Baby Girl's 1st Party!

How fun to be having a GIRL! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law kindly offered to throw me a shower here in Plano. Originally, I was going to have a shower in Beaumont as well, but after some thought, we realized we didn't have that many people there to really throw a party. I was fine with that because I didn't want my mom and sisters to go all out on a shower only to have about 5 people come. So the Plano shower was supposed to be a low key, open house sort of thing. Boy was I wrong! I showed up and decided to drive around the back of my mother-in-law's house to park. Well, there wasn't a place for me to park because my mom's car was there hiding! Being the emotional pregnant woman I am, I started tearing up as I drove back around to the front of the house. When I walked in, I saw decorations that screamed MOM including a lot of old stuffed animals we've had for years. In the kitchen was my sweet mom working her magic! You put Barbara, Tami, and my mom together, and you've got quite the party. I just didn't expect Mom to drive up here at the last minute (because we had just decided days earlier not to do the one in Beaumont) for the shower -- much less bring her whole decorating shop and food with her. I guess I should have known better! Of course, I thought of Nat next and was secretly hoping she came as well, but I knew she had Back to School night so she probably couldn't come. Well, of course, she showed up too! I have the best fam ever! I couldn't believe Nat got in the car with her 4 kids and drove down here like it was no big deal... right after her cross country driving trip a week earlier. I know Angie would've come too if she weren't in Utah, and I just hope she gets to come when Baby is here!
So, it's a little awkward for me to be the center of attention because I turn red easily and sometimes make awkward jokes when I don't know what else to say, but the shower ended up being really fun for me. A lot of my close friends came, we had delicious food, adorable decorations, some fun games, and the best presents! People gave me the cutest, most practical gifts, which I love! Books, onesies, bibs, a bumbo, a boppy, a nursing cover, blankets, towels, diapers, burp cloths, wash cloths, baby bath, etc. I really didn't expect much, and I was so grateful for everyone's generosity. Baby girl loved her party (and Lil' Mama did too)!

Front table with Mom's diaper cake

Tami's diaper cake with some games like Guess My Belly Size, Letters for Labor, and Baby Babble (baby word unscramble)

Yummy fruit, veggies, and chicken salad on croissants (the BEST)

Cake, cookies and punch

Kaye, Avery, Addie, and Tami

Nat, Ty, Mom, and Kylene (+Baby Hayes)

Lovely Mom and me
(Why did I not wear pink to my girly shower? I wasn't thinking straight.)

The only picture of my mother-in-law Barbara! (far right) I need another!

Ty, Lil' P's cousin. He was scared of all the women, but he got over the shock.

My friend, Dominique, who is a month ahead of me (so tiny!)

Other friends at the end of the shower - Kim, Courtney, Bri, Ruth, and Shayla

I loved it! Thanks so much to both sides of the family for coming together and making it happen!

Baby Gets Us Free Stuff

Sometimes having a baby in my belly attracts attention... good and bad. It's actually been kind of fun to have random people seem interested in my baby and when she's due. My favorite question so far was a lady in Walmart who asked, "Oh, are you mo' hunry?" I think I asked her, "What?" at least 3 times and finally realized she was asking if I were more hungry. I love living in the Souf.
Yesterday I unfortunately had 2 not so great comments right in a row. While waiting for James at the doctor's office, I got up to ask the secretary a question, and she was really nice to ask questions about my baby etc. and the lady in the back chimed in and said, "Oh, you're due in October? Ya, you're big like I was." Ha! What do you say to that?
After the appointment, James and I went to my new favorite sandwich spot--Firehouse Subs-- and when I walked up to order, the lady's eyes got all big and she said, "Woah, you look like you 'bout to explode!" Seriously?? Who says that? I just tried to play it off and laugh and say how I still have a couple months... and she responded, "Oh, REALLY? ... you mus' be havin a girl." I told her I was and she just looked at me with a face like "Good luck!" Well, those 2 comments right in a row didn't make me feel great, but I got over it. So what if my belly is big... my baby is growing and happy in there! At least that's what I think since she's constantly moving all over the place.

