Baby Showers Galore!

My husband and I are very fortunate to have wonderful co-workers as well as amazing friends and family.

We each had a shower at work

on top of a friends/family shower thrown back home

It was all amazing 

and

quite overwhelming!

My work surprised me and got me to come to a full on decorated lunch room complete with presents, decorations, and cupcakes by telling me that I needed to come see where some home made dumplings were being kept for me in the fridge.

Yes

I am a SUCKER for food

To my wonderment, my entire lab was standing in there waiting for my arrival...then the fun began!

We ate cupcakes made by one of my co-workers and I opened my gifts and marveled at each cute outfit, toy, etc!  It was all very generous and sweet!!

My husband, earlier in the same week, was given a card and gift certificate to one of our registry places.  I couldn't believe how nice that was considering he hasn't been working there very long.

The finale of baby showers ended last Saturday back home with friends and family.  It was SO great to see just about EVERYONE we invited!  There was even a good friend that flew in from Georgia to see us!

Diaper Cake from friends/family baby shower, made by Samantha

We played a few games (including guess how big around my husband and I are while hugging, the guys had balloon bellies and had to take shoes and socks off and put back on without popping balloon bellies, and a diaper relay race between boys and girls...naturally, girls won!)

We were literally showered with gifts and amazing things.  I couldn't believe it all.

Diaper Stroller/Bassinet from friends/family baby shower made by Amanda

And of course, reality set in a teensy bit more.

Yea, we are going to have a baby here in about 30 days

O.M.G.

I feel at times we are overly ready, with room set up, diapers, wipes, toys, blankies, butt paste...you name it...

Then, other times, I worry about what if something happens and I have no idea what I am doing!

But then, I have to think to myself, everything will be O.K. and tons of other women have gone through the exact same things...and look how they are and how wonderful their children are...

So, hurry up March 6th, I am ready to see my baby girl!

Baltimore Trip!

A couple we know lives in Baltimore now and we went up for a visit with some other friends this passed weekend.  Lucky for us, the weather was warmer and more bearable as we walked the streets!

(especially for me since my winter coat no longer zips up the front!)

My husband and I arrived around 9 Friday night and stayed up talking and catching up with our friends til almost 2 am!  The next morning after a lovely pumpkin pancake breakfast we headed off in search of some cute shops...and naturally went into a baby store.  They had the cutest clothes and shoes and bows...I had to leave before I got caught up in all of it!

We made it to lunch at a Mexican place which had awesome chips and salsa.  I ordered a burrito which was pretty great too!  Stuffed, we walked around some more and made it back to relax and refresh before our other friends arrived.

Once the rest of the gang arrived we headed out to get more of a feel of Baltimore and went through a market that sold Berger cookies.  Now, my first though when I heard "burger" was a meat cookie...not too appealing...but these bad boys were a rich fudgy chocolate slathered on a cookie that wasn't too sweet to balance it all out...it.was.amazing!

If I could have bought a ton of them, I may have eaten them til I was sick...
That's how good they were!

We also stopped in at a bar for a drink or two (well, water for me) and to chit chat some more before we headed back to the apartment and got ready for our dinner reservation...at Sticky Rice!!  I love sushi and hadn't had any since my birthday, so this was a treat!

We hopped over to a bar afterwards and finally made it back to the apartment for Cranium and other games...I hit the hay around 1am, but apparently most others were up much later!

The morning was a slow start for all as we crept outta bed around 11:30...another amazing breakfast, packing and on the road around 2pm to head home.

We had such a great time and I can't wait for another trip!

 walking the streets

BABY SHOES IN CUTE BOXES!

The couple who hosted us

Erin!

Couple friends all being in love...so cute!

Gotcha Ben!

 Boys...being boys!

Striking a pose...

We love Baltimore!

Thankful

November may be one of my favorite months

(I could be slightly biased since I was born this month too)

But I really LOVE Thanksgiving time
For me, this is a time to be around all my family and join together in making a wonderful feast
and also share what we are all thankful for
(I am so sappy that I tend to get emotional when we do this, but I love to hear what the kids usually say since they are so sweet and innocent!)

So this year I will share some of my thankful things with you:
-my husband
I don't know where I would be without this guy, he keeps me grounded and sane and can cheer me up from anything. He makes me laugh non-stop and I know that he loves me unconditionally. I am so thankful to have him be a part of my life

-my family
this includes my parents, sister and her kiddos, my cousins, aunt, uncle and also my husbands family (as well as those that have passed on and meant so much to me). I still get so excited to go home to see family...to me there is nothing better than being with those you love and who love you too-it's such a special and wonderful feeling

-the growing baby girl in my belly
what more can I say, I feel blessed to have this little sweet gal kicking around in my belly non-stop...she already makes me smile and I can't imagine loving anything/anyone more than I already do (is it March yet...I would REALLY love to get to hold her already!)

