Baby Girl & Momma Weekend

Well, for my first official weekend knowing that Baby Layman is a precious baby girl, we were home alone and filled our time doing some super fun things! Hubby headed out late on Wednesday night and has spent the last few days golfing in Colorado for his annual golf trip.

We went with my parents' to watch the final installment of Harry Potter...I was definitely satisfied with the way they ended the series.

Thanks to Hubby...I enjoyed a spa morning with my momma and baby girl. We started with pedicures...

...and finished off with massages.

My first official prenatal massage. I told Hubby he might be in trouble, the massage was heaven!

We finished off the day with some shopping for some baby girl clothes, Dillards was having one of their big sales and we bought several things that will work for next summer when Baby Girl is in 6-9 months clothes...and I think also making some decisions on baby furniture...

I spent the evening at my parents' house where mom & I discussed options for the crib bedding...I think we may have decided to find some fabric and make the perfect customized set on our own!

Today I went to church, and have spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the house. Hubby will be home in a few short hours and I can't wait to see him. Maybe we'll finally be able to decide on a name for this precious little baby girl!

Lucy Love ~ 19 Weeks

Well this photo was technically taken at 19 weeks and 4 days, with just a little delay in posting...I mean, there was just a little bit of celebrating going last night, so cut me some slack!

19w4d

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well...the days of no-weight gain dr's appointments are finished. I've debated about putting my actual gains on the blog...but at this point I've decided to go ahead and include it because it honestly may not get written down anywhere else. So...I'm officially up about 9 lbs from my starting weight 19 weeks ago. Which truly only makes sense with the way my appetite has been going crazy!

Gender: We're having a precious little baby girl! We don't have names picked out, and once they are finalized we'll certainly share them. I realize we must come up with something very soon...otherwise this child may very well be Lucy forever, whether we like it or not!

Movement: YES!!! A ton of it! The first big movement came on Friday, July 22nd just one day before we turned 19 weeks. It was so incredibly obvious and now that I know what I'm feeling, I feel small little flutters all the time. And geez...it's no surprise, the ultrasound tech had a hard time catching our little girl in the beginning because she was moving around so much! I guess that could have been partially due to the 20 oz of Dr. Pepper I drank beforehand in order to "wake up" the baby! At the appointment yesterday, the dr. mentioned that one of the reasons I felt movement somewhat later is due to the fact the placenta is in the front...not a problem, just a fact. I guess that can shield some of the movement. Now I'm just waiting until the movement is strong enough for Nick to feel it as well!

Sleep: Still pretty great...I've transition to sleeping with my Snoogle and when I tried to sleep without it last night, my peaceful sleep was a disaster. I woke up at 2ish...switched out my regular pillows for my Snoogle and slept peacefully the rest of the night!

What I miss: Cold turkey sandwiches, caesar salad, raw cookie dough..this definitely hasn't changed. I've always been the one to lick the bowl when making anything, and that just isn't possible right now...no brownie batter, cake batter, pie dough, or cookie dough for me! ;o(

Cravings: Still fresh fruit...and honestly anything! I'm really having to watch my food intake because my appetite is ridiculous right now, and I certainly can't afford to gain 9 lbs every month until Baby Girl Layman arrives!

Symptoms: My expanding waist line is certainly the most noticeable symptom, but the slight back pain & round ligament pain is still around every once in awhile. Otherwise I'm still feeling great!!!

Maternity Clothes: Well I've yet to actually buy more than one or two actual "maternity" items and that's only because they were on Clearance. I did buy a few new dresses yesterday that shoudl work through the entire pregnancy and even afterwards! I'm so thankful for the dress/tunic, legging trend! Bella Bands are being used with practically every pair of capri pants, jeans, dress pants, etc. My tops are still all my regular tops, but I'm definitely opting for the ones that are a little longer to provide enough coverage for my baby bump.

Best Moment this week: Wow...I'm not even sure where to start! Was it the moment I first felt Baby Girl Layman, or the ultrasound and seeing the incredible miracle growing inside me, or feeling so incredibly loved & blessed by the 30 plus people who filled our home and cheered as we discovered Grandma's (aka Gigi's) intuition was correct and Lucy was indeed a little girl? Wow...it's been a week full of incredibly joyful times and I can't wait to see what else God has in store for our precious family of 3!

After the ultrasound, with a few photos...and the prized, but sealed, envelope! Apparently I dressed appropriately for the occasion!

