2 years

This weekend marks mine and Andrew's second anniversary. He he has asked me out for a date tonight to celebrate and I am getting really excited! I cannot believe it has been 2 years since I walked down the isle to become Mrs. Andrew McClish. I found some old shots in facebook today to commemorate the occasion. We were married on November 1st at an outdoor ceremony in Colorado. People thought I was nuts to plan a wedding that late in the year in Colorado's unpredictable climate. The fact I wanted the event to take place out of doors on a mountain was even more ridiculous (it usually snows this time of year). You know what happened though? God gave us the most beautiful day! The weather men were astounded and kept talking about how it hadn't been as warm in over 35 years. It really couldn't have been more perfect for our nuptials.

 I wanted to carry orange flowers and I thought these were so pretty.

 Ceremony location and set up. My entire extended family helped decorate and I am still trying to thank them for all of the hard work they did.

 

Getting ready to marry Andrew! I was so excited and eager to get the show on the road

I asked my brother to give me away in absence of our Dad. I loved that he walked me down the isle. When we got to the end of the isle I took part of my bouquet and set it in an empty chair next to my mom we reserved for my Dad. It was a special moment.

We're hitched! Too bad Andrew was looking down for this moment

posing for the photographer...she liked when Andrew dipped and kissed me...we have a lot of these kind of shots

It was a great day. Looking back I realize how much I have learned and grown in the last 2 years. I am so thankful God called me to be Andrew's wife. I can't imagine anyone else loving me as patiently and selflessly as he does. Happy Anniversary babe....I love being your wife and can't wait to see what this year brings as we become parents! 

26 weeks and nursery paint project

This week marks the last of the second trimester...wow that is hard to believe. Here is what I look like as of this morning. Somehow I am just not a graceful, elegant, pregnant woman. These pictures seem to be difficult and awkward for me to pose for. Maybe because shots from the side are something I have been trying to avoid most of my life. I personally feel prettier from the front. Anyway..here is our attempt. Also...where the heck am I supposed to put my hands for these? This is not the solution I know...it looks like my hand is in my crotch. I assure you it is not!

Feeling great, still have lots of energy, and getting really excited about meeting our little girl. She is moving all the time and I constantly wonder what she will look and be like. It is fun to be anxiously giddy about her arrival, when up until now I have honestly felt more overwhelmed over the concept of becoming a mother. Don't get me wrong, the weight and responsibility Andrew and I feel as we prepare to become parents has not gone away. However, I feel more confident to take it on the closer we get to our due date.

It has also helped that we are getting a lot of stuff done in preparation for Julianne. We have taken a class on breastfeeding, start our Lamaze classes next week, registered (this is no easy task), and painted the nursery! Well I say we, Andrew painted the nursery on his own last weekend while I attended Baylor Homecoming with my dear friends Katy and Sarah.

Since Andrew is an Aggie not a Bear, he could care less about Baylor Homecoming and elected to stay home and paint the room. He also didn't want me to be around the fumes...what a great guy! Here are some before pics....we went through a lot of samples.

Above is looking in the room from the doorway

Wall of samples...for some reason the color on the paper never seemed to match the color on the wall. Later we found out that Lowes' paint color mixing software was messed up. Would have been nice to know before we made 9 trips, but finally we mixed our own color using 2 of our samples and had Home Depot match it. Result: finally got a color we liked!

We decided after the paint was up that we needed to sell this bed. It would have been great to have, but with the baby furniture there was just no room. So I took some pictures of it for Craig's list

It sold in less than 12 hours

Unfortunately I didn't take any other pictures of the room with the paint so you are stuck with my Craig's list sales pics. I think you can see though how nice the paint looks!

I will take more as we pull it all together, but had to brag on Andrew and his paint job today. I am so ready to get in there and set it all up for our baby girl!

Nathalie 

24 weeks

So turns out I am just terrible at documenting this pregnancy week by week. The last belly pick was taken back at week 15 or something. Oh well...Andrew took this pic this morning as I was putting on makeup which is why it does not include my face. It is shocking to look at this....it is like, is that really me? I have a similar reaction when I pass a window or mirror and catch a glimpse of myself. Although the growth has been substantial lately, I am still feeling pretty good. I have some ligament pain I am dealing with that is completely normal but still have energy and lots of stamina. My belly makes it a little harder to wash dishes I've noticed, but life is pretty normal otherwise. Well...except for the fact that we will become 3 in 3.5 months!

Julianne is moving a ton now! It is so fun to feel her squirming and punching throughout the day and night. Andrew can feel her too and each time she kicks him he lights up in amazement. I can't wait to see him with our daughter. I know he will be so tender and sweet to her and I am so excited to witness it! She is a lucky girl to have Andrew as her daddy.  

The nesting phase is here in full force and I have loved cleaning out the closets and purging our life of all the stuff we no longer need. A couple of Saturdays ago I went through every drawer, cupboard, and box in our house and kept just the essentials. It was a long day but now we have room for Jules and all her gear. Her room is still a work in progress and the pic below pretty much sums up how I am feeling about how the nursery is coming together.

The main challenge is the wall paint color. We are trying to get a neutral green color in there that is not too dark for the tiny room. Seems simple enough but at this point we have been through 8 paint samples and made countless trips to Lowes to find the right color for the walls. We are close and I am excited for how it will come together, but at the same time a little beat down by the project at this point. Hopefully we can find the right color soon. I think it will be easier from there. I will have to write an entire post about the nursery and take a pic of the wall with all our samples.

So that is 24 weeks in a nutshell...

Nathalie

In a Pinch

What is one to do when traveling westbound just before sunset when even the car blinder shade thing will not block the intense rays of the setting sun? What option does one have to safely reach his destination in conditions such as these while attempting to merge and maneuver through traffic on one of Dallas' most treacherous freeways?

Why...borrow your wife's sunglasses of course!

Doesn't he look handsome in my knock off street vendor shades from NYC?



He pulled it off well and we made it safe and sound!

 You can bet next time he will remember to bring his pair. Also knock offs from the streets of New York. We are classy like that.

Nathalie