A weekend celebrating Kiley!!

This weekend was full of Kiley celebrations! On Saturday night some of the wives from our Northwestern Mutual family gave us and another couple, Chris & Robin Collins who are expecting November 15th, a Couples' Baby Shower. Thank you so much to Joy, Katie, Sara, Ashley,and Paula.

Normally Mikey would run from a baby shower, but this one was for him and his daughter, so he had no choice. We also came up with the idea to preoccupy the guys with football, so we kind of had a football themed shower. The shower was at our friends' Tait & Joy Cruse's beautiful home in Frisco. It started at 6pm. Everyone arrived and mingled. The guys drifted off to the media room where college football was playing and the girls mingled in the dining room/living room area.

The table was decorated so beautiful. Joy asked us to bring wedding and baby pictures. They looked so good on the table. All of the food was delicious. Joy made three different kinds of soups to go with all of the chips and dips and other snacks. She also got cupcakes instead of a cake. They were so pretty, and yummy too. I think my Dad ate 4 at the shower and took one home.

After dinner, the boys were called into the living room where they had to taste baby food and guess what flavors they were. According to their faces, they didn't like any of them. Mikey will have to work on those faces, because he will have to convince Kiley that they are yummy. Mikey also needs to learn that "Green Mush" and "Baby Back Ribs" are not baby food flavors.

After their torture was over, Robin and I opened gifts. We got so many nice things. I had never been part of a combined shower with someone else, but it was really fun to share it with someone. It was fun to open gifts with another person and not have everyone staring at just you. It was so much fun to see all of our Northwestern Family. Everyone is so special to us and it is fun to have an excuse to all get together. Thank you to everyone who came and we can't wait for everyone to meet Kiley.

On Sunday, my Mother-in-law, Connie and Sister-in-law, Katie gave us a shower at Mike and Connie's house up in Frisco. Connie invited her friends and family. It was such a special shower. The 3 Mikes went golfing and the girls stayed and enjoyed the shower. The table was so pretty and Connie got these roses that were absolutely gorgeous. She let me take them home and they have opened up so beautifully! I love roses and I think Kiley will too.

We ate chicken salad sandwiches, a 7 layer salad, fruit and cheese cake with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. It was all delicious. After we ate, we opened presents. The first present I opened was the most gorgeous diaper cake I have ever seen. It looked professional. Connie's friend Kathy is very artistic and she did it herself. As you can see, it is gorgeous.

I am sad to say that this was Kiley's last shower, but the good thing is, I think we have gotten everything we need in order to get ready for her arrival. We have a lot of laundry and organizing to do. It was so much fun accepting all of Kiley's gifts =). Thank you to Connie and Katie for a lovely shower. You girls are great hostess'. We are so lucky to be loved and supported by so many close friends and family. It makes this parenting thing seem a little less intimidating.

Speaking of parenting, I know that a baby update is long overdue. Stay tuned this week. I think i have two doctor's appointments, 4 classes and about 4 weeks to catch up on.

Big Baby Shower!!!

On Saturday, my friends Trisha, Gretchen, Hilary and Lisa hosted a baby shower at our house honoring Kiley. Everything was so beautiful and we had a great turnout. The girls did such a great job on everything. The food was delicious and all of the flowers and decorations were perfect. The shower started around 1pm, and amazingly, everyone shows up to baby showers on time. Who would have known? I counted about 41 people. Everyone walked through the house to see the nursery and the girls served drinks while everyone mingled. Then we started the line for the food. We had Mimosas, Tea and Water to drink, and the food, let me tell you about the food. We had chicken salad sandwiches, ham and cheese spirals, cream cheese rollups, fruit salad, chicken salad, crackers and cream cheese dip, pink angel and of course a beautiful cake. It was all so yummy. As everyone got food and ate, I started opening presents. I have never opened so many presents in my life! Someone said that I opened presents for an hour and thirty five minutes. I felt like I was going really fast too! Kiley received so much fun stuff. She got some big things, like her travel system stroller and car seat, pack n play, jogging stroller, bouncer, swing and booster chair. She also received things for her nursery, like sheets, diapers, pacifiers, bottles, sheet savers, burp cloths, receiving blankets, and much more. She received such cute little clothes too. She is going to be so adorable with her new dresses and outfits. My Mom got little onesies in multiple sizes monogrammed with her name. They are too cute. Gretchen came up with this super cute idea. She put an insert into the invitation asking everyone to give Kiley their favorite childhood book and write a message to her inside. This was so special. It was so much fun to see what everyone's favorite books were growing up reading the messages. I think I only cried twice, ok maybe 2.5 times. She now has quite a big library. We did get some duplicates, but I sent those home with the grandparents. I am sure she will have her favorites and will want to have them read to her no matter where she is. All of this is so exciting and makes everything seem so much more real. I have such wonderful friends and family and a great support system. Mikey, Kiley and I are so lucky. We thank everyone for coming and all of the great gifts we received. Having a baby is very new to us and our family, and there is so much that we need. Everything we received on Saturday will help us out so much. We love you all.

