love. is. in. the. air.

Yesterday my sister-in-law got engaged!!!!!

Dan and I are very excited for her and the love that she and her fiance share. 

Together, they are incredible. 

Let the wedding planning..... and pinning on Pinterest begin! 

Congratulations you two!

Birthday Memories

chocolate chip cookie cake

birthday eve presents in bed--mumford tix, new girl season 1, music goodies, and HOME ALONE

half day of work

hearing baby szumla's heartbeat (160 bpm)

seeing baby szumla! (we had an ultrasound on my birthday)

egg white sandwich with veggies

a long birthday nap

seeing a good friend and getting gifts that reminded me of my time in England 

(which was five years ago already!)

an amazing dinner date with the mr.-- filet minion for him; crab cake and asparagus for me
Dan felt our baby kick for the 1st time. Such a precious moment for the two of us! 

this day of celebration was extra meaningful for me. obviously, i could not help but think about the past 25 years of my life. and the joys and challenges that have shaped me into the person i am today. joys and challenges that i am reminded of daily because of god's precious grace and sacrificial love. to say my life has been "full" would be an understatement. it's been filled to the brim with opportunities, travels, excitement,  trials, love, and silliness. 

i also pondered motherhood, which for me, is around the corner. 

although i still have moments where i feel like a little 8 year girl who needs a shoulder to cry on, calls her mother to tell her everything is going to be okay, and who eats ice cream out of the carton from time to time, i also know that i am an adult with a wonderful and exciting marriage, a zest for the small things in life, and a heart to never take a single day for granted. i don't need exuberant amounts of money to make me feel more secure. i don't need a certain brand of shoes to make me feel like "i've made it" as a women, and i certainly try hard not to let worry fill my heart and days. 

of course i'm scared out of my mind to fill the difficult and often challenging role of "mother" for a precious human life, cause Lord knows my husband and i will make mistakes and need guidance as new parents, but i also know that it is one of the deepest desires of our hearts!

i love my life and the memories and experiences i have had to fill it...why wouldn't i want to share in this adventure with a little one and see and experience the world through their little eyes for just a moment?

okay, back to the point. 

i had a GREAT 26th birthday :) 

TwentySix

Today I turned 26 years old. 

Update to follow! 

Dream.

Today, I'm going to dream big. 

Belle Patri Home Furnishings

This beauty is our first purchase for the nursery and I could not be more excited! I stepped into the neatest home furnishings consignment shop yesterday with my mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. I quickly fell in love with so many of the refurbished pieces. 

The one above is the one I settled on. 

Who wouldn't love this? 

It's the Little Things

What made my DAY yesterday?

This girl talked her way into a free grande latte at Starbucks and yes, ended up getting it for free.

How? You might ask.

Well I didn't exactly have much to do in the way of convincing the barista. I'd like to give myself credit, but unfortunately had little to do with this little random act of franchise niceness.

Our conversation kind of when like this:

me: "So I got an email about a free birthday drink since I'm an rewards member." (I begin to show her the email on my phone)
barista: "Okay.."
me: "Well I sort of threw away my rewards card by accident. Is there any way I can still get the free coffee since I have the email right here?"
barista: "I really don't think so. You'll have to call this number to order a new rewards card."
me: "Okay, no problem" (I place my order and decide to go one size up to treat myself after my let down)
I hand her my visa card..
barista: "Oh, oh. We are sorry for the inconvenience. I'll give it to you for free today."
me: "Wait, really? You don't have to do that." (I ordered like a 6dollarwayoverpriceddrink)
barista: "Yeah, it's on us. Have a great day!"

I know it is small.... and so meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
But this simple gesture had me smiling


the entire morning.

A Cyber Season

I just realized that 75% of the shopping I have done for Christmas this year has been completed online. 

Hmm. I'm not sure how I feel about this. 

Lazy? 

or Genius? 

O Christmas Tree

The husband asked me to pose in front of the tree after work the other day. 

I don't know what I love more, 

our gorgeous and bright tree 

or that little round tummy I am finally starting to see! 

Those little fingers

For about the last 10 days I have started to feel what they call "quickening"...also known as baby movements (kicks, turns, punches, etc.).

I was not sure AT ALL at first what I was feeling. In fact a few weeks ago I was convinced I was starting to feel the baby, and could not sleep at all that night because I was so excited about it. Only to find out now (when I am definitely feeling the baby) that it was either gas pains or ligament pain. Oh well.

It was not until we were at the ultrasound on Monday (12/3), and I was able to see him moving around like crazy, that I focused really hard on what I was feeling. Sure enough, as he would wiggle and kick around on the screen, I would feel it...and ohmygosh. What a crazy/AMAZING thing. It is super hard to explain. It's like a definite "poke"  from the inside at times and then other times it sort of feels like I am going over a large hill while driving, which I am guessing is him rolling/flipping.

When I tried to prepare myself for this in the last few months, I totally got weirded out at the thought of a little "alien" inside me moving around in my belly. To my pleasant surprise, this is now becoming the most amazing feeling in the world. I am starting to be constantly reminded that he is there, safe and sound, growing and active :) 

So this little picture from Monday is one of my favorites. 

Those little five fingers!! It's like he is pointing up at me like,

 "Ah, just you wait till you see the punches I can throw!"

Love + pokes,

als

Update Central

So life has been crazy lately. So crazy that I completely FORGOT that I had this neat little blog here started. Intended to document my recent memories, thoughts, and photos, I have again failed miserably with keeping it up to date. For the sake of time and energy I am going to simply fill in some major gaps that need filled from over the last 3 or so months. After filling in the gaps, I will make a promise to write on here more often, because as it is, I have so much updating to do!!



So here goes:

I am pregnant! 

                                               
                                   Here I am the morning I found out the news! (back in August)
                                                                   Still in complete shock.

I think this was the belly bump at about 8 weeks...

10.5 week bump

                                              20 week ultrasound picture of our baby BOY!!!!!!


So, talk about a crazy, amazing, exciting, scary time in my life. Name a feeling and emotion and I have most likely felt it over the last 16 weeks since finding out the news. The pregnancy itself has been amazing. I can honestly say that I am one of those (annoying) people who actually LOVE being pregnant. Other than the occasional feelings of faint, feelings crazy tired the first trimesters, and random emotional breakdowns about feeling "too round and soft", it is truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. Since finding out the news, Dan and I have had a fair share of worries (at the beginning), sighs of relief, tears of joy, smiles, and discussions about this next chapter of our lives together and our new roles at "mommy" and "daddy". I thank God every day for these 9+ months to go on this journey with Dan (and on my own) to really grow as a person and soak in every special moment of this.

Yes, there has been a lot of baby talk, but we have also made it a priority to continue to stay active socially and spend time with the people we love the most. We still go on lots of dates and keep a busy schedule (almost too busy at times!). Dan currently is in a soccer league, (was) enjoying kayaking when the weather was warmer, is staying hopeful that his Fantasy football line-up will take him to the play offs, loves hiking the Appalachian trail, and stays busy doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku on the iPad. In September, I started to help lead a local support group for adoptive families and their children. Once my energy returned in the 2nd trimester I began a few household projects and have been enjoying trying some fun recipes from Pinterest. Most of my social activities with my girlfriends revolve around food, coffee, shopping, and talking...so that is a lot of what I have been up to :)

That's all the time I have right now for this update. I want to write a specific "pregnancy facts and memories" post, so that will be coming here shortly. I know I'll forget some of the small, fun details, so it's really important to me that I jot it down before I forget!

Love, love, love,
als