Baby Gear Advice: This week, what about books...not childrens' books but now advice about raising little girls. They could be for either myself or for Hubby, being the daddy of a little princess!

And of course, here's the belly photo, maybe one of the best ones so far! Way to go Hubs!

Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice...

That's what LITTLE GIRLS are made of!!!

The baby affectionately known as Lucy, is indeed a baby girl!

Hubby & I are certainly shocked (or at least I am, I was definitely leaning boy), but are so ecstatic to welcome a beautiful baby girl into this world!

There will be many more details of this fabulous party to come. Hubby & I were so blessed to have over 30 of our family & friends join us for the big reveal...God is so good!

Tuesday Tidbits ~ Lucy Style

It's a huge week around the Layman household, we're counting down the hours until we find out whether precious Lucy is indeed a sweet little girl or a precious little boy! So a few quick baby tidbits while we all wait not-so-patiently...

~The OB's office nearly gave me my first pregnancy heart attack! My cell phone rang this morning at work and recognizing the dr.'s number, I quickly stepped out to answer. The receptionist on the other line proceeded to inform me that their ultrasound tech was going to be out of the office on Wednesday (cue 5 second freakout) but could I come in on Wednesday morning (cue deep exhale)! Thankfully we'll be having our ultrasound at 8:45 am which will actually give the baker more time to finish the cake...talk about a quick panic attack!

~Jennifer, my dear friend and mother of two, was incredibly generous and before heading off to a consignment store offered me some like-new baby needs!

First up, the Snoogle Body Pillow...she only used it for the last bit of her last pregnancy and it's in practically perfect condition. And she's one of my best friends, so I'm definitely not worried about using her pillow! ha! I know I'm going to get a ton of use out of this further along in pregnancy, I keep waking up in the night paranoid that I've been sleeping on my back...not to mention the slight back pains that have been appearing recently!
Next up is the Baby Einstein Activity Gym. This seriously looks like it just came off the shelf and I know it will be perfect for Baby Layman during tummy time for some great stimulation! I'm so thankful for generous friends...I got both of these things at a fraction of the cost they would have been brand new!

~I also thought I would go ahead and share the invites we sent for our gender reveal party tomorrow. We ordered them from tinyprints and I LOVE them!!! I think it's made everyone so excited for the big reveal! We're decorating in pink & blue of course & buying pizza for everyone to have a quick meal before the star of the party...the cake! We've got a few things planned but you can bet the highlight will definitely be when Nick & I cut into the cake.

~And because I just couldn't wait until the pregnancy update this week...I felt the baby move!!! Woohoo! We were driving home from dinner on Friday night and I made Nick be quiet because I felt the most indescribable feeling in my stomach! I can't even describe it to you...but there is no doubt in mind. It was such a random time but I am confident that I felt Baby Layman kick for the first time. I've felt movements a few other times in the past few days, but nothing so pronounced as Friday night...maybe it was the ice cream I had for dessert! ha!

T-Minus 12 hours until the ultrasound!!!

Another Hot Weekend Rewind

Ughhh...it was hot, hot, hot again this weekend! I know there are so many of you that are dealing with this extreme heat and it's about to get ridiculous! We have had nearly 40 straight days with temps in the 90s, which makes this the 4th hottest July on record...it hasn't been this hot, for so long since the early 1900s! Yikes!

Ok, enough whining about the temps...now onto our pretty fab weekend! Friday we had dinner with one of my best friends from college and her new husband. This was the first time for Hubby & I to spend time with them as a couple and it was a fabulous evening. We had dinner at Outback and then headed to our fav local frozen custard place! Fail #1 of the weekend at taking photos...

Saturday morning I headed to work while Hubby was at the golf course. We spent the afternoon relaxing in the air conditioning and building up our strength for the night ahead...an outdoor wedding in these crazy temps! The wedding was for my dear sister-in-law's little sister and the wedding was short, quick, and to the point...which is just what we needed with heat indices in the low 100s and absolutely no breeze! I wanted to grab some photos of Hubby & I dressed up with our cute baby bump...Hubby looks pretty great, I on the other hand...Fail #2 of the weekend for photos!

Hot Mess #1

Hot Mess #2 with Bump

And my fabulous parents...how did they manage not to look like a hot mess?!?

