weeks and I'm currently on medication to stop them.  While I'm still pretty far along, it's just much too early for this little girl's arrival.  Thankfully, my contractions aren't squeezing baby B enough to change her heart rate.  So while it's uncomfortable for me, baby is doing fine!

I officially have one week left of work!  My current condition almost put me in the hospital or on bed rest, but I have been lucky enough to keep my word and work until December 6th.  I guess some people would just want to take the time off but I have the big picture in mind: the longer I work while pregnant, the longer paid time off I have with my baby.  As for now I'm scheduled to return to work in mid May but I'm actually unsure whether I'll return part time or at all.  Being a first time parent is scary!  We don't know what our financial situation will be like with another human to feed so we just have to wait until she's here to really gauge how much I'll need to work.  I'm a very protective person so the idea of childcare really scares me.  I don't even like people watching my dogs, imagine how I would feel giving my daughter to someone?!  Hopefully everything will work out and I won't have to worry about it :)

My family baby shower is on Sunday and I'm very excited!  My mother in law has put everything together and I can't wait to see what she has in store for the day.  I haven't seen a lot of my side of the family in quite some time and my sister is home from New York city.  Can't wait to spend some time with her too!

My nursery is nearly complete.  The custom closet is almost finished and I just need to purchase some curtains for the room.  I keep saying I'm going to show you some pictures but I want to wait until it looks perfect.  I promise I'll have some up soon!

As for now, my January baby is probably going to show up in December.  I was born at the end of December so it will be interesting to see when B decides to arrive.  I'd prefer later than sooner but I'm ready to have her with us.  I'll make sure to keep the updates coming!

xoxo

Ashley

Makeup Gift Guide

I'm no Black Friday shopper (anxiety and claustrophobia prevent me from even trying) but I can't help getting excited about the new makeup products and gift sets that show up over the holidays.  When I'm buying a gift I'd like to think it would be something that I'd not only get for myself, but recommend to that person.  I think beauty products are a wonderful gift and here are my top picks for the holidays:

 

Marc Jacobs Beauty Magic Marc'er Precision Pen

I actually own this pen already and it's amazing (review coming soon!).  I don't know about you but I have serious struggles putting on eyeliner.  I think this would be a great stocking stuffer!


 

Naked 3 Palette by Urban Decay

I've been excited about this palette for weeks and it's finally available!  I gifted a Naked palette to my sister and I own Naked 2, so obviously I'm dying for their third installment.  These shadows are actually brand new rosy hued shades.  I'd love to say I would buy this for someone but this is all mine.

Formula X for Sephora: The Twenty Two

I love nail sets!  I think they're the perfect gift for any girl, especially when they come with 22 different shades.  There's even a few "splatter effect" top coats to really personalize your manicure.

GLO Solo Teeth Whitening Set

If you haven't heard of GLO yet, now's your chance!  This teeth whitening system is nothing short of amazing and this gift set is perfect for a friend or family member.  I can't wait until I can do another session once my baby is born!

Arm Candy Clutch by Sephora

I love makeup bags that can be used as a clutch.  This one is just perfect for New Year's Eve and who doesn't love glitter?

I hope I've sparked some good ideas for your holiday shopping list!

xoxo

Ashley

Shift the Tide

Well hello there colder weather!  After weeks of 80 degree temperatures fall finally decided to show up.  It's actually my favorite season so I was more than excited to break out my tights, boots, and this new dress.  Erica came to my house a few weeks ago in a very similar dress and I decided I needed one of my own.  Unfortunately, no matter how much I sized up, Chinese companies tend to base their size charts on those of children.  It was much too short on me (I wish I had sprung for the XL) but it was nothing a basic black tulle skirt couldn't fix!

Pregnancy: Week 32

Oh my gosh, the end is actually near!  I'm in my eighth month and I'm finally starting to feel uncomfortable.  Carrying all this extra weight has much more effects than you would think.  Not only is walking (or waddling) harder, but sleeping through the night is pretty much impossible.  Whether it's the kicks to the ribs or the constant runs to the bathroom, I'm waking up at least ten times a night.  But like everyone else tells me, this is just preparing me for the sleep I'll be missing for the next few years.

As always, baby B is doing great.  She has a nice strong heartbeat and she's growing right on point with what my doctor wants.  She constantly has the hiccups which means I feel a "flick" every second or two pretty much every time I eat something.  But her hiccups are nothing like her kicks!  She's a straight up boxer and for the last few days she's been favoring my ribs.  It was really cute a couple of weeks ago but now that she's bigger it's starting to hurt.  Thankfully, her position is perfect (head down) and I'm hoping she stays that way until I deliver.  As a first born child I was a breach baby (feet down) which meant my mom had a C-section for me and my other three siblings.  Definitely praying she's a little more cooperative than I was!

