The Happy.

Sneak peek pictures from our photographer:

^This photo right here illustrates how completely and totally lucky of a girl I am. Everything in this picture is what I live for and all that I need. I mean, look how handsome of a husband I scored... WOOOWOOO!!

And this photo below shows how important it is to have a great photographer.... I feel like Two-Ton Tilly and she somehow used smoke and mirrors to make me look like this:

Money well spent! :)

We also had our last big ultrasound yesterday. This whole pregnancy has been a blur and we've been so distracted with Addie bug and all kinds of life events that I love having an ultrasound because it is alone time for just us and little man. To stop the outside world around us and completely focus on him. This last ultrasound was also that *moment* I was waiting for, that hits you when you realize there is a tiny human on their way and he is yours.

Tate was being completely cooperative so the ultrasound tech switched it over into 3D and let us just watch him for a while. Yawning, smacking his lips, nestling his hands under his chin. Homeslice is in the 80th percentile for size, head down and running out of room rapidly so it pretty tight quarters.

And as I saw him pull in his lower lip to bite on and then let it out with a tiny sweet smile, I realized, those are Jason's lips and mouth and I might just be getting the mini Jason I have been seeing in my dreams.

Love you, little bubba!

Bad Weather & 50 Days.

It was a rainy weekend here in H-town. I didn't mind it for the first half a day but once it decided to drag into Sunday and into Sunday night, I have to admit I became a bit stir crazy. Addie stood at the back door (apparently unaware there was a monsoon going on on the other side of the door) and whining "shooooooes on! shooooooes on!"


It was time to get creative up in here.

We started with the bubble blower, bringing it in off the porch and into the middle of the living room. Now most would have seen this as a soapy, slipping hazard on our tile floor but not us, folks. No, WE LIVE ON THE EDGE.

On Sunday when there was still no sun in sight it was time to bring out the big guns. Or what I like to call The Best $14 I Ever Spent. I had purchased it at Hobby Lobby the week before anticipating the rain. It is a little cardboard playhouse that you put together and then the kiddo can color all over it with marker, crayons etc. It was a hit. I even got SO bored that I got to work when Jason was giving Addie a bath and she emerged to a suprise cardboard cottage makeover:

Electricity and indoor/outdoor carpet! I snapped this photo just as she was exclaiming, "WHAT?" Can you tell I miss my Etsy shop and am looking for other ways to channel my creative juices? *smacks forehead*

The sweetest moment of the weekend was brought to me by my husband. He came home from work on Friday with this:

I was just so surprised. Not only did he get a sign printed up to match my business cards but then got it custom framed. I don't know if you can tell but the thing is huge. I cannot wait to get it hung up in my studio. I really miss working, I know I am doing the right thing by taking a break as I have been feeling MUCH better in the pregnancy department but I cannot wait to get back to it. I plan on spending my off time getting things in my studio reorganized as well as brainstorming new project ideas.

With that said, 50 more days of baby baking! We hit up Walmart and got a lot more things crossed off the list that we needed for little man. I also scored this cool train depot lamp for only $30:

Pottery Barn can keep their $99 one!  We like a bargain around here. :) I am loving all the tiny details that are coming together, cannot wait to share the whole thing!

Mack, over and out.

31 Weeks!

First up... belly!

The nursery is coming along, this past week we have gotten almost everything hung up on the walls and washed 3 huge loads of tiny baby boy clothes and got them folded, organized and put away.  Thank goodness we have 2 nephews and a lot of friends with boys as we have recieved SO much hand me down baby boy stuff. His drawers and closet are almost full!  Here is a sneakity peak at Tater's room so far....

All the blue walls look different shades in the pics but they are the color that is in the last pic with his white kicks. I just couldn't get the color adjusted right on the others. :) I cannot wait to reveal it all! We have had so much fun picking everything out and working on it while Addie jumps around in Tate's crib squealing "Bubba's bed! Bubba's bed!". I cannot wait to see those two together, I know they will be good buddies!

And partners in crime and I am sure.

Tickle, Tickle G.I. Joe.

We are currently watching Madonna's Super Bowl half time show as Addie emerges from the bedroom modeling a different hat (and dance move) each time. 

The whole weekend she has serenaded us with "Tickle, Tickle, G.I. Joe,"  translation: Twinkle, twinkle little star. Of course! 

She cracks us up endlessly. She is going on 2 years old and I still catch myself wondering, what in the world did we ever do without her?

Zoo Day & Manners Matters!

Last weekend, the weather was gorgeous and it was the perfect day to hit the Houston Zoo! We called up Addie's buddy Van, loaded up and headed out for an adventure.

Riding the train.

Addie was a huge fan of chasing the goats... just not touching them.

Makes my heart happy.



Not sure what animal this was but it must have really impressed her!



Cutest monkeys ever.

Discussing stock options over chips, queso and chicken nuggets.

