Baby Shower Time

Wow!  We have been so blessed.  I never imagined that 1, a baby needs all of this stuff, and 2, that we would be shown so much love, generosity, and support during this time.  To be honest I was sort of hesitant about the baby showers because I always feel so awkward and embarrassed at them, but I really enjoyed being able to see everyone and have everyone meet each other.  Each shower was a great memory that I will share with baby Necessary and show pictures of the wonderful people that helped us start our family together.

The first shower was Saturday, Jan. 8th.  This shower was hosted by Alexia (my sister-in-law), Brenna, and Christy.  They did a super cute owl and story book theme.  They were so creative with the food and decorations.  Each food item even had a baby book to go with it, like the bagels had a baby book about bagels.  They really out did themselves for the shower.  This shower was also great because I had my old and new friends come.  My sister was also still in town and was able to come too, which was great! 

super cute owl cupcakes...strawberry too, my favorite

My mom and sister getting their practice in with baby Rowan (Megan Coger's sweet baby)

I obviously need more practice :)

The second shower was the following day, Jan. 9th.  This shower was hosted by Patsy, Susan, Jetty, Helen, Sara, and Courtney.  I have known these wonderful ladies since I was born (many helped with my mom's baby shower for me) and they even had to put up with me in class at Fayetteville High School.  This shower was also an owl theme and the guests were asked to bring baby books in lieu of cards.  I now have an ample supply of baby books to read to baby Necessary :)  .  This shower was great for my mom and me both.  My mom got to see all of her old work friends and catch up with them, and I got to see them too and share with them how much I appreciate their support for my family and my mom.  Again, the women here were so generous and giving, that I received more than I expected for the baby. 

Precious owl petit fours

Very practical and cute centerpiece

Only at a teacher shower would you discuss math problems...

showing off some of my gifts

My dad stopped by for a few minutes and braved the estrogen

Today, was my 3rd shower.  I was really looking forward to this one because it was not only for the women from my church but also my family members.  I always enjoy when my different family sides can get together and hang out.  This shower was hosted by Ashley Lamb, Beth Wilkins, Carol Sappington, Mabel Wagoner, Paula Irwin, and Virginia VanEs.  It was beautiful and so well done.  You could tell these women are pros at hosting.  They helped me feel comfortable and manage my time with gifts and guests.  It was also a cute owl theme (hope you are noticing a trend...).  I, unfortunately, didn't take many pictures but have a couple of the hostesses and decorations.

The hostesses.  Ashley made that great wreath!!!

Beautiful flowers and yummy food surrounded by cute owls, perfect :)

I debated over posting this one, but I figured everyone saw me today so why not...33 1/2 weeks...don't know how I could get any bigger but I am sure I will...

My gift opening assistant Brianna, Marcus's cousin

So, if you didn't notice, I really like owls.  Marcus and I are waiting to find out the gender of the baby and to help me not go crazy when planning the nursery, etc. I just took all of my old sorority owl decor and spray painted it brown and green to make a gender neutral nursery.  It has actually turned out ok and been kind of easy since owls are trendy right now.  I realize, however, that I made it really challenging to host a shower for me since we didn't know the gender of the baby.  But, all of the hostesses did so great and I absolutely loved all of the owl-ness.  What's even better is that I still get to celebrate with my co-workers from Vista and my co-workers from Cooper in February, so I am sure you will read about those and the fun women I get to work with.  Also, the nursery is basically finished and I will try and post some pictures of that soon...

Marcus turns 30!

Marcus turned 30 on Friday the 21st.  I had been giving him a hard time about it all week, which was great, but I am sure I will pay when it is my turn in a couple of years.  I have been worried all month if I would have any energy for his birthday or to plan his birthday party...but luckily I had a few snow days to help me find some time. 

Thursday was a surprise snow day for the schools and my office closed, which meant I had no clients to see.  I did, however, audit some charts and work on getting my paperwork in order for maternity leave.  The bummer about this day was that I woke up feeling kinda sick.  So, I went to walmart to get party supplies after work and then just relaxed at home Thursday night.

