Thanksgiving Weekend*

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and what a great weekend it was. I would like to report that I got tons of crafty things accomplished over my four days off, but sadly ... I cannot say that. I had huge dreams of getting some things done but the fact of the matter is that I remained completely lazy. It was great.

We had some good friends over for Thanksgiving on Thursday which made being so far away from family a little less lonely. I love cooking and usually would have zero problem doing the whole  meal by myself, but this year I was grateful to do it potluck style. Everything turned out great and the company was wonderful! I was exhausted by the end of the night and slept like a rock!

Friday we opted to NOT partake in Black Friday shopping. We slept in, made coffee & cuddled on the couch with the pooches while getting caught up on DVR. Our only outing for the day was to go get our Christmas tree, and we waited until late in the afternoon to avoid any sort of mess out on the roads. Yes, I am that person who puts up my decorations immediately following Thanksgiving! I would put them up earlier if my husband would allow me, but I've been banned to waiting until the day after Thanksgiving. The Christmas season is my favorite time of year & I am so glad that it's finally here!

I take my Christmas decorating very seriously, and with M getting ready to head to the field for the next two weeks, I foresee some extra shopping to get some new decorations in my future this week! Much to the husband's dismay. Growing up, our house always looked so amazing. My mom was incredibly crafty and made the most beautiful decorations for our home. And there were a lot of them ... but in a very, very classy way. I want my home to look like that, and while I am far from it, I hope to get a little closer every year. But even just having the tree up & decorated with the few decorations that we do have up makes it feel just a little more cozy around here. There is nothing like the warm glow of Christmas lights to light up a room!

The rest of the weekend has been a hodge podge of "stuff." Saturday was full of photo shoots & movies with friends, to which I came home and went straight to bed. Today was spent getting some more things done around the house, but also getting some last minute relaxing in. This work week is going to be rough after coming off a two and a half day work week, followed by a long weekend. I hope it goes quick. And as always, we had our trust lab, Daisy, to help us out with everything [and Cooper in the background].

Pregnancy-wise, all is going well. We hit 25 weeks on Friday and can't believe that we're only 15 weeks away [give or take!] from meeting our little one. This weekend was definitely a weekend to be grateful and give thanks for the blessing we have in our life, and we did so as often as could. My hips and my shoulders are starting to hurt more at night from sleeping on my sides, but I've found that taking some tylenol right before bed alleviates that just a little and keeps me from tossing and turning every house [which also makes the husband happy]. The hormones have also come rushing in this week, making me insecure and weepy. I'm hoping that I can get them in check, because wanting to cry for no apparent reason is starting to get really old. I'm also slightly starting to freak out about what's to come, but I'll save that for another pot.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the extra time off, if working is your thing [which unfortunately it is for me!]. And most importantly, I hope everyone got to spend it with friends and/or family and made sure to count all the blessing that you have in your life.

Now bring on Christmas!

Gobble, Gobble *

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!

I have so much to be thankful for this year, as so many wonderful things have happened in 2011. My photography business took off. I fully emerged myself in this blog. I developed some amazing friendships with some new people. I quit my old job & started a new one. I had my husband home for another deployment-free year. And after four years of trying, we successfully got pregnant.

I love all of you & I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend. Let's not forget that tomorrow is not about the shopping deals or being the first in line at midnight. It's about love, friendship & family ... and remembering the amazing & lovely things that you are fortunate enough to have in your life.

Gobble, gobble everyone. Eat lots. Be merry. Enjoy the day and the very long weekend if you are fortunate enough to have one. And go Cowboys!

Love,

Brittany

Ramblings*

Operation Nursery is in full swing. My mom, who is amazing and completely excited about her first grandchild making an appearance next year, purchased our crib for us last weekend. It was the first piece of furniture for the nursery that we had taken care of, so we were excited when we got the call that it had arrived. It's gorgeous, and looks great put together.

