Can I marry Target?

This post is NOT sponsored I just want to tell everyone why I love target. I know what you're thinking, doesn't everyone love Target? The answer is yes, but I'm going to tell you about it anyway. The thing that rekindled my love for Target is my Target Red Card debit card! They sign you up at the register with a blank check and it is connected to your bank account so if you were going to shop with your debit card anyway you're getting the benefits of using their card. The Red Card debit card takes of 5% for every single purchase in store and online AND gives you free shipping. I love that it has no fees at all. Another reason why I love it is that it keeps records of your purchases. I bought some $20 flip flops and they broke within two months. I was really annoyed that the pricey (to me) flip flops broke so soon after buying them and decided to go up there and see what they might do about it. I was not optimistic, I thought they'd think I was crazy, but nope! They used my Red Card debit card to look up my purchases and were able to refund me without a receipt. I thought that was really awesome of them.

Target just keeps making me fall in love with them. Have you checked out the cartwheel app? It's pretty neat! It's really easy to use and can be combined with target coupons and manufacturers coupons! Targets not the cheapest place I like to shop at, but they have great deals and they really seem like they're trying to help people save even more lately.

OK I'm done talking about them now... Maybe. <3

As My Due Date Approaches...

My little E at about 14 or 15 weeks :)

I've had a lot of alone time to think about stuff and that includes everything that bothers me. I have had a fairly easy pregnancy; mostly pain free until a few weeks ago. Even though I've had a pretty wonderful pregnancy I can't wait for it to be over. I know I'll miss not feeling her in my belly anymore; her little jabs in my side with her tiny feet that tickle, her rolling around, and the hiccups!

Things I won't miss include; my constantly numb and pained hand from pregnancy induced carpal tunnel (SO annoying. I never thought I would get it), feeling the round ligament pain while tossing and turning because side sleeping sucks, getting extremely out of breath from doing the smallest things (I literally had to take a break after straightening my bed up), and wearing maternity clothes (I had a dream I wore a normal sweatshirt again and it was soo nice), feeling like throwing up after eating just a little too much :( (I actually feel like that right now after having two pieces of pizza!).

 I know I'm lucky to have even made it this far in my pregnancy and now I'm about to meet my little one. I think just knowing that I get to meet her soon is what is really making me want this pregnancy to end. I have so many questions about her! What will she look like? Will she have my thick, curly, brown hair and brown eyes or my husband’s stick straight, thin, red/strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes (were blue when he was a baby now they look green/grey). Will she get my nose or my husband's nose (please say mine! ;) ) How tall will she be? I'm 5'10" and my husband is 6'4". Will she be a chubby baby? I weighed over 9 lbs at birth and my husband weighed over 8.5 lbs. (I really really hope not!!)

Ah I hope this doesn't offend anyone because I really am SO thankful for this pregnancy and this baby and we can't wait to meet her. I'm even willing to go to 42 weeks with her (I'm 39 weeks tomorrow!). Maybe it's because I'm alone now and I have more time to think about stuff. I was living with my family throughout most of my husband's deployment but as it started to end it was time for me to move back. Being alone at the end of your pregnancy is incredibly hard; I'm so so thankful that I have our two dogs with me or I would be completely miserable waiting this pregnancy and deployment out. (I'm SO thankful that this deployment is coming to an end!)

Soo... sorry for ranting. What did you do at the end of your pregnancy to waste time? I've already packed my bags, washed all of her tiniest clothes, made her bed, fixed her pack'n'play up beside our bed, and prepped all of her cloth diapers! Her room is almost completely done but it needs to be painted before we can hang anything up to finish it off.  I guess for now I'll just fill my days with Netflix and Amazon prime instant streaming (which I've found to be pretty awesome) and looking up ideas on Pinterest that I'll pretend I'll get done before E's born ;) 

Quick Update!

Quick update for today...

WE GOT THE HOUSE! 

We finally closed on the house Sept 18th then I drove back home and went to Music Midtown at Piedmont Park in Atlanta and I seriously think I was the only pregnant woman there which is not surprising considering it was a ton of walking, super hot, super crowded, and the lines to get food or get to the porta pottys were extremely long. It was a two day long concert with a big performer at the end of both days. The first night Journey played at the end and the second day the Red Hot Chili Peppers played at the end of the day. My favorite part was seeing Tegan and Sara the second day though (I LOVE them and they are so amazing live). Anywho I took a week to try to recover after MM before I actually packed up and moved which was a smart move because I was incredibly swollen and sore after all of that walking and standing. 

