Fly Fly Away

May 2010

I have been looking forward to going back to the Hot Air Balloon festival all year since we went last year. I have been checking their website frequently to find out what weekend it would be exactly, when all of the sudden I looked today and it says 2012!!!! What happened to 2011?!? I am so sad!!!!!

I need a hot air balloon festival to go to now.... any suggestions?

Easter & spiders....

Today has been a great day! Amazing God, great service, great weather.

We went to our typical 9 am service and Ben's mom joined us, then went out to lunch for mexican. I tried to clean the house some (I'm working on doing a few things a day instead of tackling the whole house lately) and went for a walk to enjoy this gorgeous day we've been given.

Grossest moments of my day: Finding the biggest spiders I've EVER seen in real life in/around my house. Seriously. Ben has been working on our yard and sprayed a new bug spray in the yard to keep fleas and ticks out for our doggies and apparently spiders hate it. I came back from my walk and saw one that was 3 inches wide with a body that was all different colors and looked like it would have babies if you stepped on it.... gag. I would have taken a picture for you except I was more worried about it eating Logan.

Anyways, still trying to get over that.

Now that Easter is here, I've been reflecting on how we did these past 40 days for lent in our goal to be less like ourselves and more like Jesus. We did manage to keep our lives iPhone game free, which was great, but we totally slacked on adding daily scripture like we had planned. Today though when I was sitting on the couch, I picked up my iPhone and thought, "Oh yeah, I can download my junk again, " and really had no desire to at all, I thought about what a waste it is/was. So I'm going to continue to work on avoiding wasting time and still work on adding daily scripture with Ben and soon to be child. We also have a new Sunday School coming up at church about having a sacred marriage and I am thinking that we will try that. We have never been active members of a Sunday School because we have been teaching it instead, but I'd really like to be part of one too. (And we will be taking time off from teaching once the baby comes).

I am so thankful for our Lord and Savior on this day and every day. I pray that the Lord will bless you and your family today and each day. Happy Easter!!

The Nursery - Before

Now that we are in the middle stages of the nursery, I thought I'd share some before and mid- pictures so you know what we've had to work with and the new wonderful paint color! (Thanks to my dad for coming and painting in just a few hours).

This was actually after we had cleared A LOT of stuff!
Before:


Yes, that was the first crib we bought. Ben decided he needed something MUCH sturdier so we sold it. For a $10 profit :)

Mid - we had moved out a lot of junk!! (into my mom's attic)

Original color: Bunny Gray

Current - An empty room! Looking much better!


New Color: Ashley Gray!!


More pictures to come, hopefully we will get furniture soon and be able to put pictures back up. I've moved the two shelves back in, but it won't look complete without a crib and dresser. I can't wait!!

New Orleans

We made it safely to New Orleans and back!!

It was a great time (it would be fantastic if it didn't smell so bad the whole time!!). We arrived Thursday night where we tried to eat dinner at Acme Oyster House and found the longest line out the door that discouraged us.



So we went to Deanie's Seafood and it was WONDERFUL! I had stuffed crab shells (of which I'd never had before, yes... branching out!) and they were delicious. Ben of course ate enough crawfish this weekend for an army, but he loved it.

Friday we made it to Mother's Restaurant for breakfast (thanks to Melissa)


and then walked down to the Riverwalk and to Southern Candy Makers, where I only had one piece of candy! Even though I wanted 12 pounds of fudge, pralines and these little chocolate, caramel things they made. Yum!


Friday night was drinks and deserts with the family and bride and groom, and then up to the balcony to people watch (and throw beads to those who looked deserving and kept their clothes on! - yes, there were a lot of people who wanted beads and wanted to keep their clothes on as well.... and they got beads! From me :)


Saturday we walked down to Jackson's square. We ate at The Corner Bar and Grill and had the worst service and food EVER. Apparently I should have read Urban Spoon before we entered... don't ever eat there.

But it was made up for by stopping by Cafe DuMonde and enjoying a few beignets :) Look at the line for take-out beignets!!!

We were able to walk right in and sit down... which made me think those people above were just insane.

While in Jackson's square we swore we saw a dead person on a street bench, but the fact that the police officer next to him wasn't in much of a panic, we assumed he must just be 'sleeping'.

Then we discovered Royal Street which was just as much fun as Bourbon Street, only it smelled MUCH better and wasn't as trashy! I wish we had known and we would have spent much more time there.

The wedding was great!! We were picked up at the hotel and dropped back off afterwards which was wonderful. The weather could not have been more perfect for the night. It was in the bride's family's home, outside in their backyard.

Grandma and cousin Annie had way too much fun on the dance floor!

This little Lilly was in the wedding too! She was carried by the maid of honor... too cute!

Overall, it was a great trip. New Orleans wasn't as great as Chattanooga, but it was a lot of fun to be down there with family.

The Little Logan

This is the site I found when I went to bed last night... Logan occasionally tries to steal pillows in the middle of the night by rooting around your head (usually to get quickly thrown to the floor) so the last thing I need is her staking claim to my maternity pillow! But you can't help but love her.

27 weeks

This update is a little late, but it was delayed due to my trip to New Orleans this weekend so bare with me.

Last Tuesday I had my 27 week appointment. I passed my sugar test with flying colors (even though I ate a piece of toast with peanut butter on it that morning.... apparently I was supposed to fast unless I thought I'd be sick...then I could have had plain toast....oops!) and passed my iron test this time (failed last time). Little baby's heartbeat was in the 140s and I've gained 20lbs so far (according to my doctor). According to my scale I've gained 24.... my doctor said that was good (20lbs), but now that I am in the 3rd trimester, my weight can slow down. 0-1lb a week.

Well, I'm in with that, because I'm super paranoid about gaining bookoos of weight. I just know how hard it has been in the past to lose weight so I don't want to gain unnecessary weight, although that desire and my ability to say no to sweets have not been in sync very well. Come back willpower!!!

I feel the baby ALL. THE. TIME. and love it. He wiggles and kicks/hits constantly and has had hiccups many times. Ben has felt him a good bit now, even felt his hiccups, which is cute. He isn't as frustrated now that he can feel him pretty easily.

My belly button is nearly nothing. I don't know if all belly buttons pop out first or just become flat, but mine looks like a tiny line right now, so we'll see what comes next.

And, no stretch marks so far!! I've got a bit to go, but I'm glad to be stretch mark free currently.

So, as of last Thursday we had 3 months left. It sounds like forever to me and way too short for Ben :) I'm pretty sure that is typical. I'm just ready to meet the little guy. I of course want him to stay in as long as possible, but I am excited.

Here is a picture from New Orleans: 27 weeks and 2 days.