Show Us Your... Holiday Decorations {2014}

I know there's a ton of different blogs that holiday decoration link-ups, but I can't help and stick with my favorite (and one of the first blogs I ever really linked up with) Kelly's Korner.

I tend not to go to crazy with holiday decorations, partly because we really don't own very many, and also partly because while my husband is Catholic I'm Jewish so a feel a little conflicted about the whole thing. But it's important for him to have a Christmas tree so if we going to have one, I at least want to it be pretty. Seems, reasonable, right?
Each year we talk about upgrading to a bigger tree. But for now, with just the two of us our little tree works. Plus I'm not quite sure there's room in our house for a huge tree at this point.
Both mine and the boy's stocking are up, and while the baby does have a stocking holder ready, their stocking isn't quite. Not too big of a deal since the baby hasn't yet made their appearance, but by Christmas Eve I can promise you both the baby and the stocking will be hanging out.
I do have the majority of presents wrapped at this point, except for the boy's since he was in the room with me while I was wrapping. Maybe a bit of an overachiever, but really more that I wanted to make sure as much as possible was done before we have a new baby in our house. You can pretty clearly see which presents are for Christmas and which are for Hanukkah by the whole color divide. And yes, I do have a present for each day of Hanukkah for a baby who won't even be a week old. Obviously, they won't remember, but I will. Plus as an October baby I used to give my mom a hard time for not dressing me up for my first Halloween, so I want to make sure I don't fail our child in a similar way!
Speaking of Hanukkah, here's our bit of holiday fun on the dinning room table. It'll definitely need to be rearranged a bit to light the candles, but I think for now it works. Although I'd love to find more cute Hanukkah decorations to put our next year, as impossible as they may be to locate.
Here's one final look at what our living room looks like for our baby's first Christmas. Crazy to think both the holiday and the baby are really only days away from arriving, right?

Curious about our decorations from years past? You can see them here!

If you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner be sure to say hi! And what are your thoughts on celebrating holidays with newborn babies?

40 Weeks Bumpdate

I've officially made it to my due date, and no baby yet. Although I can pretty much guarantee this will be the last weekly bumpdate I'll be posting!

How Far Along: 40 Weeks

Size of the Baby: A small pumpkin

Maternity Clothes: Still rocking the same few items.

Nursery: It's been revealed!

Stretch Marks: Still none, hopefully that stays the same for the last few days.

Sleep: Most nights this past week I've gotten up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. But besides those few minutes I'm still able to get comfortable and have a good night sleep. Definitely a positive of this whole pregnancy.

Movement: Surprisingly the baby still has room to move around. It's leg still loves kicking my left side at all times of the day, and I just push it back in, till it comes out and pokes me again.

Cravings: All of the holiday flavors sound so delicious! Gingerbread, peppermint.... I'm already planning the desserts I want to be making for Christmas.

Symptoms: I've started getting a bit of lower back pain when I walk around, which is supposed to mean labor is near. I'm also pretty sure I've had a few Braxton Hicks contractions, although they really haven't been that bad.

What I Miss: Honestly I'm just ready for life to get back to normal. There's so much unknown at this point, and I don't do very well with ambiguity. So I'm definitely ready for days to start getting a little more structured again.

Looking Forward To: Having a baby maybe? :) Crazy to think that we're finally at the end game here!

