Just a question to be answered by my "followers"

Is it totally and completely wrong that I purchased a lobster costume for Vivian.....and then became ecstatic when I found a matching lobster costume for Caroline?

We are going to be a lobster family for Halloween. My plan is for Kyle and I go to as the lobster fishermen. I think it will be cute but I just need opinions...preferably opinions that I will like!

Vivian's Birthday Party

Vivian celebrated her 2nd birthday party a few months early. Her real birthday is in December but this December will be a little crazy with Caroline in the picture and on top of that Vivian hasn't really met any friends in The Woodlands. I just couldn't bear the thought of her having to spend her birthday party alone! So we celebrated while we were in Shreveport for our wonderful couple's shower. We invited all of our friends to the Duck Pond on Sunday for cake.

Thanks to all that came and spent the time sweating and pulling the dogs apart at the Duck Pond on Sunday. I really don't think that there is a better way to spend the day! I know that it was ridiculous...a birthday party for a dog in the middle of the recession but I appreciate all of you who attended...blame it on the crazy pregnancy hormones! Vivian had a wonderful time and slept the entire way home.

Her adorable Banana Bowers Cake with Cream Cheese Peanut Butter frosting. I hope no doggies got sick.



Look at her sitting at the table like a good little girl. We should've had candles!



It was so good to see Charlie again. The last time Vivian saw Charlie she tried to eat him when he was a puppy. This did not happen this time...she's a big girl now.



Doggie Mayhem! Kyle couldn't believe I created this drama, but I loved every minute of it. I think the dogs did as well. There were too many butt sniffs to be counted.


Georgia is such a good girl. She had two pieces of cake. She loved it. She later showed off her Frisbee skills. I think Vivian was a little bit jealous. She doesn't really have any party tricks and I think it's too late to work on those...old dog and all.


Vivian really misses her Aunt Casey. Isn't that the sweetest picture ever?



Thanks again to everyone who came to celebrate her birthday. We miss all of ya'll and promise to visit soon. We miss Shreveport and all of our friends.

Our Shreveport Shower!

Kyle and I are so blessed with such great friends! We spend the weekend in Shreveport with our wonderful friends, and they threw us a FABULOUS couple's shower. The decorations, food and drinks (I can't vouch for the drinks but I can definitely vouch for the gumbo, meat pies, salad, bread sticks and cupcakes) were absolutely amazing. Carie, Casey, Melissa and Bevin definitely out did themselves. On the way home Sunday Kyle and I could not quite pick out our favorite thing of the shower...there were way too many to choose from.

It was so great to be able spend time with all of our friends and catch up. It had been too long since we had seen them. I'm so glad that Joey and Megan are getting married because there will be lots and lots of parties and showers in Shreveport and we'll get to see everyone on a more regular basis! We miss them so much and can't wait for Caroline to meet them!

Check out all of my beautiful girlfriends!

Casey's beautiful decorations! She really outdid herself!

Check all of the loot that Caroline made off with. Thank you!


Now I just need to tackle the thank you notes!

Thank you again to all of our friends. I can't explain how blessed we feel to have each and everyone one of you all in our lives!

Last Night

Last night I had a terrifying thought/realization...call it whatever you want...that there is a human being inside of me who in the not too distant future will be outside of me (thank God) and depending on Kyle and me for basically everything.

I had this knee weakening realization while staring at my bare ever expanding belly in the mirror. Talk about horrifying! I mean I always technically understood that there was a human being growing inside of me from the very beginning BUT I never truly thought about it...I mean really thought about it...until last night and it made me a little sick at my stomach...you know the holy crap I'm really unprepared sick at your stomach feeling?

I guess I began to think a little about the fact that Caroline will rely on me to make the best possible decision for her earlier that day while Ellen, my best friend, and I had a conversation/debate via text over whether to get or not get the swine flu vaccine. During the text convo I found myself waiting to hear if she was going to get the vaccine so that I could just follow her lead...this is her second child so I was basically just following whatever the more experienced mother decided. It was at this point that I realized that Caroline would be depending on me to make not just this important decision but other even more important decisions in the future. OH VEY!

Needless to say it freaked me out and I began to crave a glass (or two) of wine. Motherhood is going to be tough! Hopefully I'll hone my decision making skills before she makes her debut. (note the choice to use color since there are no pictures to express my true horror!)

Caroline's 4D Sonogram

Although I think...no I'm pretty sure...that I have shared the photos of Caroline's 4D sonogram with everyone who reads my blog through email but I just couldn't take the chance that I accidentally left someone out.

I now know that it is true that every mother or parent for that matter thinks that their child is the prettiest or most handsome thing on the planet regardless of the actual truth. I KNOW that this is true because I believe, even via sonogram picture, that my daughter IS the cutest thing in the womb...world (did you catch the corny play on words?)! I have to admit that prior to experiencing this sonogram I was actually worried that she might not be as cute as I had imagined in my head and I had no idea how I would deal if she wasn't, but no worries she is ADORABLE!

Well let's get to the actual experience of the sonogram. It's funny and I haven't shared that with ya'll. So I decided to invite my Mom, Aunt Kathleen, and Mary Ann. This would be the first time for Mary Ann to see Caroline via a sonogram as opposed to my bulging belly. For my aunt this would be the first time she would ever experience a sonogram. My mom had come to a previous sonogram so at this point Cheryl thought she was a pro, never mind the fact that Mary Ann already has two other grandchildren.

