Let me reiterate.........

Remember when I said that I had the best friends in the world? This is what I found in the mail today.

My 30th (gags me to say) is September 1st. Since I'm due ten days later, they thought they would celebrate my birthday this weekend. How amazing are my friends???!!!

My first set of clues! I'm completely stumped! I should get another set tomorrow. I will keep you posted!!! I'm sooooo EXCITED!!!!

An amazing evening....

Last Thursday my dear friends threw a baby shower for me and Lauren Olivia. Let me start out by saying that I have the best friends in the world. They went above and beyond, as usual, and threw the most beautiful baby shower I have ever seen. I was completely left out on all the planning, so when I walked in (to my own home) I was moved to tears and blown away at their hard work and the attention to the tiniest details! The shower was a nesting theme which I just loved. Words can't describe this beautiful occasion, so I will just get on with the pictures.

Her monogram! If you look closely at the trees, you can spot the

white little birds resting on the branches.

The cupcakes were "nests" with jelly belly eggs. They were beautiful! The cookies and apothecary jars filled with color themed candy. In this picture it is hard to tell but the watermelon

was cut out in the shape of flowers and sweet little birds! The favors I made for the guests, homemade strawberry jam.

The favors the girls made. Color themed jelly bellys with her monogram.

Hand stamped brown bags with clothspins for the dessert buffet for a take home treat.

Apothecary Jars with birds and her initials

Her first Illini cheerleader outfit.

Court, Katie, myself, Michele, & Beth. These are the amazing girls

that came up with all the beautiful ideas. I'm so blessed by their friendships!

My sisters that also slaved away that day decorating.

This is my amazing Aunt Barb that flew here from Seattle just to be at my shower. I'm so incredibly lucky. While she was here she bought us a webcam and loaded it onto all of our computers so we could Skype at the hospital and at home!

I'm dying to make these.....

On one of my favorite websites How To Eat A Cupcake, she made these amazing looking crullers. The only thing stopping me from making them is my Benedryl daze and the lack of the vanilla butter nut flavoring. I believe that I have seen this at Krogers though. I simply do not have the motivation to get up from my scratching post to leave the house. I guess I just wanted to post to torture myself. Don't these look amazing???

Itchy Update

So......the sumac has continued to spread. (I know, you are like, "Why do I care?") Yesterday has been the worst day so far. Nothing OTC seems to help. The ONLY thing that does help is a scalding hot shower and pouring rubbing alcohol on the spots. I make sure that I'm careful not to raise my body temp up so I put one body part in at a time. It takes the itch away for a couple of hours. It's amazing...I have even read that a blowdryer on the spots does the same thing. The heat is slowly drying it out thankfully. I thought morning sickness was bad. Nope, I would take that day in and day out. This itching has left me more crazy than I already was.

Itchy and scratchy.....

Sunday I decided to actually get out and do some yard work. I have a beautiful flower garden in the front yard that has become the mecca for every type of weed possible. I started pulling weeds like crazy and was pleased with my fabulous weed pulling work. On Monday, I noticed a few cuts on my shin. I didn't think anything of it until it started to itch like wildfire. Then it turned into a horrible looking raised burn. I then found out that it was poison sumac. I have never had poison ivy or any of it's poison cousins. Being pregnant sure does change your DNA in so many ways!!

Now, the poison sumac has slowly started poping up all over my body. The best are the spots on my FACE!! I feel like a meth head because I am itching all the time. So here is my PSA, stay away from this plant!!!!

I took an oatmeal bath tonight. I placed 6 packets of organic oatmeal in my food processor until it was a fine powder and poured it in my bathwater. As of right now, the itching has subsided. Lets see how long it lasts.......

Let's talk skin....

Since becoming pregnant, my flawless face has turned into a 13 year old boy's, covered in "blemishes". (What a pretty word for zits!) So I have tried everything from clearisil pads to vitamin C masks. My face is really dry to begin with and I am still get blemishs all over my chin mainly. The best product that I have used is cheap old Equate (Walmart's brand) Acne Treatment. This picture states gel, mine is a creme.

