Weekend recap

It's been a while since I've blogged, but we've had A LOT going on. I went home to my parent's house on Thursday and got to have lunch with my high school girlfriends the next day. It was really fantastic seeing them! One of them is moving about 2 hours away from me, instead of the 5 hours away that she is now, and I'm really hoping to see her a lot more now. Their boys are growing up so big and it's so good to hear the stories of motherhood and silly stories of what their kids are getting into. It was very comforting to talk to them about how hard it is to be away from family during this time and knowing that our kid will only have one day with each grandparent every time we come home, which tends to not be anymore than 1 time a month. It was very reassuring to me to actually realize that they are going through the same exact thing that I am and know what I'm feeling b/c they are very family oriented as well. Not to mention, they made me feel absolutely great about myself in how I am looking and handling my pregnancy. I just love those girls :)

I got to see my niece and nephew a lot this weekend, WHICH WAS FANTASTIC!!! Paisley’s mom, my sister, is doing such a great job with her. She is so in tune with what she needs and is really blowing me away with how well she is settling into it, especially after finding out she was pregnant at the 8^th month (DON’T ASK!!) and being thrown into it so quickly. I picked up a tu-tu for her before I left town and she was soooo precious in it! I didn’t get very good pictures, but you’ll see it down below. My nephew, Jacob is fantastic too. His mom and dad (my bro & sis in law) are doing a wonderful job with him. He is just such a happy baby and is motoring right along in his development. Saturday was spent at a wedding for Phillip’s dad’s best friend’s daughter (Lord, that was a mouthful). It was beautiful and just reminded me of how I want to do it again, with the same guy of course! Phillip is not a dancer, but it really was so sweet to me that he made sure I got to dance to my favorite song, the cha-cha slide, even though his family was ready to leave and hit the road! He even got out there with me and danced, while laughing at me holding my belly during the jumping part in the song. Sunday, we had dinner with both my family and Phillip's family. This lunch was extra special for me because I got my niece and nephew together for the first time and they were adorable!!! They were just playing so well together and throwing food at each other! It was sooo cute! Then, we got to see my best friend, Monica, her great husband, and their precious son. All these babies are growing up so quick! I miss her so much and I wish we could see each other more often, but for now we just have to meet up when I come home. Well, here are my pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Babies, babies, and more babies!!!

This past weekend was a fun filled, and baby filled weekend. I got to see Monica, her hubbie, and their new baby, Parker. Parker is the sweetest and cutest little bundle!!! I just loooooved snuggling him and smelling his sweet baby smell! Then, I went home and spent the weekend with my neice who had "Hand, foot, and mouth". That pour baby had blisters all in her mouth, on her chest, and on her hands where she had drooled and the infection caused more blisters. She wasn't infectious by the time I got to visit with her, but she was still pitiful. Then, the next day, I got to see my nephew and Phillip's side of the family his baby shower. Poor Brian, Melissa, and Jacob were just overwhelmed with all the people they had to meet and all the thing they had to do at the shower. I'm not looking forward to doing that myself for our baby showers. Eeeee-gads! Just a warning to my readers, I'm about to post a crap load of pics, and attempt to post video of Paisley crawling. She's so stinking hilarious b/c she looks like a wounded war victim when she crawls! Oh, and my diaper cake turned out FANTASTIC!!! Behold the John Deere diaper cake that has gotten me a first class ticket to hell:

WARNING: Here comes a crap load of pictures!

Now here are pics of our visit with sweet Parker:

Tired daddy!!!

He's a total natural at this stuff.... it makes me feel good :) !!!

SOMEBODY FOUND THEIR THUMB!!!!

I'm sooooo ready for my own!

Now, pics of my time with Paisley-baby:

Grandmudder and Paisley's feet

"This Cheerio WILL go in my mouth!!!"

This is a video of Paisley trying to get Gizzy's toy. She's just learning how to crawl and doesn't move one of her legs so she looks like a wounded war victim:

Last pics.... I promise!! Here are pics from Jacob's shower:

Phillip, Jacob, and Brian (P's brother)
Melissa, Jacob, Brian

Going to hell in a hand basket

I am going home this weekend for a baby shower for my new nephew, Jacob. I'm not really sure what to get him since his whole registry was purchased before they even adopted him. I think we'll probably just do a gift card and let them get what he realllly needs, but he's been with them for almost a month now, so they probably already have everything.... who knows?? Anyway, my mother-in-law was at the baby shower we threw for my sister when she was pregnant and loved the diaper cake I made for her.

She has asked me to do one for this shower. I'm not really sure what the theme is, but his side of the family is very country and love the whole hunting, fishing, manly life-style, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with a John Deere theme. My problem came when I stood in Walmart for an hour and a half trying to find John Deere toys for the top of the cake that were age appropriate for him to play with now. So, I eventually settled a pack of J.D. tractors and other J.D. vehicles (for ages 3+......eh, oh well, let's hope he doesn't go chewing on the wheels!) and needed to find some animals and other things to decorate the cake with. So, I walked down the road to the Dollar Store and COULD NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME find a pack of barnyard animals there or Walmart. So, I look behind me and there is this glowing pack of figurines called "Noah's Ark". It's Noah, his wife, a few animals, and some fake food. SCORE!!~ I bought two packs, got everything home, and started assembling my cake. As I was ripping open the Noah's Ark pack and pulling out the plastic bread, corn, pumpkins, and hay, I noticed that Noah and his wife got discarded and put into the trash pile. So, seriously people, pray hard for me. I really think this is a first class ticket to hell for me.... all in the name of a diaper cake!
...(and look there is a even the all important little dove in the package that I ditched... sweet Jesus please forgive me!)

