While I have been trying to make some progress on my 30 before 30 list, I wouldn’t say that any of those items are really on my “bucket list.”

When I think about what I want to do the most, it comes down to one thing: travel.

My parents gave me an amazing childhood filled with travel, and I want to be able to provide the same for my kids. Whether it’s road tripping all over the USA or flying to a far-off country, I just want to give my kids the experience of seeing new places and learning new things the way I did as a child.

In addition to lots of amazing vacations, I also want to be at a point where we can afford to take off for a month during summer vacation and have incredible experiences living somewhere else… like San Francisco, Washington DC, Boston, Portland, etc.

Being able to give my kids experiences that not many other children will have is really important for me. It made me feel special to go with my parents on lots of vacations as a kid. I got to see the glaciers of Alaska, the pyramids of Giza, and the Rialto Bridge in Venice before I turned 18. I would love to give those same opportunities to my own children one day.

Here’s a photo of me and my mom on an actual glacier in Alaska when I was a kid:

My schedule is a little different these days. At 35 weeks pregnant this week, I don’t tend to get much done, since sitting at the computer is not that comfortable and staring at the screen makes me feel a little sick to my stomach.

Nevertheless, here is my daily schedule:

7:30am – the alarm clock goes off. I really like to get up earlier than Zachary so I can make coffee and get a head start, but I’ve just been WAY too tired lately.

8am – Zachary wakes up and wanders into my room. He either tells me to get up because he’s hungry, or he crawls into bed for an extra 5 minutes of snuggle time. I definitely prefer the snuggle time. :)

8:15am – At this point Zachary has been given food, so I get to work making lunch for my two boys. Adrian gets a peanut butter sandwich, but Zachary’s lunch is a bit more varied. This usually takes me about 15 minutes to finish.

8:30am – I check on Adrian to see if he’s almost ready to take Zachary to school and then I get Z’s things together and get him dressed.

8:45am – I send the boys off for the day. Adrian takes Zachary to school every morning. I usually make my coffee right when they are getting ready to leave, so I can enjoy my first cup of the day in peace and quiet. :)

9am – I sit down at my computer with some coffee and food and start reading email and replying back to messages. I check in on FB and see what my friends are up to. Sometimes I start a blog post, other times that waits until later in the day.

9:30am – if I’m going to do any work for the day, I get started early. Sitting at the computer is tough, so I don’t usually get more than a couple hours in before I’m done.

12pm – I stop working at this point to eat lunch. If I feel good after lunch, I’ll put in an extra hour of work. Otherwise I retreat to my bedroom and watch Netflix or take a nap.

3:30pm – I drag myself out of bed and get a snack and water bottle ready for Zachary and get in the car. Zachary is done with school at 4pm, and they always play on the playground from 3:30-4, so I bring a big water bottle and snack as he’s always hungry and thirsty after all that play time. My parents have been helping out by picking Zachary up sometimes and bringing him home, so I don’t have to drive. In that case, I rest a little longer. :)

4:30-5:30pm – We get home by 4:30 and spend about an hour playing – either coloring, toys, trains, or on his iPad – before I have to figure out what to make Z for dinner.

5:30-6pm – I try to give Z dinner around this time, and I like to eat at this time, too. It leaves enough room in the schedule for more playing, a bath if he needs one, and keeps him occupied.

6-8pm – General night time activities. We play some more, have a bath, do some laundry or another activity where he gets to “help” me, etc. Adrian is usually at home by this point, and he eats his dinner and does some more work. He owns a company of his own as well and has been pretty busy lately getting things done before the baby comes (so he can take some time off).

8-9pm – Zachary spends some time with me and his Daddy before bed time, and then we start getting ready for bed. He loves to cuddle in my bed before going in his room, so I get everything ready and give him some milk to drink while we lay in my bed — either watching something on Netflix or playing on the iPad. After he’s done with his milk, he has to brush his teeth and we go into his room.

9pm – Zachary gets a story before going to sleep, and then the lights turn off. He doesn’t like to fall asleep by himself, so I sit in the chair in his room and play on my phone until he’s sleeping.

9:30pm-12am – Adrian and I have the rest of the night to ourselves! Lately this usually means that Adrian does more work while I go back into my room to watch Netflix until I’m too tired to stay awake. I usually fall asleep by midnight or a little earlier. Sometimes Adrian stays up later to work more, but I try to get him to go to bed at the same time as I do, since he needs his sleep, too!

The lottery is pretty crazy — I just checked the Powerball website and it says the current estimated jackpot is 90 million dollars. How ridiculous would it be to win that kind of money?! Of course, half of it would be taken by the government for payment of income tax, but still. Even 40-50 million is just insane! I never play the lottery, so writing this post is just a crazy dream…. but it’s fun to think about it, either way!

At any rate, the first thing I would do is pay off all of our debts. We have some credit cards in addition to our mortgage, and not having those pesky payments to deal with would make life a lot easier! After our mortgage was paid off, I would sell my house and buy a bigger one, paid in full, so I wouldn’t have any additional debts to deal with. Of course along with a new home would have to come new furniture and I would absolutely want to hire an interior designer to help plan out the way the house looks inside. I am not a great decorator, so I would need help for sure!

