Dear Harper

My precious Harper,

We are anxiously awaiting your arrival! Only three more days until we get to kiss your squishy face, rub your soft hands, and put a big, froufrou bow on your head. We've been waiting for you for quite awhile!

We are so excited to expand our family of three into four!

We like to have fun. Some of our favorite things to do include: going to the beach, playing outside, watching movies, and playing with Sophie May (our puppy girl). We probably eat ChickfilA too much (although you won't mind that), and we should go to church more often (we're working on that). You have a big family. You already have 8 cousins, and you happen to be the only girl grandchild on your Dad's side- have fun with that, sister! You have more aunts and uncles than I can count, and you have both sets of great-grandparents! Plus, you have six- that's right- 6 grandparents! *You will totally rack up at Christmas, btw.*. You're entering into a big, busy bunch, but I promise you'll like it, my sweet. 

I've been dreaming about your face for so long. So far we think you look like your big brother with your chubby cheeks. We know you have hair; we saw it on your ultrasound and it's very evident by the insane amount of Tums I consume on a daily basis. Most importantly, we know that you are you- our precious Harper Elizabeth. 

In just a few days we finally get to meet you! We are counting down the minutes. We loved you before we knew you, and we are so blessed to welcome you into this big, exciting world. 

We love you, Harper Elizabeth Mosely. Welcome to the planet. :)

"For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him." - 1 Samuel 1:27

~LL

Harper's Nursery

We're a week out, y'all! My c-section is scheduled for next Friday and we are so excited! I can't wait to kiss those sweet lips and chubby cheeks, and tell her how long we've been waiting for her. As much as I'm ready to meet her, I want her to stay in this big belly until next Friday. Keep on growing and getting fatter, my little love! 

I'm posting pictures of Harper's nursery, although I still have some last minute touches I want to add before next Friday. I love it! It's so pink and precious, and I think it's perfect for her. 

Pottery Barn bedding in Penelope with Mia bed skirt. So girly!!

I fell in love with the framed "Hello's" from the amazing blog: 6th Street Design School. I saw this over a year ago and knew if I ever had a girl I was going to copy. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? 

A peek inside her already full closet.

Her bag's packed, the diaper wreath is ready, the nursing pillow's on standby, and her photo book is just waiting for her sweet footprints. We love you, Harper Elizabeth!!

Like I said, I still need another piece of furniture for the bare wall beside her door, a rug in front of her crib, and some other pieces of wall decor, but other than that we're ready!

7 more days to go.......agh!!!

~LL

Hey girl, hey!

It's been a few days since I last blogged and although I wish I could say we've been doing lots of exciting things, the truth is we've been very low- key.  I'm completely fine with that, though.  Being this big and this far along in pregnancy your energy is pretty much zapped all the time.  Not to say there weren't some exciting things that happened over the weekend.......

My brother and sister-in-law had their twin baby boys Friday.  Adam and I are in love.  They are the cutest little snuggle-muffins!  My sister-in-law and I had the same due date, but of course she had to deliver a couple of weeks earlier since she had two instead of one in her belly.  Here's a pic of the munchkins:

Kain & Gunner

Saturday evening we spent time with my in-laws who were in town for the twins birth.  They live in North Carolina and bless their hearts, they'll be back in just a couple of weeks for Harper's birth.  Adam and I are so lucky to have such a great support system!

Yesterday, my sister came down for the day to hang out with me, Aaron, and my mom.  Our last "girls" day (sorry Aaron Mo) before our fourth girl joins us!  We went to lunch, ate way too much food, then came back to my house and watched The Place Beyond the Pines (the Ryan G/Bradley C movie).  As you all know, my obsession with Ryan Gosling knows no end.  I.love.him.always. Ride.or.die.  With that being said, he did freak me out, just a tad, in this movie.  This movie is really good, btw.  It's definitely worth the Red Box rental if you're in the mood for a dark drama.  It is long and hard to watch at times.  Basically, it's a movie about fathers and sons, the choices they make, and how they affect these relationships.  As we all know, Bradly C is a hottie with a body himself, and looks pretty much adorable in this movie.  RyGy, on the other hand, looks like this:

via

 Do I still heart him?  Absolutely.  If he approached me looking like this in real life and said "Hey girl.  I know I have a blood tattoo on my face and all, but will you still love me forever and save me from this thug life?"  I would say without a doubt, yes, yes, YES!  Then, I would whip out my worn-down, scratched-up DVD of Crazy, Stupid, Love that I have psychotically watched nonstop, and show him how amazing he looks in Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent.  Then, I would make him do his "big Dirty Dancing move" on me, where he would probably fall over and break his back.  Ahhh.....the romance!!!

via

And one more because I just can't help myself:

Oh.My.Gawd. via

Ohhhh, Harper.  Your mama has so much to share with you!!

