A Little Birdie Told Me...

It is official, the first pieces to the nursery have been purchased! No, we don't know the sex yet and Yes, I am going to find out that little piece of info as SOON as I can, but I just couldn't pass these up!



or these:



Zulily.com posted the Children Inspire Design store today and I seriously could have purchased almost everything there! Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I found myself purchasing more, but I doubt that I will find the pricing that Zulily offered, nor am I likely to find the wall space for all the pieces I love.

"Nature" is officially the theme and it all started with my love for the homemade mobiles on etsy.com. Oh, and an idea for Robin's Egg blue walls.

No Pictures, Please!

As most of you know, Matt and I recently took a long trip to Europe over the summer; sort of a planned last hurrah. The trip was more than we could ask for, all except for one thing - the plane rides. On the way there, we missed 1.5 days in Florence due to our plane colliding with another plane on the runway in Charlotte (see report) and on the way back it was a very rough landing in Philadelphia to say the least.

For all of our time lost, stress and patience, U.S. Air was able to provide us with some flight credits and send us off to Louisiana to visit with two wonderful couples!

The Derrys in Baton Rouge: and The Moores in New Orleans:

Chris, Melanie, Jackson & baby Isabella on the way ...... Chris and Mandy

While in Baton Rouge we were able to visit with the Derrys for 2 whole days and get them all to ourselves! Melanie and I discussed babies, babies, babies! And Matt and Jackson became best buds!



The adults were also able to get out one night and enjoy a great night of sushi. Too bad we can't get alligator and crawfish sushi here in Richmond!



While in NOLA we were able to do everything, really, everything The Big Easy has to offer. I am not sure what there is to do that we didn't.

Beignets and Huge Ass Beers in the French Quarter



Robert Randolph at the famous Tipitinia's



And finally, a trip to the Jean Lafitte National Park. We saw all sorts of wildlife and beautiful cypress forests and to my delight we even had a few gator sightings.



Note to future guests: mama gators DO NOT like visitors taking pictures of their babies! The below pictures were taken moments before mama gator hissed, opened that big ol' mouth of hers and started coming at us as... scary!




It is interesting to think about what sort of protective instincts will come out of me when our baby arrives. I like to think I am pretty laid back, but will I too hiss at strangers that come too close to my baby?

Thanks to our wonderful friends for a wonderful visit! I hope you are all planning trips up North because there is no way you are getting me back on a plane until my belly is no longer rolling over the tops of my jeans.

Cereal has never tasted so good!

My newest obsession, cereal. All kinds of cereal.

Honey Nut Cheerios? Sure!

Apple Jacks? Don't Mind if I do!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch? YES PLEASE!

I guess you can say that I am one of the "lucky" ones and haven't felt so bad during my pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I had my moments of nausea, but nothing ever lasted too long and eating was never a problem - however unfortunate that was for my waistline. So far, I had been pretty curious as to what "cravings" would be like; what would I crave? would I even have them? Up until this point, I could only tell you that salmon is the sickest thing to hit a plate and salads come in 2nd --- again, very disappointing for my waistline.

Then, while grocery shopping with Matt, we stumbled upon the cereal isle and it was like a light shown down from the heavens. Look at all these glorious boxes! So many flavors, so many shapes! I certainly could not be expected to pick just ONE! That lead to a whole new battle; to fight the sugar monster and go "healthy" or to give in to my childhood taste buds and pick up that box of Count Chocula? A compromise was quickly made and I happily walked away with 1 box of Honey Nut Cheerios, 1 box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and 1 box of Kashi Go Lean (for good measure).

With one box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch down and a new box of Apple Jacks on the shelf, I have already begun flipping through the index of flavors in my head for our next trip.

Cocoa Krispies, you might just be the lucky one!

Stroller Crush?

I am not sure if I have fallen in love yet, but I sure do have a crush on the Baby Jogger, City Mini stroller.




My mom and I were out shopping this past Saturday and I was able to talk her into going to Weebsworld with me to browse the "rich people" strollers that I knew I would never be able to have. A girl can dream, right? Upon entering the store, it became quite clear that neither of us had any clue what we were looking at, let alone how to use anything. Sobering Moment #1: If I can't even figure out how to use a stroller, how in the heck am I supposed to figure out how to take care of a baby!? After a few minutes of browsing and whispering between each other (too embarrassed to say anything out loud and have people realize how clueless we really were) the woman behind the counter finally came to our rescue. I wish I could remember her name because she was super helpful and made us feel at ease. After discussing a few of the items in the store, she brought us over to test drive the City Mini. So smooth, so light, so easy to fold up! It is every girl's dream! It is the travel system we have all been looking for --- and the best part, the price isn't completely out of reach! (However, the crazy cost of all this baby stuff will be discussed in a later blog.)

The City Mini is a super light umbrella stroller that has attachments for almost any car seat. The Maxi Cosi is the car seat that was suggested to us, and works most easily with the seat adaptors. After comparing the Maxi Cosi and the Graco, I have to agree with their recommendation. While both are great, high-ranked car seats, the Maxi Cosi offers more side impact protection as the baby grows and uses metal parts vs. the plastic attachments the Graco uses (and it is lighter). PLUS, the Maxi Cosi is only $10.00 more than the Graco. In addition to the minimal weight of the City Mini, I was amazed by its ease in folding. There is a strap in the seat you simply lift and the entire stroller collapses to a very packable size. There are so many more great things about this stroller I could go on and on, but you should go see for yourself!

City Mini, I think I love you!