Cookies by Design

This weekend, I had the opportunity to be apart of an awesome baby shower for my friend Steph. You can check out some pictures of the little shin-dig and all the fun we had over here. One of the highlights of the afternoon were these delicious cookies from Cookies By Design. They sent us this lovely basket with individually wrapped goodies. The cookies came in adorable baby shapes with pink and white frosting. At first, I was a little skeptical, wondering if they would be any good. How many times have you bought some cute frosted cookies at your local grocery store, only to find out that they tasted terrible? I wondered if these would be the same way, but my skepticism was immediately gone when I tasted these soft and absolutely scrumptious cookies. When I was leaving the shower, I couldn't resist stashing a few more of these in my purse to take home. I ate them far too quickly and as I write this I am wishing I had some. Thankfully, I can go to their website at www.cookiesbydesign.com, and get some more! The prices are so affordable, and they make for a great alternative gift idea! There are a few birthdays coming up in my family, and I am looking forward to sending this one. I love the idea of giving a recital gift like this one, and this one would be the perfect way to say "thank you".
Oh, and if you are thinking that you just can't possibly wait any longer to get your own, guess what? They have Same Day Delivery...so go get some now!

The 49er

My dad found the local drive-in, and after thinking about it a little bit, I thought this would be the perfect chance for hubby and I to actually see a movie while it's still in the theaters!

There were a lot of really neat things about it. We left a little early, so Capri was happy in the car (she hates the car, and the only way to go even 20 minutes away is with a portable dvd player in her lap), and we got some yummy food and found a great spot.

It was a new experience for us, and it was beautiful. This is definitely a mid-west thing. There were families with tons of little kids running around. Some children had their pj's on ready to fall asleep watching the movie in the back of their van.

There was Christian music playing through the speakers; groups of teenagers playing bean bag toss, and couples cuddling up with blankets. We didn't know if it was going to work out, because it had been raining, but the rain cleared up, and left a dewy beautiful evening.

We were able to see a double feature for the price of one. The previews were all old fashioned and we snacked on popcorn and pop. Before the movie started everyone sang the National Anthem, it was really cool.

I'd love to say that Capri fell asleep, and we enjoyed a happily ever after evening, but it didn't really end up that way. Capri refused to sleep, and ended up staying up all night from being off of schedule. We hope to try again, try some other tricks and have an easier time, next time. But we are still so excited, since this was our closest thing to a night out since Capri was born.
On the way

This made me laugh so hard, she was posing for me but totally looking at something else!

Getting ready to start the movie

Playing with daddy's pop

tailgaiting

PJ's

P.S.
We saw kung-fu panda which was adorable, and the incredible hulk, which was horrible! (oh my gosh I'm officially a mom enjoying the kids movie more)

Morning

Rising early is never something that I did well, or enjoy. I've struggled with many years because I wanted to be a morning person so bad. When I managed to get out of bed, and wake myself up, I enjoyed being up so much. There was something about getting up early that gave me this overwhelming hope, because I saw so much opportunity in the day. The getting up part... became this crazy intangible thing that I never did well.

My best friend Chelsea was always an early riser. I would spend the night at her house in high school, and she would wake me up singing, wanting to go for a run, making breakfast, turning on all the lights. I would throw pillows at her, pull the blanket up over my head, and pray that she left me alone. I was always the dork at sleepovers , that the other girls tormented with toothpaste because I was the first to sleep, and the last to wake up!

There was one season in my life where I was able to enjoy the morning. It was a brief time in high school that I managed to wake up every day at 5AM, have a quiet time and work out, and it was the happiest time of my high school years.

I knew that when Capri came, I would have to get over this, and I knew I would manage to do it, I just didn't think I would be happy about it. To my surprise though, as I was awakened by my baby girl, I would roll over to find the happiest smile, and the most beautiful big blue eyes.
Her joy and excitement about waking up in the morning is overwhelming. If you could test energy on a scale from 1-100, every morning her beautiful spirit is at a 95!

This is just another way she has changed my life. Getting up before the sun is easy now (although I do admit to a new coffee addiction to help as well). I love being her mom, and sharing in her excitement of the morning. She gave me the gift of being able to wake up happy, hopeful and like I wished so many mornings growing up- seeing the day full of opportunity.

