birthday sharing???

I have officially entered the second half of my twenties today, the BIG 26 :)

Hold laughter----I even made Hudson birthday cupcakes, complete with sports themed cupcake wrappers in hopes that he'd get the hint and come out and celebrate HIS birthday with his mommy. No such luck...can't bribe my sweet child with cupcakes...he may not turn out like his momma after all!

My day thus far has been beyond lovely, with the surprise arrival of MY momma last night and I got a very special lunch with Kyndal and Baby Kaiser! complete with homebaked goods by K! I'll have to post her culinary talents in a blog post all its own! She clearly knows the way to my ♥!

There are still several hours left in the day, so Hudson baby, feel free to let me know it's time. Seeing your tiny face and those kissable squishy feet would be the greatest birthday gift I could ever ask for.

nearing its end

My nesting phase. It's coming to a close. My mind and body aren't matching up on energy levels...I have lots of ideas in my head but my arms, legs, and the other hefty part of me just can't quite get in rythym to accomplish any of these "projects", which include laundry.

Turns out dropping the laundry in the basement doesn't mean it gets done. The piles don't wash themselves. You'd think they'd know the routine by now.

So I'll leave you with a few pictures of the two window projects I actually did get done in my whirlwind nesting...

The kitchen with fabric from Joanne's.

For the one I made for the bathroom I actually ended up using quilting fabric which is half the price but still turned out really nice, considering it was more for looks than for actual purpose. If you really are wanting to block a lot of light, quilting fabric I think, would be too thin.

and for the record: I am still pregnant. Real pregnant. The grumpy, grouchy pregnant. Cupcakes aren't cutting it at this point. I've started all the tricks. Turns out I completely forgot that my due date is August 4th, not the 6th {yeah, I know...who forgets...but you see they bumped it up three times and I ultimately forgot the last change. Basically, that means that I've miscalculated my weeks, so today is my 39 weeks making next Tuesday my official due date.} I'm now spending my days trying to convince my sweet pea pod that the real world is way more of a thrill than the womb world he currently calls home. He's not listening to me, and hoping that's not a trend he continues once born.

I even tried gardening with JR, planting the juniper that mom bought us. Didn't work...

Gardening
Taco Bell with Hot Sauce

what I don't fit into

Playing along with hundreds of you pretty bloggies {a little late} I'm joining Kelly's show us your dress Friday! Really just an excuse for me to go back and look at what I could likely no longer squeeze my right thigh into...

I'm going on 35 pounds of added fat/water/cupcakes/BABY. 35. Isn't that the entire weight of a 5 year old or something?

I ruined this post already. Sorry. Yessssss, yesssss the weight is of course beyond worth the joy of meeting our pea pod but you try finding your ankles and realizing they sucked up into your legs somewhere leaving with you the most spectacular set of cankles you ever did see {can you tell I'm ready to have my baby...}.

It's late. This is why I shouldn't blog at night.

Now I'll be a sweet pregnant and tell you the tale of my cherished dress ♥

This is actually one of my favorite pictures...no people, flowers, nothing. Just my dress. Taken at mom and dad's house the day of the wedding. I had it made, and can remember every fitting with my momma. It was simple, elegant, and more than I could have ever dreamt of in a dress.

Wearing it, I felt like a princess that day.

I got to walk with my daddy in it...

and became JR's wife wearing that dress.

nursery...in progress

I knew long before our baby boy was indeed a boy, that if we were to be blessed with a mud-playing, cheerio-throwing, naughty, and precious boy that his "colors" would be in the blue/brown scheme.

We were in the midst of building our new house in TX and I had visions of stripe-painted walls and such, aaaand we chose last minute to move half-way across the country {not sure if I've blogged about that}, decided to rent instead of buy and my stripe-painted walls become no more because I'm a lazy and don't like to paint things back. So, I've had to get creative via nesting. I have made like a bird, and nested.

Nesting, that weird thing they say pregnant women get right before baby comes. It attacked me, really. In the past two days, following Kyndal's lead, I've done the following:

-Made a window treatment/curtain for the kitchen. Made. I made a curtain.