Speaking of hiring a designer, I would then hire a stylist for me and Adrian to help us revamp our wardrobes and fill our new, bigger closets with nice clothes. We have been wearing the same stuff for years and again, I’m not the most fashionable  and usually just wear what’s comfy… so I would love to have some professional assistance in planning out a functional, practical, but stylish wardrobe!

Next on my list would be proper savings accounts for both of my boys. We do have a college savings set up for Zachary already and will definitely set up one for our 2nd child too, when he’s born, as it’s important to prepare for college early on. I would make sure that there’s enough for both kids so they could go to any university they liked without having to take a student loan, and set aside extra for expenses like buying a car, their first homes, wedding savings, business startup investment, or whatever they would need when they are ready for that stage in life. I would also think further in the future and set up college savings for my someday-grandchildren too!

Third, I would plan tons of family vacations! We love to travel, and especially over the summer when it’s so hot in Florida, we’d love to take the kids away for a six week trip every summer (somewhere not blazingly hot) and enjoy visiting a new place. As both of our parents have taken us on lots of trips since we’ve been together, I would love to treat both my mom and dad and Adrian’s parents to special vacations, too.

Fourth, I would do something wonderful for my best friend, Amy. She is like family and is always there for me no matter what, and if I won millions of dollars and could afford to buy her a house or whatever she wanted, I would do it in a heart beat.

Lastly, aside from a few fun toys that I’m sure Adrian and I would want to buy for ourselves, the rest of the money would be put into a good savings account so that we could continue to enjoy it as we get older, and live out the rest of our lives financially secure and debt-free.

The festivities started last night — Since my mom & dad were watching Zachary for the evening (including a sleepover!), Adrian took me out to see The Avengers at the new iPic theater in Boca Raton’s Mizner Park. We hadn’t had a date night in a while, so I was looking forward to getting out of the house. Especially with the whole bedrest business… I really enjoyed doing something special. :)

Anyway — the theater was amazing! What an incredible experience (yes, really an experience) if you really want to go over the top for a movie. The entire theater is made up of special leather reclining chairs and every customer receives a pillow and blanket. They have a call button if you want to order drinks or a snack (there is a high-end restaurant attached to the theater property), so you never even need to leave your seat! The movie itself was awesome… but I really loved the whole experience.

After the movie, we went out to dinner at The Dubliner, one of Adrian’s favorite restaurants at Mizner Park. He’s been there a couple times since his office is located above the shopping center. They have a mac n’ cheese dish that is made with Guinness. I’m a huge fan of any sort of macaroni & cheese, so I couldn’t resist! Adrian had duck with a black cherry balsamic glaze. Both were fabulous!

After dinner, it was still early, so we headed over to IKEA to buy my new office desk! I decided on the Hemnes desk and am really happy with my choice! We spent the rest of the evening chilling out in front of the TV and headed to bed early.

Sleeping late is the best part of having my mom & dad take care of Zachary, and I did just that! We did not wake up until 11am! It was great to enjoy a relaxing morning, and then we headed to my parents’ house for lunch and enjoyed some time with my mom, dad, and grandma.

I’m not sure what’s going on with my hair in that pic… LOL. But I look about as tired as I felt, which was very tired. The last month of pregnancy is not easy, but I’m glad I was able to have such a fun day! I’m wearing a handmade necklace that Zachary made for me at school. I love it!

Me and my boy, playing with his new Mobi Go that my mom and dad bought him. What a fun toy!

My beautiful mom! My dad actually took this photo with my camera, and I just love it!

I took some fun photos of me and Zachary goofing around with my iPhone. I love the iPhone camera, it can be like a photo booth! Wehad a lot of fun taking these cute images.

When Adrian, Zachary, and I went home, I got to rest (yay!) and Adrian and Zachary put together my new desk. Zachary especially had a really good time using his kid tools to “help” Adrian. I couldn’t resist snagging a shot of him helping out. It was adorable!

What a great Mother’s Day! I think this was definitely the best Mother’s Day since I got to start participating when I was pregnant with Zachary!

Today’s blog challenge prompt is about my earliest memory.

I was a very lucky kid growing up as my parents traveled with my quite often! Whether it was a trip to the Keys or a cruise, I got to see the world in ways that my other little friends did not. When I think of my earliest memories, they usually center around family vacations with my parents.

One of my very earliest vacation memories was a trip we took to Disney World when I was a few years old. I remember going on a few rides with my parents, and my mom took me to have breakfast with the characters. I don’t actually remember the breakfast itself, but I do love this picture of me, my mom, and Minnie Mouse!

When I was around 3 or 4, my parents took me on my first cruise on the Carnivale — the flagship of Carnival Cruise Lines. I know the scan is awful, but it’s the only one I have on hand! I know I had a good time on the cruise, and I remember bits and pieces of it. It was the first of many cruises I would take with my parents.

OK… so I am not a huge fan of this blogging prompt, but I committed to doing this challenge every day this month, so you’re going to get it anyway! This may very well be the MOST boring blog post I have ever made.

My fridge is usually pretty packed. I don’t know why, it just happens that way!

