Thursday, March 28, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Virginia Wine

WE LOVE VIRGINIA WINE COUNTRY!

When we first moved down here we took a few trips to Charlottesville to get a little closer to the coast & see UVA. We decided to do some "exploring" and stumbled upon all these vineyards! Since then, we've sought out different wineries and breweries around the area for some fun day trips, that is, until we found out we were going to be parents.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to that 2.5 months of vineyard hopping!

I hope we get to pop some corks again VERY soon :)

a few pictures from our winery escapades:




Virginia is for lovers... of wine! <3
local band & some local wine <3
Molly came to visit! Wasn't 21, but was a good sport :)









xox
    Riley & Rob

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

28 weeks.

Not much going on here this week. No doctor appointments. No big news. We just continue to work on her nursery :)

Here are a few pics of Daddy putting her changing table together!

March Madness, much?
TA DA!

Cravings: Anything and Everything

I cannot stop eating. I have lost any self control I may have had in the beginning. 

Misses: My Mom

This is every week - every day. I can't tell you how much I miss her. This week has been especially hard for some reason.


Rowan's guardian angel! <3

xox 
    Riley



Sunday, March 24, 2013

Nursery Inspiration

 Since we have an apartment right now, we cannot paint the WHITE walls :/ We have been looking for clever ways to decorate her room so it doesn't look like a baby asylum (white walls, white furniture, etc). We will obviously do a BIG window treatment with some colorful curtains, eventually... once I can find curtains I like. I've also been collecting ideas for prints to hang in her nursery room; I want to do some kind of gallery wall. 

I compiled some of my favorites into a mosaic collage and I wanted to share it with you all :)


Of course, we have to go about ordering some of these. And printing some. Then framing. Then hanging. I can't wait to start working on it :)

xox
    Riley

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Smick Saturday: Anything But Silent

I have to do some bragging. Smick Women are going to take over the world. Get ready!

Have you heard about the Hennessy women, Kathy & Kate? BOTH Saint Mary's College alumnae?!
If you haven't, you will!

I met Kate when we were first years at Saint Mary's. We had so much fun together! I have many many MANY great memories of college that she is a part of. But even through the years of friendship, it took me a long time to figure out what a success story she really was.

Me and Kate participating in some Senior Week Shenanigans at SMC

Kate had overcome childhood apraxia, which according to wikipedia, is "an oral motor speech disorder affecting an individual's ability to translate conscious speech plans into motor plans, which results in limited and difficult speech ability. Individuals with this disorder have difficulty connecting speech messages from the brain to the mouth. Childhood apraxia of speech is an inability to utilize motor planning to perform movements necessary for speech during a child's language learning process".

&

She and her mother WROTE A BOOK! It is called Anything But Silent.


It details their family's journey in learning to communicate with one another and their battle to overcome this speech disorder. Just from past conversations with Kate, I know their story is quite compelling and worth the read.

this is from the paragraph on the back cover:
"What would you go through as a parent to give your child the power of speech?

Parents dream their children will achieve many great things, but most parents do not dream their children will struggle for years just to speak what is in their hearts and minds. Kathy Hennessy faced this challenge with not one but both of her children when they were diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech.

What does a child feel like when no one in the world understands what she is trying to say? Imagine the frustration when even your mom doesn’t get it. Young Kate Hennessy understands all too well those feelings of exasperation and defeat.

In this forthright and emotional story, Kathy tells of the mountains they climbed just for her children to have a chance at speech. Hennessy tells of the battles she waged with insurance companies, pediatricians, school systems, and family, while Kate shares her own experiences and those of her brother with bullies, friends, and following their dreams.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming, the Hennessys’ tell of the intense commitment to therapy, the magic of Santa Claus, and the sadness of teaching children to defend themselves. Daughter Kate tells of the determination of her brother and herself not to be consumed or broken by their disability; Kathy shares her creative solutions to their early speech limitations and her pride in seeing them as young adults speak in public at national conferences on childhood apraxia of speech.  Not only had they conquered their own challenges, they were leading the way for other children like them."
-Anything But Silent 


The book will be available for purchase in April 2013.

You can order it, and find out more about the authors, Kathy & Kate, and their book here 


Click here for the Apraxia-Kids website. It has a great information guide for parents, students, or professionals looking to learn more about Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Kathy is on the Board of the organization running the website and helped to establish it as the leading resource on CAS across the world!


Best of luck to these strong women! I am so proud of you both for sharing your story.
Go Belles!

xox
    Riley

Friday, March 22, 2013

Bump Style

So far I've been able to squeeze into my normal clothes... soon I will need to actually dress like a pregnant lady. I was so lucky to have met a lady through work who, after her fourth and final pregnancy, donated pretty much ALL of her maternity clothes to me! THANKS, EILEEN!! So those will definitely come in handy. There are some adorable pieces in the bunch.

but don't forget! I'm still 22!

& I love to bargain shop. I still want to get a few maternity maxi dresses and such. I also need to get a nice new dress for my sister-in-law's wedding rehearsal dinner! What a great excuse to get some new threads :)

For young moms, I found ASOS Maternity has THE CUTEST STUFF.
especially cocktail dresses & tops. 

The best part? they ALWAYS have stuff on sale. Here are a few of my faves for 












Don't be surprised if you see me in one a few of these dresses ;)

xox
    Riley


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

27 weeks.