~LL

It's about time!

I'm blogging from bed, friends.  Ugh.  I'm so not feeling good.  I bounce between feeling pretty good- not great, to feeling nauseous.  It's time for this baby girl to relocate.  I'm sorry to whine- it's just one of those days!  Luckily, she should be making her appearance in the next 2 weeks.  Excited!!  I am just so ready to meet my little love.  I think she is too; judging from the flips and jabs she doesn't have that much room anymore.  Bless it.  We're ready to meet you Harper!!

I will say that I haven't been too lazy today.  I went through her drawers, pulled out her 0-3 months clothing, and washed everything in Dreft.  It smells so sweet.  You know how a smell can bring back a memory?  I was immediately transported back to 2010 remembering Aaron's baby clothes and their smell of Dreft.  So precious.  After doing her laundry, I finished up the last of my thank-you notes, put them in the mail, and made a list of what I need to do over these last couple of weeks.  The list was longer than I thought- granted, it was small things, but still....dang!  I hope we get everything done in time before she gets here.  One of the things on my list includes getting a cute, flowy (aka: concealing) top to wear for her newborn pics.  I'm so excited to shop for normal clothing!  This past weekend I went to a baby shower and co-hosted a baby shower; both showers I attempted to wear one of my pre-preg dresses.  Ha- what a joke!  Both dresses barely covered up my lady parts because of this hurge belly.  I showed Adam and we just died laughing.  #wishfulthinking


Sorry for the boring pregnancy content.  I promise I'll get my mojo back soon.

Enjoy your evening!

~LL

36 week check-up

I've been saying for the past couple of weeks I'm in the home-stretch, but this time I really am.  Agh!!  So excited!  Excited for my sweet love to get here, excited to wear non-maternity clothing, excited to not have pop Tums all.day.long,  excited to have a glass of wine....or beer....or for Heaven's sake, a margarita!  When I think about this pregnancy the word that comes to mind is: long.  I know every pregnant woman feels this way, too.  It just blows my mind that I've been through 3 seasons: winter, spring, and summer.  I've been pregnant since January.  That's a long time!  Anyway....

My 36 week check-up was today.  I weighed (still holding strong at 30 pound weight gain- thankful it didn't go up), got pricked, and was sent on my merry way to wait for my Doc. (Btw, have I mentioned my Doc's name is Doctor Harper?  Harper is not named after my Doc; however, he said he's going to take some credit for it.  Ha!)  I had the Group B Strep test done today (blah) and then Dr. Harper "checked" me.  I knew this was going to happen today, and have been dreading it.  I'm not dilated (not shocking- I was only one centimeter dilated when I went into the hospital to have Aaron; I was contracting but not dilating), and I was informed (shocker- not really) that there's just not a lot of room for you know, birthing a second child.  I won't go into details as the readers that I do have I want to come back, but my birthing experience with Aaron kinda set the path for future deliver(ies).  After a lot of discussion with my Doc, we made the decision to deliver baby girl via c section.  I am totally okay with this.  In fact, I've been somewhat preparing myself for this since I delivered Aaron.  I'm honestly happy with this decision.  They're supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule the surgery, and I'll be at least 39 weeks when I deliver unless she decides to make her appearance sooner.  So, that's where we're at.  Harper Elizabeth could be here in as little as 3 weeks from today- eeeekkk!!!  I just can't wait to see her!

In other random news, I am DYING to see the new Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie, Don Jon.  I've been pretty much obsessed with him since his SNL striptease.  The movie doesn't come out until September 27th, so I highly doubt I'll be seeing it in theaters, but rest assured, I will be snatching it up as soon as it hits Redbox, y'all!  Here's the trailer:

Have a good night!

~LL

Pinterest Hair Tutorial

I've been pinning like crazy.  It's funny how I can go months without even pulling up my Pinterest app, and then I'll pin like crazy for 7 days straight.  Let's get real here, I've been doing a lot of laying around over the past couple of weeks, and plan to do a lot more until baby girl gets here- I'm going to be a pinning maniac.  For reals.

I wish I could say I was one of those cool Pinterest chicks that logs in and gets inspired by home projects and decor.  However, that's not me.  I'm the girl that searches for yummy, super-fattening dinners, and anything hair and beauty.  As any of you that read my blog know, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair.  It's wavy, takes forever to grow, and I'm constantly on a mission for something new and exciting.  In an effort to get the new and exciting faster, I'll do something drastic like cut bangs, dye it (remember Marilyn in the front/Norma Jean in the back, or just cut it off).  Hot mess.  You live and your learn, people.  Anyway, in my search for the "perfect" hairstyle (whatevs), I have made a few hair discoveries of my own:

1. My hair does best on the second day.  If I wash, dry, flat iron/curl all in one sitting it's like my hair goes into shock therapy. #notpretty
2. I've also learned that I can go at least 2 (sometimes 3) days without washing, and I swear it looks good- not greasy.  This is all because......
3. Dry Shampoo.  It's your best friend, y'all.  If you're not on board get on.  It will save your life.