50 things I like about myself

1.I'm wise
2.I'm very positive
3.I'm good with people
4.I'm a good friend
5.I'm an awesome mother
6.and Aunt
7.I respect my husband, and I'm a good wife
8.I value family
9.I'm creative
10.I'm stylish
11. I have leadership skills
12.I have a good sense of humor
13. I don't take myself too seriously
14.I have pretty blue eyes
15. I'm sexy
16. I go with the flow
17.I'm good at cleaning
18. I can motivate and inspire people
19.I can discern people well
20. and I can see strengths right away
21.I always choose to see the best in people
22.I can read fast, and enjoy to read
23.I'm loving and affectionate
24.I'm responsible
25. I've learned how to be organized
26. I'm successful
27. I'm excited and passionate
28.I try to make myself a better person every day
29. I love Jesus
30. I'm girly
31. I know a lot about natural things
32.I can dance
33.I like all kinds of people
34. I don't judge, and always support
35. I can be the life of the party
36. I'm reflective
37. I have a great opinion
38. I'm a great sister
39. I'm a great daughter
40. I always remember cards
41. Being tall and thin
42. Being pretty
43.I smile at strangers
44. I'm always up for an adventure
45. I communicate well with my husband
46. I planned a gorgeous wedding
47. I'm tough (enough to give birth)
48. I think outside the box
49. I always like to do something different from what everyone else is doing
50.The way I look in my swimsuit

Wow! This was really hard for me. I got stuck so often, I don't know if I was being too broad, and needed to be specific, but this was harder then I thought! It felt good though!
EVERYONE did this, so, I just want to tag my friend Jordan!

Come join me on flickr!

Just opened up a new account, and you can click on my sidebar badge to look at more photos! I'm going to be adding more and more!

Happy Da-Da-Day! (Part two)

Dear Da-Da,

I'd like to take today (Da-Da day) to tell you all the things I think you are awesome at, and say thank you for all things things you've done.

Thank you for talking to me every night in Mommy's belly. I learned your deep voice, and looked forward to our nightly chats. Your voice always brought me so much excitement, and it made my legs kick!

Thank you for helping Mommy and I get through being born. I could feel your hands on mommy's back as you helped her with the pain.

Thank you for being there when I was born, not taking your eyes off of me, and calming me down.

Thank you for staying up with me all
night the first few nights I was here
to make sure I was safe.

Thank you for loving me, you are so good at it. Thank you for telling me
everyday how beautiful I am, and spending so much time with me.
Thank you for finding so many fun ways to play with me, calm me down and make me feel happy.

I love our walks together, and going to the park. I love our long talks about the meaning of life. I love chewing on your shoulder, and giving you kisses. I love how you always find new ways to make me laugh.

Thank you for always singing "You are my sunshine". I love your voice, and it always calms me down. You are really good at giving hugs, Mommy thinks so too (we've talked about it).

Thank you for always providing for me, and everything I need. Thank you for working so hard to give me everything I want.

Thank you for getting up with me at night when I can't sleep, or getting up with me early in the morning when I don't want to.

Thank you for giving me medicine, throwing me in the air, finding the NuNu's and loving Mommy.

Thank you for not getting frustrated with me, and loving me SO deeply. I love getting to know you, and I love our special bond. I trust you, and you are one of my favorite people in this whole world!

You are the best daddy any princess could ask for.

I love you so much!

Happy Da-Da day!

Capri

Father's Day Part One

My Dad is the dad above all dads. I struggle to relate to most women I meet, that have suffered through childhoods with men that either weren't there for them, or if they were they abused them, or offered them nothing.

My Father is everything a father should be. If you met him, you would see how much he loves my mom. He adores every part of her. He always told me too. "Isn't your mother so beautiful today?" he always said to me, which I always agreed. I watched him bring her home things, give her kisses, compliments and love. She is his favorite person, and his best friend. He taught me what a great husband looks like, and how a Father balances the two.