-Made another window treatment, double the size of the kitchen one...for the bathroom.

*The pics of those will soon follow.

-Painted three 16"x 20" canvases for H's room.

-Added 5 yards of fabric to Hudson's crib skirt. This was completely a last minute, fabric store purchase and my biggest project thus far. All in two days.

Throw in a little laundry, a shower or two, and finally packed for the hospital {another post entirely}. I don't know what happened to myself, I don't know her.

I must be losing my mind. I'm about to birth a child and I'm making curtains, canvases, and crib skirts.

I totally just bragged on myself {do you appreciate that squeezing in a shower is considered bragging at this point?}, on my own blog. That's awesome. I promise to never, ever do that again. Until that post though, I'll delight you in a few pictures of Hudson's nursery---not yet done :) He lacks still a rug, and some more art work but you'll get the idea of where I'm headed.

Bookshelf put together by mommy and daddy filled with lots of sweet treats from family and friends ♥

waiting on our very own snuggle bunny...

His crib and bedding I am in love with but the skirt was too short and rather plain, so I dr'd it and VOILA! the polka dots helped SO much. I am now a professional crib skirt'er.

A full view of where our pea pod will lay his tiny head.

There is nothing sweeter than putting together a room for a baby, nothing.

where the tiny hiney gets changed...

How can you love someone so much that you have never even laid eyes on?

This is it. Now we wait. There are frantic calls and messages from family and friends out of sheer excitement to meet Hudson but I am so calm {short-lived, I imagine} knowing I am only days away from meeting our son. Excitement can't even begin to cover how I feel right now. Every night JR and I sit in his room, in his chair, in awe that this is HIS room, our baby boy.

We can't wait for you to meet him ♥

wanna bjorn?

We are slowly {frantically} finishing the putting together of all things baby since we're only two weeks-ish out from meeting our sweet pea pod. Last night started out with bookcase assembly and ended putting the Baby Bjorn together and look who got a free ride in it....

JR bought me an i-Tunes gift card, so I of course ended up using it on Hudson because there is so much awesome baby music now :) I was downloading a Praise Baby CD, when he came up the stairs with Charlie in tow. Poor kitty baby had no idea why he was strapped to Daddy, but it gave us a GOOD laugh.

I need to do a post entirely dedicated to tot music, but until then I leave you with our Baby Bjorn practice run.

in preparation of...

Hudson's arrival into this world, I was able to squeeze in a week of having my parents in town...and oh, how much I needed that. Mom even came with her working gloves on {if you know her at all, you're likely not surprised}.

We spent the week scouring the city for all things pretty to make our house a home, because my mom has a way better eye for decor than her daughter does. She completely transformed our house! From lamps and pillows to prints and frames, she definately fancied up our house, and we are ever so thankful. In between wall hangings and stopping to eat, it was baby stuff that dominated our trip. But, of course.

There were paci's and glass bottles to sterilize and wash, sippy cups to put up, and some very willing grandparents to lovingly help. We only bought four bottles, because Hudson gets to dine a la carte off of mommy for a long time, but would you believe there are still about 764 parts to those four teency bottles?? eeesh.

My daddy would even make runs to the farm market to pick up some berries for his daughter and grandson, because what's summer without strawberries from down the road?

Daddy even got to join in on the fun, because after mom and I came home with two carts full of goodies from Babies R Us, he had bassinets and swings to put together---while I ended up with loads more laundry to do...I'm not sure who came out the winner on that one.

Amidst the shopping, eating, and organizing somebody did some growing!!!

While we did do some touristy dinners and such, most of our good eats were some impromptu dinners at home. After having lived across the street from mom and dad the last three years----we very much enjoyed our casual nights with them and it made our house feel even more like home.

