Any day now...

 

(pulling out all the baby clothes makes me so happy!)

 This girl is coming any day now and I could not be more excited!  In part to the fact that my body can't take any more pregnancy.  I am achy and huge and uncomfortable.  Saturday is the big day unless she decides to come earlier.  Matt's mom comes in on Wednesday so I am hoping she stays in until then!  

Here are a few pictures of her nursery.  Complete with too many DIY projects.:)   A lot have been refashioned from G's nursery.  I have been a crazy pregnant nesting woman, and lucky for me I think Matt caught the bug too.  For some reason I think it's necessary to organize and clean every drawer, prepare and freeze meals, take on every project I've ever wanted to do because I may not have time once the baby is here. ;)  You get the idea.  I have been wearing myself out a bit but It's actually been really fun.  I never thought I would be able to say it but I think we are ready.  Ready as we can be!

I can't tell you how much I love this mirror.  Thrifted for $6 makes it even more beautiful. :)

The chandelier (wax paper + string) was another pinterest tutorial, guess how much it cost me?  $3.  

Just don't ask how long it took. :)

 

I've been making a lot of hair accessories.  SO fun!

 

The happy big sister.  The word is from my ultra sound tech Dr. Smith that this baby girl is going to be big.  Staring at her chubby thighs made it more believable, but everyone assures me that they can be off.  Then I saw my OB Dr. Goff on Friday and the first thing he said was that this girl is going to be big! :)

Ha ha, so we will see in a few days!  I can't wait to kiss her chubby little face. 

big girl

Soon to be big sister, I am unsure how much she understands but she says often,

"...baby sister coming!" 

She is going to love having a little friend, 

and is getting in a lot of practice with her dolls.

Here we have Princess Grace.  She cracks me up!  What a girl.

 

Now that she is going to be a big sister she needs a big girl room. 

Matt and  I worked hard on her headboard,  I've always wanted to have a tufted headboard but considering the outrageous prices had ruled it out.  Then I saw this tutorial on pinterest and decided to model it after this 

one that I found on urban outfitters.  Yay for smart, crafty people! I already had some of the more expensive materials to make this and found some amazing fabric on clearance so for me it was very inexpensive to make.  We also have fabulous friends who helped us with the jigsaw and other tools that we have not been able to invest in yet.  Good thing Matt is great with power tools, I couldn't have done this project without him!

Ever since Grace was about 18 months she has been obsessed with looking at pictures and naming people in the family.  I thought this was the perfect thing for the wall in her room.

  We are so far away from family and I hate the thought of her forgetting who they are so

this keeps everyone fresh in her mind, she LOVES naming everyone! 

I sized the pictures to Polaroids and had them printed at Sams. 

Such inexpensive and meaningful wall art!  I love it.

Her duvet cover was another issue.  I can't believe how much these babies cost!  Ridiculous.  So thanks again to pinterest I found a tutorial to fashion this after a ruffle duvet I've been looking at for quite some time.  I made them from $15 queen size sheets and I was so happy with the outcome!  Totally worth it.   I still need to cover a few pillows that I already have, but this is a beginning. 

 

Now Grace is officially ready to be a big sister. :)

visitors

Grace trying out her new bike, which is still a little big but
come spring I think it will fit her perfectly.

Is there anything better than having visitors? I think not. Especially when they are as fun as
Ben and Laura are.  I was so happy they decided to make a trip of it and sleep over! 
We had way too much fun,both Matt and I were super sad when they had to leave. 
Here are a few pictures of their visit:

The boys decided to go exploring behind our house, it was pretty awesome. ;)  It was such a warm day so we spent most of it outside.  Ben and Laura brought their awesome soccer goals. It was really refreshing, we are reminded again how much we love an Oklahoma winter. 

We ate a lot of really fun holiday food, and stayed up late talking 

(um, yeah somewhere after two in the morning) it was the best. We love them so much!

funny moment...the result of Madeline with an over-sized stick...

