30, 31, 32...

With weeks left to go in the single digits, my prenatal & chiropractice appointments are increasingly more frequent now. Baby seems to be doing well, but this Mama continues to have her share of back & hip pains to endure. Don't get me wrong, I understand this is for such a short time and for such a great purpose, but "ouch".  

Add in a 20+ lbs almost 2 year old who likes being carried around by her Mama, and well, you get it. I just can't resist Ruby's sweet little arms reaching for me while pleading "I WAHN CHOO". 

Otherwise, I'm doing pretty well. Trying to take care of myself. I put on enough weight between prenatal appointments for the Doctor to tell me to cool it on the snacks. Since then, I've been experimenting with a whole foods/ low sugar diet that hasn't been terribly strict, I must add. So far, it's helped to give me a little more energy and a lot less weight gain.

I have also been experimenting with some natural remedies, more specifically, Young Living products. A few people in my world have already been using them and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Wayde got me the Everyday Oils Kit for Mother's Day and I've been using at least one or two every day since. Maybe I'll write a review at some point...at least they smell nice.xx

Shark Love & Burger Lust

Every Memorial Day Weekend since Ruby was born (that being 2), our little family has made a tradition of going to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.

Now that Ruby can identify animals by name, we were super excited to take her this year!

Ruby doing her best monkey faces!

 The Sno Cone might have been Ruby's favorite thing at the zoo...

I'm so happy that Wayde captured this photo, complete with shark lurking ominously above our heads. Here's hoping that Ruby's "Mama's girl" phase lasts forever<3>

After a full afternoon at the zoo (and hauling around my 32 week prego belly), Wayde sweetly suggested that maybe we don't have to do this zoo trip every year, to which I agreed. As great as it is, we found ourselves taking many of the same pictures from last year and awkwardly shuffling through crowds (with stroller in tow) that were bigger than we remembered. 

I guess I would consider an annual trip if we could always end the day here...



Louis M's Burger Lust Cafe. We got the referral from a friend and this place DID NOT disappoint. Even the staff were excited to hear how much we loved our burgers.

My parmesan encrusted special topped with swiss cheese & morel mushrooms. Too good to even think about tainting with ketchup. And if you know me, that's saying a lot.

Not that we even had the room for it afterwards, but since we were in town, we trekked across the city for some eCremery goodness. You only live once, right?

We fell in love with their cardamom ice cream last year and enjoyed the Shark Bait (sea salt carmel w/ chocolate covered pretzels) & strawberry basil selections this time around. Until next time, Omaha...xx

28 & 29

Hello, third trimester! Sometimes, it's easy to forget that you get an actual human baby at the end of this deal. And with the more frequent aches, discomforts, and late-night bathroom visits, I am reminded how near this event is actually taking place.

TIP: If you want to speed up a pregnancy, put off the really big stuff like assembling the baby's room or picking out a name (both of which we have yet to accomplish). But I'm not stressing...yet.

Can I just say how super voluptuous my hair looks in that 29 week photo? It's certainly not due to the prenatal vitamins because I have been doing a horrible job staying on top of those.

Also, have you seen Call the Midwife? I blazed through Season 1 on Netflix this week. Such an endearing show. And such a different viewing experience to watch late into one's pregnancy.

Stay tuned to see how much I balloon in the next 10 (or more likely 11) weeks of this pregnancy. That is if I don't give up on my whole maternity series in general. So...humbling. xx

A Peek Inside...My Wardrobe!

Welcome to my wardrobe! I haven't been able to bridge the time/space gap to Narnia (yet), but for the first time in my married life, I have my own clothing quarters. 

And since this is the only pocket of our home that I can claim entirely as my own, I decided to make it as girly and boutique-y as possible:)

It would seem to be practical to use the top shelf for more productive storage purposes, but creating the feel of a shop that you would want to shop at makes the whole daily clothing selection time just that much more enjoyable & inspiring. Try it and see if it doesn't enhance your experience!



I love having the Instax-Mini camera, but all my snapshots have been living in a box since they were taken. So, I stuck them up with some washi tape ($2.99 at Hobby Lobby) which has made the inside of my closet door anything but drab. Plus, I'm looking forward to adding more pics to this installation! 

Another quick & useful way to fill up a wall space is to create a necklace display using 3M adhesive hooks. They're noncommittal and take hardly any time to put up.

And that's my wardrobe! Not the most enlightening post I've ever published to this blog, but it was a fun little project and one that I get to enjoy every day. xx

Are there any fun or unique ways you utilize storage spaces by putting your personal touch on them?

KC Anniversary Weekend!

Last weekend marked Wayde & my 5th wedding anniversay, which is just totally surreal to say the least. We wanted to go somewhere we didn't feel obligated to meet up with friends or family and since we've never been to Kansas City together, Kansas City became the destination.

We got some solid recommendations from friends ahead of time and found ourselves on W 39th Street, a hip little area full of kitschy shops & restaurants. Late lunch at d'Bronx followed by coffee and dessert at Rm. 39.

Rock Candy was a vintage boutique we popped into. Though I'm not in the market to buy a lot of clothes right now (28 weeks pregnant, hello!), Wayde had a few sweet finds by the end of the day.

I'm super thankful that my guy enjoys and could kill more time in a secondhand store than I even could.

We also checked out Donna's Dress Shop, which is pretty much the ultimate new & vintage ladies clothing boutique. Like, if I ever aspired to be a boutique owner, Donna's would be the living example of what I would like to open. Even the shop girls were dressed to the nines with their retro hair & ensembles.

Boomerang was another shop we hit, which reminded me of a Buffalo Exchange/ Ragstock type place. Wayde walked out with a pair of Allen Edmunds shoes, so he was a pretty happy camper.

After checking into our hotel, we walked towards the Power & Light district for dinner. There are few restaurants worthy of a 45 minute wait, but the Drunken Fish is one of them. I had Asian lettuce wraps, BLT sushi (yes, you read that correctly), and green tea fried ice green. Bloody fantastic.  

We stopped in a fancy grocery store for some snacks where I stumbled upon this selection of local, flavored milks from the Shatto Milk Company. I got a pint of the cotton candy. Seriously, cotton candy flavored milk!!

It was kind of a bummer for this pregnant lady to fall in love with so many food & drink items this trip and not have ready access to them back home:(

Since we didn't do any major traveling for this trip, we splurged on our accomodations by staying at the beautiful Hotel Phillips in downtown KC. And I am so glad we did.

It was actually more cost effective to do the in-room breakfast package which included valet and a $35 food & beverage voucher. Room service just might be one of my favorite things in the world.

Nothing like a lazy Sunday morning eating potato pancakes while watching HGTV...

Later that day we hit The Plaza, bought stuff at H&M, and grabbed some more food at Westport Coffeehouse before hitting the road home. We did NOT visit the art gallery which apparently is the thing to do while in Kansas City. Maybe next time...xx