December 16th, 2019

December 16th, 2019. Working until our little one arrives, but slowing down to accommodate for more sleep since I’m hearing it’s the last time I’ll get to sleep for a while. So I’ve enjoyed some very cozy, quiet, late mornings in bed, including this morning while the rain brought in this nice cool weather. Ahhh. It’s feeling like December.

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December 15th, 2019

December 15th, 2019. slow, slow, slow. a wonderful Sunday that included a hot coffee in the cool weather at a new (to us) bakery, enjoying the breeze & outdoor seating & a cinnamon roll as big as my face. (we didn’t eat it all. 😳)
hiked about three miles this afternoon in Spring at a park I haven’t been to before. Matthias found it a few months ago while hunting Pokémon. (hahah!) Byron jumped in a lake & then rolled in sand to dry himself off. he had the time of his life, of course. we said he would absolutely not be getting in bed with us tonight. and well, here we are.

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December 14th, 2019

December 14th, 2019. a weekend of celebrating. ❤️ Rose graduated from SHSU yesterday. Sydnie graduated from A&M this morning. Anddd the most beautiful wedding shower for Annalise this evening. 😍🥰

I didn’t mean to or want to take a photo with such a similar pose three days in a row, but that’s just how it turned out. just going with it. the light in our apartment is 10/10 ☀️✨

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December 13th, 2019

December 13th, 2019. Two of my friends have had their babies in the last 24 hours. (One of those was due the day before me! She wins🤪) Another is on baby watch and over 40 weeks! I’m over here feeling like I might be pregnant for another 12 weeks or something. I am ready to have himmmm! But I need to finish Christmas shopping and there are a gazillion events happening in the next 16 days leading up to his EDD, including a bachelorette party I’m apparently hosting😂 woooo! Lots of things to keep me distracted!

December 11th & 12th, 2019

December 11th, 2019. Day 80 of self portraits. We celebrated by going all out for these. (obviously I’m 🦁...😜😂)

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December 12th, 2019. the last three nights Matthias has had meetings after work, so he’s made it home a lot later than normal. today, he made it home by 4:15, buttttttttt I was away shooting Rose’s senior photos... only for a sister would I be shooting at 9 months pregnant and spending precious moments away from him😂❤️ he spent his time alone napping (because, of course) & when I made it back he didn’t waste time suggesting a location for our photo... I think probably because he was just ready to do it & get back in bed with a bowl of potato soup. I love our thing. I love taking photos with this guy. I love his big red comfy robe and the ridiculous amount of pictures we have of him wearing it. I love that he is quick to make fun of me if I complain about my hair or clothes or whatever else. I love that we’re having a baby together.

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almost there

December 9th, 2019. Constantly torn between “slow down” and “DO ALL THE THINGS” before we have this baby. 37 weeks along tomorrow, so, in theory, I have about 3 weeks left to both relax & do everything 🤪 we’ll see how this goes. Listening to advice from anyone who wants to give an opinion, so feel free to tell me your story, or regrets, or the things you’re so glad you did during your last few weeks before parenthood.

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December 10th, 2019. My favorite part has to be the tree reflected in the window. 🎄

December 6th & 7th, 2019

December 6th, 2019. What exactly is the limit on sleepy iPhone selfies? (Pretty sure we exceeded it a long time ago...)

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December 7th, 2019. warm december sun. so warm we have garden roses still blooming outside of our master bedroom window & can walk byron in sandals and shorts. our apartment is a dream, and the property is nice to walk. we looked at so. many. places. before ending up here. being settled makes all of that stress seem so distant, so insignificant.
I’m 9 months pregnant & we spent our saturday home. slept in, coffee in bed. some more boxes, some work on my laptop, lots of time in the kitchen & lots of time in pajamas. happy, happy, happy.

