Baby Shower {Take 2}

Last weekend I was blessed with another wonderfully fabulous baby shower! When my dear friend Sarah (my crafty muse) called me up around January or February and said she wanted to host a shower for me, I was ecstatic! She throws amazing parties, and I was so excited she wanted to throw one for me and Maddie! She recruited the help of two of my very close Waco friends, Lisa and Jessica, and let me tell you, it was better than I ever could have imagined! The decorations were beautiful, the food was fantastic, and the gifts were bountiful! Below are some of the pictures of all the day's goodies! If you are interested in how Sarah made some of the decorations, check out her blog for detailed info!

Here was the food table! (Notice how happy I am to be standing next to a table full of deliciousness!!)

She had a cute idea of making a table filled with different things I have been craving. Honestly, I haven't been craving too much out of the ordinary from my usual, so she just filled the table with the things that I still love to indulge in!

We can't forget my two favorite refreshments, accompanied with some yummy lemonade!

For decoration, she took my belly pics and some ultrasound pictures and made a very cute banner. My mom loved it so much, it shall be making a second appearance at my Houston shower!

I LOVED this idea...baby themed photo props! Sarah printed out these pink baby related items, stuck them on bamboo skewers, and created props for guests to hold when getting their pictures taken. They made for some very funny and memorable pictures!

And for the favors, Sarah made these fabric rosettes with clips on the back that can be used in your hair, to spice up a shirt, add to a scarf, and whatever other creative placement you choose! I may have taken an extra one just to add a little extra spice to my wardrobe. ;)

Here are a few more decorations that added to the pinkalicious shower!

I am SO blessed to have such amazing family and friends! Thank you Sarah for driving all the way to Waco to host a beautiful baby shower for me, and thank you Lisa and Jessica for helping with all the food! I pray Maddie has as wonderful friends as I do!!

DIY Gumball Machine Candy Jar

I saw this on my friend Sarah's blog and knew I had to try it! She is my crafty muse! It was soooo easy and came out SO stinkin' cute! I already have it in Maddie's room, brainstorming what I'm going to put in it! Before she gets here, it's going to be used at a couple of my baby showers as a decoration/candy dish.

Here's what you need to make it:
* Clay pot
* Clay saucer- not to fit the pot, but to fit as the lid to your bowl
* Glass bowl
* Knob for the lid
* Ribbon
* Glue (the kind that will work on glass) Mine was called Amazing Goop
* Paint in the color of your choice

(My supplies all came from Walmart, and the total was less than $10 which makes this even cuter in my opinion!) :)

Here's what you do:

1. Paint the clay pot and saucer. It will probably take you 2 coats for a nice coverage.

2. Once those are completely dry, follow the directions on your glue to attach the glass bowl to the base of the clay pot. Also, glue your knob onto the underside of the clay saucer to make the lid of the candy jar. I bought a knob from the hardware section that is actually a cabinet knob. If you buy a wooden one, you will want to paint that as well in step 1.

3. Wait for the glue to completely dry, (check the bottle for time and handling directions) and then tie your ribbon at the base of the bowl. You can also add a vinyl/sticker embellishment if you'd like. The one I have is from a digital scrapbooking kit that I just printed, cut out, and attached with a 3D glue dot.



4. Put the lid on the jar, and you are finished! :)

Now find a good place to put your fabulous new gumball machine that is sure to get tons of compliments!!

7 Months Belly Pics!

I am officially in my 3rd and final trimester!! Though I feel like I have very much lucked out with many of the unpleasant pregnancy symptoms, I do have to admit to seriously not liking all this back pain! It's no fun at all. Walking more in the evenings, stretching, and getting back massages from the hubby has helped a lot, but by 10 months, I'll be ready to be able to sleep on my back and stomach again!

Here are my belly pics thus far! I'm definitely showing more and more each month, so I'm trying to keep the ice cream and greasy foods at a minimum! :)

Ready to take on month 8!

Mommy Shirt and Onesie

A friend that I used to teach with made me these adorable shirts! I don't think she has an etsy shop set up, but she is open for business! If you like what you see, (how could you not?!) and would like to order one for yourself, then shoot her an email: efuller@connally.org She can make them to say whatever you'd like in whatever colors you tell her. Very talented if I do say so myself!

For Mommy-to-be:

Close up...

For Maddie:

Close up...

Don't you just LOVE them!!



Baby Shower! {Take 1}

This past weekend my mom and I drove up to St. Louis to have my first baby shower! My dad's side of the family lives there, and they threw me an amazing shower!!

Here are all the hostesses with me and my mom:

Thank you SO much Aunt Hopey, Aunt Wendy, Jordan, Elyse, Becca, Abby, Emma and Sarah! You guys did an fabulous job at throwing a very special and memorable first baby shower ever! I love you guys!!

Here's a couple shots of the beautiful decorations:

The yummy cake:

The super cute favors:

Here's a few shots of me opening some of the wonderful presents: (Maddie is spoiled already!)

Here's a shot of the cousins: (We are missing a few boys, but notice, they are extremely out numbered by us girls!)

When we got home and I showed Brent the loot we drove away with, he tried to please me with "oohs" and "ahhs." Then I pulled out the tiny jeans and pink cowboys boots and he said, "Oh wow, those are little. This is starting to get really real!" It was very funny! Because I'm a little OCD and obsessed with things in their place (not to be confused with OCD about doing dishes or the laundry) I already have everything put away. Things are likely to move around by the time the big day gets here, but I'm trying to stay on top of things since I have a few more showers coming up!! This part of pregnancy definitely makes morning sickness worth it!! :)

P.S. I'm officially in my 3rd Trimester! Yay!! More belly pics to come!

