it'a a girl!

i know that isn't new news, but i can't tell you how amazing it was to have the ultrasound tech tell us that!

you see, i knew.  i know, i know.  you're probably thinking, "you had a 50/50 chance jade...".  and yes, you're right, but it was more than that.  things have happened over the last couple of weeks.  and the day before the ultrasound i told shaun that i would be surprised if we weren't having a girl...

i always wanted a sister.  yes, i have a little brother that i adore and would never ever replace.  but a sister in the mix would have been fun too.  i have a theory about how i'm not a very good "girlfriend" (as in, girl and girl friendships) because i don't have a sister.  you know what i'm talking about?  the girls that are the best girlfriends have sisters.  right?  well, not always of course, but that's the excuse i'm using for being a lousy girlfriend...

so, as i was saying, the idea of C having a sister has always been a strong desire of mine.  of course, with how long it took for us to get pregnant this time, i would have loved a boy or a girl.  but, as the time got closer to finding out, i kept wondering if sisters would be in our future.

a week before the ultrasound, C and i were admiring a beautiful sunset, when i looked up and saw a big pink cloud over our house.  the first thing i thought was, girl!  i yelled to shaun, "babe, there's a huge pink cloud over our house!  do you think this means we're having a girl?!?"  we tried to grab a picture, but missed it.  he thought i was crazy...

the next monday night i had a dream.  we were at the doctors office finding out the sex and they told us it was a girl.  i remember in my dream, saying "i get to have sisters!"  i had a gender dream about C, in the very beginning.  we didn't find out with her, but i remember journaling in the very beginning that she was a girl.

the day before the ultrasound i read the scripture on my desk calendar at work.  Jan 17th - Your workmanship is marvelous - and how well i know it.  you were there while i was being formed in utter seclusion! ~ Psalm 139:14,15.  what a beautiful reminder of how He forms us in our mother's womb.  i had been thinking about our baby so much lately.  excited that we were about to see her and find out the sex, but also nervous.  if there was something wrong, this ultrasound would be where we found out.

since i don't work on fridays, i flipped to the next day to see what it would say on the day of our ultrasound.  Jan 18th - she lives.  she loves.  she laughs.  she makes every day a celebration of who she is in Christ.  i knew it!  i just knew that this day would say something about "she".  something about a girl.  the first line got me.  she lives.   this is the point i emailed shaun.  i sent him both days and said "i'm going to be shocked if we aren't having a girl!"

ultrasound on friday revealed right away.  GIRL.  i knew it.  i said the line from my dream.  "i get to have sisters!"

as shaun and i were leaving the doctor, i couldn't stop smiling.  i was of course excited about another healthy baby girl, but almost more excited about how God had been revealing things to me lately.  i know that for some, that probably sounds weird.  all of these things could be coincidental.  but i really believe that God hears us.  he listens.  he cares about the little things that to others may seem insignificant.  and he knows the desires of our hearts.  things won't always go our way, but i feel like in this situation, it was a sweet reminder of what a sweet God we have. 

so....

onto planning for baby girl #2!  sometimes i don't know how i waited to find out with C...

i've started planning the nursery a little bit.  starting with this...

i'm obsessed with katie daisy.  C has a couple of prints in her room and bathroom.  i got one for my bro and sis-in-law for christmas.  the hubs got me one for christmas.  so, it only made since that i got baby girl #2 one too!  isn't this the sweetest?  love the colors.  love the line from alice and wonderland.  love it all.  so, it's my starting point.

today i went and bought some new fabric.  can't wait to get started!!!

and, just because i'm way excited, and i couldn't do this with C (since we didn't know early that she was a girl), i'm also getting these...

 is that bow not the sweetest thing you've ever seen?  well, besides that little babe it's on...;)

and once she's born, we've already decided she's going to need this in her room...

"sweet baby girl"  love it!  can't wait to meet her!

off to pin more to my nursery board!!

katie daisy print here; fabric from JoAnn's; baby felt bow here;  baby hat here;  birth announcement subway art here

Lands' End

Lands' End was catalog that my mom used to get. it always had pretty nice stuff, but it was all pretty "momish". well, today i was looking for a momish bathing suit top and found out some wonderful things about lands' end. they have evolved and they have some great features on their website. so, i thought i would share.

first - my best friend told me to check out their overstock department. it's seperate from their sale. i went and found a pretty cute top for $10! check it out {here} i was really pleased with the selection and the prices. notice how this top was at one point $52! and they actually had my size! most of the time when you look through really reduced sale items they are out of the most common sizes like 6 or 8. well, i'm an average girl and those are my sizes. but i was able to get the top in my size. i am really excited! i hope it works.

second - after i purchased the top, i decided to check out their Lands' End Canvas section. i originally thought i was going to be looking at their totes. (have you ever had one of their totes? very sturdy and very useful. i use mine all the time.) ok - so i went to the canvas section. check it out {here}. when you see this what do you think of? j.crew right? young girls in comfy cute clothing. well keep looking, because...you can! the prices are not as high as j.crew. they are not dirt cheap, but a polo shirt is like $25 or $30. and tops are like $20. now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE J.CREW! i just can't always afford j.crew.