I like to stock up on lots of stuff (like I have 3 cartons of milk in the fridge right now – we use Lactaid so when it goes on sale, I get a lot since it has a long shelf life) and we use a lot of condiments that need to be refrigerated, so there’s always a lot in there.

I also put things in the fridge that other people might not… like my bread and bagels (they don’t get stale as quickly) and some kinds of cookies. Zachary loves Milano cookies, but I think they keep better in the fridge, so that’s where they are.

The small drawer under the third shelf is completely dedicated to cheese. Yep, we are a cheese-loving family! There’s even some cheese that didn’t fit in the cheese drawer. We really like cheese!

We also have a Brita filter that takes up a lot of room. We used to use bottled water, but decided it’d be more cost effective to get a Brita (though, I’m not so great at keeping it full, lol). We haven’t bought bottled water to keep at home in well over a year! That’s a lot of plastic saved!

We don’t really drink much other than water at home. I’m addicted to Ritz Seltzer (there’s a 16oz bottle on the top shelf… I go through them pretty fast though) and my hubby occasionally likes a Mt. Dew or a beer, so we have a couple of those too. I also have OJ and Gatorade in the fridge, as well as coffee creamer for my coffee. Yum!

The bottom two drawers, which I didn’t photograph, are for fruit and veggies and other stuff. We usually have a lot of apples around since Adrian brings them to work with him, and Zachary likes them in his lunch. I like them with cheese – hehe.

Anyway… without further ado, here is a picture of the inside of my fridge. I got lazy and used my iPhone for this shot, so it’s nothing fancy! No pic of my freezer because it’s such a mess! LOL!

Today’s challenge post is to write about 15 of my favorite things.  Here they are!

1. My family.

This seems like it’d be a no brainer, but my family really is wonderful. I have the best little boy ever (and will soon add the best little brother ever — in just a few weeks), my husband is wonderful and because he works so hard, he allows me to live my own dream, and my parents have done so much to help us out there is no way I could ever repay them or thank them enough. I am just glad to have them both living close by and healthy. My in-laws don’t live near-by, but as far as in-laws go, they are pretty great, too! They have also supported us in many ways and I feel REALLY lucky that I get along with them, since I have a lot of friends who don’t have a good relationship with their husband’s families. Last but not least, my dog is part of the family, too, and she’s pretty great. She can be very annoying sometimes (like when she licks incessantly), but overall she is a good little dog and plays so nicely with Zachary. She is very tolerant of him and extremely gentle. I love my dog!

2. My friends.

I truly do love my friends. I am lucky to have a lot of friends who care about me, and I am touched everyday by their kindness and support and love spending quality time with them.

3. Preschool.

This is a funny thing to list as a favorite thing, but I absolutely love my son’s preschool. Not only are they a group of wonderful, supportive people, but they have allowed Zachary to shine and grow in ways I didn’t think were possible.

4. Books/Reading.

Reading has been a huge part of my life ever since I was a little girl, and I’ve always been a very voracious reader. I love finding an amazing book and losing myself in that world. Over the past few years, I’ve encouraged my husband to read more often, which I love — especially when he picks up a series I’ve raved about, like The Hunger Games. I also am sharing my love of books and reading with our son. Zachary is just starting to move into the stage where he wants to learn to read, and we’ve been having a lot of fun choosing books at bedtime (and other times). Sometimes I catch him picking up a book we’ve read many times (enough that he has part of it memorized) and “reading” it to himself. It never fails to make me smile!

5. Photography.

You were wondering when this would show up on my list….right? :) Yes, photography is a job, but it’s also one of my most favorite things in the world. I’ve loved taking pictures since I was a kid and probably spent more money on film and processing at the local drugstore than my parents care to think about! I love finding art in every day things, and I especially love capturing my family’s memories. I love my camera, the Canon 5D mark III — but I am a huge addict of shooting with my iPhone since it’s always, always with me — and the quality of the images is pretty great, too. I also shoot with my point and shoot, the Canon G11, when I remember to bring it with me. :) I’m thankful for photography because running my own business allows me the freedom that I love and need, and because I never thought I would be really great at doing any particular job — or really enjoy any job — until I started my photo business.

6. Apple.

No, not the fruit! We are an Apple family through and through. Adrian and I have iMacs to work on, MacBook and MacBook Air laptops, iPhones, iPads, iPods, an Apple TV… you name it, we use it! Even Zachary is a genius with the iPad and iPhone already and is nearly as good as we are — or better! — at some games.

7. Coffee.

I’ve been drinking coffee since I was very little, and I have a hard time starting my day without it! I love the flavored coffees (coconut, hazelnut, and pumpkin are my favorites), and I also love Coffee Mate’s Italian Sweet Cream coffee creamer. It’s soooo good.

8. Cheese.

I really love cheese. Trying new cheeses is a hobby of mine, and I love going to one of my favorite restaurants, The Cheese Course, and creating my own custom cheese board for lunch! I’ll enjoy it more once the baby is out and I can drink a glass of wine with my cheese. :D

9. Space.

I love space! I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my dad when I was a little girl, and many of my favorite shows and movies also take place in space. Additionally, being in Florida where shuttles and rockets take off, it’s hard to not pay attention to space-related information. I’m lucky to have seen a number of shuttle launches before the program ended. I am simply fascinated by the universe and everything that may be out there that is still unknown to us. Just thinking about it is overwhelming and awe-inducing!