The next weekend my parents and my husband's father and friends helped me load up a truck and drive down and set up our new house. They unloaded the truck and emptied our storage unit in two trips, they worked so hard and I am still so thankful. I've been in our new home for about two weeks now and I'm almost completely unpacked and the baby's room is pretty much set up but needs to be painted. I found an amazing color on Pinterest (duh, where else?) from Benjamin Moore called Quiet moments that I would love to get (or copy) for her room and then my sister-in-law who does murals is going to paint some trees on the wall with stars, it's hard to describe but I think it's going to look amazing when it's done. 

I will be posting pictures soon of the house and the baby's room progress :) 

P.S. I'm 37w5d now, already full term and my husband will be home soon but I can't say when :) 

Review: Edible Green Tea

I recieved a sample of EatGreenTea Edible Whole Leaf green tea in the mail and had to try it out! I love trying new things and I love green tea so this was perfect for me. The package suggested putting the edible green tea into a smoothie so that's what I did. I made a smoothie with a juice base of orange juice and then added some spinach, frozen strawberries, a banana, and the package of Edible Green Tea. I was not able to detect the taste of the green tea but I did feel as though I had a good bit of energy after drinking the smoothie. What's great about this product is that you get the benefits of drinking green tea without actually having to drink a cup of green tea, and I hate those green tea pills. After I move I will definitely be using the Edible Green Tea in my morning smoothies for some energy while cleaning up and organizing the new house!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Ella's Nursery Inspiration

I have been so addicted to watching HGTV in the last few weeks because I am ready to have a home to decorate so this tides me over while I wait on our home to close (it's so soon!). Tonight I cannot seem to stop thinking about the baby nursery and how I'm going to decorate it. I went to BabiesRUs today and looking at the cribs (something we don't have yet!!) just seemed to set something in motion in my brain and I cannot stop picture how her room will look. Soooo I've decided to gather some pictures of elements I want in her room to put together a little blog post, mostly so I can see how it all looks together. I'm sure this will be a part one of many nursery daydream blog posts until I'm able to get her actual room finished.

(From Anthropologie)

I bought this Creative Spaces rug on Zulily for a great price! You can find them on Zulily until 9/4/13 here!

I finally decided that I want a white crib and I am kind of obsessed with this white Jenny Lind crib that I found on Amazon here

I'm loving stars, moons, and clouds for the nursery and these pillows from LalaKa's etsy shop are too adorable. Find them here!

This cloud mobile from ShopLittles Etsy shop is seriously right up my alley. I love it. Find it here!

I will be re-using baby shower decor including the bunting, the hanging globes, and the puff balls. I'll be doing a post on the baby shower soon!


 When I first pictured her nursery I pictured it grey and white with clouds, moons, and stars everywhere but after finding different cute decorative items for her room (mostly on Etsy) I feel like that theme is kind of out the window. Obviously I will have small items with stars, moons, and clouds but I want to be able to add other items too. I've learned that nurseries don't have to have one theme and they usually end up being so much cuter when they do have mix-matched decor! 

My countdown to move-in is about two weeks now and I am so excited to finally start decorating a nursery!! (P.S. I'm 32 weeks today! Only 10 weeks or less until Ella makes her arrival :D )

Blog update!

It was brought to my attention that my old banner made it appear as though my husband and I were getting divorced, ha! So I had to change it. My old banner said "Breaking Growing up is hard to do" and honestly it was just my idea because of the song buuuut it had to go. I'm also thinking about getting a personalized theme made for the blog soon... we'll see!

Super short deployment update

We got a mail cut-off date!!

If you don't know what this means, it's when you stop sending mail to your deployed service member because they don't expect them to get it in time... because they'll be leaving! I obviously won't share the date even though it won't give away the homecoming date (which I don't even know) but it's not super far away and it finally, FINALLY, makes me feel like this deployment may actually come to an end (because it felt like it never would).

If you can't tell, this news makes me a very very happy wife (even though I still have quite a bit of time until I see my husband's face in person).

