A Day In the Life of Two Love Birds.

What's going on with us lately

2012-03-04T14:10:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe that next weekend Charlotte will be three months old. The past three months have been a whirlwind. We had a baby, bought a new house and sold our house twice. The first buyers fell through and we had to put it on the market again and sold it again in one day...crazy. Now we are getting ready to move at the end of the month. We have cleaned out closets and cabinets and made several trips to Goodwill.

It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years! Dan and I are pretty good about getting rid of our stuff pretty often too. I emphasize stuff when really it should just say crap we have wasted our money on. Since cleaning out our things I have found I have way too many serving pieces. Who really needs 5 cake stands?? Apparently I thought I did at one time. I don't even make cakes very often. I also had about 20 vases. I never buy vases so I don't know where all of them came from. And all the clothes...oh my. I put away all of my pre pregnancy clothes when I got pregnant and after having Charlotte I pulled them out again and even though they fit I don't like most of them anymore. Luckily, I don't need much for work because I work a lot from home and no one sees me if I wear the same thing to different appointments. Now the world (or all 5 of you that read this) know my secret.

Work has been crazy busy for Dan and I so we are both going non stop. When 5:00 hits we play with Charlotte, take her on walks, feed Charlotte, cook dinner, bathe Charlotte, feed Charlotte again, put her to bed, then we take showers and go to bed. We are trying to fit packing in there somewhere! For some reason I don't feel exhausted. It's just our new way of life and I'm loving it. That's what's going on with us right now!

You know you are from Texas when....

2012-03-04T14:02:00.004-06:00

Your baby has a Blue Bell shirt.

Charlotte's Baptism

2012-03-04T13:36:00.007-06:00

Last weekend we Baptized Charlotte at our church. It was such a special day and we are so thankful to all of our close friends and family that came. She was a perfect angel throughout the service and even squealed when the minister Baptized her. It was so cute. Afterwards we did a lunch at a restaurant nearby. It was a perfect Sunday!

Perfect timing or are we crazy?

2012-02-19T18:24:00.008-06:00

Apparently Dan and I like to make big life changes all at the same time! At the end of March we are moving! Who cares if we just had a baby and spent months decorating her nursery? Who cares that we just re-did our bathrooms and just put in new carpet? We spent forever researching pediatricians and daycares and found the perfect places for our daughter near our home because we knew that we wouldn't move for at least another year. Life is so funny.

Our first home.

To sum up a long story, we are buying our dream home from our friends that are moving out of the state. Dan and I have loved their home from the moment we stepped into it six years ago. They probably felt really awkward when we would come over because we made such a big deal about how much we loved their home. Every house we have ever looked at we would compare to their home. They called us about a month ago and shared that they were moving and wanted to know if we were really serious about buying their home. Dan and I decided that if we didn't buy it now we would kick ourselves later.

So here we are with our two month old baby and we are moving! It's about 40 miles from our current house but not any further from Dan's office. We won't have to pay tolls anymore which we are SO happy about! With us both being in sales we drive a lot and living off of three toll roads we rake in the tolls everyday. Last year we spent $2500 just on tolls. We are so sad to see our friends move but we are really excited for our move into their home. And the bonus...we sold our current house in two days. Was this meant to be or what? We have six weeks to pack up our lives and move into our dream house on two acres in a town of not quite 3500 people. Our new house has a beautiful gazebo and even an enclosed sun room. This is a house we can grow into and it has TONS of storage. We can't wait!

Charlotte is really excited too.

2 Months!

2012-02-17T12:16:00.007-06:00

We can't even believe that our little cutie is 2 months old! She continues to make us laugh everyday (especially when her eyes cross). I know I am so mean for taking a picture of her like that. This month she changed so much and I know that I am going to keep saying that every month!
Last week she has started to try to roll over. When she is laying on her back she kicks her long legs over and end up on her side. We are having to watch her closely just in case she makes the full roll! Charlotte has also started sleeping through the night! We know that this is not normal for most babies her age but we are so appreciative. We feed her around 9:30 or 10 every night and she will sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. I am starting to get used to this! I hadn't slept a full night since I was first pregnant! Charlotte has also started smiling but of course never when my camera is in her face. Hopefully this month I can get a good picture. I love her gummy grin. She has also found her voice. It sounds like she's yelling sometimes and we aren't sure if she is starting to fuss or just "talking" and most of the time it's her talking to us.One of my favorite things to do is listen to Dan talk to Charlotte first thing in the morning. I listen to them over the monitor and I hear her cooing and squeeling when he talks to her. The other morning I heard him ask her if she was dreaming about a brother or sister...not anytime soon! Right now her brother and sister are two furry friends.

Charlotte LOVES any type of music and if she is upset we turn on music and she calms down immediately. We have had to retire all of her newborn clothes and move up to 3-6 months. Her pants were starting to look like capris! She is still in the 90% for height so hopefully she will be long and lean like her Daddy!

We have a very happy baby and we love her so much!

Goodbye babyland, hello real world!

2012-02-13T13:30:00.003-06:00

Last Wednesday was my first day back at work. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel going back to work after being off for almost 8 weeks. When people would ask if I was sad that I had to go back to work I would say that I was looking forward to it and then feel guilty for feeling that way. There goes that guilt thing again...So far being back at work has been good. It's taken me a few days to get back into it but I still think it will be good for me to work. Dan's mom is here right now taking care of Charlotte which is a good transition until we put her in daycare in a couple of months. Charlotte is happy, Dan and I are happy and that is all we can ask for. Here is our bright eyed beauty!

Newborn Pics!

2012-02-02T21:54:00.006-06:00

When Charlotte was two weeks old we had her newborn pictures taken by the wonderful Kendra Pryor. She did our maternity pictures too back in November. We had to be there at 9:30 in the morning dressed and ready to go and with a newborn baby that was a task but we somehow made it on time. It was so fun taking pictures and Charlotte was an angel for the most part and did what she does best...sleep.In these last two pictures does Charlotte look like she is thinking "I just peed all over my parents"...it was definitely a morning we will remember!

Whoa, slow down.

2012-01-31T13:48:00.004-06:00

I am normally a person that is on the go constantly. I can't sit still for long (unless it's during an episode of Real Housewives) and I'm constantly doing things. Having a baby has forced me to slow down big time. There are times when I'm trying to get a million things done and Charlotte is fussy and I sit to feed her. As she eats she just stares up at me and it's as if the world has stopped. At that moment I forget what I was working on that was interrupted and just enjoy the 20 minutes or so that I have to sit with her. The laundry can wait, the dishwasher can wait, and the phone calls can wait. What isn't going to stop is my little girl getting bigger and growing up. Sometimes I just need to put the brakes on and enjoy these little moments with Charlotte.

Guilt.

2012-01-27T15:28:00.001-06:00

Being a parent is hard. It is so challenging and we are faced with having to make decisions every day from the moment you get pregnant. You give up your body for almost a year to carry this precious human being and then afterwards you give everything you have to take care of the baby that you now have in your arms. The love Dan and I have for Charlotte is nothing I have every felt before and we only want the best for her.

Since getting pregnant I was determined to attempt to breast feed. We took the class, talked to friends, read tons of information on it, bought the tools, etc. I was very determined to make it work but on the other hand I have said I am not against using formula. Dan and I were both formula fed babies and we turned out just fine. I feel that today there is a lot of pressure to breast feed. After having a baby everyone asks you about it. I don't mind talking about it, but I don't want to be pressured to do it. In the hospital they provide wonderful lactation consultants and they are even free of charge to see after you leave.

I can honestly say that breast feeding is one of the hardest things I have ever done. First of all, your milk doesn't come in for a few days. Charlotte was born on Thursday and my milk didn't come in until Monday night. Man that was painful. Prior to your milk coming in you still have to attempt to nurse your baby to help the process. That was even more difficult. When you are trying to feed your baby and there is hardly anything to feed them and they are screaming because they are hungry. Talk about testing your patience. Once my milk came in I produced so much more than Charlotte needed. It was incredibly painful and I thought that's just what breast feeding felt like. I couldn't even get my shirts on by myself because it hurt so bad. After meeting with a consultant I learned that I was over producing so I would have to nurse Charlotte and then pump to avoid infections that I kept getting. When Dan was home it was fine, but after he went back to work it was really hard to do both nursing and pumping every three hours. But if I didn't pump, I would get clogged ducts. The past couple of weeks I have really struggled with what to do. I have so many friends that have breast fed their babies for 6+ months and were very successful at it and enjoyed it and here I am at the 6 week mark so discouraged. You always hear that "breast is best" and they lead you to believe that if you don't breast feed your baby will be sick all the time especially if they are in daycare.

After meeting with our pediatrician and talking it to death with Dan and me shedding many tears we decided it would be best to stop. I had to think about my health as well as Charlotte's. I was beginning to dread feeding time and when you feed 7-8 times a day that's a lot of time you are unhappy. I have a lot of "liquid gold" saved up in the freezer so Charlotte will continue to get breast milk for a while which makes me happy. I can honestly say that I gave it my best shot and at the end of the day it didn't work for Charlotte and I for the long run. I am proud of myself for going for almost 6 weeks but I still feel majorly guilty. I guess only time will tell if she will get sick often. I know that this is the first of many tough decisions we are going to have to make for Charlotte. I guess it's all part of being a parent.

This little angel obviously doesn't care either way. Isn't she just the cutest?

