Surprise!!!!

This past Saturday, Jake and our family gave me a Surprise 30th Birthday Party!!! I was told I was going out with my MIL and SIL's for my birthday, as we do for all our birthdays every year. But they blindfolded me and took me to the party instead. LOL. It was a wonderful party and I enjoyed it so very much. Here are some pictures from the party.

When I got out of the car, this was the first thing I saw!! Jake rented this giant blow up Dolphin for the party!! So sweet of him. (I love dolphins)

Jake was able to rent out The Knobbe House @ Brooks Park, for the party. Its an old historic home in Hazelwood, MO, near our home. It was beautiful and perfect!! I had seen it before but never knew you could have parties there.

This gazebo is to the right of the house.

This was the cake my sister made for the party and some of the "30" themed decorations.

My sister also made cupcakes to go along with the cake. They were so cute and yummy.

A cool picture my cousin took of the cupcakes.

 The gift table. :-) The pink and green basket in the middle was full of cards!

The food being served to the guests. (BBQ)

My MIL serving some of the food.

Me, in the bottom right, enjoying the food with some friends from church. (The centerpieces on each table were real tulips that I can now plant in my yard.)

Friends from my work, enjoying dinner.

Some friends of ours, Chris and his son Haven. Haven was really enjoying some Cheetos! :-)

My BIL Pat and my niece Bella. She was enjoying some Cheetos as well. :-)

My sister feeding her new niece Caroline.

My BIL Larry and SIL Amie, enjoying the party!

My mom and I. They were getting ready to sing happy birthday!

They were singing happy birthday!

Opening a card a co-worker friend made for me.

Opening gifts with my nephew Landon's help! :-)

It was such an amazing party and I can't thank my family and friends enough for making it so special!!

Homemade Dog Collars

I don't know about your dog(s), but mine absolutely love to get new collars. I don't know why they love it so much, but they get so excited when I try to put them on. I guess they're like humans in that we love to get new clothes! :-)

I ran across this website and was looking at the dog collars that she's made, which are absolutely adorable!! I thought to myself, how hard can it be to make a dog collar. It seemed pretty easy from looking at them. So I googled instructions on how to make a dog collar at home and found this great tutorial. Though I have no idea how to sew, my sister has become quite good at it, so I sent her the tutorial and she said she'd try it. So I went and bought all the supplies, (which I found at Hobby Lobby) to make all 3 of my dogs a collar. They turned out so cute and my sister said it wasn't all that hard either, just a little time consuming. I'm thinking my dogs might need some cute 4th of July collars for the summer!! :-)

Hunter wearing his new collar. :-)

Libby wearing her new pretty collar.

Max wearing his new collar.

13 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 13 weeks today.

Size of baby: The baby weighs nearly an ounce, and is about 3 inches long (crown to rump)... about the size of a medium shrimp.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm not really sure, I should get weighed today at my Dr. Appointment.

Maternity Clothes: My mom took me shopping this past weekend for my birthday and I got a couple pairs of maternity dress pants and shirts for work. I was really starting to need the pants. I can still wear regular shirts though.

Gender: We should be able to find out in about 5 weeks. Sometime in mid May. I can't wait. :-)

Movement: Not yet, its still a little too early.

Food Cravings: None yet. Just whatever sounds good at the time.

What I miss: Being able to eat certain things. It seems that some foods give me indigestion, so I kind of have to watch what I eat now.

Sleep: Still not sleeping great. I continue to have to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and i don't seem to be sleeping very soundly. But I did sleep great last night and didn't wake up until my alarm went off this morning, which was heavenly!

Symptoms: The nauseous feeling seems to be subsiding and I'm starting to have a little bit more energy I think, which is wonderful. I am still having to make frequent trips to the restroom, which I've heard doesn't get any better any time soon. I also have a little bit of indigestion when I eat certain things and I still seem to have this bad taste in my mouth, which I can't get rid of unless I'm eating or chewing gum. Its really annoying!!

Best Moment this week: Feeling better and getting to shop for maternity clothes!

What I am looking forward to: The second trimester and I'm also looking forward to my 12 week Dr. Appt. today, when we should get to hear the heartbeat.

