surprise vacation!

Yes! That's right, Mike and I are going on a cruise in 2 days!

We had been talking about going on a cruise for a while, but we didn't really think that we could because of our busy lives, we couldn't really find a good time. Well, the topic came up on Wednesday night, so we were just looking online to see when some were going on and what the prices were like. Well, Thursday afternoon, Mike sent me a text saying "We're booked for a cruise!" of course I started freaking out because I wasn't expecting it at all, I just thought that we could dream about it! So, 4 days before we need to board the ship, we booked a cruise!

We will be cruising on the Norwegian Sky!

You will most likely find me laying out by one of these pools. AHHHHH! I can't wait!

I was a little nervous about traveling while pregnant, but the cruise line's rules are that you must be no later than in your 24th week of pregnancy! I will be 21 weeks during the entire cruise, so I'm safe!!! :)

I could have never dreamed of going on a babymoon {a vacation before you have your baby}, but I can't be more excited! Tonight, I picked up a cute new bathing suit top {I already bought new bottoms with a tankini top for this summer's work.} I also tried on all my cute summer dresses {the ones that I could still fit in}, and some maternity ones that I've borrowed or picked up lately!

It will be so nice to getaway and relax before little miss maggie claire comes! :)

Do any of you readers have any cruising advice/ tips that will help this gal? I need suggestions on what to wear and things to bring! I've been on one cruise before, it was over 5 years ago... I'm kind of worried that I'll forget something important!

the new addition

On Sunday morning, my sister in law, Bethany, called me saying that her water had broken and they were on the way to the hospital! I was so excited, seeing that Tate's c-section was scheduled for the following day, Monday, he decided to come a day early! By the end of the first service at church my brother texted me and told me that they were going into the OR for the c-section, so I knew that I just needed to leave and head to the hospital!

By the time I got to the hospital he was already born and I saw him through the nursery window, he was precious!!! So I waited with this little guy{he was just too excited to meet his little brother}.

Tate Cohen Singleton

May 23, 2010

10:29 am

8 pounds even & 21 inches long

Tate with his auntie Hilary :)

Jack is the sweetest big brother! Jack loves to kiss and touch Tate. He likes to point out Tate's fingers, toes, ears, nose, and eyes! Jack always says, "I see him, I kiss him." He wants to kiss him every time he sees him. It is precious!

I was just chatting it up with him, telling him that his baby cousin Maggie will be here in a few months to play with him!

Here's the new family of four!

Sweet baby Tate sleeping

Of course, my mom and I brought decorations for the door{and in the room}.

This is Tate on his 2nd day. He wore this sweet little night gown with puppies on it, and look at the blonde hair! {I'm thinking that Maggie will have blonde hair too}

After he got his diaper changed, he had his foot pressed up against the glass. in in the bassinet.

Of course, I will be posting more pictures soon! This proud aunt will definitely be over there often loving on my sweet little nephews! I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to spend time with my brother and his family! I'm also thankful that Maggie will have cousins close to hang out with, I always wished that my cousins lived closer!

19 weeks 3 days

belly growth the last three weeks! I feel like I actually look like I'm pregnant!

Today we went for our big "20 week" ultrasound at our doctor. I'm actually 19 weeks and 3 days, but little miss maggie claire was measuring 20 weeks! Go girl! We didn't tell them ahead of time that we already knew it was a girl, because I wanted them to tell us, and make sure we were right! She asked us what we thought it was going to be, and I said a girl, and then after she told us that it is a girl, She asked if we already took a peak at her. hehe. I told her yes, but we just wanted to confirm it! I can't believe that I'm having a sweet baby girl! Her heartrate was 136 bpm. It keeps going down, but the ultrasound lady said that is a good heartbeart, so I'm not worried. Maggie's heart, spine, and head looked great! I have a little healthy girl, and I am so proud. The Lord really is blessing us during this pregnancy... I give Him all the glory!

Here are some ultrasound pictures from today!

This is the "girl parts" shot. She wrote maggie on the screen pointing to where her girl parts are... lol. Poor girl, we just keep showing off her privates! This will be the last shot, I promise!

This is my absolute favorite picture! It is a sweet picture of her little foot! I just can't wait to kiss those sweet little toes!!!! :)

She wanted us to take a picture of her sweet face. I think she is going to have chubby cheeks!

I can't wait to see what she looks like, if she favors her mommy or daddy. I'm pretty sure she will have blonde hair, because Mike and I both had really light blonde hair when we were babies! {well, the lack of hair for me, I didn't really grow any hair until I was over a year or two old!} You would never think that about Mike, but his hair was so blonde when he was little!

I can't wait to kiss that little girl all over! She is already loved by many, and spoiled rotten. I have a pile of things in the living room that I have bought, or others have bought for her. Yes, she is spoiled. :)

random updates & info.

I'm linking up again this week to miscellany monday over at my friend carissa's blog!

Here's my 5 random things.