Newborn Essentials...from my point of view

2012-01-15T20:28:00.008-06:00

There are some things that I have learned I can't live without over the past month. When we were preparing for Charlotte we were given and purchased all these things and we didn't know what we would actually use.

My Diaper Bag. I was on the look out for the perfect diaper bag during my pregnancy. On our Baby Moon I bought one at Rosie Pope. Best. Bag. Ever. It holds everything I need and doesn't look like a diaper bag.

My iPhone. We use our phone for everything whether it's setting a timer or googling something. We couldn't live without our phones right now.

The Breast Friend. If you are going to nurse, this is the pillow to use. It's awesome.

The Swaddleme blanket. It looks like a baby straight jacket and you might feel sorry for the baby inside, but I can't help think that this is why Charlotte is sleeping so well. She goes to sleep as soon as we wrap her up at night. We only put her in it at night, but she loves it and we love sleep. Her legs are so long that we might have to figure out something else soon, but right now this works for us.

The Nosefrida. Don't knock this until you try it. I made fun of it when I read about it and then I had a baby with a stuffy nose and used it. AMAZING. Everyone with a baby needs it. It's not gross, it has a filter and it works.

Aiden and Anais blankets. These are breathable blankets that are great for swaddling and everything else. They are huge and so soft. We love these.

My husband. He's been so amazing with our little girl. She falls asleep every time he holds her and in his arms is her favorite place. We are a team and he changes just as many diapers as I do and we get up together every night. I couldn't do this without him.

1 Month!

2012-01-15T20:20:00.004-06:00

This little munchkin is 1 month old today! It's much harder to photograph a newborn than you think. It's much easier when she is sleeping so that's my fault for trying to get her with her eyes open which is much more these days! We are still loving every minute with her.

3 weeks!

2012-01-06T19:39:00.003-06:00

I cannot believe that Charlotte has been with us for 22 days now. She's such an angel and we are having so much fun with her. She is still a great sleeper giving us 5-6 hours some nights which is much appreciated. Other nights she wakes up every 3-4 hours to eat. People keep telling us that she will change, but so far she's been the same little angel that we brought home. We had her 2 week check up last week and we are the proud parents of healthy baby! Charlotte slept through the entire thing. The doctor actually wrote "perfect" in the comments. We already knew that :) She is in the 50% for weight and 90% for height! We have a tall skinny baby on our hands! Check out these feet!

We have ventured out of our house several times and Charlotte has slept through all of them, shocking I know. Dan had to go back to work this week which was really hard. I have been spoiled having him home since Charlotte was born. Everything seemed so easy when he was here because we did everything together. Tuesday when he went back to work I had to figure out how to take care of Charlotte by myself. The week got better and today Charlotte and I took our first shopping trip together. She is too long for her newborn clothes, so I have been looking for two piece outfits to fit her long skinny legs. During the day I'm trying to let her nap in her crib and she doesn't seem to know the difference. We like her sleeping in our room at night but I would like to try and move her to her room when I go back to work.

We are so crazy in love with Charlotte and are excited to spend this weekend together.

Charlotte's Second Week and her first Christmas!

2011-12-29T22:05:00.006-06:00

I cannot believe that our little girl is already two weeks old! The past two weeks have flown by so fast! It seems like we have had her forever. Dan and I don't know what we did with all of our free time before. Now we are constantly doing laundry and taking care of Charlotte and so far she's an easy baby. The past few days she has started to wake up a little and not sleep 95% of the time. I read that newborns sleep around 16 hours a day and no way Charlotte slept that little. She would wake to eat and that's about it. She has had her eyes open for a few hours the past couple of days. She just looks around makes her little noises. This week she even had two nights where she slept for over five hours. Dan and I woke up in a panic thinking that something was wrong and she was just sound asleep. Right now she is sleeping in our room in a pack and play at the end of our bed. We swaddle her tight and she goes sound to sleep. Thank goodness for a good swaddle blanket!

We have had lots of visitors since Charlotte's birth day. Dan's parents came in from Colorado the day after she was born and stayed for a few days. My mom lives here and has been over about every other day just to get her Charlotte fix. My brother came in from California last week and my Dad and Kim came up the day after Christmas. It has been really nice seeing all of our family this holiday. We have had a lot of friends come by and meet Charlotte and many of them have been so kind to bring us dinner. We are getting spoiled! We are so thankful to have so many people around us that love us and love our daughter.

Christmas day was so fun and we can't wait until next year when Charlotte will be older and maybe actually awake!

Charlotte's Birth Story

2011-12-27T20:31:00.004-06:00

I have been wanting to sit down and write down the day of Charlotte's birth because I know that eventually it won't be fresh on my mind and I will forget things. December 15 was one of the most exciting, amazing, emotional days of my life next to the day I married Dan. Going into labor was nothing like I thought it would be and not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be.

Monday morning I woke up and told Dan that I didn't think that Charlotte was going to arrive that week. I was only 37 weeks and I knew that it was wishful thinking that she would come that early. So I started my work day and didn't think anymore about it. I knew that baby girl would get here when she was ready and the longer she stayed in me the better it would be for her. I could wait until she was ready. As I have mentioned before, pregnancy was teaching me patience which is something I need to work on.

Throughout the day Monday I got several calls and text messages from people I don't normally talk to saying that they were thinking of me this week. When I told Dan he said that he had gotten the same messages from people. Kind of strange. At my doctor's appointment that afternoon I went in with no expectations. My doctor was great but never gave me any idea of when I would go into labor. When I had my exam that day she perked up and said, "You guys might have a baby this week!" I was 3 cm and 70%. Dan and I were kind of shocked but so ready. I was also measuring at 40 weeks. That week I had started retaining so much fluid I could hardly wear my shoes and forget even trying to put on my wedding band. We left our appointment excited and not sure what to do while we waited. That week we walked the entire mall one night, walked Target, ate spicy food...did anything to help progress me. I continued to work so that it would keep my mind off of thinking my water could break any second.

My poor feet!

Dan worked from home towards the end of the week which was nice to spend some extra time together. Thursday I started having contractions. I had been having a lot of contractions throughout my pregnancy and I would time them. These felt like my normal contractions but were about 2-3 minutes apart. They didn't hurt at all so I just ignored them. After about 2-1/2 hours I decided that I should probably call my doctor. I still didn't know if I was in labor because I didn't hurt. My doctor said that I should go to the hospital to get checked out. Dan and I packed our car with our bags that had been packed for weeks and drove to the hospital. It was very surreal thinking that this could be it, Charlotte's birth day. We decided not to call anyone because it could just be a false alarm.

Last bump picture before heading to the hospital!

We get to the hospital, get checked in and I tell the nurse as we are walking to the room that I'm not sure if I was in labor because my contractions didn't hurt and her response was "yeah, you probably aren't." Her comment totally burst my bubble but whatever, we were there and it wasn't her call if I was in labor or not. She checked me and I was at 4-1/2 cm and 90%. She told me that my doctor would probably send me home because my contractions had slowed down at that point. Dan and I were bummed but knew that Charlotte would come when she was ready. A few minutes later my doctor walked in a checked me and I was at 5 cm. She told me that while she was there she could break my water or we could wait but it would probably break that night or the next day on it's own. Dan and I looked at each other and decided to just go for it. We were ready to meet our Charlotte!

My doctor broke my water and I couldn't stop laughing. Thank God it didn't happen at the mall or Target during our walks. It would have been a hazard to everyone around! There must have been gallons of water that came out of me. No wonder my feet had been so swollen! Dan and I called our parents and told them that it was go time. When I called my mom and dad I started crying because it hit me that my life would never be the same after this day. All of the anticipation building up to this moment and it was finally here. The nurse gave me pitocin to speed up the contractions and about an hour later I got an epidural. The contractions were pretty intense but compared to the pain I had been in those last few weeks of pregnancy, it wasn't too bad. My epidural immediately took effect to my right size but not my left. They had to put me in all sorts of positions to get it to take to my left side. I expected with an epidural to not feel anything and I could definitely still feel the pressure and the contractions. It wasn't intense pain but a lot of pressure that was very uncomfortable.

I progressed very quickly and within a couple of hours I was at 10 cm. It was around 8 pm at this point. I pictured labor like the movies and it was not like that at all. There was time in between contractions where my nurse and I talked about her kids or pinterest. My nurse, Jennifer was incredible. She was so cool and kept us calm. It was such an exciting moment thinking that we were within hours of meeting Charlotte. Dan was an awesome coach. He helped me through each contraction and was so encouraging. He kept his calm and when I was tired he would give me the energy to keep going.

At 10:06 pm on December 15 we met our daughter. They pulled her out and laid her on my chest and I lost it. It was an incredible moment and I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't believe that I had delivered this little baby and that she was ours to keep. She let out a loud cry and I held her in my arms. When my doctor pulled her out she said "this is a big baby!" We all wanted to know what Charlotte weighed. When they told me her weight of 7 lbs 15 oz I said "That's it?!" and she said that if I had gone full term she would have been close to 10 pounds. Thank goodness she was right under 8 lbs and perfectly healthy.

Proud Daddy!

Our first family picture

Dan and I are so proud of our little girl. Our life seems normal now with her in it we can't remember what we did with all of our time before. When we are tired and we see her little face cooing and looking at us it makes everything so worth it.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T16:59:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours.

