baby unthank on the way

Some of you might have heard through facebook or seeing me lately, but we are so excited to announce that little baby unthank will be joining our family on January 14th (or whenever he/she decides to get here). This surprise has seriously been the most amazing blessing I could have imagined. Most people who know me know that I have wanted to be a mommy since I was born and LOVE sweet little babies! Don't get me wrong, I know this will be a journey with ups and downs and there will be many, MANY sleepless nights, but we are so excited to see what God has in store through all of the hills and valleys of this adventure! 

I will be 16 weeks on Saturday (AH....4 months!!!!). 

My First Tri-mester List (because I love lists)

1. I was TIRED!!!!!

2. Luckily I only had about 2 weeks of queasiness and I could usually manage it with LOTS of small snacks (esp. carbs). Although, I have plenty of friends who had a much different experience. 

3. Cravings: orange juice, oranges/fruit, potbelly's chicken salad with hot peppers, ice cream, and zoe's limeade. I love anything tart! 

4. Random craving: a biscuit from Babe's with honey...I had to have it!

5. The Lord really used this time to refine me and make me realize areas that I was not trusting Him fully. I found myself worrying about the baby and if he/she was healthy and growing. The Lord really used this time to remind me that this is HIS child and He has the perfect plan for our sweet little baby. I know this is not the first time I will have to remind myself of this lesson. 

6. I have learned that each pregnancy is SO different and while being in community with other preggers friends is wonderful, just remember you might have a completely different experience than the person next to you. I got a belly band earlier than some of my friends because to be honest, I was SO uncomfortable buttoning my pants towards the end of my first trimester. That was okay and I learned to embrace it! 

These are just a few things I experienced and learned in my first trimester. It is really nice to be in the second trimester and get back a lot of the energy I was missing in the beginning. Also, it is really fun to start feeling/looking preggers! 

I am looking forward to sharing baby crafts, ideas, and topics over the next several months!

baby shower bunting

We had the chance to celebrate our sweet friends who are expecting their first little one in September at a couples shower a few weeks ago. Baby Showers are always so fun because all of the gifts are so tiny and cute. Personally, one of my favorite parts is the decorating and preparation for the shower! 

For this shower, our friends do now know what they are having, so we tried to keep all of the colors bright and gender neutral. I found this amazing adhesive fabric scrapbook paper (in the blue polka dots) at Michaels along with the precious yellow design in normal scrapbook paper. I cut the yellow paper and fabric letters then laid it out. Once I cut everything I sewed the top of the bunting flags together and applied the fabric letters. 

This was an affordable and really cute decoration to add to the shower. 

I hung the final product on the mirror (sorry it is bright and you can't see it very well). 

Has anyone had any fun projects with bunting? I have seen them in several nurseries and all of pinterest! 

off to the beach

We are off to the beach with my husband's side of the family. We will be in Hilton Head, but spending the first day in Savannah, Georgia. Our time will be filled with trying Paula Deen's restaurant, relaxing, reading, yummy food, and more relaxing. This is one of those vacations where I am looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing! 

credit

I will return to blogging on Tuesday with some fun crafts and a cute (and very easy) sewing project!

book review:the help

My love for reading seems to take a halt during the school year (or at least go at a much slower pace). One of my favorite parts of summer is getting time to read some wonderful books. I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the books I have read, so over the next few weeks I will let you know what I was reading and what I thought. 

The first book I HAVE to tell you about it The Help. I just finished it and it was seriously an amazing and touching story. I bought it only because I heard so many people say how great it was and honestly did not know much about the story line. I will not spoil it for you, but I highly recommend taking the time to read it. It is a wonderful view into the world of the south in the 60's and seeing a different side of the story. Agh...it is so good! 

This book is great for a trip too because you will not want to put it down!!

Even better they are coming out with the movie sometime in early Fall. 

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! 

fruit pizzas and chocolate heaven

For the 4th of July we made some really yummy desserts and I forgot I actually remembered to take pictures. We were bringing 2 desserts with us to a pool party and wanted to do one super easy recipe and one homemade. So I made mini fruit pizzas (which are always one of my favorites) and Pioneer Woman's Texas Sheet Cake (but in cupcakes for easier travel). 

For the first I used basic store bought sugar cookie dough and cream cheese icing. Then grabbed some bright fruit and went with strawberries and blueberries to be 4th of Julyish. In the past I usually thrown in kiwi, pineapple, or any fruit at all. If you have the time it is worth make these homemade sometime, but for this day I had to mix it up!

Then for the Texas Sheet Cake I made them into cupcakes to avoid the mess when serving and for easier travel (since we were driving 30 minutes in Texas heat to get there). I can honestly say this was one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had. I have had Texas Sheet Cake before and the Pioneer Woman recipe is the best (in my opinion). I got the recipe from her cookbook, but you can also find it online here. 

Also it looks like batter in the picture, but that is actually the amazing icing you pour on top right after they come out of the oven. The icing hardens and you have a super yummy cupcake. If you have been itching to bake something, go make this now...I promise you will not be disappointed!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday and baking something yummy this week!

pinterest loves

Since I love pinterest and have found so many wonderful ideas and great crafting projects to add to the "one day" list I thought I would take some time every now and then and share some of my favorite finds. Here are some that I am loving this week. 

tatertotsandjello.com

bumpsmitten.com

thesweetoccassion.com

marthastewart.com

gdanfamily.blogspot.com

These pins are a mix of ideas from things like Martha Stewart all the way to little family blogs with wonderful and creative ideas. I have attached the links to all of the pics so you can see where the inspiration came from. We hosted a baby shower with our community group this weekend and made these paper pom poms and they were super easy and such a fun decoration!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!