Kat's Bridal Shower!

What a successful shower, if I say so myself! It was a bit of a madhouse Sunday morning, but the shower was beautiful and exactly how I envisioned it. I feel like I have been prepping for this event for months now. But maybe that’s because I had to do it in very small increments when I found time between busy season, the two kiddos, working out, and sleeping!  But it was all worth it in the end and really came together. 

When I sent out the invitations, I included a custom monogrammed recipe card (made by yours truly!), so that each guest could bring a recipe for Katrina to include in her stash to make some delicious meals for Logan when they’re still in the honeymoon stage. J And she got a lot of great recipes!  For the favors, I came up with the ‘He Popped the Question’ idea, and had flavored popcorn (grape and cheesecake) and cake pops for the guests to take with them when they departed.  And I made a super cute banner on my new favorite machine, too.

                       

As for food, I pretty much divided those responsibilities out to the other maids, since I was so focused on décor, favors, etc.  All the girls came through with quite a selection of yum-yums, including a signature purple beverage (alcoholic, of course!) for us to sip on during the shower.  It was so yummy, you couldn’t even tell it had alcohol in it, which is dangerous!!  For the cake, one of the maids, ordered it from the same bakery that’s doing the wedding cake, and it was amazing and full of flavor!

We played a game called, ‘How well do you know the happy couple’, which had a list of 20 questions with multiple choice. And we also put Katrina on the spot with the ‘Nearly Newlywed Game’, where I had interviewed and recorded Logan’s responses the week before and she had to guess his response.  Well, her responses were entertaining and provided lots of laughs!

When it came time to open all of the gifts, we found out that Target severely needs to improve the gift registry updating, as she got four crockpots, 2 Shark steam mops, and 2 glass pitchers.  And she got a lot of other great gifts which took several cars to load up. I’m super-thankful for everyone who came together and make this shower awesome for my sister, and for all the women that came out in the rain to shower the bride for the day. 

Now that the shower’s done and we’re less than 3 months out from the big day, I’m sure the bride has many more things on my to-do list.  Ahhhhhh!  But Vegas is in two months, so something to look forward to!



Hostess with the Mostess!

Yep, that's me!  Bridal shower for my sis is in less than 48 hours.  Today, I was running around like a mad woman gathering last minute items.  And I just finished making a few batches of cake balls.  You can be sure that I will throw one hell of a bridal shower for my favorite sister!  After all, she did name me 'Matron of Honor'. For some reason I feel like that makes me sound old.........matronly.  Hmmmm.  Anyways, I digress.  It's going to be a great gathering of some great friends and family to shower the bride with gifts, great food, a signature drink, and lots of laughs.  Although, I think Mother Nature has a full day of storms in store for us, so that won't be very much fun loading and unloading everything for the event.  Grrrrrrrrrr. 

Stay tuned for a full blog to follow on it! :)

In an Instant

Your life can change. In an instant.  I was quickly reminded of that this week and how precious life with our loved ones is.  Today, I had the unfortunate task of attending a funeral for a 2 1/2 year old that was tragically killed in a car accident on Easter Sunday.  One minute he was alive hunting eggs and attending a church carnival, then a few hours later he was gone in an instant.  What a heart-breaking thing to even think about.  After I saw the news all over Facebook Sunday evening, our classmates (and the rest of our small tight-night community) showed an outpouring of prayers and love for the parents.  I can't even fathom what I would do if one of my boys were taken away.  As I sat weeping at the funeral this morning, I couldn't help but having so much admiration and respect for how the parents were handling the situation and turning towards their faith for peace and comfort.  The father even stood for about 15 minutes giving a sermon and sharing memories of their sweet little Eli.  He emphasized the fact that we are all in a hurry in life, but need to take time to be the best parents we can and focus on the important things in life. And not to take any moments with our loved ones for granted.

I'm not a super-religious person and don't attend church nearly as often as I would like to, but I'm still a Christian.  I can't spout off 100 bible verses by memory, but I still know where I stand with the Lord. I know that God has plans that we may not always understand and we have to trust in Him and lean on Him, especially in difficult times.  I've been upset all week thinking about the pain that this family was going through.  I'm definitely hugging my boys extra tight tonight and thanking the Lord for each and every minute that I get to have with them.  They truly are my everything, and I try to be the best parent and role model possible for them.

I'm not perfect and have never claimed to be.  My kids are in no way perfect; they throw tantrums, talk back to me, and have an occasional 'scuffle' at school. But I love them unconditionally no matter what.  I don't have a perfect marriage.  Jordan and I have our fair share of arguments, but we love each other and are committed to making our marriage last a lifetime and hope to provide an example of a healthy relationship to our boys.  I don't think that we're better than anybody.  But we are proud of the fact that we both worked our way through college, paid for our own schooling (and will still be paying for many years to come), have good jobs, and have worked hard to provide for our family and live a comfortable life.  We have flaws and strive everyday to be the best parents we can for the boys and make decisions that have their best interest at heart.  Those are decisions that we have thought about and prayed about and are difficult at times.  We love our boys and would lay our life down for them in a heartbeat.  We're thankful for the wonderful support system of family and friends that we and the boys have, and will continue to cherish every moment we have with them.  Life is precious and we don't take anything for granted. 

Please continue to keep this grieving family in your prayers as they move forward in the difficult days/months ahead.  In light of their loss, I will continue to strive to be a better parent and treasure our time together.

Hippity Hoppity Weekend!

