vintage buttons

These little beauties are my newest purchase for Stella Bella Boutique. 

Can you see their potential? I think they're absolutely adorable.

 I believe that I will make them into stud earrings.

I can't wait for them to arrive in my mailbox.

back from a wonderful weekend

Happy Sunday Bloggers!

I am back safe and sound from a wonderful road trip to sunny South Carolina ...

Pictures of complements of my amazingly talented friend Gil ...

We had the best time ever. Shopped a lot. Ate a lot of yummy food. Laughed a lot.

Last night at dinner we laughed so hard that people were staring. I would say that is a sure sign of a good trip.

I have been friends with all of the ladies in the picture above for over 10 years. They're some of the biggest blessings in my life. There's lots to laugh about over dinner when you have memories from the age of 14. 

I cherish our trips together and look forward to the next time we hit the road together.

Thankfully, the little baby the size of a lime cooperated for the trip :)

For the most part I felt great. In the past week, I can tell that fatigue and nausea are fading. I still feel a little queasy every now and then, but it's becoming more spread out.

Last week E and I went to our 2nd OB appointment. 

The Dr. said that everything from the labs taken last time were perfect. 

We also heard the heartbeat again through the Doppler. The nurse said that it might take awhile to find the little beat since our babe is so small still. However, as I laid there with the jelly, I was still a nervous wreck until I heard the thumping. I know that it was only a couple of minutes, but it felt like I was laying there for eternity.

I have experienced one new pregnancy symptom this week ... leg pain. On wed and Thurs of last week I kept noticing that when I moved a certain way, the right side of my butt / hip hurt. On our way to SC I mentioned the weird pain that I was having, and my friend who just had a baby told me that it was probably my sciatic nerve. She informed me that the nerve can run from your lower back all the way to the bottom of your foot. 

Then ... I woke up the next morning and my entire right leg throbbed!! It hurt so so bad. When I first woke up I just thought "weird my leg hurts" ... then it was like a light bulb went off and I remembered the nerve. 

That afternoon we went to the outlets and I wished for a wheelchair to be pushed around in. Thankfully, I got some relief from the pain as I stepped into the doors of JCrew. Perfect timing! 

Since Friday, I haven't had the throbbing pain, but I still feel the pain on the side of my butt when I move a certain way.

I hope that as my uterus shifts, that the pain will not be constant. All in all, it's all worth it to know that my body is moving around all the stuff inside of me just like it's supposed to. 

That's about all of the pregnancy news for right now. I took a few bare belly photos at 5 weeks and 10 weeks. I will post them soon. I feel a little self-conscious about them, but I know that I will regret it if I don't post them on this blog/personal journal. 

random thoughts ...

Happy Sunday Night! 

Just checking in with a few random thoughts ...

1. If you live in the Midwest, then you can agree that the weather this weekend was fabulous. It was perfect for spending lots of time outside ... and that's what I did. 

2. On Saturday, a bunch of friends participated in a golf outing for my amazing friend Libby. I think that around $14,000 was raised in one afternoon. Amazing.

3. Yesterday I blow dried my hair for the first time in 6 months. Isn't that crazy? Ohh how I love summer.  Although the weather is still good, the mornings are a little chilly to be going outside with wet hair. I guess I'm going to have to be better about washing my hair at night. 

4. Being pregnant isn't too bad. I feel blessed. I could feel so much worse. So far, I just feel tired a lot. After about 1:00pm I feel like I could seriously go to bed for the night. And if I take a nap and have to wake up, then I literally feel like I am waking up from a deep middle of the night kind of sleep.

5. I get queasy a lot. It's not terrible though. I've learned that if I eat when I start to feel bad, then the nausea pretty much goes away. So now I carry lots of snacks and I'm set.

6. This weekend I'm traveling down to South Carolina with three of my favorite people in the world. I am so excited about a girls weekend. So so needed. I can't wait to celebrate friendship, birthdays, Fall, and babies! 

7. E and I go to our second OB appointment on Wednesday morning. Please pray for that :)

8. My belly is already growing. It is exciting and scary at the same time. I feel like I'm bigger than I am supposed to be at this point. Oh well. I'm not eating crazy or anything ... I'll blame it on the extra progesterone that I am taking. Sounds good - right?

9. I think E is going to be a really good dad.

10. This morning I woke up and said to E ... "last night I had an amazing dream that we were in Paris." His response ... "last night I had a dream that I was playing words with friends and played a word worth 1 million points.

