2 Years Down – Countless More To Go!

Two years ago today, I woke up and all I wanted was some Chick-fil-A breakfast before getting ready to walk down the aisle to my best friend standing at the end ready to make me his wife.

And now, 2 years later we are planning for a baby girl.  And I really couldn’t image raising a kid with anyone better than Kyle J and I know he will be an amazing father and role model for McKenna. 

Needless to say it has been a fun and exciting 2 years and we have grown closer and become better friends than we were 2 years ago. And I look forward to growing closer with him as we grow older together.

So, here is to celebrating 2 great years followed by 2 more and then 2 more after that and 2 then 2 more… …and well you get the picture!

Successful Baby Weekend!

we had hands down the most successful baby shopping weekend.  kyle and I are all about a good deal and let me tell you… …we scored some amazing deals this weekend!

FIRST: The nursery.  I had been eyeing a  crib/nursery set at Koo Koo Bear Kids for MONTHS.  But I knew that I could never get Kyle J to spend over $1600 on furniture for McKenna’s room – even if the bed went from a crib to a toddler bed to a day bed and then to a full bed… meaning, homegirl would never need another bed in her life.   We would just need to buy mattresses.  WELL.  That bedroom set went on sale for 50% off this weekend.  And we could not snatch that deal fast enough.  We probably spent $1000 total {if that} after tax and delivery charges.  And with that deal it was all cheaper than the furniture we picked out at Babies ‘R Us that I didn’t love as much as this set.  isn’t it a beauty?! =D  ….And now I have to wait for it to come in and then schedule the delivery and when I say I will take off work to meet the delivery men if/when needed, that is not a lie!

THEN: Babies ‘R Us had some of their mattresses on sale 50% off as well.  I did not know this sale was online only and we trekked to our local Babies ‘R Us to buy the mattress.  Well, big shock at the register – no sale – and we made a comment that it was supposed to be 50% off … I pulled the mattress up on my phone showing the sale price and the manager price matched!  SO….. we got the mattress 50% off as well. 

Pretty much the whole nursery has been purchased for 50% off.  And in the world of babies… that is pretty much amazing.  And the fact that we legit got a top of the line, high quality, super safe crib for such a good deal not only amazed us, but the manager at Koo Koo Bear kept mentioning what an insane deal it was.  We are pretty pumped.

AND THEN: since it has been rainy rainy rainy my sweet husband is painting the rest  of the nursery.  Well, everything but the stripe to go above the crib where we are going to have McKenna’s name above the crib.  ….And I am not 100% sure that we will do that stripe, even though we did go buy more pink paint this weekend for the stripe.  That will TBD and Kyle may just get annoyed with me, but oh well! =D

NEXT: we had a free $20.00 gift card from Target from opening a registry that was expiring, so I went to Target and bought our diaper trash can thing that masks the gross smell for a staggering $6 and some change. 

AND FINALLY: then I just bought the rest of our baby sheets off of Land of Nod and the changing pad cover since it was on sale and well, we will need it.

The only things left to buy for the nursery at this point include the glider off our Babies ‘R Us Registry that we really love and want.  Then some white wall shelves for small wall next to the window.  And this amazing mirror from Pottery Barn {which I have some money left on a birthday gift card} for over the dresser. A curtain rod {which will practically be free, if not free due to bed bath and beyond coupons + a gift card we got for Christmas} and the curtains {which we already know we cannot purchase as they are spoken for!} And then other décor, but not too much décor.  I feel like we are becoming so accomplished.

Then I also signed us up for our all day birthing class + another class to learn all the baby essentials {bathing, holding, soothing, diaper changing} + our 2 hospital tours.  We decided to tour the Northside we plan on delivering at and the Northside close to my office because you never know where I will be when McKenna decides to make her debut!

it really was a successful weekend of all things baby preparation!! And I feel so very accomplished and believe that my May 31 deadline of nursery completion will be met!  …Which is good since our weekends in May are basically full with the exception of 1.

 

 

Five things Friday–Picture Style!