10. The Internet.

I’ve been using the internet for 20 years now, nearly the entirety of my life span! How crazy is that? I registered siren.org back in 1998, which means I’ve been writing here for FOURTEEN YEARS – and consistently blogging since 2008, before Zachary was born. I love it. I’ve made a lot of friends and met some really fantastic people through my website and in my journeys on the Internet in general, and it’s something I’m happy to have been a part of since the earliest days of online communities.

11. Relaxing/Sleeping.

I definitely took this for granted before I had kids. I love napping or relaxing. Now that I have a child with another on the way, napping is a luxury and something I don’t always have the opportunity to do. I only get to sleep late when my parents watch Zachary overnight, so every time I sleep late, it is like a little gift. :)

12. Music.

While I don’t listen to music quite as much as I used to, I still love it. There are songs and albums that define certain parts of my life, and I love discovering new and talented artists to enjoy. I also love playing music when I get the chance, and I really love hearing my husband practice the piano — he’s been taking lessons for about a year now and is starting to get pretty good!!

13. Travel.

I traveled extensively as a kid to all kinds of far-off places. As an adult, my husband and I have mostly traveled inside the US. I love travelling and road tripping and it’s something we are instilling in our kids, too. By the time our second baby is a year old, we’ll have taken at least two road trips! I’m so excited to explore new places with my little family. :)

14. My car.

I drive a Lexus RX 350. I always wanted an awesome SUV and am really thankful to have my car.

15. Seltzer.

It’s like water… but better :) I am a seltzer addict. I have always loved soda, specifically diet Coke, but since it’s so unhealthy for you, I switched to seltzer – which is just carbonated water. Yum!

For today’s blog challenge post, I’m supposed to talk about my best physical feature! Don’t you mean featureS? Plural? LOL. There are lots of aspects of myself that I like, but I’m pretty sure my best feature is my eyes. My eyes are a fun sort of brownish-greenish hazel. They’ve definitely gotten more green over the years and I really love the color. I think I have really expressive eyes, and I like the way they photograph, too.

I particularly love this image that my friend Stacey took of me back in November, and I love the way my eyes look!

What is your favorite feature about yourself?

Like most people, I definitely have some bad habits that I wish I didn’t have!

1. I bite my nails. I know how awful and disgusting this habit is, but I’ve done it since I was a kid and it’s really hard to stop. The only time I ever stop is when I get fake nail tips put on at the salon, or if I get a manicure. I can’t bite the tips, and usually getting a manicure lets me grow out my nails a bit – at least until the polish chips off. This is probably one of the hardest habits I’ve ever tried to break and right now I’m not too successful at it. :( I tried getting a manicure a couple weeks ago and did not bite my nails for a full two weeks. Then the polish started to chip and I didn’t have time to go get another manicure, so I just redid my nails myself, and I have not been too good at keeping the urge to nibble on them away. This is a habit my husband REALLY hates, though… and the last thing I want to do is be a bad example for my kids and encourage them to “follow” me in the habit themselves!

2. Procrastination. This is a bad habit that probably goes along with a bit of laziness. There is a lot that I often leave until I absolutely have to get it done, and then I stress about it! I’m trying to be better at not procrastinating on getting all of the baby stuff done… it helps that my nesting instinct is starting to take over :)

3. Messiness. I do have a cleaning lady, so my house is always CLEAN…. it’s usually just messy! I typically blame this on the fact that a) I have a 3 year old whose toys somehow manage to get everywhere, and b) I don’t have a lot of storage in my house. I know there is much more that I can do, though, — including throwing away things that I really don’t need. I plan to get my house really organized in the next few weeks though, since I have to get things in order before having this baby! I got a bunch of organizational supplies recently, so I’m hoping to get things put away and find more things that I can get rid of before the baby comes!

What are your worst habits?

I always liked nice handbags, so after I had Zachary and switched to using a diaper bag, it took a while for me to pare down all the contents of my bag so that my stuff would easily fit in to my tiny section of the diaper bag. After Zachary was around 18 months or two years old, I quit carrying around a diaper bag and just used a bigger handbag that could fit some extra diapers and wipes. And of course, now that Zachary is 3.5 and we haven’t really used diapers for the past year, I’ve been using a regular bag, but I stopped feeling the need to carry my life in my bag. So there’s really not too much stuff.  I usually alternate between my Fossil bag, Vera Bradley, and Coach bags, but I tend to choose purses that have a long cross-body strap since I’m usually running after Zachary and don’t want to worry about the bag hanging off my arm.

