Today is the day!

What a wonderful day today is going to be! It starts out with an 8:00am morning prenatal massage, goes to a fun mani-pedi date with my grandmother, the Tahoe's oil gets changed at a discounted rate (cuz Tuesday is 'ladies' day'), & most importantly, my wonderful hubby returns to my arms again! And as if all of that wasn't good enough...we're going to Taco Tuesday at Rosa's for dinner to top the evening off right...it's a fabulous day! :)

Now, I have to go to sleep so all of the festivities can get here even faster! :) Good night, moon!

The 'To Do' List is daunting...

Well, my hubby is officially getting on a plane as I am typing this, to return his cute little butt to the states. It's going to take them a couple of days to get back here, but the trek has begun! Woo-hoo! :)

Since he is soon to be here, I have quite a few things on my list to get done prior to him doing so. Like to hear it, here it goes:

*Service the Tahoe from everything including: getting the oil changed, getting the tires check, armor-all-ing the entire inside, & vacuuming & washing it to make it look like new again.

* Begin the bumper pad/sheets/pillow making process with my beloved mommy, the seamstress for Kennady. :) We have some serious work to knock out this weekend! :)

* Pack all of my ridiculous belongings & pray that they fit into the car. I haven't worn some of the clothes I brought with me in like 3 months. I'm kinda sad I even brought them. Just more to pack! Ugh!

* Gather baby belongings & pack them tightly. I figure it will be like a baby Christmas at our house when we 'unpack' all of our fun toys for Kennady! We are so blessed!

* Get another prenatal massage done on Friday evening after work...yum.

* Get my 'locks highlighted, trimmed, & styled this Saturday...I love salon days.

* Treat myself to a mani-pedi in prep for our maternity pictures...and for my wonderful returning hubby to enjoy too, of course ;)! It's really for you babe, I promise. Hehe.

* Turn Chad's 2nd cell phone back on (yes, he is a brat and has 2...don't ask ;)).

* Get our mail forwarded back to NC...(I forgot what day I set it to stop coming to TX...hmm).

* Write a couple more thank you notes to a few gift-givers I appreciate so much!

I know that isn't all, but I'm actually starting to fall asleep thinking about how much I have to do in the next 6 days. It's daunting, but so exciting! I'll come back to this later with more, I'm sure! :) Good night for now...

The 30-weeker...only 10 more to go! :)

You're so Crafty...:)

Mom & I had some fun today. First, we went to a baby shower for a girl we know who is expecting a sweet little surprise (they aren't finding out the sex) in October. It was fun to watch someone else get to open and enjoy all kinds of fun baby stuff!

We then grabbed some lunch at McAlister's (yum) & hit up Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Ross, & Wally-World for some fun fabric, ribbon, & burp cloths. I then came home & started to paint Chad's 'welcome home' sign that I always have present at the airport with me when he gets here (mostly because I know it embarrasses him & I like to make them, ha). He tends to smile through it & 'appreciates' them as best he can. Hehe. It's so sweet. The one I made this time is so cute, though I can't post pictures just in case he actually reads this thing. It would be shocking if he did, but it would also be the one time he decides to, cuz that's just how these things go sometimes. I'll be sure to post pics after he gets to see it though.

I haven't QUITE decided on Ken(n)ady's (name spelling or) bedding/room decor just yet, but I'm thinking it will probably just all come together. Mom & I are going to make a bumper pad & some crib sheets out of some cute material we found today, but I still need to go out and purchase the extra pieces to go with it. I'm leaning towards an understated 'beachy' theme in it's simplistic form...not cheesy in other words. Lots of blue, red, brown, beige, & some yellow. Kind of sounds weird on paper, but I'll eventually post some pictures of the quilt that is the inspiration & of how it turns out. If all fails, it's really just the functionality of it that matters, right?! I mean...seriously. :)

Well, I guess that's all for now. I wanna give a shout out to the Big Man above for all of the much appreciated & refreshing rain He has sent down to us these past 4 days! I love it! :)

What's on the mind these days...

Well, numero uno would have to be the glorious return of my wonderful hubby in just about 11 days. He actually gets to the states in 7 days, but I won't get to see him until a little after that. Can't wait for him to be here though...and he still hasn't really 'seen' prego belly now that it has turned pregnant. Ha. He's gonna love it! :)

I have been feverishly searching for creative and out-of-the-box maternity picture ideas/poses to do for when the Cozart's take our picture in a couple weeks. There are some cute ones that I've found that I will probably 'steal', but I am totally open to any suggestions you may have!

