Before Baby - An Open Letter to My Husband

In the interest of full disclosure, I obtained Bry's permission to share this with you first so technically it wasn't written with the intention of being an open letter. I was feeling a little lot emotional this morning and had to get a few things off my chest...

Before Baby - An Open Letter to My Husband 

Before our lives change so completely that we quickly forget what they used to look like, I wanted to share a few things with you:

Number one. I love you.
I love you so incredibly much that those three words don't even seem to do it justice. I love you so much that I'm sobbing uncontrollably while typing this because a) pregnancy hormones and b) I'm so overcome and grateful that I found you -- that the universe and God so divinely made our paths cross so that we could go through this journey together. I wouldn't want to and can't imagine doing it with anyone else. Thank you for being my person. Thank you for being exactly the one that I was supposed to fall in love with.

Number two. I'm scared. 
But not in the way that you might think. I'm scared in the way that I'm grieving "us" -- the couple that we used to be, before we've even morphed into the new "us." The parent version of "us." Don't get me wrong. We're totally going to kill the parent game. We've already made our pact to not fall into the oh-so-common trap of "we are parents now, we can't do that fun stuff anymore." That's BS, we can do whatever the hell we want, we're grown adults. It's just that as previously mentioned, you're my buddy, my roll dog, my ride or die, my drinking pal, my dancing partner. You're the person that I can just exchange a glace with at a party when someone is being annoying/weird/obnoxious and you'll just nod and smirk and I know that you're thinking and feeling the exact same thing at the the exact same moment. And I don't want that to ever go away. Let's make sure that never goes away.

Number three. I'm so excited. 
I know that you're nervous about the details of parenting -- how to hold a baby, how to change a diaper. Don't worry. You're more than capable and there's going to be a very short learning curve for you there, I can promise you that. What I'm so looking forward to is seeing you as a dad. Seeing you tell your ridiculous made-up stories to our child, seeing you teach him/her how to throw a football, making him/her laugh uncontrollably at your goofy voices (like you often make me do.) You see, even though you've had your doubts about being ready for children, it's been so obvious to me that you were meant to do this. You're a protector. A doer. A worrier. An entertainer. Don't you see that all of those qualities are exactly the same things that make someone a great parent and father? I've seen it all along. 

Number four. Thank you. 
I don't say it enough. Thank you for everything that you do for me, for my family, for our well-being. Thank you for working so hard so that we can have the home and life that we do. Thank you for always taking the initiative to get shit done -- especially when I'm being lazy or forgetful. Thank you for handling so much of the minutiae (the customer service calls, the bills, etc.) Thank you for being an amazing friend and husband and thank you for putting up with my mess (both literally and figuratively.) Thank you for pushing me to be a better person every day. In just about a week, we will have been "officially" a couple for eight years. Eight freaking years!? And while there have been so many ups and downs in all of that time, I would not change a thing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all of that. 

So, sometime in the very near future -- it could be a day from now, it could be weeks from now -- things are going to be a little different for us. I'm going to be a hormonal mess (more so than usual,) we're going to be a little sleep-deprived, we're going to have moments of frustration, and moments of pure blissful happiness. But please, always remember that I am so in love with you. That "we" are still "us." That together we can handle ANYTHING. And that everyday I thank God for you. 

I love you and don't know what I would do without you. 

---- 

And in classic BryGuy fashion, this is the response back that I received complete with a gif. LOL

"That's amazing. Let's have this baby. That was better than any pre-game or half-time locker room speech I have ever heard. I am ready to run through a wall. I love you! LET'S GO!"

The nursery reveal!

It's finally here! I've received so many questions about the nursery, so I'm excited to finally share it with you! I stayed pretty true to my original nursery inspiration post, and I'm so thrilled with how this little room turned out. Sometimes, on my way down the hall to the bathroom I'll just stop, and flick on the nursery light and take it all in. I can't believe this room will belong to a miniature little person soon. It is my hope that this room will make him or her feel happy, loved, and safe. As you might recall, this room was previously my dressing room (aka my happy place.) So, I begrudgingly moved my belongings out, and moved in a crib and glider and a thousand outfits that are so tiny it's unimaginable that they fit on an actual human being. Check out more photos and links for items below.

One Resolution Only for 2015

Special thanks to Bailly Photography for the beautiful maternity photos! 

Happy 2015 friends! We're about seven days into a new year which means you will probably still be typing/writing the wrong date on things for a few more weeks. For the past few years, I've documented my new goals for the year on this blog (2014 goals and 2013 goals.) Some of these have been accomplished -- many have not. This year, I'm switching it up a bit. I'm going to focus on one goal and one goal only...

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. DON'T WISH IT AWAY. 

I'm a master planner, always thinking ahead, always making lists, always anticipating the next thing to come. This year, I am going to try and suppress those planning tendencies and just stop. Breath. Take it all in. In approximately one month, I will get a new label, "mama bear." I'm excited. Terrified. Anxious. In disbelief. In awe. And so many other emotions I can't articulate.

But, I'm not naive. I'm aware that parenting comes with many many challenges. I know that infants are little crying, pooping, eating, spit-up machines and I know that I'll have sleepless nights and moments of complete emotional breakdown. BUT I also know that I'm so blessed to have been given this gift, to have been given an experience and opportunity that so many people hope and pray for. So this year, yes, I want to get back into shape asap and I have lots of other things I'd like to accomplish personally and professionally, but I'm going to keep all of those goals second to the one important one.

I'm going to soak in every "first," I'm going to take WAY too many photos, I'm going to schedule date nights with my husband and I'm going to try and stop planning and anticipating the next things that will come and appreciate exactly what is happening now.

What goal(s) do you have for 2015? 

Playing Catch-Up

This holiday season has been a whirlwind. I would sit here an apologize to you about how I've been MIA but the truth is, it was kind of nice to put the blog on the back burner and focus on myself and my family during the holiday season. So to catch you up since Thanksgiving... we've spent the majority of our time mentally and physically preparing for this baby to come, expected in about four weeks time (maybe a little sooner, maybe a little later, who knows?) 

BryGuy and I had a fabulous Christmas in Upstate New York and were incredibly blessed with lots of gifts from Santa, ridiculous amounts of family time, all the delicious treats and unhealthy food one can consume. We headed back to Philadelphia before the New Year to get all settled in and spent a nice night with friends on New Years Eve. We had a delicious dinner at a restaurant that I've always wanted to try and then got cozy in our PJ's and watched the ball drop and had a lot of laughs. Quite possibly the best part of my New Year's celebration was watching my dear friend Josh get engaged to the love of his life, Shayna. We are so happy for them and so excited to dance the night away at their wedding in September! 2015 is going to be an amazing year :) 

Peep more photos from Christmas and New Year's Eve below.