I will work on posting some pictures of the nursery and also some pictures of us trying to organize everything after the shower. Man, was that overwhelming. We received things that I didn't even know we needed. There sure is a lot of baby stuff out there!

Work Shower

Last Week after our All Hands Meeting at work, my team threw me and Kiley a shower. It was such a nice surprise, I have never had anyone at work do anything like this for me. I recently joined a new team and the girls took charge! After our meeting was over, we had cheese and fruit and cake. They collected money and my VP matched the collection and they got us a nice gift certificate to Babies R Us. It was so nice of everyone. The cake was so beautiful and yummy. It was half chocolate and half vanilla. Of course I went for the chocolate!! I took the booties home to my Dad, he loves sweets. I also got a few things from other coworkers, like the Diaper Genie II Elite and some fun things that Kiley needs and will love to play with. This was a nice start to my showers and I am looking forward to the other ones!

Family Birthday Dinner

On Wednesday night, I finally got to celebrate my birthday with my family. Mom, Dad, and Mycah came over for a quick cocktail and I opened my last present from them. Mom & Dad got me my Coach Diaper Bag/Purse!! I am so excited. It has been a struggle to justify it to Mikey, but I think it is well worth the money =). After everyone was done with their cocktail, we headed North to Fireside Pies. I had been to the one on Henderson a few times, but wanted to try the new one. We met Mikey's parents there too, so there were seven of us.

Their outside seating wasn't near as big as the one on Henderson, so we had to sit inside. Then I should have known from the beginning when they sat 7 of us at a 6 person table, it was going to be an interesting experience. We were so crammed into the booth, both on top of the table and underneath. Just our one salad and drinks took up the whole table, how were we going to fit 3 pizzas on the table. We hardly had any leg room, I couldn't even scoot up to the table to eat. We asked if we could trade tables and they told us it would be a 45 minute wait. So we decided to stick it out. The salad was delicious and the pizza was pretty good too. I think I let the uncomfortableness affect my experience with the food. After we paid and tipped (key word tipped) we asked the waitress to take our picture and she was very rude and said that she had other tables to tend to and someone else could do it. That just topped off the night, I will not go back there.

So to end on a good note, my wonderful inlaws celebrated with us too. They live up in Frisco, so the drive was very short and sweet for them. After dinner, I opened my presents from them. They got me some "switch flops". They are so cool. The top of the flip flop is velcro and you can change out the ribbon on them. They are so neat. I wish I would have thought of it. They also got me some fun things from their road trip to Colorado a few weeks ago and a gift certificate to my favorite place...Nordstrom, which is wear I got my baby shower dress. Yes, I still shop there 8 months pregnant!! In the end, being with my family is the best part, regardless of the silly restaurant. I had a great 28th birthday!

Birthday Dinner with the Girls!

