My first baby shower...

My first baby shower was last night. I have to say, it was everything and MORE than I thought it would be. I laughed, cried (happy tears of course), ate until I was stuffed, laughed some more, and I loved every minute of it. I have to warn you, this post is full of pictures (and this isn't even all of them!) but I just had to share some pictures from the evening.

I arrived to find this cute wreath on the door. My friend, Jules, made it for me to hang at the hospital and on our front door when A arrives! :)


We started eating soon after arrival. This was the food table. ALL HOMEMADE by my friend, Jules. The shower was at 6pm and she had a wonderful spread of food...all delicious!!


Mommy making her plate! :)


My M-I-L :)


This is me and my sis, Joy. We were eating and discussing how we could steal some of these recipes for our catering business. HA!


This is me & my friend, Jules. She was the fabulous hostess! Thank you for everything Jules.... I love you!!


Me, my sis, & my Momma


Me & Sara


Me & Holly


Me & my M-I-L


We had to get a pic of all the preggers! Becca & Andrea are both due with boys in October...Me & Sara are due with girls in November! :)


Holly, Molly & little Q


Katelyn, Paula & Anne


Becca, Jules, Dianne, & Lynette


Time to open gifts!!


Me & Joy


My sis, Joy, bought A this cute outfit. It looked like something I would wear, but teeny-tiny! (LOL) Loved it!!


My friend, Linda, made A this tutu...it was so tiny! So stinkin' cute!


And she also made her this one for when she gets a little older. A tutu for every stage in your life is a MUST! :)


My M-I-L bought A the cutest stuff. I didn't picture it all here, but here are a couple of items. These sweet little black shoes with pink ribbon ties. She bought A a pink tutu and these will look so cute with it!!


She also bought her this little swimsuit. A is going to look precious on the beach next summer!


Her Uncle Cary & Aunt Sara bought her this little surfboard tummy time mat!


These are my friends, Tori & Aamie...


They gave me this wonderful cookbook that A and I can cook out of together...


And of couse, we couldn't cook out of our special cookbook without matching monogrammed aprons!! I loved this gift. Mine says Mommy and A's has her name (which I had to cover up in this pic) :)


This next gift was one of the most special and emotional for me to open. As you can see, I was saying, awwwwwww...


That was before I started reading the card and broke down crying...


Dr. Lew & Sue bought this for A. The cake server has AJA (A's initials) engraved on it and the knife has "Love, Dr. Lew & Sue"


The card read....

My Birthday Knife

Here’s a gift for your birthday,
a gift you will use
in a very special way.

This knife shall be a tradition
you use every year,
for cutting your birthday cake
until your wedding day is here.

Many memories will be made
for you from now until then;
and with your groom
let new ones begin.

This heirloom will share
through all the years of joy,
a gift it will become
to your little girl or boy.

Seriously, how special is that? This is something that A will always treasure. I definitely want to carry on this new tradition with all of my babies. :)

I left this shower feeling so blessed and loved by my family and friends. It was all so surreal...to be sitting there opening presents for my baby girl. Thank you for making my 1st baby shower so special. I'm keeping every card, every picture, everything. I want A to know just how many people prayed for her, wanted her, & loved her, before she even arrived.

I love you all dearly,

Show Us Your Life: Wedding Showers

I thought I would share a few photos from a wedding shower that I threw for my S-I-L, Sarah. I chose chocolate brown, tiffany blue and silver as the colors.

The Averitt Girls...


I printed some pics of the couple and put them in silver frames for this table...


I have a small chocolate fountain that I used. It always makes a party fun!


Here's the bride in her paper wedding veil... :)


I hung these white lanterns over all of the tables...


Bottled water with the couples name...


I came across this pic from the shower. This was my newest niece...she was so tiny!!


I love having something that everyone can take home. Especially if it's edible! These are from Ed's Bakery...one of my faves!


I made these tags to tie onto the cookies. They were heart shaped cookies with a pale pink icing. They were pretty and delicious!!


I love throwing a party. I hope Sarah enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed planning it! :)

Happy Friday!

Fat is the new black...

Okay, so I have to start off by saying, thank you. I was feeling down yesterday and...well...a little fat. And all of my blog peeps sent me messages that honestly made me cry happy tears and also laugh hysterically. My friend, Holly, called me last night after reading my blog. She goes to my doctor's office. She always makes me laugh. At one point in the conversation she said, "fat is back!" (LOL) I followed with, "yeah, fat is the new black!" My new motto. (and for the record, we weren't talking about size, we were talking about nutrition...good and bad fat:) I feel better today and after reading your comments, I have decided to let them weigh me each month, but I'm not going to let them tell me how much I've gained. I think that will be best for me. I want to enjoy every minute of this pregnancy, including my growing belly! I seem to embrace it until the dreaded doctor's appointment and then I panic. So thanks for the pick-me-up, girls!!