It was such a lovely week, and I was so sad to see them go. Comforting though, the thought of knowing they will be back in such a short time to meet their very first grandbaby ♥ Mom and dad we love you endlessly and wish daily there weren't so many miles between us but we anxiously await your next visit with open arms and a really sweet and tiny baby boy!

xoxo.

not quite THAT time

All of my posts seem to start out with an apology for being SUCH a slacker, but I can assure you of a few things about my blogging inadequacies:

- They are not due to my being in labor, worry not, you will know.
- I had the immense pleasure of having a week long visit from my mom and dad, so I spent my days watching my momma pull an Extreme Home Makeover on our house.
- I'm 37 weeks pregnant and lazy.
- Tonight is day 1 of 2 of our childbirth class. Yay :/ For me, ignorance is bliss. I need not know the pains I will endure, I am well aware it's no walk in the park. I'm way too excited to see Hudson's sweet tiny face and give it trillions of kisses, to care much for the gory details. We all have our opinions about taking such a class, and I definately fall in the category of not-looking-forward-to-it...I know our precious baby boy is coming out one way or another :)

I'll post later this wknd to let you know if we survived the class. Not many people wait until 37 wks to take the class. Have I ever told you that I'm a procrastinator?

If not, now you know.

mighty monday

Following suit of beautiful Abby, I'm joining in on her Mighty Mondays...

In her words:

Then I guess it's time to list the things I might have done since, well, last Monday! If you want to play too, simply make a list of things that you might have done and leave a comment so we can visit your blog and feel a little better about our own list ;)

I might have tried to sneak TWO boxes of cupcakes at the grocery store only to have been caught by my husband who made me put one back.

I might have not even felt guilty about trying to polish off a dozen cuppies solo.

I might need to take a break from looking at my son's wardrobe {I end up in his closet just smelling all the tiny wear, because the Dreft smell is so baby and so delightful}.

My previous admission might make me super weird.

I might be worrying too much about how our two kitty babies are going to react to their new human brother.

I might have made the appointment to meet Hudson's pediatrician tomorrow. That might have made it so very real that our baby boy is fast approaching this world.

I might have realized that I wear nothing cute anymore ever, and I don't really care :)

I might promise to change that after Hudson comes, because he wants a cute mommy and some milk.

I might have washed our sheets today in Dreft so that I can smell baby all night.

I've been cooking quite a bit lately, and that might make me super dang proud of myself.

I might think that my husband's necessity to do his own fireworks might be the cutest thing ever.

I might love just looking at all of the pics I take of him...

This was our last 4th of July just the two of us. Knowing that next year we'll be celebrating as a family of three might be the most AMAZING thing ever.

I might have watched the two-hour E! True Hollywood Story on Home Improvement while eating Ruffles and French Onion Dip, the whole time. Might.

mommy help

Had my 35 week appt yesterday {even though 35 isn't really until Thursday}...Hudson is still measuring exactly his "age", head down, and it's low low low.

The nurse told me that 37 weeks is considered full term so to be prepared two weeks from now, because he could come at any time. OH MY. We will meet our sweet tiny for sure in the next month or so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess it's bag-packin' time, and I really don't know what the essentials are! Do any of you mommies have suggestions for me or know of any other mommy posts about this that I haven't read?!?!? PLEASE HELP!!

nanny, grandpa, and the countdown

My blogging is sparce, I know...and I feel a blog backlash if I don't get with it----eeek!

This past week we were very blessed to have Nanny and Grandpa Pettijohn in town, and what better welcome to PA than some homemade bread. {homemade as in from the farm market down the road, not me, silly}. It is baked and delivered fresh Tuesday's and Friday's, therefore relinquishing our need for store bought bread. Heaven.

If you come visit, I'll greet you with the best sandwich of your life. That's my PA promise to you. This bread melts in your mouth...

As all good trips go, we started off our week with dinner on top of Mt. Washington---a very touristy dining spot filled with some yummmo steak houses {the kind that make you later want to roll down the hill, post dinner}...I'll take you there too, only if you're not afraid of the incline.

Nanny and Grandpa with their last visit before their baby boy has his own baby boy.

