Paper Anniversary!

We made it! 1 whole year of marriage. It truly seems like yesterday we were scrambling around in a hurricane to pull off this wedding at American Village. We had so many wonderful people come together to make it happen for us. It went by in such a flash. I felt like the reception lasted 10 minutes. It was a great time despite the weather. I'm sure every girl wishes they could relive their wedding day.

My cousin Claire just got engaged and I've been talking to her a lot about planning. My parents asked me if I had it to do over again, would I just take the money and run and not have a wedding. The answer is NO! I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. The stress of it all was worth having this one wonderful day with all of our family in friends in the same room.

So, to celebrate in the traditional fashion we decided to do the paper gifts. Brent made me a book of our relationship from day one. He even printed out the cast list from the show (42nd Street) that we met while doing together. It had pictures and mapquest directions and the whole bit. At the end he gave me a "paper" gift certificate to my favorite spa here in town. He knows he can't go wrong with massages and spa pampering! I gave him a subscription to Sports Illustrated since I knew he would love this and never buy it for himself. For the grand finale, I had 2 tickets to the Alabama v. Arkanasas game.

Friday night we went to our special restaurant, Bottega. Then, we stayed at Cobb Lane Bed and Breakfast. It was a unique treat. I have never stayed at a bed and breakfast before and we both really liked it. It felt like a vacation even though we were only in Birmingham.

Saturday we ate lunch at Chappy's (my favorite) and then went to the dollar movie and stayed for 2 movies since they are only $1. Then we came back to Tuscaloosa and grilled out. Sunday, which was our actual anniversary, we ate a piece of our wedding cake (which was good, by the way) and ate at Cypress Inn Sunday night. It was a great anniversary!

This makes me laugh so hard!

Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Man..

We finally have a name for the little man and I think he's going to like it and own it with pride.

BAKER THOMAS JONES

We will call him "Baker". I love it for several reasons. I'm big on names that are not very popular. I don't know any baby Baker's as of now. I hope that lasts.

On a totally different note, I want to take a brief moment to explain the picture below. Our little kitty "Cow" is affectionate but only on her time. She is choosy about the times she wants to give you loving. However, when she does it is so worth it. Today she decided as I was working on the computer that it would be a good time for affection. The black n white polka dots is my enormous belly that she is "hugging". The cats LOVE Baker. I truly think they know he is in there.

Auburn Shower

This blog is a hard one for me for I will be posting pics of my large self for the world to see. I have avoided this for as long as I can, but I really want to tell you about the sweet shower my college friends threw for me, Betsy and Kristin in Auburn last weekend. Two of my college/sorority sisters Betsy and Kristin are also pregnant and they are both having girls and due on the same day (Nov 17th) which is 10 days after me. So, we had a joint shower! We all share a love for AU and miss it like crazy, so it made sense to have it in Auburn.

When we arrived Friday we had dinner at my AU fave, Niffers. I had to get the homemade chips for old time sakes. Niffers really hasn't changed a bit. After dinner we sat on the patio at the AU Conference Center and chatted it up until bed. I won't mention the horrible nights sleep I had sleeping with Kristin. 2 preg girls together in the bed is NOT a good idea.

Saturday we were awoken by the comforting sound of a fire alarm. We had to evacuate in our PJ's and let's just say I don't look good in the mornings these days. So, we decided to get in the car and tour around Auburn since it looks NOTHING like it did when we went there. Its still the best campus there is!

For lunch: AMSTERDAM! 99% of people that went the Auburn were obsessed with Amsterdam, more specifically, the turkey wrap. It was just as I remembered it (thank you honey mustard) We left lunch and swam/sat by the pool for the afternoon. Then it was time for dinner. We wanted a nice place in Auburn and did not realize that these do not really exist anymore. Hamilton's closed, Terra Cotta closed, others were only opened for parties...so, we decided on Ole Auburn Ale House. Ok, I remember this place as a nice restaurant since I remember going before formals and such...well, not so much. Its really a pub with food. We still had a great time, but the food/service was not at ALL what we were expecting.





After dinner, it was time for the shower! Here the girls had decorated their room for the shower and we were seeing it for the first time. It was so sweet. Edgar's cake and cupcakes-nothing to complain about!





In all, it was a wonderful weekend. I miss these girls and I can't wait to get together again.

