A Unique Wedding Gift

So for those who know me, you know a lot of changes have been going on right now around this household. We got married in October, had a phenomenal honeymoon, found out we were expecting right before Christmas, had our house hit by a tornado, went on a fabulous babymoon and had a dear cousin murdered. Crazy ups and down right?!? Well in the midst of preparing for the baby we enlisted the help of some talented girls and friends of Henry to re-vamp our office to double as an office/guest bedroom before baby Coraline arrives. While going through all the stuff to determine what needs to be kept and what has been held onto for so long and REALLY needs to be trash I found a unique wedding gift that brought tears to my eyes.

My sister gave me this heartfelt gift the day of our wedding. Whether it was her idea or someone else's I have no idea, but all I can say is this was the best idea ever. She sent out a message/email/text to everyone close to us and asked them to write a letter to me. She then compiled all the letters and put them into a hard bound book with an engagement photo on the front of the book.

Reading these letters only reminded me why I love not only Henry, but my friends and family so very much. Their kind, heartfelt words mean the world to me, especially in such a hard time right now with the murder of my cousin being only a week old, our house still in disarray from the tornado, and Henry working out of town. I attached just a few of the letters below.

To those who wrote the letters listed below, I hope you do not mind me sharing such personal letters. If it bothers you or you wish to keep them private, please do not hesitate to let me know and I will gladly take them down. 

I love you all more than words will ever express!

The first page of the book

Mother-in-law

Henry's Aunt

Sister-in-law Part 1

Sister-in-law Part 2

Bridesmaid Lauryn

Bridesmaid Danni Part 1

Bridesmaid Danni Part 2

Bridesmaid Riki

Maid of Honor, Seester Stefanie

Guess who folded this nifty letter?

The best of them all! The sweetest letter from my husband that literally made me cry.
I am truly blessed to be married to such a wonderful, loving guy. 

My sister included this in the back once she was finished at the rehearsal dinner. It was an amazing speech that had almost everyone in tears, including each other. Especially the part about Henry including us as a package deal and not trying to keep us apart. I don't think anyone can comprehend the meaning of this to myself and my sister, and Henry just did it naturally.

Maid of Honor Speech Part 1

Maid of Honor Speech Part 2

23 WEEKS

How far along? 23 Weeks

Total weight gain? I have officially gained 17 lbs. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! The doctor however says it's fine, that I look great and have a big baby so it's no big deal. Given my boobs have grown drastically, but the baby being 1 lb and given the boobs probably 2 lbs MAX - that's TOO much weight by my standards. I don't care what my doctor says. Cue depression. LOL I shouldn't gain more than 30 lbs over the course of the pregnancy and Coraline still has her biggest growth spurts ahead of us. 

Maternity Clothes? ASOS in the UK is my go-to maternity store! Free shipping, plus free return shipping if it doesn't fit or I don't like it. Sign me up. Not to mention, GREAT prices. All outfits can be worn post maternity too. I am obsessed. I will forever rave about them. 

Stretch Marks?  Still have the red mark I freaked about on Week 21 & 22. Other than that, looks like I am clear for now. 

Sleep:  Coraline has settled down at night, especially since my amazing pillow arrived! I can officially sleep on my left side, supported on all sides by a cloud. I highly recommend getting a body pillow. This thing helps prevent me from rolling all the way on my back, which is how I like to sleep, but gives me support to lean back against. 

Best moment this week: Spur of the moment photo session with bestie Taylor from Pink Heels Pink Truck and getting the CRIB!!

Miss Anything? Sushi and Rum

Movement: Oh yes! This week we counted about 37 movements in about 1 minute! Henry had his hand on my belly as she kicked about and finally he said into my belly, "Coraline, why are you so angryyyy?" LOL She was having a fit or something! But I loved every bit of it. <3 Especially because when she starts to move, the moment Henry sets his hand on my belly she freezes lol. Loved how he got to feel her A LOT! 

Food cravings: Fruit (watermelon) and for the life of me I can not find a great watermelon! Any tips for picking the best? I can pick them wonderfully if they are cut open, but a whole watermelon has been 0 for 7 lately. They aren't sweet or hard as heck!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Textures are still making me sick as well as red meat. 

Gender RESULTS: BABY GIRL!!! My gut feeling was right all along! I absolutely can't wait to meet her!