 

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of baby Dalton!  Must be pregnancy. :) 

Good thing we'll see them in a few days for his blessing day.  Hooray!

christmas 2011

Our Christmas Card

Christmas.

It was a splendid one, I think Matt and I were more excited than Grace on Christmas morning.

It was magical for us to watch how happy she was!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve (my very favorite part of Christmas)

with all of the build up for the big morning. 

We ate delicious food and sipped eggnog while we

learned more about Christ's birth and shared our feelings of Him.

We opened Christmas pajamas and it was off to bed for the little one while 

we excitedly set everything up for the next morning. 

Christmas lights, this is definitely a tradition now.

Christmas morning.

The little one slept until around 7:30, we were up earlier getting ready for church (we had 9 a.m.)
in hopes that our morning would feel a little more relaxed.
She played with her gifts from Santa Claus right up until we left for church and loved every minute.
There were a few tears as we left. :) 

Church was wonderful, I loved being reminded on the day of the reason of Christmas. 

We ate a big breakfast when we got home and enjoyed the rest of the day opening presents and talking with our parents and siblings.

Thanks to all of our friends and family we were WAY spoiled this year
(you know who you are, thank YOU!)
Grace had so many presents but we were happy to see her play with each gift after she opened it,
she really loved all of them!
We didn't finish opening presents until late Christmas day. 

It was fun to spread it out and just enjoy it. 

That night we went to our friends for a delicious Christmas dinner.  We loved it.

Grace was really happy about her princess doll from Luke and Sam.    

All of the excitement of baby girl bushman coming so soon

slightly overshadowed the season, but not too much.

We really missed our family, but it ended up being a wonderful Christmas. 

Here is a little video that captures a bit of the magic of our Christmas this year.

We hope your Christmas was filled with happiness!

Happy third anniversary to us...

I can't believe another year has gone by, it seems as though we just celebrated our second year of being married.  Crazy.  We were just talking the other day about how it feels like we have been married for forever.  I scored and Matt was nice enough and agreed to take a few anniversary pictures with me, although he looked a little confused and asked, "anniversary pictures?" ha ha poor guy! 

Honestly, being so huge I haven't been in the picture taking mode either, but it was actually a lot of fun and I'm excited to keep it going until we are old and wrinkly. 

(our little ring bearer was pretty excited about this picture)

Lucky me, I married such a handsome guy. :)

    

I remember so well exactly how I felt when I knew that Matt was the perfect one for me to spend eternity with, I remember it well because it is the same feeling of reassurance I still have so often.

 It usually comes during random moments of the day,

whether it be watching him play and laugh with Grace or when he makes me laugh until it hurts.  

When I was single I remember my aunt Sherri telling me one day that I just needed to find someone that I could laugh with, because life gets challenging.  That was precisely the thing that stood out most when I first started dating Matt.  I would come to him after a long day of work with 7 year-old children and tell him about some of the hard moments of my day, and by the end we were usually laughing so hard I forgot all about how frustrated I felt.  He makes life so fun, and if you have ever heard him

laugh you understand how lucky I am to hear it everyday.

Ironically, this great quality is the very thing that has carried us through: almost the entire three years of law school (woo hoo!), moving more times than I care to think about, almost two babies (yay!), definitely two pregnancies, two miscarriages, work, photography, living as students below poverty level :), and all the adjustments that come with living in a new state.

As I look at past three years I can't help but feel overwhelming gratitude.  All of the things I just listed have been such cherished blessings and have brought us much closer than I could have imagined. I am amazed everyday at how hard Matt works.  It takes a lot to keep up amazing grades, work to provide financially for us, and take so much time to spend with us as a family.  I can't count the number of times he has told me to sit down and relax while he cleans the house until it is spotless.  I have always felt encouraged to pursue my interests, he really has brought out the very best in me. I honestly could go on and on, but I'll sum it up by saying three years ago today I received the greatest gift...so perfectly fit for me.
I love you so much Matt, thanks for making my dreams come true.