6/28/11

Madison's Baby Shower

Thank goodness Maddie allowed us to have her baby shower over the weekend, and did not make her debut.  I wanted to go with a shabby chic theme, and Ashley wanted something simple since it is her second child.  I think we achieved just that with a small brunch Saturday morning.  I love brunch and it was really nice getting the shower done early in the day, but we had to work hard Friday night and get up early Saturday morning.  I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked, but when you are hosting it takes the back burner. 
I used milk glass for the decor, and I found the cute 
                                            birdcage at Hobby Lobby and added the moss and
                                             flowers myself.


I used the my china that was handed down
to me from my mother in law to serve the food,
and the tea cups were perfect for
the fruit salad with vanilla yogurt..  I made the
food labels with card stock and scrap booking paper




The food spread and beverage table


My sister has been craving cake pops from the Almond Tree,
and after tasting them I know why.
As a gift for everyone (or to have as dessert at the shower)
my mom and I made homemade peach pies in a jar.  I made the cute
little tags and I think they turned out great if I do say
so myself :)
Here is the beautiful mom-to-be
Here we are together, it has been so special
experiencing being pregnant together, and
she has provided so much advice and support.


She is still hanging in there, and we are expecting Maddie any day now.  She has been having contractions every 10 minutes since last night, so she is just waiting for them to be 5-7, and we are heading to the hospital.  I will keep you all posted!

6/27/11

29 Weeks

I am 29 weeks pregnant with Hudson today, and boy does it seem like time is flying by.  The other day I was thinking back to when I told everyone I was pregnant, and it seems like it was so long ago, yet this pregnancy has flown by.  If my pregnancy is anything like my sisters the last month will seem like forever, so I am just trying to soak it all in and enjoy every moment of it.  I have a pretty bad memory so I am thankful that I have done a pretty good job of documenting this pregnancy. 

Total Weight Gain: I go to the Dr on Wednesday so I will know for sure, but I feel like I have gained this week.  I did not do very well on my "diet" this weekend, and it has been rainy so I have not been able to swim and get my exercising done.


Sleep: It is so funny reading my posts from week to week and seeing how much things can change.  The problems I was having when I posted last week have passed, because I have been sleeping really well.  I have never been one to sleep a whole lot and I cannot nap, and I have found myself dosing off and napping more, which is nice.  I am still waking up on my back, I have tried using pillows and everything, but I just naturally turn to my back as soon as I fall asleep I guess.

Food Eating: I am still having random bouts of nausea, but they are less frequent and do not last as long.  I feel like every week I eat less and less, I get full so easily and if I overeat I get so sick.


Movement: As I said before so much can change in a week.....I can see him very visibly moving by looking at my belly now.  Sometimes I feel like he is trying to punch through my belly, and other times you can see my whole stomach moving.  When I could feel him move before I thought it was so sweet but now that it is so distinct and i can almost tell what he is doing, it makes my heart melt, and I could watch it all day.

What I Miss: My parents always have a big get together for the fourth of July and I know I am going to miss drinking a cold beer by the pool this weekend.  I have missed it some this summer, but I know with everyone being together and drinking this weekend I will be missing it, but not too much because I would not trade being pregnant for anything.

What I am looking forward to: We are going to the Gatlinburg for a few days in the mountains this weekend with Luke's family and I am really looking forward to it.  We have never been on a family vacation with his family, and I know this will be a tradition that lasts once Hudson gets here.  I am hoping to just relax and enjoy the fresh air and scenery of the smokies.......and a little shopping of course :)


Best Moment of the Week: getting too see our little guy move around.  It is such a special experience, and I am loving every moment of it.  Sometimes I wish that Luke could feel it too, because he will ask what its like and I just cannot describe such an incredible feeling.

Here we are this week......


6/23/11

Anniversary Weekend

We celebrated our anniversary last weekend, and it was just what I needed.  I feel like for some time now we have spent so much time traveling for weddings and attending them that we have not done anything for ourselves, so this was a long overdue date night.  We debated on going on a trip, but I wanted nothing more than to stay home and have a weekend of doing nothing but enjoying ourselves.  Luke told me a while back that he had the anniversary plans taken care of and for me to not ask any questions......fine by me!  He told me on Friday that I had an appointment Saturday at 1 for a mani/pedi and prenatal massage.  That was just what this tired body and swollen feet needed, I walked out of the spa feeling so relaxed and ready for my next surprise.  He told me we had dinner reservations at 6:30 at Kayne Prime, and I was so excited, because I had heard about Kayne a few months back and have been dying to try it.  Before we went to dinner he wanted to give me my gift, and this is what I opened (looking at this picture I can really tell how swollen my hands are)


I saw these Pandora stack able rings when I went to pick a charm up for my mom for mothers day, and fell in love with them.  I decided to add them to my wish list, and there are actually four that I picked out, and he got me two of them.  They are the perfect everyday rings, and will go with anything.  I actually jumped the gun on Luke's gift and gave it to him early.  Luke had a dinosaur phone that would turn off all the time and he didn't get half of his calls.  He has never had anything other than a basic phone, so I got him a new EVO phone.  He absolutely loved it, and has not stopped playing with it since.