The schools were closed again on Friday.  This time they announced it the evening before, which is so much better because you don't have to set your alarm and worry about getting up early (not that I am doing much sleeping in these days).  I was able to wake up and fix Marcus some pumpkin muffins for breakfast and we just sat around and relaxed in the morning.  For his birthday lunch, his dad took us to Fred's for the 'all you can eat' catfish...but,  sad story, the supply truck didn't make it in the weather so they were out of catfish.  We did however get some good bar-b-que.  I spent the rest of Friday getting ready for Marcus's b-day party and taking naps...I was still pretty sick. 

The party turned out ok, but I think it might have been a little better if I had put in more effort and energy...maybe next time when I am not 8 months pregnant and sick.  It was a "Big Lebowski" theme so we had a Wii bowling tournament and decorations to match.  I had a great time and think Marcus had great friends around him to help ease into 30.  As of now, he still claims not to feel any different...we'll see how long before the hearing and eye sight goes, just kidding :)

Here are some pictures from the party:

The 'In-N-Out burgers, toe cookies (with a fake toe centerpiece), bowling pin cupcakes, and other some other munchies)

This was my drink, Sarsaparilla (really A&W root beer)

Cortney made Marcus this awesome shirt so he put it on before blowing out his candles.  It says, "30 years of yuppie" on the back :)

My yuppie and me

5th Annual Necessary New Year's

I am not sure how Marcus and I started hosting a New Year's party, but every year it seems like you can count on us to have something going on.  I usually try to come up with a theme to make it different than regular hang outs at our house.  This year was Casino night.  We had a casino night a few years ago for my birthday, so I already had everything and it was super easy to prepare for.  I made some spinach dip, croissant sausages, a veggie tray, a cheese tray, and some munchies for the game tables.  We had a table for black jack and then a table for a dice game.  Half way through the night the tables changed to texas hold'em and craps.  However, people lost their chips faster at these games so we went back to black jack and dice.  At midnight, who ever had the most chips won the prize.  Congrats Megan for winning! 

About halfway through the party we played a game.  I had everyone write down one thing they learned during 2010 and then everyone had to guess which one belonged to each person.  I have never seen people get so competitive and serious about a game.  It was pretty funny.  It also made the game harder and more frustrating for some because unknowingly Marcus, Alexia, and I put down the same thing.  Alexia won and almost doubled everyones' score. 

Alexia and Derek

Marcus and Me (30 weeks pregnant)

The Smith Family

Us with Cortney and Kelly

We all counted down to 2011 and watched the ball drop.  Champagne was passed around and I enjoyed my glass of sparkling cider, which is actually pretty tasty.  After that we broke out the Wii and played some Michael Jackson Dance game.  Well, honestly, I did not play the game, but I watched, and it looks like tons of fun.  The girls were sweating by the time they finished.  The party ended around 2 and seemed to be another successful New Year's Eve.

Now that all of the gatherings and parties are finished, I think I can rest and take it easy for a little bit...or maybe like a couple of months...

Necessary Family Trip to KC

Marcus and I were able to get out of town for a few days with Derek and Alexia.  I don't really want to call this a 'babymoon' because I think that is pretty trendy, but I do think that is sort of what it was.  We normally go on our annual ski trip after new year's but since I can't ski this year due to being pregnant and have been advised not to travel once I hit 32 weeks, we chose to stay closer to home and visit Kansas City.  I really appreciate Derek and Alexia going with us!  They made the trip so fun and it was great to be able to spend some quality time with them.  Again, I completely forgot to take pictures, sorry!

We left Monday afternoon and drove straight to the outlet malls.  We looked for some cowboy boots for the boys but were not able to find any, so still no Christmas present for Marcus yet.  I found the Motherhood Maternity Outlet, which how sad is it that I am excited about the maternity outlet...yikes, but I did find some things I had been needing due to continuing to grow larger.  We ate dinner at Granite City and then headed to Ameristar to check into our room.  Well, turns out Ameristar gave away our reservation to their "ace players" even though we made the reservations over a month ago and called to confirm that afternoon.  Needless to say, the boys were not happy and decided to boycott the Ameristar and go to the Argosy.  Alexia and I hung out in the room talking, reading, and watching tv while the boys played the casino. 

