A Baby Shower For Sydney...

My sweet LG gals gave me a baby shower on Monday evening. They brought Sydney some diapers, wipes, lotions, baby wash, etc.

My friend, Heather, made this cute onesie and tutu...I just love it!!



They also made this book and each person wrote something to Sydney in it - such sweet words and prayers for our baby girl. So special. I love this group of ladies so much. We share our lives with each other, pray for one another, encourage each other, laugh at/with each other. They're a blessing in my life. I'm very thankful for sweet/thoughtful friends.



I made buffalo chicken tacos again last night...they're just so good and easy to make. We'll probably have these every week. :)

I tried a new recipe for Apple Cherry Oat Bars. I've been wanting to make these for a couple of weeks now. They were yummy! A few changes I made/will make next time: I only used all purpose flour in the recipe because the two stores I went to didn't have almond flour, I added fresh lemon zest to the recipe, and I will leave out the allspice all together next time - it's just too strong for my liking. The bottom and topping were SO GOOD and I loved the tartness of the dried cherries in the filling. I'll make these again and will probably change up the filling every so often too...you could use any fruit that you like best.



Happy Wednesday!

Love to all,

Sweet Sadie...

I'm finally blogging about our weekend. My computer has been acting up...or acting like it's going to die actually. Alex worked on it the past few nights and it's working for now!

Alex and I headed out of town on Friday for a relaxing weekend. I was attending Sadie's Sip & See on Saturday afternoon, so we decided to just make a weekend of it! My in-laws were watching Amelia, so we were excited to have some time away - just the two of us. My MIL picked Amelia up on Friday around noon and Alex and I hit the road as soon as he was finished at work. Our plans were to get there and have dinner on Friday evening.

Well....we were on the road no more than 30 minutes and traffic came to a stand still. Needless to say, we didn't make it there in time for dinner. We went straight to the hotel and upon pulling into the hotel parking lot, Alex's truck started making a TERRIBLE noise. His car is the newer of our vehicles...we never dreamed we would have car trouble while out of town! It was dark and we decided to worry about it the next morning. Fast forward to the next morning...Alex woke up with fever and coughing his head off. He sounded like he had tuberculosis. It was bad. We had plans to have breakfast and spend some time together before he dropped me off at the Sip & See.

We were able to spend a few hours together...in the after hours clinic.

They told him he had bronchitis and a sinus infection and called in some meds. We walked out of the after hours clinic, went to pull out, and the truck made an even worse noise than the night before. Alex knew exactly what it was at that point and said if we drove it - the wheel would fall off! It was a wheel hub-a-ma-jig or something like that. We sat there and laughed. It was all we could do. Our little getaway had turned into such a stressful weekend. Thankfully, we were able to get ahold of his Uncle (that lives in the area). He picked us up, dropped me at the Sip & See, and took Alex back to the hotel to rest. Thank you, Uncle Biff!!! Seriously, I saw a halo over his head when he pulled up to that clinic parking lot.

I had a great time at the Sip & See. I felt like I was in somewhat of a daze at that point and thinking back on some conversations - I just hope whatever I said made sense. I hadn't eaten and even more importantly - I had no coffee in my system. I'll just go ahead and apologize in case I was spaced out.

I loved seeing some of my old blogging friends and meeting new ones.



Lots of them brought their sweet babies and I could not get enough of them.



Sadie.



Sweet, sweet Sadie. The reason we were all there! Love her. She is such a beautiful baby and did so well being passed around and loved on by everyone.



Eli.



I'm not going to lie...this baby stole my heart. He totally made me want a baby boy. He just chilled and let me hold him for as long I wanted. I finally gave him back to his Mama, but I would have brought him home with me in a heartbeat.



Jillian. First of all, love her name. :) She has the sweetest little personality/spirit about her. She is so stinkin' cute!



I didn't get to hold all of the babies there - but held just enough to get a low grade baby fever.



Kelly and Laurie did a beautiful job. Everything looked so cute and the food was delicious! Loved the idea of serving fruit in a waffle bowl - totally going to use that someday.