third - after i looked through most of the clothing, i realized i needed wanted some of their cute tops. but i had already ordered my bathing suit top. and i don't want to have to pay shipping for 2 orders from one place. i figured i could call them really quick and add the shirts, but i'm at work. i shouldn't really be shopping right now (or blogging for that matter), so calling them might give me away. so...i tried the live chat feature. SO COOL! annette came on and asked me how she could help and then added my two shirts to my existing order and then sent me an email confirmation before she left. it was amazing!!

this picture might be kind of small. but basically this is my chat with annette.

so, i just wanted to share this new knowledge with you all. as you can tell, i'm pretty excited.

i'll let you know how things work out.

oh wait - reason four why i like lands' end. anything you order online, you can return to a sears' that sell lands' end. that's awesome! i really hope that everything works out, but just in case...

have a great thursday!

4 days

the weekend is coming! the weekend is coming! and for me, it starts tomorrow. yeah! and monday is a holiday, so that means i get 4 days off! 4 days at home to be with my baby. double yeah!

i want to make something fun this weekend. shaun and i already celebrated valentine's last tuesday because my mom is our only babysitter right now and she will be out of town this weekend. plus, i got shaun tickets to the UK game, so we celebrated a little early. but...i still want to do a little something on sunday. have some kind of tasty treat for dinner and dessert. but i don't know what to make. i'll probably go with red velvet cake for dessert. shaun looooves the cream cheese icing i make. and i was watching sunny anderson's cooking show on the food network the other day and this is the red velvet cake she made. i think i'm going to use regular cream cheese icing, but the look of this one is so cool. i'll let you know how it goes.

but what should i make for dinner? shaun is so picky i don't have a lot of options. i read great recipes all the time, but it almost always includes cheese or ranch or seafood or rice. he is pretty much against all this stuff, plus much more. maybe something steak related? does anyone know any good recipes?

hopefully we will be able to get out and do something and the snow won't keep us house bound. usually i love staying in on cold weekends, but i want to go out and do something. i need a new jacket. one with a hood that is water resistant. {note to future mothers: it is almost impossible to hold an umbrella while holding a baby. so unless you can rock the wet hair look, which i cannot, you need a coat with a hood} shaun (my amazingly generous husband) is giving me his $50 gift card to dick's! i'm looking for something like this:

i hope they are having a sale in the store and i can get a good deal!

happy v-day weekend blog land!

a weekend of random fun

we didn't do anything super amazing this past weekend, but it was still pretty fun! i'm starting with friday and ending with monday. that is my weekend since i'm off on mondays!

friday: i went to old navy on my lunch break. i scored BIG on jeans! i'm trying to loose weight and i'm not back in the size i wore right before C came, but i've been wearing a pair of jeans i wore before i lost weight to get pregnant. those jeans are now too big. so, i needed a pair of transitional jeans. i didn't want to spend much, maybe $20. well, i found some and guess how much i payed? guess? $8.50! what?!?! all sale was an additional 50% off! i don't know if this sale is still going on, but they had TONS of jeans. and these are not some jeans that i'm just settleing for, i really like them. it was definitely a score!

before i got home, shaun caught our baby daughter doing this!

evidentally we are going to have to keep an eye on her!

saturday: we went to the castle! no, no. not the jewelry store. castle post. my brother is a chef there and he gave us a little tour. it was so neat! i've driven past that castle sooo many times since i was a little and we tickled pink to finally get a look inside. this place is pretty fancy. i would LOVE to stay there some night with a whole bunch of friends. but right now, i'm happy with the tour.

later, when we got home, the UK wildcats become #1! another great day!

sunday: well, we didn't really do much. i actually cleaned (scrubbed) both the bathrooms and did laundry. it wasn't really fun, but it was a great feeling when i finally took a shower and then later gave caro a bath in our shiny bathtub.

monday: C and i went to hobby lobby. mostly we just walked around. i really love it there. i only spent about $8 on some reeds for the bathroom, but i still walked the whole store. so many things to look at and get ideas from.

and later, i made apple spice cupcakes from scratch. i found the recipe here on christi's blog. i was able to do everything pretty flawlessly. the icing was spectacular! and the delce de leche made the cupcakes quite a sweet treat! shaun went nuts over them! i love baking for him. =)

yes, i stole her picture. but mine looked almost identical. except for the frosting.

the weekend ended with a wonderful surprise! my best friend cami called and we each set up skype on our computers! it was amazing! i got to talk to her, brad (her husband), owen (her sweet 2 year old) and baby elliott (5 months). i almost started crying i was so excited. cam and i talk and email as much as we can, but i still haven't met elliott. she was the one that was born at 28 weeks. she looks AMAZING! so healthy and so big. what a wonderful way to end the weekend!

back at work now. listening to all the sirens go by from wrecks on the roads this morning. glad i'm in here!