Home Is Where the Heart Is

A Baby?!

2010-01-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!! Can you believe that the holiday's are over already?! However, now that they are over that only means one thing....Baby B's arrival any day now. I've been having lots of BH contractions and haven't been feeling 100% over the past 2 days. I'm hoping that's a good sign ; )

I'm 37 weeks and 2 days today. I'm headed back to the Doctor tomorrow and hoping (praying) that she'll say we are cooked. (If my belly button is any indication of being well done then I'd say it's time to take this little turkey out!)

The nursery is still a work in progress...It's CLOSE to being finished; however, it's not quite there. The picture below is the bedding set we chose for her room and I love it! I broke down and ordered the wall elephants and can't wait to hang them up tonight.

Our friends from dinner club are hosting a shower for us this weekend and we can't wait to see everyone. With the holidays things have been so busy.

Doctor's Appointment

2009-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

I've officially started my weekly visits to the Doctor. I had a heart-to-heart with Baby the other night and have let her know that whenever she's ready she can come out ;) Her room isn't quite ready, but we are getting there. I'll post pictures as soon as we get a little more done. It's really coming together though. I'll post more after my visit to the Doctor.

New Toy

2009-12-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

A few weeks back my hubby surprised me with a "Happy Everything" gift. I guess that's the benefit to celebrating an anniversary, Christmas & Birthday within a matter of about 1 month! Well, he surprised me with a monogramming machine!!! When it arrived I was in the middle of giving and grading finals for my students so I really haven't had a chance to play with it until Monday.

Monday morning I took a class at a local sewing shop and learned some of the in's and out's of using this cool new "toy." I still have so much to learn! But, I felt MUCH better once I'd left the class Monday morning. Today I tried my hand (with the help of my mom) at creating a personalized burp cloth. It's not perfect; however, I'm certainly not unhappy with it. I bought a big pack of "testers" and can't wait to try my hand at decorating them over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more (hopefully improved) burp cloths. : )

Errands...

2009-12-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

So, I think I'm the only gal who can be on maternity leave and actually have more on her "to-do" list than I did when I was working...ha!

The past several days I've been making my lists and checking them twice. I've been all over town getting things together for the holdidays, Baby B. and general home stuff that's been neglected over the past several weeks.

Oh, and the loads of laundry...I think the pile of clean, folded laundry easily came up to my knee. The basket of clean, folded clothes was so heavy I had to get hubs to move it for me! I totally should have taken a photo.

Today I've been on the hunt for a few functional, warm clothes to get me through this home stretch of "baby cooking." I ended up at Old Navy and actually did pretty well. I bought one of these....

and two of these (one in white/off white and the other in black)....

Really, it PAINS me to have to purchase preggo-clothing the last month of my pregnancy; however, none of my warm winter clothes even remotely cover this ever-growing baby bump of mine. So, all-in-all I'm tickled with my new purchases and can't wait to wear them!

Happy Holidays!!!!!

2009-12-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

So sorry it's been so very, very long....Here's a quick look back over the past couple of months...

FIRST.....

Way back in November, we had our 1st baby shower. It was so nice seeing all of our family and friends gathered together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby B. : ) Her nursery went from nearly empty to being stocked full of all kinds of wonderful goodies. I'll have to post some nursery pics.

NEXT.....

Over Thanksgiving we went to visit my grandparents. It's kind of strange to think that the next time we visit there will be an extra little bundle of joy with us. I can't wait to bring Baby B. back to visit them. (By the way, I'm holding my 31 week sign!)

THEN....

When we got home from our Thanksgiving adventure visiting my grandparents we decorated for Christmas! As you can tell, Emma loves her new spot! Originally, I was thinking we'd go easy on the decorations since I'm about to pop; however, I kept thinking that if I'm going to be home I want to at least have pretty decorations to enjoy! Soooo, up went the tree and many, many other Christmas decorations.

FINALLY....

This month we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. WOW, what a busy, wonderful year it's been!!! I cannot believe how quickly it's passed. I gave hubs his Christmas present a little early (a brand new grill), so we had steak, baked potato, spinich and chocolate fondue for our anniversary dinner. BOY, was I stuffed to the gills.
Well, we're pretty much caught up on what's happening here. I promise to be better about updating : )

Waterproof Labels

2009-09-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

I'm very new to this whole world of blogging so hang in there with me please :)

I came across this very cute blog: http://ohpicklesmommy.blogspot.com/

It's Caroline's 100th post and she's doing a giveaway for waterproof labels for sippie cups, bottles, etc. What a great idea!!! Being a soon-to-be new mom I love the idea of knowing that our baby's bottle actually belongs to her and not a friend.

Go on over to Caroline's page and check it out!!!!

25

2009-09-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

The rules:
Respond and re-work: Answer these questions on your blog. Replace one question you dislike with one of your own invention, and add another question of your own.

1. What's your favorite article of clothing? Right now, I loooove my stretchy yoga pants! Oh so comfy!

2. Who was the last person you hugged? My hubs :)

3. What's your favorite dinner?Probably breakfast! I love eggs, waffles, pancakes, etc....YUM-O!

4. What's the last thing you bought? Fabric for the wedding shower we are hosting.

5. How's your head feeling right now? Pretty good...Relaxing in the recliner and watching TV.

6. What's your favorite weather? Fall! Not too cold. Not too hot.

7. What is your least favorite season? Winter...The cold makes me grumpy!!!!!

8. What's in your purse? Oh geez. Good thing I just cleaned it out ;) My wallet, chapstick, tums, key and my camera (I bring it everywhere).

