Just to Clarify...

I mentioned in a previous post that my sweet pal Carla put on a wonderful baby shower. I also clarified that she is not my oldest pal but the pal I've had the longest. Truth is: I'm older than she is. A more eloquent way to describe her is that she is my friend with whom I share a rich history of memories.

Carla and I have been friends since the first grade. Yes, the first grade. Her family is my family. My family is hers. There's a good chance she knows me better than anyone. And, there's a pretty good chance I know her better than anyone. I don't know if you've had the privilege of having a friend for almost 30 years, but there is truly nothing like it.

I could go on and on about our friendship and all I owe her for. There's a good chance many of you already know this, but she is truly one of the most talented, generous, loyal, kind, and humble people you'll ever meet. She would be upset with me if I elaborate much more, but suffice it to say, I am blessed to have her in my life.

For most of our friendship, people have assumed we're sisters. And, I guess I see it a little. We do think on the same wave length most of the time too. The picture on the left is posed and we look all presentable, but the picture on the left is more us. I have no idea what we were talking about, but clearly we were having a moment of some kind.

What a blessed girl I am!!
Mandy

Surprise Guest

The day of my first baby shower, my dear friend Heidi showed up on my doorstep. For those of you who don't know, Heidi and I met in college. We hit if off as though we had been friends our whole lives. She was actually only living here in Fort Smith for about a year and a half, but we developed a wonderful friendship in that short time. She now lives back home in Colorado (one of my FAVORITE places) with her sweet husband and two beautiful children.

The last time we saw one another was two years ago for our birthdays (both in November...just a couple of days apart). We were due a visit, but let's face it, sometimes life just doesn't allow such luxuries. HOWEVER, Heidi's sweet husband thought it a good idea to buy her tickets to come in for my baby shower. I will be forever grateful to him for this gift!!!

It was a quick trip and a short visit, but it was worth more than I can express. We spent two lovely hours together before the shower. Just visiting and catching up. She came to the shower, went to a family dinner and then flew back home the next day. I cannot express in words how special it was to have her there. Just hearing her voice amongst the visiting guests was music to my ears. She stepped in a event photographer too.

I'm not sure how, but this is the only picture I ended up with of us together that day. What a priceless memory. Thank you Heidi. Thank you Jeremy. Thank you LORD for the sweet, sweet blessing of this friendship!!

Mandy

31 Weeks and Baby Shower #1

Sorry for the delay on this post. For some reason there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day here lately. A little over a week ago I hit the 31 week mark. AND, I had my first baby shower. I thought I'd combine these two events in one post to save a little time. :-)

Here is my 31 week picture (taken at the shower). I feel like I look huge, but maybe that's because I'm 31 weeks pregnant....

As you can see there was quite a spread at the shower. This is thanks to my friend with whom I share a rich history of memories Carla (referred to in previous posts as my oldest pal, which apparently implies she old...which she's not), my mom, Carla's mom (like a second mom to me), and my sisters. Here's a shot of the whole gang.

In case you didn't know (or couldn't tell), from left to right this is my sister Tina, Nancy (Carla's mom), Carla, umm...me, Cindy (my mom), my sister Stephanie, and that's my sweet niece Addison hiding behind the food.

There is so much to say about the shower. It was AMAZING!!! It was held at an historic house in Greenwood, which I LOVE! The food was chosen according to what my friends and family know I love. They even had pumpkin spice candles burning throughout the house...If you know me, you know this is significant. Here are some pics of various things at the shower:

Left is the picture table with pictures of Jason and I as babies/kids and then some of our maternity pictures. On the right is the words of wisdom table. Everyone left notes for me about being a mom.

On the left is the diaper four-wheeler Carla made. Jason loves riding four-wheelers, so this was actually for him. LOVE IT!!! On the right is the diaper cake Carla made, which has fabric that matches the nursery.

As you can see we got TONS of great stuff! All of the blankets on the chair are home made. I have such talented friends and family!

