We're busy enjoying Thanksgiving all weekend long with family and friends in our hometown. But, in the case that some of you are still showing off your Friday Five... I wanted to have the link up ready for you! I'll be back to blogging full speed on Monday, but I will definitely check out any posts y'all link up today!

Oh, and I hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And I hope y'all are still celebrating like we are with turkey, sweet potato casserole, dressing, peas, butter beans, fried okra, and SO MUCH MORE!!

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Who's ready to link up?!! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Please stop by and visit with the other bloggers who link up. It's a great way to find new bloggers to follow! And who doesn't love comments, right? =) Enjoy your weekend, y'all! 

Friday Five — link up #47

Y'all... I have a lot to say for the Friday Five this week, but I'm just not feeling up to sitting here and doing the post. But y'all be sure and link up yours so I'll have something to read. And I'll get y'all up to date on our week soon. And for those of you praying for me and this sickness, and AC — I appreciate it. She's doing great, just a kicking and having the hiccups. And this mama is doing everything she can to get well so I can enjoy this pregnancy again!

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Who's ready to link up?!! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Please stop by and visit with the other bloggers who link up. It's a great way to find new bloggers to follow! And who doesn't love comments, right? =) Enjoy your weekend, y'all! 

Thankful Thursday

The first day of November I started posting on twitter what I'm thankful for. Each Thursday this month I will give you a recap of what I have been posting. #givethanks

Day 15 — I'm thankful for two hour phone calls with a best friend who is hundreds of miles away.

Day 16 — I'm thankful we only have four months (give or take) until we meet our sweet baby girl!

Day 17 — I'm thankful for a rainy Sunday. A day to replenish the earth, and make things look new. Thankful for His promises.

Day 18 — I'm thankful I'm able to feel our little girl kicking and moving around inside of me. Love bonding with her in the womb.

Day 19 — I'm thankful the Mr and I both got to feel AC kick this morning with our hands on my belly. Truly a special moment!

Day 20 — I'm thankful for advice from friends who suggested me using a neti pot tonight. Breathing while pregnant is important!

Day 21 — I'm thankful my husband doesn't mind going to CVS 3 different times in one day to get me everything I need to get well.

Advice — Baby Accessories

Maybe I've just really never paid much attention, but I'm seeing all these really cute accessories for little girls. However, I'm not finding any of these cute things in stores.

I know y'all know where to find the cutest accessories for girls (and boys). I have a few momma's who are also reading these advice posts and they are having boys. So if y'all will link up below with some of your favorite places to find the cutest accessories... I would (and so would the other momma's) appreciate it!

I'm asking you to link up your favorite websites you go to for baby accessories. It can be an instagram account, etsy store, Facebook page, etc. Under URL — paste the page you are directing me too, and under name — tell me the name of the business. Simple enough... right?!

And if you don't want to link to the site, just leave it in a comment below.

I'm excited to see where y'all shop! And I know other mom's will appreciate these links, too!

Pretty Little Dresses & Shoes

It's hard to picture me as a baby, even though I've seen photos. But, what's even harder for me to imagine is the fact that my sweet AC will be wearing some of the same dresses I wore, 32 years ago.

That's right, mom saved a lot of my dresses from when I was a baby. And she brought them over a few weeks ago to hang in AC's closet. I've already picked out the dress she will come home in, and I can't wait to see her in it.  

Here are some of the dresses and shoes from my baby years that she brought over for AC.

This is the one I'm 99.9% sure she is coming home in from the hospital. Of course, it all depends how big she is when she is born.

And check out these little newborn lacy shoes...

There are many more outfits and shoes from my baby years that are in her closet and drawers, and I can't wait til she's here so we can play dress up. On another note, I think we have about 15 newborn outfits so far. And... I hope to photograph those and show y'all soon.

Photo Session — the Da Silva Sisters

Two precious girls came by this morning for me to take some Christmas pictures of them. Of course, a five year old and an almost two year aren't the easiest to entertain with a camera in hand. But, I was still able to get some really cute photos of them!

 

And, I had to snap this one...

Friday Five — link up #46

Here's a look back at our week for today's edition of the #fridayfive!

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the Sowell life's Friday five... 

1) {Advice Posts} Let me first say that I'm so thankful for the advice we have been getting from y'all over the past few weeks. Y'all are a wealth of knowledge, and even though most everyone has a different answer or piece of advice to give, I'm so grateful for them. Here's why: I know that when we get home from the hospital, I'm going to have to figure things out that work best for us. And if something isn't working, I can come back to those posts and read the advice that y'all gave. The best part is I'm getting advice from real people who have actually recently been through all of it. And, that means y'all are so much better than reading a book that someone wrote who I have no clue who they are, etc. I'm not sure what the next topic will be, but I know I can count on y'all to give me lots of options!

2) {God's Air Conditioner} This happened this week, and I'm loving the colder weather. I just hope it stays for a long time. I'm enjoying not sweating constantly!

3) {A Good Report} AC and I both got a good report at the Dr. on Wednesday afternoon. My blood pressure was great, and her heartbeat was great. And we've officially signed up for our childbirth class, CPR class and breastfeeding class. After Christmas we will be extremely busy and hopefully learning a lot!