At any rate, here are the contents of my handbag:

What you see is: Walgreens brand hand sanitizer, Bath & Body Works Sinful Vanilla lotion, my Kate Spade green wallet, TUMS Smoothies (necessary for any pregnant lady!), Welch’s fruit snacks, an organic lollipop, a granola bar (those 3 items are all for Zachary in case I need to feed him a snack while we’re out), my ginormous keychain, Zachary’s sunglasses, some Wet Ones antibacterial wipes (I go through a lot of these), 2 lipsticks, a backup charge for my iPhone, a random CF card for my pro camera, a Kleenex tissue pack, Zachary’s iPhone (yes, my 3.5 year old has his own phone because I upgraded to the 4s and gave him my old 4 as an iPod touch), a few of my battered business cards (that reminds me, I need to put more in my bag), and an IKEA family card and receipt from an IKEA visit a few days ago.

I also usually have my own iPhone in my bag, along with a Take N Toss sippy cup full of water for Zachary, and sometimes a water bottle for myself. Occasionally I have my point & shoot camera, the Canon G11, and typically my own sunglasses are in my bag, too, but I left them on my dresser yesterday after I got Zachary at school.

If you know me at ALL, you’ll know that one of my hugest pet peeves is when people can’t seem to get simple spellings correct and consistently make ridiculous grammar errors. I’m talking about stuff they should have known by the time they finished middle school.

A typo is one thing — even acceptable when you’re typing fast and trying to get words out quickly on the computer keyboard. I simply can’t stand it, though, when people don’t know the difference between their/they’re/there, its/it’s, your/you’re, and loose/lose. I hate seeing spelling errors for words that I feel everyone should know how to spell. Any time I see errors like that, I wonder how the person managed to get through high school or college without being corrected by a teacher and learning the right way to do it.

It especially bothers me when the person making the mistake is very highly educated — or even worse, a teacher! That is an even bigger pet peeve for me. Teachers should know how to spell simple words and understand basic grammar. Why would I want someone who can’t spell correctly to teach my child?

If you need a little spelling/grammar refresher, you should absolutely check out this page from The Oatmeal, one of my favorite sites — Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling!

My five senses right now:

SEE:

Zachary is playing Angry Birds on the iPad and keeps asking me to help him with various levels that are a little too tough for him. They are sometimes a little too tough for me, too. ;) I also am editing some of the photos that I took last night. Zachary was playing with his Legos and I had to capture the moment!

HEAR:

Since Zachary just put the iPad down to do something else, it’s now quiet again – for the moment. I’m listening to the soft hum of my computer and the distant sounds of birds singing outside.

TASTE:

I’m drinking some yummy coffee. Every fall/winter I buy extra of whatever my favorite pumpkin coffee is, so that I can save it for summertime. This time it was the pumpkin coffee from Fresh Market. It’s sooooo good, and I’m so happy I saved some of it again to enjoy right now. It is my special treat!

SMELL:

Definitely smelling the aforementioned coffee. It’s soooo yummy smelling!

TOUCH:

Touching the keyboard. LOL. But, I did just give Zachary a hug and stroked his soft hair and skin.

–

Here’s one of the photos I took last night, to make this post extra-cute! ;)

Thankfully, one dilation exam and ultrasound later, I learned that I am NOT in preterm labor! But, I wasn’t just imagining things either — they did send me over to the hospital for a non-stress test to check out my contractions and monitor the baby. I was pretty bored at first, but I actually enjoyed the NST because it was a reason for me to relax – I even napped through it for a bit, lulled to sleep by the sound of the baby’s perfect heartbeat coming from the monitor. Good news is the baby is A-OK, but I did have a couple of contractions (nothing regular), so the doctor is being cautious and has ordered me to limited activity – no walking or exercising (like I do that anyway… LOL), and I need to relax as much as possible and drink plenty of water.

Of course, it’s a little hard sometimes to “rest” when you have an active 3 year old who constantly wants to play and is very demanding of your attention… but fortunately he’s in school during the week, and we do have some downtime during the day on weekends. And I have wonderful friends who I love spending time with that come and help me out when my parents or Adrian are unavailable – which really means the world to me!

I couldn’t resist documenting my little adventure to the hospital, so here’s a photo of my NST printout to make this post picture-perfect.

The only thing driving me nuts right now about my “limited activity” status is that we just had some renovations done at home – we swapped my home office with the kids’ room – so I will have the smaller room to work in, and the kids get to share a bigger room…. and since I haven’t been feeling well, I haven’t been able to do what I need to do to get the room ready, AND my house is a complete mess from the carpet installation and other work we’ve had done this week. Good thing I still have some time left until the baby is due so that we can finish things up.

I still can’t believe how different this pregnancy is from when I was pregnant with Zachary four years ago! Aside from some swelling and ending up with really low iron, I had a great pregnancy with no issues. I even shot a wedding at 36 weeks, which I couldn’t comprehend doing right now, and I’m glad I made it through my final 2 weddings at 29 and 30 weeks when I shot them last month. This pregnancy has been soooo different compared to my last one. It really shows that every pregnancy is unique and you can’t ever truly plan 100%!

Today’s challenge asks for my 10 favorite songs right now. As part of my 30 before 30 list, I’ve been wanting to get back into music and blog more about what I’m listening to, so I guess this kind of helps fulfill that :) I honestly haven’t had too much time for music lately, since I’ve been so busy, and I usually listen to the radio when I drive, and I haven’t been driving too much, or just prefer quiet.