Why I choose not to work after Baby B is born (for a while).

Some people feel that it is their duty to help me and my husband plan out our lives or to figure things out. Yes they think they are being helpful but really it's nobody's business but ours with how we choose to live after we have the baby (as long as we are taking care of her!). These people think that I should work after I have the baby, but here's why I don't want to work after baby: 

1. I want to spend time with my child and watch her grow and learn and if I'm at work I won't feel like I'm spending as much time with her as I want to. 
2. I want to breastfeed! Of course you can breastfeed and work, a lot of moms do it. Am I up for that? Who knows, but quite frankly I'd rather be sitting there feeding her and bonding with her instead of trying to pump enough to get her through the work day.
3. I want to cloth diaper. I have heard many stories of nurseries or baby sitters not wanting to cloth diaper which would make us buy disposables and that cancels out the money/earth saving cloth diapers we'd use at home. Plus I know I'll need time to get into the routine of cloth diapering and that could possibly take months! (I'm a slow learner).
4. My husband doesn't mind me being at home with her for a while. If he wanted me to work then yeah I would probably get back to working a little sooner, but he doesn't care. We are doing well enough for me to stay at home with her for as long as we want. He's a hard worker and a great husband.

It's all up to me and my husband with how we choose to live. I don't make any decisions on my own about big things like this; we talk a lot and come up with an agreement on things. Eventually I will start working again and who knows, I might work from home somehow while she's still little! We will figure it out but it's not a big issue right now. I don't think anyone should feel pressured by others (who aren't in the relationship) to go back to work after having the baby. If the situation works for you just do what you want!

I felt like I needed to add this on... this is in NO way trying to make anyone feel bad or trying to make myself sound better than anyone; it's just a semi-rant about why my husband and I want to do things this way. :)

P.S. I'm 30 weeks today! I'm 3/4 of the way there :)

(Im)Patiently Waiting

This year has been the biggest test of my patience. (I am a very impatient person). I feel like I am stuck in purgatory right now waiting on everything. I'm waiting to see if we are able to purchase a house before my husband comes home (which is hard because we never got a special power of attorney, so now he has to find a way to get one signed and sent back to me from Afghanistan). I'm waiting for classes to end so I can start maternity leave; something I need because of the stress I'm under. I'm waiting for my husband to come home... It's all. I. think. about... really it's hard to think about anything else. Of course the other big thing I'm waiting for is the end of October, for my due date! If you are an impatient person too you can probably see why I feel as though I'm stuck in purgatory. I am so so antsy and ready to close on this house that's being redone in the area around the army base and to get the papers we need to get everything finalized; I want to decorate SO bad, nesting sucks when you have nowhere to "nest". My husband told me he hopes that by the time he comes home that I have learned to be more patient with everything. I need to be more patient and here's why...

We have wasted money because of my impatience. When I want something I usually feel like I want it now and I just can't wait (I can but I don't want to). We just bought a car in March because we found out I'm pregnant and I just did not feel safe with my baby, or baby bump, in a small two-door sports car. The same car that we JUST bought is now thousands of dollars cheaper because it is closer to the end of the year. I had no idea that just a few months would make a difference in the price. Granted, I am so so glad to be in this bigger, safer car but I wish I would have waited to purchase the car. I will not be telling my husband about this because he might be a little upset with me haha. Almost everything goes down in price over time and the newest thing is not always the best! This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. This is just one more thing I've learned on the path to being a real adult.

P.S. I am 28 weeks pregnant today! That is 7 months! We are so close to meeting our baby girl :)

