Plaid scarves, tiny frogs, and grilled cheese...

I realize that I am being rather cliche by even mentioning this in blogland right now, as it seems to be the topic of the week, but I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT FALL. It is seriously my favorite season. Scarves and boots and layers and warm drinks and crispy evenings and blanket cuddles. I am loving it! And here are five other things that I am loving right now:

New scarves. I am a bit scarf obsessed anyways, and now that I'm trying to make my small closet of maternity clothes as versatile as possible, I've given myself permission to buy a few new ones. It's totally legit since they'll still be my size in four months, right?

That's some straight up fashion blogger shit, right there. You almost can't tell that I'm wearing pajamas and no makeup, right?

Tomato soup and grilled cheese. It is overcast and nippy today, how could I not?

Sir Poindexter is here! While we've been dwelling in my in-laws' basement, Dexter has been living it up on my parents' farm. That is, until he somehow managed to get a nasty cut on his back. The vet stitched him up and put in a drain, which means no running around balls to the wall crazy on the farm for a bit. So he's here in the basement, spending the days chillaxing with me and ensuring that I get up off my increasingly large lazy pregnant ass for long walks on a daily basis.

He has been obsessed with hunting the tiny frogs that dwell on the banks of my inlaws' lake.

 Despite how hard he stalks them, he hasn't managed to get one yet.

Crockpots. First of all, it is fall which automatically means crockpot time, duh. Second, I love making a ton of food at once and then having lots of leftovers in the fridge. Since I am eating constantly, I love having a healthy, hearty snack readily available at all times. I made this chicken, sweet potato, and kale soup last night and it is most definitely a keeper. I doubled the sweet potato and kale to stretch it a little further.

I have leftovers for days, and that means I am one happy lazy cook.

Birth classes. We start birth classes tomorrow. I signed up for a twelve week series of classes on The Bradley Method. They are all about natural labor and birth as well as breastfeeding, postpartum care, caring for a newborn, and more. Hopefully this will make me a bit more confident about the whole baby exiting through my lady bits situation...

The end.

Don't be jealous of my sweet 80s maternity flannel.

I have a new favorite maternity shirt. My mom "borrowed" it from my dad's closet when she was pregnant with me and proceeded to wear it throughout all three of her pregnancies. She loved it so much that it was still lurking in the back of her closet last week (her youngest baby is now 22). I adore it. It is super comfy, perfectly long, and I'm loving the bitchin' purple/turquoise combo.

I am now in my third trimester. Whaaaaaaaaaat? It's time to start seriously thinking about how this human is going to exit my womb...yikes.

As I mentioned previously, I greatly appreciate all the bloggers who share about their pregnancies. I have always been intrigued by pregnancy and babies, and always enjoy leaning as much as I can. So here are some more of my experiences as of 27 weeks into this, that some pregnant ladies may not be sharing with you during casual conversation:

I can see the bottom of my belly button. I have a pretty average innie (I guess?), and have never really been able to see the very very bottom where all the skin gathers. It is now stretched wide open and I'm not gonna lie, it's slightly disconcerting.

Boob veins.  Before I spent a glorious long weekend at the beach earlier this month, I was looking quite pale, per usual, and had all these huge crazy blue veins suddenly appear all over my chest and boobs. My body is preparing to sustain a human life, NBD.

Dark nipples. And on the topic of my newly large(ish) breasticles, my nipples have completely changed colors. Whoa.

Pantyliners are a must. A friend had warned me about the need for pantyliners during pregnancy, especially towards the end. Yup, she wasn't lying. About week 25 I discovered that little joy.

Swollen feet. So my body is doing this new cool thing where if I am on my feet continually for more than an hour or two, they swell. A lot. To the point where I have to cram them into my Tom's like sausage into a casing. My ankles always join the party too, mmmmm... cankles.

Doin' it. While my libido has definitely increased, so has my sensitivity and my girth. It's a delicate balance and while it is still quite enjoyable, I sure am looking forward to someday doin' it sans giant belly containing our kicking offspring.

In some ways, I can't believe I only have three months left! In three short months we will suddenly find ourselves with a newborn that is completely and 100% our responsibility. Eek! But at the same time, I also can't believe I have three months still to go, my belly is starting to be a real nuisance and her kicks already seem so strong. She nailed me in the top of my bladder a couple days ago and I nearly wet myself. True story.

A New Abode

We found a house! And we're feeling really good about it, it's ridiculous how perfectly perfect it is. The lot is over half an acre. It's in a neighborhood in a great school zone, but tucked back into a cul-de-sac and woods so it feels private. There's a large backyard for Sir Poindexter and future tiny humans to enjoy.

It's two stories plus a finished basement. The entire main floor is hardwood. It used to be a four bedroom until some genius turned the smallest bedroom into a gigantic walk-in closet off the master. 

It's pretty much move-in ready and since the price was right, we're going to be able to redo the kitchen immediately!

I am embarrassingly over-excited about designing my own kitchen. First, that ugly ass wallpaper has got to go. We're going to paint the walls a light turquoise/teal, replace the counter tops with a light gray granite, install a white subway tile back splash, replace the hardware, and replace the grimy old white appliances with sparkly stainless steel ones! I AM SO EXCITED. Ya'll, I have been watching an absurd amount of HGTV recently and am feeling super inspired. Do you want to see an inspiration picture (aka the same picture from my last post)? Of course you do.

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I can't wait for my shiny new kitchen. Ohmygoodness.

Fingers and toes crossed that all goes well with the inspection and homeboy buying our house in Nashville doesn't bail like a dick. I'm looking forward to having a couple of months to get settled into our new space before baby girl arrives.