Christmas Card Photo Shoot Take 1

Hi guys!

I know it's been a while since I posted...and that I am behind on my bump date posts. I have been thinking about it though and do actually have a couple bump pictures to post in this post...you just have to be patient!

Last weekend we took advantage of the lovely fall colors and tried to get some decent pictures worthy of this years Christmas card. Let me just say, it was not such an easy task. First of all, I know I am pregnant, but I feel HUGE in pictures. Second, it was cold and windy so my eyes would not stop watering...which doesn't make for lovely pictures. Y'all, let me just tell you...we took A LOT. I am so thankful that I have a great husband who is always a good sport about this stuff and just smiles for the camera. Love him!

Here are a few:

Kind of like this one but don't know if it's too close up for Christmas cards...thoughts?

Not fond of this one at all, but you can definitely see baby D making an appearance here! 

This one is my favorite...

The leaves are so pretty around our house. I love fall!

And of course, the most photogenic member of our little family-Louie! :) Of course he will be making an appearance on our Christmas cards!

So after our little photo shoot on Saturday we were off running errands and picking up paint. We decided this was the weekend to paint the dreaded kitchen...and now it's done! YAY! The kitchen was a tan/pinkish color when we moved in and we had planned to change it, but it wasn't high on the priority list. Well, insert a pregnancy and a wife with a to-do list before baby arrives and now we have a painted kitchen! I am glad to no longer see the "chicken skin" colored walls as we lovingly referred to them! Can't wait to go home tonight and hang things back on the wall and see everything put together!

Unfortunately, it's a difficult room to photograph so there might not be any before and after pictures...BUT, this is the color:

It's Sherwin Williams, in cargo pant.

Sunday was spent painting, relaxing and working on a little project for the nursery that I will be revealing once complete.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Anniversary Weekend Celebration: Chicago

On Tuesday, October 2nd we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I really just cannot believe it has been 2 whole years already. They say time flies when you are having fun and it honestly has flown by. I've heard that it doesn't ever slow down, especially once you have children...I guess I have been warned!

Last weekend we took off for Chicago (about 3 hours away) for a little anniversary get-away. Stephen's parents were nice enough to stay at our house and take care of sweet Louie so I was actually about to relax and not worry about the fur ball every second. Thank you Dave & Bev for taking such good care of him for us!

On the way to Chicago we stopped in Michigan City to hit the outlet mall. The damage was minimal...as it turns out, shopping isn't as much fun when you are pregnant! Stephen did get some new tennis shoes though and that was the purpose of the detour, so I could it a success. We arrived in Chicago at the perfect time to check into our hotel-The Palmer House Hilton. Rant: I have loved this hotel in the past and this is the 3rd time I have stayed there. This time? It did not impress me at all. Also, I didn't sleep well...now, I don't know if that's the hotels fault or my pregnant body's fault. That has yet to be determined. We did decide to try a new hotel next year though! :)

After checking in, I had planned for us to hit the Willis tower but that just didn't happen. I was feeling so tired and Stephen must have been too because he did not object when I suggested to stay in the room and rest/nap. It was so nice!

After resting up, we headed out to our dinner reservations at Texas De Brazil. The walk there was beautiful along the river:

Have you ever been to Texas De Brazil? Oh my, it was DELICIOUS. I may or may not have dreamed about the meal for a couple nights afterwards. No lie. Here we are waiting for our table:

You have to have desert on your anniversary, right?

Walking back from dinner was even better than walking there. The city is just beautiful at night. Seriously, check these out: (taken with iPhone so the quality is not the best, sorry)

Sunday morning we woke up and checked out of our hotel. After checking out we stopped in the city for breakfast at a little corner cafe. We ate here last year and loved it, but this year they seemed to be out of almost everything. It ended up being good anyways and we enjoyed eating outside in the cool weather. Fall has arrived and I am loving it!

After breakfast, where do you think we headed? If you guess Ikea, you are right! We planned on spending some time shopping for a few things for throughout the house and for sweet Baby D. The trip was a total success and we were there for several hours. I really don't see how you could go to Ikea and not be there for at least 2 hours. It's just crazy huge!

Sunday night when we got home the first thing we did was love on Louie. We also settled in to watch The Amazing Race before bed. Monday was coming fast after a busy and fun weekend! As it turns out though, I took a sick day from work due to pregnancy sickies so Monday was actually a nice day spent sleeping in and watching many, many episodes of Grey's Anatomy for me!

Tuesday at work, these beauties arrived:

Aren't they beautiful!?

Tuesday night we decided to use a gift certificate we had for a restaurant in town. It was nice not to cook or clean! We took some pictures before leaving and even made Louie join us for one!