Last night, my girlfriends (Tamra, KC, Kelli, & Courtney) took Shawna and I out for our birthdays. Shawna's birthday is the 11th and mine is the 12th, so we usually combine our birthday dinners. We went to Maggiano's and it was so yummy. Do you see the trend in restaurants for my birthday? Italian, Italian, and Italian. Hmmm, I wonder what I have been craving lately. We have been celebrating our birthdays together for probably about 5 years now. I look forward to my special birthday dinner with the girls every year! The girls got me some gift cards to Destination Maternity, some cute/comfy PJ's for after I have the baby, and a book that I wanted. I made out big time and can't wait to go shopping again! I love you girls!!

The rest of our weekend....

The rest of our weekend was pretty low key for the most part. We woke up on Saturday morning and watched some of the hurricane coverage. It is hard to believe that it hit so close to home. We know so many people that live in Houston and Galveston and we are so glad that they are ok. We were anticipating the bad weather all day, but we only got a little bit of rain and wind, nothing too major. Saturday afternoon, I drove to Flower Mound to pick up my wedding album. Yes, we have been married for a year and a half and I just now got my album. It is quite a process, but it turned out amazing. When you see it, you will understand why it was sooo worth the wait! I am so excited to finally have it, my wedding is complete. Just in time for baby!

On Saturday night, we went over to Brandon & Sara's for football and game night. We played a movie trivia game and Mikey was awesome. Of course, this is the one time he wasn't on my team, but I am glad to know that the 1000's of movies that we own actually came in handy=). On Sunday morning, we did some things around the house and then headed to our first childbirth class. Apparently Mikey and I think we only live about 10 minutes from the hospital. We have yet to be at any of our classes on time. Sunday we left at 120pm for our 130pm class. Yes, the classes are at Baylor Dallas...downtown. Hopefully we will time things better when it was the real deal. So we get to class a little late, but just in time to introduce ourselves. After introductions, the instructor starts talking about the layout of the class and I realize I have had yet another "pregnancy moment". She talks about what we will cover today, then what we will cover next Sunday and the next. I had no idea that this class was more than one day. I looked at the brochure and sure enough, the end date is September 28th....oops. Anyway, the first day of class was good. We were home by 530pm with plenty of time to cook dinner and watch some more football. I made chicken enchiladas for dinner and Mikey said he would spend any Sunday with me in Childbirth Classes over watching football if I cooked yummy dinners for him, so that is the plan =).

Another Surprise!!

Mikey just brought home $200 for me to shop with today to find something to wear tonight!! This day just keeps getting better and better!!

The rest of the day....

Starting where I left off on Friday....after my prenatal massage, I met Mom at the house for lunch. She brought over Lenny's subs and they were delicious. After we ate, we went back to the nursery, and she had snuck in while I was at my massage and added a few little details and left some presents!! I opened two of my presents. She got me the cutest maternity outfit (leggings & top) and some super cute brown wedge shoes to match. They are the perfect height and I can still walk in them 8 months pregnant! Mycah came over after she was done with work and the three of us went to the maternity store to shop. I tried on some dresses for my shower, but didn't find anything. I did buy some new maternity jeans (Joe's) with the money Mikey gave me, and I picked out a few PJs, nursing bras, and tops that I will go back and get later. Mycah had fun with the belly pillow at the store, I will post pictures of Mycah pregnant when she sends them to me. They are too funny. She reminds me of Juno.

After shopping, we went back to the house to get ready. Mikey came home from his golf tournament and Mycah helped me get ready for dinner. After we were both ready, Mikey took me to Mi Piaci for my birthday dinner. It was so delicious. I would have loved to sit outside, but it was very warm and humid outside. My birthday isn't over yet...the girls are taking me to Maggiano's on Tuesday Night and I am celebrating with the family at Fireside Pies on Wednesday night!

What I woke up to this morning....

Today is my 28th birthday!! I haven't been looking forward to my birthday too much this year with so much going on with Kiley, and let's face it, I can't do much partying =). Mikey surprised me this morning, and it really feels like my birthday now. There are 28 balloons and the perfume was wrapped (by Nordstrom for those of you who have witnessed Mikey's wrapping jobs), but I got too excited before he could take a picture. The perfume is Chance by Chanel and it smells really good. He also got me a years subscription to Us Weekly! Thanks so much babe, I love you lots!!

