spooked the halls

it's no secret that i LOVE fall. i love everything about it. so, of course i would fill our house with decor. most of the stuff we have, i have crafted or bought on clearance. i love it all. halloween is a holiday i am coming to love and love adding some halloween pieces to my fall decor. have you spooked your halls yet? 

hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 
xo

sunday words

print via 

happy sunday, friends!
ps. we got a new computer last night so expect more regular posts! 

lately

+ babysat my cousins cute daughters berkley and cece, last week. they are so fun and were so good! 

+ fall is coming and of course our house looks and smells like it. these bath and body candles are amazing. i am in love. 

+ my mom came to visit for a few days. of course i forgot to take pics together. whoops. we did a lot while she was here. it was so fun! wish she lived closer. 

+ park city on a gloomy day was amazing. it was so pretty. 

+ chose the cribs we want for the babies. ikea really is the best. we even picked up that amazing polka dot rug for their room too! 

+ we have a lot of the big pieces for their room. we just need to paint the dresser and changing table. it's starting to get so real. in a few months we will grow to a family of 4! ah! 

+ since we found out the babies are one of each we have been thinking baby names. i think we have the final two but, we may wait til they are born to choose. even though i am pretty sure we love the ones we picked. im not sharing til they are here! 

+ i wish it was time for me to put some pumpkins on our porch. hubs says to wait til october. hpmh so far away. anyone else eager for fall to really be here. hurry up! 

bumpdate {18 weeks}

HOW FAR ALONG:  18 weeks 3 days in the picture with TWINS {18 weeks 4 days as i type!}

MATERNITY CLOTHES: yep. with this cooler weather i have been wearing my maternity pants and loving them. while my mom was here we got some more pants and i think i am set for now! just need to get some long sleeve tops for when it gets cold. still a challenge figuring out what to wear. yes, the weather is cooler but not cool enough for all my sweaters i am dying to wear! 

WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS: guys, i have finally gained weight! a whole 4 pounds. my dr isn't worried anymore because the babies look healthy and are growing as they should be. hoping they do through out!

BEST THING THIS WEEK: finding out what these precious babies are and feeling them move around. oh and having strangers ask when our baby is due. we then say, we are having twins and then seeing their faces. so funny! 

GENDER: 1 BOY and a 70% chance baby B is a GIRL. the dr looked and looked for another boy part but didn't see one. she saw three little lines. which means she has girl parts. she looked for a while and said she was 70% sure it was a she. so, we are going with that chance! 

MOVEMENTS: oh yeah, mostly at night after dinner. our little guy is more active then our little girl. i have a feeling we have a hyper boy on our hands and an easy going calm baby girl. haha. 

FOOD CRAVINGS/AVERSIONS: everyday is different. i get cravings that come out of nowhere. currently its a big mac. which is weird because i haven't had a big mac in years! so weird. not sure if should even think about indulging in that craving. i don't indulge in all my cravings, that would be bad! ha. 

WHAT I MISS: being able to walk with our being in pain. lately i have been suffering from back and leg pain. which is normal and will only get worse til they are here. fun stuff! 

SLEEP: some nights are better than others. few nights ago i slept 9 hours with out getting up to pee. i felt like a new woman! ha. 

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: decorating their room. we have gathered a few pieces already and i cannot wait to put it all together. hoping the vision i have in my head will look good in real life. :)

i cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going. i will be 19 weeks on thursday. say what??! lately with all these aches and pains i am realizing i can't do all i used too. my mom was here for a few days and boy it wore me out. all the walking and such. i still loved having my mom here. she is the best. she helped us so much. thanks momma! 

i work in the nursery in church and after yesterday i realized it is too much for me now at this stage in the pregnancy. it makes me so sad though. i love those kids and really do love working with them every sunday but, i got to take care of my body and know my limits. 

let's see, what else is new not too much. just super excited that we finally know what they are. we love our baby boy and baby girl. cannot wait for them to get here! :)

what you don't expect, when you're expecting {part 2}

hi ladies, im back for part 2 of this little series on the blog. in case you missed the first part click here. i am sharing bits and pieces of what i have learned/experienced so far during my pregnancy. these are my own opinions and words. every pregnancy is different so you may not experience these things or you may. 