Here is the cake in the beginning parts of assembly- before I decided it was too small and added 40 more diapers.

I'll put up more pictures when I get the ribbon, John Deere stuff, and half of Noah's crew on there. Have a great weekend. Probably wont be able to post til Monday!
(...oh and P.S.... don't know if you can tell but the Food Network Challenge is on in the background showing the scene where the chef passes out and falls out in the floor during the "Surprise Proposal Cake" show...... needless to say, she didn't win... bless her heart!)

Great news!!

So, I'm not sure if I've ever posted here about my nephew before. My neice... no question... she's on here. But my nephew... I don't know?? Well, Phillip's brother, Brian, and his wife, Melissa, are adopting a little boy from Vietnam. They've been on a waiting list for 3 years now, and around summer of last year they were told that two little boys had been abandoned. One of them was a newborn and the adoption agency was asking if B and M were interested, and OF COURSE THEY WERE!! :) They were told that baby Jacob was probably expected to be ready for adoption around Thanksgiving. Then, they were told Christmas. We all bought presents for him, got the tree ready for him, and everything. Christmas came and went. My mother in-law left her tree up through February thinking that he would be able to come home. No such luck (by the way, this is her first and only grandchild to think of at this point). The agency tells B and M that it looks like the USA has not signed off an papers and that Jacob could have come HOME several months ago, but his paperwork had not been touched and was just going to the bottom of a big huge stack. Well, I think it was about February, the paperwork was signed. All was good and looking hopeful. M has all these wonderful baby showers thrown by her friends and she gets their sweet little nursery all ready and set, and remodel parts of their house in anticipation for his arrival. Then, they get a call from the agency saying that they probably would not be able to get Jacob. Looks like the US did something to tick off Vietnam and Vietnam tells them that there will be absolutely no adoptions by the US. The US gets extremely mad and about a months passes by. The agency tells them that it's looking really slim that baby Jacob is coming home. B and M are DEVASTATED. They are already claiming this boy as their son, and it's recognized "officially" by Vietnam that he is their child... but they just can never go and get them. So, the US decides they are going to Vietnam to find out what's the hold up and why are these children being held w/o being able to go home with their adopted families. Vietnam gets upset that the US storms their adoption agencies and such and says ABSOLUTELY NO MORE RELATIONS WITH THE USA. So, this means no Jacob. Needless to say we are all crushed. Then, about a week later, B and M get an email at 8:00 in the morning saying that they have been approved to pick up Jacob. They have had suitcases and travel stuff packed since they've learned of Jacob, just in case they had to make a quick exit to Vietnam, so needless to say they were ready to go. But, they couldn't leave until Friday because there were no flights. B and M have been in Vietnam all week last week. It's been a struggle since all of the kids at the orphanage have scabies and they've had to treat themselves for it as well. The pictures they have sent of him are adorable. Little boys are required to wear hats out in public at all times and they've found some of the cutest stuff for him. He went right to them and has been great (as great as a toddler can be) with them. They traveled to Hanoi for part of their trip home last Thursday, Monday they leave for Tokyo, then to Chicago, which is where they were last night. Looks like they will be rolling into RDU here in North Carolina tonight!!!!!! Welcome home baby Jacob!! Everyone please pray for our sweet little Vietnamese blessing and his mom and dad during this last, tiresome, leg of their journey. I pray they will have no problems getting him back home. Seems like everything has gone somewhat smooth so far (*knock on wood**) . I think Phillip and I are going home this weekend to meet our nephew and I'm soooo excited! I can't wait to chooch all over those fat little cheeks of his! He's absolutely adorable! Gotta get permission from B and M to put pics up of him. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for him all along! Looks like it's all paying off :)

Now, for a delicious recipe. This is what I'm doing for dinner. I think I'm not going to do the salsa though. It doesn't sound like something that I would eat, and it would be hella expensive for Phillip to be the only one eating it~!! I'll let you know how it goes!

Pork with Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients:

• 1 cup seeded chopped watermelon
• 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup chopped kiwifruit
• 1/4 cup chopped peaches
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
• 1 to 2 mint leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup peach preserves
• 3 pork tenderloins (3/4 pound each)

Directions:

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting. Prepare grill for indirect heat. For salsa, in a small bowl, combine the fruit, lime juice, honey, lime peel and mint; set aside. In a saucepan or microwave, heat the preserves for 1 minute.
Grill pork, covered, over indirect medium-hot heat for 15 minutes. Turn; brush with some of the preserves. Grill 10-15 minutes longer or until juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 160°, basting occasionally with preserves. Serve with salsa. Yield: 6 servings (2 cups salsa)