Things I am Loving Thursday

I have seen this on a few blogs lately and one of my favorites The Pink Growl does this Thursday post frequently so I decided to step away from all things baby and share some things I am loving lately with you all! =D

paperbackswap.com
I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader, but I do like to read but I hate used bookstores and I hate how books are pricey and I will only read them once.  I swap books with a coworker, but once I get them back they literally collect dust on my bookshelf at home. Until now.  Kyle somehow came across paperbacswap.com & then passed the word onto me. Basically – you post books you want to get rid of and then people ask for them. You purchase a label and then mail the book and are given 1 credit. 1 credit = 1 book and then you can request books from other members.  You can also put books on a wish list and when the book becomes available you can have it sent to you {if you have a credit}. I am loving it right now because I am able to get books I want and then get rid of books I no longer need! I totally recommend it if you like to read and you don’t hoard books like my husband does! JOIN HERE

erin condren life planners
this obsession is not new – but with the hype around the 2014 – 2015 planner right now I am reminded how much I rely on my planner and would die without it.  I know they tend to be a little bit bulkier than most people like, but I only get a 12 month calendar vs. the 18 month calendar and have found it to be less bulky.  They’re a bit pricey but totally worth it.  I think they are supposed to be released the 2nd week of June so mark your calendar and if you want to flip to the dark side, you can purchase a LP right HERE! {if you’re a new customer and you use that link you get $10.00 off} You can see mine get pretty packed, but it keeps my head on straight!

Lee Brice – “I Don’t Dance”
I don’t know why – but I cannot get enough of this song.  I pretty much have it on repeat in my car and I just really like it.  If I was getting married this year – I would 100% make this my first dance song.

short work weeks
even though I have been fairly busy this week because it was a 4 day work week I really could work 4, 10 hour days and have a 3 day weekend every week. I don’t 100% know what I would do with the extra day – but I would find something to fill my time. How would you spend your time if you had a 3 day weekend, every weekend?!

schools are out for summer
I LOVE SUMMER IN ATLANTA. Mainly because my insanely long 400 south crawl is cut pretty much in half because there ain’t no one of the roads, son! I can leave the house at 7:20 AM and be at work by 8:00 AM and hit pretty much only one area of traffic.  When before, I had to be out the door by 7:00 at the latest to arrive anywhere between 8:00 and 8:30 AM.  Hello Open Roads!

surprise baby gifts
We came home from work this week to a box with a big pink bow on our front porch and it was a baby gift from my parent’s friends who live in Athens, GA. The box was full of cute little monogrammed things like a burp cloth that I feel like is too cute to have a kid spit up on, an adorable stuffed bunny, and also a little baby blanket bunny toy.  it was such a surprise to come home to and it was so thoughtful of my parent’s friends to drop it by.  Too bad they dropped by on a Wednesday when we were both at work – it would have been fun to see them!

I am sure there are other things I am “loving” right now – but my back hurts.  Hello pregnancy and I want to crawl in bed and  read.  Therefore, I am cutting this short!

Happy Friday Ya’ll!

FRIDAY + LONG WEEKEND

MONDAY = MEMORIAL DAY.
MEANING: THE OFFICE IS CLOSED AND WE HAVE A LONG WEEKEND!!
THIS IS ME BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS. #TRUESTORY
YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW BADLY I NEED A 3 DAY WEEKEND!! #REALBAD

AND I PROMISE, I WILL NOT DO THIS WHOLE POST IN ALL CAPS.
BUT IT IS FRIDAY AND I AM STOKED FOR A LONG WEEKEND!!

There is a chance that 2 days this week I was wondering what labor felt like and if I was going into it because of stress.  And, I think since I was stressed McKenna was stressed so she got comfy in my ribs thus making it hard to breathe.  Yeah.  Kids, it has been a week.

So. What am I doing this weekend?  Well… a lot of nothing – after our baby essentials class.  I plan on going to the pool and sitting on the steps with my body in the pool and read my book to control my little swelling sausage fingers.  We have a puppy play date on the calendar.  I plan on washing baby clothes and putting them away and hanging them up.  I plan on going to Target for the essentials and then packing my hospital bag seeing how I have 44 more days. I may give the dogs away {and I only say that because they are currently obnoxiously barking}.  Oh and I am sleeping in.  Again. #truestory

I bought all sorts of cute Etsy things for the baby today – kyle may kill me, but I didn’t break the bank and I firmly believe that we need these and he was OK with the closet dividers when Heather was in town {look at me justifying my purchases}:

(1) Stickers for her monthly pictures for blog posts + her baby book from SweetSeraphina – and I am excited about these the stickers can then also go in her baby book! =D
(2) Closet Dividers for McKenna’s closet to keep the clothes divided by age from DoodleBugPrints – we don’t have chevron in her room, but we do have gray and pink.

Anyway…..