These two kiddos melt my heart. Something else that is melting my heart lately?  Hearing our girl say "Thank you" all on her own without prompting and also saying "Bless you!" to people when she hears them sneeze.  She has also started saying "Love too!" when we tell her we love her and yeah it is just about the best feeling on earth.  She makes us so proud. :)

Sunday Hike.

Our little explorer. :)

Progress.

To say things have been hectic in our neck of the woods would be an understatement.  2012 has started off with a bang, Jason has been so busy with the family business and I am swamped with Etsy orders (this is a great thing!) as the wedding season approaches. Addie is growing like a weed, we have reorganized almost our whole house and then one day we realized we should probably start getting ready for our sweet new addition to get here because we only have 3.5 months left (GASP!)!  We scheduled my c-section last week at our doc appt for May 1st and that is when it hit us that he is coming... and soon!  Before I get into our preparations, I'll share a belly pic from date night last night.  The belly is definitely popped out and showing! It is so funny to me how high I seem to be carrying this little guy, I carried Addie WAY lower. :)

So onto the preparations.... we got the nursery all painted with Addie's help.

She also did a great job of handing Daddy his tools while putting together Tate's crib. Let's hope she is this happy and helpful once her baby brother gets here! :)

I love this next picture, I have a very similar picture of Jason putting together Addie's crib (on the right)!

Progress, woooo woooo!!!

You can see the adorable Curious George and Vintage Train crib sheets we bought draped over the crib, I am in love with them! While we were out and about last night we also picked up some little boy things! It was very exciting to shop in the blue and green section, though we did pick up some pink and purple for Addie as well.

Have I mentioned lately how happy and grateful I feel to be having a little boy AND a little girl? Sometimes I feel like I need to be pinched. :)

Little Liberace.

21 Week Belly.

Christmas post to come but since I have been so bad at taking belly pics this pregnancy, I had to include one that I remembered to take over Christmas. 21 Weeks!

Little Man Sneak Peak.

Last week we got a sneak peak of our little man. I've been feeling him kick and squirm for several weeks but it was so exciting to see him on screen wiggling and bouncing around like crazy. This was by far the best and most clear ultrasound we have had. He kept stretching his legs out completely straight which we had never seen before and the tech got some pretty funny photos of it which you can see in the last two pics.

Silly boy, we cannot wait to welcome you into our crazy family and hold you in our arms. Love, Mommy & Daddy ( and Addie!)

A Christmas Pageant.

Addie's school put on a Christmas Pageant and it couldn't have been more adorable. She was a sheep and her class sang a song about all the animals in the manger (there was a lot of "mooin" and "baaa-aaa-ing hahaha) and Jason and I sat with our camera and video camera in hand beaming with pride. This is what Christmas is all about!

.

Just The Two Of Us.

Jason was gone to the deer lease this weekend which left Addie and I for a whole weekend of slumber partying and tea-partying and watching Lifetime NON STOP.

It was pure awesomeness. Not that we don't get heaps of time to spend together during the week since I am a stay at home mom and all but I made sure to have activities planned to make this weekend extra special. Just the two of us. Last night we put together our annual gingerbread house and I don't think I have laughed that hard in a looooong time. She was eating it just as fast as I was decorating it. Dancing to the Christmas music we had playing in the background between shoving gumdrops in her mouth like no one was watching her, I think I pulled a gaggillion muscles in my tummy laughing at her.

This is what Christmas is and when she is 16, I doubt she will be as happy to help me with the annual gingerbread house so I soaked it all in. :)

The Perfect Tree.

.

I am a total sucker for all things Christmas. One of the traditions we knew we wanted to honor with our kiddos is picking out and cutting down our tree from a Christmas tree farm. We bundled up and off we went to Dewberry Farm in hunt for the perfect one!

^The picture above is exactly what I had envisioned... Addie running wild down the rows of trees, breathing in the cold winter air and giggling all the way. :)

We even found a Tate-sized tree! It is so wild to think that next Christmas, we will have two little ones at the farm with us!

And finally, the traditional tree on top of the car photo. The tree looks so tiny compared to my huge Mack-Mobile but it is 9 ft tall, my car is just a beast! I think Jason's idea when we bought it was to get as much weight and metal around us as possible as he is all too familiar with my driving. :)

18 Months.

Cannot believe we created such a beautiful little girl on the inside and out.

Thankful.

A lot of folks on Facebook are doing the name-something-you-are-thankful-for-everyday thing and though I haven't been doing it, it doesn't mean that there isn't so much in my life I am thankful for.

Most importantly?

My family. My extended family, my in-laws, my girlfriends that are like sisters.

And especially my own little family. My loving and supportive husband who is truly the greatest man I have ever known, my sweet sassy but tomboyish little girl who makes my heart explode on a daily basis and our sweet baby boy Tate growing in my belly who we have not met yet but already love so very much.

I am building the family I always dreamed of and that is what I am thankful for most of all. Without them I am nothing!

~Addie's Thanksgiving Feast at School~