33 Weeks Pregnant!

Here's a picture of my every growing belly! I had an appointment last week and the doctor confirmed that he is head down and weighs between 4 and 4 1/2 pounds! Everything looks good! 7 more weeks to go! He wiggles around a lot (especially if there is music playing) and gets the hiccups daily!

Happy 30th Birthday Mary!

Saturday night we had a surprise 30th birthday party for one of my closest friends, Mary. About a month ago her husband, Sean asked me if I would help plan a surprise party for her. Of course! So, Sean had a babysitter lined up so he could take Mary out for her birthday date (dinner and a movie). The party was held at Mary's house and the plan was that during dinner, Sarah (the babysitter) would call and tell Mary that Charlie (Mary's daughter) had thrown up and was feverish. We all knew Mary would come home right away. They were eating at a restaurant close by so about 10 minutes later they were home to celebrate!

Here I am texting Mary and wishing her a

fun birthday date...while at her house setting

up for the party and waiting on guests!

Here is Mary's face when she came through the door and

had about 30-40 friends and family waiting for her!

Emmy (Mary's sister) Mary, Sean, Pam and Jim (Mary's parents) Emmy, Pam and Jim helped me get set up and I couldn't have done it all so quickly without them!

Carley, Jennie and Mary (32 weeks, 11 weeks and 31 weeks pregnant)

We are due 5 days apart!

Casey, Mary, Carley

At one point we were all prenant together but Casey

had her little boy in December.

Bonnie and Carley

Casey, Mary, Carley, Priscilla and Bonnie (Bonnie is Priscilla's daughter and is getting married in June) (Priscilla has been a very special woman to all of us! She brings such joy to my life and has always been full of encouragement!)

Jamie and Amy

Jason and Carley

Girlfriends!

We have all been through a lot together: laughter, tears, dating, engagements, weddings, pregnancies, babies, etc. What a special group of friends that I am blessed with!

Happy Birthday, my friend! Thank you for being such a wonderful friend! We have had some great memories together, many conversations over meals and shopping, funny laughs over ailments, many texts back and forth on updates from doctors appointments or other drama in our lives, finding good sales and making sure the other knows about it, fun double dates with our hubbys (who happen to be great friends), and lately going through pregnancy together! I am blessed by your friendship!

I'm glad you had a birthday so we had a reason to all get together!

Bedding for Baby Boy

As soon as Ellaine (a very good friend of ours) found out we were pregnant she told us that she really wanted to make the crib bedding and curtains for the baby's room. We were excited because Ellaine is extremely talented and has her own professional sewing business. She does amazing work! So, one Saturday in March Ellaine, Jason and I set out to pick the fabric for the room. His room will have a rustic, cabin-like theme. We all had in mind what we wanted and we finally found it after hours of looking. Ellaine is making it so he will be able to use it on his "big boy" someday as well. I love each piece of fabric but can't picture it all together. However, I trust Ellaine and know it will look amazing!

stripes, plaid and a print

brown gingham (and we found burlap to use as well)

All 5 fabrics together

A week to myself and My Sweet Hubs!

Jason left Sunday afternoon with a friend to go to California to visit another friend until Thursday. He's been looking forward to this trip for several weeks and I've had a list of projects to do and friends to see while he's gone. Yesterday I went to a movie and to the Cheesecake Factory with Mary and Jennie. A much needed girl afternoon for all of us. And today I went to Arlington to visit my friend Lindsay and meet her 2 month old son, Brady. I also got my hair cut and highlighted and my eyebrows waxed. It felt good to get pampered since I'm hitting the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy....and I am finally over a cold and short stomach bug! Now if only I could figure out this pain in my ribs....it's either a little foot, a pulled muscle or strained diaphram (according to the nurse I talked to over the phone). At least we ruled out gallstones! I can't complain, though, this pregnancy has been easy so far. A few aches and pains are bound to creep up at some point. Anyway, yesterday Jason mentioned that he needed to stop by the store on his way home from church, so I came home to make lunch for us before he left for the airport. When he walked in the door he had these flowers and a sweet card. I've loved having these flowers to look at this week while he's gone. He's always so sweet and thoughtful to do something like this before he leaves on a trip! Tomorrow is a work day and then going to get ice cream later in the evening with my friend April! She's 24 weeks pregnant with her 4th child so I'm sure we'll have some fun conversations. Jason sent a text earlier today that said he was in Hollywood! Don't worry, Mary, I told him to let us know if he sees any stars! Ha! :) Glad he's having fun....so am I, just close to home, where I'm most comfortable these days!

Hawaii - Final - Our 4th Anniversary

Finally, I'm finished adding Hawaii pictures! It was hard to pick my favorites out of 400! This was the night we went out to celebrate our 4th anniversary. We took these pictures with the camera timer so we'd have some together. We went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse! What a fun place to celebrate 4 years of marriage! I still can't get used to how chubby my cheeks have gotten during this pregnancy....and they aren't the only thing that's chubby! Fun times!

Hawaii - Part 6 - Whales!

On the last day of our trip we went on a whale watching tour. It was about a 3 hour boat ride and we saw probably 3o Humpback whales. It was really neat! We also got to see a mama and baby swimming together. We learned that the whales migrate to Hawaii during the winter months and go to Alaska during the summer months. Their blow is a double stream of spray that rises 10-13 feet above the surface of the water. The deeply-notched flukes (tail) are up to 12 feet wide.

This is the baby we saw. It breached over and over again.

Jason whale watching The spout is the first sign that there is a whale under the water. The fluke

Carley Whale Watching

Hawaii - Part 5 - Random

Jason enjoyed driving us around in this jeep!

We found a cozy corner to sit and read and watch the sunset over the ocean! And this is the sunset from our "favorite" spot!This is the view from the hallway outside our hotel room. Same hallway just looking down at the hotel resort. We loved the pool. It wrapped from the middle of the hotel around the side where the ocean is. They had these cabana lounge chairs that we sat in (you can see one to the left of the pool). We liked to sit on the side that faces the ocean and relax under the privacy of the cabana and read. Looking out at the ocean from the hallway outside our room. Being 7 months pregnant we learned where every restroom on the Island was! Another beautiful sunset!

My handsome hubby!

We thought this tree was strange and saw it several places around the Island.

The Pohakuloa Militarty Training Area is on the Big Island and

as we were driving by we saw about five of these military helicopter fly by.

Hawaii - Part 4 - National Parks

The Big Island has 3 National Parks! Jason loves National Parks so we had fun going to each one. He collects National Park maps so he got to add 3 to his collection. We couldn't do some of the hikes with me being pregnant but still got to see a lot.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (next 4 pics)

It was fun getting to see the lava rocks and other historical

markers as we walked around the other 2 National Parks!