Shelley's Baby Shower

I am not sure I've mentioned on here....of course I have....But Shelley, my Matron of Honor is due to have her first baby 8 days before my wedding!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed..we'll see what happens!

I bought Lila Grace an outfit just in case!

This weekend, me, Julie and our friend Meghan hosted a shower for Shelley in Birmingham. Everyone was coming from different places so it made since to do it centrally...at Shelley's house!!

Julie, Shelley, and ME

Did I say that Julie is having her 2nd baby girl on March 8? Doesn't she look great!

I joked that I was a "Baby shower on wheels!" I brought so much stuff! Everything turned out perfectly! AND I even made my very first diaper cake...I was impressed!



Shelley got a lot of nice things!!!! Now we just need the baby!

Shelley and her Mom



The Food!

My Work Shower

A few weeks ago Susan and Kelly, girls I work with, threw me a Mardi Gras shower! I was a little hesitant since I'm not super close to most of the ladies at work....BUT I was completely impressed at how many people came and all the great gifts I got! Since it's so close to Mardi Gras, Kelly and Susan thought gumbo and jambalaya was a perfect idea!! And the finishing touch was a King Cake!! I also came home that night and wrote my thank-you notes and put them in everyone's mailbox the next morning! I got a few compliments on the speediness...but gosh it feels good to stay on top of those things!

A MESS!!

This three year old is a MESS....not really messy but you know how people from an earlier generation and even some now refer to CUTE, BUSY kids as a MESS??!! Well, we have one!

She is always needing to do things or take care of things or make a "mess" of things.

Here she is in action!!!

Cleaning her jeep! It first started with just the broom. A few minutes later she came from the bathroom with a wash cloth, obviously to keep cleaning! I had to step in and give her a rag..used for that type of MESS!!


And she did some more sweeping!!

Then the clothes!! I think I wrote about getting frustrated with the wardrobe changes all day...well now she just opens up her drawers and picks out any combination she feels like!! Instead of getting mad I just tell myself they are play clothes! And of course we don't leave the house looking like such a MESS!! (She was watching a movie in the guest room...one of her favorite things to do, sparingly of course.)

God how I love our MESS!!

1 Cake, 2 Cakes, 3 Cakes, FUN!!

Did I mention my birthday was also this weekend...so much to do!!!

Let's start off by remembering these beautiful roses...sent to me last week from my main man!! I told him the "redder" they are the more they mean he LOVES me...he thinks I'm crazy sometimes but I thought it was funny!


Last Thursday night I went to Birmingham for work and stayed with Shelley and Jim. The funny thing is that they came down to my house on Friday...it was a great time! But anyways...we went to eat dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant in B'ham and then they surprised me with a cake!



Then Sunday afternoon I had Mardi Gras rehearsal and the ladies surprised me with a homemade pound cake, thanks to Patsy!!



Sunday night I went to another Mexican restaurant in Mobile....there is a theme to this, I LOVE Mexican food!! This was my family birthday dinner (Mom, Stephen, Andrea, Lonnie, Me, JC, and Savanna)....And I got a cookie cake...my most favorite! Savanna thought the singing was just great!

My Perfect Family
I think we are high-fiving because I blew out the candles!

I had a great, busy weekend! Sunday night JC and I were in bed at 7:30pm and the TV was off before 9:30pm! I feel pretty rested today!

Thanks Everyone for making the day so special!!!

My First Wedding Shower

Oh how fun this turned out to be! I was kind of nervous about how I would feel being the center of attention and all, but it was not bad at all!! In fact, I had a wonderful time.

The shower was mostly for my family..which is huge! Two of my cousins, who are bridesmaids, hosted the shower! Anna and Taylor! They did a fantastic job..the food was great and the shower just kept moving...no one had time to get bored!!

Taylor, Me, and Anna
The Penguin Cake
(the story is funny because the girls had ordered the blue cake to match my colors and then they found a little penguin in Hudson's toy box and just put it on top...I LOVED the penguin...it was my favorite part)!!!!

The food!

Me and My Grandmother, Anna (Maw-Maw)

JC's mom Gail, Me, and his grandmother, Irma (Granny)

Me and My Mom

Me and Heather (Future sis-in-law)


My friend Shelley came down from Birmingham so that she could be there too! It was great having her because she just recently went through all of her showers so she was great helping me organize things! Her husband Jim and JC got to spend the whole day doing guy things...I think they had fun!!!


The Little Girls!!

I got some many wonderful things and I'm going to try to get my thank-yous done before Thursday because I have another shower then...at work!! This is so fun!!

The Final Look once I got home!!

Turning a Frown Upside Down

I was just having a not so good, kind of sad, overwhelming day......BUT THEN.....

He sent me some roses....Valentine and Birthday!!!



I Love him so much!!

So now I'm smiling....and taking off 3 hours early to have lunch with him before we each head out of town!

Thankful

I'm reading again with my bible group and I cannot explain how good that feels. I agreed to join these girls in reading bible studies the night before I met JC. Less than 24 hours after I was invited to join and agreed (hesitantly), I met the LOVE of MY LIFE. I have learned through our last three books, that meeting him the next day was not just coincidence, but that God had planned it that way! And I am so thankful everyday for that encounter! So, I want to keep this connection with these girls. It feels so good and it challenges me to remember to keep God in our (soon-to-be) marriage!

The book we are reading this time is "Lies that Women Believe and the Truth that Sets them Free" by Nancy DeMoss. And so far it is great! It really shows how we can become so hung up in earthly possessions and LIES that we forget the Truth! I find that reading and discussing just makes me feel so less stressed and anxious about life in general and especially in my relationship with JC and my family!


I have mentioned before that I was raised Catholic, I am Catholic, and we are getting married in the Catholic church. And though I love my faith, I am learning to be more open to other religions and their ways of doing things....for example....prayers! In the Catholic church we say a scripted prayer that has been written for us for EVERYTHING. Never do we just come up with something on our own! Well...since I have been in this group I have tried to be more open to praying in my own words, or the words God is asking me to speak. In fact, just last night I went to dinner with my family and one of my brothers insisted that I say the blessing! And guess what....I said it from my heart not from some script! It felt really good and I felt really proud!

So today...and during this LOVE month...I want to be thankful! Thankful for the LOVE I have in my life.