32 week belly

This post is simply for documentation, so if you're not so much on the belly pictures, just skip this post. I wanted to start taking pics from the front also to see how much my belly is changing, so I started that this week. It's kind of hard to tell because my flash made lines, but you get the picture. No stretch marks at this point, pray my skin keeps stretching! :) Thanks to the new Curel Pregnancy and Motherhood Lotion (and my mom's gene's of course!). I love this lotion!

We are so blessed...

Sunday afternoon we had our South Fork Church shower. I am still amazed at how wonderful it was. Here is a picture of me with all my wonderful hostessess. They all went together and got our pack and play for us! So we were super excited about that!

We got so many wonderful gifts that we really needed! I'm not going to try to mention them all, because I'll never remember everything. All I can say is that we are so very blessed and LOVE our church family!! One gift I will mention, is the scrapbook we recieved. This gift was from Jo, our church secretary, and also a very special lady to David and I. She made a scrapbook for Tyler's whole first year. It is adorable and I cannot tell you how much love, time, effort, and money was put into this gift. It's amazing! All we have to do is add the pictures. She also bought a bear for him that he is to take a picture with every month, so we can document "how the bear shrinks." I'm so excited about it! It was truely an amazing gift that we will love for years and years to come!

Here are some random pictures from the shower. David was a hoot and I"m sure loved all the attention. :) He was so precious and excited about everything!

They also had cute little props throughout the food. And this one, I thought was adorable.

So that was Sunday. David left for camp, after he loaded my car, and I went home, with help, and unloaded the car, sorted through all the wonderful gifts and put them pretty much in there place. So, that felt good to get it all semi-organized. :)

So now for the most anticipated pictures. I'm not going to lie... I really think that these pictures don't do his room justice, because I just LOVE it, but hopefully, you'll get the picture. We still have to paint the closet doors, put knobs on the chest of drawers, get cushions for the glider, and from these pictures I've already added accessories and different stuff to the room, but these are the pics I have, so I won't keep you waiting any longer! (Britt! :) )

And now we are on our 32 week! I can't believe it! He will be here in about 8 weeks. We are ready, but are glad that he is growing and staying in a little while longer. :) I'm just trying to enjoy the nights, and simple stuff like going out to eat, that are so easy to do now. :) But here is my 31 week picture.

He's definitely a mover and a kicker. He likes to get right under my hip bones and wake me up. It feels so weird. And he also likes kicking at the top of my belly and I think every once in a while he'll kick a organ or something, because it will make me jump. He's precious already but I do tell him often, "you better kick me now, because this is the only time you're going to be able to do it!" :)

And I'm afraid Kylie is beginning to know something is going on, because she has been very needy and doing things she normally would never do. So, we have some adjusting to do I'm afraid. :)

Finishing up the week

Not really much to report. Mom, Mandy and the kids were here all week. We had a blast and I LOVE them being here. Honestly, there is not much to write about except that we were all together, would meet for lunch, and hang out at night. They helped me get my downstairs a little more organized, and finished the finishing touches in my nursery. Oh, by the way... My crib is here and is set up!!! Thank goodness. It has a few imperfections, but you know I'm NOT sending it back!! It looks precious and I will post pictures asap! It is so stinkin cute!

One day we went up stairs to get Madi for her bath and mom said, "Quick, get your camera." So I ran to get it and low and behold Madi had climbed up on the toliet and got David's Gold Bond Powder. She was making a master piece. It was precious. She's usually not much for smiling at cameras but when she does something silly and someone wants a picture (instead of a spanking) she's all for it! :) So now my vaccuum has a medicated smell to it. :)

David took Austin and Eliott fishing on Thursday. I'm pretty sure they had a blast. Caught about eight fish and lost a shirt and one croc. I'd say that's a pretty good day. :) David has those pics, so I'll have to post them later.

Here is my 30 week belly picture. I'm definitely getting more and more of a belly and Tyler is liking the room! And I can't believe it's only 9 weeks away! He loves to kick and kick. At our doctors appointment this week she pinched his head (to make sure it was down, which killed me) but at least he's down and David got to feel it too! :)

As for me. I have a pretty lazy weekend. David will be back tomorrow from Ohio. And I'm just going to relax, do VBS stuff tomorrow and the pool and then we have our church shower on Sunday! David goes to camp next week too, so I guess I'll squeeze some laundry in there at some point! And seriously nursery pics in my next post!! :)

Rachel and Gabe's Wedding Weekend

Rachel is, I guess, my second cousin and by far my closest cousin. I loved going to Kentucky every summer and seeing all my family there. We have so many awesome memories so I am so thankful that we were able to be a part of her wedding and have a weekend full of fun and family!