YA’LL HAVE A GOOD LONG MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!! EAT SOME HOT DOGS FOR ME AND HAVE SOME WINE ON THE PORCH. AND TRAVEL TO THE BEACH OR THE LAKE!! DO THE THINGS I CANNOT!  BARBIE ORDERS! =D

33 Weeks // #minddump

I am officially 33 week – well 33 weeks and 3 days if you want to get all technical. She is evidently the size of a cauliflower blossom {but way cuter according to kyle} and her bones are getting harder and about 4-6  pounds. I just cannot believe how fast time is flying by and how we have a little under 7 weeks left. 7 weeks is not a lot of time and I am beginning to feel very very unprepared.  #umiamgoingtobeamomsoon

we have our 1st baby class this weekend.  which is the baby essentials class and hopefully after that I will have a little more confidence. but I do keep telling myself that if those girls on Teen Mom can do it, then Kyle and I can more than do it.  We have our heads on straight and we’re not 16 years old and on drugs. WEEEEE. Good TV MTV, Good TV. #learnaboutbeingaparentin4hours

The nursery is 98% done. Still waiting on 1 last décor item for the nursery, but we knew that it would come down to the wire in receiving it due to late ordering on our part and how they hand make to order.  We ordered at 31 weeks and knew that there was a 6-8 week wait till it shipped.  But – I believe it will be well worth the wait.  The Etsy seller was absolutely amazing & we cannot wait to see the finished project. #bestnurseryever

The car seat is installed in the back of Kyle’s car and we have a base installed in the back seat of my car – ya’ll, we have a car seat. And people – those things are heavy and there is not a kid lounging in it yet!!!! We are having a real life baby. Now when you look into one of our Jeep’s there is limited seating. After about 452180 calls to the fire house that went unreturned, I hope that thing is installed correctly. Mulligan got in my car when we were installing the base. Poor kid will need to learn to share his backseat. And not trample the baby during his barking fits.  Side note: Mulligan never got in Kyle’s car during the installation process. Why you ask?! Because Mom is way more fun and her car leads to fun car rides to day care and the vet and he gets to see more of the outside world and bark at more things.  So my car > Kyle’s car.  #truestorymomisbetter

I am stalking our baby registries and need to stop. Granted we have not had our shower yet, but the money we are about to spend to basically get the basics is being added up in my head.  Kyle and I were talking about how we are going to systematically finish off the registry with the coupons we have from babies r u and buy buy baby and then with the registry completion cards we have + look on amazon – so we should score some pretty good deals – and we LOVE a good deal.  We are going to get the necessities first – the bottles and diapers and wipes and baby monitor and towels and pacifiers and rock and play and bathtub – then move onto the “nice to haves” and the other age appropriate things {bouncers, jumpers, etc…} at the right age. Plus at like 5 months, it will be Christmas and lets be honest – McKenna is going to be a spoiled little princess baby so things that we need around the 5 month mark would be good Christmas ideas for her.  #babiesareexpensivelikewoah

We have started packing the hospital bag.  And we are actually kind of behind on this one and at a total loss of what we really need vs. think we need.  Kyle has made all sorts of checklists based on Google searches.  I need to go to the store and buy the necessities this weekend and then legit pack the bag and have it ready to go.  Plus, we need to pack Kyle a bag since he will have to stay over night with me and the bambino. We also need to pack a diaper bag at some point.  When does one do that?! #somanybags #dohospitalshaveluggagecarts

Kyle had me open my “push gift” a this past weekend and he got me an amazing camera.  Just what I wanted.  I didn’t want a piece of jewelry that I may not wear in a few years.  I wanted something logical and practical and I didn’t want to capture moment on an iPhone that could get lost or stolen at any time.  #paparazziparents

but seriously. if you’re a parent. clue me in on that hospital bag thing! What do I need – what do I not need.  And what are the baby necessities that we 100% need to buy the weekend after our shower?!

Brookhaven Bolt 5K - 2014

Yesterday was a big day in the Shanahan house!  Kyle and McKenna participated in their first ever 5k.  Kyle ran his and let me tell you, I am SO SO SO proud of my budding little runner man. McKenna (and momma) walked their 5K and Kyle is SO SO SO proud of me for finishing.  33 weeks pregnant and participating in a 5k – I feel like that is impressive and that this picture should go in little M’s baby book since we have to track things before her birth! ….and I can tell her that she was a running baby before she was even born!

