Hostess Gifts

My baby shower was this weekend and it turned out wonderful. I'll get to the actual shower in another post, but I wanted to show you the gifts I made for my hostesses. I saw this idea on Pinterest and really wanted to use it for my gifts. You can see the pin here. The recipe is for pomegranate sugar scrub. The directions did not give exact measurements on the recipe so I guesstimated WAY too much.

 There really wasn't much to making the scrub. I played with the soap and sugar in a large bowl until I got the right consistency and then plopped it in the jars. For 15 jars, I used around 5lbs. of sugar and even less soap.

I bought the jars at Hobby Lobby and they were the perfect size for hand scrubs.

When it was all said and done I only used this much soap to create 15 jars of hand scrub. I now have a plentiful stock of dish soap for the home.

Chris helped me create these adorable labels that used a British bird from my baby shower invitations.

 They read: Thank you for hosting our shower

 Savannah, Chris, & Eli

pomegranate sugar scrub

 

The jars turned out to be the perfect gift for the shower. They smelled so good upon opening them and can't wait to hear how my hostesses enjoyed them.

I recommend this gift idea to anyone wanting to make a unique gift or just for a girls night in.

Things to Instill in Eli...and future kiddos

As we get closer to Eli's due date, we've had more in-depth conversations of how we want to raise our children. We have talked about discipline, life lessons, nutrition, and education. First and foremost, we want to instill a Catholic foundation in our children. Our spirituality is a big part of our lives and we want the same for our children. An active prayer life is a great way to lay the foundation for our kiddos to begin a close relationship with Our Lord.

One of the blogs that I follow posted "10 Prayers to Teach Catholic Children". I attached the link on the picture if you would like to see the prayers.

They have the traditional prayers Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. They also have the Memorare, St. Michael Prayer, and Prayer Before Meals. 

This is a great bookmark to go back to when our children are a bit older and we can start to say them daily.

Maternity Pictures

I received my maternity pictures back this week and I am so pleased with them. Shelley with Little Bird Photography did a superb job. She always finds a way to not only capture the physical, but also the emotional. I highly recommend her to anyone and can't wait to use her again when Eli comes in a few weeks!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures

  Doris and Mr. Bates are such an important part of our lives that I couldn't imagine not including them in the pictures

 Poor Shelley had to stand on an old rickety ladder to get this shot

 Just me and my bump in an old barn at my sis's in-law's

 We waited a long time to get the sun just right for the silhouette shots

 

 The sonogram picture

 Shelley combined these two pictures and I love them both

I plan on framing a few of these for my baby shower and creating a photo book to remember this time in my life. I know as soon as Eli gets here I am going to miss having him in my belly. I'm glad that these pictures show how happy we are to be welcoming this little guy in our lives.

34 Weeks

34 weeks! Wahoo!! I am definitely in the home stretch. I get a bit more tired everyday, but with the help of my principal allowing me to wear slippers and put my feet up whenever I need to, I think I will make it! 

Saturday, I was cutting fruit when all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain across my spine right below my ribs. It hurt so bad it knocked me down to the ground. I cried in pain as Chris helped me lie on the floor and called my best friend who is a nurse and asked for her guidance. After calming down I realized that it was just muscular and Eli was still moving. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch and it has been slowly getting better since.

Smorgasbord #8

My sis came over last week to put some final touches on my baby shower invitations. She brought Miss Marley and I got to snuggle with her for a bit. 

She looked so cute in her outfit and bow.

She let me take a few pictures of her, but the dogs were interfering and you can see that she was frightened as the pictures go on.

Picture #1...not so bad

Picture #2...get me out of here!!

And here came the dogs. They just wanted to sniff and lick all over her. Marley didn't like that too much and I had to quickly rescue her.

I am so ready for fall. I resisted putting up Halloween decor for now, but really wanted my house to start smelling like fall. I popped open the Oatmeal Cookie Scentsy bar and let my house smell like a coffee shop on a brisk fall morning. It smells divine in my house right now.