I can't believe that this week has flown by already and it's time for me to return back to work. But I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back into a routine.  And it should be smooth sailing from here on out and working for 'part-time' schedule.  Anyways, along with my time off, Jordan also enjoyed a long 4-day weekend with us, which never happens, so we were happy to soak up every minute of it and enjoy all of the Easter festivities.  A few weeks ago, we ventured to the mall to visit the Easter bunny.  Austin didn't want to get near the bunny, saying he liked Santa Claus, not the Easter Bunny. I tried to convince him that the bunny and Santa were friends and all, but he wasn't having it. So, we settled for a solo pic of Chase instead.  Chase wasn't really sure what to think either, but he didn't scream, so we took what we could get!

On Friday, the boys had their egg hunts at school, and Jordan and I were both lucky enough to venture up there and snap some pics.  Chase refused to walk around at all during the hunt, opting to crawl, but he definitely picked up quickly on what the goal was here.  And Austin, well, he's a pro at hunting eggs by now.  But he would stop every few to open them to see if he got anything good, that silly kid!  Later in the evening, MeowMeow and LoLo came out to stay with us.  We grilled out, colored eggs, and relaxed.  On Saturday, we opted to go out for our Easter lunch; it was a relatively stress-free lunch out, with boys being on their best behavior.  When we got home, Chase hit the sack for a nap, while Austin went fishing at the pond with Daddy and LoLo.  I wasn't sure how he would do fishing for his first time, but he had a blast.  The big boys had their shirts off, so he insisted on taking his off too!  Once they got back, we had our little egg hunt in the front yard.  Poor Chase's allergies were terrible, so he wasn't in the best of moods.

Today, we ventured to celebrate the day with the Houghams.  Since the tornado struck Jordan's parents' house last week and it'll probably be two months before they will be able to stay there, some friends of their's so graciously opened up their home to us.  We feasted on a delicious lunch and then had to improvise with an egg hunt in the house due to the rain. We had a great time, and then headed home to chill around the house.

Now it's back to work this week, and getting the final preparations wrapped up for the shower next weekend!

First fishing trip!

So proud of his eggs!

Hunting at school!

Trying to get a pic with MawMaw & PawPaw

MeowMeow, Mommy, & Chase

Nobody better steal his eggs!

Our brave Chase with the Easter Bunny!

Daddy & Chase at school

Mommy & Chase at school

Mommy, Daddy, and our big boy!

Daddy jumping over Austin in his Jeep

Coloring eggs!

Love that face!

15-Month Checkup

This morning we ventured out to the pediatrician's office for Chase's 15-month checkup.  We decided to make it a family affair, with both Jordan and I going and Austin tagging along too.  Our big guy weighed in at a hefty 25 lbs. 10oz. (70th percentile) and 31" short tall (50th percentile). And that big ol' head of his is still in the 75th percentile, too.  After they weighed him in, I wasn't surprised at all, as I feel every ounce of his weight as he latches onto me lately.  I've been calling him a little capuchin monkey, because he wraps his legs around me, crurls his toes in, and grabs old of my neck, not willing to let go these days. Anyways, after getting the look-over from the doc, the mean nurse came in to give our boy two shots.  Chase screamed, of course, but calmed down quickly as soon as Momma bear scooped him up.  As we walked out to the car, Austin said, 'That wasn't so bad, Chase!'.  Oh, you just wait sweet child; it will be your turn in a few months! :)

It's all about me!

Yep, it sure is! For a change, it's all about momma now.  Between busy season having taken a toll on me this year, my approaching 30th birthday, and anticipation of my sister's wedding festivities in a few months, I have got to regain control over my life and start taking better care of myself.  As a mother, I tend to put everything else before myself.  Since work took over my life the past two months, I too often resorted to running through the drivethru for dinner for us.  It was just too easy and I was just too tired.  My daily runs to Sonic for a delicious drink after picking up the boys from daycare have got to stop too.  So it's time to start making myself a priority.

Starting tomorrow, I will venture into a healthier lifestyle, with better eating habits and a more routine workout regimen.  I feel like my body will go through withdrawals of the caffeine, chocolate, and the other crap that I fill my body with daily.  I know it will take some getting used to, but I'm committed to finally making a lifestyle change.  And I start a bootcamp on Tuesday; it starts at 5:30am. I know I will be cussing myself come 5am, wondering why in the world I would sign up for a workout before the sun even rises.  But the looming reality that I will have to be in a swimsuit in Vegas in two months with some skinny bridesmaids and a dress in three months, is all the motivation I need right now.  I don't want to be 'the big girl' in the group when we're hitting the town in Vegas.  Yes, I am that girl in comparison to my fellow-maids.

Not only will I be making some physical changes (hopefully!), I'm going to make some 'me-time'.  I used to love to read.  Then life got busy and I was too tired to read.  I even recently canceled my subscription to People magazine, because they were just piling up and being abandoned.  Thanks to my reading teacher of a sister, she recently read the Hunger Games and suggested I read it as well, and to catch up on all the hoopla surrounding the movie release.  Well, I read it, in two days.  I was back to my old self, reading a great book as speedy as ever.  Then I turned to our handy iPad, and downloaded the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy and read it in two days.  And tonight, the third one is downloaded.  I enjoy the peace and quiet, with no tv, no 'Mommy, Mommy'.  Now I have a list piling up of what books I want to read next.

But I'll also start the week off right, finally getting a haircut after 3 or 4 months since the last one.  And maybe a pedicure. :)  So, wish me luck on my journey!  Cause remember, if Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!