We got up early, typical race morning, and my not so morning person husband was actually pleasant to be around.  I was hoping my Lululemon tank was still long enough to cover my ever growing belly and I wouldn’t have to redneck it up with my stomach partly showing – and thankfully it did.  {Seriously pregnant ladies – well worth the high price, but the Lululemon Cool Racer Back tanks have been a pregnant girls workout life saver since the tanks are so so so long} I did get a bit nervous when my  running shoes were too small due to feet swelling, but since the weather was so cool and not May like, the swelling went down pretty much immediately when we got outside.  We grabbed some breakfast and then trekked from the ‘burbs into Brookhaven for the race and since this was my 3rd time participating I knew the drill which made the morning a lot easier. We ran into my brother and his friend before the race and chatted with them then we all split up at the start.  my brother and his friend went closer to the start, so did Kyle, and I buddied off with my friend Evin who was pushing her oh too adorable son in the stroller.  I was (and still am) so grateful I had Evin to chat with because it made the walk so by so much faster and we were just ticking off miles.  Plus, I think the cooler temps were a big help and helped keep the swelling down since I never really got hot or broke a sweat.

Kyle ended up finishing the race in about 31 minutes and then he turned around and came back to find Evin and me and walked with us a little bit.  Evin’s husband did the same thing – so by the time Evin and I got to the finish line we had her husband and Kyle with us.  They bounced off the course before the finish line to not mess up their chip times and then we all hung out for a bit at the finisher party. I finished in 54 minutes, which is pretty impressive since we (1) walked and (2) I am 33 weeks pregnant!  I thought it would take me well over 1 hour.  ….but the competitor in me and past runner had to beat myself up a little bit for being so low in the age group rankings + overall rankings and kyle keeps reminding me that I  (1) walked, (2) am pregnant, and (3) beat over 200 people who are not pregnant and participated.  Look at him, always being so encouraging. 

Kyle and I bailed out pretty quickly, after not feeling bad for 3.1 miles, my hips and back started hurting and I was having a little bit off discomfort so we headed to brunch {where I had the most depressing hot chocolate} and then back to the house for me to whip out the heating pad for my back and take a nap.

But it was another good run for the Brookhaven Bolt.  And Kyle asked if we could do it every year and he asked when our next 5k will be.  So, I think we have another one tentatively on the books for October and we will push McKenna in the jogging stroller – bundle her up and go for a little jog.  I think I have a little running man for a husband now and that make me excited! ….he was even saying that he thinks he could totally go a 10K.  I told him to pump the brakes and to let me catch back up in the running world before he goes off the deep end.  Do I have a future marathoner?!

Weekend Round Up(s)

The last two weekends have been exhausting.  Fun.  But exhausting.  Needless to say, I am very happy to have my house and my husband back and all to myself.  I normally do not mind entertaining and having people in town.  And I didn’t mind it this time either – but when you’re hauling a bowling ball around you just get tired more often and don’t really have the opportunity to just relax and catch up on your DVR.  … but the long month has just begun …

2 weeks ago we had Kyle’s mom and step dad in town from Thursday – Tuesday and if I thought it was hard to entertain before, add work + being pregnant to the mix and it makes it a tad harder.  Truthfully, we did not do a lot.  We went to Stone Mountain on Saturday to sight see, but that is about it.  Kyle and I spent the whole time  talking about how we cannot wait for McKenna to get old enough for us to take her there to ride the Duck boat and play in the bouncy barn and do all those other fun events.  But we rode the tram to the top of the mountain {kyle worried about me falling on the uneven terrain the whole time} and then just walked around the park.  Surprisingly, I lasted a long time before getting the sore feet.  Victory.

This past weekend I had my bestie Heather in town from Tuscaloosa and that weekend was too fun.  I love that our friendship is so good that we can just sit on the couch and catch up and we don’t consider it boring. I got to meet her boyfriend, who I really liked and Heather showered McKenna with so many pieces of clothing it is insane and it is all just too cute.  {Between Heather and my aunt, McKenna has a better closet than I do!!}. 

Saturday we went to the Braves game and that was a long day. We got to the game at 3:30 PM for a tailgate and then left around 10:30/11:00 PM.  There was a rain delay for the game due to the sudden downpour and since I think I have a pinched nerve in my back {per. Dr. Google} and the most comfortable position for me is standing up – my feet were swollen and I was cranky by the time we left.  However, when the rain finally did stop I was never so grateful to get in the stadium and sit my butt down even if my back did hurt from time to time!  The Braves ended up winning {Go Bravos} and Kyle and I talked about how we cannot wait to take McKenna to a game and buy her a foam tomahawk so she can chop and it was overall just a good time.  I know Heather, her boyfriend, and Kyle had a fun time with my friends and some people we tailgated with last summer.  And that is what we were looking for – a fun, good time. And who doesn’t have a good time when they have a built in designated driver! 

Sunday I did not get out of bed {true story} because my feet were so swollen.  I kept them elevated, I took 2 naps, read a bunch of my book, watched some TV, and then passed out at 10:00 PM.  Actually – Kyle and I did go to dinner for Mother’s Day and he got me a shoe organizer {for my nesting} and I organized my shoes – but other than that I did not get out of bed.

