*** This post was written before I gave birth to my son, I just didn’t get a chance to post it on here before he arrived. Enjoy!
I did such a good job of posting updates during my son’s pregnancy, but I feel like I have sort of failed in that department this time around, and the whole blogging department in general, since COVID hit in March. Juggling two toddlers at home, working part-time, having my husband work from home and most recently homeschooling our daughter, has really increased the amount of chaos around here. Finding time to myself and doing things related to self-care has been more challenging, hence the disappearance of blogging. I was supposed to start my maternity leave for this pregnancy at 38 weeks and 1 day, but I decided that between the way I was feeling physically (more on that right away) combined with the mental exhaustion of doing it all during COVID, I should move it up to 37 weeks and 1 day. My daughter arrived at 38 weeks and 2 days and I was worried that if I didn’t move it up, I wouldn’t get any time to catch up on things around the house, prep for baby (do baby laundry, get out the needed items and pack my hospital bag etc), as well as set up the Christmas decorations! Getting the Christmas decor up was a big goal of mine since I didn’t think we would have more time to get it done once baby arrived! I also wanted to pack in some one-on-one time with the kids before we added another nugget to our group. So with that in mind we have had a couple of individual sleepovers (where dad takes one and I take one), a night of Christmas shopping as a family at the mall (before it closed down), and a picnic movie night! I’ve also been able to do some focused learning during school time that has increased my time with them, such as baking and sewing with big sis! So far, it’s worked out well! I originally wanted the baby to come November 14, which would have been 38 weeks and 2 days just like big sister’s arrival, but now that I am here, I am happy to wait a couple more days. My husband and my wedding anniversary is on November 19, so I have a feeling this little babe is going to come that day and steal the show!
I really wanted to do a quick pregnancy update and pregnancy comparison to my first two, mostly because I can’t remember the details afterwards and I enjoy reading it later on. I also want to include these updates in the kid’s baby books so they have this info as well down the road! So here it goes!
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I remember the instant we found out we were pregnant; I couldn’t wait to get going on shopping for all the wonderful items that I thought I needed before our daughter arrived. Nine months spent preparing for the little bundle of joy that would later join us; picking out items for her, which turned out to be even more fun than I had expected it to be! I was spending money on all the cute things that caught my eye for her and it didn’t take long to quickly fill up her closet and dresser with all the stuff that I thought she needed.
Preparing Emsley’s room before she came was one of the greatest joys for me during the pregnancy period. Picking out items for her, from clothes, to toys and to room decor really helped me connect with her future worldly presence. Every little item I picked out for her was so exciting and made me feel elated at the thought of her pending arrival. This time however, life is busier. With having a toddler running around, combined with juggling being a working mom, I find the time I have to sit, nest and prepare for baby brother is MUCH less compared to the amount of time I had to do that when I was pregnant with Miss Lace. In a lot of ways, I have struggled with that. To me, nesting and creating my baby’s nursery is what really allowed me to feel ready and excited for Emsley’s arrival. That being said, I never did feel like having her was really going to happen. 
I wasn’t completely sure that I wanted to take maternity photos this time around. No real reason why, other than I just hadn’t given it much thought. With Ems, I had the time to focus on these things in great detail but with baby boy, the days are flying by and I catch myself forgetting some of these little details. I am carrying baby boy very differently than I carried Ems and so capturing that alone I figured could be a nice keepsake down the road. I also personally felt as the second child in my family that the first child got a tad bit more focus than the second… not pointing any fingers at anybody specifically but I’m pretty sure it took about 4 years of nagging, starting at the age of 12 to convince someone close in my life to FINALLY finish my baby book… so I really didn’t want to do that for him. That being said, I still wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do photo wise until I went to book our newborn session with a local photographer 
Although we had already taken some family maternity session photos I also knew that I wanted to take a few photos of just Ems and I alone so I could remember the days it was just the two of us! As the due date approaches (I am eager to not be pregnant anymore haha) but mostly I am becoming more emotional about the changes that are soon going to occur around here once baby brother arrives.
I kept meaning to write this post a few weeks back but as we all know, life is always busy with kids, but it does seem like summer makes the days go by even faster! I wrapped up my second trimester almost 6 weeks ago already! I can’t believe it. It feels like it should only have been about a week ago since my third trimester began, but since that day landed on 
I wanted to share another great dress find from 
Summer means wedding season and for me the current challenge of finding a maternity dress that I truly feel great in. During my last pregnancy I bought a few items that were very much “classic maternity” that I never really loved. This pregnancy I vowed that I wouldn’t settle on local mall items and instead decided to do a little online shopping. 
augustlace.com 