-my puppy dog
Okay, so my dog really isn't a puppy anymore, but he will always be my puppy in my mind. He got me through some tough times living alone during my first year of grad school and the way he wiggles his entire body each and every time I come home from anything brightens my day.

-my friends
I have a great group of friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. We always have the best times together no matter what the occasion or how fancy or just plain simple it may be.

-my health
I feel fortunate to be healthy (and hopefully continue this way through the rest of my pregnancy). Of course I have days when my back aches, but I can't complain when I know others suffer from much worse...I wish them better health

Naturally I am thankful for other things, such as yummy homemade desserts and things like green bean casserole and Dr. Pepper...but those tend to be much farther down my list in comparison to the big ones I have shared.

I hope wherever you are, that you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday!!

Gender Reveal Party!

There was much planning, decorating and time that went into planning our Gender Reveal Party yesterday.

But every bit of it was well worth it in my eyes.

I got cupcakes from a local place that were filled either blue or pink (it all depended on the ultrasound picture)...i decorated the tops with cute little baby bottles, carriages and rocking horses of various boy/girl and gender neutral colors

And also got a box from work, wrapped it, and took it to a place to have balloons placed inside (more for the kiddos at the party to be around)

There were also other decorations hanging around

And Channing had to sport his choice, wearing a blue shirt...

I prepped some yummy baked ziti, salad and french garlic bread as well as set out tubs of drinks for all ages (beers, wines, waters, capri suns)

Everone started arriving around 11 ish and we couldn't wait much past 12 when another couple showed up from far away...

It was time for everyone to grab a cupcake and for me to open the box of balloons with the kids

3

2

1

OPEN/BITE....

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!

See the video taken by our good friend Dana for all the happiness...

I am a total softy and began crying (HAPPY tears)...

We are so so very excited and can't wait to meet our sweet baby girl in March

We may have also settled on the name Kensington too...

Feelin soo good!

Remember these 10 lil things ??

I have to admit that I am actually doing surprisingly well...

I have been staying active and drinking tons of water at work and home.

I spent time with friends this past weekend- DOING YOGA!

I downloaded free yoga from iTunes thanks to my friend M over at Park & Belmont :)

I haven't been as stressed (maybe cuz my supervisor is out of the country for a month and I can plan things myself...)

I have also been spending time with the hubbs doing things around the house, and he has totally gotten into our garden that is now showing signs of tomatoes AND cucumbers!!

I am patting myself on the back for making a valiant effort on my 10 things!

(all except the bonus one, I have been eating Sour Patch kids like they are going outta style...and I may have bought fast food tonight...but hey, I did yoga and a mini-workout...I deserve it!)

Any things you are accomplishing these days?

I would love to hear your goals and dreams that are coming true too!

Heloooooo Summa!

Happy that today is the 1st official day of SUMMER!

This brings many happy things my way:



-beach trips with friends




-I get to go to LONDON to see my sister in law graduate from business school (she is super duper smart!)



-hopefully getting some yummy veggies from my garden!



-pontoon boating with family and friends on lakes


-sunshine


-oh, yea, and HAPPINESS


I am not sure what it is about summer, but it always seems that there is something fun to do or somewhere fun to go...I like being on the go

What are your summer plans?!?

Frisco Beach Camping

one word for this trip

awesome!

I had the best and most RELAXING time while at the beach this past weekend.

Beach camping SUCCESS!

Sunset Friday evening

Campsite #1 set up

Campsite part 2

beer, beach and "bag-o"

lazy summer reading

The crew

These floats were pretty amazing at supporting beers...

and also for floating some lovely ladies!

Erin and her "E" cup...get ready...

Spit take...it happened...

me, trying not to get much more sun, readin a magazine

ECL and C

Sunset Saturday evening

FIRE...no worries, we had it under control

glowing warmth

nothing says beach camping like s'mores!

a night by campfire

Mike frisbee throwing...last day

Charley throwing it back...

Thanks to all who were there, made my weekend amazing!

Let's do it again REALLY soon...

k, thanks!

Epic Beach Camping Trip

It's that time of the year folks...

Pull out your suntan lotion,
bug spray,
a tent,
a bathing suit
and stuff to make s'mores...

It's beach camping time!

Mike and I are going to Frisco, NC for the weekend and camping out with 4 other friends of ours.

We.Can't.Freakin.Wait.

I may have woken up with no alarm clock at 6:15 this morning
(it's quite possible I am still a 5 year old that is antsy to go to Disney World...or something)

Prepare for awesome pictures (we will be using our new camera and I LOVE taking shots of scenery and people in the moment...)

I think we are super lucky that the weather appears to be fantastic (80's for the day and 60-70's at night)...and lots of SUN!

The best part, we all stay in one "spot" and pay $20/night for 2 nights

you do the math:
split it up between 6 people = cheap fun with friends!

not to mention the beach relaxes me to no end...
can't wait to fall asleep listening to waves crashing gently into the shore...

Living the good life!