Love,
Dan, Emily and Charlotte

Charlotte's First Week

2011-12-23T14:20:00.005-06:00

I cannot believe that it has already been a week since our little girl was born. She has stolen our hearts and we feel so blessed that she is here with us. It is amazing that in just a week we can already see her little personality coming out. I don't want to jinx it, but we have an awesome baby. She sleeps great, eats great, loves to be held but is also independent and doesn't mind laying by herself. It is definitely an adjustment having a little one at our house but we can't imagine life any other way.

This past week has been a whirlwind. The days pass by so fast which make me sad at times because I know that life is just going to continue to speed past us. We have lots of friends and family that have stopped by to visit which we have loved. Today is the first day we have had to ourselves as our little family and it's been nice to feel normal again. We are in a routine and Dan and I have our systems down for feedings and diaper changes. We have even ventured out to get out of the house to run to Walgreen's or CVS. We try to not get too crazy! Dan and I left Charlotte with the grandma's the other day and went to lunch by ourselves and finished up some last minute Christmas shopping and then had to rush home to hold our little girl because we missed her so much. She sleeps 90% of the time but she is still so entertaining.

I know that everyone says this, but I never imagined how much I could love this little girl. Immediately after she was born I knew our lives had changed in such an amazing way. I can't believe that we get to keep her forever! She is a great sleeper but it was Dan and I that had a hard time sleeping the first couple of nights. We both kept getting up to makes sure she wasn't too cold or hot and that she was still breathing. One night I finally just picked her up and put her on my chest to sleep so that I could feel her breathing. Now we are all sleeping great and we actually feel rested.

Dan is off of work for a couple of weeks which is amazing. I love him being here and us figuring out all of this together. He is such a natural with Charlotte. He just picks her up, changes her, puts her in the cute outfits we have and has become a pro swaddler. I feel like I definitely hit the jackpot with him.

I am so in love with our daughter and even more in love with my husband. We have begun this new chapter in our lives and I can't wait to see what happens next. I have lots of pictures that I need to post and Charlotte's birth story, but now I have to go feed our little one.

Happy Birthday Charlotte Rose!

2011-12-16T10:30:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the world Charlotte Rose! Born 12.15.11 at 10:06 pm. 7 lbs 15 oz and 20-1/2 inches. Being over 2 weeks early who knows how big she would have been! Our hearts have exploded with love for this little girl.

Thank you for all the sweet texts, emails and phone calls. We look forward to everyone meeting our little angel.

37 weeks...officially full term!!

2011-12-12T19:18:00.003-06:00

Here I am at 37 weeks...I look at these pictures every week and think, no wonder my back hurts! We are fully prepared for Charlotte here in the Tumis household. Bags are packed, the pack & play is set up, classes are done...now we just wait for our baby. I've been having weekly appointments for a while now and I look forward to them every week. This week we were told I'm measuring at 40 weeks! I've been retaining a lot of fluids the past couple of weeks so that could be why. I've been living in my Uggs which leave marks on my calves when I take them off. I can't wait to get back into my cute tall boots! We have a sonogram on Friday to check Charlotte's size, but my doctor thinks she's normal weight right now which is what we are hoping for.

I think one of my favorite things about being pregnant is feeling Charlotte move. She's slowed down some which is probably due to the lack of space she has now. Dan and I can talk to her and wake her up. It's pretty amazing to know that she's sleeping and when we talk to her she starts moving. They say that the babies recognize the mom and dad's voice immediately after birth. I hope she is used to our pups barking too! We might have a problem if she's not. Dylan barks when he hears the doorbell and it is loud. Surely she is used to it by now!

Pregnancy definitely teaches you patience. We know that Charlotte's arrival is out of our control and is in God's hands. That is until the 26th when I evict her from her house :) So until December 26th we are just waiting and trying to stay busy. I'm going to make sure my house is clean and picked up at night just in case we have to go to the hospital. I hate coming home to a messy house. We are enjoying these last moments as just the two of us because we know it might be a little while before we get a date night again. Although, we are determined to get back to date night pretty quickly. Hopefully Charlotte's grandma's will be ok with that :)

36 Weeks...and maternity picture sneak peek!

2011-12-05T19:58:00.004-06:00

Here I am at 36 weeks...I don't know how I can get any bigger at this point but I'm sure it is possible :) I think this morning I woke up with pregnant face. At least I only have a few weeks left! 21 days to be exact if Charlotte decides to wait. I have enjoyed my pregnancy so far but I am ready for our daughter to get here. I am hurting pretty bad everyday and I'm trying not walk much. This is really hard for me to do. Thank goodness for my amazing husband who has taken over all of the things we do together like cooking and grocery shopping. We cook together every night and that is now his job. I just have to sit there and watch. I work from home a lot thankfully so sitting at my desk is the perfect place for me to be. Sleeping is getting more difficult and I know that me being up and down every hour or so is keeping Dan from sleeping well too. I know that this is God's way of preparing us for Charlotte's arrival but it will be nice to turn over and not hurt.

A few weeks ago we had maternity pictures taken by a local photographer, Kendra Pryor Photography. She did an awesome job! Anyone local should definitely contact her!

I hope everyone is enjoying this cold weather we are having. It finally feels like Christmas!

Happy Charlotte Month!

2011-12-01T09:13:00.004-06:00

This morning I got a sweet text from my friend April that said, "Happy Charlotte Month!". It made my day to see that and then reality set in...I am going to have a baby this month. Here I have been pregnant for what feels like forever and now December is finally here. We will get to meet Charlotte very soon. My doctor scheduled an induction date of December 26 if she is not here before then. I'm hoping she is here before Christmas, but it is up to her. We will be ready for her when she decides she wants to meet us.

From the moment we got our due date I have said that I don't want Charlotte to be born on Christmas. I'm probably wearing everyone out about this and I realize it is completely out of my control but I want her birthday to be special every year. Dan and my mom's birthday is around Thanksgiving every year and they both say they love it because family is around but I feel that Christmas is different. We have talked about celebrating her half birthday during the summer when she gets old enough to understand what a birthday party is.

I'm not scared yet, I'm just really excited. I have no idea what labor will be like but I know that I have an awesome man by my side to help me through it. I can't wait to see him with his daughter.

This month we are taking it easy and staying home a lot. Our families will be here for Christmas and hopefully for Charlotte's birthday. We can't wait!!

35 Weeks...and a trial run at the hospital

2011-11-28T17:43:00.003-06:00

Here I am at 35 weeks...I'm definitely ready to meet our baby girl. I know that she will get here when she is ready so hopefully that will be sooner than January 2. :)
This past weekend I was in a lot of pain a decided instead of worrying about it all weekend to call my doctor. She sent me to the hospital to get checked out to make sure I wasn't in labor. It was a little scary even though I was pretty sure I wasn't in labor. We went to the hospital and the nurse met us in the lobby which I thought was really nice. They monitored me and Charlotte for a couple of hours to make sure everything was ok. I was having a lot of contractions and of course no pain while I was there until I stood up to change clothes and head home. Apparently, Charlotte is laying strange and hitting nerves which is causing me a lot of pain. It is definitely pain that if it was constant I would pass out, but tolerable since it just comes in spurts. Oh the joys of pregnancy :) Until Charlotte decides to come meet us we will wait patiently for her.

We have so much to be thankful for this year! Thanksgiving was wonderful with our families and it was nice being with everyone. I didn't get any pictures this year! The day after Thanksgiving Dan and I finished up our Christmas shopping, put up our tree and wrapped all the presents we have bought. I don't know why I have been so crazy to get everything ready for Christmas. It is my favorite time of year and I love decorating my house for the season. If Charlotte decides to come early (please, Charlotte come early!) I want everything to be ready. I hope everyone had a great holiday and spent lots of time with their loved ones!

Charlotte's Room

2011-11-27T19:58:00.005-06:00

The nursery is finally finished for the most part! Everything is washed, folded and put away and we are just waiting for our baby Charlotte to be in it. Everyone had a part of working on the nursery. My brother, Kade, painted the room, my mom made the bedding, my father in law put together the shelf. It was definitely a team effort making Charlotte's room perfect.

One of my favorite parts of the nursery is the bookshelf. Dan and I are obsessed with books to read to Charlotte and we have picked up books on all of our trips. Dan's mom brought us books that he had when he was little that we added to our selection. I love this shelf because Charlotte will be able to reach into it and pull out books she wants to read.

We are ready to meet our baby girl and have her in the room we have worked so hard on for her.

A baby shower in Houston

2011-11-25T17:05:00.004-06:00

Last weekend we make a trip to Houston to attend a shower that Dan's family threw for us. It was so fun to see everyone and catch up. Dan has a really big family and they were so nice to do this for us. When we got married they threw us a couple's shower too. Dan has some of his best friends that still live there that came to the shower. The family had worked so hard to make our shower special and they did a great job! The cake was fantastic and they used the colors from Charlotte's room and the birds on the top of it were from our blog header! It was all so cute and thoughtful. Charlotte got great gifts and everyone was so thoughtful! Charlotte is truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends when she gets here.

Thank you everyone for spoiling us and our little girl! We can't wait for you to meet Charlotte!

Happy Birthday my love!