Sunday we headed to church and grabbed a quick lunch courtesy of an Old Chicago Groupon! Side note: I love Groupon! We spent the afternoon doing various things around the house before welcoming some friends for dinner! We had a fabulous casual evening with hamburgers, homemade fries, and fresh peach shortcake for dessert! YUMMM!!! It was all so delish! Again no photos...it's almost too hot to even think about snapping pictures! Fail #3 for photo taking!

Thankfully there are some clouds in the sky today, but unfortunately I don't think any rain will be falling from them!

I hope everyone is able to stay as cool as possible this week! It's a big week for us...Gender Ultrasound followed by the Gender Reveal Party!

Mercies in Disguise

A song that really spoke to me last night as I pulled into the driveway...Happy Friday everyone!

Lucy Love ~ 18 Weeks

Today we're 18 weeks and 5 days...but let's just pretend it's the beginning of 18 weeks.

18w5d

Total Weight Gain/Loss: No idea...next week will be the moment of truth. The appetite is seriously gone crazy! I've really been watching how much I eat each day, trying to eat at least 3 snacks a day with my goal of at least 2 of them being very healthy.

Gender: Your guess is as good as ours, but next week is the big gender ultrasound! I can't believe that in less than a week we'll know if it's Baby Girl Layman or Baby Boy Layman! We're both so excited for our gender reveal party! This may possibly be the last week for "Lucy" Love--or maybe I'll just continue that throughout anyway! ;o)

Movement: Nope, not yet! I've felt a few flutters that might possibly be a bit of movement, but nothing major yet. I'm keeping the dr's words in the back of my mind that it could be at 20 weeks or a little beyond before a first time mom recognizes those movements as what they really are. Patience, patience, patience...

Sleep: Is still great, but I've definitely been getting up more often to use the bathroom! I also had a great friend contact me this week about her body pillow. She only used it for a little while & is willing to pass it on. I'm thinking this will definitely help me out, I keep waking up a little paranoid that I'm sleeping on my back...even though when I wake up I'm still on my side.

What I miss: Cold turkey sandwiches, caesar salad, raw cookie dough..this definitely hasn't changed. I've always been the one to lick the bowl when making anything, and that just isn't possible right now...no brownie batter, cake batter, pie dough, or cookie dough for me! ;o(

Cravings: Still nothing crazy in the cravings department but if I had to pick something right now I'd say fresh fruit. It seems like I could just eat piece after piece of fruit, which I guess if I'm going to have a craving is a good one to have. I've been keeping bananas, peaches, nectarines, pineapple chunks, red grapefruit, etc. on hand to take to work for a snack and also to have in the evenings when I'm craving something sweet. The only issue with fresh fruit is that it really doesn't fill you up very well, so I've been trying to include something with protein as well. I want to watch what I eat, but I also know that healthy weight gain is important for Lucy!

Symptoms: My expanding waist line is certainly the most noticeable symptom, but the slight back pain & round ligament pain is still around every once in awhile. Otherwise I'm still feeling great!

Maternity Clothes: Bella Bands are being used with practically every pair of capri pants, jeans, dress pants, etc. The only thing that I don't have to wear them with are my new shorts I purchased a few weeks ago. My tops are still all my regular tops, but I'm definitely opting for the ones that are a little longer to provide enough coverage for my baby bump. I've already decided that leggings, dresses, and tunics will be my best friends in the fall!

Best Moment this week: He may kill me for saying this, but I would say that the best moment this week is Nick starting to talk to the baby. It might just be good night baby or bye bye baby in the mornings, but it seriously is the most adorable thing & I just love hearing his love for our child. I know he's going to be an incredible daddy! And of course all the gender reveal plans are being finalized, I stopped by the cake place yesterday & they are so excited to be a part of our fun!

Baby Gear Advice: This week, what about car seats. It seems that according to Baby Bargains, my two best options are Graco SnugRide or the Chicco KeyFit. I have one way that I'm leaning right now, but it's really for no reason other than style. Any opinions from all you experienced mom's out there?

I'm loving all this advice! The suggestions for strollers, baby monitors, and baby furniture have been so helpful!

And of course, here's the belly photo with a complete head this time, but a blurry face & a cheesy smile...thanks for the suggestion Hubby! ;o) I also have no idea why I'm leaning backward, it seems like I always do this in the bare belly photos!

First Time Guest Post @ L I V E J O Y F U L

Good morning everyone! Not much today except for my FIRST GUEST POST!!!!

