Truly Talented

I wanted to take a minute to brag on one of my dear friends Ashleigh.  She has a photography company and she is nothing short of amazing.  She has a fantastic eye for great pictures, and she’s always able to catch those rare sweet moments in a family.  Here’s some recent pics of my other friends Kristen who just had her first baby (click on this link .. it’s set to music).  I seriously cried the whole time I watched the slideshow.  And, contrary to popular belief, I didn’t cry bc I’m 8 months pregnant … I cried bc it’s just SWEET and she’s so talented!!

Enjoy!

(she’s taking my maternity pics this week and I’m SOOO excited!!)

Welcome to the World, Will!!

One of my dear friends from middle school had her first baby yesterday!  His name is Will and he is precious!!  He was 7 pounds even and I think 20.5 inches.  Congrats Kristen and Ben!!!

Here’s some pics!

Willis Paul Bowman

Ashleigh and Will

Ashleigh, Deanna, Me and Will

Isn’t he sweet?

THANK YOU!!

I just wanted to post a BIG OLE FAT THANK YOU to all the people that have helped me get ready for this baby!!  God has really blessed Jason and I with great family and friends that have been able to provide necessities to get ready for this little one.  I am SHOCKED with how generous people have been.  I am completely ready for Ebin’s arrival because of how much people have helped us (and I haven’t even had a shower yet!!)

The list of things given to us-

• crib
• mattress
• crib bedding
• changing table
• changing table mattress
• rocking chair
• bassinet
• stroller
• car seat
• bouncy seat
• swing
• high chair
• pack-n-play
• bumbo seat
• baby clothes ranging from 0 to 24 months
• diapers by the cases
• wipes by the cases
• lotion/shampoo
• bath tub
• towels
• book’s
• cd’s
• bottles
• paci’s
• socks, shoes, hats, onesies
• toys
• blankets
• and other things I’m sure I’m forgetting

Everyone I want to thank -

• Mom and Dad
• Pam and Larry
• Leah and Christopher
• Misty and Chad
• Wendy and Nathaniel
• Shannon
• Ashleigh
• Amber

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my <3!!  Becoming a Mom can be a scary experience, and without everyone’s help I would have been VERY overwhelmed!  It’s wonderful how God has provided!! 

I’m sure I’ll have more thank-you’s as the due date gets closer, but I wanted to go ahead and post this now bc I’ve just been SOO blessed!!

See the closet?  It’s packed!!

written at 33 weeks

Girls Night Out

We had a GREAT time at Girls Night Out this month!  We went to Bahama Breeze and it was OH so yummy!  Here’s a pic!

Shannon, me, Wendy, Rachel, Amber, and Misty

Ode to Dietitian’s

One of my best friend’s Deanna is a Clinical Dietitian.  She’s a pretty smart lady!  She knows all kinds of info about food.  So, in honor of her, I would like to post this finding about sugar in your diet: I found this article at www.aol.com

This article hits close to home for me, since I’ve had to cut out basically all carbs/sugars due gestational diabetes.  It’s pretty much like I’m on Atkins.  That’s hard people!!

___________________________________________

You should limit your sugar intake to 40 grams of sugar or less a day, but you can consume that quickly if you’re not aware of foods that contain a surprising amount of the sweet stuff. From condiments to deli meats, that sneaky son of a gun is lurking everywhere. A roundup of unusual suspects:

Lender’s Fresh Blueberry Bagels 9 grams per bagel

Campbell’s Microwaveable Bowl of Tomato Soup 18 grams

 

Wheat Thins 4 grams per serving (16 crackers)

 

Hunt’s Ketchup 4 grams per tablespoon

 

Vanilla Silk Soy Milk 11 grams per serving (1.3 cups)

 

Spaghetti Sauces, such as Newman’s Own Marinara 11 grams per 1/2 cup

 

Canned Sweet Peas 4 grams per serving

 

Wish-Bone Red Wine Vinaigrette Salad Dressing 8 grams per 2 tablespoons

 

Deli meats, such as Kraft Louis Rich Oven Roasted Fat-Free Turkey Breast 0.48 grams per serving (about 3 slices)

 

Frozen pizza, such as Tombstone Light Veggie Pizza 5 grams per serving (2 slices)

 

___________________________________________

 Hats off to D, it’s a tough profession!

3 Pregnant Woman Fight Fire, Kitchen Saved.

Six lifetime friends settle in for a nice evening of food and fellowship.  Through no planning of their own, three of these six girls are pregnant.  Not wanting to cook or really clean up too much for dinner, pizza was decided as the main course.  A few girls got to the host home a few minutes early.  Not everyone was there yet, so they decided to put the pizza’s in the oven on warm, to make sure they stayed hot for dinner.

Forgetting about the pizza’s, the girls begin to hang out in the living room and wait for the other’s to arrive.  Suddenly one of the pregnant girls smells an oder that smells alot like smoke.  She ask her other pregnant friend “do you smell smoke?”  The both pop up off the couch and see smoke POURING out of a vent on top of the stove.  One says to the other “maybe the stove is just broken!” .. the other says “No, I think the pizza’s are on fire!!”