However, I do have some favorites. :)

I’ve been listening to a LOT of Rob Thomas’ album, Cradlesong, lately. It’s a staple for me in the car, and I have two favorites that I love — (1) Fire on the Mountain and (2) Wonderful. I just love the lyrics, the hook, and the percussion. The whole album is really great, but those two in particular – I love. I’ve been listening to Rob Thomas since I was a teenager and love pretty much everything he’s put out.

Another album I love in the car is the Twilight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – yes, the one from the first movie! There are some really amazing songs on that soundtrack and some of them, I can just listen to over and over. I usually turn this soundtrack on when Zachary is NOT in the car with me, since I like to blast it really loud! My favorites from this album include Muse’s (3) Supermassive Black Hole and Mutemath’s (4) Spotlight. Both songs have a great pace to them, and I listen to them a lot when I’m a little tired, since they get me going.

Next is the Black Eyed Peas‘ (5) I Gotta Feeling. My wedding photographer friends will probably laugh at me because this is one of those songs that is played at EVERY wedding that we shoot, right alongside other constants like Don’t Stop Believing…. lol. Well, I actually like the Black Eyed Peas, and I like this song. I even bought it as an iPhone ringtone a few months ago! I enjoy listening to this song when I’m working on the computer because it’s fast paced and makes me zip through whatever I’m editing. Love it!

Another song I discovered recently is The Band Perry‘s (6) If I Die Young. The imagery in this song’s lyrics is stunning, though the lyrics are a little hard to listen to – like any wonderful country song, it tells a story, and its story is a very sad one. I guarantee if you listen to this song, you will get wrapped up in the lyrics from beginning to end. It’s an amazing song, and I really like The Band Perry’s other work as well.

Last year, my husband introduced me to a great duo called The Civil Wars. They are getting pretty popular now, and I love their album, Barton Hollow. I also happen to love the song (7) Barton Hollow that’s on that album! The Civil Wars’ arrangements are pretty simple – mostly acoustic guitar, some percussion, and their amazing voices. Their album is one that I could listen to for hours and hours. If you want to buy it, it’s actually a mere $5.99 on Amazon for the whole album on MP3, which has 14 tracks. I highly recommend!

Next on my list is (8) Rolling in the Deep by Adele. Seriously, who doesn’t like Adele?? I’ve been cheating and listening to her song on Spotify, but I really need to go ahead and buy all of her albums one day. I love this song not only because I adore her voice, the lyrics are so wonderfully relatable, but the way the song starts up with that syncopated beat and leads up into the hook and then the chorus is so clever. This song is perfect, and Adele rocks!

When Florence and the Machine released their first album, I enjoyed some of the tracks, but I really love their second release, Ceremonials, and the song (9) That’s What the Water Gave Me is haunting, mellow, and addictive. I just love the way her voice sounds in the chorus and the way the song rocks out towards the middle and end. It reminds me of some of the music I used to listen to in the 90′s that was similar….but this is better. Haha.

Well, I can’t think of a 10th song right now! So, nine will have to suffice for now. What is your current favorite song?

Now that I’ve had a child and am expecting another one very soon, there is not too much in the world that scares me more than the thought of something happening to one of my kids. Sure, I’m also afraid of spiders, scary noises in a dark house, and losing my iPhone (that is a scary thought, wouldn’t you think?!)… but the scariest thing I can think of is of one of my kids getting hurt, sick, etc. Since Zachary was born, it has been hard to imagine life before him, and I just know I’ll feel the same way after our second child is born, too. He has been sick a few times and sometimes it’s been a little scary to deal with, especially when you have no idea what to do to make your baby feel better.

When Zachary was a newborn, we had to bring him back to the hospital due to jaundice — probably the most common newborn ailment — not resolving itself. I remember feeling incredibly sick to my stomach with worry, even though I’m sure the doctors and nurses deal with that kind of thing constantly in new babies! Then, when Zachary was about 20 months old, he spiked a temperature of over 104 degrees, and we had to go to the hospital for some shots of medication to quickly fight whatever was making him sick, along with a few different tests and an X-ray. That was another super scary moment for me… though I am pretty sure Zachary handled it a lot better than I did! :)

Thankfully, aside from those, we haven’t had many other serious medical dramas with our little guy… no other hospital visits, thank goodness! However, we will be starting with a whole new baby in just a few weeks, and I fully admit that I dread some of the things that I know will happen! Even though I’ve been through it once, it’s still super scary to think about your baby getting sick, hurt, etc. When you have active little boys, you know that something is bound to happen at some point in time. I think that after having kids, there is almost always something new to worry about or be afraid of since your child is an extension of your own heart and soul making decisions and choices on his or her own, completely without regard to what you have suggested they do, as the parent.

Day 3 of the blog challenge is about my favorite quote. The first thing that comes to mind is… which one?! I actually have a number of favorite quotes, and I’m always collecting quotes on Pinterest!

Here are a few of my favorites:

See more of my favorite quotes and words on my Pinterest board!

This image was captured with the iPhone app, Tadaa.

