Thinking Too Much

Ok.  So you know how I said I was going to update the baby size posts last week?  Well I truly had all intentions on doing it.  Somehow, every time I think about doing the picture I have a mini panic attack. This is what goes on in my head..."It needs to accurately depict what is going on that week.  The first week it snowed, the second week was Valentine's week.  Oh my gosh, this will go in the memory book.  It is important.  What week is it? How many do I have to make up is it 2 or 3? Are turnips available right now?  Oh my gosh the baby is going to be here soon.  Is every pregnancy this fast?  OH MY WORD I NEED TO BREATH!"

Shew.  

I think it would be easier if I was the one who was pregnant because I could just pose with the "item" in front of my cute little belly and call it a day.  But I am not pregnant so that throws that plan out of the window.  So this week I am going to get my backside in gear and post these baby updates.  

And this time I will not pinky promise.

Here is a picture of Artie and I the day we found out that we would receive this baby.  This is before our meeting.  I have been meaning to post it...I think my husband looks so handsome.  I also like it because you can kind of tell how nervous we were.

Lastly, please go visit Layla Grace's website and say a prayer for them.

Photoshop

It looks like it will be another quiet day...which is a nice change from crazy busy.  The only things on the agenda are laundry and to put up my spring/Easter decorations!  So I am going to relax a little today.  Wahoo!!!

In other news...I am learning how to use photoshop!  It is really really hard but there are lots of great tutorials out there.  I love how it can take a lovely photo and give it a creative edge.   I took a picture of Alison last night at practice so I could practice using photoshop on a person and not the dogs.  Haha!   So here is the before...

Isn't she gorgeous?

Here is the after....

I think it turned out great!  Well I must get started on my lazy day...I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Pain Pain Go Away

Oh my word am I sore.  We have been giving the girls private lessons on Sundays to prepare them for tryouts.  Well I got out there and was doing all the tricks with them yesterday.  Something I will probably regret until Wednesday...of next week.  Ha!  By the time I had got home last night I could barely move.  My sweet husband got the arthritis medicine for me because I was almost in tears.  This morning I woke up and it was a little better.  I made myself get up and stretch out.  Ugh...I tend to forget that I am not as young  as I once was.  I think it means that I need to be a little more active with my muscles...or maybe not.

Ok...I totally slacked this week again!  Ugh...I really promise to catch up with the "what size is baby" posts.  I will do last weeks and this weeks...I pinky promise.

Artie and I can hardly stand it, but we find out in 26 days what flavor we are having!  I know I have told you that before but WE ARE JUST SO EXCITED!!!  We have started discussing names and thinking about what we would like the nursery to look like.

This week seems like it will be a little more relaxing than last week which is nice!  I have to tell you that we will be getting a shipment in this week that I am really looking forward too.

I hope you have a great week!

Shrove Tuesday

Can I tell you how I look forward to Shrove Tuesday every year.  One of my most favorite things to eat is pancakes!!  So Artie and I headed to church tonight to eat up some pancakes!!!  We all had a great time and was stuffed when we left.  Here we are with Noah and Drew acting crazy!

This Weekend

This past weekend Artie and I kept a little girl who is in the foster care system.  I have to say that my heart is so heavy today.

This weekend was hard.  Very hard.

"L" was a tough cookie.  I must say that I do not blame her, especially knowing what she has been through in her life.  After living in an inappropriate situation with her parents she was moved to a foster home.  That foster home was not the right one and so she moved again.  Which means moving schools as well and in a short period of time.  I would just break down each night because I felt so helpless.  She has terrible nightmares and will often be up all hours of the night.  She has the sassiest mouth which I imagine is a coping mechanism.   She knows things normal 8 year olds should not.

While we were waiting on her foster family to pick her up, she was in tears.  She did not want to go back to that home and was begging to stay.  I felt helpless.

The reality is, if she can not make it work with the foster family she is with, she will be moved again.