2011-11-23T15:11:00.005-06:00

Today is my baby daddy's birthday. He is the big 3-1! Tonight we are going out to eat to celebrate and then continue on with the celebrations tomorrow. When Dan and I first met it was right before his birthday. He told me that if a girl wanted to marry him all she had to do was give him salsa and he would marry her. He's obsessed with salsa. It was love at first sight when we met and that year for his birthday I gave him salsa. Now every year in his gift is a jar of salsa. I guess it worked :)

34 Weeks...our last road trip!

2011-11-21T15:17:00.004-06:00

Here I am at 34 weeks! I don't feel that big until I catch a glimpse of myself from the side or I see these pictures. These days Charlotte is a moving/kicking machine. When she moves my stomach will move from one side to the other. It's starting to get a little uncomfortable when she moves...however I wouldn't trade it for anything. When she gets the hiccups for the 10th time in one day (maybe not 10 but she gets them a lot) it's a reminder that she's there and growing. Whenever I get paranoid or worried that I haven't felt her in a while she moves. I think she just knows that her mom is worried and wants to reassure me she's ok.

We still don't know when Charlotte will make her debut. My doctor is not giving me any idea when she will be here. Hopefully when it gets closer we will have a better idea. Until then everyone will be on standby waiting. Friday night we took an infant care class at the hospital. I highly recommend this class for first time parents. It was a crash course in taking care of a baby. She went over a lot of basics like changing diapers, bath time, tummy time, etc. It was a great class. Dan learned how to change diapers and swaddle. He was a natural! I know that we have a lot to learn and that will come with time but it's nice to know what to expect. It makes it seem a lot less scary. This past weekend we made our last road trip before Charlotte's arrival. Dan's family gave us a wonderful shower that deserves its own post later this week. After the shower we met up with my friend Tara and her husband Barry. Tara is due any day now! Doesn't she look like a model? It was so fun catching up with her and of course talking about our baby girls. Tara and I talk almost everyday but we hadn't seen each other in almost a year. We can't go that long again! I'm ready to meet Charlotte! Have I mentioned that? She could be here in a few weeks! We can't wait!!

My thoughts on daycare...

2011-11-15T20:48:00.002-06:00

It is amazing how many opinions you get when you are pregnant. First, people tell you their birth stories ALL the time and people are full of advice. I feel like I'm a very nice person and I do like hearing what people have to say most of the time but sometimes people offer a little too much.

I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they would never put their kids in daycare or they would never trust anyone else to watch their kids. I appreciate other opinions but people offer this up before even asking what we are going to do with our baby. Today I was getting our carpets cleaned and the man doing them went on and on about how daycare is so bad and he would never trust someone else with his kids. He doesn't even have kids by the way and isn't going to have any. Maybe he thought I didn't work because I was home but still, it's annoying. Even the lady waxing my eyebrows last week told me that her niece stays with her elderly grandparents daily because they would never put her in daycare.

Have these people even looked at these horrible places called daycare? Dan and I have been touring what seems like every daycare in our town to find the perfect place for Charlotte to be while we are working. These daycares are so nice and more like a private school. The women working there have worked with children for such a long time and you can tell that they truly care about these babies. There is so much they can start learning at such a young age that I know I am not prepared to teach Charlotte. She will be in a small class with babies her age and she will be learning so much! Of course it will be so hard to leave her but we know it is best.

I have said over and over, I think that being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world. Not only are you caring for your child or children you have to teach them a lot before they head off to school. Everyone has their own opinion on how to raise their children and that is how it should be. Just don't judge me for taking my baby to daycare. :)

33 Weeks!

2011-11-13T20:32:00.004-06:00

Here I am at 33 weeks! It's hard to believe that Charlotte could be here next month. I really, really want her here before Christmas. I've been on the lookout for a cute Christmas outfit that would fit a teeny tiny newborn, but I'm scared to buy anything because I don't want to jinx it! This week I feel like Charlotte has dropped a lot. She moves all the time and I actually felt her kick on my side close to my back the other day. I didn't know that was even possible. I'm really wondering if she will have any more room to get bigger! Last night Dan and I went to the movies which is something we love to do. Oh my gosh I was so uncomfortable. We probably won't be doing that again until after Charlotte gets here.

Tomorrow I have another doctor's appointment to check on Charlotte. I'm so thankful that my doctor is close to our house and my job is flexible so it's not an issue me going to the doctor all the time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

32 Weeks...and another photo shoot for Charlotte!

2011-11-06T14:02:00.004-06:00

The weeks are flying by. I feel like I say that every week, but Thanksgiving in a couple weeks away, Christmas is right after and hopefully Charlotte will be here sometime around then. Here I am at 32 weeks! Our baby is definitely growing! Charlotte has been doing less kicking and more rolling lately. I can sit there and watch my stomach move from one side to the other. She is head down and has been that way for a few weeks. She has also decided to pitch a tent right under my ribs which is bringing us much closer. Nothing like a dull pain 24/7! As long as she is growing and healthy I shouldn't complain. Not too much longer before we get to hold her in our arms! It seems really surreal thinking about meeting her for the first time. I can't imagine the feeling of seeing this little baby that is part of Dan and I.

We decided to go ahead and do another 3D sonogram this weekend. I highly recommend this to everyone! Our doctor doesn't do it and we aren't scheduled to have another sonogram until 38 weeks so we decided to go to a center and pay to have it done. Very cool. Charlotte was sound asleep the entire time but we got some great shots. When we first started she had her hand directly in front of her face and the umbilical cord was in front of her mouth. After a little while the cord moved and she moved her hand. She is plump and healthy and that is all we can ask for. The sonogram tech kept commenting on how sweet her lips are. It will be fun to compare the pictures after she is born. Now she will just keep getting bigger and bigger!The nursery is coming together and all we need is a baby to be in it!

31 Weeks...a trip to Chicago and our daughter's name

2011-10-30T15:49:00.008-05:00

Whew! What a BUSY week this past week was! Monday morning I flew out to Chicago for the entire week for work. I was really nervous about this trip because I knew it would be long days and nights and I would be tired. I stuck it out and overall it was a great trip. I know I don't need to keep saying this, but I really love my job. Being this pregnant and being new at a company I try really hard to not act pregnant. People are always very concerned with how I'm doing and I just try my best to act as normal as I can. I don't want special treatment just because I'm expecting. I'm still Emily, just pregnant and can't move as fast.
Dan flew up on Friday to meet me downtown and we spent the weekend together and got to spend time with my friend Jamie and her boyfriend Brent. Such a fun weekend! I love Chicago. I lived there for 6 months right after college and it was so nice to be back. Chicago is such a beautiful city with so much to do. It's only a two hour flight too, easy breezy. We can't wait to go back.

I haven't talked about what we are naming Baby Tumis. I'm not sure why, I just wasn't ready to post it online. We have known what we are naming her since the day we found out she was a girl. We didn't really discuss our list of names with anyone before because we didn't want opinions of anyone else. We wanted a name that wasn't too common and could go for a child or an adult. It sounds silly but we would always ask ourselves how would that name look on a resume. There are so many wonderful names out there but we wanted one that fit us and what we imagine our daughter to be. Hopefully she likes it :) Baby girl Tumis will be named Charlotte Rose.

Dan and I always kept a list of name prospects and Charlotte was never on the list. Then one day we thought of it and knew that would be the name of our daughter. Her middle name is Rose after our grandmother's. My grandmother was an incredible woman that I adored and unfortunately was only in my life until I was 15. She loved shoes which might be where I got it from. Her middle name was Rose. Dan's grandmother, Rosie, passed away before we got engaged. I'm told she made the best fried chicken around.

Charlotte, we can't wait to meet you. Please come before Christmas!

I have the greatest friends.

2011-10-30T15:12:00.007-05:00

Last weekend my girlfriends threw us the most wonderful baby shower. All the details made everything so cute! The invitation had little birds on it and they went with a bird theme with pink and turquoise accents. SO CUTE! Again, the pictures do not do justice at how cute everything was. It was so fun to have all of my close girlfriends around. I was so jealous when they would get together to work on things for the shower because I couldn't hang out with them all at the same time. Dan and I are so lucky to have such great friends and our baby will definitely be loved. We got so many wonderful and practical gifts that were much needed to bring home our baby girl!

The beautiful hostesses, Patti, Regan, Rebecca and Adrienne. I love you girls!

Dan and I with our mom's

The gorgeous quilt my mom has been working so hard on for the nursery.

We got some really special gifts from people too. My grandmother gave us a tiny pearl necklace that she had been given for one of her girls and wanted to pass it to us for our daughter. Our friends from Houston came in for the weekend and gave us the neatest light up "C" for the nursery. I'm kind of obsessed with it and I can't wait to get the nursery together and see everything in place.

The shower was so fun and we are so grateful to everyone that came to celebrate our baby girl. We can't wait for everyone to meet her in the next couple of months. My friends are amazingly talented and made the day so special for Dan and I. Thank you all for everything!!

30 Weeks...nesting has set in!

2011-10-23T13:03:00.003-05:00

Here I am at 30 weeks preggo! We had Dan's mom at our house so Dan had to sneak in for a picture.

I have felt so great this past week. Sometimes I really do forget I'm pregnant and then I look in the mirror and I'm quickly reminded that I have a growing belly with a baby human inside.