Caroline and her sweet parents took me back to the hotel after the Sip & See. I love her and her family. I'm excited that she's moving to Arkansas and praying her parents will be moving here someday soon as well! :)



We stayed an extra night since the truck and my husband were both broke down. We called a dealership while there but they couldn't get us in to fix it. My FIL and BIL decided to come and help us get the truck back home and we would have it fixed at our local dealership. After finding out the trailer was too small for the truck (because nothing can be that easy) we made a couple of trips to the parts store and they fixed it themselves.



I'm so thankful for my family...don't know what we would have done without them this weekend. My MIL and SIL's helped take care of Amelia while we were away and we finally got back to pick up our girl on Sunday evening. I was so happy to see her face and get to kiss on her. It will be awhile before I can leave her for that many days again. My heart aches being away from her!



It was a crazy one but we had some fun/laughable moments as well! :)

Love to all,

Random...

Totally random post...

My sister came over to see us. Amelia was hanging out in her bouncy seat. Aunt Joy decided to sit in the floor with her while she ate her sandwich. Because this baby just doesn't get enough attention.

Aunt Joy is a brave soul for sitting on my filthy kitchen floor.



I can't even tell you how many pics that I have like this. She loves to take naps with her Daddy. Seeing them together just melts my heart. I seriously don't know how Amelia sleeps like this because Alex is usually snoring so loud. It's like it soothes her to sleep. (LOL) As you can see, Amelia is already sporting some Valentine pj's. She has several pair, so I've already started putting them on her. I think the entire month of February should be the month of LOVE. All things pink, red, hearts, etc. Half the month just isn't enough. :)



We met Daddy at the mall after he was off from work. I have a dirty secret.

I love to eat at the mall food court.

You would think from this picture that Amelia is smiling because she's receiving kisses from Mommy. She's not. She LOVED the ceiling in the mall. I would get her to look at me and she would slowly tilt her head until she could see the ceiling again. Girl has a thing for ceiling fixtures.



I told you that I like to peek into Amelia's bassinet when she wakes from a nap. I went in to get her (with camera in hand). Peeked over the bassinet and there she was. Happy as a lark.



I have no idea what a lark is.

We host our home group tonight. This is our first time (since before I had Amelia) to host. They gave us a little break once I hit the HUGE mark. I'm making chicken spaghetti, salad & bread.

For dessert I made a peanut butter pie and brownies
I made an extra peanut butter pie to take over to my neighbor. It's her husband's birthday, so I thought they might like a sweet treat!

Oh, and can I just say...if you're making anything other than these brownies...


just slap yourself and promise to stop. My sis and I make most everything from scratch, but there's really no reason when you find a mix that's THIS GOOD. Seriously. They're the BEST!!

I hope you're all having a fabulous week. I'm hosting a baby shower tomorrow night, so it's going to be a busy couple of days!

Love to all,

Jen's baby shower...

This is my S-I-L, Jen. I remember throwing Jen's 1st baby shower and now she is having her 3rd baby girl! I'm so excited for her and can't wait to meet my new niece! Here are a few pics from the shower. I volunteered to do the food and since it was right after lunch, I decided to just do a few sweets that would go well with coffee and punch.

Here's Jen. How cute is she!? You can't see them in this pic, but she had on some CUTE wedge boots with this outfit!


Okay, so this is my new favorite thing. I bought these new cookie cutters and you can put any message on the cookie. I couldn't wait to use them for the 1st time and this is how they turned out - LOVE THEM! I've decided that my February giveaway is going to be a set of these cookie cutters!


Couldn't have a baby shower without Ed's petit fours. YUM!


I don't even like nuts, but I love these spiced pecans. They are more like candy! :)


And instead of doing a traditional mint, I decided to do these chocolate peppermint patties with a pink center!


It was a fun time and Jen received lots of fun stuff for little Miss Mika. We expect her to arrive any day now - Jen has her babies about 4 weeks early! :)

Love to all,

3rd Baby Shower...

I never had a chance to post about my 3rd and final baby shower. You will see from the pictures below that I was extremely swollen. My M-I-L saw me at the shower and immediately asked when my next doctor's appointment was. Come to find out, she feared that I was preeclamptic but didn't say anything (she didn't want to scare me). My doctor's appointment was two days following this shower. My doctor took one look at me and I was sent to the hospital immediately. The rest is kind of a blur and Alex is going to write about that soon...we promise! I was put on magnesium sulfate (along with several other things) and for those of you who have been put on that - you know what it does to you. I can't remember much of anything. Anywho, on to the shower pics!

