{ten weeks already!}

Dear Littlest One,

We got to see you for the first time this week! Daddy and I both went to my first appointment and we got to see you and hear your heartbeat on an ultrasound. You were moving like crazy, waving your little arms and legs. It made my heart so glad to see you strong and healthy! Mommy is feeling much better these days, but I'm still very tired all the time. I think that has more to do with the fact that Jack has given up his trend of sleeping through the night, though. He's been waking me up at midnight almost every night this week... what's with that silly big brother of yours? Emma is as excited as ever to meet you. I didn't think she would really understand when we told her there was a baby in my belly, but she definitely does. She loved the ultrasound picture and any time she sees a newborn baby she asks if ours can be just like that one. She's gotten to see lots of newborn pictures lately thanks to so many of our friends having babies this month! We can't wait for it to be our turn :)

xoxo,
Mommy

the littlest one

Dear Littlest One,

We were so surprised a few weeks ago when the pregnancy test daddy made me take was positive! I didn't think I was pregnant, but daddy was pretty sure I was. Turns out he was right! I was pretty sick for a few weeks afterward, and very very tired, but with lots of help (especially from daddy and Aunt Jen!) I was able to keep my chin up and press on. Emma is very excited to meet you, and she's pretty sure you are a girl. Every time we ask, she says she's going to have a baby sister. Jack doesn't know about you yet, but we know he'll be excited once you get here. He loves baby Owen and gets so excited every time he comes over. I can't wait for him to meet you for the first time! You're 9 weeks new, and growing like crazy. Stay cozy in there, and feel free to take up lots of room. Mommy's ready to look pregnant instead of just lumpy!

xoxo,

Mommy

New feature! {emma style}

That's right! I'm adding a new weekly feature to married lane, and the star of this feature is none other than my 20 month old little girl! I've had several people (and not all of them relatives of mine!) tell me that they love how I dress Emma, so I thought I'd start sharing Emma's style with you all. Here's what she wore today:

h&m onesie - hand-me-down

leggings - macy's

belt - thrifted {it's actually a silky scarf!}

shoes - kohl's

J. Crew - baby edition!

J. Crew just opened their Baby specialty online store! As adorable as the few items available are, I just can't bring myself to pay over $100 for something that is going to be spit-up on (or worse). I'm sure the cashmere blankets are amazing, but unless someone gives me one we'll be sticking with cotton.

That striped onesie is adorable, though, and at $17.95 I can comfortably put Jack in it without being all "don't you spit up on that!"

What about you? Are you really good at laundry and not afraid to put your baby in cashmere?


ps. Giveaway Monday happened earlier today - have you entered yet? 

already?

Jack Harrison

I can't believe it's been a month already! He's been doing great (even though he's screaming in his bouncy seat as I write this - I swear he sleeps most of the time!). He has his 1 month appointment on Friday and I'm thinking he's a full pound over his birth weight at this point, which would put him at 10 lbs 5 oz... we'll have to see how close my guess is!

At a month old, he...

...loves to sleep
...almost as much as he loves to eat
...doesn't like his bink, but has been experimenting with sucking on his fingers/thumb
...can hold his head up like a champ, but still flops his head against my shoulder every once in a while
...still has his wavy hair, which sticks straight up after a bath
...has only had 2 real baths... I suppose he takes after his dad in the cleanliness department :-p
...has started showing signs of recongition and looks me in the eye from time to time
...is very loved by his big sister!

Can't wait to see what month 2 brings!

Baby!

Jack Harrison Antkowiak 7/26/2011 9lbs 5oz.

Our little guy has been keeping me busy! Ok, that's not true. He's been sleeping like an angel and eating like a champ. His big sister has definitely been keeping me busy, though!

As far as the blog goes, I'm dying to get back into it. Things got very much put on hold when my hard drive crashed a few weeks ago. I'll hopefully be ordering a new one tomorrow to be back in business on the computer front. It's so hard not having one, and only getting to surf the web for an hour at night on my hubby's!

Once the computer is fixed, I'll hopefully have more house photos for you, too! We've done a "second look" in our living room thanks to a "new" used rug and some different curtains. I love it, even though it's not what I would do if I had no budget :)

preggy pants

No, not a new nickname from the hubs for this pregnancy (transformers had just come out when I was pregnant with Emma and he affectionately took to calling me "pregatron" any time my hormones got the best of me).

"optimus preg" {not an original drawing, but I can't remember where I found it}

I had a pair of Karen T jeans when big in the belly last year, thanks to my MIL (whose name happens to  be Karen!). She got them for me at a little boutique in Idaho and I haven't found them anywhere since. I LOVED them and couldn't understand why women are always complaining about maternity pants. They have the low elastic waist band and fit just like my normal jeans, but with extra give. They're awesome.

This time around, I got some jeans from Motherhood Maternity and found out why people hate maternity pants. These have a full belly panel, and fit very comfortably until they start to fall down the second you move in them. And I know it's not the size - I tried L, M, and S and they all had the fall-down problem. After wearing them for a while and doing the hike-them-up-every-2-seconds-thing, I got frustrated and started trying some different approaches.