The active ingredient is the 10% benzoyl peroxide which basically kills the bacteria that causes the pimples and drys up the existing ones. I put this on at night and by the morning the spots are gone. It is very drying, but I just slather on moisturizer and get on with the day.


Another product I recently bought was Urban Decay's Primer.


I have heard great reviews on this product and since my pores are larger than Texas right now, I decided to try it. I ordered it from Sephora for $36.00. The other primers I have used contained silicone which I loved. It fills in your pores and gives your face that "flawless" look. The product's selling point is that it doesn't contain it. I didn't love anything about this product and in fact, I am sending it back. One, the primer is a white lotion. When it goes on it gave my face a lavendar tone. Once on, it worked like a moisturizer not like a primer. I couldn't tell any difference once my foundation was on.


So now I am going to try the tried and true Smashbox Photo Finish Primer that everyone raves about. I'll let you know how it works!

Nesting, or just cutting the crap on procrastination?

Procrastination, that should be the new name of this blog! If I were a viewer of this blog, I would have deleted it from my blog roll from the lack of posting that has been going on! No excuses. Sorry...

This weekend I took responsibility for my ridiculous procrastination habit (since it goes on in my real life too) and did something about it. I scrubbed bathrooms, the kitchen, I organized over 1000 pictures that were loose (including my wedding candids!!!) and placed them all in albums. I had needed to do that since 2006! I knew if I didn't do those now, I would never do them! I also finished a couple of projects for Michele's daughters 1st birthday. I also painted our front door, planted some new flowers, found a place for a clothes basket full of books, and re-potted my front porch topiary.

I am pretty happy with myself. Although, I spent the whole weekend cleaning and my house is still a wreck! I have photos laying everywhere. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Nothing too exciting, but it's a post!

We had a hallway closet that was junked up with
1000 pictures. I placed the books here for now because they
have been living in a spare bedroom in a hamper for a year!

These are albums that I already had but were either
empty or had sporadic photos in them. Now they are filled up!

Here are the topiaries that I made for Mia's 1st birthday party.
Go here for the tutorial. They match her birthday tutu to a tea!

Our front door used to be a boring khaki color that matched the brick. I woke up on Sunday and said, "I'm going to paint the door black". Ryan was nervous but agreed it looked great. I also repotted the topiary and we hung a new light fixture. My shabby wreath is a work in progress. Don't look too closely...

Ryan painted her room 2 weeks ago. Yes, it's blue. I love, love, love, blue. It matches her bedding perfectly. It is in the process of being made so as soon as I get it I will post! Her furniture is of course white. The glider chair that is on it's way is also stark white. I know I'm asking for it.

Here is her closet. Just a few items in there for now. I have to keep telling myself to stop buying. Oh and the tutu on the left, that would be the work of my parents. While they were on vacation, they ran into a boutique and found this 1st birthday tutu. They told me since they bought me my first tutu they had to buy hers as well.

This green Lauren dress is my favorite. It's a 2T but knowing our genes,
she will be wearing it at 3 months. : )

How cute is this??

I purchased this hat from Etsy last night. I just had to share it with you because it's so dang cute!

6 months........

Man, I haven't posted a picture in forever. Sadly, it has been on purpose! Despite what my lovely friends say, I'm a little uncomfortable about the way I look right now. But today I thought that I needed to suck it up and just do it and take a photo. I seriously haven't taken a photo of myself in a month! Ugh.........So here it is, my 6 month photo. I can't believe how fast these months have flown by!!
Despite the weight gained, none has added to my behind. As you can see my pants are falling down. Just noticed that as it uploaded!

For my Twi-hards..............November 18, 2011

The movie release date was released today!!!! Stephenie Meyer has gone on the record to say that it doesn't matter to her if it is broken up into two movies. They are still working with Summit to figure out the details! What are we all going to do once this one is out????

For my fellow vegetarian followers.....

