Deacon's First Birthday Circus!

I feel like I need to re-introduce myself after taking a year+ break on here. But really there would be way too much to say so....I will keep it short - We have a ONE year old now! What?!?! & we celebrated this past weekend with the most fun Birthday Carnival! I thought it would be easiest to share the one million & one photos I took of Deacon's big day on here.  So without further ado...I present to you the magnificent Deacon Carnival!

We had such an amazing day! Sweet Deacon was surrounded by his friends & family & partied until he couldn't keep his eyes open & passed out on my shoulder.  I'm not entirely sure how a WHOLE year has passed already but it went by faster than everyone warned me it would & it was WAY sweeter than I could've ever imagined. I had such a fun time planning & executing his party. I've been working on little bday party projects since April during D's nap time. I found a bunch of the ideas on Pinterest. Maybe now I won't be such a stranger on here! I'd love to start sharing some of the projects Deacon & I have been working on! ;)

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Dear Baby: 20 weeks

Slugs & snails & puppy-dogs' tails!!! AHHH!!! When the ultrasound tech just blurted out "ummm, it's a boy!" I almost lost it, it was a mixture of wanting to cry happy tears & wanting to laugh. I'll blame my hormones but I was so excited to find out & just couldn't believe it! I've had a hard time keeping a smile off my face since & Creed has been the same way. I keep wanting to stop strangers to tell them, like they would really care - ha! We are going to have a son....I'm going to be a mama & Creed's going to be a papa. It's still sinking in but this ride has been amazing so far! Looking forward to 20 more healthy weeks before we get to meet this little man!! 

dear baby,

YOU'RE A BOY!!!!! Our sweet boy & we are so crazy thrilled!! I'm not sure it's fully sunk in yet, but seeing your sweet face & getting to see you kick your little feet yesterday during our ultrasound will forever be ingrained in my memories. I've wanted to scream it from the mountain tops since finding out & have been daydreaming about what you will look like & what your personality will be like. I'm hoping you will get the patience, positivity & sense of adventure of your dad & also his intelligence (he's a smart fellow, as you'll find out). You're apparently a big boy already, measuring a week ahead & you already weigh almost a pound!! This is probably why I've been feeling your strong kicks & rolls more lately. You even gave two hard enough kicks last night that your papa was able to feel them - he's already planning on teaching you ju jitsu, so get ready, little fighter. We are half-way through, blueberry, we can't wait to get to hold you in our arms. We love you more than words, sweet little man. xo.

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half-way!!

I can't believe we are already at 20 weeks! Time is just flying by, which also means we only have 20 or so weeks left. This used to feel like a long time to me but now all I can think about is how getting to meet our little one is just around the corner!! If you follow me on instagram (username: meghanp) then you have already seen my little weekly bump updates, but I figured I would post them here, too. I love watching the bump grow. I also think it's funny, looking back, that I thought that 14 week bump was SOOO huge! I'm interested to see how I'll feel about the 20 week bump in the end...ha! I plan on making a little bump book as a keepsake with all the photos...

Today we had a very important appointment! We got to see our little blueberry again (we haven't had an ultrasound since 7 weeks in the very beginning). We have some BIG news (boy or girl) that I will share soon, but I just want to make sure I have to the chance to let all our friends & family know first!

With that said, getting to see our little bean today is definitely going on my list of happiest moments in my life (I can't even fathom how it will feel to hold baby in my arms!!). I have looked at tons of other people's ultrasound photos of their sweet babies & honestly, they always just looked like little aliens to me...but seeing my blueberry's profile photo was so different. It may just look like a blob to others, but that little face is mine, it looks so familiar, like I've always known it. I am just ecstatic!! I can't quit smiling. I will post more about it soon!!!!

Happy Monday!!! xoxo. Meghan

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currently...

currently, I am: 

loving: being able to feel the start of little baby kicks!! It's so surreal & still amazes/surprises me every time it happens!

reading: Birthing from Within & Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. Trying to mentally prepare myself for childbirth as early as possible! ha! 

watching: Downton Abby, I am so excited that it is back on & also PLL (such a guilty pleasure but I love it so much). 

anticipating: we decided we were going to find out baby's gender, so I'm highly anticipating finding out at the beginning of Feb!!!! 

listening to: I've been mixing three stations on my pandora, Robyn, Band of Horses & 90's country. ha! Weird mix, I know but it keeps me going during my work day! ;) 

planning: baby's nursery! I love any excuse to rearrange & re-design. I will be transforming my little work studio into the nursery & moving my studio elsewhere. I can't wait to share my progress! 

working on: my thank you notes from Christmas, lots of orders & a few diy's (baby inspired) that I will be sharing soon! 

