Hey, y’all! Today I’m sharing a little of our life lately with the last What’s Up Wednesday of 2017 with Shay!

WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK…

Well… It’s the week before Christmas and I’m eight months pregnant, so I’ll admit my cooking game is a little off this week! Monday, we drove to Waco to grab some Christmas presents and ate at Red Lobster (#notmadaboutit). It was delicious but I ate so much (part of an appetizer, a salad, and most of my shrimp scampi) that I was miserable afterward. I’ve gotten to the point that eating a lot (or a normal amount) in one sitting makes my ribs feel like they might explode. But it was too good not to get in as much as possible! Last night, I cooked sausage, green beans, and white rice at home, and it was a nice, simple meal. Tonight, we might be eating out again because I’m not sure what the heck to cook. 😐

We’ve also been eating our weight in Firecrackers lately, and if you missed the recipe for those last week, check it out here!

 

WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT…

Y’all. Five years ago, Steven and I started dating.

Like I said in that post, it seems like these have been the longest and shortest five years ever! We’ve come a long way, and while I don’t necessarily miss the days years ago of juggling med school and grad school schedules and studying non-stop, and eating take-out on the floor while we studied, and crossing fingers and praying for good test grades, they were sweet times in their own way. Those were the times we learned to be there for each other, and how to love one another no matter what, and that we didn’t need fancy dates or elaborate activities, or even a ton of time with each other to know that we just wanted to be together.  I would say we’re loving this stage of life a little more– working instead of studying, having our own house instead of an apartment, having a little more spare time, and waiting on a little miss to join us– but each stage has been good in its own way, and I think each stage is getting better because of what came before it. Here’s to many, many more than five years coming up!

Here we were on our two year dating anniversary (three years ago)… (aka BABIES!)

 

And here we were on Sunday on the five year anniversary (aka- expecting a baby!)

 

WHAT I’M LOVING…

Remember a few months ago when I talked about Ree’s new cookbook Come and Get It, and mentioned how much I love her new bedding collection? (It’s okay if you don’t, you can read about it here 😉 ). Well, Shelby (my sister-in-law), picked out that bedding for me for Christmas! I think it looks so good! It’s very well made, and I think it’s a little bigger than the one we had on our bed before, which is nice! Now I’m just trying to arrange pillows to go with it!

((I would let y’all see a picture, but our room looks a little tornado-ish after being out of town all weekend 😉 )

 

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO…

This past weekend, we went to my in-laws for Christmas with them. We had brisket and yummy sides, and then opened gifts. I think Miss Olivia made out with more of a haul than anyone considering she’s not even here yet! Everyone is pretty excited for her to get here, I think! In the morning before we ate, and that afternoon after we opened gifts, the boys went hunting. They ended up shooting about 5 sandhill cranes, and saw lots of ducks, which made Steven pretty excited about getting to go back in a few weeks!

 

Back at home, we’ve just been getting ready for Christmas! Boudreaux kept a close watch on all the gifts for us one night…

And we had our usual Thursday night Cracker Barrel date a few weeks ago, and someone made it to ONE PEG on the Peg Game. He thinks he’s considered a genius now or something 😉

 

WHAT I’M DREADING…

So, this is a little bit of a love/hate thing. I’m dreading taking down all the Christmas decorations– like the actual work of taking everything down, packing it up and getting it back into the attic. However, this year (for I think the first year ever!), I’m not dreading having them out. I think it’s my nesting bug or something, but I am ready for less clutter in our house and having everything back in it’s normal place.

 

WHAT I’M WORKING ON…

Still working on the nursery! We’ve made a few turns since starting with decorating, which means I’ve changed things around a few times, but I think I’ve finally hit the direction I’d like to go, and don’t plan on changing. We’re also running out of time, so I think this will have to stick! Our 8 Month Bump-date is coming up in the next week or so, so I’ll share more then!

 

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT…

Getting closer to Miss Olivia getting here! I’m both ready for her to be here so we have her, and I’m ready for her to get here because I feel like I can’t get much bigger! But, I think we’ll let her stay in there for eight or so more weeks.

 

WHAT I’M WATCHING/ READING… 

Lately, I’ve been watching Bunheads on Hulu. I watched the first set of episodes when they were on TV years ago, but never realized they released a back half to the season.

Also– THE CROWN!!! I only watch this when I’m able to sit and really pay attention, so I haven’t made it through the whole new season yet, but holy smokes, I love this show!! A few Saturdays ago, Ruger and I sat and watched a few episodes in the morning while Steven was at work. He was a little more interested in breakfast than the actual show, but whatever 😉

 

I’ve also been reading the Advent study The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp, and it’s really good!

 

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO…

Mostly Christmas music! I like the Christian Contemporary Christmas station on Pandora the best!

 

WHAT I’M WEARING… 

So, I finally got to a point last week that I was ready to start really wearing maternity clothes. And guess what… no one sells them in the stores, y’all. I mean, a few do, but my choices are pretty limited here. Our Target has a small section that I’ve picked over a lot, but that’s it as far as our actual town. There are Motherhood Maternity stores thirty minutes away on either side of us, but I haven’t had time to make it to either one. But all the other stores have their maternity lines online. So, when I went through JC Penney last Friday to grab a dress to wear to church this past weekend, I went non-maternity and went up from my usual 2 to a 4 and it worked. And they are having a crazy sale! I got this dress and another dress for about $20 each!

 

What I’m loving to wear now are my new rings from Lisa Leonard Designs! I ordered them back on Black Friday, and they just came in Monday and are perfect! (please excuse my chubbster fingers 😉 ). She hand stamps jewelry of all kinds, but I love these stacking rings as basically my “mother’s ring” (even though the bottom one says Steven). I can add a ring each time we have another child and they will all match, but still be unique!

 

WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND…

On Friday, we are headed to my parents’ house for Christmas with them and my grandparents. We’ll have to come back that night so Steven can work in the morning on Saturday, and then I’m not sure about our plans for the rest of the weekend. Our church is doing a candlelight service on Sunday that I’ll go to (Steven will be working), but that’s about all I know at this point!

 

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT MONTH…

This time next month, we’ll be on serious baby watch! (I mean, maybe not super serious because we’ll still be about 4 weeks out, but kinda serious!). I’m so glad we’re getting closer!

 

WHAT ELSE IS NEW…

I don’t think I ever shared this, but here’s a peek at our Christmas card! It’s a little hard to see with the glare on them, but they turned out pretty nice! Vistaprint for the win!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Wednesday, y’all! 🙂