A Sweet, Sweet Shower

I had my first baby shower yesterday. It was way more than I ever could have asked for! My hostesses went above and beyond. I am so incredibly thankful for such sweet friends. The theme was Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice. We had it at a hotel in West, where my husband is from. I am blessed beyond belief and Parker will be a very spoiled and loved little girl. Here are some pictures.



Branson

We recently got back from our summer vacation. We went to Branson this year. I absolutely loved it! It is gorgeous...huge trees and mountains and there is so much to do. We were trying to squeeze in a good little trip before Princess Parker arrives in October. While we were there we talked about coming back in the spring or summer...it's a wonderful place for families! The only bad thing about it just being the two of us is that there are no pictures of just us...we tried the whole holding the camera out and trying to squeeze ourselves into a picture but it just doesn't work and I am too embarrassed to bug people to take our picture. So all I really got was the scenery, which is so pretty...but a little boring! We went to Dolly Parton's restaurant, Dixie Stampede. It was my favorite thing we did! You go in and they seat you based on whether you are a rebel or a yankee and they have a huge Rebels vs. Yankees competition in the arena with trick riding, stage coach races, etc. The food is served one course at a time and you get to eat and watch the show. Sooo fun! We played some mini golf, went on the Ride the Ducks tour of Branson and Lake Table Rock, did some shopping at their awesome outlet mall and ate some delicious food!  Next time we visit I will not be pregnant and I fully intend on touring a winery or two and going ziplining!!

Dixie Stampede

Lake Table Rock

A view of the marina

Bass Pro Shop's restaurant the Fish House

She's 50 and Fabulous!

Saturday night we celebrated my mom's 50th birthday. My brother and his sweet girlfriend came up from Houston and we all surprised her for dinner in Arlington at The Keg. Cody and I had never been there before, but some of our closest friends love it. It definitely did not disappoint. I nearly took a picture of my meal...but I figured my family might think  I was a little strange. I was at a loss on what to get my mom for her birthday. I usually go the whole gift card route, but just didn't feel like it this time.


So...she has been going to the track every morning and she has been complaining about not having a good pair of tennis shoes. So, I got her a new cute pair of reeboks and some cute work out gear and then some bath and body stuff and cute tops she could wear on the weekends or to teach in. My brother got her a super nice watch from Macy's, and his girlfriend got her some cute jewelry. I think her birthday was a success. It wasn't big or extravagent, but just perfect. Here are some pics!

My sweet Mama and Me

My mama and hopefully one day sister in law!

The extravagent cake I had made! Ha!

And her sweet new kicks! : )

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Cody spent hours the other night putting Parker's furniture together. I thought maybe I should have started a swear jar before he started but he didn't throw a fit at all!! Anything for his little girl! We have been trying to get the nursery together. It's coming together slowly but surely. My best friend is working on the back and side bumpers and I still need some wall art. Here are some pictures. It is really hard to get good pictures in her room because there is a window above the crib and one on the side wall so all the sun shines in!

On another baby related topic...I went to Children's Place at the outlet mall yesterday and got Parker 6 pairs of pants, 1 skirt and 6 shirts for $24!!  It doesn't look like much in the picture because I have the pants doubled up...I bought two sizes in each pair. Can't beat that!!

And then my sweet, wonderful friend Amanda has been working so hard on my baby shower and I just got the invitation in the mail. They are too cute. More than I could have ever asked for!!

That's all for now! Have a great Monday!

It's a...

Parker Monroe due to arrive October 23, 2012!

Boy or Girl???

We will find out Thursday if we are having a boy or a girl! Well...let me re-phrase that...we are HOPEFULLY going to find out on Thursday as long as Baby P cooperates!!

I had big plans on doing a cute gender reveal party and cutting into a cake to find out if we are having a boy or a girl, but I just don't think I can wait! For those of you who are not familiar with a gender reveal party it is where your doctor puts the results of your ultrasound into a sealed envelope and then you can take it to a baker and have a cake made with pink or blue filling and then you cut into it to find out the sex. It is a cute way to find out together or with your friends and family.

That was the plan, but now I have to be able to see it with my own eyes and I know I will have to ask 100 times...are you sure?? Are you positive?? Ha! I have to be certain! And I really want to have that special time with Cody to find out and we can take it all in and soak it all up together.

I'm afraid some feelings are going to be hurt, but I have thought long and hard and I just want that special time for us.

Anyhow...my friend Jennifer knew I had backed out of the cake cutting, because I am too uncertain and impatient so she begged me to to the balloon release. Once again, I was not going to hand over that envelope with the results so I decided that we would take both pink balloon pictures and blue balloon pictures ahead of time so then on Thursday we can reveal the picture...PINK or BLUE!

Here are a couple!

Boy??

Or Girl??

For so long I've had this gut feeling it is going to be a boy...every dream I've had has been of a boy...but now I am second guessing and have no idea!! We will be tickled either way. I'm just ready to know!!!

Baby P is On the Way!

I have been keeping the biggest secret ever since the middle of February! The weekend before Valentine's Day I was feeling DIFFERENT...so I thought maybe I could possibly be pregnant...My husband and I have been trying since July and haven't had much luck. Nearly every month I tell him, "I think I might be pregnant"...but then I always get a big fat negative! We went to eat at Papadeaux for Valentine's Day and on the way home we stopped at the store...I ran inside and picked up a few things, not telling Cody I grabbed a pregnancy test. The next morning he got up and left and went fishing with a friend and I got up bright and early and took THE test. Surprisingly enough it looked to be a VERY VERY faint positive sign...I wasn't sure if my mind was playing tricks on me so I ran to Wal-Mart and got a test that would point blank tell me Pregnant or Not Pregnant. I waited and waited and waited and sure enough when I walked back into the bathroom it read clear as can be Pregnant! I freaked out! I wanted to call Cody so badly but I couldn't...it was the longest day of my life. He was gone all day! So I went to the store and got a cute Valentine's card and bag and wrapped up the test as his Valentine's Day present. He finally got home and I handed him his present he began to read the card and couldn't believe what he was seeing! I cried and so did he but we just couldn't bring ourselves to share the BIG news!

I have so many girlfriends that were so excited (who can blame them?!) and they announced to everyone early on and then ended up miscarrying and having to tell everyone the bad news... that would be a nightmare. I couldn't chance going through that!

We went to the doctor at what we thought would put us near 7 weeks but when my doctor did the ultrasound there was nothing there...I panicked. He told me he didn't think I was as far as I thought I was...so we waited and went back nearly a month later and sure enough there was Baby P with a strong heart rate of 163 and that put me at 8 weeks pregnant! I was relieved but still not enough to spread the joyous news.

We went back a month later to finally hear Baby P's heart beat. It was amazing and again was a strong 161. A week later we had an NT Scan done to check our chances of Downs and Trisomy and see how Baby P was measuring. Everything looked good and our chances came in at 1:10,000 for both. I was finally 13 1/2 weeks pregnant and felt good enough to spread the news.

We took Cody's mom and dad to dinner for his mom's birthday and I gave her a onesie and rattle all wrapped up. She had the most confused look on her face and then finally began to scream and make the biggest scene in the middle of the restaurant! It was the funniest thing. They are thrilled. We had some cute announcements a girlfriend of mine made for us to mail out to most of our family and close friends.

It's all becoming so real! We cannot wait to find out if P is a boy or a girl! We think it is a boy but will be happy either way. For a boy we are going with Penn Tucker or Penn Teague (not sure yet...) and for a girl I am at a loss...possible Parker or Paige.

As of now I am 14 weeks and haven't really gained weight but am beginning to show...More to come soon!!!