priscilla the (pretty) pink pig!!

a huge tradition here in atlanta is to ride the macy's pink pig during the holidays. we didn't make it before Christmas due to the LONG lines, so we headed over on tuesday with our good friends heather & grace. what fun we had!! the girls loved the ride and then we went and had chick-fil-a for lunch ~ what could be better for 2 little ones?!?!

bella LOVED putting all these pink pig back packs around her neck : )

heather, grace, bella & me

redecorating

now that we have another baby coming, it means that i am doing quite a bit of rearranging in our home. upstairs is the guest room & bella's nursery along with our master bedroom. around mid to late february (right at bella's 2nd birthday), we plan to move her into the guest bedroom which is going to be transformed into her big girl room... we are talking stripes being painted on the walls, pillows being sewn, cornice boards being built, furniture being refinished, etc. we are quite excited!! the nursery will then be changed a little bit for our next baby girl and the hall bath is going to become a bit more whimsical.

in addition my christmas present from jason this year is to re-do our master bedroom... i really haven't done much to personalize it b/c of us thinking we might move... but now that our plan is to stay put for a while, we have decided to truly make it our own little get-away... so bedding has been purchased, 2 chairs (that i am in LOVE w/), a new dresser... and an accent fabric has been chosen...

so below are some before pictures and as soon as the after pictures are ready, i will post them!!

stay tuned!!

a dresser for our room~ that will be refinished

the guest room (pls. ignore the storage bins & Christmas presents ~ it is serving as a "catch all" for me : )

the hall bath

nursery

master bedroom

trey ceiling ~ can't wait to "play this up"

2 new (well to me ~ they are antiques) chairs for our bedroom

santa baby

on sunday, bella, daddy and me headed to lenox mall... we went to see santa and potentially ride the pink pig... the former happened, but not the latter... we were "waited out" by then (i.e. done being lines w/ an almost 2 yr. old : )

the whole time we were at the mall bella had a blast... she ran around, helped me buy gifts for her cousins, christian & noah, and wanted to run up behind the ropes surrounding santa & his display constantly... however, the mood suddenly changed, as reflected in the photo below, once mommy put her in santa's lap... she looked at me like "how dare you leave me with this strange man and walk away... and then on top of that let daddy take pictures?!?!" : )

no tears tho... then we saw the lengthly line for pink pig and opted to fill our tummies with some good food at the mall rather than wait... afterwards we headed to marni & pepere's and bella was out like a light within 10 minutes or so of leaving the mall.

btw, this frame is from Glory Haus... they have beautiful things!! my friends, ashley & claudia, have an annual "merry marketplace" where they sell numerous items from Glory Haus... this frame was one of my purchases this year : )

a little elf

oh how i adore bella & this age... she tells me thank you all the time ~ even after changing her diaper and putting her shoes on... she loves to give hugs and kisses... max is her favorite. she is a social butterfly ~ loving when we have friends come over to play or when she goes to nursery & school.

today we brought her teachers some little christmas goodies and she made a glitter ornament... upon picking her up, one of her teachers was quick to say that she is very motherly and likes to take care of everyone in the class... i quickly asked if she meant this was a good thing (didn't know if she was trying to kindly say that bella is bothering everyone or nosey)... anyways, she said yes, it's great... that she is wonderful to have in class ~ so that was so fun to hear ~ esp. since she is going to be helping me with her little sister soon enough!!

It's a...

GIRL!! And we are beyond thrilled!! Obviously, we would be happy with either ~ but we love the idea of Bella having a little sister, especially with them being so close in age.

Jason & I found out on Monday when we went to Nestled Newborn in Marietta for an early gender determination (the Dr waits until 20 weeks and I just couldn't wait that long : ). We had a great time... it was funny b/c she didn't want to unlock her legs- they were crossed very tightly (which of course Jason & I said we hope they stay that way for a VERY long time : )... anyways, after a bit of trying to move around the tech had me drink some Coke to really see if she would get moving... a little bit after that, sure enough, she was moving all around. Opening her mouth, putting her little hand b/t her legs, etc. We saw a very healthy spine and 10 fingers & 10 toes!! Right at the end the tech asked if we wanted to know and of course we said, Yes, and that is when she told us it is a girl and that she saw "that" 5 to 10 times so she is very confident : )

And, we have about two or three names that we are considering... as soon as we've decided we'll be quick to share : )

foot

waving at mommy & daddy

face