Well that's just a few of the random thoughts / things that have been going on over here. Also, I really am going to post pictures of the finished cabinets. This week I am going to make it happen.

mood board

To get in the baby spirit ... (it doesn't take much)

I started browsing through pictures of nurseries. 

Here is my all time favorite nursery mood board ... 

Just thought that I would share!

What are your thoughts? 

Do you love it as much as I do??

Of course, this mood board and all of its design genius is compliments of Little Green Notebook.

I take no credit. 

Anyways,

Happy Friday! If you're working today, I hope that it goes by quickly, and you get to enjoy the lovely Fall weather outside! 

This weekend I will be attending a golf outing for my amazing friend Libby...

You can check out her blog here.

If you would like to give in any way - send me an email or comment and let me know!

a wonderful surprise

SURPRISE! 

E and I are expecting our first little baby! 

Yep, I'm PREGNANT!

I am still getting used to saying that. 

We couldn't be more excited or feel more blessed. 

I'm due on May 17th. 

So, tomorrow I will be 9 weeks!!

Trying to have a baby has been one heck of a roller coaster for us, but we've seen God in ways like never before.

I have so much to share about all the things that God has been doing and all that's going on now ... but I will save it for another post. A few of the details I am not ready to share yet, but I will soon ... I promise!

Here is a little video that I am sure you will enjoy :)

a lake weekend

Hello Bloggers!

I hope that you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon.

I have been napping and recovering from an amazing weekend!

This weekend E and I {and 16 other friends} enjoyed the perfect getaway and Fall kick - off. 

We were so blessed to be able to stay {for cheap} at a friends cabin for the weekend. 

A glimpse into our little adventure ...

picasa banner

Check out the new banner I just made using this EASY TUTORIAL from Clover Lane! Just a little random thing I felt like sharing.

{more} pieces for Fall

you can find any of these pieces here

fall is finally here

Well friends, after weeks and weeks of crazy hot weather ... I think I can safely say that Fall is finally here.

This morning I woke up and put my flippers (flip - flops)  on ... walked outside ... and my toes were actually chilly. 

I loved it. 

I am so thankful that there is no 90 degree weather in this weeks future. 

I'm sure my grass is thankful too ... or maybe it's too late. I'm really worried that it might be dead.

Anyways, if you know Starbucks slang then you know that this is a pumpkin spice latte. The perfect Fall treat. 

E and I have lots of fun plans for the next couple of weeks. Maybe I'll even bring my camera along and document a few of them. 

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend at a lovely lake house with a bunch of our best friends.

Dinner on Saturday to celebrate E and my Dad's birthday.

And a much needed girl's va - cay to South Carolina.

That's what is in the lineup for October. 

It is going to be such a good month. 

Other news ...

thanks to my AMAZING husband, our cabinets are finally finished. 

I'm thinking that I am going to photograph them and share this week.

They look amazing. It brightens up the kitchen so much. I am really glad that we left some of the doors off. Best decision by far.

If you're looking to paint your cabinets then please feel free to email me and I can give you the step - by - step process that we did.

Also, I will warn you ... do not begin this project unless you're crazy committed. 

IT WILL FEEL LIKE THE PROJECT THAT NEVER ENDS.

It is worth it though. 

My second goal is to put in new counter tops and finish other odds and ends before the end of the year. 

That's the goal.

More news ...

God has been amazing me in some BIG ways lately. 

He is so so good and faithful to me - even when I am not.

I promise to share soon.

Other random news ...

I recently started reading this book - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. 

I really like it - it's hysterical. 

If you need a little humor in your life, then I would suggest you pick it up.

Alright so there's a few random things going on in the Ridd household.

Really excited for Fall - hopefully that will encourage me to take more pictures, make more jewelry, and blog more. 

We'll see...

i spy with my little eye

something lovely ...

can you guess?

inspired

Hello Bloggers! 

Happy Saturday night. 

Yes, I am blogging on a Saturday night.

E and I have been enjoying a lazy day around the house. 

I love days like this.

I recently read a blog post over at Under the Sycamore. 

I was so inspired that I had to share. 

You can read it here.

My favorite quote from the post is ...

"I have five kids. One is adopted. I don't remember which one."

I cannot even put words on how much I love that quote.

wow.

new around here

Do you like?

I hope so!