I had to explain to Dan what nesting meant to kind of explain my madness. I have just felt the need to get the nursery organized lately. It is very overwhelming to have to much stuff everywhere. Dan and I are pretty clean/organized people and we like everything to be in its place so having tons of baby stuff everywhere is driving us crazy and we have to get it put away. Where do people store all of this stuff? I am out of town this week so project organize nursery will take place SOON! It's all so much fun though :)

Reality is setting in that we will be parents soon. I'm full term in 7 weeks and that time will be here before we know it. Who knows if she will be here around then, but we will be ready her. We are taking a couple of classes at the hospital coming up so hopefully that will prepare us more. Babies come with a book of directions right? Dan and I are so excited to meet our little girl and we can't wait to have her in our arms. I can't imagine the feeling of holding her for the first time. I get to feel her move and kick all the time but Dan only has a glimpse of our growing baby. He's going to be an amazing Daddy and our daughter will steal his heart.

29 Weeks...officially a Tumis!

2011-10-17T20:24:00.003-05:00

Here I am at 29 weeks. Please excuse the no makeup and ponytail. I worked from home today and didn't feel like getting fixed up. Our little squash (her size this week) is growing and kicking more and more everyday! She is about 16" long and weighs 2.5-3.8 lbs. She will triple in size before birth! I can now feel her from one side to the other when she moves. This weekend she had the hiccups several times. Dan and I were laughing at the constant movement of my stomach. I say in the title of this blog that I'm officially a Tumis because Dan and I did something this weekend that is just like his parents. When Dan was growing up his parents bought 3 Dodge caravans in a row. Two of them were even the same color! I've been driving a Honda pilot the past 5 years and it was finally time to trade it in. When we had to take it to be worked on twice in two weeks we decided it was time. We have had it paid off for a couple of years and have been spoiled not having a car payment, but it was time to let the Pilot go. So what did we get...a new Pilot. A different color though! And it is 7 years newer than my old one so it's like a brand new model to me. It's super nice and will be perfect for our growing family.

This week is crazy busy and this weekend is even busier! I am LOVING my job so much and it is keeping me very busy. Dan's mom is coming in town tomorrow to visit us for a week and we have another baby shower this weekend. I have the most wonderful girlfriends that are putting this shower together for us. Saturday can't get here fast enough! Next Monday I leave for Chicago for a week for work. This should be my last trip on a plane for a while. I went to Illinois right after our New York trip and it was pretty rough traveling, so I am going to try rest a lot this week and especially next week when I'm out of town. I can't go as fast as I'm used to and I find that I push myself too hard and have to pay for it later. Soon enough I can get back to my normal speed!

Now that I am back working I feel like I am so much more productive. My house is cleaner, we are back to planning our meals out ahead of time, cooking every night, I feel less stressed...it doesn't make sense but I'm loving how I feel and loving my job everyday.

Happy Monday!

28 Weeks....Hello 3rd Trimester!!!

2011-10-10T20:03:00.003-05:00

We are finally into our 3rd trimester! Time has flown by these past 7 months and I hope it continues to do so. At the beginning I felt like it dragged on and on and now each week is passing by. I'm very happy to be in my 3rd trimester because that means that we are closer to meeting our daughter and I am almost done being pregnant. I have loved giving this baby a home and feeling her move all the time, but it will be very nice to hold her in my arms and feel normal again. I've been sleeping better lately thanks to my body pillow but still get up all throughout the night. At least I can go back to sleep now. I guess I am being prepared for our future. I have started getting charlie horse's pretty often. The first time it happened we were sitting in Wicked and I couldn't stretch my legs out so that was fun. Now I'm getting them during the night and first thing in the morning. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

We made some progress in the nursery but there is still a lot to do. I'm not sure where we are going to put everything! Babies need so much stuff! Once everything is done I will post more pictures. Right now everything is just a mess.

This week baby girl is the size of an eggplant and is almost 15" long! Maybe longer due to the height of my hubby. She weighs about 2.5 pounds and is continuing to put on layers of fat. Her and I both apparently!

I hope everyone has a great week!

A Vintage Garden Tea Party

2011-10-08T21:21:00.005-05:00

This weekend we were so honored to be thrown an amazing baby shower by my friends Lisa, Shawn and Jamie. The shower was at Lisa's home which is always a treat to visit. These women completely outdid themselves. I was blown away at all the details they put into this amazing shower. Everything from the invitations to the food to the flower arrangements were so thoughtful. The pictures do not do justice at how beautiful everything was. There were so many wonderful women that came out to Lisa's home today to celebrate our baby girl. We received such thoughtful gifts from everyone which are so appreciated.

The invitation read for everyone to wear their a chic chapeau (hat) to the shower. It was so fun to see everyone's hats. I am a hat person so I loved it!

A really special gift was given to us by Lisa. She wrote a story of the gift in the card. When she found out she was pregnant with her son the first thing she bought was a stuffed bear that she just had to have. Her son is now 13 and he wanted to give the bear away which broke Lisa's heart. He told her that he wasn't a baby anymore and she needed to give it to someone else having a baby. Lisa decided to give it to me for our baby. The bear had been torn so she gave it to my mom to repair. My mom made a little outfit for the bear to cover the damaged areas. This gift was so thoughtful and brought tears to my eyes. What a special gift to pass onto our daughter!

Thank you to everyone for coming today! It is a day that I will remember always! You all truly know how to make a girl feel so special! I can't wait for all of you to meet our daughter!

27 Weeks...and our Baby Moon!

2011-10-06T17:44:00.006-05:00

Last week Dan and I celebrated this pregnancy with a mini vacation aka our Baby Moon. The intention of a baby moon is a last vacation before the baby comes. Kind of like a honeymoon before the baby. We booked a trip back in June and decided to go to NYC for a long weekend. Dan had never been and I hadn't been since high school.

We stayed at the W Hotel that was 3 blocks from Rockefeller Plaza. It rained about half the time we were there but that didn't stop us. We went to Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, basically all the main tourist attractions. When Dan and I travel we normally go non stop and walk everywhere. This time was a little different which I was not expecting. I pushed myself as hard and I could and there were times that my body just told me to slow down. Luckily there were benches everywhere and New Yorker's are very kind to pregnant women.

One morning we were at the NBC studio watching the Today Show and Brooke Shield's just walked right past us. It was too fast to pull out my camera, but she is so beautiful in person. She had just come off of the Today Show and walked past with her assistant.

The main part of our trip that both of us were looking forward to was going to go see Wicked. Dan had never been to a Broadway play and didn't know what to expect. I think we were both blown away at this show. It was worth the money we spent on the tickets and we will definitely be seeing it again one day. During intermission I stood up to go to the bathroom and went to wait in the very very very long line. One of the workers came over to me and whispered for me to follow him. He took me to an elevator and told me to take it to the 2nd floor where a woman would show me where to go. So I took the elevator and it was to the handicap bathroom! To a 6 1/2 month pregnant woman this was like Christmas. I felt like a celebrity!

Here I am at 27 weeks. My weight gain has slowed down a lot which makes me very happy but I am still getting bigger as this little girl keeps growing. She must be having a great time because she does a dance party in my stomach all day long. Next week I will be officially in my 3rd trimester!

26 Weeks...are we there yet?

2011-09-25T21:36:00.003-05:00

Here I am at 26 weeks! I have really enjoyed this pregnancy but I am definitely ready to have my body back. I realize that I have a long way to go before that happens but I'm already excited to wear normal clothes again and not feel so huge.

Our baby girl is growing everyday. This week she is 14 inches long! Crazy! I have been having braxton hicks for a long time now. I wasn't sure what they were until I told my doctor about what was going on. It doesn't hurt but definitely stops me in my tracks sometimes.

My first week at work went pretty good. It's hard starting a new job because you feel like you have no clue what you are doing. Hopefully I'll catch on quick! Part of my job is doing sales meetings and food shows. When I got home from work Friday this was on my front porch. Holy samples! I didn't even know UPS would deliver a shipment this big to a house. Now our dining room is now full of boxes and my wonderful husband and I will be building 150 sample kits :)

We have a busy week ahead again. We started looked at day cares last week and are going to look at more this week. A lot of them have waiting lists and we keep being told that we need to make a decision. There is a lot involved when you have a baby!

Current Obsessions

2011-09-20T17:23:00.004-05:00

Lately I have been obsessed with number of things:

1) Essie Nail polish: Have you guys seen this? I love this brand! you can buy it at Target and it goes on great! I am obsessed with the color choices.

2) My body pillow: OMG this thing has saved my hips. I bought one a few weeks ago and I don't think I will ever give it up. Luckily it is skinny so it doesn't take up much room in our queen size bed. One day we will upgrade to a king.

3) Water with lemons and oranges: I have been slicing up lemons and oranges and putting them in a pitcher of water in the fridge every morning. The flavored water is so refreshing and I think it's making me drink more water.

Anyway, that's it!

25 Weeks...something is in the water!

2011-09-19T18:02:00.003-05:00

Nothing new to report this week really except it feels like I'm getting bigger and bigger everyday! The weather has been great and I'm looking forward to cooler temps and being outside more. Baby girl is kicking like crazy still and now we can see her thumps on the outside of my stomach. When Dan talks to her she now kicks back. So far she loves when her Daddy talks to her, she loves yoga and church. Those are the times when she kicks the most. I'm still waiting for Bella to be sitting on me and she feels the baby kick her.
We have so many friends that are pregnant right now! Something is definitely in the water! It is so much fun going through this time with people who are experiencing the same thing. I felt for a while that we were the only ones without kiddos but apparently not because we are all pregnant right now!