Changing Your Eating and Exercise Habits During Pregnancy

So time has flown by and somehow I am already 25 weeks pregnant. I have been really lazy throughout this pregnancy; mostly because doing nothing helps the days go faster while my husband is deployed and I have no house to get ready for baby right now. I know that I was already close to being overweight when I first got pregnant and I know that when you are heavier you don't need to gain that much weight during pregnancy. I will be blogging updates on my health over the next few months because I am going to change everything about how much I exercise and my diet. It IS possible to change what you do during pregnancy no matter what point of pregnancy you are at. I let the beginning of my pregnancy slip by and I don't want to continue not getting exercise and eating junk food. Even small adjustments in your exercise routine are great for you and baby. Even walking just about 30 minutes a day helps to get your body ready for labor! I am so lucky to have access to a pool at my parent's house and I am going to start making use of that. I also have a prenatal workout DVD that I've been neglecting that I am starting tonight! (I read great reviews about Summer Sander's Prenatal Workout DVD on Amazon). If you are looking to change your diet during pregnancy but you don't know where to start you should check out The Bradley Method's Diet, it's super easy to follow; this is the diet I will be sticking as close as possible to. I'm using this blog post as a way to keep myself accountable because it's so easy to fall back into the same habits. I have so much free time and my parent's actually have a stationary bike, elliptical, and a treadmill! (Not to mention I have a gym membership that I signed up for the day before I found out I was pregnant -_-) I have so much I can do; I've just been lazy and afraid to do things alone.

What are some of your favorite ways to exercise? Do you have a story about changing your diet or exercise routine during pregnancy? Tell me about it :)

It's been a while + baby update!

Hi guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated and I've definitely been slacking. I've been stressing this whole month over moving while pregnant, and finishing this set of classes so I haven't gotten much done on the blog. My husband and I had planned on me moving back to the area around the army base this month so I went down there to find a house (a decent house) and had NO luck. The rental houses that accept pets are so run down, it's crazy; one house had mold -_- no thanks! Anywho, I wanted to cancel my 3D ultrasound appointment because I didn't think I could make it back in time for the appointment; I found out you can't cancel within 48 hours of the appointment, say what!? So I drove back early in time to get to the appointment, I wasn't having any luck with the houses anyway. I'm SO glad I did! I got to see our baby's face in 3D and she's still so tiny (I'm only 25 weeks now) but so adorable. She was moving like crazy though, probably from the cookie and gatorade I had before the appointment...whoops! She was moving, flaring her nostrils, sucking on her lips and covering her face so we didn't get too many good pictures but it was so fun to watch. Here are some of my favorite pictures...

Grown-up Stuff: Managing Money

I feel sorry for my husband, I have learned all about managing money from my mother and she is terrible at saving money. Thankfully my dad is great with money but I didn't see his spending habits enough for them to rub off on me like hers did. (Although my dad did teach me about always making more than the minimum payment which is a great thing to learn before getting something you need to make payments on. Really.)

  

(I know my husband works hard for his money and he knows how much I appreciate everything he does for us and understands my problems for money and that I'm trying to fix them. He's the best husband ever basically)

OK so back to me being terrible with money... well I came up with a budget before my husband deployed BUT I did not know I was pregnant then. So anyway we ended up doing the Thrift Savings Plan (which I recommend every military family take advantage of when you or your spouse deploys!) and then we ended up buying a car because I had a two-door sports car, which I did not feel safe driving my baby bump around in (You'll come to learn that I am super paranoid about health and safety) and we would need a bigger car for when the baby comes anyway. So now we have this huge car payment because we're young and don't have a long credit history and I am having a hard time not spending money on baby items!

Well now it's time to really get back to being strict because we still have a little credit card debt to pay off and I'm moving back from my parent's house to the area around the Army base in about a month because I don't want to be way too pregnant to move by waiting until it's time for my husband to come home. So I have come up with a few ways to help myself from spending too much, especially on baby things...

1. Keep in mind that I don't need to buy everything right now that I still haven't had the baby shower so we might end up with everything we need without spending too much!
2. If I am going to buy anything for Ella it needs to be second hand; second hand items can be in great shape and for a really great deal! If I see anything that is a super good deal it's hard for me to not snag it, sometimes there are things that really are too good to pass up. 
1. There are many free resources for expecting military family members, check out the ACS nearest you! 
2. If you happen to be covered under an insurance other than Tricare see if they cover breast pumps!! I am still covered under my parent's insurance and they cover medela, ameda and several other great breast pumps which is another thing I can check off the registry. (Unfortunately Tricare does not cover breast pumps but I hear if you are qualified for WIC I hear they do have some pumps available for free or discounted)
3. NO MORE FAST FOOD! Not only is this a big way to save but it's also something I need to do to make myself healthier for baby. (I'm at week 22 and with my glucose test coming up I'm trying to change my diet to the Bradley Method Diet, it's super easy to follow and makes it easier for me to want to eat at home.)
4. My husband gets paid every two weeks so I have decided to take out a small amount of money to keep with me, and I'm going to leave my cards at home, so if I decide to spend I will only be able to spend that amount of money until the next paycheck. Have you ever tried paying for everything with cash instead of a card? It makes you not want to spend!
5. Refinancing our car after the 90 day mark is up. We got a discount for financing through the dealership so we decided to go with that and then we are going to refinance with our bank, USAA, after that time period is up. Also our car insurance payment will go down because different banks require different coverage amounts on new cars and USAA's is a little less than the bank we have now. 
6. Put money away into an account that you don’t use often, it’s easy to save money when you don’t think about that account.

