Seven Quick Takes Friday!

My friend Chelsea @ Roots and Rings has been participating in "7 Quick Takes" for awhile now and I have always really enjoyed reading them. I've wanted to participate before now, but never really felt like I could come up with seven things all at once. I mean, sometimes just coming up with one thing to blog about each day is tough enough.
So for the past few weeks, I have been keeping a list in my handy dandy iPhone.
Anytime something funny, remarkable, thought provoking, or even something boring that I want to remember happens, I write it in my notes.

So after a week of note-taking, I give you my very first "7 Quick Takes"!

#1 - I have BIG news to announce on Monday. We're talking huge. I am so very excited about it, be sure to tune in Monday for the big announcement! You don't want to miss this! (Yes, I am pregnant but you already knew that so no, that's not it. And for the record, no I'm not having twins. Quick take #7 will be your only hint, so keep reading!)

#2 - I always leave my phone out of reach. After 5 mad dashes to find the cordless phone in a week, I should have learned my lesson, but no.

#3- I know that I have already bragged on my husband once this week, but seriously y'all, the man is amazing. I literally fall more in love with him everyday. He has made this pregnancy so easy for me. He's been patient with my crazy emotional mood swings, he's been understanding when we go out to eat and suddenly I can't eat any of the food I just ordered, He's made me feel beautiful in maternity clothes that are most definitely not, and he finds new ways all the time to show me how much he loves me and the baby. Some without even realizing that he's done it.
For example, he loves to go fishing. I grew up spending the summers at my grandparents lake house and I love fishing too, so we have really enjoyed the time we spend going together. Last summer, we bought a bass boat. He loves this boat, it's fast and maneuverable, just what he always wanted.
Do you know what he did? He SOLD it, and bought a Pontoon!
Girls, that is the equivalent of a selling your sports car to buy a minivan. I never asked him to sell it, it never even crossed my mind. For him though, this was something that had to be done, because everyone knows you can't take a baby on a bass boat. A pontoon has shade, and a nice tall railing, perfect for babies and toddlers, and as he said, " Anyways, why would I want to go fishing if I can't take both my girls with me?"
Riley may not know it yet, but she has her daddy wrapped around her teeny tiny finger, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

#4 - In pregnancy news, we are 26 weeks & 3 days today! woohoo! Riley had the hiccups for the first time last night and it was so cute. You know how when you get the hiccups, it kind of makes your head bounce a little? She has been head down the whole time, so last night every time she would hiccup, I would feel a little thump way down low. They were suprisingly fast too, only about 2-3 seconds between each little jump.

#5- I love consignment store shopping! I went on Wednesday and found all kinds of cute stuff but only spent $20! My 2 favorite finds were an old coke crate & a blanket that was the same as the one that was in my crib when I was a baby! I loved that blanket & took it everywhere with me until I was about 5, I still have it but it's pretty torn up from all the love it recieved. I was so excited to find one just like it for my little girl, maybe she will love hers like I loved mine.
What are the odds of me finding that though really? I mean it has to be about 23-25 years old, & is still in perfect condition, besides being a little faded from age, plus it ended up costing a whopping $2.50.

#6 - While I was out driving around one day, I saw a house that someone had turned into a store and out on the front porch they had what appeared to be a rack full of baby clothes with a big sign that said "SALE". I excitedly pulled in, & was admiring a little dress on the front of the rack, it was white tank-top style dress with big red polka dots. Polka-dots are my weakness, I love them. I glanced at the tag to check the size......
it said "Pampered Paws ~ Canine Coture'.
Needless to say, my cheeks were as red as the big polka dots when the lady came outside to ask if I needed any help.

#7 - I am so ready for spring! The winter blues are here and I'm ready for some sunshine, warmth & prettiness. So I need a little help from you! What little things cheer you up? New nailpolish? Fun Stationary? Easter Candy? Leave a comment letting me know!
*I should have clarified that I'm asking about small purchasable items, not things like sunshine & heat*

Have an awesome weekend everyone!!!