you get the memory of a pea
this is something i would tease friends for when they were pregnant. not fully understanding it was a real thing. let me tell you i forgot everything these days. dan finds it pretty funny. 

crying is a common thing
you will cry a lot. its ok because you have an excuse. your hormones are so out of whack  i cry sometimes at commercials, if i drop something and im exhausted, if dan gives me a weird look, thinking about how big i will be at the end, or what have you. you will cry. its ok to cry. trust me. 

ultrasounds will be your favorite 
every time we have an appointment i get so giddy. i love seeing our babies and watching the grow. ah it really is the best. i wasn't prepared for all the emotions the first time we saw them, i was blown away how amazing it is. there are two precious human beings growing inside of me right now. amazing. 

your body isn't the only thing changing
your marriage will too. you have all these crazy hormones going on and it's bound to happen. the little fights here and there. it's been a crazy ride so far and i know it's going to continue once the babies are here. this is something we are really working on. working on communicating, making time for each other, and putting each other first. easier some days then others but, isn't that true for marriage in general. 

your husband needs love still 
this is something i have tried to make a huge effort in doing. poor husbands tend to get left out when it comes to pregnancy. of course they helped in creating the babies but, they don't get to carry them and create that special bond right away. i don't want dan to feel left out or like it's all about the babies now. i try to plan things for us to do that don't involve anything baby related. {sometimes aka most of the time we end up talking about them! haha} he is probably more excited than me for these babies. ok, maybe we are tied with the excitement levels. 

so, all you mamas don't forget to show your husbands some love through out the pregnancy!

if it sounds good, eat it
this may not be true for every single pregnancy. in my case it was. since i was so sick my dr said "if it sounds good eat it". now that im in my 2nd trimester i try to eat a balanced diet as well as eat what sounds good. if i have a craving i indulge. i also drink TONS of water! that can be applied to every one! 


....i could probably go on and on with more but, i will save those for later on. if you have any questions feel free to email me {find my email under the contact me tab!} 

what you don't expect, when you're expecting {part 1}

hi ladies! i'm about to get real with you on this here blog. these are my opinions and my words. i am by no means saying any of these things will happen to you. every pregnancy is different. i have been pondering over this post for a few weeks. trying to think of the best way to go about this and how i want to share these things. not all are "bad" things because, when it comes down to it. i LOVE being pregnant. it really is the best!

i am going to share somethings i have experienced or learned so far through my pregnancy. i will split it up into two parts. so come back thursday for the rest! 

you will be sicker than sick

i knew all about morning sickness or as i call it anytime sickness before we saw that + sign. i don't think i was fully aware of how sick i would get. {lo and behold it was because there are two babies in there. two babies=twice the sickness} every time i  got sick i would cry because, i hated throwing up so much. it lasted about a month and i lost about 10-15lbs. i couldn't cook dinner, i couldn't walk in the kitchen, or watch certain commercials without getting sick. it was terrible.

once i hit the 2nd trimester it got so much better. i was so relieved! if you are currently experiencing morning sickness/anytime sickness know it will get better and there a few things you can do it ease it. here a few things that helped me before i got zofran from my dr. i went a long time without the meds {i like to tough things out if i can. haha!} anyways, back to what helped me. sea bands-can be found at walmart, lemon heads, lots of water, plain white bread, sleeping, cool wash cloths on my head, and lots of resting. there are vitamins you can try too like, ginger pills and  b6. they didn't help me at all. just made me more sick. 

you think you get tired now

i know we all know the tired feeling but, when you are baking a baby or babies the tired feeling is SO different. i was so exhausted all the time. no joke. i napped every single day for 2 hours and even would get plenty of sleep at night. still, so tired. 

the only thing you can do here is sleep and keep chugging along during the day. if you are able to take naps like i was. girl, you need too! again, this feeling went away for the most part when i hit the 2nd trimester. 

