Can’t believe I’m almost halfway through my pregnancy – how exciting (and nerve-wracking at the same time – holy cow, the baby will be here soon!). I’m so anxious for the 21/22 week mark, as we will likely be able to learn whether we are carrying a baby girl or a baby boy during that time frame. We can’t wait to find out!

Before we conceived a child, Jordan and I had discussed the idea of not planning to find out the gender of the baby. Jordan was a big proponent of this plan especially, since he loves the idea of being surprised. But as we began trying for a baby, I couldn’t help but express my desire to find out the gender for practical/logistical/planning reasons – I’m just too much of a Type-A personality not to find out! Luckily, I have an understanding husband who was willing to go with whatever I decided, so we ultimately chose to find out the gender of our child.

A week or so ago, I had a lot of anxiety associated with finding out the gender of our baby – particularly if we learned that our baby is a boy – because we hadn’t yet finalized our chosen boy’s name. A baby girl’s name came relatively easy – we have had long-time favorites (since maybe March or April of 2011!) that we love and that we’ve kept secret, so choosing a first and middle name for a baby girl was comparatively easy. After many a discussion, Jordan and I had finally selected a first name for a baby boy, but as of a week ago, we still had no middle name and no good ideas. However, the other day, I suggested a name that I’ve loved for awhile as a middle name possibility, and Jordan really liked it, so that’s that – we have our first and middle baby names selected, for both girl and boy! Now I couldn’t be more excited to find out what we’re having, simply because I feel more prepared name-wise. :)

Wondering why we are keeping our baby names secret until the baby arrives? Truthfully, we never thought we would! A few of our friends decided to keep their chosen baby name secret when they were expecting their children, and we appreciated that A) the couple had a fun, exciting secret that they were able to share between the two of them for the entire pregnancy, and B) by keeping the name secret, the couple was able to sidestep hearing any opinions (at least ahead of time) on their chosen baby name. What Jordan and I have found since deciding to keep our baby names secret is that it’s SO fun to keep the baby’s name a secret from our friends and family (literally, no one else knows except for us – well, and Wyatt the dog) because it makes the pregnancy seem so much more personal and private for us. We’ve also discovered that it’s empowering to select a name for our child that we love, that we believe in, and that we feel has significance, and because we’re keeping our chosen names secret, we will be able to present the name that we have chosen for our child in a way that emphasizes our reasoning for choosing the name! We love the idea of making a video to announce the baby’s name and the significance behind our choice (we will make the movie a month or so before the birth and we will wait until shortly after the birth to release the video). Lastly, we also love the fact that no one can offer opinions (positive or negative) on our chosen names; truthfully, we love our names so much that it would suck to hear negative opinions at all, but especially prior to the arrival of our baby. It seems like a good idea to avoid any second-guessing of our choices!

I’ll keep you posted on any new developments as my pregnancy continues – we have another prenatal appointment this week, and we’re excited to be nearing the halfway point!

Hello there! I know that I’ve been absent, but I promise that I have a really exciting reason…

Jordan and I are expecting our first child! I’m about 14.5 weeks along, and we couldn’t be more excited to finally be able to share our happy news with everyone. We are due on June 15, 2012, and we were elated to discover that we were expecting after just three months of trying for our first baby.

Watch our fun holiday announcement video here!

It’s been a long-kept secret that Jordan and I planned to try to conceive a baby – we’ve been talking about our desire to be parents since we were married, but we developed an “action plan” around January of 2011 to get me on “good” insurance, to get a bigger and more winter-ready vehicle, and to start saving for a potential new member of our family. We began trying around our one-year anniversary in July, and we learned that we were expecting in early October.

The reason for my (LONG) absence from the blog is mostly due to the horrendous morning sickness that I had in the first trimester – I don’t mean to complain, because obviously, we feel very blessed to have been able to conceive a baby at all, much less in just three short months of trying, but seriously – I was sick for FIVE STRAIGHT WEEKS and visited the emergency room for IV fluids TWICE! Uffda. But, once early November hit, the nausea passed, and all I was dealing with (mostly) was exhaustion. Now that’s it’s mid-December (how time flies!), I would say that I’m at about 95%. The remaining 5% is mostly due to my lingering lack of appetite – I’m still unable to tolerate the smell of eggs, browning hamburger, hot dogs, buffalo wings from Taco Johns, and soup, and I can’t eat any steak-like meat (just the thought of steak makes me gag!). But, I’m excited to see what the second trimester brings in terms of changes, because it has certainly been a wild ride thus far!

With Christmas just around the corner, I wanted to showcase two of my favorite holiday card designs from Minted.com!

I’m a big fan of Minted – I’ve found a TON of cards for all occasions that I would LOVE to send out in celebration of every single holiday, from New Year’s to Christmas!

I love this design, which is called the “Wishing Script Holiday Photo Card” -

And this one is also a favorite: “Wintry Pine Holiday Photo Card” -

Have you picked out your holiday cards for this year?

NOTE: I haven’t been paid or perk’d to showcase Minted’s designs; I’m just a big fan!

