Maternity Bucket List

This post was sponsored by Pink Blush Maternity. All opinions are mine alone.

9 things I want to do in 9 months before the baby comes.

In less than 2 weeks I will be holding our sweet little girl in my arms. When we found out we were expecting again I knew this pregnancy would be different than my others. I now have two toddlers to take care of so napping whenever I get tired wasn’t an option. This is also my fourth pregnancy so I knew more of what to expect and had spent lots of time on Pinterest so my expectations for myself and activities (like maternity photos) were much higher. Back in January I made a list of things I wanted to do before our little baby joined our family. Some of them were silly things, like buy cute clothes and a new bed, and some were more meaningful, like remember to show my husband how much I love him. Today I want to share with you my list and remind you that life doesn’t have to be as pretty and perfect as Pinterest or Instagram makes it look; as long as you are happy that is what matters. So here is my bucket list…

Buy Cute Clothes. With my previous pregnancies I didn’t start showing until well over halfway through the pregnancy. I fit into my normal pants (with the help of a belly band) through out most of the pregnancy and just bought a few maternity shirts to cover my belly. This time around I was already showing by 8 weeks and knew that my non pregnant wardrobe wasn’t going to cut it this time. I started looking online and found Pink Blush. They have some of the cutest maternity clothes and the pricing was great too. One thing I liked a lot about their clothes is they could easily be worn when I wasn’t pregnant too. A few of my favorites are their maternity dresses, tees & tanks and jeans. Check out the end of this post for your chance to win a $75 gift card so you can get some cute clothes too.
Pick up a new hobby. Knowing that I was going to be having a new baby in the winter and being the germ-a-phobe I am I knew I would be spending a lot of time indoors this winter. I wanted to be able to have some new talent or skill to help pass the time…if I didn’t have enough things on my plate right?! I decided to pick up sewing once we found out we were having a girl because there are SO many cute things to make girls and I can’t justify buying everything I see in baby boutiques (I would go broke)! I’m still working on getting the hang of things but by Christmas time I think I should be doing pretty well.
Get a massage, manicure and pedicure. During my first pregnancy I got 3 or 4 pregnancy massages and they were wonderful. With my second pregnancy I had a baby at home and didn’t want to leave him to get one. My third pregnancy ended before I could go in but this time around I was determined to pamper myself! Also, it was going to be summer and I HAD to have cute fingers and toes, right?! I’ve gotten a few pedicures and massages and have my last pedicure scheduled for next week, just before we head in to have our little girl.
Buy a new bed. My husband and I have had the same bed for our entire marriage (and he had it a few years before we got married) and it isn’t as comfortable as it once was. Plus having two adults, two boys and a baby in bed wasn’t going to work with a queen. We spent weeks shopping for the right bed and I am happy to say our new king is the perfect fit for our family. Now when the heartburn and frequent potty breaks stop I will be sleeping like an angel.
Learn more about my family history. As we are growing our family I am finding it more and more important to me to learn more about our heritage. My mother-in-law did an amazing job at tracing their family’s roots back several generations but I don’t know much more than where my grandparents were born. We started doing some digging and have been able to go back several generations on my dad’s side and it’s so much fun to learn about where they lived, what they did and what they looked like.
Go on lots of adventures with my boys. Like I said in #2, I don’t think we will be getting out much this winter and with having a new baby I knew my time with them would be divided even more. So this summer I wanted to make sure we went out and did lots of fun things. We went on nature walks, went bowling, gone to museums, lots of parks and splash pads and made some great memories. I hope that as soon as the weather warms back up and we get in a good routine with little miss we can continue our adventures again.
Spend some quality time with girlfriends. Once we bring Mahle home my attention I’m sure will be on my family. I also have several friends who were expecting about the same time as me so I knew the time we would have to spend together would be almost non-existent once the babies came. So this summer we had lots of play dates with friends and I got to spend time chatting with friends and really growing that bond. Having good friends is so important when you’re a mom and I have some of the best in the world!
Show my husband I love him. Some days this is easier than others but I know from past experiences I can be a bit hormonal during pregnancy. He knows it too and is super supportive. But I wanted to make sure that he knows that I love him everyday and am so grateful for the things he does for our family. Some of the ways I’ve shared my love with him are by texting him romantic messages every day, surprising him at work with his favorite drink when he’s having a rough day, making his favorite desserts and other things I can’t talk about because children are present ;).
Take maternity photos. I’m not a big fan of being in front of the camera. Add an extra 40 pounds and I’m REALLY not a big fan of being in front of the camera. But having pictures to share with my kids as they get older is something I’ve learned is important and so I decided to document this pregnancy a little better. The plan was to take one picture each week but that didn’t happen. BUT we did get a few pictures of me near the end of the pregnancy. I love how they turned out and will definitely be less worried about taking pictures in the future.

Have I checked off everything on my bucket list? Just about and this pregnancy has been one of the happiest times of my life. I’ve made so many memories in the past 9 months and I can’t wait to make even more after this little girl arrives. What things do you want to do before your baby comes?

If getting cute clothes is on your list too then you’ll love this part! I’ve partnered up with Pink Blush to give one lucky reader a $75 Pink Blush giftcard. All you have to do is enter through the Rafflecopter below! a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you’ve won a Pink Blush Giftcard in the past 3 months sadly you can’t win again. We gotta spread the love!