 I survived another week of the long drive to our client 80 miles round trip away.  Needless to say, my monthly gas bill will hate me at the end of all this and I learned that my pregnant self cannot sit through 2 hours of traffic so I have a Burger King on my way home that I borrow to use the bathroom {TMI, I know} … but we are making good progress and adding value and that is what we are supposed to be doing.

So, I decided to shake things up a bit with my Five Things Friday tradition that I am on.  I feel like this really is the easiest way for me to keep everyone in the loop about what is going on in our world.  And everyone loves pictures – visually appealing and all!

{one}

The house that I grew up in and the only house I remember went on the market this week. There are so many good times and memories in that house and even though I knew this day was coming eventually, it is still bitter sweet.  Just that neighborhood in general is full of summertime memories. Even when I posted on Facebook that it was on the market I had friends make comments like “wow I feel like I also grew up in that house” or “5710 will miss you in the neighborhood!” But, I can say that I was SO SO lucky to come home to the same house and same bedroom every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Summer breaks and then holidays when I was in college and then after I moved to Atlanta. But, while it is sad that there will never be another Thanksgiving or Christmas in that house it is an exciting new chapter for my mom and dad to be moving into their retirement house and to have their 2 kids (and grandbaby) so close by.  So – if you know of anyone in Northern VA on the market for a house to create their own memories in – let me know!

{two}

please stop everything you’re doing right now and take a look at this baby shower invitation. it is for the shower my friends at work are throwing Kyle and me. And when I opened it, I literally said “stop it. where did you find this”.  McKenna is getting an Alabama themed baby shower – which is fitting since I refer to her as my little “Roll Tide Baby” and she will eventually be an Alabama alum. This is called starting them young!  I really am so lucky to have such a great group of girls at the office and to work for a company that is like my 2nd family.  But seriously. how cute is that baby shower invite?! This will have a perm place in her baby book!! =D

{three}

Look at what Kennesaw did this week!!  Normally she just pops open the door and lets herself out.  This week I believe she was making a statement. Not quite sure what the statement is, but I think she may be tired of being crated every single day so she just shoved the whole front part of her crate up and messed up all her bedding.   Demon.  She is a demon.  This weekend we are purchasing zip ties to tie the walls of the crate together so this does not happen again and then bungee cords to keep the door closed hopefully.  She does not do this everyday, but when she does it is just funny to see.  Kyle is more annoyed than I am, but I think she is just a nut job of a dog. Does anyone else have a Houdini dog?!  If so….. what did you do to keep you dog in their crate each day versus breaking out of their crate. 

{four}

McKenna got her first baby gift this past weekend and we love it!!  my aunt – her great aunt – gifted her with crib sheets and the crib skirt for her nursery and when I say the picture does not do the cuteness justice, the cuteness is just too cute.  The little pink and gray bunnies are just too cute. And I got an email today from Koo Koo Bear Kids about a St. Patricks Day Sale – so we are going to go buy the crib and dresser this weekend at a whoping 50% off1! We will end up saving so much money and have a really high quality crib so we are stoked.  Me more than Kyle.  And…. it is supposed to be a rainy weekend which means I can put K to work painting the nursery!

{five}

if you’re ever looking for a unique Thank You gift to send someone and don’t want to sent the normal flowers or something like that you need to think about “The Cravery” – which is a cookie boutique that is amazing and makes me drool thinking about them.  Kyle’s mom sent me a dozen cookies {as a pregnancy snack} and let me tell you, Kyle and I were fighting over the Birthday Cake ones.  They are kinda pricey – but no more than flowers – and they taste so good.  We got Red Velvet {delicious}, Birthday Cake {I died they were so good} and a chocolate truffle {good, but too rich}.  Words cannot express how good they actually are but I feel like just thinking about them can give me gestational diabetes, but that does not mean I would turn away from them in the future.  Seriously, give them to a friend, family member, client, whatever.  You will get major kudos.