1. I’ve been blogging in some fashion since I was about 14 – before most people were even calling it blogging. I’ve taken breaks in the past, but I don’t think I could ever stop completely!
2. I’ve made so many cool friendships from having a blog and website, and still keep in touch with many of my online friends from the old days!
3. I really love having a little boy. I didn’t think I would love it as much as I do, and I’m 100% thrilled that my 2nd baby will be a boy, too!
4. Unless something crazy happens, we will be done at 2 kids.
5. I love love love going on road trips! We try to plan at least one trip each year, even if it’s just a small trip a few hours away to somewhere new in Florida. The longest road trip we ever took was all the way up to Vermont, last summer.
6. I absolutely hate barking dogs. One of my neighbor’s dogs has been barking all morning and I am starting to get really annoyed. If a dog is outside, barking, it is not happy, and you should take it inside.
7. My dog, Maya, does not bark very often. Of this, I am EXTREMELY thankful!
8. I love my dog very much, but I wish she didn’t have so many accidents in the house. Yuck!
9. I feel guilty that I haven’t taken as many “professional” family photos this year as I had planned. Pregnancy has sucked the motivation out of me, but I’m hoping the inspiration comes back after the baby comes. I shoot a lot with my iPhone camera, but wish I’ve been doing more mini photo sessions of Zachary with my “real” camera. He’s growing so quickly!
10. I am a little obsessed with my iPhone camera. I have about 20 different camera apps for my phone. So far my favorites are Instagram, Camera+, and Tadaa, but I’m discovering new ones all the time, and I shoot at least one photo a day with my iPhone.
11. I am insanely proud of myself that I haven’t gained too much weight during this pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Zachary, I packed on about 50lb. This time, I’m hoping to stay below the 25lb mark. Just a few more weeks to go!
12. Most photographers I know really hate being the one in front of the camera, but I happen to enjoy having photos taken of myself. When my husband, Adrian, and I first got together, we would do mini photo shoots of me all the time so he could practice his photography skills!
13. Adrian and I have been together for 10 years (this June) and married for 8 years (this July).
14. When I first met Adrian, it was because I had scheduled a photo shoot with him. He was building his photography portfolio and wanted to do some fun portrait sessions as practice.
15. I would love to do Cloth Diapers with my 2nd baby… but my husband isn’t on-board, and I honestly think they are pretty gross. I do want to try out gDiapers though. They seem pretty easy to use, and have disposable liners.
16. I honestly don’t know what I would do without Google. I use it every day without fail!
17. I really love crochet, but I’ve never finished a project! I have half-finished scarves that are older than Zachary.
18. I have lots of favorite foods… pizza/Italian, sushi, Mexican food…. I could pretty much go for any of them at any time.
19. I love eating chocolate and other sweets, but they usually give me bad acid reflux, which makes me sad because I don’t eat them as much any more. :(
20. I am in the process of trying to stop biting my nails. Again. By far my worst habit, ever.

Day 1 of the challenge asks for an introduction and a recent photo.

Well, here I am, about five minutes ago! The image was taken with my newest favorite camera app — Tadaa. Best of all, I’m pretty sure it was free, or close to it!

As you’ve probably gathered, I’m Karen, the author of this blog. My husband Adrian and I live in South Florida with our dachshund, Maya, and our 3.5 year old son, Zachary. We’re expecting our second baby next month (another boy), and I’m going to turn 30 in July! We live close to my parents, which is a huge benefit, as they are incredibly helpful with Zachary, not to mention they enrich our lives in lots of other ways. Almost every year we drive to eastern Tennessee to visit my husband’s parents for the holidays. Back in 2010 we got very lucky and experienced our first snow there. Last year, my in-laws visited us, so we didn’t travel, but we plan to make the trip this year. It’ll be our first trip with the baby, and we are really hoping for snow again!

As a photographer, I obviously love capturing moments for my family, friends, and clients. I wish I was a little better at printing my images and putting them in albums, but I’m trying hard to do that more often! I’m a little obsessed with my iPhone camera and I am constantly shooting snaps with my phone! I also love reading, watching tv and movies, trying new restaurants, relaxing, and taking fun adventures with my family. I’ve been blogging since I was a teenager and hope to continue over the years as a way to record my thoughts and current life events. I rarely do blog challenges like this one, but I think it’s a fun way to share with my friends and make my blog more interesting.

I mentioned a while back that we have been doing some work on the house. Most of that work will be completed by FRIDAY!! Since the bedroom that Zachary is in right now is too small for two little boys, and my home office is much bigger, I am swapping rooms with the kids and taking the smaller room for my office. We chose paint colors and carpet styles a few weeks ago, and this week everything is being painted in both rooms (as well as a revamp of our Florida Room/patio) and the new carpeting is finally being installed!

All of Zachary’s current furniture is going in his new room, along with Zachary’s old crib, which will now belong to the baby. I’m looking forward to the extra storage space we’ll have in that room, since his old bedroom does not have a closet and the new one does! Finally, a place to put all of the toys and extra clothing! Adrian and I planned the room layout and I’m really excited to get everything set up this weekend. For now, the entire contents of my office are now living in the dining room, as will Zachary’s furniture for a couple of days until the carpet is installed at the end of the week.

