7 months and counting!

I feel like I'm so behind! That NY blog really took it out of me...it doesn't take much these days.

Here's a sweet picture of Tuck Tuck.  He has been such a snuggle bug since we've been back from NY.  I don't ever want to leave him for that long again!

Last Wednesday I had another check up, baby girl looks good and is growing right on track! Praise the Lord :) We're officially seven months along as of yesterday! Here's a picture of the baby bump today.

She's getting so big! 

My parents went on vacation again so I house sat a couple of nights. Wednesday night my roommate from freshmen year, Sydne, came and stayed with me. Her and her husband are moving back to the area and I can't wait for them to be here! We worked on baby girl's bedding for her room.  It's going to be so cute when it's all done, but I'm no sewing expert so I'm afraid to work on it without her. (I know, it's silly) We took a break to go to Nathan's soccer game that night.  He played really well and it's a great work out for him! He was pooped when it was over.

Thursday we got to go to dinner with our friends, Martha Kate and Zac.  It's always good to see them, I hate that they live all the way in Alaska! Boooo.  Come back to Texas you guys, we miss you!!

Saturday I helped throw my friend Stacy's bachelorette party! It was 20's themed so we all had to dress up as flappers.  Kendall and I were in charge of the food so we spent the afternoon baking and preparing everything.  (and I must say...our cupcakes were SUPER delicious) We showed up and the other girls decorated everything so cute! Stacy loved it all.  We ended up going to dinner and then to karaoke! It was such a fun night, I'm so excited to celebrate with her this weekend at her actual wedding!!

My good friend, Kendall

Love you Stace!

The group at dinner

Yesterday I got to see my classroom for the first time! It's awesome to know I have my own class but it was completely overwhelming.  I have sooooo much to do, and not a lot of time to get it done in.  School starts in almost a month...ahhhh!! Here's a shot of my classroom....

Let's get to work! 

Hope everyone's having a good week :)

Babymoon in NYC!

(WARNING: THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY LONG POST WITH A LOT OF PICTURES)

Monday morning my mom dropped us off at the airport and we were New York bound! I’m a nervous flyer but everything went smoothly and we touched down that afternoon.  We took our first taxi to the hotel, which I thought was important for us to document…Nathan not so much.  It was expensive and New York is absolutely filled with crazy drivers who honk—a lot! 

We arrived at our humble abode and got unpacked.  The hotel was so nice! We stayed in the financial district which is located in Lower Manhattan actually right next to where the twin towers once were.  We freshened up and then headed out for food.  They pointed us in the direction of a local pizza place.  New York knows how to do pizza! We walked around for a bit and stopped by a neighborhood garden on the way back to the hotel.  It’s open to the public and neighbors sign up to volunteer to take care of it.  It was pretty neat! That was about the extent of any type of green space out there in the concrete jungle.  When we got back we walked around the hotel looking for the pool…until an employee told us that there was in fact no pool.  That was a big bummer because I planned on laying out during the day while Nathan was in his meetings.

View from our room

Tuesday Nathan started his conference.  He would come back every two hours or so with food for me.  He said he had to sneak it because he didn’t want his new friends to think he was eating two meals himself! Hahaha! Everyone in his group was from NY so he shared a little Texas swag with them.  They loved him! He thrives in those situations…we are complete opposites in that respect. 

That evening we hesitantly took the subway to Yankee Stadium, it actually turned out to be very convenient and much MUCH cheaper than a taxi.  We enjoyed a huge hot dog each and also were secretly pleased to see them lose to the Royals.  It started raining huuuuuge fat rain drops during the 5^th inning.  Everyone rushed out of their seats to find a place they could stay dry.  It didn’t last long so we all headed back to our seats…and not 5 minutes later it started again.  We decided we would just wait it out, and it actually felt nice because it was SO humid there! I was SHOCKED at how hot it was while we were there, there were days that it was hotter in NY than back home in Lewisville. Boooooo 

Wednesday we met up with Nathan’s new friends at a pub called Ulysses, which ended up being about 10 blocks from our hotel.  Everyone walks in NY, I got a lot of exercise while we were there! Nathan had a couple of beers with his new friends and then one sweet girl offered to take us into Chinatown for dinner.  She said she knew the best authentic Chinese food place in all of New York.  It was quite a trek from where we started but we got to see a lot of cool sights along the way!   She ended up taking us to Big Wong’s.  We had quite a spread, including duck, which was very interesting.  After dinner we walked to Little Italy to get dessert.  We had our first Cannolis!! They were to die for.  I was supposed to share them with Nathan buuuuut I ended up eating more than my fair share. 