We arrived to Kentucky around 11:30 on Wednesday night. We stayed the weekend with Robert and Kelly. Where my family was also staying. We pretty much went to bed because we knew we had a big weekend ahead of us. So Thursday morning was suppose to start with a bridal shower for Rachel. We got there and helped get the food ready and when it was time to sit down and open presents, they (my family) informed me that this was a surprise baby shower for me. Boy was I surprised! I actually had NO CLUE, and honestly that's really hard to do!!! It was so sweet of them and of Rachel for letting us share her weekend. We got lots of cute things!!! Here is a couple of pics from the shower.

And a group shot of my family that was there.

Next, we spent the day looking for things for the Redneck party and just being together. David and Austin fished most of the down time that we had. Austin had a blast and David enjoyed being his fishing buddy! At 5 we all went back to Aunt Mary Alice's for a wonderful meal. Honestly I ate so much because I haven't had fresh veggies like that in a long time!!! So then, on to the Redneck Party. See the below post for more on this shower!

After the party we went back to the house to work on programs and then went to bed. Friday morning we got up and went to a few antique shops and just hung out most of the day. Austin played with Price and Jackson and they also went fishing again. Here is a couple of pics I took of Austin and Madi on our excursion, that I thought turned out pretty good!

Then that night we were off to the rehearsal dinner while David, Robert, and Thomas took a fishing trip. We had fun at the dinner and loved seeing everyone there. Madi meet her cousin Brock for the first time and they had a blast together. Actually every kid there bonded over that bag of chips Madi had. They had so much fun chasing eachother, it was fun to watch them! Here is the best shot I could get of them. :) And I won't disclose whose bottom that is in the background. Sorry! :)

So, we went home and relaxed a while. The boys were still out fishing and didn't get back till 3 in the morning. They said they had a blast and actually caught an alligator gar. Not really sure what it is, but it's ugly and has very sharp teeth!

Here's a picture of the boys admiring the fish!

So Saturday morning we went to Aunt Mary Alice's for the morning. Mom stayed there with everyone and the kids so that we could go to the bridesmaid's luncheon. It was a great restuarant and the food was so delicous. It was fun just being able to relax and talk to eachother. After that we headed to the church where a friend of Rachel's met us there to take some belly shots of me. It was hilarious and we all had a good time doing it. I really am excited to get the pictures! :)

So then we headed back to the house to see some of our other cousins we haven't seen in a while. Madi had a blast with them and really enjoyed getting to see them all. I sure wish I had taken some pictures because they were all so cute, but I didn't.

So then we all got dressed and headed to the wedding. It was decorated so pretty. The chapel was pretty small, and they had tons of people there. Thankfully we got a seat pretty close to the front. Everyone looked gorgeous! I sure hope they filmed it because Gabe was the cutest thing I've ever seen when Rachel came down the aisle. My emotions were so overwhelmed. I was crying, laughing, couldn't control anything. He was so excited!! The wedding went great and really didn't have any glitches.

So then on to the reception. As soon as we left the church the sky turned black, there was about to be a HUGE storm. But we arrived right before it got bad. It was a fun reception and the food was great. Was a little crowded so we just made ourselves at home in the hallway so the kids could run. It turned out great!! Here is a picture of us with the bride and groom and Nick's precious little girl Abby.

And here is a picture of me and the beautiful bride. She she was gorgeous!! And then here are David and I with a few of our cousins. I just can't get over how tall the twins are!! It's crazy!

And here is one of David and I and also of the mother of the bride with her brother, Robert. She looked so pretty too!!

I really wish we had gotten a group picture of everyone who was there, but we did the best we could.

That pretty much summed up our wonderful weekend. We had a great time and it just makes us love and miss our family even more!! We got back home Sunday afternoon and got settled in before another week! :)

A shower to remember...

