dear baby girl,
we are getting so excited for your arrival!  it's still hard for me to believe that sometime between now and the next three weeks you will join our little family.  it's still hard for me to believe that all those kicks i've been feeling inside me for months now, are the manifestation of a human being growing inside me.  it's hard for me to believe that i will get to hold you in my arms so soon.

i have done all i can think of to get ready, but how can i possibly prepare?  i have grown up around babies and have loved them and known how to take care of them.  but i can't imagine what it will be like to be the sole provider and caretaker for you.  to have you depend solely on me for love and all your other needs.  i hope that i can have the patience required to be a good mother to you.

although i want you to be ready to arrive, i am anxious to hold you, and nurse you, and take care of you, and to see what you look like!  so please hurry it up getting ready, ok?  i can't wait for the moment when we meet.

bits of nothing, really.

pictures of nothing really, since over the past few weeks i have simply been fattening up this baby inside me and prepping for her arrival.  it could be any day now, but i'm hoping that she keeps cookin' for at least another week.  {and not a day more! ;}

my love affair with idaho.

come closer and i'll tell you a little secret about me.
i love idaho.

not just because it's gorgeous, and wonderful, and feels like home away from home, but also, because we're always surrounded by family when we're up there. and it's totally rad.

we spent this last weekend in idaho falls and had a complete blast. some nights it was so foggy you couldn't see the city lights below. breathtaking.

some favorites of the past few weeks....

the past few weeks have been full of mostly studying, which was so not my favorite.  here are some favorites of the last few weeks....

catching up with the rasmussens and the aaron/erins at the black sheep cafe....

going through three bins of hand-me-down girl clothes....

keeping up on all my tv shows.... {grey's anatomy, chicago fire, and i just got into the following.  is that bad?}

trying out the waffle-love truck.  and i'm hooked!

seriously, it's been awhile + a 35-week baby bump!

it has been a good too many days since i last blogged.  mostly, because i feel like i was spending every waking moment studying for the biggest/hardest/scariest test of my life: the nclex.  well, guess what!  i took it monday and totally passed.  so now all i have to do is focus on getting ready for baby.  and let me tell you, i have done very little to get ready for her to come.  i still need a crib, diapers, wipes, crib sheets, baby bath, and several other essentials.  ah!  on the upside, i have been eating really, really well these past few weeks and she is measuring perfectly.  we are going to have ourselves a perfect little baby over here in just a matter of weeks!  and we couldn't be more thrilled.

our weekend in idaho.

we have the so much fun going up to idaho when the stars align and we can make it up there!  john and i were able to make the trip last weekend.  we spent half of the time in beautiful idaho falls and half the time up at the cabin.  i locked myself away for about two hours each day to study for the nclex, but other than that, we mostly just played! {and ate a lot of really good food, including fish tacos and chiz's jumbo shrimp.  that shrimp was so amazing, and now my pregnancy cravings are constantly directing me towards a food item that happens to be four and a half hours away from where we live!  ah!}  george and leslie, thanks for having such a wonderful place for us to escape and to spend time with family.  we are so grateful to you both for the fun memories we all make each time we go up.

"you're my favorite. like..... boo-yah"
i love these things my husband says.