Sissy-in-law hairdresser K.K. is going to color my hair next weekend, so I've been trying to figure out what we should do with it so that it's low-maintenance (and by that I mean that I won't have to go get it done by anyone until after Kenady is born in November). You all know I love being a blonde, though my 'root' color (some call that their 'natural' color, haha) is really a darker ash blonde...almost light brown. I'm thinking I might go with that color all over and then have her do some fun lowlights with blonde & other fun colors(so the new growth is hidden underneath). What do you guys think? Shall I be brave and go 'brunette' again? It's been a while...

Here I am about 3 years ago with my darker locks. Tell me your honest opinion of what you think I should do. I figured holding a baby girl would give you all a good idea of what I will look like come November, haha. That's our little cousin Landry when she was about 7 months old. So cute!

Besides that stuff, I am soon (probably this weekend) to paint Chad a 'welcome home' sign like I always do...but this one's gonna be super-cute! I hope it turns out...I'll share pics of it with you after he gets home.

I guess that's all I really have. Not much happening around these parts. I suppose I could start the packing process (cuz everyone knows I hate it). There's a lot of packing to do, that's for sure! Adios for now! :)

Premium Meme Award

I got this blog award from my friend Shyanne. I have to list 7 traits about myself and pass this award onto 7 other friends.

1. I am an avid and self-trained shopper and bargain finder, though thankfully (says our pocket books), I'm not a compulsive spender. I enjoy browsing the stores so I know what they have for times when I need specific items & have to know where to go to find them. It's a healthy habit, but sometimes hard on the feet & most of the time hard to keep the hubby interested & by my side throughout the shopping trip. As he says, "she has to touch everything in the store...", lol. Sometimes that's true. ;)
2. I love to spend time with my family, doing all things from just sitting around, dancing, playing washers, eating, having game-nights, or staying up until 3:00am like last night throwing down some serious Spades.
3. I think I was put on this earth to be a mommy (that's not the only thing, but definitely the most important one from now on! :)). I can't wait 'til she's here & in our arms.
4. I have a love for all pictures & picture-related projects. Photography is definitely something I enjoy & can spend hours working on at a time.
5. I enjoy classy events like dinners, dances, weddings, & reunions. Something about dolling up is enjoyable & girly...which I look forward to, on occasion. :)
6. Traveling is a major part of mine & Chad's life. We love to see new things, visit new places, & make lasting & special memories everywhere life leads us.
7. I am a sucker for all things chocolate or sugary...& I have the cavities to prove it. Ha.

I am going to tag: Cassandra, Emily, Laura, Leah, Courtney, Sarah M., & Sarah L.

I win!

I found out a couple days ago that I won the free session of picture-taking from Cozart Photography & I'm SOOO excited about it. For one, I never win anything, so it feels good to break that streak...and for two, I have been toying with the idea of getting maternity pictures done while we are still here in Texas, so this works out perfectly! I wouldn't want anyone else but Laura & Slade to take them for me (or you too, Cassandra...but you're in AR, ugh! ha.) Even though I'll probably post some of the pictures on here, getting maternity pictures is a slightly more personal process than any regular photo shoot, so I like that I'm so comfortable with them. It'll make for a fun experience & daddy Chad will be here to share in it with me! Yay! That's all I have for now! If you haven't already, check out their most recent work on their Cozart Photography site.

Thanks Laura & Slade! :)

Heaven Awaits Me...

I'm not talking about the Heaven we all know exists above, but the heaven that I am taken to when a professionally trained & strong set of hands set themselves to rubbing out & readjusting every muscle in my body. And that's what I get to enjoy after work tomorrow evening. I finally made myself a much-needed and desperately deserved (haha) massage appointment & I CANNOT wait for 6:00 tomorrow to roll around. This will of course be my first prenatal massage, so I'm a little interested to see how the methods & techniques will be different from the traditional deep tissue ones that I love so much. Either way, it's going to be 90 minutes of pure bliss. YAY!

I just laughed at myself because I looked down & saw a mosquito (not cool!) trying to 'get me' through my shirt. So, I lightly smacked my belly to kill the darned thing (and missed it unfortunately). I guess that was one of the first of millions of times I'm going to 'swat away' anything that tries to 'get' my little Kenady. My motherly instincts have set in, ya'll. :) Ha.

p.s. I just KILLED the stupid mosquito...Mother prevails! :)

Craziness...