In my Pinterest craze over the past few days, I was delighted to discover this pin:

How to Curl Your Hair: Wavy Curls

I linked the web address under the pic, but here's another link: http://www.littlemissmomma.com/2011/04/how-to-curl-your-hair-wavy-curls.html. 

Basically, she washes her hair at night (love that), combs, towel-dries, works in some scrunching gel, lets it air-dry, and then loosely braids for the night.  Wakes up, sections hair off, curls, and then sprays it down.

Last night was my first attempt at this *possible* new hair venture.  Here is the results after following her instructions step-by-step:

Forgive me for the lack of picture quality.  I promise I'm not that pale and that I am wearing bronzer and blush.

Side shot

 What do y'all think?  Not too shabby, right?  CVS did not have the Garnier Fructis Wonder Waves in stock, so I ended up buying the Sally Hershberger Glam Waves and it worked great.  I'm not used to using hair spray, and truthfully I was a little worried it would make my hair too stiff, but the BigSexyHair spray is ah-mazing.  Of course, I still have some kinks to work out and etc., but I'm kinda digging it.  It was easy as far as washing at night; however, it did take me a good 15-20 minutes to section all of this hair off and curl.  All in all, I will be doing this again.....and again....

This works for me because with our second baby on the way very soon, I'm not going to have the time to devote to my hair and makeup like I usually have.  Washing, drying, styling all in one day can sometimes be a bit much, especially when I want to be using that time bonding with Harper, doing laundry, cleaning the house, meal planning, etc.  Plus, I'm not planning on washing my hair again until tomorrow night- possibly Friday night if it lasts (total ponytail day, btw). 

Hope this hair tutorial helps you, too!  Ladies, we all know that if we're having a bad "hurr" day it's not a good day.  Hair lovers unite!!

~LL








 

A month out

Aaron started preschool today- Whoop!  He is now going 5 days a week from 9-12.  I still can't believe he'll be gone 5 mornings a week.  We went from Tues/Thurs preschool classes to this!  A part of me thinks that's a lot, but he will be going to Pre-K 5x a week next year, so better to get prepared now, right?  He was so excited this morning; I think most excited about wearing his new book-bag!  I ended up ordering just a plain blue bag from Etsy with his name and first initial monogrammed on the front.  Nothing fancy- just something he can carry with him for the next couple of years.  Sweet, big boy.  I'm so proud of him!

Harper's due date is exactly a month from today.  Eeekk!!  Truthfully, I think she's coming this month.  I'm 36 weeks tomorrow, so really, I'm hoping I only have around 3 weeks left than 4.  Wishful thinking, I know.  Of course, I want her to stay in as long as she needs to, but I'm not gonna lie- carrying 30 pounds of extra weight in this August heat and humidity is not fun.  I just flat-out refuse to go outside........unless I'm floating in a pool.  Sorry, not sorry.  Luckily, Adam's working from home until baby girl makes her grand entrance, so Aaron's had plenty of outside play and "boy-time" with Dad.  My hubby's been fantastic, he's really taken over doing a lot of stuff around the house- stuff that I usually do: cooking dinner, Aaron's bath time, heck- he's even helping with the laundry!  I, on the other hand, am just sitting around getting bigger by the second.  I even had to order some more maternity jeans yesterday, because all of my other maternity jeans/shorts are too tight!  For real?!?  It's probably not helping that I made a beeline for Dunkin Doughnuts today once I found out that they brought back their pumpkin doughnuts- that ring of deliciousness was finished by the time I exited the parking lot, y'all.  Next up: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.......mmmmhhhhmmm.


I'm going to take a page out of Ashley's book today, and post some of my "pinspiration" for the week. 

Obsessed with this outfit.  Everything from the over-sized tunic sweater (perfect for covering up a "just had a baby belly", to the distressed skinnies, & pointy-toed heels= LOVE.  Cannot wait to wear regular clothes again!

Love this look.  And I practically have all of these options in my closet; except for those fab mint jeans- they will be mine, oh yes, they will be mine. 

Fall hair color.  Love!!!  Her hair always looks fabulous, does it not?

I miss alcohol.  In particular, margaritas.  And red wine.  Oh, who am I kidding- I miss everything!

30 days to go.  Maybe less.  Agh!!!

And one more for good measure.  My sweet, precious love.

Happy Tuesday!

~LL