We've also been on the search for a good dresser. I have been told by many, many people in my life that a changing table is a waste of money [I believe it] so our idea was to find a sturdy dresser [one that will last past the infant years!], re-purpose it & make it fit into what we are wanting it for. And then we'll slap a changing pad on top of it. The likelihood of me or M running into the nursery to change each and every diaper is slim, so we are trying to be as practical as we can. I've also started working on some of the wall decorations & in search for some great fabric for crib sheets and curtains. I foresee this coming Thanksgiving weekend as being one large craft fest ... of course, after all the Christmas decorations are up!

We also had our 24 week checkup appointment this past week. Everything measures right where it should be and that little heartbeat was perfect. We started discussing my birthing plan, which was scary in it's own right. I know I'm only 24 weeks, but it's amazing that I have to actually start thinking about all of this already. There are so many details that are so important to me & I can only hope that if my midwife is not on call, that the doctor that is respects my wishes & my husband can remember the things that I want in case I'm too out of it or loopy to communicate properly!  I'm constantly amazed that I've made it this far in my pregnancy, and cannot believe how utterly quick it is flying by. We say thank you every day to what we have, and are enjoying these last couple of months that we have together before we welcome our new addition. Life is truly good in the Boho household.

But it's not all work & no play for us! The ninja got another taste at some good music this past weekend when we headed North a bit for the Taylor Swift concert. I will admit that T-Swizzle is a serious, serious guilty pleasure of mine. I saw her open up for another country band a few years back and I was hooked. Last year's headlining performance was about as entertaining as it gets [and as a serious music junkie, I have been to a LOT of concerts!] so when tickets when on sale back in April, I jumped on the chance with some other girlfriends. Lauren was one of them, and since her camera took better pictures than mine, you can check out her photos on her blog. But we had a blast, and it was a much needed girls night out. Getting home at 1am and having to be up at 6 am for work the next day was rough, but completely worth it. I know that I personally sang every word to all 19 songs that were performed and I'm telling you ... the girl is a top notch performer through and through! Minus the screaming 8 year old's that took up a majority of the 14,000 people in attendance, it was a great night.

I am very much looking forward to Thanksgiving as we have some of our nearest and dearest friends over for the big day, followed by a nice long and hopefully relaxing weekend. We're doing turkey day pot-luck style this year, which will make things nice and easy for me, as I only have to prepare a couple of items. And hopefully we won't have a ridiculous amount of leftovers! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday with friends & family! 

Pregnancy & Military Life

This past Friday marked 23 weeks of pregnancy. Holy crap! I can't believe how quick time is flying by. And comparing this photo to the one two weeks ago, Baby Boho is definitely making it's appearance more and more. 

I am still, for the most part, feeling ok. Aside from the normal aches & pains that have become a part of my every day life, I feel alright. The baby is moving a LOT these days, and I have started to feel some random kicks & pokes higher up in my abdomen. I'm hoping it means that my placenta is doing what it's supposed to be doing & moving upwards, something we'll find out in four weeks for my repeat ultrasound. But the feeling of movement is just something that I am not sure I will ever get used to! It's such a wonderful yet strange feeling & I am blessed every single day for what we have.

I am getting to the point where I feel like I am not prepared for what's about to happen in four months. I'm hoping this is normal, but I've suddenly felt the need to read more [as much as I possibly can!] and read often, do more research & be as prepared as I possibly can. We are so excited for the next four months but the thought of actually giving birth is sinking in & it's sort of freaky. In an absolutely good way, of course! I'm not hitting the panic button just yet, but I feel it coming. And I want to avoid it at all costs.

We also have some big changes coming for us shortly after baby is born. My husband has been in the military for nine years. He loves what he does (satellites, networks, totally techy stuff that is way over my head) but as he's moved up the ranks, he's further removed from the hands on experience. He currently has a couple of years left on his contract, and the discussion has come up as to whether or not he wants to stay in, or get out, multiple times. While we still have some time to make that decision, the direction of his career needs to be figured out long before then. Does he stay Enlisted? Does he go Officer? What does he do?