This upcoming weekend we have the 5k, which at this point I am 100% playing by ear and may just hang out at the finish line and cheer my brother and husband on.  Game Time Decision. And then I have my friend’s birthday dinner and we are trying to plan a puppy play date with the neighbor dog for Sunday. 

…in baby news….

McKenna is currently 32 weeks old – meaning we have 8 more weeks to go.  However; she is measuring 34 weeks – 2 cm larger than her gestational age … tomorrow I have an appointment and if she is still big they will order a sizing ultrasound to determine why she is so big.  My vote: my husband and I are tall people; therefore, we will have a tall child. But, the doctors are not worried so I am not.  We are going to buy the baby monitor this weekend probably and we need to get our car seat installed.  We ordered the last item of décor for her nursery and I cannot wait the 6-8 weeks for it to come in.  It is amazing and the care that the Etsy seller put into perfecting what we want was amazing!! The car seat and extra base are in our possession, we just now need to get it installed in our car. 

All in all, life is good. cannot complain. we did redo our laundry room so expect a post about that soon.  but life is good!

List of Home Improvement Ideas

I want to start this blog post by saying that WE love our house.  We bought our house because we loved the neighborhood – it was big, looked like it would be full of families, was quiet and had good school systems.  When we started house hunting, we wanted a house that we could stay in and raise a family in.  Kyle was always jealous of me that I was raised in the same house and came home to the same place every holiday and summer of college and then after moving to Atlanta.  Kyle and I wanted the same thing for our family and future kids. 

Since my 30 before 30 list won’t really be all that accomplished since I turn 30 in like a month and some odd days {I can’t exactly go zip lining or horse back riding or to a brewery in my condition} I am moving onto our Home Improvements List.  This has no rock solid due date – just as we can afford it.   We had 1 savings account already established called “college education fund” and now that we have moved that to a 529 and the money is taken out of our account automatically – we renamed that account to “home improvement fund”.  {when did I become so old and mature?!}

Some of the things aren’t major upgrades and {thankfully} can be done on our own, but they bug me and need to be done.  I just need to spend a weekend at Home Depot or Bed Bath and Beyond or The Container Store and say I AM DOING THIS NOW!

With all that.  Here is our list.  And pictures with ideas {thanks pinterest}.

1. Kitchen Upgrade: Granite Counters
2. Kitchen Upgrade: New Cabinet doors {thankfully the cabinet boxes are solid and strong. We just need new doors that won’t have laminate that peels. G.Ross.}
3. Kitchen Upgrade: Backsplash

Obviously. I love the light color granite and the light color backsplash.  We do like the white cabinets that we already have and want to keep the white when we swap out the doors and we already upgraded everything to stainless. So the neutral granite + backsplash is the plan.  And… we think we could do the backsplash on our own. Can’t be too hard, right?!

4. Laundry Room Redo DONE
5. Hall bathroom upgrade: new sink fixtures + toilet paper holder/towel holder. DONE
6. New paint job of foyer/upstairs landing
7. New paint job of weird sitting room. NO LONGER WANT: WE DIG THE RED
8. Hardwoods in the foyer – take out the weird uneven marble tile area.
9. Remove the sliding doors – install French Doors DONE & AMAZING.
10. Replace all the ceiling fans upstairs – all 6 of them
11. Master bathroom upgrade: new floors
12. Master bathroom upgrade: new shower. bigger shower.
13. Replace all the door knobs upstairs.
14. Repaint the master bedroom.
15. Redecorate the master bedroom.

and when I say “redecorate” I really mean upgrade the artwork above our bed.  And then since the dogs are no longer crated. Figure out what to do with that big empty space. Plus, new bedding and curtains. To match the new paint job. I really like the 3 above ideas. the 3 wooden picture frames would house family photos though // and I love that Song of Solomon verse.

16. Repaint Kyle’s “man cave” / McKenna’s playroom / the family room.
17. Upgrade the TV in the downstairs room – move the downstairs TV into the “man cave” DONE (AND THE NEW TV IS NOW IN THE PLAYROOM)
18. New furniture for the downstairs family room. Move the current furniture to the “man cave” / random weird sitting room. DONE
19. Decorate the random weird sitting room. DONE
20 .Dining room furniture for the dining room
21. Decorate the large landing thing over our foyer under our big window.  {I want large oversized lanterns from Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn}
22. Organize the hall closet upstairs.  DONE.
23. Organize the pantry.
24. Organize the laundry room.  DONE.
25. Organize our master closet.
26. Organize the hall closet down stairs.
27. Change all the sink fixtures in the bathrooms in the house.
28. Get a new front door + paint all the shutters to match.

….we have A LOT on the list to do and I am sure that it will only grow longer.  But luckily, a lot of this can be done on our own and all the organization projects {I blame on nesting} are quick weekend things.  But then we have some major projects to save our bonuses and money for!