Amazing photos taken by my sister Cori.

I've been struggling with my changing body through this pregnancy.

These photos were exactly what I needed.

I'm obsessed.

xo Sue

I really enjoyed writing the 15 things you may not know about me. I feel like I opened up a little bit and let people see a side of me they don't normally see. Mostly because they're random facts that I don't usually talk about on the blog. Today I'm doing another round of 15 things, only this time it's about my pregnancy.

1. Everly was an unexpected but VERY welcome surprise. I do believe she knew what she was doing when she decided to join our family. If I'd waited until I was ready I would have waited forever. It also taught me that there is never a good time to have a baby. You just have to trust yourself to be strong because life is never the same again.
2. I would push my tummy out farther when I was early on because I wanted to look pregnant long before I actually did. I hated having to announce I was pregnant only to hear "you don't look it" like that was a compliment.
3. I started wearing maternity jeans when I was only 12 weeks. I didn't need them but they were so comfy! I secretly still want to wear them but I don't.
4. I could still button my "pre-pregnancy" pants the day before we went to the hospital. But they looked weird and honestly were uncomfortable. It made me happy that my butt didn't grow though. 
5. Due to HG (hyperemesis gravidarum), I lost weight and was so sick I didn't know if I would make it to the end. It was a very unpleasant 9 months. It's also a really scary thing to deal with, especially when the doctors don't diagnose you until it's far too late to be cautious or monitor.
6. I meditated every day for the last four months of my pregnancy. I was very in tune with Everly and my body and knew when things were not right.
7. We thought we were having a boy but were delighted when we found out she was a girl. I think deep down I wanted a girl but I didn't want to be disappointed if it was a boy so I just told myself that's what it was. 
8. We picked Everly's name as soon as we knew we were having a girl. Or more accurately, we picked 2 names but I liked mine better so I just started using it. I knew if Aaron hated it he would say so but instead he fell in love with it just like I did.
9. E was born in Japan, on a teeny tiny military base. She was the only baby in the hospital the entire time we were there (less than 24 hours).
10. One of the few things I could keep down was bacon. It stayed in my stomach at least half the time I ate it. It was like magic. Coincidentally, Everly loves bacon now.
11. I bought books for E my entire pregnancy and had quite the collection by the time she was born. Aaron used to read to my tummy. Now we read them together and I absolutely love it.
12. E was breeched until 37.5 weeks when she finally flipped her stubborn bum over. It was scary for me because if she hadn't flipped they would have forced me to have a c-section. I was so grateful to her for flipping. She was born exactly 3 weeks later.
13. I had a doula for my birth and I recommend one to every single pregnant mom I meet, no matter what kind of birth they want. I already wanted to be a doula before E was born, but my personal experience with one lit a fire inside me.
14. E was born after 13 awesome, intense, painful, beautiful hours of natural labor (2.5 hours of pushing). It was the most amazing experience of my entire life.
15. The moment I saw her perfect face I knew every second of the last nine months had been totally worth it. I was deeply in love and completely unprepared for what came next (no matter how many books I'd read!). 

I love my daughter deeper than words can express. My pregnancy was rough but also beautiful. I loved growing my daughter and giving her life. I feel so blessed that she chose me for her mama. I cannot believe the beauty that she brings to the world. Her light shines so bright, I'm always in awe. 

xo Sue

Today I'm sharing my favorite photo of myself. I know I've shared this before when I posted all my maternity pictures but this one is my absolute favorite. Pregnancy was rough but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It was a uniquely spiritual and personal experience. I've never felt so alive.

xo Sue

Is it too late to post maternity pictures? Oh well, I'm sharing them anyway. I had romantic maternity pictures taken as a gift for my husband. We both loved my pregnant body and one day I'm going to want to remember how it looked. Like when I'm 85 and lost my looks. Or next time I'm pregnant and retain lots of water to make up for that not happening this time. Or whatever. I loved my body. I loved growing my daughter. I love these pictures. 