9. What is your favorite holiday? I love Halloween.

10. What is your favorite dessert? Vanilla Bean Ice Cream...YUUUUUUMMMMM

11. What did you want to become as a child? A teacher or a vet

12. What do you want to be now? a mommy : ) and a teacher

13. What is your favorite song? Peter Gabriel- In Your Eyes

14. What is your favorite country/state? The weather in Southern CA was awesome! I loved Ireland though and can't wait to go back with my hubs one day.

15. If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go? Australia

16. What are my most challenging goals right now? Paying off debt and saving for the future.

17. What is your five-year plan? To be teaching my college students and enjoying life with my hubs and sweet Caroline.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I really don't watch a ton of sports...Sorry to disappoint!

19. What show would you be a cast member of? Army Wives...HA! It's my guilty pleasure.

20. What is your most prized possession? My family and our pup

21. Name a favorite childhood memory. Spending the summer in MS

22. What is your favorite book? I really liked the Last Lecture.

23. What is your favorite quote? Depends...

24. What is your current desktop picture? A red flower.

25. What is your favorite pizza topping? I love it all but I try to opt for the healthy option- plain cheese or veggie.

Emma

2009-09-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, so much to post. First, I went to the Dr. on Friday and Baby is doing very, very well. The Dr. was pleased with my numbers and with how Baby is progressing. Yeah!!!! It's always so nice to hear good baby news. I go once more in 4 weeks then I start going every 2 weeks...Where has the time gone?!

I wanted to show you several pictures of our 1st baby, Emma. We rescued Emma last winter and knew nothing about her other than the fact that she was found roaming the streets and had delivered puppies.
Our girl is something else! She loves to be with people and is very, very smart. She's quirky though. I bought some decorative pumpkins for the house this weekend and she barked and barked at them. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I finally figured out that she's afraid of them. Ha!

It's SOOOO hot here in the summer we decided out girl needed a summer haircut. When hubs brought her home I almost didn't recognize her! Poor thing looked naked. But, she was so much cooler. It also helped with her shedding. I'm thinking about having her "haircut" again before Baby arrives.

Weekend Fun

2009-09-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a busy weekend here. Friday night hubs and I went to see Julia and Julia. We both really enjoyed the movie! We both left saying how we wanted to purchase a Julia Child cookbook. : ) I told hubs maybe I would totally quit working and take up cooking, just like Julia Child...ha! That went over really well.

Saturday night we started painting the baby's room! I think it looks really, really great! It's not quite finished yet (sigh!) We had a little trouble with the trim coming off when we removed the tape. Now we've gotta go back and do some touchup work.

Sunday night I pulled out the slow cooker (again) and made pulled pork. It came out really, really well. After dinner we watched another Amy Adams movie-Sunshine Cleaning. It too was very cute. I was a little disappointed in the ending though.

Today we went outlet shopping and found some CUTE clothes for baby. The stores were having a number of sales. I think the Carter's outlet was my favorite though. I wanted to buy the entire store!

Well, it's back to work tomorrow, boohoo! I love 4-day weekends.

Crock Pot Cookin'

2009-09-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've become very good friends with our crock pot. I've always loved the easy of the crock pot; however, now with my new job I REALLY love my crockpot!!! I wake up, throw the ingredients in the pot and I come home to a yummy dinner that is already cooked. This past week I made grillades and grits...a true southern dish. YUM-O!

There are a number of recipes I have found out there; however, I sort of modified them.

Ingredients:
1 McCormick Swiss Steak packet
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 large can of tomato paste
Approx. 1.5lbs eye of the round steak

I let the above ingredients cook in the crockpot on low for about 8 hours. About 15 minutes before we were ready to eat I made the grits.

It was soooo easy and oh so delish! Bon Appetit!

It's a......

2009-08-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well, we went to the doctor last week for our gender and anatomy ultrasound. Baby looks great and SHE is set to arrive in mid-January. Her due date was pushed up a little bit (we tend to grow 'um big in my family!) We can't wait to meet her.

I've had a feeling all along we were having a girl; however, I'd started to second guess myself over the past week or so. I guess mom really does know best ; )

Show Us Your Life- Favorite Vacation Spots

2009-08-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

So, having the summer off gives me plenty of time to travel. This summer I hit up the beach, played in New York, saw my best friend of over 10 years and her new baby, went to the Grand Old Opry in Tennessee, and travelled throughout the South visiting family.

I absolutely love to travel. In fact, I look forward to the day I can retire and travel the world! :)

I've posted just a few shots from my trip to NY this summer. Hubs and I have made this trip to NY an annual adventure and we look forward to it each year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I went to my first ever Yankees game. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun. Too bad they lost :(

Take a look at the name of the boat. Does it ring a bell?! It's Billy Joel's boat!

Here my sis and I are at South Street Seaport. We stopped here multiple times over the course of my visit. It was such a cool little area with lots of little restaurants and shops right on the water.

One afternoon we ventured out to the Bronx on the Subway. The zoo was huge! It amazes me that a zoo that size can be in the middle of NYC.

Now that summer is officially over my travelling is pretty much over for now. However, I'd love to head back up north to see leaves change and pick some apples. Can you believe I've never seen the leaves change?! I feel so deprived...Ha ha!

Hello!

2009-08-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I broke down and decided to start a blog. This summer I've become an active blog-reader and have been thinking about starting one for our family. We have friends and family spread all across the country and I thought this would be a fun way to keep everyone up-to-date with what's going on with us. I would eventually love to learn how to create a fun layout. However, I figured for the time being this will have to do. Does anyone have any tips on designing your own blog? I'm a little overwhelmed by it.

Hubs and I were married in December and we are expecting our first child this January. We can't wait to meet our little red bean.