The next day, we went down to the Plaza for some more shopping.  Alexia and I some how managed to spend over 2 hours in the Forever 21 store.  For dinner, we went to The Cheesecake Factory.  We had delicious food and I got the most wonderful cheesecake ever.  I totally recommend it.  It is was red velvet cake layered in with cheesecake.  If anyone is needing a gift idea for my birthday, this would be it :)

Wednesday, we went to a couple more outlet shops and then had dinner at Oklahoma Joe's.  Wow, that place was surprisingly good.  I wasn't sure when we pulled up to a gas station, but the line was never shorter than 15 people the entire time we were there.  After dinner, we headed to the Power and Light district before heading back home.  I tried to go to bed early, because I knew the next day I would need to set up and get ready for our annual Necessary New Year's party.  By this point I was beginning to wonder if maybe I packed my winter break a little too full...

5 Christmas Dinners in 4 days

So like I said before, this December has been pretty busy.  I have been trying to keep up but my energy is a little lacking these days.  I think that I am fine and can do what everyone else is doing, but then my body reminds me that I need to rest.  However, Marcus and I were very fortunate to be with all of our family members over the Christmas holiday.  We don't have to pick which side we will spend the holiday with, we just cram them into a fun weekend full of turkey and pie.  I wish I would have taken more pictures but I forgot, so I stole a few from others...hopefully I will get better at keeping my camera handy, but the key is to remember to use it...maybe this would be a good new years resolution.

I returned from New York with my mom on the 22nd of December and had to get my house together for a party and 24 sugar cookies for the next evening before going to bed.  I cheated and used the place and bakes this year because I was too tired and had to work the next day.  Luckily, when the kids are out for break my job is pretty low key, so it was mostly a paperwork day.  That evening on the 23rd  Marcus and I went to the 'Walker Family Christmas' at his mom's parent's house.  I had to leave early so I missed the rockin' guitar hero competition :(  But I did get to see some of my awesome cell group girls at my house for our annual Christmas Cookie Decorating party.  They all make me laugh so hard!  They decided to dress up in tacky Christmas sweater outfits.  I so wish I had pictures of this!  By about the time the party was ending Marcus, Derek (my brother in law), Alexia (my sister in law), and Linda (my mother in law) came back home after the Walker Christmas.  The boys played XBOX and the girls helped me get some of the food and decorations prepared for Christmas Eve dinner.  I finally made it to bed around midnight or so.

Christmas Eve was spent with Marcus's mom, Linda.  Derek and Marcus fried a turkey and I made dressing, green beans, rolls, spinach dip, deviled eggs, and hash brown potato casserole.  Alexia brought a yummy jello dessert.  I think the meal turned out really well and I look forward to creating traditions and getting better at it each year.  After lunch we exchanged gifts and then hung out and talked.  Alexia and Derek had to leave to go to her parent's house around 4:30.

Brothers frying a yummy turkey

Our table decor.  Someday we might get a table that sits more than three...

Staring contest between Ella and Alexia.  We later brought a chair up for Ella so she could join.  She is going to be in for a rude awakening after baby is born.

Marcus, Linda, and I then went to Springdale to meet my family for Christmas Eve Service at my parent's church.  It was a really great service with a refreshing message, which I think is hard to do each year for Christmas Eve. 

On Christmas morning, Marcus and I have our tradition to exchange gifts and stockings in bed.  I am not sure how we will continue this after baby, but maybe we can make it work.  Now, Marcus actually gave me my gift Christmas Eve so I could open it in front of everyone.  It was a Silhouette machine!  I am super excited to use it to make things for our house and the baby.  He wanted cowboy boots for Christmas, but since things were so busy, we never found time to go and shop for some...so his main present from me still hasn't happened...But, I did make him some whiskey glasses with his initials etched on them.  So, after we did the gift thing, we ate breakfast and got ready to go to my parent's house.  My mom had prepared most of the meal the day before with the help of her friend Jetty.  I cooked a sweet potato casserole, corn, and ambrosia salad.  My family then exchanged gifts before eating.  My dad was nervous and excited at the same time because he had a BIG surprise for my mom.  He was like a little kid.  He had told everyone but my mom about the gift so the rest of us were pretty excited also.  After all the other presents were finished being opened, my dad had my mom open an envelope.  Inside the envelope was a picture of a BMW 335i.  I think my mom figured out the surprise at this point.  We went down to the garage and there was a new car waiting for my mom with a huge red ribbon.  She loves it!!!! 

