Feeling LARGE, and not so in charge + my pregnancy Christmas carol!

It probably sounds totally nuts that, not only am I just now feeling the real “trials” of pregnancy {at 37 weeks} but also that I’m finally feeling my pregnancy come to an end. I guess it’s about time, what with only 2 weeks and change left until my due date and the realization that she could decide to come at ANY TIME.  SQUEEE!

I always hear stories of pregnant women wishing they could just pop their little invaders out at around 6 months because their bodies have been so drastically affected and they are THAT eager to regain the feeling of being “in control” of everything again. The truth is, I’ve only JUST started watching the clock and feeling like it’s really time for Keelin to be here. I’m still totally in love with being pregnant and I’m actually wondering what it’s going to be like without my little mover groovin’ inside my big belly {as if she’s always been there}.  My mother assures me that I’ll be so infatuated with Keelin that I won’t even notice my lack of belly dance parties… which I’m sure is completely true. But I’ve felt so blessed throughout this entire process {even while hugging the toilet bowl in my first trimester} that it is a little bittersweet to know it could all be over tomorrow. WOW, that sounds so incredibly terrible when remembering that “the end” of a pregnancy means “the beginning” of motherhood, which I’m truly SO excited about. But I think you {especially other mommies and mommies-to-be} get what I mean.

All that being said, and due to the fact that my earbuds are feeding me Christmas music ALL DAY AT WORK, I thought it would be “fun” to bring a little Christmas flare to the trials of pregnancy. You love it already, right?

I present to you… my own personal 12 Pains of Pregnancy.  {Disclaimer: I realize when you try to SING these pains, they really don’t fit with the rhythm or rhyme of the traditional Christmas song… but you get the picture! ALSO, none of these “pains” are detrimental enough to make me not love every minute of experiencing them but I thought I’ve been positive enough thus far, time for a little self-satisfying whining… just sayin’.}

The 1st thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is the baby showing your full bladder whose boss.

The 2^nd thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is randomly losing any and all sense of balance.

The 3^rd thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is the tummy-growing-belly-itch that makes you feel like you’re toting around a hairy beer gut rather than an adorable baby bump every time you scratch it.

The 4^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is literally feeling your hips open and loosen up for GO TIME… OOWIEE!

The 5^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is having to rely 100% on rear view mirrors because twisting for “over the shoulder” traffic checks is quite impossible.

The 6^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is an uncontrollable urge to cry… for no reason at all… except that it’s the only thing that seems “right” in the world.

The 7^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is the additional 5 seconds it takes you to get in or out of ANY seat.

The 8^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is the feeling of complete frustration and utter despair any time you drop something on the floor {and the struggle you face when contemplating whether or not you’re just going to leave it there and save yourself the trouble}.

The 9^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is the punch, kick or jab that somehow finds THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE spot right under your ribcage.

The 10^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is attempting to shave your legs… don’t make me laugh.

The 11^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is realizing that your belly picked up sink splatter when you look in the bathroom mirror and see a huge, hateful wet spot, put there only to mock you and your largeness.

The 12^th thing about pregnancy that’s such a pain to me is putting tights on, in a public restroom, with nowhere to sit… yeah.

That’s enough whining for me… now back to my annoyingly joyous attitude!

Until next time…

Now it’s your turn. If you’re pregnant, share some of your own pains. If you’re not pregnant… take some time to complain about whatever is bugging you MOST right now. The floor is open!

*I do not own these pictures, links provided*

Super Simple Christmas Ornaments

I am beyond excited that this year {being that it’s our third Christmas as a married couple} we finally got a Christmas tree! You see, our first Christmas we were living in a dungeon. Not only was there ZERO room for a Christmas tree, but I had a moral issue with placing something so iconic and tradition filled into a place that was so dreadfully heinous.

Thankfully we got out of said hell hole for our 2nd Christmas, but because we were spending a good portion of the holiday season out of town, we thought it was kind of silly to get a tree when we wouldn’t even be in the house to enjoy it.

THIS YEAR… thanks to the little bun I’ve got cookin’, we are doing Christmas at our house and a tree was a must. And none of that fake tree with built in lights nonsense {no offense if that’s what you prefer}, we wanted a real tree with a real tree smell and a real need to be watered! And that’s exactly what we got.

The biggest problem with going two Christmases without a tree is that we haven’t had a chance to stock up on ornaments. Wee’ve gotten a few here and there but I’ve done a pretty good job at resisting the urge to spend my entire paycheck on bows, bells and whistles to really make our first tree glow. Needless to say, I was worried that our current collection wouldn’t be enough to fill up the tree… and a baren tree is a sad tree. So I decided to add another DIY project to my list and make some unique and inexpensive ornaments myself with the help of a major sale on plain glass ornaments from JoAnn Fabric!

Style #1: Baby Shower Leftovers!
Along with a plethora of fantastic gifts from family and friends, my baby showers also brought me a ton of pastel colored tissue paper and fun party decorations. While I can use the tissue paper in the future, there’s little that I can do with the decorations… or so I thought.

Step 1… Tear and crinkle pieces of  colorful tissue paper, and fill the ornament.

Step 2… Use a WARM or HOT glue gun to scatter party decorations along the outside of the ornament. Finish with a boy and VOALA!

Style #2: Ribbon runners!
In the months surrounding the Christmas season, it’s great to keep an eye out for sales on decorative ribbons. You neer know what inspiration might hit and a DIY project is born…

Step 1… secure the ends of decorative ribbon to the inside of the glass ornament

Step 2… Pull the ribbon tight, securing along the way with a hot glue gun, to stretch across the outside of the ornament and secure the opposite end.

My favorite part about this particular style is that you can be as plain or as busy as you’d like. Here are a few different options that I really love. They look great hanging on the tree too… especially since the shimmer in the ribbon catches the the sparkle from the lights!

Style #3: Glitter globes
It’s been a while since I did a DIY project with glitter… I’ve truly missed it! You can really get creative by adding various shapes and colors to the outside of a plain glass ornament.

Here I applied the hot glue in circles around the ornament, and rolled them in glitter.

Diamond dust… to be specific. I LOVE this stuff… it kind of looks like tiny pieces of glass but is great for Christmas because it almost gives the appearance of glistening snow!

Style #4: Mix and Match
Once I dabbled in ribbons and diamond dust, I thought I’d let them combine forces!

After deciding that the ribbon alone wasn’t cutting it for me on this one, I added a touch of sparkle to make it pop!

This one started off as only glitter, but Z said it didn’t look finished, so I added the ribbon afterwards. I think it was a good decision! Point for the hubs!

And another… for fun. The same pattern is actually on the opposite side of the ornament as well!

FYI… I did purchase a value pack of cheap-o ornaments from Costo to act as temporary fillers until our collection can really grow. I figured 50+ ornaments for $20 was worth it!!

Until next time…

What do you think? Have you added any personal touches to simple glass ornaments? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!