So this whole blog is a part of Rachel's wedding weekend, but this part of the weekend was too good not to have it's own blog. So my cousin's (Bill and Teresa aka the bride's parents) are in the process of building a gorgeous house. But in the meantime, they have sold their house and are now living in a trailer. Now, I'm not downing trailers because I lived in one in college, but this trailer is a little different, lets just say they are one BIG happy family in a single wide with 1 bathroom. It's a pretty hilarious site, if I must say so myself. So anyway, Teresa decides that we should live in the moment and create a redneck shower for Rachel. We all jumped in because we had done one a few years ago for my other cousin's birthday and it was so much fun. So, Thursday night was the night and we had to get Rachel out to the trailer without her knowing, so that was my job. I must say, I did pretty good at playing it off, but I'm afraid there was some questioning going on in her head. So we pull up to the trailer and are greeted by about 15 women dressed in their best redneck attire. Hilarious to say the least. We were crying we were laughing so hard! Here is a picture of the group who pulled it all together.

I wish I had captured all the hilarious decorations and things that happened through the night, but I was too busy living in the moment. But I did catch a few shots that I will share with you. Sorry to my family for doing this, but it had to be done! :)

Here is Madi and her precious self. She had the best time on the lawn mower and actually decided she had a pretty good microphone, just her size. Of course, she had to play the part too and only wear a diaper, which she didn't complain a bit about! :)

Here are a few of the decorations that were scattered about throughout the yard.

Next came the gag gifts. She got some good ones. This is what I got her. I thought it would look precious in her new kitchen! :) And I got it for a great price of $.69!!!

And this is the mud wrestling cake that Kelly made, complete with jello and 2 barbie dolls. She did make pudding for the middle, but it didn't quite make it to the party. :)

Now, here is a moment that I just happened to catch. Teresa going in the house to go to the bathroom, and no this was not made for effects, but this is actually how you enter the back door. I just thought it was so funny!!

So next came the water balloon toss. We all had fun and it ended with many people wet and actually it turned into a water balloon fight which was started by my mother! :) Mandy was my partner and it happened to bust on her, I just love this picture. :)

Here is a picture of my grandmother and her 2 sisters. They did so good playing the part! :) I'm so glad that everyone was there and we all had such a blast!

You would think by now that we were all exhausted and tired of being out there, but guess again, we were not and it had only just begun. They had mattress surfing set up and a few dared to try. Now, I definitely would have if I wasn't 8 months pregnant! :) Here they are all loaded up and ready to ride. Nick was the driver and Austin helped him. And here they are after the ride. I'm pretty sure they are still picking grass and hay out of their nose! :)

This is Teresa and one of her friends. :)

So pretty much this concluded our party because it started getting dark. We played a couple more games that we could play sitting down, and laughed so much more. If you are ever in need of a good laugh you should definitely throw one of these parties! It was a blast and I know it's one shower that we will remember forever!! And here is one last picture of our family who was there. I love Rachel's face in this one! :)

Sorry this was a little scattered but so was the whole night, so it's hard to organize your thoughts when they are all scattered! :)

I love holiday weekends!!

This weekend was a real treat because we had Friday off for the 4th. Thursday night about 11 of us went to Hanging Rock State Park to camp out. We got out there around 5 and started setting up camp. It was so fun and we really enjoyed all being together. I sadly didn't get any pictures of our camp site, but hopefully someone did. Thursday night consisted of sitting around the campfire making s'mores and just catching up. I know this picture doesn't look too exciting (and everyone looks a bit bored), but we were all just relaxing. :)

So we all went to sleep around 11 or so. The weather was awesome and we slept pretty good. We all started waking up around 8 or so. Had a good easy breakfast which was muffins, bagels, and fruit. Luckily the place had a pretty good bath house so we were able to wash our faces and brush our teeth, it was very nice. So after breakfast, David and Byron headed to the lake to fish and the rest of us decided to go on a short hike. We hiked to the waterfalls. It was a good hike and we all had fun. Here is our hiking group, keep in mind that this is just after we woke up from sleeping in a tent, needless to say, me above all, look a little rough! :) Honestly, I can't believe I'm putting this picture up, but oh well. It's a memory! :) And let me just tell you Francesca is such a little trooper. She camped out with us and was so good (until her mommy and daddy woke her up), but they got her back to sleep. :) And here she is on the hike. I let them try out my new backpack stroller. You can carry it on your back and then stroll it around if it gets too heavy. Dom said it worked pretty good for the most part, a little awkward to carry, but convenient, but he was also on a hike, so I'm sure that didn't help the situation.

Then we hiked back to the camp site and cooked hot dogs. So we had a good lunch and then we packed up the tents and everything. We were going to go to the lake, but it was so crowded and it looked like rain might be coming, so we decided to take it to the house.