Here's the scene..we wait patiently, Mary Ann waited longer because we were running late, in the waiting room for my name to be called. Nice small talk etc. Then my name is called. On the way back to THE ROOM I explain my desire not to be weighed to the nurse. She looks at me for further explanation and I explain that since I am paying for this out of my own pocket and not via my insurance that I don't want to pay to see how much MORE weight I have gained. So after looking at my dead serious face she seats me and my entourage in the inner waiting room. Where we continue to wait. Then Leanne comes and gets me for the sonogram. You should have seen the look on her face when she saw my entourage just talking up a storm and keeping the inner waiting room in stitches with their excitement and my aunt's questions about what to expect etc. So we get there and Leanne explains that Sweet Caroline is in the breech position which will make this a bit more difficult...wonder who she gets that from? We got some great photos nonetheless...

Hands and Feet in the way here. The stuff floating in front of her face is the umbilical cord. Couldn't avoid that!

It's kind of like she's smiling!



Sticking her tongue out at us! She's a bit cheeky!


Look at those fingers and toes! Isn't this crazy stuff? Look at that big foot! It's almost over I promise!



Here she is wrapping her arm around her little knee.

So once we have the pictures printed and Leanne has saved our tape so that we can add more movement to it at the next session (I know that ya'll are all holding your breath for September 2nd and the ultimate release of the movement video. We need a blockbuster type title...Kate could you work on that?) since she was not in the best position this time. We walk to the front so that I can pay the bill. Well I'm walking and the three of them are still oohhing and awwing over the baby naturally so I just keep walking. When we arrive at the desk they begin to show EVERYONE around them the pictures...typical grandmothers and aunt. It was so cute. I think ...no I know that my mother was the worse!

So thanks for letting me go on and on about my cute little girl. I can't wait for all of you to meet her when she arrives in October!

What I found at my local Wal-Mart

I'm taking a hint from Kate...I'm blogging about something that perturbs me! This is what I found at my local Wal-Mart...a bag of grape fruit...one in particular caught my attention...can you guess why?

The Work Weekend

Well I don't know where to begin. My parents came in this past weekend to work on several aspects of our house...because yes, that is correct we aren't done with our house YET! They mainly came to "The Woods" to work on the nursery and hang drapery, which is harder than you think!

They didn't arrive until late Friday night so we just hung out and ordered pizza. My mom and I attempted to get a "game plan" together for the next day. Well we woke up kind of late and then we decided to cook breakfast, thanks Kyle...eggs from the farm are delicious! Then around 11:00 we FINALLY made it to Home Depot for the supplies...chair rail and various kinds of molding.

After we had selected the appropriate molding my mother and I left to go to Houston to pick up fabric for the one remaining room that lacks drapes and curtain rods and all of the necessary accessories for the drapery...which there are more than you would think and they cost more than you think. At first we had no luck...then we decided to go to Restoration Hardware where we had tons of luck but my wallet wasn't exactly ready for the Restoration Hardware prices. So needless to say I carried my "feeling sorry for myself" butt to the Tahoe and pressed the Onstar button to ask for assistance in locating the nearest wallet friendly Bed, Bath & Beyond!

Upon arrival said butt was still feeling sorry for itself but after wandering through the drapery department said butt began to feel a bit better for itself. I was able to find curtain rods, matching rings, and brackets for all 7 windows...see why Restoration Hardware was way the hell out of my price limit. Upon checking out we made the trip back to The Woods. But made a pit stop at the local DQ for the Tag-a-long Blizzard (side note: You MUST have one of these before they disappear!).

When we got home the work begun and I put on my supervisor hat. It was wonderful. My Mom, Dad and Kyle did all of the work. The allergies to manual labor, heavy lifting and painting that develop when pregnant are one of the finest things about being pregnant besides feeling the baby move...of course.

Most of the work on the nursery was accomplished and there wasn't that much left to do on Sunday because they all worked really hard. I started dinner...steaks, potatoes and corn on the cob. A hearty meal for the hard workers.

On Sunday we awoke early and started the process of hanging the drapes. Some might think this process would be easy but not in my family and not with 7 windows that needed drapes. It takes a meeting of all the minds (my Mom, Dad and myself...Kyle is left out of the process much to his happiness) to establish where the rod should be hung, how much "puddle" there should be at the bottom of the drapery panel etc. Needless to say all of the curtains were hung...after I made several trips back to Bed, Bath & Beyond to return TWO curtain rods that were the incorrect length (we really needed my math tutor, Mrs. Newton, from 7-college there with us because apparently my mother and I cannot convert inches to feet well) and several unnecessary accessories.

My parents gathered their things with lightening speed and were out of our house by 2 that afternoon. It was definitely obvious that they were excited to get out of there.

I had to leave that afternoon to go back to Houston to buy more fabric for drapes for our bedroom. Because yes, my mother and I only purchased enough fabric for one window...so there is a window in my bedroom that has a curtain rod but no drapes. But this situation should be rectified in a couple of weeks.

The weekend was exhausting but as you can tell from the pictures completely worth it!

I'm so over drapes but excited that our house is starting to come together. I think that I'm starting the nesting phase! Watch out!

Here's the nursery...a work on progress....

The guest bedroom just begging for you to come and visit!

New curtains in the breakfast nook. Just need the new table which should be making its way from Corsicana in a couple of weeks.

I should be posting a new bump picture tonight or tomorrow. Vivian has to go to the vet today for her Bordetella shot. Doesn't it just sound awful. She might need some ice cream afterwards. Think about Vivi at 6:00 this afternoon. Her hiny will be ever so sore!