January POTD

One of my resolutions for 2014 is to take on the #fatmumslim Photo of the Day challenge on Instagram.  The challenge includes a word prompt for every day of the month that inspires your photo.  Jessie Riley posts photos daily and I love that she captures the reality--not the sexy selfies--of her daily life.  So I am giving it a go.  You can follow me on Instagram at @jessrdh06. I am private so you will have to request me. 

Here are all of January's photos (I did 25!) to help fill in the gaps of things I forgot to mention as I play catch up on the blog.

New Year's Eve smorgasbord while we watch the Rose Parade.  Love that my holiday gets to include yummy food and lot and lots of Big Ten football!

Something that begins with G is GOAL.  As in my New Year's resolution form 2013 which was to get pregnant! Considering I spent most of 2013 pregnant and am still going strong in 2014, I would say this is the best I have ever done at keeping one of my resolutions.

Something interesting about MY TOWN is that we haven't really found any amazing one-of-a-kind restaurants yet.  It makes me long for the days of Cubby's or Station 22! So when Andrew and I go out to celebrate, we often find ourselves here.  Today was a belated New Year's celebration.  Here's to 2014!

Changing today's prompt to LETTERS TO LIVE BY. Many letters for Baby Girl's nursery have made their way to us and we are so excited! We can't wait for her to know all of our wonderful friends and family that have contributed to this fun project.  Many thanks!

Look what I FOUND before Church! Just a little light reading for the last month.

Trying to figure out *how* to put my shoes on is the dilemma that HAPPENS EVERY DAY.

Before Baby Girl comes along and turns our world UPSIDE DOWN, we need to turn this second bedroom UPSIDE DOWN and get it ready for her! Augh!!!

My LUCKY NUMBER would have to be *infinity* because that is how long I get to be with this guy.  I found this dresser for the nursery on Craigslist last night and Andrew sanded and painted it today.

On Thursday, when I got home from work and saw two cute packages waiting for me, it was only NATURAL that I started to tear up.  Such fun things for Baby Girl from her Aunt Mindy and her future in-laws (that's still happening, right, Amy & Chris Silva?) Thank you!!

MAN-MADE as in *husband-made*. Andrew has been crazy busy sanding and painting things for the nursery.  This is his progress as of Friday.  We scooched it all into a corner of the nursery for now.  He has done a crib, dresser/changing table, and a toy box.  He is awesome!

Andrew & I say this to each other every day: We know Heavenly Father is LOOKING DOWN on our family and giving us the experiences and friends that we need.  We can't believe we are here in Lynchburg and just last night I asked Andrew, "How did we get *here* from a Halloween party in Utah back in 2010?!" We know God loves his children and provides for all of them. On Saturday, my awesome VT threw me a marathon baby shower (four hours has to be a record!) and everyone presented me with a book full of advice for me as a first-time Mom.  I was so touched.  We are so blessed in so many ways!

We love Sunday game nights so much! We are so glad we have so many friends here in Lynchburg that love to play games with us.  We have only played this one a handful of times and despite a wide assortment of COLORFUL cards, I still lost in a big way both times tonight.

If you know me (or my sisters, Sarah & Lisa), you know that Dr. Pepper MAKES ME SMILE.  With pregnancy, I *savor* this treat when I splurge every two weeks or so on a yummy can of DP. And what really MAKES ME SMILE are these cute V8-sized cans I found (only 7.5 oz). A tiny treat that makes my day!

Andrew is indulging my nesting instincts! Today he started hanging the photo collage in our bedroom, ran and grabbed some dresser pulls and handles for Baby Girl's dresser, and carried up all the baby stuff I had been collecting my car.  These THREE THINGS are just a few of the many things he does every day and I love him for it! He is the best!!! & thanks Kristy Gardner for the stroller and an amazing with lunch with Tarsha Joyner and that cutie Miss Kori!

Hospital tour tonight! Now we know where to go and what to do, right? Wrong! If only having a baby was so BLACK & WHITE!

Something awesome about living in Virginia is the weather.  No snow and the SUN is shining.  I usually don't even wear a coat and it's January! Hooray for "southern" winters!

The mall in Lynchburg may be TINY but at least they have a Great American Cookie! I have lived here since the end of May and this is--if you can believe it--only the second time I have splurged.  Unfortunately, since the mall *is* so TINY, it doesn't get a lot of traffic and today's cookie was stale as all get out.

My beautiful niece, Julie! Yesterday I was all sorts of crazy emotional waiting for word on her birth.  My sister-in-law, Emily, is a champ.  36+ hours of labor.  But once we heard she had safely arrived I was in my HAPPY PLACE once again!

I was never much for BREAKFAST before I was pregnant, but now it is an absolute must every day.  On days when I don't have to work, I can relax and eat BREAKFAST while checking Pinterest.

Monday night's FHE crossed one more thing off of my TO DO LIST but added about fifty more.  We finally got our hospital bag packed but I realized I still have some things I need to pick up and Baby Girl has some laundry that I need to do.  How does she have laundry for me to do already?!

These BLUE skies and this light dusting of snow have led to a week of delays and cancellations for all of Lynchburg.  I even had a late start at work on Wednesday!

Pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome? NICE! I really think being a pregnant dental hygienist is one of the hardest combinations.

My BEDTIME essentials for pregnancy. Extra pillow, water, prenatals, Unisom, sexy wrist guards (see previous post-ugh!) and my phone for scriptures and Hypnobabies (commitment level middling to extremely low). But my number one BEDTIME essential these days is in bed by 10:00 PM so I can really savor being awake from 2 AM on.