WAYLON'S 1ST BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN

FRIENDS BABY SHOWER

My sweet friend of 10 years, Amy, wanted to throw me a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Madison. She is always thinking of the cutest ideas and making sure that every little detail is just perfect. I just adore her!!

She thought it would be fun to have the shower at a resteraunt, I agreed. So...we went to Olive Garden and ate some yummy food, played some fun games, and opened and oogled all the cute little girl gifts.

Amy, I can't thank you enough for always being there for me and being the best friend a girl could have. I wish I could have known you when we would have been throwing showers like this for you. I would be so honored to repay the favor. Thank you for creating such a wonderful shower.

Ann, Lynn, my Mom, Me, Amy, Momma Carol, Julieanne

Amy, Momma Carol & Julieanne

We played a game where everyone had to guess the size of my belly and cut a piece of ribbon. Whoever was the closest to the actual size wins. Even I was wayyyyyy off!!

Lynn won the string game. She was only about an inch off. :)

My Momma got Madison this "Little People Farm Set" I had the same one growing up and it was one of my most favorite toys. It looked A LOT different back then, but it is still basically the same idea. I can't wait for my little cowgirl to get big enough to play with it.

I want to thank everyone who was able to make it to the shower. I know it was kind-of short notice and I appreciate all of you so much. Thank you for all the lovely gifts, Chris and I are truely blessed to have so many people who care about us so much.

FAMILY BABY SHOWER

On June 11th, our sweet and loving family were kind enough to throw Madison and I a baby shower. It was so much fun!! Hollie was the best hostess anyone could ever imagine. She did such a great job decorating everything and organizing the yummy brunch snacks. I am so grateful to everyone who helped and to everyone who came. It really means a lot to me.

Mmmmm....bagels, fruit, cinnamon rolls and Jamie's famous peanut butter bars!!

Thank you so much everyone for your incredibly thoughtful gifts!! We absolutely LOVE every single one of them.

The gals!!

I love these two ladies!!

This pic needs some explaining.......we played a game where you have to identify the kind of cany bar that was melted and smushed inside the diapers. It was hilarious!! I hope that peanuts that size don't really actually happen. Yipes!! Awww, the joys to come.

Me and my Momma

I was 34 weeks along at the time, and my oh my do I look like I'm about to explode. Who would have ever guessed I could get any BIGGER....see future posts for proof. :)

Thank you so much Hollie, Momma Carol, Julie, Julieanne and Terryn for such a great day!! I appreciate each and every one of you as well as the rest of the Stagge, Sandberg, Campbell, Barrus chicks.

JUNE BIRTHDAYS & HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Goodness......it looks as though I have some major catching up to do. There have been so many things going on I haven't had the time to catch up on blogging about them.

This June we had several family birthdays. Here is a list of everyone we celebrated for....

Nick: June 15th
Me: June 18th
Waylon: June 21st
Josh: June 21st
Jake: June 30th

Father's Day this year fell right in the middle of all of them, as it usually does. So, we decided to celebrate everything and everyone together at Nick & Terryn's house on Saturday June 18th. We had so much fun!!

Chris, Julieanne, Parker and Maisie jumped and did tricks on the trampoline.

Hendrix swung while Carol pushed.

Bruce fiddled with his newest gadget, the Go Pro.

Ren, Nick & Terryn BBQ'd for all of us. Thanks guys!!

It was such a fun family gathering. I really meant to take a lot more pictures, but forgot to I guess. We all ate, played, talked, went for a bike ride (well, most of us....me on a bike right now just won't work) and then we sat around the fire ring and made s'mores!! Thanks Nick & Terryn for having us all over to your home. It was a blast!! 

We missed you JJ, Johanna, Jake & Josh!! We sure wish you lived closer.  

Happy birthday to all of us!! Happy Father's Day to the special Daddies that make our lives so great!!

FAMILY BBQ

A few weeks ago on May 14, 2011 we decided to have a huge family BBQ at the Stagge Ranch. It was so much fun!! Almost everyone in the family was able to make it and the weather cooperated beautifully. We BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs, had a bunch of yummy side dishes that everyone brought to share, played games in the yard and gave the kiddos rides on the horses. Chris and I want to thank everyone for coming out and hanging out with us. We had a blast and we hope everyone else did too!!

Scott & Julie

Ellie

Ren & Julieanne

Nick, Julieanne & Chris

Playing red rover!!