Jenn over @ LIVEJOYFUL is hosting a series introducing some of hew new blog friends...and she asked me to be a part! So head on over and check out sweet Jenn's blog along with my first ever guest post!

Jenn is super duper sweet and you'll just love her blog! What are you waiting for? Head on over & check it out!

Mini Staycation Weekend

This past weekend Hubby & I split our time between home & a lovely rented home near Branson. Hubby's parents, who live in Michigan, and his half-sister and her family, who live in Minnesota, decided to come down for about a week and experience the wonderful are aof Branson. They rented a home for the time there and Hubby I were able to join them for most of the weekend.

We headed down Friday evening and had a nice dinner with the family. That's definitely a bonus of having a house...we could have a casual relaxing evening at the house and all be together. After dinner the kids had some fun with sparklers, snaps, & snakes that my mother-in-law had brought down.

Grace & Hunter writing their names with the sparklers...

And sassy Miss Sarah striking a pose!

Jackson was pretty captivated by the snakes growing on the rocks...

After the sparklers, we took a quick walk down to a small stream & bridge where the kids, young & old, decided to have a short spitting contest! Yes, we're from the Ozarks...and yes, we have spitting contests!

As you can see...Gavin was the winner!

When my SIL Lauren said it was time to head back to the house, her boys were less than thrilled! I love this shot of them all sulking back to the house...like mother like son.

Saturday our plans included renting a pontoon boat for several hours to have some fun at Table Rock Lake. It was super duper hot, so the only options were to keep moving or be in the water. It was the perfect day for the lake, and this momma got plenty of sun!

A view of the lake...near Chateau on the Lake.

Hubby & Hunter playing Captain & First Mate

Grace, Stacy & Sarah ready for a ride!

The water was perfecly refreshing and thankfully the lake wasn't really all that busy.

Then Uncle Nicky got in on some tub action with Gavin & Grace

I tried to get a good photo with Hunter...of course he was being a stinker! And yes, one noodle wasn't cutting it...it would keep me afloat but I had to work so hard! Two noodles definitely balanced me out a little better.

And then the little kiddos all hopped in the tube...Grace & Sarah were a little more experienced with the tube and at the slow speeds they were sitting up looking out!

And then crazy Uncle Nicky decided to ride the tube all the way back to the marina...unfortunately with a 24 ft pontoon, we couldn't go all that fast so there was no flipping going on for this tubing trip.

We spent Saturday evening hanging out at the house with burgers & homemade curly fries for dinner. Hubby & I headed home fairly quick after dinner so we could make it to church the next morning...and let's be honest, the fold-out couch we slept on was LESS than comfy! Springs in my side & back...no thanks!

Hubby & I headed to first service and then had been scheduled to work in the nursery...but apparently all the kiddos showed up to the first service because we had absolutely no kids! So...early departure for us! We had a quick lunch and then relaxed at home for a bit before heading down to spend some more time with Hubby's family. Due to work schedules, my father-in-law was only able to spend the weekend in Branson and we wanted to take advantage of the time with him. We hung out at the house and finished up the day with dinner at Cantina Laredo. It was a pretty fabulous weekend, and while I expected to be exhausted...the relaxation at the house was perfect!

Maybe there'll be more Branson Staycations in our future!

Lucy Love ~ 17 Weeks

Today we're 17 weeks and 5 days...but let's just pretend it's the beginning of 17 weeks.

17w5d

Total Weight Gain/Loss: No idea...but my appetite has definitely been increasing, which I figure also means my weight will be as well. I feel like I've been eating like a horse these last few days. My goal at this point is to keep my snacks healthy; i.e. a piece of fruit or 1/2 a peanut butter sandwich. I guess we'll find out true weight gain in a couple of weeks at my dr's appointment.

Gender: Your guess is as good as ours, but we've started planning our gender reveal party for July 27th! We sent out the invitations this week and I bought all the paper goods yesterday along with an adorable platter to put the cake on. Hubby is still convinced we're having a little girl, althought he has started calling the baby by our chosen boy name every once in awhile. I'm still completely undecided but lean towards boy...for no other reason than various old wives' tales!

Movement: Nope, not yet! Thankfully the doctor reassured me I may not notice the movement until closer to 20 weeks...so I'm trying to wait patiently!

Sleep: Is still great, but I've definitely been getting up more often to use the bathroom!

