Baby Shower

On August 10th, two of my very good friends, Lindsay and Alisa, threw a baby shower for me (and Eisley!). It was just AWESOME! I had my closest friends and my momma around to celebrate the newest member of our family coming in just about 7 1/2 more weeks!

To say I'm blessed is an understatement. Each and every one of the people who attended my shower already love Eisley and can't wait to meet her, watch her grow, and help Chad and I along the path of this new adventure called parenthood. I missed my friend Jen and wished she could be there, but she was put on best rest awaiting her little precious daughter, Kate! Mandy made sure to make Jen a special plate of all the good food and take it to her afterward! :-)

The shower was set up in stations, which is totally a 'teacher thing' to do and I loved it!!
There was:
1. a food station which included all the food from cravings I've had during my pregnancy. Banana peppers, wedge salads, cheese-its, and spaghetti O's were just a few. Yep, you read that right, Spaghetti O's.
2. a photo station where people took fun photos with cute baby props.
3. a place to sign a cute photo frame for Eisley's room.
4. a headband making station. Holy cow, do I have some creative friends!! I have some of the cutest headbands for Eisley! Chad will have to rescue Eisley from our dress-up session when she first gets home! ;-)
5. a diaper message station where everyone was able to write fun messages to us on Eisley's diapers for middle-of-the-night changes. Most of them were addressed to Chad...little notes for Chad  when he'll get up to change her at 2 or 3am....haha! ;-)

I received some awesome gifts for Eisley and her room and can't wait to put them to use! What a great day with friends and my mom! Lindsay and Alisa did a wonderful job of planning this special day for me. There aren't enough ways to say thank you for the perfect day celebrating our little girl!

 This cake was DELICIOUS!!! It was a marble cake with raspberry filling. Lindsay, this cake was...perfect!!

 Love this picture!

 I loved this handmade sign! We will be using it for our maternity pictures!

 Love Auntie Alisa and Auntie Michele so much!! Eisley is one lucky girl!

 Yep, the belly is huge...and still growing!

How can this picture be any cuter?! Can't wait to introduce Eisley to all her teacher Aunties!

Illinois is in the House!

It's baby shower weekend this weekend and my best friend, Michele, from Chicago, came in to visit and to get her party on for baby Eisley!

We have been friends since 7th grade and every time we get together the miles that separate us disappear; it's as if no time has passed since the last time we've hung out! What a blessing to have a friendship like Michele and I have!!

We hung out around the house and talked about...everything!, Michele became a small dog lover (she fell in love with Wrigley dog), we went to Jungle Jims (and had WAY TOO MUCH FUN with the fun mirror), and ate ice cream!

What a great mini-weekend!

Michele and Wrigley = Best Friends!

The Big 3-0!

It's been just over a month since my last post...WOW! Time flies in the summer when you are getting ready for a baby and...just being lazy with your husband and enjoying the summer off!

I turned the big 3-0 this summer and, honestly, it wasn't too bad! Chad made the flip from my 20s to my 30s quite fun! :-)

He planned a night out with my greatest friends. We all met at my favorite pottery painting place, Color Me Mine, and had pizza, fun drinks, and DELICIOUS cupcakes from a local cupcake place called Heavenly Frosted. We all choose a pottery piece and painted the rest of the night. We actually closed the place down making the super friendly workers stay after hours for our group. What a fun way to welcome 30!

Trip to Illinois

We had the opportunity to visit our parents places for a little over a week in Illinois. First, we visited Chad's family. They live in a little town in southern Illinois. We relaxed, did a little shopping in the small boutiques in town, and had a big family dinner with Chad's sisters and his nieces and nephews. As always, we ate delicious homemade food made by his momma! Chad got his fix of fried bologna sandwiches! 

Next, we headed up to my parents house. Luckily, my bro was able to drive up and visit at the same time! We grilled out, spend a LOT of time in the pool, and  took a day trip. We went to Michigan for a day to my mom's friend's winery. I didn't get to taste test (womp womp) any wine, but I bought some DELISH sparkling juice! We went into downtown St. Joes, MI and walked the beach, the pier, and ate amazing homemade ice cream! We also got to spend time with my "uncle" Jack and his wife Monika! We went to dinner in New Buffalo with them to a place called the Salty Dog. YUM!! 

We had a wonderful time....and then...bad news! Our renter called and we found out the A/C died at our rental property. Needless to say, we had to spend our last day searching for a new A/C and furnace for the house and someone to install it for...wait for it...$3,000!!!! We knew this day would come, but it couldn't have come at a worse time!! As you could have guessed, I cried! Although, in keeping a positive perspective...it could have been worse! God is good and we are blessed to be able to invest in our rental house!! 

Road trip snacks...(m & m's were already eaten!!) haha! 

You need to try these pretzels!!! Chad's mom gave me her recipe and I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!! P.S. You are welcome. 

Wrigley loves going on trips!! 

Homemade Lemon Sorbetto! 

Chad said he wasn't going to eat M & Ms  on the way home. Lies! Haha! 

Sneak Peek of Nursery Decor

Wooden Letters (JoAnn Fabrics w/ coupon $2.00/each) + super cute fabric (Hobby Lobby fabric sale $4.79) +Mod Podge ($5) = awesomeness for Eisley's room for only $21.79!! 

P.S. ignore the messy floor! I like to say it's all part of the creative process...;-)

25 weeks

Here's a belly pic at 25 weeks! 

Eisley is growing right on schedule and is constantly moving. We have only one more monthly appointment before we start seeing the doctor every two weeks! (Ahhhh!! Where is the time going?!)

 I'm currently trying to talk Chad into a 3D ultrasound! Help me out! 

Gatlinburg

Chad surprised me with a birthday trip to Gatlinburg this year for my 30th. What a great time we had. We got a small cabin (in the middle of nowhere) and had a great time around the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge area. 

We decided to go to Ripley's Believe It or not Aquarium; we are so glad we did! What an awesome place! I just love aquariums and that place definitely made it to the top of my favorites list! 

If you know Chad, you know that we FOR SURE stopped to get a Philly Cheese Steak on the GBurg strip. That sandwich followed by a soft-serve swirl

Ice cream cone was my favorite!! 

We also stopped by all the little shops and outlet malls and spent way too much money on our little Eisley girl! 

What a great trip with great "just the two of us" memories! :-) 

Chad being impaled by an inflatable unicorn. Yep, they sell those (and anything else you can imagine) in GBurg! 

Ripley's Aquarium!