Happy 4th Birthday Nathan!!!!

We got to celebrate Nathan's 4th birthday this weekend.  We had so much fun with him!  Nathan was full of energy this weekend!  He had his birthday party at the Frisco Fire Department.  I thought this was such a neat idea for a party!  The party was held in the back room.  After all of the kids arrived, two firemen did a presentation for the kids.  They were all such good listeners!  The firemen went over safety, put on the fire suit and then showed the kids the fire truck.  At one point one fireman was telling the kids that if there was ever an emergency you need to call 9-1-1.  He really put a lot of emphasis on what is a real emergency and what is not and went over and over calling 9-1-1 on the telephone.  Nathan raised his hand and said, "But I don't have a real phone, I just have a pretend phone."  It was soooo funny how he said it!  My mom got it on video so I hope Ash puts it on her blog.  Here are some highlights:

 Here's Nathan with his friends Jake and Suzy.

 The firemen doing their presentation.

Looking at the fire trucks.

 I thought this was neat.  These are the cubbies the firemen keep their equipment in.  Most of them had pictures of their families on the shelf above :)

This is Willow...isn't she a doll?

This is Haewon and her two boys.  She just had her second one a few months ago.  Doesn't he look all snug and sweet?  Oh, and I want that wrap :)

Group photo on the fire truck.  Do you see the fireman holding Charlotte?  So cute! 

Ready for pizza, drinks, and cake!

Nathan's Transformers cake :)

This is Alison holding Charlotte.

Then we went back to Nathan's house to open all of his presents he got from his friends.  He got a TON of cool presents!

Nathan is such a dog lover.  He adores Otis and Daisy.  Here he is rubbing Otis' paw.  Otis is in heaven!

Sweet Daisy.  She was such a good girl this trip...

except when she decided to sit on Charlotte's lap.

 Auntie Carrie and sweet baby Charlotte.

This is a shirt I got Nathan from Groopdealz.  He looked so cute!

That night my parents and Wayne's mom came over to have a birthday dinner.  Nathan then opened our gifts.  Mama and Papa gave him money and a set of Lincoln Logs.  Wayne's mom gave him money for the toy store, and Chris and I gave him a Leap Frog laptop.  He racked up this birthday!!



We had such a fun time celebrating!  Happy 4th birthday Nathan.  We love you!!!

Chris got me a new ring!!!

Isn't it beautiful?  I do wish the stones were a bit bigger, but it'll do.  Guess how much he paid for it.  Only $8.12!  That's right folks....this here ring is a gen-uine cubic zirconia purchased from the ever so fancy Claire's Boutique.  I wonder how long it'll take for the "platinum" to turn to rust.  Hmmm...  So, here's the deal.  I have not been able to wear my wedding rings for the past couple of weeks because my fingers are swollen due to the extreme Texas heat and, oh yeah, pregnancy.  I just felt so weird not having my rings on.  For one, I'm so proud to actually have those rings because of what they mean.  But also, I hate thinking that someone might see me with a slight baby bump and no wedding rings and get the wrong idea.  I know it shouldn't bother me, but it did.  So, this was my solution.  Now, I need to be on the lookout for some sort of band....I still feel a little weird just being "engaged." :) 

15 Year High School Reunion!

This past weekend, we had our 15 year high school reunion.  Ashley and I drove down to El Dorado on Friday and stayed with our friend, Adriana.  Since our parents don't live in El Dorado anymore, we had not been back in a while.  It was so fun seeing the town again.  It seemed pretty much the same and it was fun reminiscing about the good 'ole days! 

Having fun taking silly pictures on the way to El Dorado :)

We made it!  We were surprised to see the population had gone down since we left in '96.  It used to be around 25, 000.

Here's our old house.  It still looked so nice!  Ashley and I were so tempted to ring the doorbell and ask if we could look around inside.  I can picture every square inch of the inside.   

Beautiful Ashley :) 

Ashley, Adriana, and me getting ready to leave for the main event of the reunion. 

 Having fun with some of our high school friends (Adriana, Allison, Laura, Ash, Noelle and baby Collin, Me)

Noelle's baby was so sweet because he kept sucking his thumb.  I love it when babies suck their thumbs!!!  He was so much fun to hold!

Adriana, Allison, Ashley

Adriana, Allison, Carrie :)

 Group photo.  This is not everyone in our class.  Since it was a 15 year reunion, the crowd was a bit smaller, but still so much fun!!

"Remember when we went to that party and you..."  Ha!