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74 days

December 5th, 2019. This self portrait journey has been a mix of days where we set up the camera & shoot our life as it is and days where we intentionally create pretty or “perfect” portraits for us. And then, of course, there are days in between... like the iPhone selfies when we’re exhausted. No matter what though, for 74 days now we’ve done something and that makes me really proud, because it’s ours and we’ve stuck to it.
We have been through the hardest season we’ve ever experienced together these last few months. We intentionally started this project at a time that wasn’t ideal: living with his parents after our lives were upended. In the chaos and pain, I wanted to hide from myself, and I definitely wanted to hide from the world. Damn, I’m glad I didn’t. I’m glad we stared this when it still hurt. (And I’m glad to be on the other side of so much of that now.)
I don’t mean to take a sudden turn here, and in my head this connection makes sense, but if it doesn’t... well, sorry. It’s exciting, fun, wonderful creating “pretty photos.” But the ones that feel closest to our real life & the ones feel deeply that *that is US* are the ones I love the most... and those are also the ones I have a hard time pressing publish on in the evenings. I feel so exposed.
There is security in “perfect” photos.
But when it’s more true to life... when it’s us in our PJs & cuddled in my favorite chair watching the office, I feel... vulnerable... and I find myself wondering (worrying?) what stories online-friends might tell themselves about what our marriage or life must be like.
I wonder if that feeling will go away before we stop doing these.

December 2nd-4th, 2019

December 2nd, 2019. Writing the date feels weird. It’s ONLY December 2nd? And it’s ALREADY December 2nd? Both of those responses happened at the same time in me basically.
Some days we get pretty portraits in my favorite light in our beautiful apartment... And some days we rent a hotel downtown for our very last birthing class and then skip it anyway and STILL manage to not get any photo except a sleepy iPhone selfie where we’re cuddled on the bed. I mean, I’m not saying that happened tonight. But I’m not saying it didn’t happen either. 😅 (71 days in with these self portraits though & haven’t missed a day. I totally count the iPhone memories 😂❤️)

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December 3rd, 2019. 36 weeks pregnant. And a headless (very very tired) husband. 🤪 (does your spouse also put a pillow over their head to fall asleep if the lights are on?)

December 4th, 2019.

grateful

November 29th, 2019. I could’ve just written “grateful” for this and it would be true and enough for today probably, but... I’m more wordy than that. 🤪 and it doesn’t seem like that sincerely conveys how meaningful this all is. moving into our new place. being so close to our next season together.
I’m in my favorite chair right now (a gift from our Mimi & Poppy) in our beautiful apartment, cozied next to our own bed (where Matthias is currently snuggled in his famous red robe), sipping on an eggnog latte that is burning my tongue off (the way I like my drinks😂). it feels complete now. the move, I mean. getting the piano here makes it feel complete. everything we own is under our own little roof again. 1100sq ft of just us and the things we like & love enough to call our own. it’s been one week today in this place. there is so much we want to do to make it *home*, but having things on the walls and being mostly unpacked and having a functional kitchen is a great start. I have ALL THE FEELINGS (and hormones). 😭💕 tomorrow is our first full day we have scheduled to be HOME all day and I am so. very. thrilled.
also, can we talk about the view from our bedroom window? cuz 🤩🤩🤩

November 28th, 2019

November 28th, 2019. Four years ago we celebrated Thanksgiving as newlyweds that barely knew each other after our three months of dating & whirlwind elopement. I didn’t think it could get more exciting or special than that! But today we celebrated Thanksgiving a month away from holding our own little baby and... well. yeah. this is more exciting and sweeter than anything I could’ve imagined. Gratefulness in my bones.

November 25th, 2019

I love (like, love love love) eggnog lattes. But I think this photo reveals how I feel about drinking eggnog cold & undiluted 🤭 another late Monday night, but instead of going to a hotel, we got to go HOME! Whatttt. So happy. And next Monday is the LAST Bradley Method class. We’ve been counting down since class 7 😂

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November 21st-24th, 2019

November 24th, 2019. Weekend recap! More like a week recap.😱 So many events. So many emotions. 😂 Took a break from daily posting since Wednesday, but we didn’t stop taking our daily photos.
Thursday: we had about 30 minutes total (that’s a generous estimate😂) of awake time together, so a selfie in the driveway before falling into bed was appropriate. It’s very similar to a photo we have while dating that I have always lovedddd and we’ve never recreated. We need to actually do that...
Friday: we moved! We MOVED! We’re in the most beautiful place - the first place to miraculously check off every single one of my very specific requests. 😭 ALL THE HAPPY DANCES. Thank you for those who prayed with us that we’d find the right place before Eliot’s arrival.
Saturday: celebrated Big Mom’s 80th birthday with so many people who love her, had an impromptu meeting with the midwife after some post-move concerns, but all is well(!!), a gumbo with the Bonin side of the family (this is RARE & so it’s precious!)
Sunday: Baby shower! Our largest daily selfie by FAR! 😂 How are we a month from meeting a new human that will be all ours? Overwhelmed with gratitude for this season and the people who love us & our baby already too.