Speaking of pick-me-ups. I received a package in the mail from my friend, Shannon. She sent little miss A these cute bloomers and onesie! Aren't they sweet!? One set of bloomers has her initials, the other has her name, and the onesie has her first initial. :) I love anything personalized. Shannon, thank you so much for thinking of our baby girl!


Since my first baby shower is this Saturday, I wanted freshly painted toenails. I seriously can't believe it's already here!! I'm getting so excited!

Anywho, back to my toes. I've gone to the same nail salon for about 7-8 years. Chuc and Tina own the salon. Tina has always been the one to do my nails...love her! Well today, after she finishes my pedicure, she goes to the back and comes out with this bag.


It was full of onesies, hats, gowns, and a blanket.


Tina doesn't speak/understand English as well as some, but every time I went in to have my nails done (over the past 3 years) she would ask how my doctors appointments were going. She knew that we were trying to have a baby. I don't know that she fully understood what we were going through with the IVF, but she knew it wasn't as easy for us as for some. In my many years of going there, I've had the pleasure of celebrating Tina's three pregnancies with her. :) It just touched my heart that she would bring us these gifts. She's such a sweetheart.

So many of you have sent us gifts for A and each one means so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I honestly can't wait to put each and every item that we've received on her. I hope she likes to change outfits several times a day, because she's going to be my little baby doll. :)

Oh, and I've had some people leave a message in the comments section, asking about A's name. Sometimes I wish that I were able to just type out her name on the blog. I love her name...I think it's so pretty. I already make up songs with her name in them and sing them to her. (LOL) BUT...I must respect my husband's wishes and I love him for just wanting to keep our baby girl safe. I would be more than happy to share it with you, just click on the email button on my sidebar and send me a message or leave me your email address in the comments section and I'll email you! :)

Love you guys,

I hate the scale...

I had my monthly doctor's visit, today. I'm still having to see the other OBs in the office - before they will let me go back to seeing my doctor. Upon sitting down in the chair in the nurse's office, she informed me that the doctor I was supposed to see today wasn't there. He had to head to the hospital to deliver two babies. So they put me with another doc. But not before putting me on the scale. Ugh.

After stepping on the scale, the nurse informed me that I've already gained more than they recommend for the entire pregnancy. I'm assuming THEY are the nurses because not one doctor has ever mentioned my weight. But EVERY nurse that I've seen has made it the top subject of conversation.

Thanks. Thanks for that.

I started crying. I've gained a total of 27 lbs and I'm 27w4d. I have really tried to do better over the past 4 weeks. Every time I go in, the weight is just more and more. I don't know what to do at this point. She started giving me ideas of what I could do and suggested that if I stick with this, I could come in next month and not have gained a pound. Seriously? I'm in my 3rd trimester. Even if I did stick with her plan, my baby isn't going to grow anymore from here until my due date?

Doubt it.

I refuse to eat salad without dressing and grilled fish for every meal. I refuse to not eat a cookie and have a glass of milk when I want one. It's not as if I'm sitting down, eating a box of twinkies on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, I haven't touched a twinkie in the last 7 months. And I love twinkies!!

She suggested that I walk for exercise and I explained to her that every time I walk for exercise, I bleed. The bleeding scares me. And the last time I bled, it sent me to labor & delivery. This seemed to go in one ear and out the other. She continued to give me suggestions.

By the time I got to a room and the doctor came in, I was a teary-mess. I literally was sweating from head to toe...my bra was soaked. I was sweating behind my knees. I felt terrible. I was so nervous as to what he would say. He could tell something was wrong. I told him what the nurse said about my weight gain and then really started to cry. He was so kind and said, "you don't think another thing about your weight." If he said it once, he said it 15 times in my appointment. I think his kindness made me even more emotional. I had to apologize for my inability to stop crying. He put his arm around me and told me that I am doing nothing that would hurt A. He read my chart and saw what we went through just to get pregnant with her and said, "A is precious to you and she's precious to us." He told me I was already a wonderful mother. Seriously, he was so nice and I couldn't stop crying.

My blood pressure was perfect. A is measuring right on target. Her heart rate was perfect. He suspects that the swelling I have been experiencing is from the heat. He told me to just cut out any extra salt and drink lots of water. He reiterated that at my height and BMI, he's not worried about my weight gain.

I don't know why, but the nurse's comments really got to me. She might as well have called me a fatty and started oinking at me. I came home, went straight to bed and went to sleep. I couldn't stop crying. I hate the scale. It makes me dread every appointment.

Oh, and I get to see the same nurse next time. Since her doctor was out, I was re-scheduled with him again.

Goody.

27 weeks and counting...