1. I have a mild case of the waddle & the line. Let me explain. I have started the "pregnant waddle". Now I know why preggo people waddle. It's just more comfortable to walk that way! Before I know it, I will probably only be able to walk that way because of this belly that is getting big. The line: well, I think I'm getting the linea negra. It's the dark line that shows up on your belly when you're pregnant. I think it's kinda ugly, and Mike says he doesn't see it. When I told him that I'm getting it, he said, "well, what do we have to do?" me: "nothing, it's just not cute!" haha. I guess he thought it was a real problem the way I was being dramatic over it!

2. Remember this post where I showed you this photo about how embarrassed I was that I actually let the {soon to be nursery} room, get like this??? Well, we had our yard sale on Saturday, I made about $100 and now the room is getting cleaner.... {slowly but surely} and it looks like this! I know, there is still a lot more to do, but I'm excited that everything is off the walls, and I can actually walk around in there and see the carpet! hehe. I'm starting to organize all of my art supplies/gift wrap/bow supplies in this room, and I'm getting new matching rubbermaid tubs so everything will be labeled and organized. I'm pretty excited about that! 3. On Friday night we celebrated Allison's birthday! {Allison just moved in the same apartment complex as me, and I can't be more excited!!!!} I went with all of these ladies....

....to go and see this movie on opening night! It was so cute!
4. I just enetered a giveaway over at SIMPLE, to win this Balboa Baby shopping cart/high chair cover! I love these things! Every time I'm out shopping, I always see moms with these in their shopping cart, and I just get so excited! I told someone the other day that I want a lot of these! {Mike says there is no need for a lot of these, one would do just fine... hehe}. You can enter the giveaway here! 5. Saturday morning, I went to a mom 2 mom consignment sale at 7am {before I did my yard sale at 8am} and picked up this adorable outfit for maggie claire, and this awesome baby bjorn! I love them both, and I love the color pink, so both of these were calling my name when I saw them! The outfit was $5 with the matching hat, dress, and bloomers. The baby bjorn was $30. They are originally $80 in the store.
I also picked up this pottery barn wooden high chair on the right for $15 at the consignment sale. It has an awful black spray paint job going on, so I'm going to repaint it a dark brown, or just redo the black to make it look better!
The final purchase of the day was this beautiful changing table! Isn't it perfect?? It even matches the beadboard that is in the crib that we are getting! I was looking for a dresser to use for a changing table, but this changing table was too perfect to pass up, and my mom wanted to buy it for me! The paint on the top of it was pealing a little bit, so my stepdad said that he would remove the paint on the top and repaint it for me! Someone told us about it who came up to our yard sale because they found it at another yard sale in the neighborhood across from my moms! The lady said "well, we left about 30 minutes ago, and it was still there." She showed me a picture of it from her phone. I went to go find it, and it was still there! I was so excited that no one else had bought it! Loving all of these bargain finds for maggie claire's room.

p.s. tomorrow we go for our big ultrasound and I can't wait to see our precious little girl again on that screen! :)

nursery ideas

I have been googling one nursery idea after another the past couple of days, and oh boy, I do love what I see, except those dollar signs! I'm sticking with the liberty of london nursery crib bedding from target. Right now it says it is out of stock and will be available for shipment in 2 to 4 weeks, so I'm just being patient. I found an inspirational collage over at project nursery, which I am loving that site!

In the picture is maggie claire's bedding that she will be sleeping in, a lovely chandelier lamp from pottery barn teen, the adorable zebra pink rug {you guys know that I'm in love with zebra}, and pretty crystal lamp from pier 1. The pottery barn mirrored dresser is a little too fancy for me, but I love how she did this collage!
The PB chandelier is way out of our budget to get for maggie's room, so instead I will either make a really cute ribbon chandelier {photo below via inspire co.} or try and find a used chandelier and spice it up a little bit to look similar to the PB chandelier . I know, you readers will all say that this ribbon chandelier is the way to go and totally fits me because of my hairbow making self, so I will have to test it out and see how I like it!

I do really like this pink chandelier that I found on kaboodle.com.

The main thing that I am on the hunt for right now is a white dresser, or one that I can paint white, and that will double as a changing table. I have found a couple on craigslist that I really like for only $35-$50, but I'm waiting to hear back on the dimensions. I would like it to be around 35 inches high, because that seems to be a good fit for a changing table, but I don't want to be too picky or anything! hehe. I love the one in this picture below {photo via project nursery}. I'm hoping to find something similar to this! Wish me luck!

preggo mama lunch

Today I met a few of my friends for our "preggo mama lunch!" It was tons of fun and so cool that I have some friends who are pregnant the same time I am! We met up for some yummy mexican food, and of course talked about our little babies. The funny thing is that we are all having girls!!!

Whitney, Courtney, me, and Abbey

Here we are again, we had to get from underneath the red umbrella & show off our little bellies!