What I miss: Cold turkey sandwiches, caesar salad, raw cookie dough..this definitely hasn't changed. But at least I got my cold turkey sandwich fix last week!

Cravings: Still no crazy cravings...and honestly I hope that continues. I'm trying to snack on fresh fruit; peaches, nectarines, bananas, and little cups of peaches or red grapefruit. I've really been trying to keep my eating habits the same, but allow myself to eat more at meals if I still feel hungry. I want to watch what I eat, but I also know that healthy weight gain is important for Lucy!

Symptoms: Really just my expanding waist line. See below... I have started to notice just a little bit of back pain if I sit or lay down in the same position for an extended period of time. This has definitely started to go away, I wonder if the baby was positioned somewhere right on a nerve that was causing this pain. I have also had a few instances of round ligament pain. Mainly when I go from leaning forward to leaning back or sitting to standing really fast. Thankfully those are few & far between and go away quickly!

Maternity Clothes: Let's just say that Bella Bands are in full force...and thank goodness for them! I'd definitely have to be buying new dress pants/jeans if I didn't have those precious bands! Thankfully those should work for quite some time so I shouldn't have to purchase any additional pants unless I just get the itch to buy a pair of maternity pants! I've already decided that leggings, dresses, and tunics will be my best friends in the summer!

Best Moment this week: We mailed out the invites for the gender reveal party on Monday and our friends and family are already excited about it! We've already had several RSVP's and I'm definitely getting excited! I keep waiting on that first little movement, but I know patience is key!

Baby Gear Advice: This week, what about baby furniture...I'm really just curious what you guys all chose. Hubby & I have narrowed down our options to two and if I'm being honest we've probably already made our decision, but I'm curious as to what brands you chose. Did it come fully assembled or did you almost get divorced during the assembly process? ;o) Was it the quality you were expecting? How many furniture pieces did you end up purchasing, crib, dresser, hutch, 5-drawer dresser, etc.?

Let's hear it from all you moms & moms-to be...I'm loving all this advice! The suggestions for strollers & baby monitors have been so helpful!

And just for all of you who are dying to see a bare belly photo...here's the one for this week, complete with my chopped off head! Thanks Hubby! ;o) Just kidding...I told you the belly photo was an art form!

Noisy Nora: A Prized Possession

Even before Hubby & I were expecting Baby Layman aka Lucy aka G-Baby (grandbaby), the grandmas had started collecting books for their future grandchildren. My mom seems to have made it her mission to start using children's books as a good souvenir from the places she has visited in the last several months and I quickly followed suit. We picked up 3 different books while in Maui to add to our collection!

Today though, we may have added what could be considered the most prized children's book to our collection...or at least the most prized in my mom's eyes.

Noisy Nora was apparently my super duper favoritest childrens' book. I "read" this to my parents on a regular basis, which for a small child really just means that I had the entire book memorized and I recited it back to them as the pages turned!

My mom and I had both searched for this on the Internet at various times and hadn't had much luck finding it at traditional book stores. She finally tracked it down from a used bookstore and had it shipped immediately! This specific copy is already reserved to stay at my parents' house, but if Baby Layman likes it as much as I did...I may have to invest in my own copy!

Reading with my children is one of the things I'm most looking forward to with my children and I can't wait to experience his/her favorite books!

So...any favorite childrens' books that I shouldn't miss adding to our collection!?!?

Record Breaking Weekend

Well, unfortunately it wasn't a record that any of us were all too excited about... Yup...see those temps?!? And the one number that isn't listed on this screen? The heat index of 108! Ughh...those temps mean the only thing to do is stay inside and try to stay cool. So that's exactly what we did.

Friday night we had dinner with some friends, Saturday we laid around and then headed out for a quick little road trip to look at some baby furniture before coming back to have dinner with my grandparents, and then today we've been simply enjoying some air-conditioned relaxation in the house. This heat is seriously for the birds! I'm just so thankful we didn't have any outdoor activities planned...because that would have been MISERABLE!!!

And if our extended forecast looks anything like everyone else's in the middle part of the country, there isn't a whole lot of relief in sight! Looks like another hot week ahead of us!

Lucy Love~16 Weeks!

Today we're 16 weeks and 5 days...but let's just pretend it's the beginning of 16 weeks.

16w5d

Total Weight Gain/Loss: No idea...and I'm not about to go buy a scale to keep at our house! I did attempt to step on my parents' digital scale over the weekend...but apparently I'm not smart enough to use it so no numbers showed up! Maybe that was God watching over me so I wouldn't freakout at a little bit of weight gain!