Thank you everyone for the sweet comments last week! I started my job today and so far so good. I'm glad I have experience in this industry so I'm not totally lost. We have a busy week ahead but all good things. Have a great week!

A God Thing...

2011-09-14T13:36:00.006-05:00

There have been some things going on in the Tumis household over the past few months that I have not written about yet. First of all, I resigned from my job the end of April. This was a HUGE decision that Dan and I had been talking about for a long time. I started my job immediately after I graduated from college and had gone a million miles a minute for five years never slowing down. I worked for a great company but I had outgrown my position and wanted desperately to find something else. When I resigned I was scared because I didn't know what I was going to do with my time off and I didn't know how long it would take me to find a job.

Dan and I struggled to get pregnant for a while. We were told we had a small chance of getting pregnant on our own which was very defeating. When you decide that you want to have a baby you expect it to happen right away and it doesn't always happen. So trying to get pregnant plus my job was extremely stressful. The morning I resigned Dan left me a note in my car saying that he knew that something amazing was going to come from this and that I was making the right decision. The day after I resigned I was at home so upset wondering if I had done the right thing and I thought to myself, "what if I'm pregnant"....I took a test and it came back positive. I had always wondered what it would feel like to see a positive test. I laughed and cried and thanked God for this miracle. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and this proved it even further.

I have always been very career focused. I loved having my career and having something to do everyday as simple as that sounds. Immediately I started interviewing for jobs with some great companies. By this time I was about 10-12 weeks pregnant. I decided to be honest about being pregnant in my interviews. During one of my interviews after I told them I was pregnant the owner actually said, "wow you and your husband have had way too much time on your hands." I wanted to cry and tell them that this baby was the best thing that has ever happened to us and that we wanted it so, so badly. I am not sorry for being pregnant and I realize that the timing is not ideal, but I will work my tail off to be a great employee.

After worrying, talking it to death, and interviewing a ton, this Monday I start a job with a great company and I am beside myself excited. This is the job I have been waiting for. It is the next step in my career and I can't wait to get started. Am I nervous about starting a job 6 months pregnant? YES! Luckily, I have spent the past 4 1/2 months working on the nursery and just relaxing. I'll miss being able to take naps if I want to, but I can't wait to be challenged again. I have loved my time off and I have spent a lot of time with friends but I'm ready. I admire all the stay at home mom's out there and I believe that it is the most difficult job in the world. I know it will be hard to go back to work after the baby is born but in the long run I think I will be a better mom because I have a career. That is just me, not saying anything about anyone else. I admire every mom that stays at home with their kids.

The next few months will be crazy busy but luckily I have an amazing hubby that helps me a ton. He might have to take over all the cooking for a while so I can rest at night. I know this has been extremely long, but I want to remember all the wonderful things that have happened lately. Sometimes you have to just believe that everything happens for a reason.

24 Weeks...almost in the home stretch!

2011-09-13T08:33:00.005-05:00

We are 6 months down and our little girl is the size of a papaya! I can feel her getting bigger by where she kicks. At first her kicks were really low and now they are more towards the middle of my stomach. Feeling her kick is a normal thing now. She kicks ALL day long and Dan and I can see her little kicks through my skin.

I've been going to an hour long yoga class at my gym and it is definitely getting harder. It would be so easy to just give up working out for the next few months because I am not seeing any results, but I'm determined to keep working out until the end. It makes me feel so much better and I know it's good for me.

We have one more doctor's appointment in a few weeks where I have to do the glucose test, and then we start going every two weeks. Crazy! My doctor is going to monitor the size of the baby really close at the end so she doesn't get too big. Watch her be 7 lbs or something when she's born and I have done all this worrying for nothing.

Dan planned a date day for us this past weekend and didn't tell me what we were doing until that morning. We started the day playing putt putt. Any time Dan and I are trying to figure out what to do he suggests putt putt. In the 8 years we have been together we have never played. Guess who got 3 holes in one?! This girl did! It was a really fun morning.

We had a picnic at a park and enjoyed the beautiful weather after putt putt. I am SO ready for the cool weather to be permanent. Dan took me to get a pedicure and enjoyed getting one himself. He says that he went with me because I am pregnant but I think he enjoyed it :)

The last part of our date was going to the movies in Allen called iPic. It was by far the neatest movie theater we have ever been to. You pay a little more but the price includes free popcorn and a drink. The seats were so amazing and you even had your own blanket and pillow. We ordered dinner that was really good also. I expected the food to be ok, but it was great! The most difficult part was eating in the dark.

Overall, my hubby planned such a fun day for us to spend together. I guess it's my turn to plan our next date day. We are so excited to expand our family and it makes me cherish the moments Dan and I have together by ourselves. We only have a few more months of just the two of us!

23 Weeks...I have officially turned into my mom

2011-09-05T15:15:00.010-05:00

Turning into my mom is definitely not a bad thing! She is one of the strongest most beautiful women I know! I've mentioned before that she sews and quilts and is making our baby bedding. She also made a lot of our clothes growing up...Oh the styles in the 80's...She really is a great seamstress I promise! Apparently these jumpers were in style back in the day. My favorite is the matching scrunchie headband. Anyway, I've had some extra time on my hands lately and why not add another hobby to my list? I finally, have started to sew. I consider myself pretty crafty and have wanted to start sewing for a while. I pulled out a sewing machine that my MIL (mother in law) gave to me and my mom helped me figure out how to use it. So far I am loving it and can see how it can be addicting. So far I've made some cute burp cloths for our little girl. The state of our kitchen table is a disaster at the moment! Luckily my hubby is understanding of my hobbies.

We are at 23 weeks this week! Only 17 more weeks left but who's counting :) Our little papaya is kicking up a storm still. Maybe she'll be on drill team and do the kick line like I did or be a basketball player like Dan was. Whatever makes her happy! All I know is that she is VERY active most of the day. We have another doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon and I look forward to hearing her heartbeat again. It's nice that I feel her move all the time now so I know she's ok but it's always great to hear the heartbeat.

We registered at Target this week. Target was SO much easier to get around. I got lots of advice last week so thank you! We need all the help we can get! I had to post a pic of my cute husband manning the scanner gun.
I hope everyone has enjoyed their long weekend! I know we have!

22 Weeks...yes we moved ahead a week

2011-08-29T12:01:00.004-05:00

When we went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago she moved our due date up to January 2 because our baby girl is running ahead of schedule. So now I'm at 22 weeks instead of 21. I don't feel like I'm getting much bigger but the bump is definitely rounder. This week baby girl has decided to use my bladder as a trampoline. Or maybe a big balloon to roll around on. I feel like bathroom trips happen every 5 minutes! It's worse than the first trimester! It makes it worth it when I can feel her kicking and flipping in my tummy. Dan FINALLY felt her kick last week. His face lit up when he felt the thumps.

There are many difficult things about being pregnant (like not having any control of your weight and being the heaviest you have ever been in your life) but I try not to rant about those too much :) There are also some awesome things about being pregnant. One of the greatest perks is front row parking places!! I have found expectant mother parking at Nordstrom, Market Street and Babies 'R Us. It was so great to go to the Nordstrom anniversary sale and park right in front! It's the little things, right?

We registered this week at Babies 'R Us. Holy overwhelming! This baby needs A LOT of stuff and we have A LOT to learn! Just the bottle aisle was overwhelming. Maybe things were easier a long time ago when there weren't as many options. Hopefully we'll be able to figure it out when the baby arrives.

I'm looking forward to the busy week ahead and the long weekend coming up!

Must Love Dogs.

2011-08-26T16:21:00.005-05:00

I know I have expressed my love for my pups many times before but I do really love them. I was going through my phone pictures the other day and I realized a few things:

1) What would I do without my phone camera?
2) I really take a lot of pictures of my dogs...probably too many
3) I dress my dogs up a little too much for my enjoyment
4) Am I going to dress my baby up as much as I dress my dogs up?

20 weeks...and an anniverysary trip to Austin!

2011-08-22T13:21:00.007-05:00

This past week was super busy. We celebrated our 4th anniversary and took a trip to Austin. We love Austin and would move there if we could. It's such a great town with a ton to do. I love how people spend so much time outside despite the heat. The hotel we stayed at was so awesome. It was in the middle of South Congress and lots of great shops and food around it. We will definitely stay there again. It was SO hot during the day but we managed to stay busy and enjoy our time.

Here I am half way through! The bump is HUGE! I tried a new yoga class this morning at our new gym. I love yoga and I've been doing it for years. I'm used to doing the advanced moves in class and it is getting really hard now! Any twist or anything on my stomach I felt like I was crushing baby girl. She was kicking almost the entire class so she must have enjoyed it!

Like I have been mentioning she has been kicking a lot. Normally the kicks feel like flutters or little thumps. Last week at dinner Dan and I were just sitting there talking and all of a sudden I felt a KAPOW in my stomach. It startled me so bad I'm surprised I didn't scream. I wish Dan's hand had been on my stomach because I'm sure he would have been able to feel it!

I felt really good last week. Still trying to stay active and eat healthy. I'm trying to really watch my sodium to try and prevent from getting puffy and swollen. Also, I'm pretty sure my feet have grown. Not great for my shoe collection but I'm holding out on buying any shoes for a while. Maybe they will go back when it cools down? Who knows. Oh, the joys of pregnancy. It will all be worth it so soon!