After opening gifts we headed to dinner, and I am not going to lie I was a little worried, because a lot of the reviews I read about Kayne were not that great, but I still wanted to try it out.  I have no clue what those people were talking about because we loved it, I will say you have to have a love for food and know good food to be able to appreciate it.  When we pulled in the valet line and Reba McEntire pulled up right behind us I knew the place must be good.  Living in Nashville pretty much my whole life I have seen quite a few country music singers out and about, and let me tell you I have never been as star struck as I was seeing Reba.  We were standing right next to each other waiting for our husbands to talk to the valet guys, and I could not get a word out (not sure what I would have said, but it did not matter because my mouth could not form words).  I had my camera on my shoulder, and did think about asking for a picture, but one of the reasons celebs have said to love Nashville is because people do not bother them, so I did not want to be that girl when she was just out having dinner with her family.  We walked into Kayne and I immediately loved the feel and decor of the place, the whole front part is an open air bar which was really cool.  It had very masculine features of a steakhouse with hardwood floors and a butcher block wall, yet dainty more girlish features with chandeliers.  We were sat immediately and first up we had the Duck Nachos, which were so good I didn't even snap a picture when they first came to the table.


For our main course we shared a 24 oz, yep you read that right bone in dry aged rib eye.  We decided to share because we knew it was the best steak and I get full so easily know I knew it would be plenty.  Let me tell you this steak did not disappoint, it was seasoned perfectly and cooked to perfection.  What I loved was it was not overpowered with seasoning, you could just taste the quality of beef.  We had it topped off with the bone marrow butter.  This was the only steak we tried so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Kayne.  The only thing that would have made it better was a big glass of red wine :).  For our sides we had potatoes Au gratin and the cream corn brulee.  The potatoes were great, but the corn was the star of the show it was by far the best side dish I have ever put in my mouth, and if you go to Kayne it is a MUST.  Here are a few pictures I took before I dove into my meal.


A lot of the reviews said the service was not good, but we did not experience that at all.  It could be because we were sitting close to Reba, so we had the same server, and I would say they had their best server taking care of her.  Overall we had a wonderful experience at Kayne, and cannot wait to go back.

After dinner we were so stuffed we could not move, so we just went back to our hotel room to relax.  Luke even remembered to bring our wedding cake earlier in the day so we could have it after dinner.  I was so shocked that after a year in the freezer it still tasted great!  Here it is a year later, you can tell the heat got to it a little bit......





I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who knows me so well, and knew just what I needed for our anniversary weekend.  Speak of I hope everyone has a great weekend, I am throwing my sisters baby shower so I will have a full recap next week :)

6/20/11

28 Weeks

HELLO THIRD TRIMESTER........I hope you are as good to me as the second trimester was.

Total Weight Gain: My hard work paid off, because I did not gain any weight when I went to the Dr. last Wednesday.  I have still been working hard to keep from gaining too much weight, so hopefully it will be the same at my next appointment.

Sleep: I have not been sleeping well at all lately, and I really don't have an explanation for it.  I am not to the point that I cannot get comfortable or in any pain, but I just wake up every hour it seems like and it takes me a while to go back to sleep.  I always thought that people said not being able to sleep was to prepare you for a baby was just a wives tell and it was because you are uncomfortable and too big in the end, but I was reading in my baby book that your body does prepare for lack of sleep when the baby comes so maybe that is what I have going on.  Even though I do not sleep great I don't wake up feeling super tired or anything so I am not really complaining, because I know the days of feeling good are numbered.

Food Eating: I have not been feeling well at all the past few days, Saturday was super busy and i didn't have time for lunch, and we were going out to a really nice dinner for our anniversary that night (more on that later) so I did not want to eat a late lunch and be full.  On our way to dinner I was feeling just awful, and I assumed it was due to not eating.  I ordered a sprite at dinner which helped, and after dinner I thought everything was OK.  Well I woke up several times that night not feeling well and it has not gone away since.  I was telling my mom I can't really put my finger on it because I don't have a whole lot of symptoms.  I feel like I did in my first trimester, just nauseous and on the verge of puking.  I am hoping it is just a bug and will pass soon.

Movement: More and more everyday!  I have not been able to see him moving by just looking at my belly, but I can definitely feel it, and so can anyone else.

What I miss: I am not missing anything this week, and loving every minute of this special time.

What I am looking forward to: This really doesn't have anything to do with Hudson, but something i am really excited about, and that is my sister having her baby!  She is scheduled to have a C-section July 8th, but she has definitely progressing toward labor.  She passed her mucus plug a few weeks ago, and has been having some pretty good contractions lately, but she is still only dilated to a 1.  We actually had to spend a few hours at the hospital Friday night because her blood pressure got really high, and she needed to be monitored.  They told her to stay on bed rest and she goes back Thursday to see if she has progressed anymore.  I will definitely keep you all updated on how she is doing....I am hoping Maddie stays put until after this weekend because I am giving Ashley's baby shower, and would like for her to be there :).