{photos by Taylor Ann Taylor Photography}

xo Sue

{Photos by Taylor Ann Taylor Photography}

xo Sue

I am a reader and a planner. The day I found out I was pregnant I bought my first pregnancy/childbirth book. Within a week I had purchased several more. I devoured them one by one (mostly because I spent my first several months of my pregnancy sick as can be and had nothing else to do). Some of them I liked more than others so I thought I'd share just a few thoughts on them.

• HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method- This is my favorite childbirth book I've read. It's where I've drawn most of my information (and inspiration) for the beautiful, pain-free birth I'm striving for. It's given me confidence in my body and my ability to give birth to my daughter. It also emphasizes your birth partner's role. If you're contemplating a natural childbirth (at home or in a hospital) I highly recommend this book. 
• Active Birth: The New Approach to Giving Birth Naturally- This book has been very helpful. I love that the author gives detailed exercises to prepare your body for childbirth. She also shares several different positions to help you while you labor. Active Birth is all about the non-traditional way (traditional being flat on your back in a bed) to give birth to your child. I now have so many ideas of positions to try when I'm breathing through contractions and trying to get comfortable while my daughter moves into the right position and prepares to enter the world.
• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth- This book is filled with inspirational stories of women who have birthed their babies naturally. I absolutely love to hear such positive stories because it gives me confidence and hope for my own childbirth. When you're trying to focus on the positive and keep the worries at bay these stories will help you to do that.
• Spiritual Midwifery- This is another Ina May book and it was great too. It focuses more on home births (unfortunately that is just not an option for me but I wish it was) so it wasn't quite as helpful as some of the others. However, the beautiful, positive stories shared in this book were wonderful. A positive attitude and positive outlook on childbirth can make all the difference. This book encourages women to have an active say in their pregnancy and childbirth and also talks about including your partner. 
• Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering- This book is wonderful. The author discusses what she calls undisturbed birth (allowing your body to do what it knows) and shows how healthy and safe it can be. She shares positive experiences from herself and others. But what I really loved is she doesn't stop with the birth. She continues on to talk about breastfeeding, sleeping, and other issues new parents face. After reading this book I realized it's time to start buying books on parenting too and not just pregnancy/childbirth. 
• What To Expect When You're Expecting- This was my least favorite book I read. I enjoyed the details on the baby's growth and progression. I liked seeing what to expect from my body week to week. But I hated that it talked so much about everything that could possibly go wrong in a pregnancy. I felt that it was almost meant to scare or make you paranoid. The vast majority of pregnant women never have the complications that are detailed in this book. If you do have a complication the chances are very high that it's through talking to your doctor that you'll discover these things and not from reading a book that will scare you. If you are a first time mother reading this book please do it cautiously. Don't scare yourself into thinking there are 100 things wrong with your baby just because they're covered in detail in this book. The worry will do you no good.

The recurring theme you'll probably notice (with the exception of What To Expect) is the active, natural approach I'm hoping to take in Baby Girl's birth. However, I honestly believe that even if you're planning an induction, an epidural, or if you're in need of a c-secrion (which I may have to have) these books will be helpful to you. Even if you have these procedures the techniques taught in these books will help you get to the point where you have your epidural. No one goes in to have their baby without feeling some sort of pressure or pain (yay contractions!). So up until you receive the medication, you'll still need help breathing through it.

The second recurring theme these books emphasize is the role of your birth partner. It can be your spouse or significant other, your mother, your sister, your friend. No matter who it is, the role of your birth partner is important. Aaron has been an active participant in my pregnancy, has gone through in-home childbirth classes with me, and is fully prepared to be my active partner during the birth of our daughter. He's learned relaxation techniques to help me labor and comfort measures to make it as pain-free as possible. This is the beauty of it all, I don't have to do this alone! I am incredibly grateful that he's been so willing to jump in head first with me because this is a brand new experience for both of us.