Show Us Your Life {Family}

I have been SO blessed with a wonderful and BIG family! As some of you know already, Brent and I are working on our own little family right now, patiently awaiting our first child, Madison Grace. She will be joining us sometime around June, and we can't wait to meet her. For now though, here is my husband and I.

My immediate family is a little more unique. On my mother's side, we are a blended family. I have 3 older step sisters and one younger half sister. When we are all home, it is quite a girly place to be (my poor step-dad...he's such a trooper!) Here is our Christmas picture from 2009. It was the first Christmas in a long time where we were all able to make it home at the same time- very special! Brienne is a zookeeper, Britney is studying medicine to be a doctor, and Brandy is a Spanish professor. Angelica is in high school (growing up so fast!) She's a soccer star and is crazy smart! My mom and step-dad have worked very hard to make sure we are all healthy, happy, and successful! I thank God so much that they have been such a positive influence on my life!

My mom is so great to me! We are very close and have a lot of fun together. She has always gone above and beyond to make sure I had more than I needed to have a happy life. I never missed out- even when I complained (oh, those sweet teenage years.) She is such a hardworking and loving mother and friend. She's so sweet... she still gives me gifts on Valentine's Day! :) I thank God so much that I have a mother who is one of my biggest fans- as I am hers!

My dad and I are also very close. He has an awesome personality! He keeps me laughing and always looking on the bright side, even when all I want to do is complain. He works out of the country so I don't get to see him that much, but we still manage to squeeze in lots of laughter and memories when he's in town. I thank God that my dad has passed down to me such an easy-going, fun-loving way to look at life while also teaching me how to be there for others!

Back to my little sis, Angelica! I love this girl!! We are very close even though we are 11 years apart. She always says how much she looks up to me, but I think I actually look up to her more! Like I said before, she is crazy smart! She works so hard in school and in sports (she's a freshman on the varsity soccer team!) I can't wait to see how far she will go in life. I thank God for giving me such a wonderful, beautiful, and loving little sis...it's what I had always wanted when I was little and my prayers were answered!!

My newest immediate family, my in-laws, have also been Heaven sent! I always heard bad stories about in-laws, but let me tell you, I am blessed beyond belief! They treat me as if I am their actual daughter and are always there for my husband and I. I thank God that they live close by and that they are such a loving, supportive, Christian family for us to look up to.

My brother-in-law is also great! He and my husband have always been very close. They spent their youth riding four-wheelers, playing sports and being competitive in just about every aspect of their lives. They still are and it's quite humorous to watch! He stays busy with his job and is unfortunately not in the same town as us, but when we get to together is endless fun and laughter.

I know this post was supposed to be mostly about immediate family, but I have to include some pics of some of my extended family. We are all very close, and I thank God every day for every last one of them!

Love you family!! Thanks for always being there for me!

Canvas Letter/Name Project

So, I wanted to hang cute letters above Madison's crib that spelled out her name. I had fallen in love with some online and had decided to just buy them instead of make them. Unfortunately, the shipping time was going to be months (I'm far too impatient for that,) and they were going to be VERY expensive. My nightmare was that I go through the wait time and the money just to get them in and not like them (yes- I can be picky.) How do you put something up that you don't like, but how do you NOT put something up that you paid an arm and a leg for. Thus initiates project "Make the letters yourself!"

Materials needed: (all materials were found at Hobby Lobby)
- Canvas boards (one per letter)
- Scrapbook paper to your liking (one for outside border and one for inside space)
- T-shirt paint that matches the scrapbook paper
- Paint for the border/edge
- Scrapbook cardstock to cut letters out of
- Cricut (optional)
- Mod Padge (matte finish so it's not so glossy)
- 3D glue dots
- Ribbon
- Hot glue gun to attach ribbon to board

Steps: (I did each step for all the boards before moving onto the next step.)

1. Paint the edge of the board about 1- 1 1/2" in for the border.

2. Cut scrapbook paper to fit inside the border. Cut to your liking depending how much border you want to show.

3. Use the Mod Padge to glue the paper onto the canvas board. Rub out the wrinkles and allow to dry fully. Once dry, paint a layer of Mod Padge over the top of the paper as a "top coat." Glue will dry clear. Allow to dry fully.

4. Cut scrapbook paper for the inside section to your liking. Repeat step 3 with smaller section of paper.

5. Use the T-shirt paint to trace over the designs on the scrapbook paper. This gives the canvas the "handpainted" look that makes the letters so expensive to buy!

6. Cut the letters of the name out of the cardstock using your Cricut or other cutting device.

7. Make bows with the ribbon and attach to the back of the canvas boards with your hot glue gun.

8. Attach the letters to the boards using the 3D glue dots to give them a little "pop." If you do not want them to be 3D, just use regular glue dots, and they will be flush with the rest of the board.

9. Hang them up and enoy!! I used a nail to hold the ribbon, and then attached the canvas boards to the wall with more 3D glue dots in the corner. This helped them stay level and exactly where I wanted them!

The project took me a couple days, mostly to make sure the Mod Padge was dry in between steps. Rushing through this causes A LOT more bubbles and wrinkles. Being patient (believe me...I know it's hard) helps keep everything much smoother!