Born in the '80's: Gloworms

It's Thursday & while I should be writing about what I read in my Beth Moore book over the last week, I'm not.
I can't, because I'm a slacker & didn't read.
I usually read at night but heartburn has hit with a vengeance this past week. Every night at about 6:30, it feels like this invades my esophagus.


(Name that Disney Movie!)

So instead of reading, I sit up at the computer, spending all kinds of time looking at baby stuff. The other night I came across a "Soothe & Glow Seahorse".



It's the Playskool's new version of the gloworm!
Do you remember those?
I was born in the 80's and I'm figuring that a bunch of you were too, so it's a safe bet that some of us had one. It would have looked something like this:



and would light up when you squeezed it. Remember?
Yeah, I thought you might.

I had totally forgotten about my old gloworm!
I personally think that I like the seahorse a little better though.
One of the things that I am really enjoying about shopping for the baby is that I see all of this stuff that reminds me of things that I had when I was little. Things that I had completely forgotten about.
And shopping for baby stuff online?
It's awesome! Especially the reviews. Other moms have tried this stuff out, and want you to know if it's going to be a lifesaver or be a huge headache.

And every once in a while, you will come across a review that will change the way you look at a particular item forever.
Like this one that I found while looking at the "Soothe & Glow Seahorse"....

It simply said:
"I wish I was a gloworm, because a gloworm's never glum. How can you be grumpy when the sun shines out your bum?"

::dies::

The Thin Mint Crisis

I was never a huge myspace person. I just never "got" it, but facebook on the other hand?
Love it!
How awesome is it to be able to keep in contact with all of your friends even though you don't have the hours to spend on the phone like you did in high school?
Anyways, Sunday night I mentioned that I hadn't seen any girl scouts selling cookies this year in my status & that I needed to buy some Thin mints.
Almost immediately someone commented saying that I better hurry because cookie season was almost over.

*cue panic attack*

Yall don't understand my need for these cookies. We go WAY back.
Ever since I was little, my mom would buy everyone in our family their own box of cookies, and you didn't have to share your box with anyone, it was all yours...

That is until your dad and little sister ate all of their box and would sneak cookies from your box.

They were Thin Mint hogs.
Scarfing down their box and then hunting for mine.
So, in an effort to save my cookies, I realized that I could hide mine and eat a couple when no one was around to see the evidence.
After trying several different hiding places, I decided to disguise them and hide them in the freezer.
Let me just say, if you have never had a frozen thin mint...you are seriously missing out.
All of this hiding and waiting taught me something though. You can make a box of cookies last a long long time.
2 boxes? Well, that can last you till the Girl Scouts come around again.
And that my friends, is what I've done.
I've bought 2-3 boxes every year, put them in my freezer and taken a couple out when I'm having a bad day. Never any more than 2-3, about once a week.
They are my bad day treat.

So, as you can imagine I was just a little upset when I was told that cookie season was almost over and I haven't re-stocked my supply!
A whole year without my cookies?
I mean, I'm fixing to have a baby.
I know that I will need my bad day treat, probably even more than usual.

My seriously awesome husband noticed my distress and made this his status message on facebook: "Mr Pippy: if anybody in facebook land can hook me up with some girl scout cookies (thin mints) for my pregnant wife I would be very grateful. She heard they were almost through selling them and is greatly distraught. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated and will be highly rewarded!!!!!! Thank You"

The man cracks me up.
But it worked!
He brought home 6 boxes the very next day.
I was shocked when I saw how many he had bought, but he just looked at me, smiled and said "This was all she had left, and I wanted to make sure my girls didn't run out."

I love that man.

This can't wait!

We're still working on the blog re-design around here, so please excuse my mess.

In the meantime though, you need to head over to my friend Jessica's blog - Kitchen Belleicious!
She is doing an awesome giveaway right now.
You can enter for a chance to win a $50 Lisa Leonard Gift Certificate!!!
Lisa Leonard's necklaces have been featured in Glamour, Instyle, Parenting Magazine & Baby Coture!

I can't decide which necklace I would get if I won, I'm torn between these two...


This one with my name, the hubby & pipsqueak....

Or


One like this, maybe even customized with Pipsqueak's name.