The picture on the bottom left is where a lot of law and order shots are filmed! 

Food Food Food!

Thursday I hung out at the hotel and then headed to the garden area to sit in the shade and read. It’s located right in front of the freedom tower.  It was nice and relaxing! I headed back to the hotel when Nathan got done with his meetings.  

We had plans to walk to the Brooklyn Bridge but Nathan was exhausted so he laid down to take a “little” nap…2 and a half hours later I woke him up because baby was starving! It was getting dark so we decided to not venture too far from the hotel.  We found a little Italian restaurant to eat at and enjoyed a nice dinner together.  It’s so funny because no matter what we’re talking about our conversation always gets back to baby girl.  It’s crazy that this is our last vacation we’ll be taking just the two of us.  We have loved our almost two years of marriage together and it’s going to be interesting to see how our family dynamic changes, we are truly so excited to meet this little girl!

On Friday Nathan got done with his meetings early.  We met up with some of his friends and then decided we would head to Times Square.  Talk about one crazy place.  Woah! Lights and people and cars and noise and music and colors and smells…it was completely overwhelming. 

We decided to take a stroll down 5^th Avenue when I remembered that we HAD to go to FAO Schwarz and get a toy for baby.  Turns out it was on the opposite side of 5^th Avenue, we ended up walking a looooong way.  But it was totally worth it because we found the cutest teddy bear for her.  

We headed back towards Times Square to ride the subway home but decided to have dinner first.  We stumbled upon a little burger joint and it was delicious! When we left the restaurant it was pouring—not a fun experience! Our little umbrella just didn’t do so we proceeded to board the subway soaking wet. Oh well! Our night was made 100% better when we stopped at a little diner and got a Cannoli. Haha! If you can’t tell…I eat ALL the time.

Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to all week! We had the whole day to go explore.  We woke up and had breakfast at George’s.  We became big fans of George’s while we were there and they had the BEST breakfast.  

After I stuffed myself silly we walked off our meal on the way to the subway.  We got dropped off at the southern end of Central Park.  If you’ve never been there, it is a huge place! We were only able to see a small portion, but we did take the time to stop by the Central Park Zoo.  I’m not going to lie, it was kind of disappointing.  It was pretty, just very very small.  After the zoo I convinced Nathan to let us get a caricature done since we hadn’t gotten any other souvenirs.   We sat down for about 20 minutes while a man drew us, and when he turned it around it was horrible! I thought/seriously hoped he was joking…but he took our money and that was that.  Dumb!

After that debacle we walked down and saw the Balto statue.  I thought that was so cool because when I was growing up I watched that movie a thousand times! We also saw a puppeteer, the kids were eating him up! We took a lengthy stroll and when our stomach’s got the best of us we headed to The Plaza (that’s right people) for lunch.  They have a really really neat collection of shops in the lower level of the hotel.  We decided to eat at the Todd English Food Hall.  They make their pasta right in front of you so I had to have lasagna and Nathan ordered a brick oven pizza…YUM!

We got dessert at a little cupcake shop.  There weren’t any places to sit so we took our cupcakes outside and across the street to sit on some steps.  I looked over at Nathan and sitting right behind him was Eric Bana! He tried to be stealthy in a cap and sunglasses but it was most definitely him! So we had our celebrity sighting while we were there! 

We headed back to the hotel because we had made an appointment to tour the World Trade Center Memorial.  What an experience, it is beautiful and very surreal. There are two huge pools set where the actual buildings once stood.  The names of all the victims are engraved around the outside of the pools.  The Freedom Tower stands over them and lights up in red, white, and blue at night.  I think they did a great job with the memorial and it is a beautiful way to commemorate the lives of the ones we lost that day.  After the memorial we were both exhausted so we went back to the hotel and started to pack up all of our stuff.