OK now obviously there are many ways to save money and I don't want to ramble on forever. Sometimes it's difficult to find things that work for you when it comes to saving money and controlling your spending (especially when you grew up with a mother who buys things just because they're on sale and that rubs off on you) so share your favorite ways to manage money with me; your favorite budget, how you coupon, or learning to save while buying things for a new baby, I'm really interested in trying out new things! :)

P.S. I love using sites like Mint.com to help track where my money goes and so I can see all of our accounts in one place!

On My Mind Lately...

She's the most special present ever!
 (I designed this onesie on spreadshirt.com!)

Because my husband is deployed it seems like it's hard for me to think about anything else besides him and the baby. This is the first deployment he's been on and it's definitely hard to deal with. I planned so many things for myself before he left for deployment. I was going to become a pro at knitting and crocheting, do lots of crafts, and I was going to work out and get fit by the time he comes home but I found out I was pregnant a week after he left. Instead of him coming home to a flat stomach, it'll be a 9 months pregnant stomach! It's hard to focus on my hobbies when all I want to do is waste the day so it goes faster...

Anyway... my point of this post is that deployment is HARD (Like, really hard) and this is kind of a vent but also I want to hear about other ladies experiences. There is so much to worry about and stress over. All we can do is think positive and pray for their safe homecoming. I'm trying to stay as stress-free as I can for baby but it's hard some days. I'm so ready to get word that they are coming home soon (will it ever end? ahh!)...

What did you ladies do to keep calm on the days that seemed the hardest?

Nesting!

 

Unfortunately this was the only nest I could find to take a picture of... but it has cute baby birds in it so I guess that's redeeming.

There are many things that come with being pregnant and one of them is Nesting. Lately I have the overwhelming urge to buy baby things and decorate, but because I'm staying at my parent's house until the deployment is almost over I can only buy things, craft, or reorganize my parent's house. Since I need to be saving my husband's (very) hard earned money I will be sticking to crafting! Over the next few months I will work hard to put up tutorials on any crafts that I make, no matter how professional looking they turn out ;). I will also be doing a post on yard sales and how to make them successful (if mine turns out successful!). 

Stay Tuned! 

-xoxo Hannah

Welcome!

Welcome to my first blog post!

I am still trying to figure out how to use this website and how to design a template without paying somebody to do it for me (I want to try everything myself first!). I have so many things on my mind every day and I thought that instead of blowing up my Instagram feed constantly, I should start a blog. I am self-conscious and super ADD so I will probably write random posts and then delete them because I'm scared nobody will read them. You'll have to bear with me, I'm terrible with grammar and punctuation; I'm trying to relearn these basic things so I can use them correctly. But I'll move on...

About me: I am 22 years old and I'm currently 4 1/2 months pregnant with me and my husband's first child! (It's a girl!) We found out I was pregnant about a week after my husband left for Afghanistan with the Army. The deployment has gone on for a little over 3 months and we still don't know when he will be home (not like I could post it on here anyway) but our baby girl's due date is at the end of October and we are crossing our fingers and toes that he will be home in time to see her make her arrival. I would like to consider myself a housewife, because I don't do anything, but I'm actually living with my parents right now while he is deployed and will be moving back in a few months to set up a house for us before I'm too pregnant to decorate. I'm addicted to Pinterest and I spend more time pinning craft ideas than actually doing crafts but I really want to change that before the baby comes so I can decorate her room. I hardly ever wear make up (or do my hair...) but I love looking up beauty tips, hints, and tutorials and I don't mind sharing ;).

But enough about me for tonight, I'll be posting something different and more interesting very soon

-xoxo Hannah