Sunday, March 9, 2014

Baby O'Dell is here

I'm sure with my absense from the blog world most of you have figured out that Baby O'Dell has finally arrived...and...

It's a boy!!! 

Clyde James was born on February 16th and couldn't be more perfect. 

Blogging will definitely be taking the backseat to raising our little man, and staring at that sweet little face :)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A little something, something Valentine's Day Giveaway

With Valentine's Day right around the corner Shane decided to rally up some lovely bloggers and offer you all the chance to win a Victoria Secret gift card. 
Treat yo-self or get a little something, something for your love :) 
Whatever you decided to do with it, do it with love!


No matter if you have a significant other or not this Valentine's Day, I believe, we as ladies deserve to be pampered. And what woman wouldn't want to feel super sexy?  24 of my favorite bloggers out there have teamed up to give one lucky lady a $215 gift card to spoil yourself silly!


Giveaway will run until February 14th. All entries will be verified, so play nicely :)

psttt! Looking for some more pretty faces to spotlight. Go over to Shane's blog and use code: CUPID for $5 off any spot until Valentine's Day! 




Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Links I Love!

Sharing some of the fun links I've found lately. 
Hope everyone is staying warm and prepping for polar vortex numero dos. 

 
I shared that one of my goals this year was to be more active and to exercise "on purpose". Well, Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals shared with us that she has signed up for "The Workout Mama Bootcamp" and I decided to join in too! I'm pretty excited about it actually. It'll be a great way to get moving again after baby is born and to keep myself motivated throughout the month.

 I really enjoyed this article about dating and marriage. Especially with BabyO arrivals coming so soon I know it's important that Kev and I make some time for ourselves!

I cannot wait to try some of these easy breakfast recipes, they look delicious!

I know I've been in this predicament before and it sucks! Wine bottle and no corkscrew, not a problem anymore thanks to this video!

Considering we are about 3 weeks from BabyO's arrival I'm on the look out for all kinds of parenting articles. Some I take with a grain of salt, while others like the 7 Crippling Parenting Behaviors that Keep Children from Growing into Leaders I find to be helpful and relevant to actually apply to my parenting.

Happy Tuesday!

Friday, January 17, 2014

36 weeks!

 How far along 
36 weeks!

Best moment this week?
I've had another amazing baby shower and really with that being complete it really hits home that we only have about 4 weeks left until BabyO arrives! 
 
We had maternity pictures taken this last weekend.
Ashlee from Ashlee Layne Photography took them and gave us (and facebook) a little teaser! 
I cannot wait to see the rest! I seriously think I've been checking my email like every hour to see if she's sent us the link. 
 
We've gotten our pediatrician and daycare on locked down. Finding a ped. was one of those things I honestly didn't think about until someone mentioned it to me. 
 
Having the OB tell us that we'll be talking about labor and what not at our next appointment is really exciting...and slightly scary. I can't say that I'm super nervous about labor but that fact that I have no idea what to expect is a little scary.  
 
Maternity Clothes?
Oh yes! 

Stretch Marks?
Still none! 

Movement?
Lots and lots of movement but you can definitely tell baby is getting a lot more squished.
We are pretty much to the point of just pushing instead of kicking.
BabyO has also found what seems to be a very comfy spot for him/her in my rib cage. It about kills me and my ribs are pretty sore in this one spot but I suppose baby's gotta do what baby's gotta do.

 Food cravings?
Anything sweet really. This ranges from fruit - desserts.

What I miss:
Nothing new really. Knowing I'm almost to the end of pregnancy really has deterred my thoughts from missing things like sushi and beer to the fact our baby will be here anytime now!

Symptoms?
My hands have become swollen. Not crazy, and probably not noticeable to anyone else but I can no longer wear my wedding ring.

I've been eating less and a little more out of breathe lately because baby is growing there is less room for everything else in there.

Workouts:
Shoot just getting up and cleaning somethings around the house has become a work out in the last couple of weeks.

Gender Prediction?
Being so close to the end I'm going to just throw it out there.
This entire time whenever anyone has asked my initial thought has been boy. 
However, I do realize that I really have no idea and none of the "myths" out there about gender prediction has helped sway my thoughts one way or the other.
I have not allowed myself to really think for sure that baby is a boy or girl because I don't know and either way I'm going to be extremely happy once they make their arrival!

Sleep?
Beh, it's hit or miss.
Some nights I can sleep pretty well and it's probably because I'm so tired from the other nights I don't sleep.
Other nights I'm tossing and turning quite a bit.

What I'm looking forward to?
BabyO being here. That's really all I want at this point in time!

Wisdom or other thoughts?
When they say the second trimester is the golden trimester they were not kidding.
I've been blessed to not have experienced many of the "negative" effects of pregnancy but I did not miss the fatigue that I'm back to feeling and although the movement is quite incredible it can also be really uncomfortable at times. There are times when I miss the quick jabs and somersaults compared to the constant pushing on the rib cage...or worse, bladder. Oy!
However, with that said I think I've been the most excited in the third trimester because I know that he/she is almost ready to be here and I CAN'T WAIT (if you didn't catch that already...)