I'm officially in my 3rd trimester. WOW. I think I get puffier in every picture. (LOL) Not much longer before little miss A will be joining us! Here's what baby girl is up to this week! She weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower)

and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. Awwwwww.

Alex and I were at Chili's having some dinner the other night. I hadn't been to Chili's in forever. Seriously, I can't remember the last time we went there. We tend to have our places that we like to go and Chili's never comes to mind. ANYWAY. We're sitting there, enjoying some cheese fries, when we hear a tiny baby crying. This baby couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. It still had that sweet, straight-out-the-womb, not annoying, baby's cry. I looked at Alex and said, "that's what we'll be hearing at 1am, very soon!" He informed me that HE probably wouldn't hear it because he's such a sound sleeper. HA! He's kidding of course. I hope.

My first baby shower is this coming Saturday! My friend, Jules, is hosting the shower. She's awesome and fabulous and I love her dearly. She was my first boss out in the real world. I was 20 years old. I couldn't type worth anything. I remember Jules watching me one day and asking, "do you want me to just type that for you?" Wouldn't have been so bad, except it was something that I was typing for her - since she was my boss and all! Of course I took her up on it. Like I said, she's awesome. And Jules, you would be so proud of my typing skills now. :) Most of the girls that will be at this shower, I went to school with or have worked with at some point in my life. Ya know, back before I was a SAHW. I'm super excited to see all of them and celebrate little miss A! I've purchased my dress for this shower...it has been tucked away in my closet for a month now, just waiting for the big day. I hope it still fits.

Okay, so tell me. Did any of you experience foot pain, the farther along you got in your pregnancy? Just over the past couple of weeks, I've had major foot pain. A few days ago, I couldn't walk. It's like a shooting pain up the back of my heel. I'm sure the weight has a lot to do with it. I've experienced weight gain in my life, but not THIS MUCH weight gain. So far, I've gained 19 lbs. Add that to my 20 lbs of IVF weight and all I can say is, OH MY! Alex told me to start wearing tennis shoes. I have no problem with that.

Except.

Tennis shoes look cute with nothing.

And it's summer.

And they're hot.

Flip flops are my shoe of choice, but evidently are hard on the tootsies. Sigh.

Notice on my sidebar...I've added my countdown to Christmas! For those of you who don't want to think about it - don't look. :) Starting in September, I will start my Christmas giveaways and continue through Nov-Dec! Last year, I did one giveaway...it was a basket full of my favorite things. This year, I'm doing several individual things. That way, more people can enjoy my faves!

Oh, and if you get a chance...head on over to Caroline's blog. We're currently going through a series on Spiritual Warfare at our church. We're going through the entire armor of God and it has been SO GOOD! Caroline's post touches on that and much more. The girl loves God and it just shines through in her writing! One of the things she wrote in this last post was, "I spent Friday night reading years worth of prayer journals to remind myself of those early days that I knew it was time for a "Woman's Faith" and no longer a girls." LOVE THAT!! Go read...you'll be blessed.

Have a great week, y'all!

Love,

Show Us Your Life - Baby Showers!

Kelly is hosting Show Us Your Life - Baby Showers! I thought I would join in and show a few pics from the last two baby showers I attended.

Sara and I hosted a baby shower for our friend, Rhonda, on Sunday. She's expecting her 3rd baby boy! We had a drop-in shower and she received lots of fun goodies. Rhonda had so many friends and family come out and celebrate baby Logan. We had such a good time!



We had a yummy cake...how cute is this!? Sara did a great job!


Cream cheese mints


Spicy pretzels...these are addictive!!


And refreshing lemonade!


It was a sweet shower for a sweet Mama! :)

Sara and I were asked to share the recipes for the mints and spicy pretzels, so I'm going to post them here. They are so easy and quick to make.

Cream cheese mints:
2 boxes powdered sugar
1 box cream cheese (softened)
1 tsp. peppermint flavoring
1 tsp. butter flavoring
Food coloring (optional)

Mix the above ingredients until smooth (this is the hardest part). Don't be afraid to use your hands. Once it's smooth, sprinkle sugar in the bottom of the candy molds that you choose. Roll mint into small ball and press into mold. Pop out of mold and let them dry for 24 hrs. Can store in airtight container and even freeze for days ahead of time.

Spicy Pretzels:
1 bag of pretzel sticks
1 pkg of dry ranch seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 cup of oil

Mix the above ingredients and bake at 200 degrees for 1 hr.
Cool before storing. Easy-peasy!!

I recently went to my friend, Andrea's shower...the girls that threw the shower did such a great job! She's expecting her first baby boy. Here are a few pics...

The table...


The cute cake!


Me & Andrea - showing off our babies. :)


I wish I could find pics from the shower that I threw my S-I-L a couple of years back. I lost all of my pics on my computer months back and I guess those were some of the ones I lost. :( Maybe she can find them and post some! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!!