Stephen will probably want to kill me for posting the above picture, but it makes me laugh each time I look at it. He makes the funniest faces when I am testing lighting for photos, it just cracks me up!

And lastly (and not anniversary related), a photo of one of our front tress. It is changing colors and so beautiful! Now it is almost all orange and will soon turn to yellow! I just love fall!

Well, if you made it through this super long anniversary re-cap-congratulations and thanks for reading! I am behind on my weekly bump date, but I hope to have that ready to post tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Vacation {part 5}

Welcome back!

Friday was a sad day only because it was our last full day in Florida. We slept in and skipped breakfast deciding to get an early lunch at the Orange Tree in the Orange Park Mall. Ya ll, they have they best chili cheese dogs I have ever had and I had been craving one for weeks. I am so not lying about that! I will be in big trouble one day if these chili cheese dogs are one of my pregnancy cravings. Heaven help us!

After all of us eating our weight in hot dogs, we did a little shopping at Old Navy where we found some really good deals! After shopping Stephen dropped me off at the nail place for a pedicure. Oh.My.Stars. It was totally awesome and felt so good! I used to get pedicures a lot in Florida...like almost every 2 weeks, but in Indiana there really isn't a need during the winter since people look at you like you are crazy if you wear sandals, ha! I didn't expect the women at the nail shop to remember me, but they sure did. It was nice to see familiar smiling faces and be treated just like an old customer...which I am!

Around the time my pedicure was finished Mom & Dad were back from Disney so we headed over to their house. It was so different walking in because they had the floors replaced and I have been used to this house with carpet for the last 23+ years. It was different to see, but it does look very nice:

We decided to get some dinner and so some shopping. After begging (literally) Hunter decided to come with us! :)

We made stops at Kohl's, Ross, Five Guys Burger and Fries, Wal-Mart, Grams house and Rita's Ice before heading back to Mom & Dad's house. Hunter's girlfriend Jessica snapped some family pictures of us:

She took a lot, but this one is my favorite! :)

I snapped a picture of Hunter & Jessica, too!

Bristol and Chance were happy to see me, it had been awhile!

After saying our goodbye's we headed back to Gram's house to load up the car. We wanted to leave early but ended up leaving a little later than originally planned. A 5:30am departure meant it would be dark when we left for home and dark when we got home...ugh. Thankfully Stephen drove the entire way (again!!!), and I was able to read a book cover to cover. I'm telling you if you give me a diet coke, a good book and a bag of gummy bears I can be happy all day long! Oh, the book I read on the drive home was The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks. I thought it was amazing and a little different than his other books that I have read. Have you read it?

Here are a few pictures from the drive home:

How can he be comfortable enough to sleep like that?!

Well, that's the end of our vacation re-caps. We had a great time and really enjoyed the time with family. It's always nice to see people you love and eat the food you love too!

Vacation {part 3}

Wednesday morning we surprised Gram by showing up at her house. Her face was priceless, I loved it! After explaining our concerns about Louie and watching him gobble up his food it was clear that he was comfortable at her house. We left him there while we ran a couple errands around town since we had the time and opportunity to do so. Our first stop was Zaxby's which was on our list of places we wanted to eat while in FL...or just south of KY in this case. Lunch was delicious and just a good as I remembered...Zaxby's should really bottle and sell their Zax sauce!

After filling our bellies we hit Discount Tire for a balance and rotation before getting a car wash. We started this trip with a clean car but you wouldn't believe the bugs you hit on a 16 hour drive, ha!

We grabbed an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse with Gram and Aunt Barb before heading to the cemetery. We chose to eat dinner earlier because it was raining and we wanted to try and not be at the cemetery while it was raining. Gram and Barb needed to change the flowers on both my Great-Grandma's graves and my Grandfather's too.

Being there was incredibly sad and made me miss being able to just stop by whenever I wanted to as I would if I lived in Florida...in the end though, I am so glad this was something we were able to do because it slipped my mind the last time we were in Florida and this time is precious to me.

We were able to beat the rain for a period of time but it did start to sprinkle on us...

but the rain made way for this beautiful rainbow and sunset. God's beauty and love were very evident!

Later in the evening we made a stop at Home Depot for Gram to pick out a paint color for her kitchen. She is so excited to be painting and updating some things and it is so cute!

After Home Depot, Stephen and I met an old friend of mine for yogurt at TCBY. While Matt and I stay in touch via email almost weekly, it was so nice to catch up face to face for a change! 

It was a great day of vacation...

Stay tuned for part 4 tomorrow!