I think I'm holding off a little bit longer for the Halloween decorations because this will be the last holiday that I decorate for before kiddos come along. Eli's due date is just a week before Halloween and it's a little bittersweet as I wrap up pregnancy and onto motherhood in a few weeks. I really enjoy putting up all of the decorations and I know it will be even more fun to put them up with my kids and make memories. Call me overly sentimental, but I think I will put my Halloween decorations up a little slower this year and relish the last season of putting them up by myself.

I found this Fall Bucket List on Pinterest and couldn't resist it. There are some cute ideas on here that I would like to do, for instance: drink apple cider, make a fall mantel, pumpkin crafts, and give to a food bank.

What do you see on the bucket list that you would like to do? Add anything not listed?

Pregnancy Brain

Pregnancy brain comes in many shapes and forms for me. Sometimes it's forgetting what I was going to do when I walk into a room, other times it's looking for my keys for five minutes and then realizing that they were in my hand the entire time. This time it's forgetting to add pictures to my blog.

These two pictures are from last Sunday at my grandad's birthday party. Miss Marley was sleeping and cozied up next to me and her cousin, Eli. As I count down the final weeks I realize that there will not be many more pictures like this.

As I said in my last post, Chris stayed in the house with the babies and we shuffled them around. He had a likening for my cousin's baby, Tinsley, and snuggled with her.

She liked the blanket over her head while she slept and Chris continued to surf the web on his phone.

And finally, you knew it was coming, my swelling feet. I like to call them sasquatch feet. By the end of the day they look like sausages that are about to burst out of the casing. 

My principal told me that I can wear house shoes throughout the day and to put my feet up, but it's so hard to sit down and direct a class. When I teach I am very animated and full of energy and it's very hard to sit there and display that same energy.

(I later painted my toes. They look a lot better now.)

In my next post I will update with my 34 week check-up!

Worn Out

Still recovering from this crazy weekend. My eyes are heavy as I type this on a Monday night.  I'm working on last minute touch ups for school this week and need to make Chris dinner, still. I went out to eat with my parents, sis, and Marley to celebrate my mom's birthday this evening. Chris is working late so he couldn't make it to dinner. 

Sitting at a local Mexican restaurant this evening and looking at my mom's margarita made me wish I could have sucked down that delicious glass. I've never craved alcohol as much as I do now being pregnant and can't have any. It's definitely a mind over matter thing, but I will be waiting in line to have my first alcohol beverage as soon as I get the green light.

I accomplished just about everything off my weekend list, except for going to Sam's and Marley's Baptism. I was just too tired Saturday afternoon to finish up the last of my errands before taking maternity pics and opted for a nap instead of Sam's. As for Marley's Baptism, my BIL had to go out of town for police training on Sunday in Mississippi and had to leave before the Baptism could take place. My sis postponed the Baptism for a time when it works for everyone. I did already buy Marley's Baptism gift from Chris and I so that is at least done.

Maternity pictures went great. It was extremely hot, but we did get a nice breeze towards the middle of the shoot. The sun was absolutely perfect for pictures and the dogs behaved very well. Shelley took pictures for almost two hours for us. I can't wait to see the results of her work.

And finally, we celebrated my grandad's 75th birthday yesterday at my aunt's house. The bigger kids, by bigger I mean 3-8 year olds, swam in the pool and the babies stayed in the house. I decided to stay in the house with the uncles, a few moms, and Chris. We played passed the babies around whenever one got fussy. I was surprised that Chris put his hands out to hold babies and shoosh them back to calmness. It got me a bit more excited to see him in action as a dad. 

I have my 34 week check-up this week. Praying that everything is looking good and that Eli is just chilling and enjoying his last 6 weeks in the womb.

Getting Ready for Another Busy Weekend

This coming weekend looks like a non-stop whirlwind. But, it's all for good things.

I just found out today that our pet parlor is no longer open on Saturdays. My dogs desperately need a bath and their nails clipped. When I called to see if they had any openings for tomorrow they said no, but would let me know if there were any cancellations. They asked for my dogs' names and when I said Doris and Mr. Bates they said they could easily squeeze them in. Funny thing is that every time I call they are always booked up, but when I mention my dogs' names they always make room for them. I guess they are popular at the pet parlor. I have to get up a bit earlier to get them there by 7am. My dad is helping us out and picking them up when once they are all prettied up.