He is an awesome provider. When I was young, he made the decision to go into business for himself, and made a way to provide everything we needed, but also made a way for time with us. I always felt the secure in my home, and with my needs even though I know that we had really rough times financially, he always made me feel like he would give me everything I needed. He woke me up most mornings, gave me a hug and kiss and breakfast. When he got home from work (we always counted down the minutes in the evening until he returned), we would tackle him with hugs as he walked through the door. He always made us wait until he changed out of his suit and tie, and we danced around in excitement until he was ready. He then became our human jungle gym/wrestler, as we would wrestle for hours (at least that is what it seemed) on the living room floor. We hung out on the weekends, and he was always there.

He was an awesome leader, teaching me about Jesus. Some mornings when I woke up early, I would get out of bed to find him in his PJ's sitting at the dining room table reading his Bible. I would crawl into his lap and he would teach me the stories he was learning himself. He was a man of incredibly high integrity. He prayed with us all the time, and taught me about my other Father, the one in Heaven.

He loved so freely. Everything I asked for I had to pay for with a hug. "Dad, can you make me a bowl of cereal?" to which he would respond "if I can get a hug". When we hugged, he whispered in my ear how I was the best hugger in the world. He told me every day how much he loved me, how special I was, how beautiful I was, and how I could do anything I dreamed of. He never with held emotion, love, touch, attention. It flowed so much from him.

As a teenager, and then a woman, he has always been a great listener, a supporter, someone I could talk to about anything. He was always sure to protect me, yet allowed me to have freedom. He taught me how to be independent, and made me feel worthy.

My husband is like my dad in so many ways. I saw the value in my husband, and fell in love with him at such a young age, I believe, because my dad taught me I was worthy of him, and the kind of love he could show me.

As I've grown up, moved out, gotten married, had a baby, he has been there for me through everything, and I cherish our relationship so much.

He also respects and loves my husband, and treats him like a son (and always has), and he treats my little girl like a princess... just the best papa around.

I know that many people say "my dad is the best dad", but I TRULY mean it, in every way a dad could be a great dad, he is.

Thank you Daddy for everything. I love you so much!

Happy Father's Day!

Engagement Story

This is an e-mail I sent my family from our Cruise to Alaska when Wade and I got engaged almost two years ago. If you are looking for a LONG read, I thought you might like this!




Hey everybody! Well, yesterday was one of the best days of my life! We went with Wade's whole family on an excursion in Juneau. It was a gorgeous day, clear and warm (well, warm for them, it was 65). It was the first day it had not rained in the last 32 days! We were taken from the ship to a boat where we went all along the shores and the different islands through Juneau and we saw about 10 hump back whales, along with sea lions, seals, and 4 bald eagles! We watched the crew catch salmon off the back of our boat, and by the end of the tour they had roasted it and passed it out to everyone on ritz crackers. It was so exciting! We then boarded back on the bus to go to one of the largest glaciers in the world, the Mendenhall Glacier! We were warned greatly about large (1,200) pound brown bears and were given lessons on what to do when we encounter them. Luckily for Wade and I being loud mouths helped us, because they are less likely to attack you when they can hear your voice, and are not startled. They can recognize a human voice and they won't attack you. They were everywhere by the glacier because all of the pink salmon had swam north towards the glacier, and the bears are there to eat! The glacier itself is magnificent, I have never seen anything like it in my life. As soon as you get a glimpse of it your breath is taken away. I would suggest that you google the Mendenhall glaciers you might be able to find some photos of it. Well, I was in a very adventurous mood, I wanted to explore all the mountains and waterfalls and everything around the glacier. Wade and I sort of broke away from his family and started exploring. The whole day Wade had been especially sweet. He would stop and tell me how beautiful I am, how much he loves me. I thought nothing of it though, because he is this sweet often to me...I just thought he was in a great mood, and overwhelmed by the beauty of the scenery! We hiked up to this one point through a trail where we had a gorgeous view of the glacier, and we were covered in trees, everything was so green, and the glacier itself was peaking through the leaves on this tiny trail that we happened to discover. I wanted to keep exploring so I kept saying, "let's keep going"! Finally as we reached this point, Wade stopped me and turned around and started telling me how much he loved me, and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He also says THESE things quite often, so it wasn't until he got down on one knee that I realized what was going on! I screamed "no you're not!" as I was in shock. I can't quite remember all that he said, because of my shock but I do remember the end. He said "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me, Carrington, my love?" I was screaming with joy. He took off my glove and placed the ring on my finger. It looked magnificient in the natural light, with the glacier right behind us. It was the most special moment that we have ever shared, just the two of us! He was so nervous! After we hugged and kissed for what seemed like forever, we made our way back down towards where the tour bus was because it was about to leave! I took a leaf and a photo in my head to hold a memory of that special place. We ran down the trail and we ran into a little club house they have at the base where you can buy things about the glacier and it tells you how it was formed and things like that! We bought post cards, a book, a dvd, all to remember that gorgeous place! We then ran down to the bus, where his family was waiting! Told them, and got a big congratulations (they had no idea what he was doing)! As we boarded the bus, people were saying "Where you been?" And Ginger said, "We have a good excuse, our son just got engaged!" And everyone on the bus was cheering for us, and wanted to see the ring, it was so fun! On the way back Wade began to tell me all the little stories about all his ideas and how he came to the decision to do it in Alaska (he went around and searched forever with his friend Brian at hotels in AZ, and decided it wasn't special enough), and his decision to make it spontanteous (which for those of you who know Wade, being the analyst he is, not planning was a HUGE thing!) The ring is gorgous! We have pictures taken in front of the glacier right before, and we have pictures taken right afterward before we got on the bus! I can't wait to tell you all the more little details (like how I was convinced he WAS NOT going to propose in Alaska) and so much more! I am being charged by the minute here, so PLEASE pass this on to everyone that you know, or can! I am off to get a manicure on the ship because I have this gorgous ring I have to show off! I love you all so much, wish you were here, and I wish I could share this moment with all of you! I will send pictures as soon as I can! I love you! Carrington