This year was nice because we didn't have to rush to 'Necessary Christmas' by 4:00.  Instead, we had dinner with Marcus's dad, Jeff.  We met up with Derek and Alexia and headed over for chili.  I brought homemade cornbread (my first time to make this) and a veggie tray.  The chili was good and I was pretty proud of myself for eating it because it had deer, hog, and beef.  We then exchanged gifts again.  This time I got a gift certificate to the spa, which will be so wonderful.  I can't decide whether to use it pre-baby or post-baby... Alexia brought some great entertainment.  It was an old dvd from her parent's house of a Donny and Marie Osmond Christmas special from the 70's.  It was hilarious!  Overall, it was a great Christmas day.

On the 26th, I finally got to relax a little in the morning.  Marcus and Derek went out to the Necessary farm to shoot their guns at targets, or something manly like that.  I met up with Alexia around 3:30 to head out there for Christmas dinner.  This time I only brought ambrosia salad, oh and some red wine that was opened on the 24th but not finished, and since I can't drink it I don't want it around :)  The dinner was delicious and like always it was a full house.  Since Marcus's grandparents have 6 kids there are plenty of grandkids (and soon to be great grandkids).  I was pretty exhausted and getting tired fast, but we still had to get together with Derek and Alexia to discuss our trip for Kansas City the next day.  Luckily, it didn't take us too long to figure out or plans and I was in bed before 11. 

Overall, I think it was a very successful and wonderful Christmas season.  I got to see so many family members and be with people that I love and care about.  Not to mention, eat tons of great food and desserts!  (I am a little nervous about my doctor's appointment next week and what the scale might read after all this food...)  What a wonderful way to close out 2010.  I am looking forward to all of the changes to come in 2011.

New York, New York

I am a little bit behind on my blogging, but I have been going non-stop since mid December.  I hosted my office Christmas party on Dec. 16th and then left for my first trip to New York on the 18th.  My sister lives in Brooklyn and works down town Manhattan close to Central Park.  My mom and I decided it would be fun to take a girls' trip to go and visit her.  I was a little nervous about flying and traveling since I was 29 weeks pregnant but it worked out fine. 

Our first day there we went to Chinatown, Little Italy, Ground Zero, the Financial District, Union Square Holiday Market, Bryant Park Holiday Market, and Times Square.  We covered a lot of ground and I was so tired by the end of the day. 

Camille, My mom's friend Karen (she joined us on the trip all the way from Minneapolis), and Mom

Union Square.  It was like a craft fair but with shops from NY.

Times Square...brrrr, so cold

The second day we went to Greenwich Village and visited The New School.  We had a delicious lunch at Bar 6 and then went to SoHo.  Again, being much heavier than my legs are used to carrying around, I was exhausted before dinner so we went back to our amazing apartment and ordered dinner.

We became pros at getting around using the subway...and it is true, people get up to make room for the pregnant lady...

The third day was my favorite.  We went to FI:AF to see where Camille, my sister, works.  She introduced us to her co-workers and gave us the full tour.  We then saw Central Park, The Plaza Hotel, 5th Avenue Christmas window displays, The Modern for lunch, Rockefeller Center, and 30 Rock.  We were going to go into MOMA but it was closed.  However, we ended our trip on the perfect note.  We ate a delicious dinner at Rockefeller Center by the tree and watching the ice skating rink.  I mentioned to my mom how great it would be to see someone propose, and then about 45 minutes later it happened.  So romantic! 

The buildings and windows were beautiful





At dinner watching the ice skating and getting to stare at the beautiful tree

Before we had to catch our plane we were able to go to the Brooklyn Museum and see the Norman Rockwell exhibit.  I am not one for museums, but his work was really amazing to see.  As fun as the trip was, I think my mom and I were both very glad to be home.  This was a trip that I will always remember, but not because of the fun things we did or saw, but because of the time I got to spend with my mom and sis.