Friday night we are heading to the local bar for a friend's birthday party. Saturday morning, I am going to Mass with my CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) sisters and breakfast. We get together the first Saturday of the month. We attended our CRHP retreat 5 years ago and just recently started getting together monthly. It's really nice to catch up with all of them and go to Mass together.

After breakfast, I am getting my hair done and then heading to Cedar Hill to get a few needed items for school and my upcoming baby shower. That evening I am taking maternity pictures. Chris and the doggies are coming along for the pictures, too. Our wedding photographer, Shelley Kruse with Little Bird Photography is taking our pictures. I'm so excited to work with her again. She has done a fantastic job for us time and again. I like that she's been with us throughout our journey, so far.

On Sunday morning, we are going to Miss Marley's Baptism at our church. Chris and I are her godparents and accept the responsibility of guiding her in her faith. We are so happy that Brianna and Shelby chose us and we take this role seriously. Our Baptism class helped us realize where this sacrament originates and why it is so important. The class we took is good for up to a year, so it also counted for Eli's Baptism.

And finally, Sunday afternoon we are celebrating my Grandad's 75th birthday. The family is all getting together and spending the afternoon with each other. I am making whoopie pies, as usual. It will be wonderful to end this crazy weekend relaxing with my family before another week begins.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! Any have big or interesting plans?

West Fest 2013

We just celebrated West Fest 2013 this weekend. It was a little different being 8 months pregnant (which meant no pivo, aka beer), but we had a great time visiting and enjoying the atmosphere.

Our new Friday night West Fest tradition is to go to Pizza House of West. It's a great way to kick off the festival. We always get skunk eggs. Skunk eggs are a deep fried concoction of bacon, cheese, jalapenos, and a few other things. They are delicious and full of flavor.

We stayed on the campgrounds again and borrowed a camper from our friend's parents. It was a really nice camper and we're very thankful that they let us borrow it for the weekend.

On Saturday morning, we made breakfast, or should I say Tasha made breakfast. She made enough taquitos to last us the rest of the weekend so she wouldn't have to cook breakfast again.

The management does a great job of putting friends together in the RV spots. We were right across from the rest of the "Ennis crew". Our friends put up a Czech flag to add to the Westivities.

After breakfast, we headed to Mynar's Bar to hear a polka band jam session and chill with a few beers. Ok, I had water, but I wanted to imagine that it was a dark, cold Shiner.

This is where we usually run into old friends and really get into the West Fest mood.

Getting ready to head back to the grounds for some more polka music

Miss Marley came to her first West Fest and did so well. We kept her cool with a pad that stayed cool for hours. She listened to the music and even danced a few songs with her grandparents.

Me and my bestie listening to my dad's band. She usually stays the entire weekend with us, but other things came up and she could only stay one day. I have so much fun with my bestie at West Fest.

Although Marley was a trooper, she was usually like this on her cooling pad.

On Saturday night, Brave Combo always brings a great crowd and party. By this point, I was pretty tired from the heat and being on my feet all day, but stayed to listen to the music and dance a bit. I drank 7 bottles of water throughout the day, if anyone was wondering.

Enjoying a fun night

On Sunday, my cousin came with her husband's family from West and stopped to say hello. Her little girl on the left and her cousin were very interested in Marley. I thought this was so cute.

Sunday was a hard day. The heat was really wearing on me and my feet were starting to look like sasquatch feet. We took it easy and chilled at the camper until the late afternoon and then headed to the grounds. I satisfied my pregnancy cravings with a Spudzilla (potato skins) and snow cone. I wanted to stay a bit longer to hear Cory Morrow end the night, but my body was really tired and I decided to go to bed instead. 

This was the best way to describe how everyone was feeling Monday morning.

West Fest was a lot of fun, but it wears everyone out by the time it ends. 

We are already talking about how we will arrange our sleeping quarters for next year: possibly getting our own camper with my family. My mom has even said that she would take the kids back to the hotel while we enjoyed the festival.

 Can't wait to bring Eli to his first West Fest in 2014!

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