As far as a theme for the bedroom, I originally wanted to do a fun vintage travel theme. But… then I realized that would work much better if it was solely a nursery. Since a baby will sharing a room with an almost-four-year-old… well, the room is just going to be a combination of whatever things my kids are into! I allowed Zachary to choose the paint colors (celadon green and a darker olive green), but other than that, I am not going with a solid theme.  Zachary already has Thomas, Toy Story, and Angry Birds sheets for his bed, which constantly get alternated out. Once the baby is big enough to enjoy the same things, I’m sure we’ll have lots of posters and other memorabilia relating to whatever the kids like the best at that moment. At the moment, I’m on a hunt for a small Angry Birds poster, since we absolutely love those games.

Here are the paint colors that Zachary chose. The colors are from the National Trust for Historic Preservation collection with Valspar at Lowe’s. The artist in me is very proud of him for selecting such a great color combination! Now that the room is painted, I’m even more excited – it looks fabulous!

Zachary is very excited to move into his new bedroom this week after the carpet is installed, and understands that he will be sharing it with the baby after he arrives. I’m looking forward to putting the crib back together (it’s still in toddler bed mode and currently used as seating in the play room), and putting it in the new room. Of course that means I’ll be replacing the seating in the playroom with a new loveseat! I just love the yellow KLIPPAN sofa from IKEA, though I don’t think the yellow will really match the walls. :) Thankfully it comes in other colors – like black – which probably will be more stain-resistant. The other sofa, the SOLSTA, would go great in my new office. We had an old loveseat in my office for years, and when I needed to take a break or plop Zachary down with the iPad, I really enjoyed having some plush seating. The SOLSTA has an added advantage of being a sofabed in case we ever need space for a guest, so hopefully both of these are as cute in person as they are online!

In addition to Zachary and the baby’s room, I also get to design my new office! All of the office furniture we had here in the house was pointless after Adrian got his office space, as the office he’s in is furnished. Our office furniture was many years old and starting to fall apart anyway, so we opted to just get rid of it, and I’ve been scouring the IKEA website looking for a desk I like, among other items. I found these desks online on IKEA and like both of them. The MALM desk on the right, though, is half the price of the first one, the HEMNES desk. So, we’ll see which one I like better when we go to the store!

I also need a new storage cabinet for my dining room. Our home is a bit older and is short on storage, so finding different storage options has been a little bit of a challenge over the years. A few months ago it became apparent that I would need additional storage in my dining room. I’m torn between these two HEMNES cabinets from IKEA. Love the color and style, but can’t decide between full cabinet or cabinets with drawers. I’m leaning towards the drawers, but hoping they have some samples already built in the store so that I can see both!

So far those are all of the ideas I have, and I am really excited to implement everything before the baby gets here. I guess I am nesting in full-force now!! :) After a few more things are done, my mom has volunteered to help me with decorating – something she’s much better at than I am. Things are really getting exciting and soon we will be fully prepared for the arrival of Baby #2!

I know this picture doesn’t show off the belly, but it was too cute not to share! I’ll have belly pics soon enough. :) I just love Zachary’s expression and how Adrian and I are looking at him with happiness on our faces! It was a great moment and a really fun shoot.

Thank you Jessica! You’re the best!!!

There are lots of great DIY bird feeder options – some of them are cute and pretty, and others are very functional and green, since they’re made of recycled products. Here is a selection of my favorite ideas:

As I approach week 32 of pregnancy and am trying to catch up on the mountain of work that lies ahead of me before I have this baby, I’m thinking to myself that there’s no way this is going to happen before summer officially kicks in here in South Florida, since it’s already pretty hot outside and it’s only April. Plus I’m pregnant, which automatically means that I feel the heat x10 compared to a non-pregnant person. The very last thing I feel like I want to do is get on my hands and knees and dig the weeds out of the garden and replant new plants. If I’m going to do it, it needs to be in the next week or two, since our forecasted temperatures are a high of about 81 and a low of between 68-72 degrees. Not to mention, we are going into summertime, so that means I need to do a bit of research as to what will actually survive the summer heat until the fall.

I’ve been Pinterest-ing lately to see what kind of inspiration I can find for my garden. Some of what I’ve found is really cool looking and not something I would put together on my own, and other sites are chock full of gardening tips.

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One of the plants I’d like to grow again are strawberries. They are pretty easy to grow, very exciting for kids to tend to, and there is nothing more fun (for a little kid) than grabbing a couple strawberries off the plant to have for an afternoon snack. This site has some tips for growing them more effectively.

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I thought this diagram was pretty neat. While I enjoy having a garden, I don’t know much about the science behind growing different plants, and the idea that there are plants that can help other plants grow better is pretty cool.

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Like most people, I’m a fan of pretty things for the garden, so these home-made garden stone markers really appealed to me. I could totally make them with Zachary one day as a rainy day activity. Just need some nice stones!

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I always liked the idea of a hanging basket of plants. I have been thinking about something to do to pretty up our front porch, and this would be fresh and fun! It’s also a good idea for plants that tend to “take over” a garden, like basil or parsley, since they would be contained more easily.