Well, I have not quite bounced back from my 'not keeping up with this thing' bad habit, but I'm trying.

This past Thursday I drove to Abilene to see my bestie Elya & her husband John. I got to spend the night with them & have some good, quality time sitting on the back porch with El that night. Friday, she went to work for the day, so I slept in, played on the computer, went to Kohl's to see what I could find, & refilled my sweet tea at Chick-Fil-A twice. :) I also went driving around for a little bit to browse at some housing developments. I ironically found myself looming around the Country Club by accident & was LOVING me some of those crazy-beautiful houses...of course. :) Some of us just have really good taste. Though, the pocket book probably won't be liking that flavor when next spring eventually rolls around. So, I kept driving. Once Elya got off of work, we packed up the car and headed our pretty little hiney's up to Lubbock to surprise our 3rd musketeer bestie, Nicole. She had NO IDEA we were coming...it was awesome. We planned it all to where her and her sister Kyla would be at a hibachi grill restaurant & that we would walk in and shock the crap out of her. It worked! She was ecstatic to see us. It had been since '04 since we had made that trip together, so it was a much-needed one. We ate some yummy food, headed home & just chilled for the evening catching up on life and girl chats. It was refreshing.

Saturday we woke up late, grabbed some lunch at the Olive Garden, went shopping at World Market & the Super Target, & watched Serendipity at the house. For dinner we grabbed a pizza & some beverages & headed to the awesome drive-in theater they have there. It's $6 a person, but you get 2 movies & a fun experience, so it's a great deal. We saw the Time Traveler's Wife & the next one that came on was District 9 (which is some creepy movie about giant grasshopper-looking aliens that invade the world & are forced into quarantine by the government) that WE DID NOT stick around for. It lasted a whole 5 minutes before I asked "why are we still here?" & got the quick response of "we have no idea...", so we packed it up and headed home. We played the Wii for a couple of hours & then sat and talked until 4:45 in the morning. CRAZY! Me & Kenady haven't been up that late in I don't know how long! So, needless to say, Sunday morning rolled around and we didn't get up until about 11:30...though it would have been 2:00pm if I was in complete control, haha. We grabbed a quick lunch at McAlister's before we headed back to Abilene. Upon our return, Elya & I decided we should go drive around for a little while again to find a couple more attractive neighborhoods (to make my silly habit of real estate searching much easier), so we did. Then, I dropped her off at church & hit the road back home to SA-town. It was an awesome and relaxing weekend with my ladies. I love them so much!

I had my 28-week appointment with the doc yesterday. Everything is right on track. I have only gained about 14 pounds from my post-throwing-up weight, but I have been told that's not the one I go by. My grandma (who was a registered nurse & has delivered 1,000's of babies) said that I'm supposed to go by my weight before I lost the pounds during the first trimester. So, I guess I've really only gained about 9 pounds to this point. They are beginning to feel like they are packing on though, so I will most likely be in the perfect range of 25-30 pounds gained by the time Kena makes her debut. Appointments will now start occurring every 2 weeks instead of every 4, so that's kind of fun. That means we're getting CLOSER!! :) The only crappy part of the appt. yesterday was that they took my blood to check for Anemia. I hate needles. Therefore, I wasn't very happy about that. But, I was a big girl and I got good results back saying my blood count was normal & all of that fabulous jazz.

Kenady has been doing some SERIOUS gymnastics, boxing, or soccer playing in there lately. I can feel her totally change positions. Either her shoulder or her butt will push out on my stomach & I can watch it go by. It's so weird, but cool! She's at 2.5 pounds & about 15 inches long from head to toe. We are already so smitten by her too!

I had a dental cleaning this morning. I TOTALLY dread the dentist too, so I wasn't all that thrilled to go. The cleaning was great though & my teeth feel all fresh and new. There were a couple problem teeth (which I ALWAYS expect, because I have never gone and left without at least 1 cavity...bad genes, not my fault) so that totally stinks. Plus, they can't do the 'work' on them until after Kennady is here, so it will be at least Christmas, if not next spring when I get to get them done. Yippee.

Well, I have some errands to run, so I'll try to keep this posting thing up to par. Thanks for reading! Hope everyone survives hump day! Adios!