Whats been going on

Lets see...the past few weeks have been great. I went to Fairhope to visit one of my college roommates and friends, Emily. She is 17 weeks pregnant and not feeling very good. I thought it would be fun to hang out with her and chat up the pregnant world. In doing so, I got to see my long-time friend Lucy and her sister Lauren! I haven't seen these girls in probably 5 years. I LOVE when I see old friends and I feel like they haven't changed a bit. These girls haven't changed a bit! I ended up helping them out with a dinner party for this end-of-bible-study-graduation thing. It was WORK. 3 of the 5 workers were pregnant too so it made it even harder. It ended up being fun though and I know we really helped them out, which was rewarding.

Last weekend I went to Gulf Shores for a Family Girls trip. My mom, grandmother, aunts, and cousins all went and we had fun. We went out to the beach, took a few boat rides, went to eat at Wolfbay, and just talked. I did not visit the Florabama this round. I saw a few pics from this trip and got very sad about the size of my body so I will not be posting pictures. In fact, you probably won't see any belly pics of me. I guess I am not one of those posters. For some reason I still don't find it "cute" on me. I'm really not dealing well with the gaining LOTS of weight thing.

The most exciting thing right now is the baby's room! We put the french doors in this weekend and I've bought all the bedding and a rug. It's really coming along. Now, all I have left is the chandelier and decor. The walls are very bare so its not super cute yet. I do love the bedding though. Its a "transportation" theme complete with hot air balloons, sailboats, airplanes and so on. I really wish I had done before and after pics of this room. It has come soooooo far. It was a playroom with worn out carpet, pink walls (that needed re-painting) broken blinds and SO much clutter. We have made everything in that room new and clean for Baby J's arrival. Once there is a finished product I will post pictures.

In other pregnant news, he is kicking like crazy now. I feel him all the time and it seems like that happened overnight. The last time I went to the doctor I said "I think I feel movements, but its not for sure yet" and now I am for sure that he wants me to know he's in there. Brent has felt him several times and it really is so neat. Zoe got to feel him too which made her very happy. In general, she is ridiculously excited about the baby. She asks lots of questions and I think she feels like time is dragging by (and so do I).

This coming weekend my college friends are throwing me and 2 other preg friends a baby shower in Auburn! We are staying at the conference center and I'm sure we will eat at our favorite Auburn spots. I haven't seen these girls in a while and the dynamic will def be different with 3 pregnant girls. Our group is not used to this- No "Supper Club"- :(

Pool Days!

We had a fun 4th of July! We went to the Looney's annual 4th of July party at their house. It's lots of food, pool time, and friends. We had a great time.

Thursday, we had Amy and Hayes over for Pool Day 2009! Hayes was SO precious the whole time. She looked so very cute in her hat and swimsuit. She makes me long for Baby "J" to be here. (Still no name folks, I apologize)




I have 4 cinnamon bread starter bags people. I need to give them all away. Its the best bread ever! You will bake it 10 days from yesterday. I have directions that go with it of course. Please get one!

Armoire!

On my vacation to Dothan (which was great by the way) Mom and I found this little gem to add to our nursery. Since Baby "J" will live in the Playroom/Dining Room, we have to have an armoire for his clothes. I love an armoire anyway and especially an antique armoire at a good deal. We got it at Backyard Treasures in Dothan. Please do not look at the blue tape on the doors. These doors are going to be replaced with french doors and the tape keeps the cats out for now since they can open them on their own.





As you can see, Cow loves to jump inside it at any chance she gets. This is annoying b/c now there will be white kitty hair all over the inside. For some reason, the armoire is lined with this green cloth, which is fine, but it smells weird. Anyone know how I can get the smell out of it? I sprayed febreeze on the cloth but that didnt work. Its not a horrible smell, but just smells "antique".



This is one of Baby J's first Sunday school outfits. He will most likely wear it for Easter 2010. If you can't see the picture well, the top is white with detailing and the bottoms are a pale yellow. I LOVE THIS! Thanks "Shug: for buying it for him!



Still no names people. I am sorry, its harder than we thought.

In other topics- April O. Owen is in town this weekend! I can't wait to get together tonight with my peeps in Birmingham! April lives in San Antonio so I don't get to see her much. In fact, It might have been November when I saw her last.