It was a great day!!! I cried four times at the shower because I was just so overwhelmed with all of it (well, and I'm pregnant so I cry easily anyway :-)).

There was one more BIG surprise on this day, but it deserves a post all it's own. More on that later.

Mandy





30 Weeks

30 weeks people. 30!!! That means only 10 weeks left until my due date. CRAZY!!! I can't believe we're already at 30 weeks. I literally have something going on every Saturday between now and the due date, so I have a feeling the next 10 weeks will go rather quickly. I still have SO much to do!!

I had a doctor's appointment last week, and I can't remember if I've given you that update yet. So: I've gained 23 pounds. Dr. Rainwater tells me that I'm measuring exactly where I should be at this point in my pregnancy (not too big, not too small, just right). Everything is going well and is just as it should be. I think I've hit that point in my pregnancy where I'm just going to be uncomfortable a lot. Staying comfortable in a chair or on the couch or in bed is a chore. I'm sleeping okay. Up usually at least once a night to visit the bathroom. I'm so glad it's cooling off as I LOVE fall and winter. Makes for better sleepy, snuggly weather.

So that's where we are. Lawson is growing and getting stronger everyday. I know because his movements are crazy strong. He's gotten me in the side with a jab or a kick or something a couple of times recently and taken my breath away. Little stinker!

On a slightly different note, Jason has nicknamed Lawson Law Dog. So, it appears he has his first nickname. Oh my husband. :-)

Until next time,

Mandy

29 Weeks

I'm about to post something that is a little out of character for me. If you know me very well at all, you know that I'm pretty modest...pretty private. I would never dream of posting a picture with any part of me bare (except maybe my arms or legs from the knee down). It's just who I am. HOWEVER, I do plan to have a few maternity pictures with my bare belly, so I decided to take the first step in getting comfortable with showing a little skin.

So here's the back story on this little project. A couple of months ago, Jason realized that I would have a big pregnant belly for Halloween, so, naturally, he asked if I would let him paint my belly like a pumpkin. I said sure. So, here it is. He was so serious about the painting. I just love him so much! He's so excited about his little boy. And, apparently Lawson was either excited or unhappy with the painting because he was rolling around like crazy. Jason told him to be still because he was getting his face painted. I think I'm going to have my hands full with those two.

Mandy

28 Weeks

I feel like the further I get into this pregnancy the more of a slacker I become about taking these pictures. I just forget. I get home from work or church or whatever I'm doing that day, and it just slips my mind. So even though we're more than half way through this week, here is a the 28 week picture.

Jason took one with the 28 Weeks sign, but it ended up blurry and since I had already changed into my pj pants and t-shirt, I decided one picture would do for this week. :-)

I fee like Lawson was sitting really low today. Someone at work commented the same thing. Who knows. He's definitely getting bigger though. When he moves now, it's not just in one little spot. It's kind of all over my stomach. I do have to admit that he seems to be either shy or already a little ornery because the second I see him moving and try to get someone else to look or feel, he stops. If I had to guess, I'd go with ornery, but I guess we'll see.

We're still making progress on all other things baby. I have a feeling the weeks are about to start flying by. This weekend we are having maternity pictures taken, which is very exciting. Then, the baby showers begin and along comes Thanksgiving and Christmas and plenty of other exciting events. He'll be here before we know it!!!

Mandy

Crafty

A few months ago my good (and crafty) friend Katie sent me an invite to join Pintrest. If you're familiar with Pintrest, you'll understand how thankful I am to Katie. If you're not familiar with Pintrest, you need to be, so let me know and I'll send you and invite.

Pintrest has helped me with my quest to complete the alphabet wall for Lawson's room. I've found several fun ideas for decorating letters. I'll do my best to share them all as they are finished. The first one is a burlap and button K.

I love doing crafty stuff. Normally I make hand painted signs, ornaments, etc. for other people's kids. Now, I get to make them for MY kid!! So, this will be the K in the alphabet in Lawson's room. Yay for being crafty!

I'll keep you posted on the progress for the other letters/crafty projects.

Mandy