I also had some fun birthday text messages, voicemails, emails and IM's. Thanks so much to Mom, Mycah, Gretchen, Stacey, Stacy, Tricia, Kelli, Tamra, KC, Courtney, Brandi, Ana, Trisha, Hilary, Sara, Lisa and Addie!! You all made me feel so special on my very special day! I love you so much and am so lucky to have you in my life.

Stay tuned for more birthday fun. I am working today...boo, but I have a massage scheduled at 1pm (thanks Gretch) and then I am meeting Mom for a late lunch. We are going to do some things to Kiley's room and hopefully do some pre-shopping. By pre-shopping, I mean that I have asked for certain things for my birthday and gift cards, so I won't buy, just look =). Most of you know how much I love to shop (sarcasm), so Mom is going to help me =). Mikey made reservations at Mi Piaci for dinner tonight!!

Weekend Recap...

We had another fun weekend. Friday was pretty laid back. We stayed in and watched movies. We were tired, so we went to bed pretty early. On Saturday, Mikey was "Mr. Active". He woke up at 7am and biked 25 miles, then he walked 2.5 miles with me, swam some laps in the pool and then went to meet Michael Belvin to play tennis. While Mikey was gone, I did some things around the house. I started my book club book and did 3 loads of laundry. We went to 5pm Mass and then went to dinner at Jake's.

After dinner, we went to Shannon and Brendan's Couples shower. They are getting married on November 8th, four days after Kiley is due. Our attendance to the wedding is questionable for obvious reasons, which I am very bummed about, but Shannon and I have been counting down to our big days together. I am always letting her know how long she has left in weeks! We had so much fun at the shower. It was fun seeing all the girls and catching up. Ashley came in town from Houston and one of my old friends from high school, Amy was there with her husband from San Marcos. They had a great turnout. Their friends that hosted the shower live over in the Lake Highlands area and they had a nice setup out in their backyard. We spent the whole evening outside. They had some kind of hacky sack game, so Mikey was occupied for the entire evening, but around midnight, he shut down and was ready to go. All of the physical activity of the day caught up with him. I'm always tired, so he didn't get much argument from me =).

On Sunday morning, we slept in until 10am. We were both exhausted! Mikey hasn't slept past 8am in a long time. I left the house around 11am to meet the girls for brunch. It was kind of last minute, but it turned out to be so much fun. We all met at my friend Stacy's apartment in Plano. Stacey and Stacy assigned each person to bring stuff and it all came together so well. We had Croissants with bacon, egg, cheese and tomato with hash browns, fruit salad and mimosas. It was all delicious and so much fun!

After brunch, I headed over to Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco for a Spouse's Tea for Northwestern Mutual. We have it once a year. It is a chance for all of the new spouses and spouses of new Reps to meet the old spouses. We have such a great support system. I love any chance I get to see the ladies. We are so bummed not to be going on the Southern Summer trip this year, so it was fun to see everyone and meet all of the new girls. While I was gone, Mikey went to the Ranger Game with the guys. When he got home, we watched the Cowboy Game which we recorded. All I have to say is GO COWBOYS!! They looked so good and it was so much fun to watch them!!

31 Week Checkup

Kiley and I had our 31 week checkup on Tuesday. Dr. Stevenson said that everything looks great. My weight and blood pressure were good, and Kiley's heartbeat was 155 bpm. It was very strong and easy to find. It is such a wonderful sound. The doctor went over the various complications that can occur during both a natural and a c-section childbirth and I had to sign forms for each. I was literally signing my life away. It wasn't too comforting, but I know that it is important to be aware of the complications...just in case. Mikey and I look in at Kiley's new room every night after work. We are getting used to having a baby room in our house! Today we are going to meet with her pediatrician. His name is Dr. Nale and his office is at Medical City right by Mikey's office. Kiley and I go back on September 16th for our next checkup. As I look at the calendar this month, it is a big baby month!! We have 3 doctor's appointments, our consultation with the pediatrician, a hospital tour, 4 classes at the hospital, 4 showers, oh and MY BIRTHDAY!! It is going to be a very busy month, but I wanted to get everything in before October so that we can relax and prepare for Kiley's arrival in October.

