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!!