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Today is my 30th Birthday! I can't believe my 20's are over. :-( But I'm looking forward to my 30's. I hear they are great!!

I've gotten tons of birthday calls, texts, and happy birthdays wishes. My friends, family and co-workers are so sweet! :-)

On the agenda for today:

I'm working, which is kind of a bummer, but I just got flowers sent to me from Jake and everyone has been so sweet wishing me a happy birthday!

I'm leaving work a little early today, at 2:30,  because we have our 12 week Baby Appt. today at 3:30. I'm excited because we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat at this appt. Should be a fun birthday present! :-)

Then after my appt. we are going to my parents' house for my birthday dinner. My sister, bro.-in-law and nephew are coming over to help celebrate as well. My mom is making chicken and dumplings, my favorite!!

Its been a great birthday so far and I think this is going to be a great year! How could it not be, I'm going to be a mom in just 6 short months. :-)

Easter Decorations 2011

I just love decorating my house for all the different holidays. I started my Easter decorations collection last year and have added a couple things this year and plan to add more as I find it in the stores. I will update this post as I add to my decor. Here are some pictures of what I have so far.

For my kitchen table, I used my white and silver dishes that I use for most holidays because they match everything. The napkins, napkin rings and table runner are from Target this year. The bunny salt and pepper shakers are from Target last year.

The egg shaped jelly bean jar I got from target. It matches the bunny salt and pepper shakers. I got the set last year. The little chick candles were a gift from my MIL a few years back. 

The little carrot house is from Partylite. I bought it several years ago and love it so much.

I got this little egg shaped dish last year at Hallmark and use it as a spoon rest.

I got this super cute welcome sign this year from Michaels using a 50% off coupon!!! I have a 40% off coupon for there to use this week. I'm hoping to find something really cute to add to my Easter decor. 

Happy Easter!!!

Landon's 4th Birthday

My nephew Landon, turned 4 yesterday. This past Saturday was his party and the party was at our house! It turned out to be a beautiful day and the kids were able to play outside on our swingset. We had a great time!! Here are a few pictures from the day.

The party decorations.

Lots of Presents!!

Landon's Optimus Prime cake that his mommy made!! My sister makes some great cakes!

Landon's cousin Ruby, swinging. So cute!!

Another of Landon's cousins, Clair, swinging.

The birthday boy in his "Bumblebee" shirt!!

The dogs enjoyed spending the day outside with everyone!

Uncle Jake pushing Landon on the swing.

Landon with his cake!

Landon opening presents.

Then Sunday, since it was another beautiful day outside, my sister wanted to take Landon's 4 year old pictures. So we took him to an old historic home close to our church and she took his pictures there on the property. He was so funny because every once in a while he would ask his mom, was that one cute?? LOL.

After the pictures we took him to the park and to get ice cream!! :-) Here are a few of the pictures my sister took of him. They turned out so cute!

I think this one is my favorite!

I love this one too!

This picture makes him look so old. :-( But its super cute anyways.

Silly boy!!

So sweet!



12 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 12 weeks today.

Size of baby: The baby weighs about 1/2 an ounce, and is about 2 inches long (crown to rump)... about the size of a lime.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm not really sure, I haven't weighed recently.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet, but I really need to get some soon.

Gender: We should be able to find out in about 6 weeks. Sometime in mid May. I can't wait. :-)

Movement: Not yet, its still a little too early.

Food Cravings: None yet. Just whatever sounds good at the time.

What I miss: Sleeping through the night.

Sleep: Not sleeping very well. I have to get up at least once during the night to go to the bathroom and I don't seem to be sleeping very soundly. Still very tired in the afternoon and evening.

Symptoms: I'm still feeling nauseous off an on, but its mostly in the evening now and I do think it is getting much better. I feel very tired in the afternoon and evening. I am having to go to the bathroom a lot more these days.

Best Moment this week: Enjoying a beautiful weekend with friends and family and feeling pretty well for the most part.

What I am looking forward to: The second trimester, when everyone says I'll start to feel better. I'm also looking forward to my next Dr. Appt. on Apr. 12th (my 30th birthday), when we'll get to hear the heartbeat.