We flew back on Sunday morning and arrived in DFW around lunch time. It was an awesome trip, I just really enjoyed being able to spend quality time with my boo.  It was a great babymoon!

Visit to Lufkin for July 4th

My sisters and I used to basically spend our whole summers in Lufkin.  We loved getting to swim, ride four wheelers, play with our cousins, and of course getting spoiled by our grandparents.  Going to Lufkin for at least a few weeks was a summer staple so as we got older and big girl obligations like soccer and work got in the way, our carefree summer vacations became shorter and shorter.

This summer is no different.  I've been nannying every day during the week but thankfully they gave me a little vacation July 3-5.  As soon as they told me, I called mom and said we should make a trip to Lufkin for the 4th.  We decided we would make our salsa while she was there.  I actually had a lot of things I wanted to do while we were there including making salsa, hanging out by the pool, doing a little antique shopping, and making baby girl's bedding.  I tend to try and pack too much into a short amount of time.

I was so excited when I found out Katie Bug and Courtney were going to be able to go too! We left Wednesday morning, after I went and took care of some HR stuff for my job (and got my badge!).  Traffic was horrible getting through Dallas, I felt like we were in the car all day.  We always stop at Braum's on the way for a little pit stop, they have the best burgers and milkshakes.  After our break, we hit the road again and got into town around 4.  Just in time to head to my FAVORITE bbq joint, Lufkin bbq.  If you ever for some strange reason find yourself in, or passing through Lufkin, it would be a sin not to stop there.  Just take my word for it!

We headed home and helped mom can pickles.  I felt like cucumbers were running out my ears! We sat around and talked while we cut up the cucumbers and got them ready for my mom to make into bread and butter pickles.  Yum!

July 4th I slept in and then Katie and I, (thankfully we were able to solicit a little help from a few cousins) started peeling tomatoes for our salsa.  It took hours but it was well worth it! We took a break so we could have lunch with everyone.  Hot dogs and hamburgers of course! What else do you eat on July 4th??

After we ate we got our suits on and headed to the pool.  It was weirdly cool that day, it stayed in the upper 80's, so the water was a little chilly, but nevertheless, relaxing! I floated around and read my book, a perfect afternoon in my opinion.

The girls were super excited about it taking us almost an hour to air up floats for the pool.

That night we headed out to watch the fireworks.  Funny story...we thought we had ourselves a decent spot and then when the show started our view was blocked by the only building on the horizon.  We were able to see some of the big ones, but I wasn't too disappointed because I knew we were going to shoot off our own when we got home.

I love July 4th! 

On Friday we went antique shopping around downtown Lufkin. I would have the coolest house if I had all the money in the world! But for now, I'll browse until my heart's content.  We had dinner at Del Rio's and then headed up to the mall to watch Despicable Me 2. It was so cute!

Saturday we headed to Nana and Papa's house for a little visit.  Nana took us to downtown Nacogdoches to do some more browsing and shopping.  I got some very cute little trinkets for baby girl's room! I'm so so so excited to get her nursery ready.  (More about that later) We ate at Auntie Pasta's, the most delicious Italian restaurant.  I feel like all I do is eat these days! Lol

We polished off that chocolate cake and ice cream! 

That night we packed up the car as much as we could because we had to leave early on Sunday morning.  I needed to get back to Lewisville so I could do laundry and pack before me and Nathan flew to New York Monday morning.  It was a quick turn around but definitely worth it! I'm glad we got to visit with everybody, even if it was only for a few days.

Stay tuned for the post about our trip to NY! It's been a great trip so far :)

Blessings Blessings Blessings!

God blesses me every single day when I open my eyes and am given the ability to get out of bed.  Some of his blessings are subtle, like when my favorite song comes on the radio just when I need it, or when I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  Others slap me in the face with how much God cares for me.  This week I feel like He chose to smack me upside the head with how awesome He is.