I hope that these books will be of some help to my fellow soon-to-be moms out there who are looking for a little information. If you've read any particularly great books on childbirth or parenting I'd love to know what they are. I'm always open to learning more! Also, I wrote on my baby blog about my birth affirmations. The power of positive thinking is huge.

xo Sue

And yet, there's something beautiful about the word "rose." Every name is different and special, picked for us by people who love us more than we can ever imagine. I was named after my mother. Her middle name is Susan, which is my given name. Growing up I always thought I had an old lady name. Now I prefer to think of it as vintage. And the nickname, Sue, well I just think it fits me. Short and sweet and simple. And I love that it's the name my mom and dad picked out just for me. I was almost named Heather (now it's my middle name instead) but I'm glad I wasn't. I don't think it would have fit me nearly as well and my parents somehow knew that. They knew they were having a spunky little girl that needed a spunky little name to go along with her. Somehow they just knew. And they continued to know with 5 more children!

I've always thought that Shelly's name fits her so well. It's a warm and happy name and that fits my bubbly younger sister completely. Her dimples are ridiculously cute (all 6 kids in our family have them but Shelly's are by far the most prominent) and because of that her smile makes it impossible not to smile back at her. She'll probably be embarrassed when she reads this because she doesn't know I'm writing about her. Oops! Her precious baby Elizabeth was named perfectly, too. It such a classic, sweet name and the nickname, Lizzie, is the picture of a bundle of joy- which she definitely is!

How do you pick a name for your baby? It has been such a daunting task for us! Suddenly I felt like every name I had ever liked was terribly wrong for my daughter. People ask me how we picked ours and I honestly don't have a good answer. I'm still not sure how we found her name. I think I heard it years ago and it just sort of stuck with me. But our naming process went something like this.

We found out I was pregnant. We started talking about both boy and girl names. We picked middle names first (I know, we're strange). We made a huge list of potentials. We crossed off more than half almost immediately. We narrowed it down to 2 or 3 for each gender. We found out we're having a girl. We debated between 2 for weeks. One of them just sounded right to my ears and my heart so I started calling her by it out loud. Aaron got on board. Now we have our daughter's name. But it was a process!

So tell me, what names do you love? And how did you end up picking them?

xo Sue

We've all heard (or been) pregnant women complaining. Pregnancy is no.fun. You're nauseous (if you're lucky like me that never goes away...), you ache all over, you're constantly tired (I slept at least 12 hours a day my first trimester), you can smell everything in a 10 mile radius, your back hurts every day, you can't sleep more than 4 hours straight, your hormones make you feel like a crazy person. Seriously, the list goes on (and every woman's list is different).

And yet somehow I love being pregnant. Because there is no feeling in the world that has ever come close to my daughter moving inside me. She does it all the time (and has for over 10 weeks now) and I get choked up every single time. It's the purest definition of magic that I can ever give. I never realized how much love I am capable of until this little miracle grew inside me. I now understand how much my Mommy loves me and it makes me appreciate her even more than I did before.

Most days I stare at my stomach in awe. Even though I know what's going on with my body I'm constantly amazed that she is there. She is tiny and perfect and she will be a part of this world so soon. We have just over 12 weeks left. That's it. I remember when I was 12 weeks pregnant, we'd just gotten our first ultrasound (I cried a lot) and I was feeling so icky that I was sure it would never end. Now the end is near and I'm feeling so many emotions that I can't even contain them all.

I wish I could share this feeling with my husband. When I'm busy vomiting in the toilet or staring at a blank wall because my body hurts too much to sleep, I sometimes think that he's so lucky he doesn't have to feel this way. Then Baby Girl will kick me (she ALWAYS knows just when I need it) and I realize that no, I am the lucky one. I get to feel this precious miracle moving, kicking, and rolling inside of me. If I rest my hand on my stomach she will move into it. If I sing to her she'll respond with wiggles. If I play music for her she'll kick in time with the beat. And no matter how I explain that to Aaron he can never truly feel the magic of it.

Somehow her wiggles make up for all the bad. They make it bearable. They make it all worth it. They even make me love being pregnant.