What do you think?

Click here to enter the giveaway! Tell her Pippy sent you!

Blog Under Construction

We've got our hard hats on around here.
If you're visiting, please pardon the mess, things should be back to normal on Monday.
Thanks!

Belly Pic Friday!

Notice anything new?
Okay, so it's not perfect, I know, but I did this all by myself!
It's my first attempt at blog design on my own and even if it's not perfect. I'm proud!

I even made a new button!
<------ See? You can take the code below it and add me to your blog!

Alright! Onto the Belly pictures!
Several of you told me I should post a new one, so here I am at 25 weeks!
It's getting a little bigger!

This next one cracks me up because you can see her pressing out, making the bump look almost triangular.


If you want to see the last belly picture (@ 20 weeks), Click here!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

So Long, Insecurity (Week 1)

Hi everyone!
Welcome to my first week discussing the book "So Long, Insecurity" by Beth Moore.
For those of you that haven't gotten your copy yet, just let me know. I can hook you up!

I know these posts will have a little more depth than what you're probably used to reading on here but I'm kind of excited about it. It will mix things up a little. I love goofing off & being funny, but there's more to me than that, so I hope you'll stick with me on Thursdays too.
Ready?
Let's go.

As I picked up the book, and started reading this week, I was kind of just coasting through. The first several pages were an overview of Insecurity & I was pretty sure that I had a good grasp on what the word meant.
It's something I have always dealt with. At times worse than others, but it's been present in my life for as long as I can remember. I've always worried about fitting in. I was never one of those girls that could shake it off and say "Who cares what they think anyways?" I mean, I could say those words, but inside I was saying "I care! Maybe I shouldn't... but I do."
So as I grew up, I learned to adapt. Or at least I thought I had. Until I read this...

Our minds start sketching what a self-conscious person looks and acts like, and we know we don't want to be her. After all, we have way too much pride to be her. But the truth is, she's not as easily pegged as that seventh grader who has perfected the art of changing into her gym clothes without first taking off her dress. I hate to state the obvious but all it takes to be chronically self conscious is to be chronically conscious of self.
Self consciousness is an acute self awareness...no matter how it's externalized in life.
The self conscious person may protect herself with plainness and try to blend into the paint but she may also dress herself to perfection and stand squarely in the spotlight.....Whether she feels inferior or superior, she takes a frequent inventory of her place in the space.
She may like it or hate it, but she is rarely oblivious to it.
~Beth Moore

And I thought that I had learned to adapt. What I've really done is learned to be one or the other. I was most definitely the girl that learned how to change clothes without undressing, but now? Some days I want to blend in, some days I want to look perfect, but the root issue stays the same. I'm insecure about my appearance. Almost always.
The delete button on my camera gets far more attention than it should, and that's if I let anyone take my picture to begin with.
I cringe when I run into people I know at the store, which is almost always on a "athletic pants and baseball hat day".
You know what kind of days I'm talking about.

And Pregnancy?
With all the joy, happiness and amazement it has brought to my life, well let's just say it hasn't helped my little problem. I wouldn't trade being pregnant with my daughter for anything, In fact, I'm actually loving being pregnant. Feeling her move it's like a miracle every time and I cherish this time I'm getting to spend with her that I don't have to share with anyone else.
But just as far as insecurity goes, maternity clothes are awful. I haven't felt like I looked good in anything I've had on in months. Partly because, at 6 months, I still have practically no belly. I have a little one, but instead of baby belly, it looks like I've been nommin' on cheeseburgers. And that's what people tell me! Either that, or they give me the side-eye and tell me I don't look pregnant.

Which obviously re-lights the fire under the whole insecurity problem, and I don't know about you but it's one problem that I'm more than ready to kick to the curb.

Insecurity is miserable. That's the bottom line. We don't need it. We don't want it. And we really can live without it. So what would happen if we quit being accomplices in our own misery?
~Beth Moore

I don't know what will happen. But I'm ready to find out.
So long, Insecurity.

Party Tonight, Sophie is invited...(& Givaway Winner !!!)