Time flies when you are having fun!

2011-08-18T14:04:00.004-05:00

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been 4 years already! It seems like yesterday we celebrated our marriage with our friends and family. I guess the saying goes, "time flies when you are having fun!" These past 4 years have been more than amazing. I can honestly say I love Dan more and more every day. He is my other half and I can't imagine life without him. Dan is an incredible husband and he is going to be an amazing father. I cannot wait to see him with our little girl. She is going to have him wrapped around her little finger :)

Dan, thank you for being the best husband in the world. People often ask me where I found you and I say that I prayed for a husband like you. I'm not sure what I did to deserve you, but I'm not ever letting you go! We laugh together on a daily basis and you always make be smile. Thank you being my biggest supporter and such a wonderful person. I can't wait to see you as a daddy!

19 Weeks...and the arrival of Owen!

2011-08-15T07:35:00.005-05:00

Here I am at 19 weeks...large and in charge! Just kidding about the in charge part but I am definitely getting larger! Our baby girl is kicking up a storm these days! I think she does back flips and dives every night. Dan still hasn't been able to feel her which drives me crazy. I'm dying for him to feel her kick! Hopefully soon!

This week was very busy with Kade in town and working on the nursery. Also, my bff Adrienne had her baby, Owen. Owen came into the world Wednesday and is so precious. I know Adrienne and Glenn are on cloud nine. I think Owen needs to be a baby model. He looks like a little doll! I know we are months away from meeting our little girl which is very surreal to me. It will be so fun for Adrienne and I to raise our babies together. Fall is only a month and a half away and I am dying for some cooler weather and Fall decorations! Happy Monday everyone!

Nursery Progress!

2011-08-14T13:10:00.011-05:00

We have made a ton of progress on the nursery this week. It has been really fun to see it come together. We still have a long way to go but the main parts are done. There are so many cute nursery ideas out there but I wanted to come up with my own idea without spending a ton of money. I've always been a DIY person and luckily I always get lots of help when I start a project. The room we are using for a nursery is huge. The closet is the same size as our master closet which is really nice. At the rate we are going our baby is going to have enough clothes to fill it up! We decided to use the big guest room as the nursery so we can keep a lot of her toys and stuff in there. We live in a one story so we plan on being in her room a lot.

First I had to come up with a paint color to paint the room. I wanted to do something neutral but wanted to stay away from the tan that was already in there. I love color but didn't want to do pink walls. We went for Sherwin Williams Grayish. I'm obsessed with this color. It was really hard to find the right gray because most of them are look blue or green. The gray actually looks gray and goes great with the nursery colors. My brother, Kade, did an amazing job painting and we are so grateful!

Next, I had to find fabric. As I have mentioned, my amazing mom is making all of the bedding. She is so great at sewing and is so excited to start. At first I thought I wanted to go with peaches and pinks and then I found these fabrics and knew that these were it. Girly but not to babyish and many colors to choose from for accents. I love fabrics because there are so many to choose from and you can find exactly what you are looking for most of the time.

When Dan and I got married (4 years ago this week!) we received a lot of furniture from my family. We love old pieces with character and coming from two apartments we were thankful for all that we were given. We were able to almost fill our home with furniture and we have still have hardly bought anything. One of the pieces we were given was a long dresser that we kept in our guest room. I decided to use this piece as a changing table/dresser in the nursery. We painted it turquoise and it turned out great!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I also bought a side table and painted it turquoise. This is going to go next to our chair that is coming in soon.

I'm looking forward to working on the nursery over the next few months. There is still so much to do but it is nice to see progress. We set up the crib the other night and it looks great. We went with a simple white crib from Pottery Barn.
I'll post more once we have finished everything. I think it's funny how much time we are spending to make this room perfect when our baby won't even sleep in there for a few months after she is born. Hopefully she will love her room! I know Dan and I have had a great time working on it! 19 week update coming soon!

18 Weeks...it can't get any hotter than this

2011-08-08T16:25:00.002-05:00

Here we are almost half way through this pregnancy! I am thanking my lucky stars that I am not 9 months pregnant right now in this crazy heat wave we are having. (Sorry to my bff Adrienne and everyone else that is!) It has been so, so hot here in Dallas. Dan and I used to practice bikram yoga and that is what our weather feels like...walking into a heated room.

This past weekend we accomplished so much! My brother is in town and painted our both of our guest rooms (one will be the nursery). He has been a HUGE help to Dan and I and we have had a lot of fun doing projects. We are also painting a dresser that is going to go in the baby's room along with some accent pieces. It is going to be really fun to see all of my ideas come together. My mom is also really involved with the decorating because she is making all of the bedding and curtains. I'm lucky to have such a talented mom!

This past week I have really felt pregnant. My feet and joints hurt bad. I feel like I have run a marathon in the highest heels I own. Apparently this is all just part of being pregnant. I hope I will be able to get back into my heels one day! Right now it's just flats and running shoes for me! I stare at my closet every morning at all of my shoes and then remember the pain I am in if I don't wear something comfortable and resort to my old faithfuls. I'm going to try and stick to only yoga as my work out for a while. It makes me feel so much better and isn't as hard on my feet and knees. I feel like an old person!

Today we had our full anatomy scan and everything looks great! I know this will be shocking, but baby girl is running way ahead of schedule. She is measuring ahead in her legs, head and torso. It looks like she might have a mid December birthday! I'm not really concerned with the due date as long as she is healthy. It's always fun to see our little one kicking and moving around.

I'll post nursery progress pretty soon. I'm going to stay inside with my feet propped up until it cools off!

A great read for parents of little girls

2011-08-03T11:51:00.003-05:00

I have seen floating around the blog world a GREAT article on how to talk to little girls. It says the most people when they first speak to a little girl they compliment their looks or clothing. In today's world there is so much focus on body and looks so many girls are starting to diet really young. I want to raise our daughter to be confident and happy with who she is and what she looks like. This article is definitely worth taking a look at!

17 Weeks...and a trip to Colorado

2011-07-31T20:55:00.005-05:00

We just spent the past week in Colorado visiting Dan's parents. The weather was amazing and such a nice change from this heat in Dallas right now. Dan's parents live in Pagosa Springs which is in southern Colorado. We had never driven there because we normally go in the winter and we decided to drive this time and take the pups. We weren't sure how they would act on the long drive, but they were angels the whole way.

We went hiking, took picnics to the river, took long naps, took walks around the neighborhood, pretty much heaven. It was so nice to spend so much time outside enjoying the weather. I see why so many people love living in Colorado. Dylan and Bella in the car. They smiled the whole way!
Dan and I on one of our hikes
My in-laws, Darlene and John

I wasn't sure how I would be hiking with the high altitude but it was totally fine. I loved being outside.

A BIG thank you to John and Darlene for having us this week! We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to take our little girl to Colorado. Thank you for letting us bring our pups and spoiling them rotten. You two will be great grandparents to your grandbaby!

So we have hit the 17 week mark! I feel like the first 10 weeks dragged on and on and now the weeks just keep passing by. Only 23 weeks until we meet our little girl. We found out so early that we were pregnant I remember seeing "only 36 more weeks left." We have a lot to do before this little one arrives! So far we have purchased a crib and a chair and we have a plan for the room. My mom is making all the bedding so we have picked fabric. It will be so fun to see everything come together over the next few months.

I feel a lot bigger this week! That might be due to all the food we ate in Colorado. I really enjoyed not having to cook for the week! This week we are back to normal workouts and healthy food. I'm in mostly all maternity clothes now. Even my pre-pregnancy tops that were loose are starting to be tight around my belly. This week I started filling out the baby book. I found a great book off of Etsy that we were able to customize. I didn't think I would do one until I saw mine and Dan's that our mom's spent so much time on. It was neat to look back at our milestones.

We have a busy week ahead of us with work, doctor's appointment and Kade coming to visit! He is going to help me paint the nursery and get some things done around the house. I hope everyone stays cool this week!

16 Weeks!

2011-07-25T21:16:00.005-05:00

I can't believe we are already at 16 weeks! I feel like I am definitely getting bigger every day. This week our baby girl can hear! Dan has asked me weekly when he thinks our baby can start hearing because he wants to read her stories and talk to her. Well, week 16 it is! They say that she is going to get used to noises like dogs barking and the vacuum so it shouldn't bother her when she gets here. Our little pup, Dylan, likes to bark so hopefully she will get used to hearing him!

People are so funny when you tell them you are pregnant. For instance, this week we told an older person (that we aren't related to) that we are pregnant and her response was, "well it looked like your face was rounder than the last time I saw you." Wow. Thank you for that comment. That makes me feel awesome :) Gaining weight has been the hardest part of this whole thing. I work really hard to eat healthy and work out and it is strange to see the scale go up. All of my friends look amazing after having their babies and I hope I can go back to my normal size. I know every pound is needed to make this little girl healthy and strong.

People (older women) also like to re-live their birthing experiences with me. I really don't want to know all the details of all women's pregnancies. I realize that it is going to be painful and it will all be worth it, but I want to go into it blinded and have my own experience :) Pregnancy definitely gets you a lot of attention in a good and bad way!

This week I felt great besides little pains here and there. My hips are starting to hurt after I work out and I guess it is because they are changing. I can't complain too much though! It's all been great so far! Here I am in my 16 week picture wearing a Pickled Lily dress! It's fun to finally get to wear the clothes I've been looking at for so long. Happy Monday everyone!

