Personalized Planner

 Meet Kristina. She is in the orange sweater. She is a mastermind with all things paper and creative. Working from home, this girl creates beautiful projects that are incredibly unique. And I have the privilege of being her friend and having access to these wonderful projects. Her latest creation that has brought her unimaginable amounts of interest and work are her personalized planners. She put them on etsy a few months ago and has not stopped getting orders since. They are fun, colorful, and have your NAME! What more could you ask for in a planner, really. And they are reasonably priced. Anyway, I finally got my hands on one and am so excited about it. The only problem I told her is that I ordered for it to start in July, which it does, so I have to wait to use it. That's the other great thing about her planners you can order them to start any month that you want and she will give you a year or longer. I thought that with most people using technology so much, handwritten planners would have gone out of style. Nope. Anyway, I just love mine so much I had to tell you about it. And rather than leave you hanging, here is the link to her website where you can view all of the different patterns: www.plumpaperdesigns.com/index1.html  Enjoy!

The last hurrah--or rather the change into a new kind of hurrah

 We have been trying to take little trips here and there because we know our lives are going to change somewhat in the next few weeks. A while back, Bob went on a camping trip with some guys while I went to the beach with the girls. He called it the Last Hurrah, which of course I thought was so dramatic. Maybe I'm naive but I think you can pretty much strap a baby to you and take it (almost) anywhere. Anyway, we decided for the two of us to take our last trip before baby together to none other than Athens, GA, known for being the home of the UGA bulldogs. There is not much reason that we picked this city other than the fact that it is close--I didn't want a far trip in the car, and we hadn't been there yet.

 Mostly we just hung around, walked, ate, rested and swam. It was a really relaxing trip and the getaway that we needed. We went to the Farmer's market and sat for a long time listening to the cute bluegrass band that was playing. We watched movies in our hotel and really just enjoyed being together.

 We visited the botanical gardens and walked around until my oversized body got way too hot and tired!

 On the last day, we went on a hike starting from a nature center nearby. It was so serene, we didn't see anyone else out on the hike except for the little critters that lived there. It was such a realization for me that my body is just changing. My mind wanted to do the 5 mile hike but my body told me that 2 would be plenty.

 We must both be becoming very contemplative these days because we found a bridge that overlooked the lily pads below and just sat there staring at them and the wind in the trees and talking for a long time. It may have been one of my favorite parts.

I am so thankful we have had 7 years together before this upcoming birth and I love the way that the Lord has written our story, although very painful at times. We are looking forward to parenting together and continuing to enjoy the new stages.

The Nursery Reveal

 Welcome to the Mehaffey baby gender neutral nursery! So many people seem to be confused as to how to create a gender neutral room, to which I always thought, I do that with all the other rooms in my house anyway. Well here, is our best attempt. Sorry that some of the pictures are so blurry. We are blessed with many beautiful things that people made or gave to us.

 Here is the crib. We bought it off Craigslist for pretty cheap and are happy with it. The bedskirt is burlap and I really like it. If we have a girl, I am going to make fabric flowers to put on the bedskirt. Thanks to pinterest, I have many great ideas that I could never come up with on my own.

 I sort of gave you a panoramic of the room starting with the crib on the left side as you walk in the door and moving around...

 I absolutely LOVE this changing table/dresser. The family that I tutored for this year gave it to me and it was navy blue. I painted it my favorite color for furniture and added knobs. I think it turned out great. I got that cute basket from a shower (I registered for it at target in case you want one too). The changing pad is waiting for a beige polka dot cover. We are planning on doing cloth diapers as much as we can. I am going to have a lot to learn!!

 My parents bought us the rocking chair for Christmas. It is a great size and very comfortable. So very generous of them. The picture hanging above the chair will be in a series of 3 shortly. That one is baby's first picture--the ultrasound at 7 weeks old. We will also have a maternity picture and then a picture of our family once the baby is born.

 Here is the letter wall idea I got from pinterest and absolutely love. Thanks to many of you who helped decorate them at my California shower, it is one of my favorite parts of the room, adding color and fun! Well done, everyone.

 We had the bookshelf already and it worked perfectly for this room. I have many many books, even more in the attic upstairs. Most of them are from my childhood since my mom saved them and passed them on to me.

 Above the baby's crib we have hung a few letters and hymns. The letters are random but the hymns are not. We thought they would be good ones to remember and sing, such as I Surrender All.

 Here is a closer up version of the picture I was mentioning.

 Here is the closet. Our baby doesn't have very many clothes, of course, because that is a bit more difficult to go gender neutral on. We've packed the cutest boy and girl outfits we have for the ride home from the hospital, but will make additions, you know, once we know the baby's style.

 Handy filing thingy in the closet. Not sure why I thought you'd want to see this...

 This is the beautiful bassinet my sister Leslie sent to me. She bought it for one of her twins 18 years ago and has been passing it to the twins' cousins ever since. It was so thoughtful of her to send it to me from CA. Right now it is in our room but may end up moving downstairs.

 Every child who has used it has a plaque with his/her name on it. It is really special and I am so glad she was able to do this. Thanks Leslie!

So there it is! The main additions needed: I am thinking of burlap curtains, but am not sure. Would love your input. Adding a few pictures once they are taken. A few more outfits. And of course a BABY!

9 months and counting...

 I only have 3 weeks to go at this point! I can't wait. We've packed our bags, bought a car, filled the nursery, and can't wait to meet our little one. I just want to get a few maternity pictures with Bob and I before and we will be set (well as much as you can be for introducing someone else into your family)...

On another fun note, I have a few good friends who are pregnant right now too. Andrea, who went to school with Bob, is 16 weeks along.