What it has come down to is that he loves the hands on stuff, but staying Enlisted means that again, as he moves up the ranks, his job becomes less techy and more "sit behind a desk and do paperwork." Which bores him. We discussed the idea of him becoming an Officer, but the same reason for not doing that was there. He would lose what he loved most about his job. The rational solution was for him to become a Warrant Officer, and become specialized in his field. This would allow him the opportunity to do what he loves doing, every single day. And if he is going to take the time to go to school & to make this change, he absolutely would stay in for 20+ years.

I fully support my husbands career and will do what it takes to make sure he accomplishes that. With that said, it means that shortly after the birth of Baby Boho, my husband will be taking off for ten months or more for training: one month at Fort Rucker for a fast-tracked Officer school & nine months down at Fort Gordon for Warrant Officer school in his field. Lucky for us, Gordon is only three hours away, which means he will be home on weekends. But it also means that five days a week, I'll be doing the mom thing solo. It's terrifying to think about, which is only adding to my stress of all of this. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Thousands of other military wives have done this before me, and I have an amazing support system here that will help out in any way they can! It just means a crash course in being a mom.

I will still be working, which will make things a little more challenging what with day care drop off & what not, but again ... it can be done! And luckily, I will have the husband home on weekends which will help. I know this. I am sure there will be plenty of entertaining gaffes along the way. All of which I will share, of course.

23 weeks down, 17 to go. Eeek!

The Nursery Begins*

This past weekend, M & I tackled what will eventually become the nursery. It was a big undertaking. A project that we knew was going to take a whole weekend to even just begin & something we had been putting off. But with the weeks flying by, I was getting antsy and wanting to get started with the big stuff, so I could focus on the little stuff.

The room that will become our nursery has functioned as our guest bedroom for the four years we've lived in this house. It was always known that it would eventually become the nursery, but over time, as we struggled with getting pregnant, it really just sort of collected junk. We never went in there. It ONLY ever got organized if we had a guest coming in [a rare occasion]. It went unloved. In order to get that room cleared out, we had to clear out our office. We only have three bedrooms in our small, 1200 sf home, so there's only so much space. The office was now becoming the office/guest bedroom & was another room that had been neglected.

So Saturday was spent organizing. It was very happy day when Saturday afternoon, we had gotten furniture moved to it's respective places and the now nursery was completely empty! That poor room had not been empty since the day we moved in! :)

Then Sunday came the fun! We had decided on a color weeks ago and bought a gallon of paint for when the day came:



I am so in love with this color and have so many plans for the nursery. The route we are taking is a little non-traditional, but because we are not finding out the sex of the baby, I wanted to do something fun. And I just couldn't bear to go the yellow/green route. I'll post some teasers here and there, but I want to do a big reveal in a couple of months! But essentially, we are going with this color & a lot of bright colors as accents. It will be gorgeous!

My husband was such a trooper over the course of the weekend. Saturday was a lot of work, and then we spent all day Sunday painting the first and second coat. There wasn't a lot of relaxation time. Once we finished the painting, we decided to tackle the one piece of furniture that we owned because we figured ... why not?! We had already done so much! A couple of months back, I had been selected for an Operation Homefront baby shower. It was nomination only [I have amazing friends! I had no idea until I was actually selected!] and we walked away with some really great baby items, including a beautiful bassinet, a crib mattress & plenty of other goodies. It was amazing.

Isn't my sweetie adorable? He was SUCH a trooper! And I love him for dealing with my urgent need to get things done this past weekend. He's in for more as my nesting instinct increases, but I'm so glad we got so many big things done while we could. He's a champ & I love him for it!

And, just for shits & giggles, meet our lovable pooch, Cooper. He's not the brightest crayon in the box, but his adorableness makes up for it. He's a treeing walker coonhound that we rescued as a puppy last year after my beagle died, and he makes us laugh every single day. He's adorable & one of three pooches in our household. Always exciting here!