two.

two years ago today, charlie made me his wife. 

and soon, he will make me a mother. 

to this day, i still can't put into words the love i have for my husband. 

it grows every. single. day. 

i am so thankful for our beautiful marriage and i cannot wait to see what eternity has in store for us. 

[my apologies to those that have seen this picture numerous times- it's my favorite! :) ]

happy anniversary, charlie! 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

*photography by Terina Matthews Photography in Southern California

drum roll, please..

we're having a baby..

girl!

London Estelle Osborne

my heart is full. so full.

i'm the luckiest mommy on earth already. 

i love you, my little london girl!

wives tales.

tomorrow is [FINALLY!] my anatomy scan ultra sound!
which means we also get to find out the gender!
i've been beyond antsy to find out.
i need to prepare! and shop! and start calling baby o by it's real name! and prepare some more! and register! and prepare prepare PREPARE! ahhh!
i'm working on my patience. haa

i made a fun little poster of wives tales and guesses before the big day. all for fun :)
here are the results!

so, we'll see!
OF COURSE i don't mind what the gender is! i will be absolutely thrilled either way.
i just pray that all is a-okay and healthy! as it gets closer, the anxiety of all the results are settling in. *que more praying!*

merry christmas; with love

thank you, candcpaperie's etsy!

tonight we'll be going to dinner at c's parents' house, 

exchanging gifts with the fam, 

going back home to enjoy making gingerbread houses [tradition] 

while sipping on some hot chocolate with too much whipped cream, 

listening to classic christmas music and opening one gift each. :) [and saving the rest of the christmas fun for tomorrow!]

we hope you and yours have a wonderful christmas full of memories and love.

xo

*p.s. to follow today's and tomorrow's extravaganzas, 
find me on instagram! @samantha_osborne

baby o vol. 3 [18 weeks]

i'm huge. i know. not normal for a first time mama. but i love showing off my belly :)

How far along? 18 weeks 5 days [as of today, 12-20-12]

How big is baby? 5 1/2 inches, or, about the size of a bell pepper! [the sweetest bell pepper you could ever find!]

Maternity clothes? yes yes and yes. i still squeeze into most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, but if i want to be absolutely comfortable, i turn to maternity clothing. tip for all you soon-to-be-mama's out there: H&M has theeee cutest maternity clothing! 

Stretch marks? so far, so good! praying it stays that way!  

Sleep? still waking up once a night to go pee, and i'm finding that if i don't have a late night snack before bed [soo not used to eating that late], i don't sleep as well. other than that, sleeping is still wonderful! 

Best moment last week? hmm...nothing really new, it's all been the best, i guess :)

Movement? yep! this mama loves to feel baby o kicking away :)  

Food cravings? oooo a couple weeks ago we drove by olive garden and ever since i have been CRAVING their salad and breadsticks. so, of course, we went there on my birthday the other day. one of the best feelings in the world is fulfilling a pregnancy craving.

Food aversions? still not a fan of caramel. but i'm getting much better with it. as in, i can say the word without cringing. 

Gender? we find out next friday! i am so antsy, i tell you!

Labor signs? way too early for that! i've just been having a little bit of braxton hicks contractions here and there. and i've noticed it's when i didn't drink enough water that day. oopsie :/

Belly button in/out? In. normally i have a very inny button, so it's still in; just not as deep.

What I miss: not much- i still LOVE being pregnant! however, i do miss being my thinner self haha unless i look at pictures, i've already forgotten what i look like thin! a friend of mine came over last week and she just looked so thin to me and her tummy was flat! weird concept for me now a days. :) 

What I am looking forward to: finding out the gender. and feeling the kicks daily- it's still sporadic.

Milestones: almost half way! crazy, i tell you! CRAY.ZEE. if for whatever reason i give birth two weeks early, that means i'm already half way done with this pregnancy. ahh! i don't feel ready or prepared at all! 

our first christmas tree

our two year anniversary is coming up later this month [yay!]
so some might think this is our second christmas together as a married couple, but, it's our first! [for those of you who don't know, charlie was in afghanistan last christmas]
i'm sure you could imagine how EXCITED i am for our first christmas together as a little family!
starting our own traditions, decorating the tree together, eating way too many sweets and simply making memories.

earlier this week we went on a hunt for our christmas tree. since we live in gorgeous oregon now, we thought we'd go out into the woods and cut our own tree down. ya...maybe next year. because, we found a little tiny christmas tree lot that every single penny earned goes to a charity for children's cancer. who can say no to buying a tree that goes to such a great cause?!

we then went home, turned on some christmas music, charlie was busy setting up the tree in the stand and putting the lights on it while i started on making yummy peppermint melt-a-ways.
then we decorated. :)

[sorry for the poor quality. bad lighting combined iphone camera is to blame!]

the L ornament is for our little babe. :) regardless of the gender, the name will be starting with an L [didn't plan on it! just happened that way :)]

we find out if we're having a boy or girl on the 28th! countdown is ON!

osborne christmas 2012 is startin' off to be the best one yet! ;)

peppermint melt-a-ways // recipe

a good friend of mine, dani, shared with me one of her family's favorite christmas cookie. and once i saw a picture of these beauties i NEEDED the recipe.

i'm not kidding when i say these taste like they came straight out of mrs. claus' kitchen. 

most definitely an osborne christmas staple from here on out!

RECIPE

[originally from land-o-lakes website]

makes about 4 dozen

bake at 350*

COOKIE:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

GLAZE:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons milk [i used whole milk]

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

3 drops red food color, if desired.

crushed candy canes or peppermint candy

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, combine butter, powered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract. Beat at a medium speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour and cornstarch. Beat until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Heat oven to 350*F. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls [i used a small cookie scooper] put onto ungreased cookie sheet [TIP: i kinda flattened the cookie ball a bit with my fingers]. Bake for 12-15 minutes [13 was the magic number for mine!]. Let stand 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets and cool completely. 

Meanwhile, combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 TBS softened butter, 1/4 tsp peppermint extract and milk until the desired glaze consistency is reached. Stir in food color, if desired. Drizzle over cooled cookies and immediately sprinkle with crushed candy. Before putting them away [if they don't get eaten right away!], wait until the glaze is firm on the cookie. 

ENJOY!

it's the little things.

you guys.
WE FINALLY HAVE INTERNET IN OUR NEW APARTMENT!
we've lived in our new place [which we love WAY more than our other place] since the middle of november. after finding out our old internet provider isn't available where we live now [which is weird- we only moved a mile away!] then finding a new provider, waiting over a week for an opening for them to install, making two trips to best buy to find a good wireless modem, and BAM! a little bit ago, i finally got it up and running.
no more stealing.. ahem..borrowing internet from our apartment's clubhouse! woohoo!

and since posts with just words are boring, here is our little cutie puppy who is getting so. dang. huge. :)

fun fact about wrangler: he loves and i mean LOVES the heater. he will literally stand in front of it with his face maybe 2 inches away staring into it. how he doesn't burn off the fur on his face i will never know.