Here is just a small preview of my nursery.  I have yet to decorate with any wall decor and her dresser has been back ordered for weeks.  We are planning to construct her custom closet next weekend, which is about time because her clothes are totally taking over my closet!  Hopefully when I do my next update in two weeks I'll have much more to show you.

As of today I have three weeks and one day left of work.  Can you tell that I've been counting?  Because I work on my feet all day work has been pretty miserable.  But I'm trying my best to stay as long as possible!  The longer I stay before she comes, the longer I get to be off after she's here.  So I'll endure all the contractions (yep, I'm already getting them) and long days on my feet for my little girl :)

xoxo

Ashley

Stretch Across the Sky

This is one of those dresses that is constantly worn but never photographed.  It never actually occurred to me until someone complimented my outfit while running errands yesterday.  So I decided to take some pictures of it while I was up, running, and motivated.  My belly tends to make my dresses waaaaaay shorter in the front so pairing everything with tights has been my rule of thumb.  Not like I wouldn't be doing that in fall anyway, but it was a nice 75 degrees!  I'd rather be a little on the warm side than flash the goods to unsuspecting people.

Flock Together: Waiting in Time

Happy Friday!  I'm blogging over at Flock Together today, make sure to check out my latest swap by clicking HERE!

xoxo

Ashley

Dark Shines

Thanks to everyone who sent me such positive feedback regarding my last blog post.  I was really scared to write about something other than my outfits and how well my pregnancy is going so I can't thank you enough for your understanding nature.  I've said it a million times but I'm so thankful for the blogging community!

Yes, it's true.  I'm wearing jeans.  Since a lot of my wardrobe is too small these days I've been forced to think outside the box.  While I don't think there's anything wrong with wearing pants, I definitely don't feel as comfortable in them as I would a dress.  But it's been a fun way to play with pieces in my closet that have literally collected dust.

Pregnancy: Keeping It Real

This is definitely new territory for me so I'm going to try and keep this short.  For those of you who don't know me personally, my husband and I tried for almost half a year before we actually got pregnant.  While that doesn't seem like a long time now, looking back it was torturous.  I was worried that maybe I was too old (stupid I know, I was 28), that I couldn't have children, or that maybe Kevin couldn't either.  I was obsessed with conceiving and thought that once I got that positive pregnancy test that all my troubles would disappear.  Boy was I wrong.

My first pregnancy picture!

Almost immediately I started feeling... Different.  Not only was I dealing with the normal pregnancy side effects (thank God I really didn't have much of any) but I was also dealing with a loss of identity.  Like I was no longer myself.  Granted, we were going through a lot of change at one time.  The same week the pregnancy was confirmed we also closed escrow on our house.  So moving our life to another city was also on the horizon.  But regardless of the outside distractions, I was feeling quite depressed on the inside.

Most of my issues were actually quite selfish.  I was worried about becoming overweight.  I still wanted to be appealing to my husband.  I didn't want to buy bigger clothes!  I almost hated it when people would say how big I was getting.  I didn't want to be big.  I wanted to stay the same but have a beautiful healthy baby.  It wasn't realistic and my outlook wasn't helping my situation.

Eventually, I got over most of it.  I always relied on my parent's wonderful genes to let me eat like a piggy and maintain a size four.  While I continued to eat like a piggy, I did go up a size.  But I didn't completely freak out like I had thought.  Are there still days where I feel fat and unattractive?  Of course, but my mature side (no matter how small that is) kicks in and reminds me that I'm feeding a growing healthy baby girl.  I still have days where I feel insecure about my body but luckily I have a wonderful husband who reminds me that I'm kind of crazy for even thinking that.  And let me tell you, there are plenty of days where I wish I could put on that horse printed dress but I know that time will come again.  By then I'll be a new mom and I'll probably need to wear a pretty dress more than ever!

Pregnancy is an amazing experience and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  I actually feel quite lucky to have such an easy and mostly symptom free 32 weeks so far.  I do realize that being pregnant has forced me to become a more mature and understanding person.  As a complete control freak, I now see that I can't have everything my way and I've learned to adapt to my new surroundings.  I just never thought I'd be getting a lesson on life in the process!

xoxo

Ashley