Gender: Your guess is as good as ours, but we've started planning our gender reveal party for July 27th! Hubby is convinced we're having a little girl, while I'm leaning a little more towards the boy side of things...only time will tell!

Movement: Nope, not yet! Thankfully the doctor reassured me I may not notice the movement until closer to 20 weeks...so I'm trying to wait patiently!

Sleep: Is still great, but I've definitely been getting up more often to use the bathroom!

What I miss: Cold turkey sandwiches, caesar salad, raw cookie dough; My mom came to my rescue with the sandwich issue. She baked a full turkey breast over the weekend and sliced it really thin, I was able to get my turket fix without the worries over bacteria. And then for dinner last night, we made a quick stop by Jimmy Johns' to buy their day-old bread! I made more sandwiches last night; I'm thinking this might have to be a regular occurrence for the next few months. You can buy their day-old bread for only $.50 a loaf!

Cravings: I really haven't been craving anything crazy. I'm trying to snack on fresh fruit; peaches, nectarines, bananas, and little cups of peaches or red grapefruit. I've really been trying to keep my eating habits the same, but allow myself to eat more at meals if I still feel hungry. I want to watch what I eat, but I also know that healthy weight gain is important for Lucy!

Symptoms: Really just my expanding waist line. I still have plenty of energy as long as I don't have crazy weekends like I did last weekend! I've got some R & R on the schedule for this coming weekend! I have started to notice just a little bit of back pain if I sit or lay down in the same position for an extended period of time. Guess I'll have to switch positions on a more regular basis...

Maternity Clothes: Well...not so much maternity clothes, but my Bella Bands are starting to make more frequent appearances. I've resorted to using them when I want to wear dress pants; otherwise I've got the button undone by the end of the workday. I also realized last week that I had absolutely no shorts that would fit, other than exercise shorts of course! If I'm being completely honest, I'm not exactly sure when I was last able to wear most of the shorts in my drawer! ha! So, on Saturday night we headed to the mall for a quick shopping trip. The Limited recently reopened in our mall and I was able to pick up several things that should honestly last me all the way through. A nice loose short, a dress which can be worn with leggings in the fall, a long cardigan, and a pair of black shorts with some elastic in the waist...all for about $50! Can't complain about that! I also picked up two other pair of shorts, not maternity, but ones that at least have some elastic that I can push down below my belly!

Best Moment this week: I honestly can't believe it's already Thursday! This week has flown by! I've got the invites ordered for our gender reveal party so it's time to start planning some of the details! And I honestly can't believe I'm about to say this, but it's actually been nice to at least "sort of" look pregnant in most everything I'm wearing!

And I've also decided to add an additional section...all about baby gear! I'm in the process of considering my options for so many different things so I thought I would see if all you moms or soon-to-be moms or ladies with friends who are moms have an opinion on different baby items! There is so much to choose from!

Thank you so much for all your input on strollers, it's so great to get some opinions from mom's who have recently been there, done that!

So this week...Baby Monitors...this is honestly something I haven't hardly even looked at but my mom is trying to take advantage of her 20% off coupons at Babies R Us and thought this would be a good thing to use it on since it's not gender specific. We live in a neighborhood so we'll need something with multiple channels to avoid spreading our drama over the airwaves! Any suggestions? Video or not? If video, do you go with color screen? Do you obsess over watching the video?

And of course, a bare belly photo just for good measure... Just FYI, for all those who are yet to be pregnant; obtaining a good belly photo is an art, I'm definitely not thrilled with this one but it'll have to do.

Fireworks for Fresh Water

Late last year, our church did a full study around the book "The Hole in the Gospel." The study also tied in with our small group and for several weeks our eyes were opened to the hardships around the world and how truly blessed we are to live in such a prosperous nation. Some of the hardest statistics to stomach were those involving something that we all take so for granted...clean water. The majority of childhood deaths in third world countries come from dysentery, which is fully caused by unclean & unsafe drinking water.
It was around that time that our small group decided we wanted to do something to help. As a group, and not just a few dollars...but possibly something much bigger. We brainstormed and discussed some options and we came up with running a fireworks stand with almost 100% of the proceeds going to fresh water projects through WorldVision.