I have found the best meatless hot dog ever!! I have tried every brand out there and all of them have turned my stomach. Check out Yves hot dogs! I found them at the Carbondale Kroger. I have grilled them and also cooked them in the microwave. The texture and taste is that of a REAL hot dog! Check them out and let me know what you think!

Baby Farley is a ..........................

I am having the hardest time posting this! So I am resulting to this! I have been working on this for 2 hours now! We had the most amazing evening with our family and friends. A big post is coming, but for now copy and paste this url and find out what baby Farley is!!


http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb243/melisj1/?action=view&current=SDC17221.flv

The NEW Eclipse Trailer

The Big Reveal........

Monday at 8:40 a.m. is the big day. We find out whether baby Farley will be dressed in all pink or all blue! We are planning to have the tech write it down and stick it in an envelope free from our eyes. We are having a party that night to open up the envelope in front of our family and friends. I have had a feeling all along that it's a boy. But now, due to a "feeling" from a close family friend, I am now starting to think that it could be a girl. Like everyone says, we will truly be happy with either. So stinking cliche, but I have now found out that is the honest to God truth.

Our invites had this sweet little bee on the front. The first line is, "Boy or Girl, which one will it bee?" I love bees and they are a nice unisex, uh... insect. Of course I will post as soon as the night is over! Will it be monograms galore or golf clubs and Bears Jerseys?

For all you Twilight Fans.............

My mom has this in her entry way. I hope Alice is right!

Need a gift for the newlyweds or a new mother?

Remember this amazing picture that I posted awhile ago from Le Papier Studio? Vana, the founder of Le Papier Studio, is giving away a few items from her beautiful store to her loyal blog readers. Run there now and enter!!! The drawing will be on Wednesday! Good Luck! ; )

A Very Important Business Meeting .................

Dinner date with a blonde...

Jack came over tonight for a play date with me. I made spaghetti and toasted ravioli. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and ate outside. Leave it to the one without kids to hand him a fork and let him go at it. After 3o seconds of eating he was wearing most of it. I stripped him down and he enjoyed dinner in his diaper. After dinner he had half of it on the chair and his legs. Ryan showed him how fun it is to see spaghetti fly across the yard. He kept saying, "more, more!" He could have done that all night.

He would eat a little

Share a little

Pose a little. Actually, a lot.

This vegetarian is dreaming about................

For 2 months now, this is all I can think about.

Bennie's Italian Beef

17th Street BBQ with extra chow.

At the last wedding we were at they served BBQ. I went over and ogled Ryan's sandwich. Shamefully, I even asked if I could sneak a bite and he told me no! After thinking about it, I was relieved he told me no. (He was afraid I might get sick.) I think the guilt would have gotten to me anyways. Plus, one bite could have turned into the whole sandwich. Or worse, sneaking around and eating BBQs alone in my car. That's when you know you've hit rock bottom.

Easter......

I am posting these pictures to suffice a few friends because truthfully, I hate both of these! You girls had better be happy! The first one is after mass on Easter morning. There were so many babies there at church. It hit me that this time next year, we too will have a baby at mass. It made me tear up.

The second picture is of us at my parents house on Easter. We had a wonderful brunch and then went back that evening for kabobs. The best part of Easter was that my Aunt Barb was here from Washington.The next time she is here, baby Farley will be here!

Thanks mom for the scary Panda Cat washmitt.........

I knew that my luck would soon run out. I had completed two crafts this weekend fairly easy without any major disasters. I thought I would try Martha's Washcloth Puppets tutorial today. Cutting a towel is the biggest mess ever!!! She has the animal pieces for you to cut out for your mitt. But I didn't have any of those colors of felt laying around. I had black so I decided to do a cat. Not only did this cat turn out looking like a panda, but I am sure if I used this on a kid he would probably cry from fear that the animal was going to attack. Damn you Martha. You make it look so easy. I am dying to do the pig but seriously, wear do you find a pale pig colored towel?

Cat or Panda? Or perhaps neither?

Me imitating what a catpanda would sound like.