watching your belly grow will amaze you

going into this pregnancy i didn't know how soon i would show or how i would feel about getting bigger. yeah, i am only 17 weeks with twins so i still have a TON of growing to do but, i still love watching my belly grow everyday. i started showing around 10 weeks again because there are two babies. i love it. i love that i have a belly and people can tell i am pregnant. best feeling watching this belly grow. 

pregnancy induced carpal tunnel is a thing

who knew? not me. when my hands started tingling and really bugging me i asked my dr. she suggested wearing a brace at night and seeing how it goes from there. it helped a ton. i still wear it {when i remember....pregnancy brain. see next point} if i feel the tingles coming back. this is something that is very common. again, who knew! ha

feeling your baby/babies for the first time
will make you cry and bring the biggest smile to your face. i thought i could feel them for a while but, wasn't sure. it wasn't until last week {at 17 weeks} when i felt one and knew it was for sure. i rushed to the other room to have dan feel and he felt it too. i started to get a little teary eyed. it is amazing. i love feeling them move around so cute! they seem to like my in laws house. we go over there every sunday for dinner and the last two weeks after dinner they both start moving like crazy. my mother in law and niece even felt one this week! so exciting! 

come back thursday for some more "what you don't expect, when you're expecting".....

a giveaway//diamond candles

A few weeks ago I received an email from this amazing candle company. Diamond Candles. we chatted about doing a giveaway and review. I was so excited to choose a candle of my very own. It was sure hard to choose which one I wanted. 

I ended up getting the black raspberry vanilla. Oh boy was that a good choice. Smells so dang yummy! You see, not only do you get a sweet candle when you order one. There is a secret ring hidden inside the candle. Yes, I said hidden in the candle. The rings in the candles are worth anywhere from $10, $100, $1,000, or $5,000. pretty sweet huh? The ring I got {which I failed to get a pic of for the post!} didn't have a special sticker on it so it's probably just a $10 one. Still pretty though! The rings are well wrapped to protect from the wax and after burning for several hours pretty easy to get out without ruining your candle. Not to mention the candles are huge and have plenty of burning time. I love me big candles! 

Want to know more about this awesome company? Read below: 

"We are so glad you are here! If you don't know much about us yet we have real rings worth $10, $100, $1,000, or $5,000 in every single earth friendly, all natural soy candle that we make.

The combination of highly fragrant premium quality soy candles, an exciting and fun 'ring reveal' experience (what ring will you find?), and a ring to wear for months and years to come means making something as boring as burning candles in your home something to look forward to.

Once you burn your candle down and find your ring, head over to facebook and upload a photo or video of you and your ring for everyone else to see! You can watch some 'ring reveal' videos, or go ahead and take the plunge and get your first soy candle!'

-via diamondcandles.com

Have I sold you on these candles yet? Well guess what? Diamond Candles is giving one lucky abcde reader a candle of their very own! Luckyyy! All you need to do is enter by using the rafflecopter widget and ta da! 

Which candle would you choose? See all their amazing choices here. && good luck! Winner will be chosen at random and then emailed by me! :)

You can find more Diamond Candle info here: 
Facebook//Twitter//Pinterest//Instagram

a Rafflecopter giveaway

book review >>> divergent

"In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance."-via amazon.com

This book had been on my reading list for a while. After my morning sickness went away I felt like reading again and finally clicked purchase on my kindle. Best decision ever. This was quite the page turner. 

What is it about Young Adult books that hook me in? Hunger Games, Clockwork series, Matched, Delirium, etc. I can't help it. So it's about this girl Tris who has to choose where she will spend the rest of her life. She seems a bit Bella-ish. At first I was I was all oh no another "poor me girl" Nope, this girl is pretty tough like Katniss. She chooses her Faction and is thrown into a whole new world for her. She even meets a hunk names Four. They have quite the sexual tension the first part of this book if you ask me. When they finally kissed I about scream "FINALLY!"

In this Faction they train to be fighters, basically. That's how she falls for Four. I don't want to give away too much but, there is some crazy twists towards the end. I could not put it down. 

Lucky for us all there is 3 books in this series. I am currently reading the 2nd and love. I highly suggest this book. If you have a kindle it's only 3.99. Score right. What are you waiting for go get yourself a copy. The third comes out in October! 