Dancing all night long!  I did not partake, but it was fun watching everyone else!  The songs were all from our high school days.

34/15

Yesterday I turned 34 years old and 15 weeks pregnant :) We were in El Dorado, AR for our 15 year high school reunion, so it was fun being with Ashley as well as a lot of our high school friends on our birthday.  I will do a separate post on the reunion. Our friend Adriana and her mom got us a birthday cake which was such a nice surprise. Adriana's little girl is adorable and wanted to be in the picture with us :) Adriana also took us out to lunch on the square, too.

Pregnancy Highlights

This is what I wore to the main event of our reunion.  My mom got me this outfit and I love it! 



 

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: 4 inches, 2 1/2 oz, and about the size of an orange

Weight gain: Hmmm...after this weekend....I'm sure I gained something!

Maternity Clothes: Yes! I definitely have to wear maternity pants and I have been wearing maternity shirts, but I can also wear some non-maternity shirts, too.

Gender: Don't know yet. I'm guessing boy, though.

Movement: Not yet

Sleep: I have to get up several times to go to the bathroom, but I can always go back to sleep.

Symptoms: I've noticed that my feet have started to swell at times.  I'm sure it has to do with the extreme heat we've been having, but I'm still going to ask my doctor about this.  It seems a little early to have swollen feet.  If I prop my feet up, the swelling goes down.  Little worried about when school starts! 

What I miss: Not a thing! 

Best Moment this week: Going to an event where I actually look pregnant!
What I am looking forward to: I just really can't wait to feel those first movements of the baby and to find out what we're having!

14 weeks, 5 days

Pregnancy Highlights

How Far Along: 14 weeks, 5 days

Size of baby: 4 inches, 2 1/2 oz

Weight gain: Still about 5 pounds so far.
Maternity Clothes: Yes! I definitely have to wear maternity pants and I have been wearing maternity shirts, but I can also wear some non-maternity shirts, too.

Gender: Don't know yet. I'm guessing boy, though.

Movement: Not yet

Sleep: I have to get up several times to go to the bathroom, but I can always go back to sleep.

Symptoms: What I find really amazing is that I have none of my Crohn's Disease symptoms.  I am so thankful for this because before I got pregnant I always worried that my body would not be able to properly nourish a baby.  I love being able to eat a meal and not be in the bathroom 5 minutes later.  That may be TMI, but think about this.... If this was the case for you for YEARS, wouldn't you be pretty excited, too?  I actually ENJOY food now.  I honestly don't remember the last time I have felt this good.  It's just amazing how the body works...it's like my body knows that I have to keep nutrients in to nourish my baby.  AMAZING.    

What I miss: I have been trying to eat really healthy. It's been a little bit of a struggle keeping away from junk and really paying attention to what I eat :)

Best Moment this week: Entering the 2nd trimester!
 What I am looking forward to: I just really can't wait to find out what we're having!



Hello 2nd Trimester and dreaming about the nursery...

I have officially entered the 2nd trimester. I can't believe it!! Today was our 2nd OB appointment. Chris went with me so he could meet my doctor. It was very quick and easy. The main thing is that we got to listen to our baby's heartbeat again. I will never get tired of hearing that sweet sound :) My blood test results came back and they were all within normal range, so I just do another blood test in 2 weeks and hopefully that will rule out most of the common birth defects. Lots of people have asked if we plan to find out the sex of our baby or have it be a surprise. The answer is YES, we do want to find out! Getting a positive pregnancy test is surprise enough for me! That appt. will be at 20 weeks....can't wait! Now onto the nursery. Below are pictures of my 3 most favorite cribs:




They are from JC Penney. I had no idea JC Penney carried baby furniture. I have been fantasizing about our baby's nursery for years, and now I really get to start planning it! I love these cribs because they all got great reviews and are really good quality. I have looked online at lots of other places, but these are my favorites! At Penney's, you can purchase the room "package" which comes with the crib, changing table, and dresser at a bit of a discounted price. I love all of the furniture pieces each crib comes with. My favorite crib is the first one because I love that you can see a bit of the dust ruffle at the bottom :) I think we would go with the dark brown color in whichever crib we choose. Oh, and they're all convertible cribs which will give it YEARS of use. We're not ready to purchase anything yet, but a mommy-to-be can dream can't she?

Blog Makeover!

I want to thank my friend, Casey for making my blog look FABULOUS!!!  I told her, "Just make it look cute."  This is what she did!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!  Now Ashley wants a new look to her blog, of course :)  Thank you, Casey!!!