Since I couldn't enjoy my bagel for breakfast this morning....
*cough* Thanks, KRISTIN! *cough*
I came straight here to post the winner of the Beth Moore giveaway!!!

The winner is.....
bswhit!
Congratulations!!
I started reading my copy last night, It's so good! You're going to love it!
You can e-mail me at pippy08@ymail.com, and I'll get your copy in the mail to you today!

For any of you wanting to purchase the book, let me know. I can get you a great deal on it!

Speaking of great deals....I did a little shopping yesterday.
It all started because of Twitter. I knew that thing would get me in trouble.
Anyways, I signed up to follow "Online Baby Deals" on Twitter.
If you're pregnant or already have kids, you should follow her too, because she posts some pretty awesome deals on there.
As I was browsing her "tweets" (lol I feel like such a dork saying that), I saw that she had a listing for "Sophie the Giraffe" on sale.
What is a Sophie, you ask?
Let me present Exhibit A:


In my humble opinion, she looks like a glorified dog toy, BUT apparently babies think she is the best thing EVER. I have many, many friends that all sing Sophie's praises. I'm not entirely sure why babies love her so much, but one of my mommy friends refers to Sophie as "Baby Crack" sooo.... they obviously love her.
She's made of a really soft rubber so I'm thinking that she must feel good on the gums?
Sophie usually costs like $21 dollars & that's a stinking lot for a dog...I mean baby toy.
However, she was on sale for $15 and while that still seems like a lot to me, I would rather save the money & buy her on sale than pay full price later on.
So here's to hoping that she is as awesome as they all claim.

The thing about shopping on Amazon though, is they always get me with the "Spend $5 more & qualify for Free Shipping!"
I think it's the word free. Gets me every time.
So I bought a 5 pack of onesies, cause I know I'll need tons of those.
And then I saw this.....

Yeah, I had to have it. I actually laughed out loud when I read it.

Have a great Wednesday everybody, be sure & come back tomorrow for Week One of the "So Long Insecurity" posts!

*DISCLAIMER* If you are pregnant, eating, trying to avoid thoughts of actually giving birth, or any combination of those...don't click on Kristin's name at the top of this post. I know you will anyways, cause you're curious. But don't say I didn't warn you.*

Talkative Tuesday

It's called that because I have so much to say today and it's kind of all over the place...so just bear with me.

First off, we are officially 25 weeks pregnant today (woohoo) with 105 days to go!
I feel the need to reiterate how fast this pregnancy is going, it's absolutely flying by.

I'm trying to find good ways to remind my husband of this fact, because things are going so slow with the new house/moving process.

I've been contemplating assembling the crib in the middle of the living room.
You know, in case he needs a visual aid?
Would that be too evil or just evil enough to get the point across? I'm unsure.

Along with the 25 week milestone, I broke down today and signed up for Twitter. I know I'm like the last person on the planet to have one, but I have yet to understand the appeal. I'm willing to give it a shot though, so If you want to follow me, click here!
Unfortunately, I have no idea how it works.
I managed to post a tweet? and follow 2 people. So that's something.
If you can share your twitter knowledge with me, I will be forever grateful.
Thanks.

Now for a tease...
I have something very cool in the works for you guys. I'm SO excited about it. I can't give you any more details than that at the moment, but I think you are going to love it. It's going to be a blast.

Just a reminder, the giveaway ends tonight at midnight, so if you haven't entered yet, you better get moving!

My heart is so happy! (& giveaway reminder.)

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's weekend!

For 2 of my very dear bloggy friends, this weekend was extra special & I can't wait to tell you why.

First, Mrs. Southern Belle got to spend her Valentine's day snuggling with her new baby boy!!!!!
He was born on Saturday, February 13th at 12:13.
Welcome to the world, Keating! We are so happy you are here.
For a picture of the valentine's cutie, click here!

Second, Chelsea got to spend her Valentine's day knowing that next year, her little valentine will be here!!!
Congratulations to Chelsea at Roots & Rings!!!
She announced her pregnancy this morning, & I am beyond thrilled for her.
So please go tell her Congratulations by clicking here!