Playing Football

Playing Frisbee

Me & Rex

Hollie, Ledgend and Chris

David & Caleb

Hallie

Ben, Ellie & Carter

Parker

Some of the kiddos waiting their turns

Chris & Maisie

Chris & Hendrix

The kids got to feed the horses some carrots

They were so cute and they did such a good job.

This BBQ was a way for us to say "THANK YOU" from the bottom of our hearts for your love, support and patience over the last year since we said goodbye to Waylon. We appreciate everyone's willingness to help, and for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, more than we can ever express in words. We hadn't seen a lot of you for quite some time and we are so sorry for that, but it was just how we needed to handle things, so thank you for understanding.

We are so greatful to have such a wonderful family!! We love all of you very much.

38 DAYS & THE JOYS OF PREGNANCY

I have been slacking lately on keeping up with my posts. May was such a busy month for us, and I have been working a lot on getting everything ready for little miss Madison to get here. I am close, but there is still a lot that I want to have done before she arrives. We are oficially down to 38 days now!! Only 5 more weekends to go until we get to meet our baby girl. I am so ready for her to get here!!

As the weeks go on I have been getting more and more uncomfortable. I have gained 28 lbs now and I feel like I am carrying a giant boulder around with me all the time. I think I officially started to "waddle" this week. LOL  I have still been going to the gym 5 days a week, walking and lifting weights, but now I have noticed I get home and I have to rest the better part of the day because the gym took just about every ounce of energy I could muster up. I really enjoy going though. I have a pretty sweet little routine that I have gotten into, so hopefully I won't have to give it up.

I have had a lot of the same things this pregnancy that I did with Waylon too. The siatica pain is down right unbearable sometimes. I was walking in Babies R Us yesterday and BAM! there goes my right leg out from under me. I had to grab a hold of the shelf and then hobble down the rest of the aisle. That sort of thing happens quite often. People look at me strange too, and I want to say....stop staring, I'm not uncoordinated, I have a boulder that is sitting on a nerve people!! ha ha  I was hoping I would be able to avoid the very strange growth on my gums this go-round, but I was not so lucky. I has come back with a vengence! So, if you see me in the next little while, NO I do not have watermelon stuck in my teeth!! I had sooooo many people tell me that last time. I think it's hilarious, but it's also such a pain. It bleeds at the drop of a hat and unfortunately it's here for the duration. My dentist and doctor said there is nothing I can do about it, I just have to wait for it to go away after I deliver Madison. Great, just what I wanted, a yucky growth on my gums!! See....

Great shot right? LOL

I also have declared war against the wart on my thumb. I know that may gross a few people out, but I have to tell you guys about it. I swear this thing is not cooperating at all. I have had it frozen about 20 or more times, I have tried duct tape, bandaids with medicine in them, you name it I have tried it. My doctor and dermatologist say that the reason I can't get it to go away is because of my fluctuating hormones. I have had this miserable thing for over 2 years now!! So Mr. Wart......be prepared for anialation once I deliver Madison. You are going down!!

Among the things I have already told you about, I got the mask again. I think it's called melasma, or the mask of pregnancy. I slightly resemble a raccoon. ha ha  I got it with my pregnancy with Waylon too. It eventually went away, but man is it frustrating in the meantime.


Other than these few very strange things, I feel amazing!! I really don't have a heck of a lot to complain about. My blood pressure has been great, my weight gain is on track, I am extremely healthy and as far as we can tell so is Madison. That is always music to my ears when I go in for my appointments every week. I could sit and listen to her heartbeat for forever. I started going in weekly at 29 weeks and last week at 32 weeks they started doing the NST's. I have had an ultrasound at every single appointment I have gone to. Dr. S has taken such phenomenol care of me and Madison. I am so grateful for him and his compassion. He told me yesterday when I went in that everything looks fantastic and Madison's heart rate is great, she is head down and has been for quite a while. He also told me that I had quite a few contractions on the printout, but that they are just practice ones. I told him I have been feeling them for the last week and I wondered if they could be Braxton Hicks ones. I never got them with Waylon. In fact, I don't remember what an actual labor contraction even feels like. I don't remember my delivery with Waylon at all. It's kind of like I am going into this for the 1st time all over again. Maybe things will start to come back to me once I am in the hospital and in labor. I guess we'll see.

Has anyone noticed that I now have an enter key again, and I can space things out when I type. Yiipppeeee!! I love, love, love my new computer!!

Now for some bump pictures that I know you are all just dying to see......

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

Ahhhh, so true.

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

I have been working a lot on the nursery too, so stay tuned for some pictures of it when it gets finished. I am about halfway done with her bedding, so I will post them after I get it all put together. XOXO