Fun Friday

Capri has been sick, and even when she isn't sick she is a little high maintenance. However, she is always happy outside, no matter what we are doing. Now that its nice out, I decided to get her a little kiddy pool that she can sit in, and splish-splash. I couldn't find her cute watermelon swimsuit, so I used this little outfit (its slightly big), but mainly meant for a day at the beach. I love it though, because it protects most of her skin from the sun. It took a lot of praises and claps to get her to put it on, but she looked so cute! Oh, and then my baby bandz! She was totally freaked out until she realized she could see through them, and then she loved it!

Don't mind all the stuff in the picture, I was trying to take it *fast* so that I could capture that smile!
It was really cold! We have to figure out another solution to get warmer water, but she loved getting her toes wet... for like 3 seconds!
Drying off and sitting up SO well!

Sick mama was TOTALLY exhausted after this adventure. (Yeah, I've been sick like a whole week, and missing being outside!)

Wordless Wednesday

We call this her "floral spaceship"

This behavior is so rare in my household, that I thought I would get evidence that it actually happened!

Book Meme

I was tagged by this beautiful lady *
Here is how it works.

the rules....there must always be rules for this sort of thing. I wonder who sits around thinking up these rules?

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

The book next to me is The Gift by Shad Helstetter

"If you could go forward in time, two years into the future from this moment, what would you most want to see?

1.What is your job, or what are you doing as your vocation?
2.Where do you spend your daily "work" time; that is, what is your physical environment? (Home, office, in your car, on the beach...)"

Okay, now to tag 5 people

Um, I'm going to break the rules, and only tag one- Jordan!

They hatched!

Our little babies are now here!

New Kid on the Block

Capri tried on some new kicks, you like?? Thanks to her Aunt Sissy

*Sorry the pictures are kind of blurry, she wouldn't stay still, she was so excited!

My next labor drug will slow your roll

A beverage company has come out with a new anti-energy drink called "Drank".

The carbonated, grape-flavored beverage is spiked with melatonin, valerian root and rose hips.

The company is marketing its product to the hip-hop community and the relaxed, anti-stress mentality that they promote. Their marketing line is "Slow your roll". However, I think this is totally off the mark, they need to market it to women about to give birth... and here is why....

When I was in labor with Capri I drank a teaspoon of Jagermeister (an old midwifery trick), to help relax me, and progress my labor. Jagermeister contains valerian root, so it is very good at relaxin' a momma. However, it has a black licorice, alcohol taste, that is not so appetizing to a woman in labor, ya hear me? I would much rather have a grape flavored, popsicle tasting drink to "slow my roll", kwim?

So with baby #2, I'm going to have some of this grape stuff in my bag of tricks, oh yeah baby.