I originally saw the "currently" meme on Danielle's blog, Sometimes Sweet. It was fun to play along, I'd love to see what you're up to currently, feel free to link up in the comments section!

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DIY Maternity Jeans

My growing belly has been a source of contention when it comes to finding comfortable pants...I have been using the rubber band method but I was constantly tugging to pull my jeans up & always tugging my shirts down, to make sure that the un-zipped zipper was hidden. I tried the belly bands but was never a huge fan, it just added one more thing for me to tug on. SO, as to not delay the inevitable anymore I decided to just sew myself a quick pair of maternity jeans to see if they were any more comfortable (they are!! hooray!).

There are tons of similar diy's on the web but I thought I would share how I did mine as well. They were super simple & didn't take me long at all. Here's how I did it:

I just used one of the belly bands I had gotten from Target (because I knew I wouldn't use it by itself again) & a pair of stretchy jeans, also from Target, that I didn't mind cutting up. 

I removed the zipper & sewed down the fly. Then, I cut around the waistband - a little deeper in the front to leave room for the belly & then put right sides together of the band & jeans, pinned a few spots to hold it in place & then sewed them together. This part was a little tricky because of the stretch in the band, I just pulled both sides taut as the machine feed through.

Flip the band up & voila! I think they turned out great!! They are super comfortable. The band can be pulled all the way up (will be perfect when my bump gets even bigger) or it can be folded over for a half band. Definitely worth the effort & SOOOO much more affordable than any of the maternity jeans I have seen in the stores!

You can't even tell the difference when your shirt is pulled down! I plan on finding a cheap darker wash & using an old stretchy tank top to make another pair. They kind of feel like wearing pajamas & I just can't argue with that!!

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adventures in baking :: salted oatmeal cookies

I was invited to a cookie exchange party over the holidays & decided to make a recipe that I haven't tried before but one that looked absolutely delicious!! I followed this recipe by Clockwork Lemon to a tee & they turned out better than expected!! They were seriously so yummy!!! You should definitely make some, too...

I recommend using the fancy white chocolate bars because they do, indeed, taste so much better than the chips.

I packaged mine in simple brown bags for the party but used these free printable feather tags mentioned in my christmas gift wrapping post to pretty them up. I also used these printable recipe cards to add to the fronts of the little bags to share the recipe.

This recipe is definitely going on my go-to cookie list! The salt flakes on top mixed with the sweetness really make them drool-worthy. I wish I had some right now!
hugs & cheek pecks, Meghan

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Dear Baby: 16 weeks

I can't believe that I am 16 Weeks already (16 weeks + 2 days to be exact)!!! The bump definitely has grown over night, some days it pooches out bigger than others & I do feel like some photo angles just make it look bigger (like the one up above), but it is definitely there. No hiding it. I thought I would do a little bullet point list on how I've been feeling:

- I am currently hungry all of the time...but also feel constantly full. It's a confusing battle, fixed with smaller more frequent meals. 

- My cravings this week revolve around fruit, mainly mangos & by mainly I mean that I am utterly obsessed. I will take them dry but prefer them fresh. I also love raspberries, strawberries & bananas. Who knew that fruit was such an expensive habit?!? It's going to break my bank for sure....

- I have been pretty good at practicing my prenatal yoga & also some other basic strengthening workouts. A far cry from what I was used to previously, but I'm trying to listen to my body & I just don't want to go overboard. Also, growing a baby is tough work & most days I feel exhausted by 2pm.  

- I cry easily but most of the time it's from being happy. 

- I am almost ready to make the switch to maternity jeans, the rubber band method with my current pairs can only stretch so far. ;) 

- Overall, I feel pretty amazing. I've loved everything about this adventure so far! With that said, I could do without the pregnancy acne...ha! 

dear baby,

We got to hear your heartbeat again today. It was a strong 160 bpm. It's hard for me to explain what I feel every time I get to hear it. It's you, sweet baby, it's your life source & it's strong. It sounds so new but so familiar all at the same time. Your dad & I always make eye contact when we are listening, we made your little heartbeat together & it seems like such a magical gift to share with someone. In the past week I have almost certainly started to feel your little flutters. You are most active at night when I am lying down. So far, they feel like tiny, little flutters, like little ladybugs dancing in my tummy. I've felt a few stronger pops, after I eat a huge bowl of fruit, I'm guessing (hoping) those are little thank you kicks. You seem to have quite the hankering for mangos. I can't wait for your movements to get stronger & more frequent so your dad can feel them, too. We can't wait to meet you (in only 5 months or so!!!) Time is going by so fast. We love you more than words, sweet blueberry. xo. 

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