The week started off rather normal.  I worked all day and so did Nathan. I was really looking forward to Tuesday because it was my birthday and I was off work and had plans to go to breakfast with Nathan before he had to go into work. Weeeeell he ended up having to cover the overnight shift which means he passed out as soon as he got home at 7 am.  Not before he stopped by the donut store on his way home to bring me a sweet treat for my birthday.  I felt bad, I knew he really wanted to go to breakfast, but it wasn't his fault! I got up a little later and decided I would buy myself a few pieces of prego clothes since I'm quickly running out of room in all of mine.  I shopped around and wasted time until he woke up and then headed back home to have birthday cake with my in-laws.  Bill baked me my favorite, marble cake with chocolate icing. Yum!

Blowing out the candles...that kept relighting.
 

We hung around the house for the rest of the day until it was time to head to our birthday dinner.  We chose to have it at Abuelo's this year, Mexican food has always been one of my favorites, but it is REALLY hittin the spot these days.  And this year I was actually EARLY, if you know me at all you know how shocking that is! It was so fun seeing everyone and celebrating our 23rd birthday.  I had a great time catching up and eating delicious food.  They sang happy birthday to us and brought out desserts.  Holy moly, the cheesecake (I'm still not 100% sure what kind) was to die for! Anyways, I have the best friends anyone could ask for.  I love y'all to pieces! Thank you for coming to celebrate with us.

The next day I went in to talk with one of the elementary school principals about what I could do to make myself more marketable.  I have been living in a state of anxiousness since we moved back because I knew how how hard it was going to be for me to get a job here.  I prayed and prayed about it and was having to seriously trust that God was going to work something out, even if it wasn't in education.  The principal told me she would email a few principals and hopefully I would at least be able to get an interview.  As soon as I pulled out of the school's parking lot an unknown number called me, it was a principal at an elementary school in the Colony. She wanted me to to come in for an interview! Getting an interview is half the battle so I was very excited!

I left work and rushed home to get ready.  I made it to the school a little early, said a prayer, took a big breath, and headed in.  Interviewing is extremely nerve-racking for me, but I was determined to not let them get the best of me.  I felt like this interview was more of a conversation and it was the first time that I feel like I truly represented who I am and what kind of teacher I will be.  I felt confident but I wasn't going to get my hopes up.

I headed home quickly because Nathan was taking me to Denton for my birthday! He surprised me with reservations at the Wildwood Inn which is the bed and breakfast we got married at almost two years ago.  It was so special to go back there! We checked in and then freshened up for dinner.  He took me to Giuseppe's, which we highly recommend! Delicious! After dinner we drove back to the square and got ice cream from Beth Marie's, we used to go there when we were at UNT. That feels like such a long time ago!

We walked around the square for a bit and then headed back to the hotel.  I decided I wanted to go swimming since the pool was empty! The water was so cold because the sun was already down, I immediately rethought my decision, but aside from the stinkin mosquitoes it was nice to just float around.

We had to wake up early the next morning because I had to be at work at nine which was a bummer, but it was such a great night! He is full of good ideas. :)

Shortly after I got to work I sat down and checked my email, and found out that Camey Elementary offered me the job! Words cannot explain the feeling of relief and thankfulness...and down right shock that I felt when I first saw it.  It was so exciting to be able to call Nathan and tell him the good news. I'll be teaching 4th grade language arts and social studies, which is exactly what I want to do!

This week I have been surrounded by fellowship with good friends, quality time with an awesome husband, rest and relaxation, and a job offer!! It really can't get much better than that.  I am so very thankful for those of you who were praying for me while I was on the job hunt.

23 is going to be a very busy year for me.  Welcoming a baby and starting my career are not going to be easy but I'm so excited about them both!

By the way, baby is doing well.  I feel her kicking a lot in the evening time.  Nathan even saw her kick! Talk about strange, seeing your own skin move like that is a surreal experience.  Here's my most recent picture of the bump, it was taken on my birthday.  (Disregard all of the junk, hopefully we won't be living out of boxes forever)

Weekend Shenanigans

Last week was pretty average.  Nathan worked his tush off, like always.  I love that boy, he works so hard for us, it just really stinks that our schedules are the opposite.  I feel like I never see him! I spent most evenings hanging out with Tuck Pup.  He keeps pretty good company, he's my movie watching buddy that's for sure!