WOW, Pipsqueak is going to have all kinds of new friends.
I am so thrilled for both of these wonderful women.


Giveaway update!!!
The deadline for the giveaway has been extended to Tuesday night at midnight so if you haven't entered yet , click here to enter now!

I'm so excited! (psst...it's a giveaway!)

*sings* "I'm so excited & I just can't hide it..."
Now that's going to be stuck in your head, your welcome.

I have something awesome to tell you!
Many of you may know this but one of my all-time favorite authors, the lovely Beth Moore has released her new book. It's titled "So Long, Insecurity".
To celebrate this, I'm doing a giveaway!!!
One of you will become the proud new owners of this book!



"We're insecure, you, me & every woman. In fact, chronic insecurity is a cultural epidemic but almost no one is talking about it. And it ticks me off." ~Beth Moore

I absolutely love that she chose insecurity as the topic for this one.


I believe that in some way or another all women battle with this.
Maybe your insecure about your looks, weight, relationships, the way others see you, maybe you're fixing to be a new mom and your absolutely scared to death that you will have no idea what your doing & fail miserably...or you know, whatever.
Insecurity is a huge deal for a lot of us, & I have no doubt that Beth will use her amazing sense of humor to get down to the root of it & help us overcome something that is sometimes, extremely hard to overcome.

Beth is also doing a book club type thing on her blog that I will also be participating in. So for the next couple weeks, on Thursdays, I will be discussing what I've read in the book on here & maybe picking some of my favorite comments to share from Beth's blog!

Beth has truly been given a gift. I have learned and grown so much from her books and bible studies in the past.
Regardless of who wins the giveaway, I really hope that some of you will get this book & go on this journey with me.

Okay, onto the fun part.
Ways to Enter!
Please leave a separate comment for each entry so that I don't miss anyone!

1 -Comment on this post letting me know that you are a follower of my blog.

2 -Leave a comment sharing something you are insecure about.

3 - Blog about this giveaway & leave me comment with the link!

4 - Go to Beth Moore's blog, & become a follower there! You can sign up for the book club by commenting on this post.

Okay, the giveaway will be open until Monday night at midnight!
Good Luck!

24 Weeks!

As my Dr. said yesterday "That's a milestone."
Pipsqueak now has a 50% chance of making it if she came early.
*Pip, that's not an invitation to come right now. You have to stay put for at least 10 more weeks.*

She is about a 11 inches long by now & weighs a little over a pound!
Our ticker says that we have approximately 110 days left!
I've read that she probably sleeps about 11-12 hours a day now, but I'm not sold on that. If she does, she sleeps in like 30 minute increments. Hopefully her "outside" sleeping habits will be a little better than her "inside" ones.

I painted something for her room last night. I haven't done a whole lot of painting since I've been pregnant & wasn't expecting her kicks to make it so difficult!
She has uncanny timing, it was like "Oh mom is trying to paint a straight line, hehe watch this!"


*please excuse the crappiness of the iPhone picture quality*

Anyways, I'm proud of how it turned out. I think it will match the bedding pretty well.

Hibernation

Last night I dreamed of this...



It was so real, like I was actually there.
After waking up from that dream to go to the restroom, I drifted here...



It was awesome.
I could feel the sun & the warmth.
When I woke up there was light streaming in the window, it was bright. I thought to myself "Could the sun actually be shining? Is it possible that it might be warm?"
I peeked through the blinds and saw.....






This.



I'm going back to bed. Wake me up around the end of March.

A plea to all my pregnant & new mommy friends...

I need help finding maternity clothes. I cannot find anything that looks halfway decent that doesn't cost a fortune.
Where do I go? I don't even know where to look.
Help me please!

23 Weeks!

My ticker over there says 117 days to go! I can't believe we are almost to double digits!
I got to go home & visit my family the first half of the week, & we went to this cute little baby clothes consignment store.
Riley has some of the cutest clothes ever. I have never had that much fun shopping in my life.

Here's the 23 week update!