{All photos via Minted}

Jordan and I used an empty picture frame to pose with on our wedding day, and we had so much fun with it! I’ve now reclaimed the use of these frames in our home; one is currently hanging in our bathroom, and the other is waiting for its final destination (in other words, I’m still trying to decide where to put it!). But, I’m a huge fan of using empty wooden picture frames as decor.

Check out some inspiration photos that I found on Pinterest (see the end of the post for photo credits):

{Photos via 1, 2, 3, 4}

This past weekend, my mother and I kicked off the advent of the fall season in South Dakota by making two of my most favorite goodies: Ghost Cookies and Homemade Hot Cocoa! I wanted to share the recipes with you all today, along with a few photos to guide you along the way as you (hopefully) make your own!

GHOST COOKIES – RECIPE

- Almond bark (1 package per cookie package is a good estimate, although you may have 2-3 “squares” left over, depending on how thickly you coat the cookies)

- Nutter Butter cookies

- Mini-chocolate chips (one 12 oz. package)

First step: Melt the almond bark over low heat.

Two: After the almond bark is melted, open your package of Nutter Butter cookies, and drop one into the pan. Using a fork, roll the cookie around in the almond bark until the cookie is completely covered. Tap off the excess almond bark, and lay on wax paper.

Three: Place two mini-chocolate chips on the cookie for eyes. NOTE: It’s important to place the chocolate chips immediately after placing the cookie on the wax paper, or else the chips won’t stick!

Eat and enjoy :) NOTE: These cookies are also fun at Christmas time; use the chocolate chips for buttons, and make Snowman Cookies!

 HOMEMADE HOT COCOA – RECIPE

- 1-1lb. box of Nestle Cocoa Mix (Nesquik)

- 1 8qt. box of Carnation Instant Milk

- 3 cups powdered sugar

- 11 oz. Coffeemate

- 12 candy canes (any flavor, although we prefer the original red and white kind)

- Dash of salt

First: Unwrap candy canes and place into a small ziploc bag. Place the small ziploc bag into a larger ziploc bag to ensure that there is no breakage during the crushing process. Then, using a hammer/mallet/etc., crush the candy canes to desired consistency.

Second: In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.

Third: Sift or stir all of the ingredients until well mixed.

NOTE: This recipe makes 4 quarts of cocoa. Since we love cocoa in our family, this doesn’t last us very long, but is perfect for a small family, or for gifts! I’ve filled cute little jars full of the cocoa mix, decorated the jars for Christmas, and included the recipe – it’s such a fun (and inexpensive) gift!

Final Direction: After warming up your water in a mug in the microwave (or on the stove), add 1/3 cup of cocoa mixture, and enjoy!

Many thanks to my Mom for modeling her hands in the pictures for this post!

What are your favorite things to make/bake in the fall or winter? Please share them with me in the comments!

Another glimpse into our apartment today – this time, check out our new duvet cover in our bedroom!

We purchased this light grey duvet cover from IKEA in July, and we finally put it on our bed this week (we’re slow, I know!). But, I have to say – it was worth the wait! We love the yellow and grey combination, and the black accent of our furniture and our Euro shams add another level of fun to the look.

Take a look:

Have you made any purchases from IKEA recently? What are your bed linens like?

For today’s look at our home, I wanted to showcase two big pieces of furniture that have a big impact in our apartment. As you may know, Jordan and I are big fans of IKEA, and on separate occasions, we made a pilgrimage to the nearest IKEA (in Minneapolis), and within the past year, we picked up not one, but two Expedit units from IKEA.

Here is how we utilized the first Expedit in our apartment [shown in the photo below, from six months ago or so]. This unit is what I like to call the “Medium” size – and this is before we got the “Large” size Expedit, which you will soon see:

See how we used the “Medium” Expedit (let’s call her Trudy) behind our couch as a sofa table? We stacked a few special photos on top, a table lamp, and my printer, and we filled the cubes to the brim to maximize storage. You’ll notice that most of the items stowed away are kitchen-related; this is due to the fact that while our apartment is growing more homey by the month, we sadly do not have a pantry. And it really, really stinks. But, we’re doing our best to make due. To those of you that have pantries, however: don’t take those puppies for granted – they really are a space safer!

Now, moving on to the “Large” Expedit that we purchased on our most recent trip to IKEA (in July). Let’s call the “Large” Expedit Rudy. When we brought Rudy home, we rearranged our living room to accommodate this large 4×4 unit. So, here’s a look at what Rudy looks like now:

It may help to give you an exterior shot of our living room before, to show you Trudy before Rudy joined the party:

Basically, we moved “Medium” size Trudy to serve as our TV stand, and we built good ol’ Rudy tall and proud to stand where our two-person desk used to be.

So now, our living room looks like this:

In other words, we rely pretty heavily on our Expedit units in our apartment. Without a pantry (and with only ONE drawer in our kitchen, which we use for silverware), we need more kitchen storage, so that’s what Rudy’s function is now, along with book storage. And, when a little one comes along in the future, we plan to fill the bottom two rows of “Large” size Rudy with baskets that hold toys, books, etc. to accommodate a curious child.

Do you have an Expedit unit? What purpose does it serve in your home?

NOTE: I wasn’t paid or perk’d to write about the IKEA Expedit; I’m just a big fan of their furniture!