And just for fun, here's my little lady at 27 weeks! She's taking her sweet time popping out but I'm okay with that. She's my daughter which means she's extra stubborn and she'll do things on her own schedule. It's probably better if I just accept that now.

xo Sue

I know, colored jeans are so trendy. But they're so fun! And just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you can't be cute and trendy and have a little fun. I bought both the neon blue and hot pink jeans before I got pregnant (originally seen here). They're a little tight under my belly now but they still fit so I still wear them. I have a belly band I can wear with them to keep them up once they no longer button, but so far I haven't hit that point. The rest of these outfits are pre-maternity too (except my top in the very last picture, which has a big sparkly heart that I love). I didn't get super creative with these outfits, some days I just don't have it in me. But at least I got dressed! On sick days I really count that as a triumph. And yes, I'm wearing the same sparkly black shoes with all three outfits. They were my wedding shoes and I love them! And now my question to you my friends: What are/were your favorite pre-pregnancy clothes that you made work during pregnancy?

lace top: victoria's secret (about 3 years ago) // jeans: japanese boutique (similar) // shoes: rue 21

top: target // jeans: japanese boutique (similar)  // shoes: rue 21

top: japanese boutique // jeans: japanese boutique (similar) // shoes: rue 21 

xo Sue

I'm starting a maternity series. I've been thinking about it for a while and now I'm really going to do it. Basically just thoughts on pregnancy and motherhood and random things that I want to share. There are always so many things going on in my head that I sometimes have a hard time straightening them out into coherent ramblings but it's something I'm working on. Don't worry though, there will still be plenty of non-baby related ramblings.

One thing I've been thinking about lately is maternity clothes. I know, it's almost a dirty word. Except it doesn't need to be! I'll be honest, living in Japan severely limits my options when it comes to maternity clothes. The only place on base I have to shop has 2 racks of maternity clothes and trust me, they're the ones you'd rather avoid. Off base they don't believe in maternity clothes. Seriously, I see Japanese babies all the time but I've only ever seen 2 or 3 pregnant Japanese women out in public. Explain to me where the babies all come from because I know the stork doesn't deliver here. So my options are online shopping or searching my closet for things that will work.

Luckily my closet is a pretty great place to go for options. At least it is while I'm still small enough to fit into things. I'm going to go on strike from leaving my house when I hit 7 months and no longer fit into anything but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Before I got pregnant I rarely bought/wore clothes that were actually tight on my stomach. I prefer a looser, more freeing look. And the good part of that is Baby Girl fits right up under those shirts that were always flowing before. The tricky part is making myself actually look pregnant and not just like I put on a few extra pounds and I'm trying to hide it.

I in no way claim to be a fashionista. I'm kind of the opposite. I know how to look cute, I even do it occasionally, but I'm such a no-fuss girl most days. I want to share the things I've discovered and the cute outfits I've fashioned myself because every pregnant girl should be able to look good and feel good even if she spent the morning bowing to the porcelain gods.

Since I feel like I've rambled long enough I'm just going to share some pics now. Next time I'll point out some of my tips/tricks to making your baby bump cute. Everything but the jeans come from my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. These are both outfits I wore out last week and I got so many compliments both times. It really encouraged me in my attempt to dress like a cute mama and not the tired old lady I feel like most days. And those jeans are my all time favorite maternity purchase. They're so great that they'll get their own post. Another day of course.

dress: forever 21 (about 4 years ago) // shoes: japanese boutique // brooch: jerseymaids // bracelet: jezebel charms

sweater: wet seal // jeans: old navy // shoes: wet seal // belt: who knows // camera necklace: japanese boutique

As a totally random side note, the dress I wore last weekend to the Air Force Ball was not a maternity dress. It was just a pretty thing full of sparkles that I wanted to wear. So I bought it in a size up and let the material hug my baby bump. Embrace the bump!

PS Please ignore my very boring backdrop. I'm not a fashion blogger. Not even a little bit.

xo Sue