4) {A Mexican Date} The Mr and I went to celebrate a great appointment with Mexican food. And, it was delicious! 

5) {Photography} Y'all probably saw my post on Tuesday with the photos I took of the Kemp family. Well, I'm excited to have two cute little girls coming tomorrow to photography them for Christmas. I can't wait to take them and edit to show y'all!

Now, who's ready to link up?!! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Please stop by and visit with the other bloggers who link up. It's a great way to find new bloggers to follow! And who doesn't love comments, right? =) Enjoy your weekend, y'all! 

Thankful Thursday

The first day of November I started posting on twitter what I'm thankful for. Each Thursday this month I will give you a recap of what I have been posting. #givethanks

Day 8 — I'm thankful I'm able to share my pregnancy with some of my sweet friends who are also pregnant. A great support system!

Day 9 — I'm thankful for uninterrupted weekends with my husband with pajama time in the mornings and cooking and shopping together.

Day 10 — I'm thankful for the beautiful Fall weather we've been having. The beauty of His amazing work never stops amazing me!

Day 11 — I'm thankful for the freedom we have because of the dedicated men and women who fight for our country each and everyday!

Day 12 — I'm thankful for the talents God has blessed me with.

Day 13 — I'm thankful for a wonderful doctor and her nurses for taking great care of me and AC during this special time in our life!

Day 14 — I'm thankful for a healthy pregnancy, healthy baby and healthy mama. So thankful God is in complete control.

Photo Session — the Kemp family

I love taking pictures, love it. I haven't been doing much of it since we moved to Alabama, but yesterday I was able to get out and capture three siblings photos for their Christmas card. I'm not going to be showing the ones of the three kids together that they are picking from for the Christmas card (even though it's killing me not to show y'all) so it can be a surprise for family.

Addison, Graham and Lane Embry were perfect subjects to photograph, and didn't complain one bit about having to take the pictures! Hope y'all enjoy these beautiful kiddos!

If you live in Alabama, or in Meridian and need your Christmas card photos taken... just let me know. I'd love to take them.

Advice — Feeding

Probably one of the most important things with a newborn is figuring out if they are getting enough milk, not spitting it all back up, and not upsetting their stomach, right? I'm guessing here.

Well, I will say that we are shooting for breastfeeding. I hope and pray that everything will work out for  this to actually happen. We will attend a breastfeeding class in January, and I'm hoping that all our questions are answered.

However, I still have a question for y'all. They say not to use any type of bottle the first 4 weeks of breastfeeding to not confuse the baby. But, what are the best bottles to use after that point if I pump and still breastfeed?

Can't wait to hear y'alls advice! And any pointers that worked for y'all.

And the winner is...

Jessica from Bluebird Sisters! She's been a huge supporter of the Sowell life, and tweeted about the giveaway several times. She won by liking the Sowell life on Facebook!

She wins a custom photo pendant from Sassy and Southern.

But, just because you didn't win doesn't mean that you don't get a special treat, too. Sassy and Southern is offering 10% off any order from now until Christmas for the Sowell life readers! Just email Missy to get your custom order started and mention the special offer from the Sowell life. And if you are wondering the prices... click here. Prices start at just $25 and go up to $45, but remember you get 10% off! I'm not sure where else you can get a custom jewelry piece for someone special at those low prices!!

Thank you to Missy with Sassy and Southern for hosting this giveaway. And Jessica, I can't wait to see what your custom piece looks like!! Yay!!

Friday Five — link up #45

Here's a look back at our week for today's edition of the #fridayfive!

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the Sowell life's Friday five... 

1) {She's Got The Look} We've been having so much fun shopping for AC's closet. I'm so thankful baby clothes have evolved over the years. You could say I'm a picky mama. I know what outfits I like, and I know immediately if it's a no. When Old Navy sent me an email that they were having 40% off your total purchase online — I knew I had to check it out. Oh, and we've seen all the grandma and grandpa outfits, but my dad is being called Papa... and Old Navy had a onesie with Papa on it! So I had to get it!

2) {She's Getting Bigger} And that means mama is getting bigger, too. 

3) {Giveaway} Y'all don't forget about that wonderful giveaway for the custom photo pendant from Sassy and Southern!! The winner will be announced the first of next week!! To enter, click here.

4) {Marsie Belle — The Sleepaholic} The little girl can sleep anywhere, and in any position. This seems to be her newest favorite way to sleep. 

5) {AC's Time Schedule} With the recent time change, we haven't quite gotten adjusted. We meaning AC hasn't adjusted, which means mama hasn't adjusted, either. Sunday night, I started getting hungry at 4. I had planned to cook lasagna, but I wasn't going to put it in the oven until 5. Well, she was hungry so to make it better, I told the Mr we were going to Zaxby's for dinner. Gotta do what you gotta do!!

Now, who's ready to link up?!! I appreciate y'all spreading the word more than you'll ever know!! Please stop by and visit with the other bloggers who link up. It's a great way to find new bloggers to follow! And who doesn't love comments, right? =) Enjoy your weekend, y'all!