50 Shades of... Blue

I am virtually sitting in a pile of paint strips. All of them are blue.
I say virtually because they're all in a pile on the Pinterest Baby board.

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No, we didn't have another ultrasound and see anything... We just like blue. My nursery was blue and I just really love the look of it with the rug for the baby room we bought, so blue is the color we'll paint the walls.

If you all would be so kind as to stroll through the colors below and vote on one at the end, it would be very appreciated!
Here is the reference photo of the rug:

Now scroll!


Impromptu Blue by Sherwin Willaims
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Resonant Blue by Sherwin Williams
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Paddington Blue by Benjamin Moore
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Dazzle by Sherwin Williams
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Blue Dragon by Benjamin Moore
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Flyway by Sherwin Williams
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Dynamic Blue by Sherwin Williams
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 And vote!

Which Blue do you like best?
	Impromptu
	Resnonant Blue
	Paddington Blue
	Dazzle
	Blue Dragon
	Flyway
	Dynamic Blue
pollcode.com free polls

21 Weeks Pregnant



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I've always thought the stork was an unbelievable and dim explanation as to where babies came from. However, since becoming pregnant I could accept that strange tale now as more realistic than the fact that a human is going to pop out of me soon... the concept is just so weird to me that sometimes I'm still in denial that I'm growing our baby and s/he will be here because I will birth it. I have seen the ultrasound photos and I feel the kicks, but it's so surreal that I can't wrap my mind around the fact. I only rationally accept that this will happen because, well, that's the way babies get here. It still just won't sink in.
Speaking of kicks: baby kicks me a lot these days and I think s/he gets the hiccups more often than I have been suspecting as well. Sometimes I'll think s/he's kicking me over and over in the same spot but lately I have begun to think these may be elbows/knees moving as baby hiccups... kind of adorable. S/he will also poke and kick me back when I prod my ever-growing belly or when I play music for him or her.

Shawn has the baby's room all cleared out and it's just about ready for paint! We're going to have a blue nursery like I had when I was a baby. I just love the calm, chill look of blue nurseries and it will coordinate really well with the rug we picked out a few weeks ago. You can check out the visual plans for the baby room on the Pinterest board I have made. It's so cute!

We'll keep you posted!

LlamaLlamaLlamaLlama

So the yarn Mama Kitty was rolling around in on Friday is for a baby hoodie. I'm not giving it away or selling it but I plan to save it for our future child. It is 50% Peruvian Llama, 50% wool and it feels so nice. I've never had this nice of yarn before and I really think the color is gorgeous, too, albeit hard to find.

Instead of kaboshing everything I made for Omaha Fashion Week this year, I'm just making it for the future kids and saving it for whenever that happens. It's close enough to Try-Time to start preparing tangible things for a baby, in our opinion. We also ran into (almost literally) a yard sale yesterday and found a vintage high chair that is EFFING BEAUTIFUL for $20. It's baby blue, has a maple tray, and even converts to a chair/table combo.

I know a lot of the baby things I'm making and finding are blue, but since we're going gender-neutral with our parenting style I don't think it matters. I'll have pictures of the high chair after I clean it up! BRACE YO'SELF! It's PURTY!

Reason I'm Marrying Shawn - #5,404,286,001

One of my many Valentines' Gifts:

3 lbs. of Haribo Golden goodness. This is love.

Valentine Weekend

This weekend was a BLAST!

• It started an hour early. Shawn surprised me by getting home from work at 5!
• We took a mini-break from wedding planning after Saturday was over
• Sunday Brunch was nuts, courtesy moi.
• Downtown Omaha was the only date plan we outlined for our amazing Sunday!
• Surprise Presents are yet to be exchanged.

Saturday we went to my mom's house and officially asked all our girls from Nebraska if they would like to be in our wedding. We also planned a shopping trip for the dresses next month, wrote down flip flop sizes and took stock of headpiece style preference (I'm going to make all the little girls a hair clippie or headband to wear at the wedding).
I tried to finish my headpiece, everyone...
Not so good. I think the headband part has got to go buh-bye. It dents my bangs and the right side of my hair and looks perpetually unfinished. I also tried putting the flower cluster on a french barrette but it's much too heavy. So I set it down again, along with all things wedding after 2 PM.

The headpiece design must be something that's just going to take a little longer. I've also considered if nothing works, just wearing my hair down with a flower behind my ear. Whatever!!!

Sunday. Brunch. Was. So. Good.

I made heart-shaped cinnamarolls for everyone, omlettes requested by the guys, and I had this baby:

Frying cheese cubes, walnuts and sugar-sprinkled red raspberries.
I've heard of people getting the urge to finish a package of oreos before and I don't share that urge, but this dish gave me the same kind of urge to eatitallNOW! I think it was the cheese...

Sunday we went downtown Omaha and didn't really know what we were going to do, we just knew food would be a part of the plans. We were thinking sushi and then I saw Spaghetti Works.
And I also thought "wine."
Neither of us wanted to ruin the night for the other so we proceeded to volley "I'll go wherever you want, bunny," back and forth as sickiningly sweet as a game of "No, you hang up first!"

Spaghetti Works won because we got sushi last Valentine's Day. Dinner and wine was great. When we went back outside it had gotten a bit colder so we looked for anything open to get a shield from the wind.

We went to the Tobacconist to get a couple stogies and ended up talking with a drifter for an hour and then headed home.

Our cats greeted us upon arrival home as expected. We all proceeded to snuggle and watched adult swim until we fell asleep and so did the TV.

Love and Comfort

120 Days Left!!!

Today is the 4 month point! Only half the engagement is left! 2 months ago I said it would go fast and it really is. All we have to do is go price flowers and find clothes for the bridal party. I've started my DIY stuff so I'll be sharing that soon with lots and lots of pictures!

 
I have one thing we can talk about today that you won't find in wedding magazines. Now I'm not going all mushy-gushy I love Shawnie on everyone, we're just going to stay general.

You know that feeling when you first fall in love? It's like the best thing in the world to some. Sometimes it goes away, sometimes it fades, and less often it stays.
Sometimes the feeling gets replaced by something better: comfort based in trust. There's a difference between I-don't-give-a-crap-anymore comfort and I-trust-you-so-much-I-feel-comfortable-with-us-just-Being.
When you have a boyfriend you wonder "Is he mad? Will he break up with me?"
When you have a husband or future husband you think "Is he mad? We'll work it out, there's nothing that can be that bad!"
The trust is present like a physical entity at all times and screams "IDIOT" at you when you have doubt in your mind about anything.
It's true there's nothing like that feeling of new love, but I'll tell you, the feeling the presence of honesty and truth I have found with a relationship based in Love is so much more grand.

HiLLjO Recipe #2

I posted another recipe for meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting! If you'd like to see it, here it is. HiLLjO: Recipe #2

I'm Wifey and Domestic in the Kitchen

It's cold outside and my nesting habits are stirring. I want to stay in bed, crochet myself into a ball and be all domestic. I am free-spirited but I self-admittedly love to be in the kitchen.
I have forgotten a crucial piece of myself because I take it for granted: I cook, Y'all. I'm not talking about I pop it into the microwave and I cook, I mean I COOK. Everyday.

I'm going to be really strict with myself and not clog this blog up with a bunch of recipes, but I will share my linked recipe for Chicken and Green Beans Almondine with Potatoes at my creative blog! If you'd like to see how we eat in our Bunnay Hutch, check out my other blog's recipe post here HiLLjO: Recipe #1.