The Sweetest Asheville Shower.

Man oh man have I been absent from this blog. I won't sugar-coat it: last week was a hard week of pregnancy. But more about that later, because this is a post about the happiest and sweetest of things! 

I never, ever expected to get to be lucky enough to have TWO baby showers, but sometimes the universe just rains fortune down on your head. My precious friends, Jenna and Caroline, were kind enough to throw me a shower at Nest Boutique in Biltmore Village yesterday. This place is a miliennial's dream - exposed, floating wood shelves; metallic fixtures; crystal chandeliers - everything about it was modern and gorgeous. The best part? The event space is in the back of an honest-to-goodness boutique (fabulosity level 10), and the shop owners gave everyone in the story 10% of merchandise as an added perk of serving as our host site! The genius shop owners have created both a clothing and accessories haven AND a studio that hosts showers, parties, DIY classes, etc. - it was just about the cutest thing in the world. 

On top of the incredible location, Caroline and Jenna went all out with luxurious food, drink, games, door prizes, and favors for the guests. I mean, come ON, right??

Particular highlights included: 

• Sliced waffles skewered with Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets and served with maple syrup. ...BRILLIANT. 
• Maybe the best iced coffee I've ever had in my life. 
• Homemade kettle corn that went home with guests as a favor. 
• The "guess the baby animal" game we played in which I realized that I have basically forgotten the name of every baby animal I ever learned in grade school. Whale? PUP! Duh!! I literally wrote "chick" as the baby animal for "duck." ...are you stupid, Mary Catherine? 
• Talking about how my biggest anxiety at this point was that we still hadn't bought a car seat, then opening my first gift to find that the incredible women in my neighborhood book club bought one for us! 
• The incredibly thoughtful meal train sign-up Caroline and Jenna created so that the shower guests could volunteer their culinary skills for Jordan and me as we settle in at home before and after this baby is born. INSANELY kind. 

I was sitting at the table, watching worlds collide (Pure Barre friends + J Crew friends + book club friends), eating chicken and waffles and homemade pastry, and my heart was completely full. I never in a million years thought that when we moved to Asheville, we would make such dear friends who would wrap us in their love and support in such a special time in our lives. These folks continuously blow me away with their generosity, and I feel so humbled and undeserving of their kindness. I say this often, but it's such a tender thing to realize that you're in the middle of "the good old days." I am not taking a bit of this for granted. 

THANK YOU. 

The Final Countdown: Pregnancy Brain

Welcome to a SPOOOOOOOKY edition of The Final Countdown!! We're smack in the middle of week 33 and things. 

are. 

getting. 

REAL. 

My face is huge, my back is aching, everything about pregnancy is starting to hit in full force. I've finally started expanding sideways in addition to front-ways. It's...not as cute as it was. 

But stare at me for 10 minutes anyway! 

The Final Countdown: Do's, Don'ts, and Myths

Goooood morning! 

Coming to you live from between weeks 31 and 32, we're talking today about all the things people tell you not to do during pregnancy, how much those things are based in fact, and the insane myths that somehow are still perpetuated (like "Don't sleep on your back," or "Any amount of alcohol is going to give your baby FAS."). Also discussing all the things I'm ready to do again post-pregnancy (spoiler alert: club. SAMMICH). 

Please ignore my knife skills in this video, as they are horrible and upon watching this back, I'm realizing I need to go to culinary school. Yikes. 

Music used: Rockabye Baby! 
Songs: Don't Stop Believin'
Here Comes the Sun
Can't Stop the Feelin' 
I do not own this music - just purchased it on iTunes! 

Baby Shower in Birmingham!

I feel like I am getting so spoiled during the month of October. Jordan is transitioning from one practice to another, and in between, he took three weeks off. We've been to Tulsa, to Santa Fe, have gotten to spend TONS of time together (beginning each morning with him waking up before me and bringing me coffee - #winning!), and last weekend, we got to see so many friends and family members in Birmingham. 

Most of my family still lives in Alabama, so when it came time for a baby shower, Birmingham made the most sense as a host city. My sweet Aunt Dana, Mom's youngest sister, volunteered to host! She'd just re-done her beautiful kitchen in Homewood, and it was the perfect location to have a little party. The theme was "Mary's Little Lamb" - how cute is that?! 

I wanted to keep the guest list small because I like the idea that the people in attendance will really be a part of this baby's life in a meaningful way. Despite the nasty hurricane weather, I was touched that friends and family gathered to celebrate the arrival of this baby. Moments like these make me want to fall on my knees in gratitude for the love, encouragement, and support I always receive from the people closest to me. 