27. Wow. 

I had an OB appointment today; still smooth sailing so far :) We have another appointment in two weeks - including a growth ultrasound! I am SO excited. We haven't seen her since our anatomy ultrasound almost 10 weeks ago. I can't wait. I keep praying that everything looks good and she is a healthy girl. 

The biggest news this week is that our families threw us a BABY SHOWER back in Ohio! It was SO beautiful, SO good to see everyone, and Rowan got SO spoiled!
I ate WAY TOO MUCH food - which was really great for my OB weigh in -_-
Whatever, it was worth it :)
ALSO- we should buy some Target stock! We're keeping that place in business ;)




What a spoiled little girl!


         



some smick chicks made it to the shower!!! <3 <3 <3

We are grateful. Thank you, everybody.


Cravings: Peanut Butter

yeah, I'm back on PB! I cannot get enough.

Misses: Sleep

I have not been sleeping well at all! Coupled with all the traveling and running around I have been really tired. 
I'm sure I'll learn the true meaning of tired in about 3 months :)

xox
    Riley

Thursday, March 14, 2013

26 weeks.

Last week of the second trimester! 

Still no maternity clothes.. But I think this is also the last week of getting away with that! I'll at least have to start wearing a belly band if I want to button my pants. I will be sad to leave this trimester... it was a breeze. I have never felt better in my life! Now I look forward to swelling, weight gain, stretch marks and extreme fatigue among other not-so-great things. However, I do get closer to meeting our daughter.

We're going to have a daughter. How weird. How GREAT!

No real news this week on the pregnancy front. 
She kicks, I eat - the usual.

BUT we are finally starting to put the nursery together! Her room is 100% under construction right now. We have to put curtains up, get a dresser/changing table/hang stuff/etc etc etc. but it's nice to have a start... even though we have a loooong way to go in the next 90 (probably more like 75) days.

My grandparent's bought us our Pack N Play - which we adore - and we set that up. We were getting anxious and wanted to put something together. It's temporarily in her nursery. When she's brand new, she'll sleep in the Pack N Play's bassinet in our room. When we move her to her crib, we'll move the PNP to the living room. I won't lie, Rob put it together 90% by himself.. What a guy! That's why there's only a pic of him opening the box, and one of the finished product :) I was busy talking on the phone, of course.


VOILA! Thanks G&G!

Speaking of cribs, we put that together, too! My Dad and Step mom were so kind to get a nice new crib for Ro. I actually did help with this project ... I read the instructions while he did the manual labor! ha! I love the white for a girl (I love white furniture in general). It's a 4-in-1 convertible crib which means it converts from a crib to a toddler bed, daybed and full-size headboard, so she can use it til she needs a young adult bed. We thought it would be a good investment. And, it is JPMA, ASTM and CPSC safety certified! :) 

It's not fancy, but neither are we. It's simple, nice, classic, and we love it!



Isn't her room bleak? Like I said, work in progress..

TA DA!!! Thanks D&T! <3

Cravings: Hmmm

Nothing really stands out this week. I'm back on PB&Js late at night... so let's go with that.

Misses: PBR

Yeah, I know it's redneck. I had a sip of Rob's tonight and it was SO yum! 

We usually have quality beer in the house (Newcastle, Guinness, Sam Adams, etc) but I put Rob on a "Beer Budget" this month as a challenge... he had $5 left so he went for the Blue Ribbon. It was right next to the Miller Chill... I am SO excited for summer!

We are looking forward to this weekend! First, our Baby Shower thrown by our awesome families - then
  SAINT PADDY'S DAY! 

yes, I spelled that right. look it up.

In other news, for my fellow Catholics, HABEMUS PAPUM!
Saint Peter's 266th successor.
Wasn't it nice of Pope Francis I to choose his Pope name after my sweet, unborn daughter, Rowan FRANCES?! We're SO ahead of the times here ;)

In all seriousness, I could not be happier with my Church's selection of world leader. It doesn't even bother me too much that he is a Jesuit. I feel a movement in the Church coming on and it gives me chills. I was lucky to have JP2 as reigning Pope when I was born, and Rowan will have a rock star Pope when she is born, too! A true servant to the Lord. Not an ounce of entitlement or need to flex his world power. What a great leader, to lead by example and provide a lesson of humility and grace to the increasingly corrupt world.

"Francis, reform my Church"



God Bless Pope Francis!


xox
    Riley

P.S. Happy Pi Day! 3/14

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

One Man's Trash...

... is another cheapskate's new console table!

I have a new fascination with furniture thrifting. You could say it's my new hobby.

When we were leaving for a walk last week we found this ugly, wooden, wheeled, shelf table thing at the dumpster near our apartment. No, it wasn't inside the dumpster, it was beside it.. And it had only been sitting there like 30 minutes because it wasn't there when I got home. I had Rob take it back to our place where I cleaned and sanitized it.

I wanted to paint it and fix it up to look like this (found on Pinterest): 


I just LOVE this fancy, metallic look! We went to Lowe's and we could only find silver metallic spray paint for $6. 
We (Rob) gave it a try -- It looked like it was from outer space. SO not chic.



OK. NO.

I had some aqua spray paint with my craft supplies from a while ago I'd been saving. I've been wanting to thrift a desk and paint it light blue.. inspired by these pins from Pinterest:



We (Rob) went back out to paint the next day! And... 





We LOVE IT! 
Just the amount of color our living space needed. I love my neutrals so this was a big step for me.

Can't really beat it, for ten bucks. I can't wait to find more junk to fix up! Ha!

xox
    Riley