Best Moment of the Week: We FINALLY got started on the process of our nursery.  I say process because we have to clean out our office and get it painted before we can actually start on Hudson's room.  We have the office ready to be painted, and I cleaned out the guest bedroom closet.  So hopefully we will be really getting started on the nursery in the next week.  I just feel better knowing we have done something to get ready for our little man.

Here we are this week, after looking at this I need to tell Luke to zoom a little closer next time.

6/17/11

Monogram Mania

I have always loved anything and everything monogrammed, and that love has grown deeper since I have been pregnant.  When I found out I was having a boy I didn't think I would spend too much of my life savings on monogrammed things, because I didn't think there was too much out there for boys.  That was until I started looked around and realized I was in trouble.  I actually have not purchased anything yet, I have just scoured the internet for anything I can find.  Hudson received his first monogrammed gift from my friend Cami over the weekend, and not only are they adorable, but practical as well.


Thanks so much for the gift Cami!


6/14/11

27 Weeks....

It's kind of funny that I am following my one year anniversary post up with a preggo post.  I am just happy that I am finally posting on time this week.  I am 27 weeks pregnant with Hudson today, and feeling it.  I had anticipated a relaxing weekend, and it was for the most part but I am feeling extra tired today.  Our anniversary was yesterday, and even though we are technically celebrating this weekend coming up, because we had a wedding on Saturday we did get out for a little fun last night.  Luke's mom bought us along with his sister, her husband, and his brother tickets to CMA fest last night.  The last night of CMA fest always has a great lineup and this year it did not disappoint we saw The Band Perry, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift.  That is not completely correct because we left before Taylor Swift performed because after walking to the very top of LP field, sitting in stadium seats, and getting up to use the bathroom three times I could not make it until the very end.  Even though we left early we did not make it home until midnight, so I am one tired mama today.  That seems to be a theme for me lately, so I am beginning to think the honeymoon of the second trimester is coming to an end.  So here is what we have going on this week:

Total Weight Gain: My wonderful husband has been getting up with me at 5:30 every morning to go walk (which may also be contributing to the tiredness) since I can never find the motivation by the time the afternoon rolls around.  I am crossing my fingers that when I go to the Dr. on Wednesday I have maintained my 23 lb weight gain.  I went to my parents and exercised in the pool twice over the weekend, and I am hoping that will help out too.  I have also done pretty well at fighting the urge to eat frozen yogurt every time the urge hits me, which is pretty much every day.

Sleep: I am used to the usual waking up to go to the bathroom, and fighting to get comfortable, so no complaints here.

Food Eating: As I mentioned before I have been craving yogurt lately and I have been eating a lot of fruit.  I have noticed something different lately, and that is I get full really fast.  It does not take much to fill me up at all, and if I overeat I am so miserable I cannot move, so I try to listen to my body and not let that happen.

Movement: Busy little bee.

Gender: Boy.  Since it is obvious now that I am having a boy this will probably be the last week I have the gender category.

What I Miss: This week I am really missing my motivation.  We still have not started on the nursery (sad I know) but I just cannot get motivated to do it.  We are having to do some rearranging and serious cleaning, and every time I think about or try to get started on it I get so overwhelmed that I just never get started.  If we just had an empty room it would be much easier, but we are losing a closet and office so I just need to figure out where all of the stuff is going to go.  Luke has been working on a side job that has taken him several weeks, so he works until 8 or 9 every night.  I think that is part of the problem, because its such a huge task and the thought of taking it on myself gives me anxiety.  We are hoping to at least get started organizing and cleaning this week so he can paint this weekend, but I am not making myself any promises because I feel like we have been saying it for weeks now.  I do know that I want to get it done ASAP while I am still feeling good, and can get around really well.

Best Moment of the Week: starting to exercise and feel better.

What I am looking Forward to:I go to the Dr on Tuesday to have my glucose test done, and I am hoping to cross one more thing to worry about off my list.

Here I am with my friend Megan at a wedding we went to over the weekend.

6/13/11

One Year Ago....

I was surrounded by my best friends and family as I
prepared for the best day of my life thus far...






I arrived at Cedarwood to find my dream wedding had come to life




There was not a detail left unnoticed.....


The most important detail of my wedding (the flowers) took my breath away...

The cake was everything I had imagined and the perfect tribute to my sorority sisters.


I shared moments with Luke I will cherish forever seeing
him for the first time





We tried to avoid having heat strokes taking pictures

Waited and waited for what seemed like forever...
and finally prepared to walk down the isle to
the man of my dreams....
took a few deep breaths, and here goes nothing...



We said our vows....
Became husband and wife....


 and are living our happily ever after.

It seems hard to believe that we were married a year ago, sometimes it seems like yesterday, and others it seems like we have been married forever.  One thing is certain, I am a better person and more in love than I was a year ago.  I also would have never thought a year from that day we would be preparing to welcome our first child into this world.  I don't know what I ever did to deserve my husband, but I am so blessed and thank God for bringing him to me. I am so excited to start this next chapter in our lives together, and see what the future has in store for us.
 



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