So we went to the house, showered and rested for a few hours before the fireworks. We met a group from church out by the Warthogs stadium to watch the fireworks. We were there for a good 2 hours before they started but it was fun to just hang out with everyone. Here is the group that went, minus a couple that hadn't arrived yet. And of course, my husband can't go anywhere without accidentally matching someone. And sure enough he and Brian basically had the same outfit on. It was so cute. :)

Finally when the baseball game finished around 10:30 the fireworks started. It was a good show and I really did take lots of pictures, but this is the only one that turned out. After the show, we went to the Chunn's house (with a few others) for dessert, keep in mind, that it was 11:30! It was fun though and we had a good time! And here is a picture of David and I at the fireworks, I'm also going to include a pic from last years 4th of July, I'm not going to lie, it's pretty scary what one year can do to you. :)

So Saturday, I convinced David to close the curtains so that we could sleep in and we did! It was great to sleep till 9:30! So we went downstairs and ate breakfast and then I didn't get off the couch till 4!!! I couldn't bring myself to do it! So David left around 1 and went to the Chunn's to work on a slide show and I met them over there around 5. We stayed there till about 10, just hanging out and watching the Olympics and HDTV. :)

So Sunday morning, needless to say, I was well rested. After church we went out with some friends for lunch and then we headed home to clean. We got a good portion of it done until the power went out around 3 and we couldn't see. So we headed to Target, just to get out. Then the storm finally hit. After church we headed to Lowe's to get some supplies for a shelf David was making me and then home for Mac and Cheese. Yumm!

So, that was pretty much our weekend. We had fun, but we definitely relaxed, which is really what we needed!

And never fails... Here is my 29 week belly picture.

Well, I thought I would catch up on yesterday. It was our anniversary, and my sweet hubby started out by delivering 25 white roses to my office, so when I got back from "being in the field" I found them. They are gorgeous and smell so good! Can you believe that a lady at my office actually came to my door with a vase and said I'm begging you to let me have one. I mean, I did, but I will admit it was a little strange to me! :)

We met for lunch with Bill and Charlie because it was also Charlie's birthday. So Bill and Jo took us all (that were having special occasions) out to eat. Thankfully it was our anniversary and not our birthday because Charlie had a little performance. We went to a Mexican Restaurant and they did their sing and dance for Charlie, it was quite funny! :)

So anyway, after work he had arranged for us to go to Greensboro to eat at The Melting Pot. I was so excited. When we arrived they said, "Happy Anniversary" and lead us to our table that was set up with 2 red roses and balloons and an anniversary card that all the servers had signed. It was so sweet and David was so precious. He loves when he can surprise me and make me feel special and boy did he ever. So then, on to the meal. I have been known to obsess a little over food, so if you're not into that kind of thing, just stop reading now. Anyway, if you haven't been there before it is a fondue restaurant, with basically anything you can imagine. Since it was our 1st anniversary we decided to splurge a little and get the "Big Night Out", which is a 4 course meal with all the fixins.

So we started out with Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue. It was so good, and they served it with veggies, bread, granny smith apples, and chips. Strangely to us, the apples were are favorite, but the cheese was amazing just by itself!!

Then on to the salads. I ordered the California Salad, which was really good, and David got the Tropical Salad, which he LOVED!!

After we ate that they brought us the meat. We got the Fondue Feast which had: filet mignon, jerk seasoned sirloin, chicken, pork tenderloin, shrimp, butternut squash ravioli, and fresh vegetables and got it cooked in Coq au Vin, which is bouillon based seasoned with spices and veggies. It was so good! We loved it all! And as you can see it came with every dipping sauce imaginable! :)

And last but not least the chocolate. After much debate, we decided on the Flaming Turtle, David really didn't want this one, but once again, he's so sweet! :) So this one consists of Milk Chocolate, caramel, and chopped pecans. They brought, strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, marshmallows, pound cake, and brownies to dip in it. It was so delicious!! Of course we couldn't eat very much because we were stuffed, but it was so good!!!

I tried to take pictures of most courses, but as you can see, I got a little carried away with eating before I took the picture, so in most of them, we were pretty much done. But you get the point. :) So we had lots of laughs and really enjoyed just being together. This is us before we left at our little table.

We know we are very blessed and not a day goes by that God doesn't reveal another blessing to us. We are very thankful for each other, our family, and our friends. Life wouldn't be the same with you!!