Happy Friday!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Looking Forward in 2014

Happy 2014 everyone. 

I hope you had a wonderful NYE. Kev and I did absolutely nothing but lounge and it was fantastic!

I believe that 2014 will be one of the best years yet.
We have several things to look forward to and although I'm not usually one to make resolutions there are a few goals that I've decided I really want to strive towards this year. 

I look back at 2013 and realize that I should have been better about setting some goals and actually sticking to them then what I did. 
I suppose that fact that I didn't really set goals for myself doesn't help the fact that I didn't really stick to anything.

We have so many fun things to look forward to this year and with BabyO making his/her debut in about a month and a half I know that 2014 is one that I'm going to really want to pay attention to, cherish every moment, and push myself to be the best me I can.

I feel like I'm coming up with four main goals that will really help me do all three of those things.

First and foremost I need to slow down and work on my patience.
This will be, by far, the hardest of my 4 goals.
Patience: It's been said about a million times on here that that I have no patience and I mean it.
I've already started looking on pinterest and online for some articles and ideas on how to help myself calm down a little bit.

Slow down: Kev and I are always on the go, mainly because of me.
I know with BabyO coming we won't have as much time or money to do all the social things we do now but I've already started thinking of all the things I want to do with baby once he/she arrives!
Baby isn't even out of the womb yet and I'm trying to come up with an agenda of things to do.
Whoa there Megan, chill out a little bit please?!
So I've bought myself a bigger, better planner to help manage my time in a more productive way.
Part of me wants to set up some rules for myself about how much I plan during a week but the other part of me feels like that is limited myself and if something fun or new comes up I don't want to turn it down just  because of my rules.


Second, eat better and legitimately exercise.
Eating: Something I love to do and probably do it to often, but food is just so stinkin' good.
I don't eat the worst, but I definitely do not eat the best. 
The challenge here is going to be figuring out how to make the things I love in a more healthy way.
As part of this goal I recently got an app called MealBoard to help me with meal planning and to try out some new recipes. Never been much of a meal planner but with the first goal I'm hoping that Kev and I will have quite a bit more time at home to make home cooked meals.
All you bloggers out there keep posting those delicious meals you make!
Any tips on meal planning? 
For those of you who do meal plan, how to handle last minute plans where you can't make the meal you recently planned for?

Exercising: now I say legitimately because I don't not exercise but I'm not really in a gym or actually exercise "on purpose". In the last year or so many of the times I've exercised was when I was doing things like playing volleyball with my friends, or taking the dogs on a walk with Danielle. Yes, I realize those activities are exercising but the exercise was not the reason for doing them. It was the socializing.
It is still activity and I don't plan to cut it out but I want to take more classes like yoga and zumba, and I want to see myself make it to the gym or running outside with some kind of mileage goals. I want to exercise solely for the purpose of exercising.
I do have a gym membership and again with me trying to not bog down the schedule do often I am working on setting up a routine to get myself there at least 3 times a week.
Also, I will be in 2 weddings this year, the first being in June so I need to shape up kinda quick after BabyO has arrived to fit into the bridesmaids dress! 
Any fun classes or apps you recommend to help me stick to my exercising?

Third, read more.
I used to read all.the.time and now I barely do.
I am in a book club but even then I don't usually make it through the book we are reading before we have our meeting.
I enjoy reading and why I don't set out some more time to do it is beyond me.
I've set a goal for myself to read 30 books this year on GoodReads.
30 doesn't seem like to many, and I suppose it's not but I wanted it to be realistic.
In reality I'm hoping I can read more than that but we'll see how it goes.
Anyone have any good book suggestions for me to add to my list?

 Fourth, spend less and declutter.
Declutter: as we've been preparing for BabyO I realize that Kev and I have way to much stuff!
I'm talking kitchen gadgets, decorations, clothes, everything!
It'd be one thing if we really used it all but we don't, or at least not often.
So this year I'm hoping to tackle some of the excess and purge.
I mean really purge, and not replace.
I'm hoping this spring/summer we can have a yard sale, and I can sell some things online to help bring some of the money spent back in, but I have no issues donating items and plan to have AmVets or Goodwill on speed dial to come pick up some things for us.

Spend Less: Much easier said than done for this girl.
I'm hoping between things like slowing down, meal planning, and decluttering this goal will come a little easier then it has in years passed.
However, I did recently joined Mint.com to help me with budgeting and figuring out where Kev and I really spend our money.
Right now I know we spend on very frivolous things that we don't need, and with baby coming this year that'll have to stop!
Plus who doesn't like to save money in general? Right?!
Do you guys have any quick and easy tips for me?!

I know people tend to pick a word to live by for a year and I think this year my word would be focus.
I really want to focus on these goals, and all of them will require my focus to stick to them.

What are some of your goals for 2014?

Happy Thursday!

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