6 Weeks ~ 7 Weeks ~ 8 Weeks

9 Weeks ~ 10 Weeks ~ 11 Weeks

12 Weeks ~ 13 Weeks ~ 14 Weeks

15 Weeks ~ 16 Weeks ~ 17 Weeks

18 Weeks ~ 19 Weeks ~ 20 Weeks

21 Weeks ~ 22 Weeks ~ 23 Weeks

24 Weeks ~ 25 Weeks ~ 26 Weeks

27 Weeks ~ 28 Weeks ~ 29 Weeks

30 Weeks ~ 31 Weeks ~ 32 Weeks

33 Weeks ~ 34 Weeks ~ 35 Weeks

36 Weeks ~ 37 Weeks ~ 38 Weeks

39 Weeks

From Closet to Nursery

I've figured I've teased you long enough through various mentions, but I'm finally revealing our nursery! The whole room was what we called "The Big Closet" before because we mainly used it as a storage room. So when it came time to make it functional we had to donate a good amount of what was inside it as well as find places from much of it go go. But finally, it's done, and hopefully you think it's worth the wait!
This the the view to the left from when you first walk in the room. The original plan was to do a purple and yellow nursery, and while both colors are there, I found it wasn't the easiest to do. Turns out if you're buying something yellow it most likely has grey in it. And actually the one purple and yellow item I thought I found was actually purple and green when it shipped to my house. But even so I think we made it work, even if it is more of a purple, yellow and grey theme.
The crib was a Sundvik Crib from Ikea. The intent was for it to be white to match the rest of the furniture, but the boy realized once I brought it home to Louisiana that it was in fact black. Thankfully it isn't too much of an eyesore, and it's one of the first things the baby will grow out of. While it isn't the easiest to see, the sheet are purple gingham from Pottery Barn. The mobile was a gift from our registry from Target, and the matching blanket was also a gift from our registry. There's a crib skirt (also from Pottery Barn) that's edged in grey stripes, although this is unfortunately the best picture I took of it. In the corner of the photo you can just see our hand-me-down Mamaroo peaking out.
This is a Kallax shelf from Ikea, which is still pretty empty. One box on the bottom has blankets and extra crib sheets while the other has a few toys. Although I'm sure all four boxes will be full in no time. There's one shelf of stuffed animals, one that has my pump, at least for now, and the box on the top is where I'm putting mementos for now. It's also where our baby book is. Of course since this is a bookshelf, there's definitely a ton of books. There's 3 shelves of children's books, one of parenting book, and one that has our Harry Potter books for the baby to grow into. Also off to the left is our rock n play, and on the right is an empty basket that I'm sure will soon be filled with toys.
The top shelf is home to all type of nostalgia. The picture was a birthday gift to me from my MOH. You can't really tell, but inside each heart is a place I've lived from L.A. to MD (where I went to college) to LA. The train is from the boy's childhood as are the other random wooden toys on top. The teddy bear is the boy's from when he was little, and the cabbage patch doll (a girl named Bernard) is mine from when I was little. The stuffed dinosaur my mom actually made and used to sell versions of back before Etsy was a thing. Then also there's my crown from my baby shower.
While the color is a little off, the curtains are a dark purple, and one of the largest purple elements in the room. The toy chest actually was my FIL's from when he was little.
Now to my favorite part of the room, the little reading corner. The chair is a KACY Collection Morgan glider from Babies R Us gifted from my MIL and FIL. As for the books, I actually took all our board books and have them either in the basket on the floor or on the bottom shelf (which is a Ribba Ledge from Ikea). The top shelf has more of my personal favorites, plus a Hanukkah book since that's the current time of year. I may or may not have unrealistic dreams of changing that book out to reflect the season.
Just for fun, here's a better look at all the books on display, because I know you had to be curious.
To the right of the reading corner is a changing station. It's a Hemnes dresser from Ikea topped with a changing pad, with an attempt to bring in a bit more yellow. There's a pretty big bottle of hand sanitizer on the dresser which was a bit of a gag gift from one of the boy's co-workers since he has a reputation of being a bit of a germaphobe. Although I'm sure it will still come in handy.
This brings us back to the start of the room, where you can see our purple hanging wet back on the door. Our high chair is actually chilling out in a box still, plus there's the closest.
The closest is actually still pretty empty since pretty much all the clothes are in the dresser. I wouldn't get to excited about the hanging dresses revealing a secret, since instead those are my dresses from when I was a baby. If it's a boy we can put them away for the next time, but if it's a girl we're ready, since the gender is still a secret.

I'm sure this is likely far more than you ever wanted to see, but I at least had fun sharing it, and hopefully you enjoyed the little tour as well!