Courtney is 21 weeks, Whitney is 24weeks, I'm 18 weeks, and Abbey is 22 weeks.

{4 babies in 6 weeks}

babies girls inside us: Gentry Emerson, Gemma Lane, Maggie Claire, and Annabelle Hart!

I think we might have to make this a monthly event, or maybe more often than that!

miscellany monday

I have decided to link up at lowercase letters and join in the fun of tell you 5 random {miscellaneous} things. I hope you enjoy!

{1.} I hope everyone had a very happy mother's day! I sure did! It was fun because it was actually my first mother's day! I still can't believe that I am going to be a mom!

{2.} I just wanted to tell everyone about a great giveaway going on at my friend Carissa's blog. She is giving away a a really cute clutch of your choice from charm design!

{3.} I am ready for the summer to get here! I will be working full time, going to the waterpark 3 days a week with a bunch of kiddos, and enjoying the hot & humid Charleston weather! I can't wait! Only a few more weeks! :)

{4.} I am obsessed with these del monte fruit chillers freeze & eat tubes! They are so good! I bought 4 boxes of them from publix for 67cents each {I had coupons} & I will eat at least one a day! They have real fruit in them and they have been making this preggo lady happy! :)

{5.} Last night I started{it's not complete yet} an online target baby registry and I have decided to go with this liberty of london bedding for the nursery. I just love the bright colors and the endless possibilities that I can do in the nursery to go with all of the crazy florals. I am in love with it and I already know that maggie claire will have the cutest nursery around town! {not biased or anything, hehe}

sweet as can be

Introducing to you....

I am just too tickled about having this sweet baby girl! She was measuring right on track with her due date. She actually measured to be 18 weeks, but I'm only 17 weeks 3 days, so a little bit ahead! Her heartbeat was 155, and we just keep seeing it fluttering away! It was so fun because Mike got to see her for the first time. {he missed my 1st ultrasound because he was in russia speaking at a conference} My mom, and both of Mike's parents were able to come, and that was so fun, after we saw what she was, then our parents came in the room and when she showed the "girl parts" to my mom and his mom, they both screamed! It was so funny!

The nurse told us that she was 90% sure it is a girl, we kept seeing the "three lines", so there was no more hiding that it's a girl! She's only been wrong once, so we're pretty confident that it's a girl. We go to our doctor in 2 weeks on May 18th, so I'm sure they will confirm for sure! Now it's time to start picking out all of the girl clothes, girl bedding, and I'm going to start making her some pretty hairbows! What a joy it will be to start raising this beautiful little girl, telling her about how much we love her, and not to mention the love that Jesus has for her. I can't wait! :)

a little embarrassing

Here is a sneak peak of our extra bedroom/office/ my creative space. This first picture is what it looked like when we first moved in. I know none of that bedding matched, but you get the picture. We sold this bed and the desk that we had in the room back in January before I knew I was pregnant. I was just going to change it into my creative space, so I purchased the 9 cube storage container with bins that got stolen out of my car in February. Anyways.... this is going to be the nursery, and it has a long way to go! There is no closet in the room, so this is going to be the closet, it's a built in desk in the wall. {I'm going to get rid of all the books}. I'm going to hang some sort of curtain to close everything off, get a rod to hang the clothes on, and some sort of matching storage bins to go on the shelves to put things in.
Yes, it's a mess, I know! This room over the last month has just become a junk room, and I can't believe that I let it get this bad! If you see the rest of my house, there is a place for everything, well, not the case for this room!
There is a pile of about 100 reciepts from last year. crazy, I know. The rubbermaid containers has my ribbon supplies for hairbows, scrapbooking supplies, and wrapping/party supplies{yes, I save tissue paper, leftover napkins, and plastic tableclothes to reuse for parties.}
anyone want some pool noodles??? haha. I will be selling those in the yard sell on the 15th for probably less than 50 cents. That is where most of this stuff will be going. to the yard sell. or to goodwill. I'm hoping to clear this room out by the end of May. This summer will be crazy when I start working full time and being preggo. I have a stack of paintings that I would like to sell that I did in my college art classes, I just don't have room for any of this stuff in our house!
This is a little embarrassing for me... and my "neat freak" self. Anyone want to come and help, clean, and organize all my mess?? hehe. I will be posting updates when I get all of this junk outta here!!!

belly pics: weeks 14, 15, & 16

I know I'm a little late posting these belly pictures, but here they are. I feel like I looked bigger in week 15 than week 16. I think it was the taco bell that I had just eaten. :) Speaking of foods that I've been craving, here's a few:

*corndogs

*tater tots

*zaxby's buffalo chicken

*fruit flavored popsicles {especially banana}

*strawberries

This week I have some exciting things going on, and I know I'll be posting about them, but I just cannot wait! {my little brother is coming home from college for summer break & I'm getting an ultrasound, 17 weeks 3 days, on Tuesday that might possibly tell the sex of our baby!}