* How far along?: 23 weeks & 2 days
* Total weight gain: 5 lbs
* How big is baby?: 8.5 inches & about 1.5 lbs.
* Sex: GIRL!
* Maternity clothes?: Most of my shirts are still fine, but she doesn't like the band in my maternity pants. She shows her disapproval by kicking it as hard as she can, same with seatbelts. So I've been hanging out in sweats & athletic pants whenever possible.
* Stretch marks?: None so far.
* Sleep?: HA. nuff said.
* Best moment this week? She has started doing these crazy flips at night when I'm trying to sleep, but then when my husband puts his hand on my stomach she will calm down. It's so sweet.
* Movement?: She's always moving! She makes my belly shake & jump like crazy.
* Food cravings?: Nothing really.
* Labor signs?: Nope, I've had the occasional BH but that's it.
* Belly button in or out?: Still in, but it's changing shape. It's a lot more shallow than it used to be.
* What I miss: I leaned over to tie my shoes while sitting in the car & couldn't reach. I still just barely have a belly, but my range of motion is definitely limited already.
* What I'm looking forward to: Starting on the nursery
* Words of Wisdom: Sleep when you can, you never know what the next night is going to be like.
* Milestone: Just about anybody who wants to feel or see her move has been able to. She's not shy.

Setting the record straight...

Today, instead of just "Life from Pippy's Perspective", you're going to get "GROUNDHOG'S DAY from Pippy's perspective".
There seems to be a little confusion on this issue & I want to set the record straight for good.

Meet Puxsatawney Phil

He lives in Pennsylvania & resides on Gobbler's Knob.
He "claims" to be America's groundhog, however that's really not the case. He's really only half of America's groundhog.

So how do you know if Phil is your groundhog?
Well that's pretty easy, it all depends on whether or not you live "above" the Mason-Dixon line. If you do, well in that case, sure, he's your man.
By the way, your man said 6 more weeks of winter. Sorry bout your luck.

But what about us "below" the mason-dixon line?
We rest our hopes for spring on one groundhog alone.



You see, in this mini southern plantation house on the Yellow River Game ranch in Lilburn, Ga resides a little groundhog by the name of "General Beauregard Lee".


He's our guy!

He's cute & cuddly & he says early spring! What's not to love?

So there you have it folks, no more confusion.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everybody!
I know Monday's generally suck, so I thought that I would share a couple things that made me happy this weekend to lighten the mood. Plus it gives me something to blog about since I'm lacking inspiration today & blog posts make me happy.

#1 - I love things on Clearance! When my husband & I went to register at Babies R Us at Christmas, we found the travel system that we wanted but they were sadly out of stock. I've since been to 2 more Babies R Us & they have also been out of stock. When we were at the one closest to our house, my husband asked if we could just buy the floor model & they told us no, they don't sell their floor models & the soonest they would be able to get us one was April. I've looked online, everywhere. It was looking like it was definitely going to be April before we had a chance....
Then yesterday I got a flyer in the newspaper saying Babies R Us was having a big diaper sale so hubby & I decided to run by there after church.
You wanna know what I saw right when we walked in the front door?
Our travel system, on clearance! They decided to sell the floor model after all & it was $70 cheaper than the list price!!!
Talk about perfect timing, I was SO excited.

#2 - I love flipping through the radio stations & listening to my husband sing. The man can really sing when he wants to, & I love that, but what really makes me happy is when he's just playing around. He tried to sing "Ring of Fire" just like Johnny Cash, he created new words to multiple songs, & you get the idea.
For instance, the song that says "I may hate myself in the morning, but I'm going to love you tonight" is now "I may hate myself in the morning, but I'm gonna put it on you tonight" among other things.
*sigh* He'll never grow up, but oh, he makes me laugh.

#3 - I don't watch award shows...gasp, I know. They have just never interested me that much. However, I LOVE the morning after award shows. Yahoo has all the red carpet pictures right there for me to look through as I eat breakfast.
They give me things like this.....

Seriously??

And This....



And honestly, I have NO idea what this is...

But it's a hot mess, whatever it is...

And I'll admit, it makes me a little happy.
I love a good giggle in the morning.

What made you happy this weekend?