Right before I clicked to take the picture he licked me straight on the mouth. 

Thankfully Nathan was able to get off Saturday afternoon for my sweet friend Jessica's wedding.  We got all dressed up and headed to Dallas to celebrate Jessica and Jimmy's nuptials.  I just love weddings, and this one was no exception.  Jessica and Jimmy are perfect for each other and I am so happy we were able to be there to witness their marriage!

Walking back down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Lee!

My boy enjoying my favorite treat, wedding cake. Oh boy, it was delicious!

I got to catch up with some of my friends from A&M, I miss you guys and College Station so much!

It was a beautiful wedding, I'm so happy for those two lovebirds.  Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Lee, we love you both!

Nathan worked early Sunday morning so he got home around three. He was exhausted after being out late for the wedding and having to get up super early so he passed out as soon as he got home.  I was reading a book when Tucker busted through the door and squeezed his one hundred pound tush in between us.  I think he is under the illusion that he is a lapdog.  This couldn't be farther from the truth but, we love to snuggle with him.

Disregard my pregnant chubster face and body pillow. (AKA my new best friend)

We rounded off the evening with an early birthday dinner cooked by my father-in-law, and FINALLY we went to the movies! I didn't even care what movie we saw, it was just nice to go on a date.

Oh, and last but not least! Here's a picture of the bump...almost 24 weeks along.  Speaking of, happy 6 months Baby E! You're two thirds of the way done baking. :)

 

Zoo, Party, Birthday, Father's Day

Friday started off with a trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo! I love the zoo, and haven't been in a long time so I was probably just as, if not more, excited than the girls.  My mom came with us so that each of the girls would have someone's hand to hold.  We saw all kinds of animals and had a nice picnic lunch.  It was super fun, and equally as exhausting.  We were all ready to head home but we ended up sitting in two hours of traffic. Sarah slept the whole way home, while Hannah serenaded us with the same Elmo song over and over...whatever makes her happy!

We got home later than I had planned so I had to rush, rush, rush to get ready for one of my best friend, Stacy's, lingerie party.  I can't believe her wedding is almost here, and it was a fun night of celebrating her! We had dinner off the square in Denton at a cute little Italian restaurant.  Then we headed back to her house for her lingerie shower and some yummy desserts!

All the Lewisville HS gals

Saturday we celebrated Katie Bug's 19th birthday.  Her birthday is actually on the 16th, but since that was also Father's Day, we celebrated a day early.  We went to Babe's for dinner and that place does not disappoint! We had a nice meal and even got to embarrass her by having the waiters sing to her while she wore a chicken hat and "flapped her wings."  We did a little antique shopping while we were in downtown Carrollton. I love those little shops!

After dinner we headed back home for birthday cake, personally, my favorite part of the day. We played Phase 10 until Courtney got sick of losing and the rest of us got tired. It was a good day.  Happy Birthday Bug! We love you so much, keep kickin butt at summer school. We miss you already!

Sunday was Father's Day!  We went to church with my family and then headed to Tierney's for Father's Day brunch.  I love that next Father's Day our little one will be here and Nathan will be celebrating his first real Father's Day.  He will be the BEST dad, I have absolutely no doubt!

On Father's Day I am always reminded of how lucky I am to have my dad.  He is the hardest worker I know...and I know everyone says it, but this time it's true! He's the kindest soul you will ever meet, and Jesus shines through him even on his bad days.  He has taught me so much about what it means to be a person with integrity and self-respect.  I'm grateful for the days we get to play basketball together, or just have a good conversation.  He's my hero! Even though he will probably never read this, thanks for being you, Dad! I love you more than you know!

Dad with his four gals! :) 

Nathan was off for the whole weekend! It was strangely awesome to have him around for all of these fun events.  I long for the day when he works Monday-Friday.  Sunday night we celebrated Father's Day at his house.  Ironically, his dad did all of the cooking. Thanks Bill! We ended the night with a family round of  "around the world" and a walk with the pups around the block.

Sorry for the picture overload! Until next time...