No-fall-jeans trial #1: Roll down the belly panel.

This only made things fall faster, which is no bueno.

Yep, I'm that big already.

No-fall-jeans trial #2: Keep panel up, but tuck in an undershirt.

We have a winner! Tucking in the under shirt gives the panel something to grab on to so it doesn't move when I do. The only problem I can see with this is when it's mid-July and I've got 3 layers of fabric over my huge belly. Definitely looking for some low-panel elastic waisted shorts!

Emmaline's 1!

Sunflower cupcakes from Oh, Cupcake!

My own ladybug creation. Yes, that's a Mr. Potato Head smile. :)

Emmaline's birthday was adorable. The cupcakes and cake turned out great and she had lots of fun. I couldn't have done it without my Mom's help - Thanks, Mom!
Em's party was on Sunday and by Tuesday she had gotten her first bad cold. She ran a fever, cried constantly, and was just miserable. I've spent the past week and a half comforting my poor girl :( She's on the mend but still has a runny nose and some grumpiness. Prayers are still coveted!

She stayed pretty clean until her Popi decided to play "peekaboo"!

In other news, we found out that we're expecting a baby boy! It's all puppy dog tails from here.... :) Jack Harrison should join us sometime in the beginning of August and we can't wait!

For my little cupcake....

{via}

I can hardly believe that my baby is turning 1 this weekend. Time has flown! We're throwing her a party at my parents' house and having lots of family over to celebrate. I'm most excited about making a cake and some cupcakes. I love baking and decorating but don't have much experience, so I'm hoping that having kids will give me an excuse to practice more!

I'm thinking a cute ladybug cake made from a round mixing bowl and a little pyrex prep bowl (for the head) with a bunch of these adorable sunflower cupcakes from the book Hello, Cupcake!. It should be very cute! For once I'm going to try to post pictures (and maybe even a video!) of the baking and the partying. Check back sometime next week to see what we did!

We're gonna need one of these...

I'm pregnant again! Thus the bloggers block. Baby number 2 will join us sometime next August, and I can't wait. We'll have 2 under 2 cause we're crazy like that and think it will be a blast. We had an ultrasound today confirming that baby's doing great. I'm about 7 1/2 weeks along and everything looks good. Keep us in your prayers!

More blogging to come, some gift ideas and another sponsored post (bear with those - I make lots of moolah from them. If you all totally hate them I'll quit, but at Christmas I couldn't say no to an extra $200....) 

I'm excited to rejuvenate things around here! I miss my little blog corner of the world :)

ruffle cake

How cute is this ruffle cake from Martha Stewart? I'm going to store this idea away for Emma's first birthday. I'm thinking maybe a "ruffles & pearls" theme?

Rolled Fabric Flowers

{via}

I want to try this rolled fabric flower tutorial from Prudent Baby.  Aren't they pretty? I could see them on a headband (as seen in the tutorial) or as a pin or details on a dress.

Joanna Goddard's Nursery

Jenny from Little Green Notebook has been posting a series of shots from Joanna Goddard's house (of A Cup of Jo). Earlier this week she gave a walk-through of the newly designed living room, and yesterday she posted photos of the adorable nursery. The cloud-themed roller shade is my favorite. I'm thinking about doing something like that, except with butterflies, for Emmaline's nursery.

Emmaline

Thanks, Jen, for the use of your Rebel XT and Bedroom :)

Where do I begin?

we have had a busy year.  It all started with Emmaline coming in February, and it seems like we've  been on a crazy high speed roller coaster ride since then! We decided to move home in March, and then started packing in April.  By May the house was completely packed.  We left Moscow on the 22nd and went down to Buhl to visit with some of Bran's relatives for a few days.  It ended up taking us much longer to get there than planned due to an unexpected snowstorm (yes, in May - there are some things I don't miss about Idaho!). We had to stay the night in Boise then made our way to buhl the next morning. Karen, Tyler, Emma and I flew out of Twin Falls on the 24, while Bran and Kelly (a good friend of ours who took a job in Annapolis) started their cross-country road trip.

Emma was quite the awesome travel buddy. She slept most of the ride to Buhl and all but an hour of the flights.  When she was awake she was content which was wonderful.  I owe my baby goodness to my awesome Moby wrap - if it weren't for being able to tuck her in there for the flights I'd have been in trouble!

Bran and Kelly arrived on the 31st, just in time for our second anniversary. We didn't get to move into our rental until June 14, two weeks later than planned. I'll have to tell you more about that later!

Growing so fast

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm in Love

With the new Lands' End line, Canvas.

Especially loving their accessories, jeans, and eyelet shift dress.



Also, my baby is 1 month old today! The first month went by way too fast.  We went to a wedding today, and I had every intention of taking a 1 month picture of her, but got too caught up in making sure she was fed and changed in time for us to leave.  I'll have to take one after church tomorrow.

Diaper bag and baby carrier all-in-one?

Yes, please!

I love my Moby, but these are too cool. Maybe when baby #2 comes along.

What to do with a balding baby?

Why, cover her bald spots with a huge flower, of course!