If I could say thank you a million, trillion different ways I would because all week long they both helped us get SO many projects done around the house in preparation for the arrival of our sweet tiny. One of my favorites, being this one...Hudson's armoire. Stained just for him by his Grandpa ♥

I'll post the final result along with nursery pics when it's done :)

My love for cheap finds I have made no secret, and I think I reached my pinnacle of frugal finds with this purchase.

A brand new $100 dining room set off of Craiglist that Nanny and Grandpa helped me pick up {while I jammed them in JR's single cab truck with me, we looked like some OK hillbillies all squished in a truck with some table and chairs roped in the back, it was awesome}. I feel like we got closer after that experience.

To make our table feel at home, Nanny whipped up one of her famous Farm meals, and it worked. A little side of fried squash and zucchini {fresh from the farm market} and fresh green beans, corn bread and pork chops.

Grandpa's Father's Day present was front row seats at a Pirate's game, but the one who came home really a winner was Nanny. Turns out the Pirate was a fan of HER! oh, and it was $1 hot dog night....can you beat that? no. You can't. Atleast not in my pregnant world.

We worked all week long, between washing alllll of Hudson's clothes/baby wardrobe which amounted to 3 days non-stop of laundrydoing. Good grief!! Nursery set up, we got his rocker in, and some more spectacular frugal finds-----I could not have survived this week without Nancy and Ronnie. Really. We packed so so much in one week, that it would be hard to write about all of our amazing food experiences, farm market adventures, and flower buying. So you'll just have to believe me when I say it's been one of our best weeks in PA yet!

To top it all off, we treated them with a trip up to Volant, PA. Home to an Amish community known for it's scenic drive and of course, good food.

And since you've been patient, I leave you with some Mommy/Daddy pics ♥

34 1/2 weeks

Only 5 weeks left, wow.

Nancy and Ronnie, we both thank you thank you thank you from the very bottom of our hearts for all of your help. There is no way we could have been able to accomplish so much without you, and to share the baby stuff with you are memories we will cherish. We loved so much, being able to drive you around PA and to show you all of our neat finds up in the land of the north :) It is a true joy to spend time with you both, and we certainly do not take for granted our late night chats and early morning breakfasts with you guys. We love you, and can't wait to see you again in just a few short weeks.

Thank you for loving us so much...

youknowyoureBIGwhen

While my husband reorganizes the closet I spent three hours on this afternoon {OCD} I sit here with the pathetic realization that I can longer cross my legs comfortably...

mybellygetsintheway.

geegollygoshdarnFORREAL????

bye, i have to go pick up my belly and walk away now.

8 weeks LEFT

Yes'm! You read right! Only 8 weeks until our rib-kicking, tummy-rolling, sweet tiny makes his appearance into this world! Into our world ♥

I have failed you tragically in posts lately, and I do apologize...want to hear my excuses? because I have plenty :)

-We're still in between the temp housing downtown and unpacking our 376 boxes at the townhouse.

-Hudson's furniture gets delivered TOMORROW!

-I have doctor appts every two weeks now {all is well per the docs, his head is down in the "go" position and he is measuring exactly at 32 weeks--no more, no less! PTL!}

-Have I mentioned I'm 32 wks pregnant and I'm getting progressively slower at everything I do??

-We also did the ol' switcheroo on our stroller/car seat/pack n'play...that deserves another post entirely.

-It took us two days to choose and order Hudson's custom made rocker. I made my husband sit in every single chair and "rock" for two days. He must really love me...

Now that I've vented {bored} you with my pregnant grumblings, I leave you with a few funny pics of life at the Pettijohn house...

A 32 week belly and the stroller that Daddy HAD to have. We are now the owners of the Peg Perego Aria. Bye bye Graco. Can you tell Daddy is very proud of his womb child and the Peg?

...this picture is important because it is beyond fun to get to park in this spot. It made us both laugh all the way into TX Roadhouse! WE FOUND A TX ROADHOUSE in PA! Some hot rolls with cinnamon butter and BBQ! Texas we miss you.