Will you please pray for "L"? Pray that she will be able to overcome all of these things and live her life the best way possible.  Pray that she finds a foster home that will welcome her with open arms and be able to provide her the support she needs to heal.  Please pray for her parents as they are trying to do things to be reunited with her.  Pray for the foster family she is with now for patience with her.  

Bananas Over You

This year, our annual Valentine's dinner at church had to be postponed because of snow.  Sad.

 So it was rescheduled for Valentine's Day after church!  It is a great fundraiser for our youth group and a great thing for couples to come to.  This year the theme was "Bananas Over You".  The are served their meal and get to see some funny skits afterwards.  I always have a lot of fun.  Poor Artie has missed it 2 years in a row. Last year he was traveling for work and this one he decided to take "L" to eat lunch and play on the playground.  And let me tell you what he missed....

Me in a banana suit!! Haha...
All of the skits were about bananas and so it seemed appropriate to have someone dress as a banana.  Since I am a very silly person I said I would do it.

It really was very funny.   Here we are on stage taking bows and thanking everyone.

I am looking forward to the week!  Fun things at The Christmas Shop, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and a date at Chili's on friday with Artie!!! Wahoo!

An apple

Yup, the baby is the size of the apple this week!  I can not believe how fast he/she is growing.  This week the baby is about 4 inches long and very wiggly.  The baby had a doctors appointment this week and the doctor confirmed that it is definitely a wiggle worm.  They would find the heartbeat and then the baby would move causing them to have to try to find it again.  Ha!   We also found out that next month is THE BIG ULTRA SOUND to determine the sex.  Artie and I are so anxious but my guess is that it will either be a boy or a girl.  Just kidding. Well...not just kidding about it being a boy or a girl, it really will be one or the other.  Never mind.

This week is Valentine's Day!  Artie and I have been preparing for "L" to come and stay with us for the weekend.  Her foster parents are going out of town and needed a licensed family to keep her.  I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  I will give you a report of how it goes next week.

I hope everyone's Valentine's weekend is love filled!

Fun Friday!

Today was the first day the shop was open for the year!  We had such a great day...lots of fun things.  There was actually a customer there waiting on us to open.  She said she had been waiting all month and then picked out a few of our Valentine's things.

Next door to our shop is a really yummy restaurant called Bistro 105.  They have THE BEST desserts and Suzan and I decided that we needed one.  Well the chef had created a new dessert for the weekend and so we tried it.

Isn't it pretty (notice the hearts?)

It was the most weirdly delicious thing I have ever had...black pepper ice cream, amerretto soaked french toast, raspberry coulis, with maple bacon pralines.  OH MY WORD!  It sounds so yucky but it was honestly the best thing I have ever eaten.  It was like a glorified breakfast.


There is a merchant down the street whose daughter turned 1 today.  It was such a special day for their family.  Madison was born with something wrong with her skull and had MAJOR surgery in September.  A surgery that took her all the way to Vanderbilt.  This kid is amazing...2 weeks after her surgery she was back to normal.  If there wasn't an incision all the way across her head, you would have never known anything had happened.  Just a normal happy baby. So today was a celebration that she and her family had made it through!

Sorry for the picture quality..they were taken with my phone.

All in all it was a wonderful fist day back.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

We've got a lemon!

This week the baby is measuring the size of a lemon! Although I think that is a pretty big jump from a shrimp to a lemon. Maybe they mean in length?  Maybe.  I love looking up each week to see how the baby is developing. The baby is able to make faces, grasp and maybe suck it's thumb. It is also able to pee pee now and does. God is so amazing. We pray for the health of baby and momma. We are so grateful.  

Artie and I had a nice snowed in weekend.  I was able to do a few craft projects and finish ALL of our laundry.  WAHOO!!!  I am looking forward to this weekend...the shop is opening back up.  This month flew by! Suzan and I are putting the finishing touches on the shop this week.  If it doesn't snow more.  I can not wait to see our "regulars" and get their reaction on all the new pretties.  It is an exciting time!  I pray it doesn't snow anymore...DONE with the snow.  I hope you all have a great week!!!