So the good attention I was speaking of happened today. I met up with a lady to sell my sheets that I posted on Craigslist. It's always interesting to meet up with people you've exchanged emails/texts with because they're always different than who you expect. Well this lady was the body builder type decked in black spandex to match her nice, big, black truck. She was super nice and we chatted for a minute about McKinney trade days and such, and I asked her what her job was because she had referred to it on the phone. She said she worked for Dymatize protein supplements (not surprising) and followed up with asking if I take protein. Ha! Do I look like I'm into working out and taking protein? At this point I was actually just relieved that I decided last minute to change out of my too tight t-shirt that said AUTISM upside down on it. I told her I actually am trying to get more protein in my diet for the baby and that I recently tried out a sample of some whey protein in the smoothies we make at home. Well, what do you know, she asked her body builder man friend to look in their truck for some natural protein for me to try. I figured she was going to give me a little packet, which was really nice, but then the guy pulled out a huge tub of strawberry protein powder! I didn't really know what to say and felt a little weird about walking away with a free 5 lb. jug of protein after she had just paid me for my sheets (with a $10 profit nonetheless). Maybe she felt sorry for me or maybe she just wanted the baby to come out ripped. I don't know. Either way, James and I felt like we got a pretty good deal thanks to Baby. Just think what kind of free stuff we could get when our cute girl is actually here! =)

So from now on, if people make comments about the size of my belly, I'm going to just tell them it's the protein powder I'm taking. Oh, and come on over for a strawberry smoothie if you live nearby. We're gonna pay it forward.

Baby, It's HOT Inside

You may or may not recall our Heater Man incident a couple of winters ago... it was quite the drama. It was worth me going back to those "Baby, It's Cold Inside" posts to re-read for some laughs. Well, we just seem to have great luck with furnaces and AC units... and sewage. My parents came in town a few weekends ago for my niece Cerra's baptism, and they stayed at our house. I love having people stay here because we rarely have visitors. Well, just our luck, the second and final night my parents were going to stay here, our AC went out. Luckily, we have James' parents very close, and they were very kind to offer their 2 bedrooms upstairs for the night.
Well... 2 1/2 weeks later, we got our new AC unit! There's not much story to it other than James' phone calls to American Home Shield. All they had to say about how long it was taking was, "...due to the national heat wave..." blah blah. I like James' response of, "So, when it's the hottest time of the year, I have to wait longer for my AC?" What ever happened to people working longer hours, etc. when it's their busiest time of year? James does it for his job. Anyway, we were very lucky that it wasn't much of an issue (other than a crack that formed in one of our walls from the extreme heat and my melted chocolate chips... very sad) because we had a nice, cool place to stay for those weeks. I wonder what other people have to do who don't have a free place to stay?

If there's one thing we've learned since we've been both renters and home owners, it's to have renter's insurance, home insurance, and a home warranty. 2 1/2 weeks later, we were out several hundred less than if we didn't have that warranty. It's time to renew our warranty, and I know we will (possibly with a different company though) because winter is coming, and we don't want another Heater Man issue!

James is 26!

I robbed the cradle... I'm a whole 3 + months older than my husband! I don't know why he thought I'd feel bad for him for turning 26; I already went through that issue. Anyway, I'm sure his birthday would've been pretty ordinary otherwise, but since some of our friends from out of town were in town for a short time around his birthday, I decided to throw him a little shin dig. Minute to Win It seems to be becoming more and more popular for parties, ward activities, etc. We don't watch all the episodes, but James really enjoys it when he does. He's just one of those people who is good at doing random things like throwing cards, etc. (see previous post from last Fall - The Banana Slicers). His friends also love that sort of thing, so I decided to go with that theme for his party. Another friend, Pete, had a birthday a day before James, so we made it a joint party.
After looking through the Minute to Win It games here for the least budget breaking items and least messy games, I came up with about 10 for us to do. I also tried to find ones that we could do 5 people at a time. People with phones just kept track of how many seconds it took for the others to complete the task (but it didn't count if it was over a minute), and we did dollar prizes for each round. The person with the most points won the grand prize (see pic below)! We even had the blueprints play on the TV just like the show so I wouldn't have to explain each one. Plus, the British lady has a way cooler voice than I do.
Add a little Cafe Rio dinner (inspired by these recipes), cake, and ice cream, and you have a great party! We had a lot of fun, and I'd do it again. The only problem is I don't have the same amount of energy as my mom, pregnant or not, to have lots of parties and to entertain all the time. Maybe one day...

Here are some pictures from the events!

Penny Hose - get the pennies out of the bottom of the hose

Paper Scraper - build a 10 story paper building

Noodlin' Around - string 6 penne noodles on a spaghetti noodle

Candy Elevator - raise 3 M&M's to your mouth with string and 2 pencils

More elevators

Caddy Stack - stack 3 (we did 2) golf balls

Bite Me - only your mouth can pick up the paper bags that decrease in size

Ka-Broom - launch a marshmallow from a plate to a cup with a broom

More Ka-Broom (this seemed to be the favorite, but not many could do it at one time)

The score board

The GRAND PRIZE! Don't hate me, Mel... =) She was amazing!!

Birthday boys

Eli and I love our boys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!