My S-I-L, Sara did so much for this shower.
This was my Journey Church shower...we meet in a large warehouse space which is near impossible to decorate. Needless to say, she did a fabulous job!!

Sara made this chandelier. Yes, you read that right...she MADE IT! It was huge and gorgeous! She is so talented. I'll be showing you what she did in A's nursery soon!


The spread...she had a chocolate on chocolate cake and white on white cake...DE-LISH!


The yummy punch!


Lots of fruit to dip in chocolate!


All of these girls helped make it a special day. :)


Me with my Sis, Grandma, S-I-L, and Aunt


Me and Joy


Lots of fun presents...


My sis ended up having to come home and pack my bags for the hospital...this one came in very handy!


This looked so tiny at the time...we put A in it at the hospital and it swallowed her whole! :)

It was such a fun shower! Just had to share pics! :)

Love,

32 weeks and 2nd baby shower!

By now, A weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama)and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in the uterus. She'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Yesterday was my 2nd baby shower. My S-I-L's threw me this shower and it was wonderful! It was mostly Alex's family, my sisters, and some of my girlfriends came as well. A received some cute outfits and toys! I received my first package of diapers as well...lots of fun stuff. :) Here are a few pics...

Me and my S-I-L's and some of our sweet family & friends...


How cute are these cupcakes (from one of my favorite cupcake shoppes) and cookies with her initial!? My S-I-L, Jen made the cookies! By the way, Jen is pregnant with her 3rd baby girl in February, so A will have another cousin very close in age...we're so excited! My M-I-L gave us this precious plate with ISamuel 1:27 on it. It's already sitting in her room...I love it.


Me and my sisters & nieces and some more of our sweet fam & friends...


Thank you to my S-I-L's for making this a very special day!! I love you girls!

On the pregnancy front...it's official. I'm swole-up. Seriously, my feet, hands, face, everything is swollen and hurts. I have officially gone up one shoe size...that alone is tragic. So many cute shoes in my closet and I can't wear them. I had my doctor's appointment last Wednesday. I gained 12 lbs in the last month. Yes, you read that correctly. That's a total of 31 lbs weight gain, so far. My bp was high, so I'm going back this week to have that checked again. I get to see my doctor this week....YAY!! I've been seeing all of the other docs for the past few months (my doc's office makes you do this, incase you go into labor and another doc is on call). All of the other OBs were super nice, but I'm ready to see my doctor again. I will start going every two weeks for the next month and then go to every week. This pregnancy has flown by. We're so close to meeting our baby girl! It's getting harder to sleep. I just can't get comfortable anymore. I'm like a roly-poly trying to get out of bed. I started having my first BH contractions today. It was like really bad, low cramps and my stomach got really tight...definitely had to sit down when they hit me. Only 8 more weeks to go! :)

The nursery is coming along. I have ordered the fabric for the chair and it will be shipped directly to the seamstress, so she can get started on that. I'm just praying it is finished in time. Other than the chair, I just need to buy/hang the drapes and get things on the walls. I know what I want, I just have to do it. My sis and I have a big catering job in October and then I'm going to have to stop helping with that. Being up on my feet for long periods of time is no longer possible.

The weeks are seriously flying by. LOTS TO DO before baby girl arrives!!

Love,

Baby Showers and Birthdays!

This weekend we threw a baby shower for my S-I-L, Sara. She is due 5 days before me. Sara has such a bright and bubbly personality, so I knew that I wanted the decor to be anything but pale pink. :) Here are a few pics from the shower. We did a milk & cookies bar, cute petit fours with Millie's initials, fruit kabobs, cheeseball & spicy pretzels. Oh, and my sister gave me the recipe for the yummiest punch. I will share the recipe soon...it was SO GOOD! The color scheme (as you can see) was chocolate brown, hot pink and orange. So fun!! Sara had lots of family and friends shower her with love. She received some super cute things. I can't wait for little Millie to arrive!


And today is my beautiful Momma's birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Momma! I'm so blessed to have YOU as my mother...you're the best.

Love,

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,