Kiley's New Room!!

Sunday, August 31st, finally came. I have only been looking forward to it since the day I found out we were pregnant!! We thought it would be fun to include the rest of the family in our fun day. We wanted Kiley's room to come together with a lot of love, and it came together!! Mikey and I started working around 8am, prepping the room. We finished cleaning out the room and closet and getting the furniture ready for assembly. Mom, Dad, Mycah, Mike and Connie all came over on Sunday morning around 10am, and we got right to work. The guys were on furniture duty, and the girls were on painting duty, and I well...I did what I could. I had to include a picture of me getting ready to wash all of the bedding, so that all of you wouldn't think that I just sat around and supervised all day =). I was also the designated picture taker =).

The guys did a great job putting the furniture together. They started with the dresser, then put together the changing table since they had the drawer assembly down and then saved the crib for last. They waited to actually assemble the crib once they got it in the bedroom after the paint dried, so they even fit in some play time in the pool. Putting together furniture is definitely not Mikey's cup of tea, but he did so well. He stayed patient and it all came together great. He is going to be a great Daddie.

The girls tackled the painting. As we were taping around all of the trim, we realized that we did not have any drop cloths (the one that we did have was in the back of Cory's truck from Mycah's move last weekend). So Mom and Connie took a quick trip to Home Depot. Once the drop cloth was down and everything was taped off, the painting began. They did such a great job! Mycah did all of the rolling, and Mom and Connie cut in around all of the edges. I am so happy with the color that we picked. It is exactly what I had in mind! It looks so good up against the black trim and doors and the black furniture. While everyone else was hard at work, I washed all of the bedding and curtains in Kiley's laundry detergent. It smells so good, just like a baby!

Once the paint was dry, the boys moved the furniture in and we started making up the crib. The bedding really came together. I am very excited about it. Mom even ironed the dust ruffle and the sheet. That is probably the last time a sheet will get ironed in our house =).We decided to leave the wall with the black stripe. We thought it would be fun and different. We also kept our wedding shadow box in the room. We thought Kiley would like a picture of her Mommy and Daddie in her room.

We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoy the room. The Black Room is now Kiley's Room. It all seems that much more real when we walk into the room and see all of the purple and the little crib where she will lay in just a few weeks. We still have a lot of detail to do in the room, but we definitely got a good start with the paint, furniture and bedding. I will keep you posted on the progress. I am really looking forward to our showers so that we can fill up all of the drawers!!

Labor Day Weekend!!

It was so nice to have a three day weekend! Especially after getting back from out of town. Friday night we stayed in and watched a couple of movies. Mikey made me sit through Nightmare on Elm Street. I was very proud of myself to sit through a scary movie, but before I could go to bed, I had to watch a happy movie, so we watched Under the Tuscan Sun. Such a great movie! On Saturday, we worked around the house. I unpacked my suitcase and cleaned up the kitchen. I got everything back in order after being gone for a week. It was so fun on Saturday morning to wake up and have College Football on. Even though the Aggies weren't going to be on TV, we were so excited that it is football season again!!

On Saturday night, we went to On the Border on Knox, for our friend Collin's 30th birthday party! His wife, Stephanie, did such a great job planning (with a toddler and a newborn at home)!! The cakes were so pretty, and they even had little "Collin Confetti" on the tables. It was so cute! It was fun to have a night out and eat some good mexican food. The cakes were also delicious. Yes, I said cakes with an "s". Apparently the thing to do these days is to invite your friends to your 30th birthday and you pick up the tab. Not sure who started this trend...but maybe it will change in two years by the time Mikey and I turn 30....it was a very nice treat. Unfortunately the Aggies did not have as good of a night as we did. Two missed field goals...come on! At least we didn't have to watch it....

Sunday was our big day! We started the nursery. I will post a separate blog for this. On Monday we hung around the pool and ate some yummy food. It was nice to have a day at the house with no chores and enjoy the pool and family!