I hope everyone has a really good weekend!! We have pretty much nothing but lots of house stuff on the calendar – cleaning, painting, yard work, etc… and another trip to the vet’s office …. kennesaw went last week and was told she is a good dog – they don’t know about her crate habit. Mulligan goes tomorrow. And I want to hit Zumba in the morning since I have not been in awhile and need to be a little more active than I have been.

Five Things Friday

 

VICTORY: I SURVIVED THE WEEK, well week #1. 
EXPLANATION OF CRYPTIC VICTORY: I am back to doing the crazy 2 hour in 1 direction commute and occasional 3 hour commute home indefinitely.  If you know anything about Atlanta, GA – think commuting from Alpharetta GA to South of the airport. Yup. Ugh. 40 miles in 1 direction. Double Ugh.

Wahoo for a big project assigned by our CEO that is actually a really big deal. But big frowny face for not being able to see the gym with the exception of weekends until this project is over and sitting in an insane amount of traffic each day.  Must. Not. Gain. Too. Much. Pregnancy. Weight. Le Sigh.

Anyway. Moving On.  5 things…

(1) Our little puppy daughter has a new trick that she is SO proud of.  She has taught herself how to break free of her crate.  And she can even break free of a crate with a carbineer on it to keep it extra super locked! Luckily, we don’t think she is doing it until she hears Kyle coming home, but I can’t help but picture her lounging on the bed, taunting Mulligan.  Needless to say – home girl is getting locked into her crate and we have added a carabineer to the mix.  No more jail breaks for her!!

(2) Kyle started painting the nursery this past weekend.  We have 1 pink wall and 3 gray walls to go.  I now want to go on Land of Nod and buy the curtains so we can hang those, but I am trying hard to resist. … and all the bedding {sheets, changing pad cover, crib skirt} is on sale until March 17th and I am having to have major self control to not just buy a lot of that right now. … and  for the love, don’t get me started and my need to buy a crib and just get the room DONE even though we have like 3 months till my “nursery must be done” deadline.  Kyle is having a hard time visualizing the nursery and thinks it will be too much gray – but he just needs to trust me and my plan.  It is going to look good. Promise you kid!  {McKenna is currently 22 weeks}

(3) On the topic of Kyle!  He turned 29 this week. I ended up getting him 2 books he has been on the hunt for + a baby bib that says “my dad is cooler than yours”.  It may be a boy bib, but that is ok. We went for a simple birthday dinner of BBQ and it was just a low key weekend.  Kyle did get a birthday card from my Granddad who recently passed away and even though I knew a card was coming it still was an emotional experience for me since my Aunt left a note in the card that my Granddad had picked the card himself. I think it also just touched Kyle. Well the fact that K has just been embraced by my family on his birthday means a lot to him.

(4)  We have this big open wall upstairs that is part of our landing.  Kyle and I plan on making that the “family picture” wall to hang pictures of us and McKenna as she grows and then a 2nd addition, if that day ever happens or comes and part of me wants to schedule a photo session of Kyle and me and the dogs before the baby comes.  Not those awkward maternity photos, but the only pictures we really have our our engagements and wedding pictures. and we have nothing formal of Mulls and Kens and lets be honest, they won’t be around forever and we have an unhealthy obsession with those two rascals.  But I just think it would be nice to document them on our wall.  So, if anyone knows of any ATL photographers doing mini-sessions this spring – send me their info please and then pray that my dogs are not maniacs!!

(5)  Random Rant and unsolicited career advice from a recruiter.  LinkedIn is not a social media platform for fun, it is professional. meaning, get a professional picture is important. Your selfie in your car (with a visible seat belt) making a duck face is not appropriate.  Neither is a sultry photo or one that has your sunglasses on you head.  Yes. Believe it or not, recruiters are googling you.  Your resume.  Proofread it.  Seen this week: “knowledge of multistate HR Laws – Georgia, New Jersey, and Houston”.  Breaking news: Houston is now a state.  The have left Texas and made themselves a state.   In a job market that is still tough, take the time to make the 1st impression a good one!

….well. I hope you all have a very good weekend. We have A LOT going on so I am not looking forward to the lack of rest and relaxation.  But…. such is life.  Happy Friday Ya’ll!