Frightened, the two quickly open up the stove and sure enough the top of one of the pizza boxes is ablaze.  Fire begins to pour out from the top of the stove!  WHAT DO THEY DO??!  The owner of the home and third pregnant woman runs into the kitchen.  Staying calm they brain storm, how do three pregnant women fight this fire?!?  One says “baking soda is always good for kitchen fires” .. the other grabs her phone to dail 911, as the owner of the home clearly remember “the people we bought this home from 2 months ago left a fire extinguisher!!”  The fire continues to blaze, the smoke is getting thicker by the second.  The fourth friend wisk the 1.7 year old out of the house bc of the fumes.

Panick begins to insue.  As all three pregnant women stare frantically at the extinguisher.  “How do we work this thing?!??!”  None of them know!!  The owner of the home reads the instructions and they all squat down and look at the fire as she begins to spray.  The most sensible of the pregnant women says to them all “ya’ll, I don’t think we should be in here, the fumes are horrible!!!”  She runs out of the house.  The other two pregnant women stay in the house watching the extinguisher spray into the stove.  Between the fire fumes and the extinguisher the girls loose each other in clouds of dust.  Certain the fire is out, they run out of the house.

After a few minutes, the fumes die down, and the un-pregnant friend goes into the home to access the damage.  The fire is out for sure.  They all go in the home to survey the damage.  Remarkabley the stove is in fine working order.  All that is left is about 2 inches of dust and debri over all the kitchen surfaces.

Don’t ever underestimate a pregnant woman!

____________________________________________

The burnt up pizza’s!

The poor stove!!

Our saving grace!!

A re-enactment of the night’s events – all women with child

Christians

I read this on a friends blog and thought it was SO very true!!  Please read!!

_________________________________________________________________

Christians
by Maya Angelou
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not shouting ‘I’m clean livin”
I’m whispering ‘I was lost, Now I’m found and forgiven.’
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on.
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
~When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner Who received God’s good grace, somehow!

Girls just want to have fun!!

I have the BEST time with my friends!  I’ve got two groups of sweet girl friends.  My Bunko/GNO girls and my Supper Club girls! 

Here’s a pic of me and the Bunko/GNO girls:

Amy, Kim, Me, Misty, Wendy, Shannon

We had a great time at GNO!  We ate yummy food at Misty’s house, and talked while the kids ran around and played in the back yard.

_______________________________________________

And here’s a pic of my Supper Club girls!  Half of us are pregnant right now, so the girls thought it would be funny to take a “pregnant” picture.  Can you guess who really has a bun in the oven??

Ashleigh*, Jana, Me*, Deanna, Karen, Kristen*

*expecting

26 Birthday Candles Ablaze

My friend Kristen’s (soon to be mom) 26th birthday was yesterday.  To celebrate this, me and the girls have an impromptu birthday dessert last night. 

One of the other girls, Deanna, decided to bake some yummy strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  Deanna also got birthday candles so that we could sing Happy Birthday to Kristen.  Deanna proceeds to put ALL 26 candles on ONE cupcake …  please keep in mind that a cupcake is approximately 2.5 inches in diameter.

We place the cupcakes on a cake stand.  One of the other girls, Ashleigh -who hosted the event- began to light the candles.  She’s having a hard time lighting the candles, and they begin to spark a little.  THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A WARNING, BUT IT WENT IGNORED.  Ashleigh ask Deanna “D, I think these are trick candles” and Deanna says “no they are just regular candles.”  Anyway, as Ashleigh lights the candles they suddenly become one large flame, with billowing black smoke overhead.  It’s out of control!!  The cupcake icing is melting, the room is covered in smoke!!!  We had to open the back door so that we could get some fresh air!

So we quickly sing Kristen her birthday song, she’s gotta blow these candles out or the house is going to catch on fire!!  So she blow’s, and they pop back on, she’s blow’s again .. and they pop back on.  Then Karen joins in and helps to blow them out, nothing, they pop back on.  Then Deanna gives her lungs a whirl, nada, still burning.  Then Ashleigh tries her turn, same outcome.  All 4 girls are givin’ it all they got, and these candles aren’t going out.

We all switch to panic mode!!  WHAT do we do??  So I think, let’s just throw it in the sink and hose it down, that will put the fire out.  So, the pregnant birthday girl is holding a cake stand, now with only one cupcake.  The wax is dripping all over the place and the cupcake is mush because it’s melted.  She heads for the door!  WHAT is SHE doing?  There’s 7 inches of fire and another 4 inches of black smoke following her!  Obviously, outside is NOT the way to go, even though Ashleigh has a lake in her backyard.  

We are yelling to Kristen “THE SINK!! THE SINK!!  Put it in the sink!!”  Then Deanna screams “what about a grease fire?!?!?  There’s going to be a grease fire” <-Deanna was so panicked she wasn’t thinking clearing, because obviously wax won’t start a grease fire.

Suddenly Kristen’s budding maternal instinct kicks in and she realizes she doesn’t need to be this close to an open flame and sets the burning cupcake back on the counter top.  So, everyone is yelling and screaming, it’s UTTER CHAOS!!! 

So, scared to death that I might actually burn my friends house down, I take a deep breath, turn the facet on, and chunk the demon cupcake in the sink.

Ahhhhhhhh, the fire is out, and we are all safe.

After we take 5 to calm down, Deanna goes to the trash can and confirms the obvious … the candles were trick candles .. we were doomed from the start.

I love my friends. 

Below is a picture from back in the summer of all of us girls:

Me, Kristen, and Karen

Ashleigh and Deanna