Every gift I received was SO generous, but a couple of highlights stood out from my two grandmothers: my dad's mom, who I call "Nonnie," gave me a pair of baby booties that my dad wore when he was an infant. So special!! My mom's mom, who I call "Gee Mommy" (I know, I made it up as a child, it works for us), gave me the Christening gown that all my cousins on my mom's side have been Christened in, beginning with me. I was the first grandchild on both sides, just like this baby will be, and so it was a really neat moment to think about the legacy of this beautiful gown. 

Another really unique thing about this time in life is that one of my best friends on earth, Ginny Tyler, is pregnant and is only THREE WEEKS behind me. How insane is that?! Totally by accident, we're pregnant together. What makes this even more significant is that Ginny and I have photos of us together as little babies, and now OUR babies will be friends! It makes me cry. I can't. 

Jordan saw that baby picture of us and asked if my hair had been burned in a fire. Um, NO THAT'S JUST HOW I LOOKED AS A BABY, thank you, Jord. 

Extra great was that my grandfathers came to pick up my grandmothers, so I got to see and love on the important men in my life, too! I'm missing one sweet grandfather, Hank, but he was there in spirit! 

Thank you so much to everyone who made this day memorable for us - I already count it as one of the sweetest parts of pregnancy to be able to spend time with such an incredible group of women. 

The Final Countdown

Jordan and I (okay, just I) saw this great web series that Whitney Port (of The Hills fame) did during her pregnancy called "I Love My Baby But I Hate My Pregnancy." Each week, she did an update about kind of a "real girl's pregnancy," with all the yucky stuff no one likes to talk about but everyone experiences. 

I haven't had as rough a time as Whitney Port, but I did love the idea of documenting a little bit of this process in an honest way because it's so special and once-in-a-lifetime. I love looking back on old photos and video, so more for Jord and me than for anything, I thought it would be fun to have some tape of these last 10 weeks. 

Here's installment one, where he and I talk about The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of this process. If you've ever had kids, I'm sure you can relate to lots of this - because, let's be honest, pregnancy is all of those things.

Also, somehow we end up talking about comic books. And the time I tooted on Jordan's foot. 

Hope you enjoy this early morning, no-makeup look! (The lighting gets better, I promise.) 

Yellow, The Space Between, and Landslide are copyrighted by Rockabye Baby! and are not my property. 

Ch-ch-changes!

Well, if we're changing one thing (bringing a new life into the house), we might as well change something else major at the same time, right? Seems like a good idea. We'll let you know if we've totally lost our minds in a few months. 

Today marks Jordan's last day with the practice we moved to Asheville and started with. That plural pronoun is on purpose - we were both adopted into the Carolina Smiles family. 

Lots of people ask us, "Why Asheville?" The truth is, after Jordan finished residency in Birmingham, we decided we'd have us a little adventure. We didn't have children and didn't own our home, so it seemed natural that if we wanted to strike out on our own for a little while, that was the time to do so. We chose two final options: Denver and Asheville. Jordan flew to Denver, interviewed with a practice there, then we both road tripped to Asheville for his interview with (what was then) Carolina Smiles (and is now Hendersonville Family Dental). 

It was a no-brainer. The fit in Asheville was like a hand in a glove - I'll always remember that first dinner out with the staff from Carolina Smiles: how warm they were, and how they made us want to move right then! 

While it will be so wonderful to have him closer to home, as his current practice is 45 minutes away and his new practice only 10, we will TERRIBLY miss the incredible people at Hendersonville Family Dental. One of the things being married to a dentist has taught me is that a lot of people are really, really scared of the dentist. I don't think I understood fully how much of a phobia it is for folks - fear alone keeps them out of the chair for decades sometimes. HFD takes extra care in making sure their patients are comfortable, not only in the dentist's chair, but before and after. The team is like no other and I know I speak for Jordan when I say that we are both so deeply grateful to have lucked into such an incredible group of folks. It doesn't happen that way for everyone right out of dental school, and we never took that for granted. This practice and the people who staff it have been etched into our hearts.

On an even more personal (and potentially embarrassing to him) note, I have been so touched (and may be teary-eyed typing this) at how deeply Jordan has bonded with the women with whom he works. It is such a precious relationship, and I know those friendships will last beyond their tenure in an office together. It has made me a proud wife, as I always am, to hear how many patients are disappointed he's leaving, and to have so many staff members pull me aside to tell me the same thing. UGH, SO MANY FEELINGS -- damn you pregnancy, it's too early in the morning to be weepy!! 

Yesterday, the office threw Jordan a surprise goodbye potluck and invited me along. True to form, they also threw us an impromptu baby shower (how wonderful are they!?)! By the time the hour was over, we were all crying from laughter together, had stuffed bellies and Jordan and I had a stuffed car full of incredibly generous gifts. 

Liking who you work with is such a luxury, and these last two-and-some-change years have been life-changingly special to us both. Thank you for the amazing memories, Hendersonville Family Dental. We love you so much!!