Any suggestions for me to add to my list? I wanted to do the whole 25 books before im 25 in November but, I am a "little" behind. Oops! That whole morning sickness took almost 2 months away from me. 

four from labor day

so, its currently almost 5 am and im awake. for two reasons: having to pee all the time and the hubby is snoring. with that said i still love him and i love when the babies daddy {a new name for daniel!} has a day off. this weekend was a 3 day weekend for him and it was so much fun. i love spending time with the hubby. some highlights from the weekend:

+ friday night we had an impromptu double date night with jase and rachel. we grabbed dinner at cafe rio then went to see butler. what a great movie. i may have shed quite a few tears. highly recommend.

+ saturday evening we went on a little date {i know another one!} sushi at a new place {well new to me}. don't worry i ordered cooked stuff only! then window shopping for the babies at city creek. we went into gap and gymboree and i pretty much died over the cute clothes. ahh one week from today we will finally know what these babies are! cannot wait! 

+ this baby bump is growing so fast and getting dressed on sundays is becoming quite the challenge. i may need to add a few more options to the mix soon when it gets colder. like i will need some tights, and maybe some new skirts/dresses. oh boy! 

+ monday after a fun time at my dads hanging out with my little siblings, we went out to rocky mountain raceway for some races. i always feel SO out of place there. so much fun for people watching, though. did you guys have a good weekend?

monday after the races i barley made it to our bed. i felt so gross. sweaty and hurting so much. my back and legs. dang sciatica. then yesterday morning when i woke up i went to stretch and my calves tightened up. like the worst pain ever. i cried and tried rubbing them but it took a few minutes to relieve some pain. i have no idea what the heck it was. maybe the way i slept. i dont know. 

any other pregnant ladies experience this? the rest of the day they ached. trust me, i tried stretching multiple times and still achy. i googled and think maybe its a potassium thing. this mama needs some more bananas i guess. 

one pregnant lady rant before i go: maybe it's my hormones but, this has really bugged me and i am turning to you all.... 

i fell that any time i share something about my pregnancy other people have to one up me. {this is not just one person, its been quite a few via emails and stuff} if i say something about an aliment i am dealing with i get responses like "oh wait til your 9 months and blah blah blah". trust me i know things will get a lot more uncomfortable for me quick, there are two in there. it's not just then, its when i say good things too. im just over here, like let me enjoy my pregnancy. every pregnancy is different. if you had one aliment or experience doesn't mean everyone will have it or they are wrong if they have another. oh and i don't need to be hearing about your neighbors-friends-sister who had twins and they were born and one died. really? really? sure, let's tell a first time mom who is pregnant with twins these kinds of stories? really? i worry everyday about my babies, but all i can do is take care myself and pray they will be healthy when they arrive. right?! some people!

i guess i am just overly sensitive these days. is that my mama bear kicking in slowly? don't get me wrong i openly accept advice and need all i can get but, i don't appreciate the other kinds of comments. i think people have a hard time remembering every single pregnancy is different. its a proven fact. am i alone in feeling like this? have any of you experienced this? how did you handle these comments? did it affect you?

maybe it's just me needing to get a handle of my hormones and reactions. i dont know. oh well, im done ranting. with all this said, i LOVE being pregnant. it truly amazes me that i can grown two humans. two precious lives are developing inside of me right now. in a few months i will be able to snuggle them. i cannot wait. i even feel guilty for posting this rant and it took me a while to push publish. i guess, i just feel bad for having those thoughts during this happy time. oy....

in one week we find out the what these babies are and i am so excited! anyways, have a happy hump day! 

xoxo

happy list//september

the growing bump 

my thoughtful husband

fall is around the corner 

my knowledge of eternal families 

smell of pumpkin spice

usually daily naps

maternity jeans {best invention ever}

my cute nursery kids {im going to miss them when i cant keep up anymore}

my loving family

finally being able to know what these babies are in a few weeks 

pregnancy cravings {currently stuffed chicken and bacon papa murphys pizza. mmmm}

whats making you happy this month?!