 Kelly is not pregnant, but wanted to be included. This picture looks like she has a bulging belly button.

And I don't have pictures, but I just found out my friend Erin Allen in Africa is 12 weeks pregnant and my friend Amy Bering who threw me the CA shower is 12 weeks pregnant! Yeah! Baby Mehaffey will have friends all over the world. I am so excited for my friends. It is such an awesome experience. Sometimes I still have to work through the pain that it took us a while to get there and it doesn't seem quite as hard for many others, but God has written a beautiful story and given us a child in his perfect timing and I am so happy to meet who it is that he is giving us.

Shower Themed Shower

 My sweet friend Carrie threw me a shower themed shower. See the cute rain clouds in the picture above with the rain coming down. She did such a great job and I was so blessed. Since she was in the middle of moving and many of our friends live in apartments, she asked if she could throw it at my house. Nice for me because I was just there already. Hard for me because our house isn't as "complete" as I would like it to be. I am still being worked on in that area :) Below are some cute pictures she had out that are going to be put in Bob and I's bedroom. They are the perfect colors.

 I knew I loved my Georgia friends, but I realized that day how special they are to me. I am really spread out from some of them but they are really wonderful and they blessed me so much. I am thankful. My cousin even came from Charlotte. Can you guess which one she is? I think we sort of look alike in this picture. (She is wearing the striped dress sitting on the side of the couch.

 The sweetest gift given to me. My friend Deborah brought her 3 daughters and they each gave me a gift from their collection. I thought it was a wonderful idea and it meant a lot to me. My favorite is that her youngest gave pacifiers up for the baby because she knew the baby would need them. She was really confused because there was no baby there, so her mom was trying to teach her that the baby was in my belly. I loved having little ones here and am ready for that. I loved the laughter and to hear them running around my house. I was very blessed by all of their company and gifts.

Tea Party shower

The sweet ladies from Bob's work offered to throw me a shower at the super girlie tea house in our area. It was my first time going there an it was so cute and fun. They had all of these special details. I drank way too much tea with caffeine and was hyped all day and couldn't sleep half the night, but it was fun and worth it.

 Below is my delicious lunch, it was a sort of sample platter of all types of goodies. The best part were the scones with lemon curd. I could eat that stuff all day. Many of the ladies didn't eat there scones so I got to take so many home with me!

 After the good food and company, they surprised me with this AMAZING gift. I was blown away. Can you guess what it is by looking at it?

 It's a BOB jogging stroller! (Sorry for the face, I guess that's what I look like when I'm excited). I was so surprised and blessed by this thoughtful gift. I really wanted this stroller and didn't know how we would pull it off price-wise. It was so kind of them. (There were a few more ladies that contributed to the gift that couldn't make it there that day). Thanks to all of you. We are so blessed!

Hello new car

 Dear Hyundai,
We are not made of money as you found out quickly when we pulled into our driveway. That's right, our house is not painted yet even though it is in desperate need of it because we needed you more. The sacrifices...we heard you are a good car and that you will be worth what we spent. Your sure have a lot to live up to. I had to take a picture of Bob because he said on the day we bought you that is the most money he has ever held in his hand.

 We were scared as we sealed the deal. I loved my old car and was sad to give it up. You represent a lot of change in our lives, both good and bad. We need you to welcome our child into the world. If we didn't get you in time, we would've had to borrow or rent a car to get the Mehaffey babe home from the hospital. You will serve us well I hope. I am sad that your gas mileage isn't as good as my other car and reality set in when I filled up your tank for the first time. Luckily I won't be driving you as much as before since we will be home most of the time or running nearby errands.

 You are nicer than I expected and I don't feel that I deserve you. I will do the best I can to take care of you, although I am not known for taking car of cars. I usually spill smoothies and drop food and then don't have any napkins to clean them up and then forget when I get home. I will try not to do that to you.

 Take care of our family and run a long time. You have a lot to live up to.

Goodbye old car

 Dear Acura,

Even though I never had a name for you since I am not one to name my cars, you have had such a special place in my heart and have symbolized so many things for me. You took me through the latter years of college and 7 years of marriage. Even though everyone else hated to travel in you especially if they had to sit in the back seat, I cherished our time and memories together. You served us well with your incredible gas mileage and low cost to fill up the tank. You never had any issues other than minor ones and you were so resilient, dealing with all the bangs and bruises easily. You never got me pulled over for speeding, only those two times did we ever have to stop for a policeman and that is because I neglected to turn your lights on. You traveled behind a truck from California to Georgia and never complained.

 You will be dearly missed. Even though some might call you old and run down, I know you are long lasting and still have much of life ahead of you. I hope you enjoy your new travels.

 Remember that time we were driving on the freeway and a random tire started bouncing around and hit your front fender? I was so thankful it didn't hit the windshield and you held up so well when Bob and Walt pounded out the dent.

 Remember the time that the lady didn't stop behind me at the sign and you got this big dent in you? You didn't mind that I didn't get it fixed and used the money for something else instead. It drove Bob crazy, but you and I didn't care :)

 Remember how last winter, you failed to be able to hold up the hatchback trunk anymore? Somehow the cold did that to you. Now that it's summer you are fine, but the winter months are not your favorite. Instead of fixing you, we improvised and used these two dollar sticks instead. We accepted your aging.

 I am sad to see you go. Honestly, I tried to be able to maneuver the seat so that a baby seat could fit in and out but it wasn't happening. I know you must feel like you are getting the boot because of the baby. It is time, and I am sorry. I know your new owner will love you well. You have been a great car and I will mourn you. You are all I have known through much of life and it is hard to give you up for a more suburbian style family vehicle. You gave me joy and freedom and cheap gas and I thank you for all the memories.

Goodbye.