Thursday, September 20, 2012

Introducing our Baby Bump Chalkboard!





Like so many of you out there I’m obsessed with Pinterest. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I’m a copy cat! If I see a great idea on Pinterest I can’t wait to try it. And one of my very favorite things about my awesome hubby is there is no project too big or crazy for him to dive right into with me! I imagine it and he makes it happen! Even better he makes it better then I imagined! So that brings me to the Baby Bump Chalkboard! I found one on Pinterest that I LOVED! And of course it wasn’t something you could just buy! That would be far too easy!

Here’s the one I wanted:


I have no idea who this lovely lady is... but I loved her chalkboard!

So instead of purchasing a pre-made one, that would have been much easier, we set out with a task to make one (by we I mean Adam.) First stop was Goodwill to find a large framed picture that would work for the general design of the chalkboard… we scoured Goodwill and found NOTHING we were excited about. Worse than that the only things we did find were fairly pricey, $30 for an ugly picture? No thank you! So with so few options we settled on a boring frame and decided to checkout. On our way to the registers Adam and I spotted a bin full of the ugliest pictures you could imagine! All on clearance for around $6! And thats where we found this beauty!!!

Front: I think they basically framed UGLY wall paper. But the frame was the size and look we were going for.

Back: Ummm there are no words.

Fabulous right?! Don’t you love the parrots!? No? Yeah me neither. The frame was perfect, but unfortunately the backing to the frame itself was awful… so next stop was Hobby Lobby and Home Depot for a little chalkboard paint, paint for the frame, chalk and some sturdy wood that would look great as a chalkboard, but was thin enough to fit in the frame. At Hobby Lobby Adam had an awesome find! Spray paint that looks textured like stone! I wanted a plain white frame like the one on Pinterest but he made it so much better by finding something a little more unique. Once we had all our supplies it was time to paint and put it all together!
Here are a few pictures of the progress: 

The painted frame.

The stone texture close up

The board painted with chalkboard paint

Close up!
 And here is a look at our beautiful chalkboard all put together! 

Finished product!

So pretty!
I think Adam did an amazing job! This is truly something we can use for years... I can totally see Baby A posing in front of this bad boy to mark his/her monthly growth! Or maybe a menu board in the kitchen?!?! I don't know but the possibilities are endless as long as we have plenty of chalkboard paint on hand to refresh it every once in a while!

But for now we'll use this to mark my baby bump growth! So here you go... my very first Baby Bump Picture!

Me at 12 weeks, this was taken last Friday September 14th!

A little closer up so you can see Adam's wonderful writing! And Yes I know... I'll wear something tighter next time so you can actually see the baby bump... but at this point I was mostly just bloated anyway.

So there you are! Our Baby Bump Chalkboard! Prepare to see a lot more of this!

xoxo~ Jamie 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I’m back! And we’re having a baby!



I know I know, I completely abandoned this blog. I’m sorry but it was all a bit much to keep up with and I was feeling a bit like I was blogging about the same ol thing every day. So anyways I’m back! And I have a whole new array of subject material to cover because….. I’M PREGNANT! Yep Adam and I are expecting, but if you’re my Facebook friend you already knew that! So I guess I’ll get into the more detailed information that we haven’t shared on Facebook! Don’t worry; I’m not sharing any gross details or anything like that. Just filling ya’ll in on this whole baby making process that has been consuming our lives for the past 3 months! And since I’m so behind I’ll break this up into separate posts so we don’t have one crazy long run on post! 

Let’s start with the day we found out we were pregnant. We went on an amazing trip to Mexico for our 3 Year Anniversary. The trip was gorgeous, relaxing and everything we needed including all inclusive alcohol… Unfortunately for me none of the alcohol sounded or tasted appealing. I just didn’t want to drink (and if you know me that’s a little shocking; no I’m not an alcoholic, yes I do like to have a great glass of wine, some Crown or margaritas occasionally.) That was our first of many signs! 

Once we arrived back at home and life got back to normal it was time to find out what was going on! I was late (yes my period), exhausted, and didn’t want to drink alcohol. So on August 2nd 2012, exactly 4 years after Adam asked me to marry him, we purchased a pack of 3 Pregnancy Tests, 2 lines you're pregnant, 1 line you’re not. Well the first test had no lines… not a great start; I didn’t even know how to take a pregnancy test! Adam and I stared at the test and decided to take number 2, after messing with the first test and leaving the 2nd test for the designated 3 minutes we walked back into the bathroom together to discover 2 tests with 2 lines each… We looked at each other blankly for a moment and said something like “Oh my god I think we’re pregnant!” Now I feel like I should expand a bit on the I THINK portion of that statement… whoever made pregnancy tests made them a bit confusing… why on earth is one line so dark and one line so faint? I don’t get it; it just made us doubt what we were obviously seeing. Anyway despite our doubts we were extremely excited and decided to document the moment with a few fabulous bathroom shots! 

Do we look excited or terrified! I can't tell and I still think we're equal parts excited and terrified!

More excitement!

See that tiny faint line.. yep thats why we were confused!

After doing a little "Googling” we learned that a line even a faint line really does mean you’re pregnant, but to be sure to wait a few days and take another test, first thing in the morning. So Saturday morning August 4th, I stumbled out of bed and once again peed on the stick… this time there was no doubt, before I even put the test on the counter to wait both lines were clearly showing up; the 2nd still fainter than the first, but there were no doubts this time! We are going to have a little baby! So once again we decided to take a few pictures to remember the moment… this time before the Bronco’s Scrimmage game so we were decked out in our Orange & Blue!

Yep super excited now!

Our baby will totally be a Bronco's Fan!

Much darker this time.. and yes I agree that it's kind of weird to take a picture of something you peed on but hey its for memories people!


Anyway so that’s the beginning of our baby story. Exactly 4 years after Adam and I made a commitment to each other to become a family we found out that God was blessing us again and that our family will be growing! 

Here’s a picture of our little Baby A at our first Ultrasound! 



Our baby... don't feel bad if you cant see it. I honestly couldn't either! Our next Ultrasound pics were better! But those are for another post!
xoxo~ Jamie