Labor Signs: Too soon

Symptoms: Disappearing belly button, baby bump, nails and hair growing like weeds, baby movements (the best!) and my boobs have drastically increased, which has lead to the dreaded red-mark, and frequent bathroom visits. I am starting to wake up at least twice a night, and it's like I wake up and have to RUN to the bathroom! Bending over is beginning to get difficult, especially to tie my shoes or take my boots off. Then my back has begun to break out like a highschool boy going through puberty on steroids. That bad. Luckily, it is on my upper back and my long hair covers it, but I am praying it goes away before our beach maternity shoot in St. John. 

Belly Button in or out? Innie - barely.

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing out the nursery!

Baby Name? Coraline! I love the name!! See WEEK 21 for name details. <3

Thoughts: Henry has been out of town a lot so getting someone to take a picture of the board has been hard. I really don't like calling someone over just to take a photo of me. SOOO I was beyond happy when Taylor showed up at my friends ranch with her camera for me to take photos of her, and I was able to get her to take photos of me too. Especially wearing what I thought was a cute outfit. <3

**NEW** About the Board: No board this week - again. I am sorry!!!

**NEW** Pregnancy/Maternity Fashion: I am wearing an empire waist maxi dress from Victoria's Secret which can be found HERE. I am not completely comfortable with my boobs popping out of this dress so to make it more modest I tied a Chambray top from The Gap and paired it with a necklace from a local boutique. The gorgeous jeweled sandals are from Dillards - one of the few places that carry shoes for my big feet! <3

More photos from the photo session:

To Be Or Not To Be....That Is A Very Good Question.

Please be mindful of any comments you decide to leave, it took a lot to post this and open up.

The random quotes are quotes I have found and love. All can be found here: Pinterest: Words of Wisdom

As most of you know, I am pregnant! Henry and I are learned we are expecting our first child just a few short months following our wedding we planned for 2 1/2 years.

During our wedding planning process I learned a lot about myself, Henry, our personal styles and who in our life was really willing to go the extra mile, and who just wanted to be present when there was a crowd to save-face. 

I had friends and family willing to do whatever they could whether they lived down the street or hours away. People driving hours to be there for me just for a day, people skyping with me to see what they could do to help and people doing something as simple as texting me and asking if I was ok. Wedding planning was stressful people! LOL I definitely learned, no matter how much time you have, something will go wrong. It's inevitable. You just have to grit your teeth and laugh it off. 

Then there were other friends and family members that claimed they would do this or that, wanted to help this way or that way, but when it came down to it, they were no where to be found. BUT the day of the wedding they were there showing their pearly whites and acting like they had been there for me the entire process. 

Now that I am pregnant I find some of the same people, doing the same thing. 

To be or not to be a part of my life, that is the question. 

How many chances do you give someone?

 How long do you go on pretending you don't care? 

How long do you pretend their snide comments don't bother you?

How long do you allow them to pretend to the world they are your best "friend" and would do anything for you, when in fact behind closed doors they do nothing?

Going to college was a real eye-opener for me. I got to meet a lot of new people, and see how other people lived their lives. How different relationships functioned. I learned that some of the relationships I had thought were normal, were actually extremely dysfunctional, such as my boyfriend of 5 years at the time. Holy Guacamole was that the most dysfunctional relationship ever, but before going to college, I thought it was the bees-knees. Sad really.

Talking with my amazing sister-in-law today at lunch made me realize a lot. I love her much like my own little sister because both ladies are real. They don't pretend to be someone they are not. They are honest, truthful even when the truth hurts, real, smart, funny, dependable and so much more than a girl could dream of asking for from two women. I know I can talk to either girl, tell them the truth, even when it may be negative towards them and they listen with open ears and hearts. I don't ever have to feel like I am walking on glass when talking to them and same for them with me. The only other girls in my life that are this way would be my best friends Danni, Taylor and Riki. Another great thing about all these ladies and we all know, you don't say something behind someones back if you would be ashamed if they found out, or wouldn't say it to their face. It's a way a lot of women should be, but sadly in our society a lot of women gossip and honestly don't know how to be REAL.

I realized I am exerting a lot of wonderful energy on things that don't deserve energy at all. I am pregnant for petes sake and could be using all this productive energy on the future nursery, shopping, scrapbooking, re-organzing my craft room, taking day trips, surprising the Hubby with a new garage work-station, and oh, did I mention shopping? I am GREAT at shopping. HA! 

There are always going to be people in your life who love you and tolerate you through good and bad. 

Kind of like wedding vows. 

People who not only expect respect, but give it to.

No one is perfect.

People fuck up. Pardon my french.

At the end of the day it is up to you who you allow in your life. 

You choose who to give your time and energy too.

No one can force you to do anything you truly don't want to do.

"Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strong relationship." Margaret Mead