One of the members of our group has several years of experience with running a fireworks tent and so the idea was set into motion. For 10 days, someone manned the tent every hour of the day hoping that by selling some crazy amounts of fireworks that we might be able to provide clean drinking water to just a few people around the world.

At this point I'm not sure if our final goal was actually reached, but I have faith that God will use our time & efforts to raise some funds to be just a small part in the solution to this horrible, but definitely fixable, problem. Even if we don't have the funds for a full well, it will be our hope to donate all the proceeds to fresh water programs at WorldVision...because every little bit helps.

*all photos from WorldVision

4th of July Weekend Rewind

I'm not sure if I can even call this a weekend rewind, because I'm not exactly sure where my weekend went! Oh yeah, I remember...it went to working a fireworks stand, working at my job, church, working at the fireworks stand, prepping for a party, working at the fireworks stand, hoping the fireworks stand wouldn't blow away in a storm, prepping for a party, more prepping for a party, and it finished very late last night with blowing a bunch of stuff up! But at least we had a blast! Literally!

Whew...while it was a long weekend in days, it was also a LONG weekend of going from activity to activity and I'm completely worn out. I will admit that this momma had a nice glass of Dr. Pepper at lunch (don't judge) because otherwise I might not have made it through the afternoon!

Things kicked off on Friday evening, with our first of several shifts at a local fireworks tent. Hubby & I both worked the evening shift and then Hubby stuck around over night along with Bogey to monitor the tent. I think we were both sufficiently melted by the time the sun went down & thankfully we could head out to my parents' house for a nice refreshing shower.

I spent the night at my parents' house and then headed to actual work on Saturday morning while Hubby manned the tent for a few more hours. Thankfully we had some downtime on Saturday afternoon and I would be lying if I said we did anything except for nap on the couch or in the recliner!

Saturday evening we headed out for dinner & some quick shopping. I have to admit that it was one of the most successful trips in a very LONG time for me! I found some great deals & was quite thrilled with my purchases! More on the details later in the week...it just might have had something to do with a little bit of growing belly!

Sunday we headed to church for a wonderful 4th of July service, came home and packed up our stuff needed for the next 48 hours, and headed down to my parents' house. Thankfully one of the other members of our small group volunteered to take part of our shift since Hubby was scheduled to be there for 26 hours straight! Thanks Keith! So...we didn't have to be at the tent until 4; you better believe we took advantage of that and spent the pre-tent time in the pool! My dad also decided to join in on the fun so I actually didn't go in to the tent until about 6.

And a little sidenote, the idea has always been to take Bogey with us to the tent as our security guard. Well it turns out that Bogey didn't want to leave my parents' house...I mean AT ALL. He wouldn't even get close enough for me to touch him when it came time for us to load up! So, my mom decided to stay at home with the silly boy & I headed to get my fireworks sales on!

As it turns out, it was a very good thing that Bogey wasn't at the tent with us. I had only been there about 2 hours when we started to notice a definite change in the weather. Radar definitely indicated some pretty heavy rain, wind, & thunderstorms headed straight for us. My dad stuck around with Hubby to watch over the tent & I headed back home to ride out the storm in the comfort of my parents' house. Thankfully nothing serious happened, but it was definitely a serious thunderstorm! I'm glad those tents hold up so well!

Hubby spent another night in the tent while I stayed at my parents' house with Bogey. I spent most of Monday helping my mom prep for the big party on Monday night. We had about 30 people join us for some yummy food, lots of fun, & of course a ton of fireworks!

My mom's welcome sign!

My sister-in-law and I were in charge of some of the creations...we took some serious advice from Our Best Bites and made things extremely patriotic!

Red, White & Blue Strawberries

Red, White & Blue Fruit Pizza

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

Mmmm...everything was so delicious! After dinner it wasn't long before we headed out to start shooting off our incredible fireworks collection!

I think my dad is getting a little bit of practice in...

And I don't think there is anything more exciting than watching a father-to-be teach two small children about fireworks. This was seriously so precious!

And just to prove that rivals can still be best friends...St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs, but seriously best friends forever!

Bogey even laid down to watch some of the fireworks...ok so it only lasted about 2 minutes, but I'll take what I can get...

And of course we had to have some lanterns...

And some beautiful fountains...

Overall I couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July celebration. It's always a big deal at our house and I'm so grateful for my friends & family who have made the annual event a priority! I can't believe I'll have a little one to be toting around next year at this time!

Now, I think tonight will definitely include a nice evening nap!