Does this make me crazy?

2011-07-21T22:21:00.004-05:00

So almost a month ago we found out the gender of Baby T. We went to a wonderful specialist for our quad screen who told us that she was 95% sure we were having a baby girl. 95% chance is pretty great right? I have found that I am very impatient and paranoid! I have spent the past month wondering that if the doctor was right. Of course, we are in a win/win situation with a boy or girl. I have felt scared to buy anything until we knew for sure it was a girl. Plus, I kept hearing stories of people finding the gender out early and going back for their anatomy scan at 20 weeks and the gender has changed. I have felt so crazy and worried about this.

Well, to solve my paranoia Dan and I went and paid for a sonogram today. I have heard of people doing 3D sonograms later on in their pregnancy, but not early on. Just to let you all know, you can pay to find out the gender early! It wasn't very expensive and we got to see our baby in 3D. Again, the tech confirmed that we are for sure having a baby girl. I won't post the picture with proof, but here you can see another shot of our little beauty queen. At one point she turned to us and waved. So crazy that our little orange this week doesn't look so little anymore! (She's the size of a naval orange this week.) She wasn't kicking as much as last time, but was waving her arms around.

I feel so much better seeing her again! Let the decorating and shopping begin!!

15 Weeks!

2011-07-17T10:31:00.005-05:00

Nothing much new to report this week. I had another doctor's appointment with my regular doctor. Baby girl had a very strong heartbeat and was moving around a ton! You could hear a swishing sound of her moving around. Pretty amazing. I swear I am feeling her kick this week. Some say it's too early, but I keep thinking it's our little girl kicking her long legs.

We are headed to Colorado next week to go see Dan's parents. We are driving the 16 hours with the dogs and spending a few days there. We are really looking forward to getting out of this heat! We have never driven there before so it should be interesting. It's a glimpse into our future! Flying with a car seat, stroller, pack and play, etc doesn't seem practical so I'm sure we will be driving more than flying when our little one arrives.

I feel really great so far. I have to say, I am loving being pregnant. I haven't been as tired this week and I have a lot more energy. The only cravings I have had so far is a cold beer! Bud Light Lime to be exact. My mouth waters every time I see a sign for one. So strange.

I hope everyone has had a great week and weekend!

What will it bee...a he or a she???

2011-07-12T08:55:00.008-05:00

This past Saturday Dan and I had a gender reveal party for our family and close friends. We found out the gender of Baby T the week before and kept it a secret for over a week! It was Dan's idea to keep it between us for a little while and now I am so glad we did. It was really fun to talk about it knowing that only the two of us knew. I'm pretty sure we tortured our family and friends but in the end they enjoyed the wait too. Beware, this is a picture heavy post!

We did a bee theme for the party. "What will it bee...a he or a she" is what our cake said. The cake turned out AMAZING!

Chase decided to use Adrienne's belly as a road for his truck.

My Dad drove up from Houston for the evening which meant the world to me. He's excited about being a first time grandad!

We had everyone give their suggestions for grandparent names. I think they are taking it as seriously as we are thinking of a name for our baby! And a picture of me and my beautiful mama!

The pups had on bee bandanas. They looked so cute.

We had everyone out down their guess for Baby T! As you can see most of the votes were for boy!

We had my mom cut into the cake to reveal the gender. Dan's parents were on skype so they wouldn't miss the party! We first had her cut into the top portion...she said "this is chocolate is there something you need to tell me..." haha

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

We are beside ourselves excited to be having a baby girl. I was completely shocked. I would have bet money that we were having a boy! Most of our friends have little boys so it will be nice to have a little girl in the mix. She will have many dates when her Daddy decides he will allow that :) Knowing that we are having a girl and seeing her move around last week makes this all so real. In less than 6 months we will have a little girl in our home and can't be more excited about it!

14 Weeks...Hello 2nd Trimester!

2011-07-10T09:50:00.004-05:00

We are so happy to be out of the first trimester! Even though we have seen/heard the heartbeat several times, it still feels good to be out of the danger zone. Anything can happen, but we pray that we will continue to have a safe and healthy pregnancy. We have another appointment this week with our doctor on Thursday.

BIG NEWS...We do know Baby T's gender and had a gender reveal party for our families this weekend. That will have to be in another post this week. We found out last Friday at our quad screen test and kept it a secret for a week until we could get our families together and tell them at once. I didn't think I could keep it a secret, but I did!

I have felt really good this week and less tired. I'm excited for this next trimester because I hear it is when you feel your best. I hope everyone has had a great weekend and is staying out of this crazy heat. I swear this summer is hotter than it has every been!

13 Weeks and Baby T's first photo shoot

2011-07-04T21:35:00.005-05:00

I can't believe that we are already into our 13th week! I'm pretty sure I am saying that every week. Time is FLYING by and I know that January will be here before we know it! This week was the first time a stranger asked me when I was due. We were in the grocery store and a nice man asked when our big day was. It took me off guard because I still don't feel like I am showing that much to people that don't know me. It made me feel really good :)

I still feel really good so far. I'm trying to figure out how to decorate the baby's room, but am drawing a blank so far. I have purchased quite a few maternity things and I can't wait to start wearing pieces from Pickled Lily. It will be fun to actually wear the clothes I have been selling for the past year. At the rate I'm going I'll be wearing them soon!

Friday we went in for our Quad screen test which is a hi tech sonogram that tests for down syndrome. We got to see pictures of our little one which was so amazing. The first thing that the doctor noticed was that he/she had long legs. It was kicking and punching and sucking its' thumb. I think it was just copying the kick boxing that I do every week. It is truly a miracle that our little one is so small (the size of a lemon this week) and we could still count all fingers and toes.

To celebrate the 4th we went down to Lake Conroe to see our friends Brandon and Brooke. They have a beautiful house on the lake and we had so much fun catching up with them. It felt like vacation. We had so much fun on their boat and jet skis and just hanging out. We also went to Dan's friend Justin's 30th birthday party. I always love seeing Dan with his friends from high school. He had a constant smile on his face and they laughed just as hard as they always do at all the crazy stories from growing up.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

12 Weeks: Baby Bump Debut...kind of

2011-06-26T09:23:00.003-05:00

We are 12 weeks this week!! I feel like I am starting to show just in the past couple of days. I never thought I would be so excited to see my stomach getting bigger. I know a lot of people don't show early, but I'm going to say that I am because Dan and I were both HUGE babies. More so Dan. Let me remind you that he was almost 12 pounds when he was born!!! I was almost 9 which is still pretty big but it is not 12 pounds...

I had a lot more energy this week. I think I only took 2 naps. I started taking B12 which seemed to help a lot and I worked out a few times which always helps me. Only 2 more weeks until we are out of our first trimester!

I have to brag on my husband for a sec. Yesterday he went swimsuit shopping with me for the afternoon. I tried to warn him what he was in for going swimsuit shopping with a pregnant woman. He was a great sport and quite helpful. We even bought some maternity clothes which was a lot of fun.

I promise I do own more than just dresses!

A baby shower for a best friend...

2011-06-24T08:36:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for one of my closest friends, Adrienne. It was so fun planning this for her and we had a great time celebrating her first baby.

Adrienne and I have been friends since high school and have remained close since we graduated. I talk to her every morning! I'm not sure what we talk about but we always have something to say to each other! I am so excited for her and Glenn to be parents. She's due mid August with a baby boy that they are naming Owen. I can't wait to meet their little boy!

Me, Adrienne and Jana the other hostess

Adrienne and her amazing cake. It matched the invitation exactly!

For favors we did bags of caramel and cheese popcorn. Yum!

We had each guest fill out advice cards for Adrienne and Glenn. Each card said something different like, "I hope you learn...I hope you aren't afraid of...I hope you remember...etc". It gave those that don't have kiddos a starting point.

The shower turned out great and Adrienne and Glenn got stocked up with almost everything they need for their baby. Now we are all just waiting for Owen to make his debut!

11 Weeks and a staycation

2011-06-20T10:37:00.006-05:00

I can't believe that we are 11 weeks already! I say "we" because it's our baby, even though I am the one carrying it, Dan is definitely doing his part in this. He has to put up with me and has been so wonderful. He says I've been pretty good so far :) This week I started to get really, really tired. I didn't work out this week like I have been, so maybe that's it. I'm great until about 1:00 and then I turn into a zombie. I compare it to when we have flown overseas and not slept on the plane and you are so tired you just want to pass out. Carrying a baby is a lot of work!

We had another doctor's appointment last Thursday that went great. We heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time which was really amazing. Our due date was moved again to January 7. I'm just going to start saying sometime in January we will have a baby. I guess the computer calculates it every time. Not the greatest 11 week picture, but you can see I'm definitely starting to fill out! Yay for almost being done with the first trimester!!

This weekend we wanted to get away but not actually go far, so we went to our favorite little hotel The Belmont for a night. We have stayed there in years past and loved it. They are an old motor hotel right outside of downtown Dallas near Oak Cliff. The views are amazing and it's a very boutique feel. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Hattie's. Saturday we went to the pool and hung out there for a while then came home and you guessed it, took a nap! It seems to be a daily thing at our house this week for me. I didn't take many pictures, but we had a great time.

BIG News!

2011-06-09T10:23:00.004-05:00

Yes, we are having a baby!! We are expecting him or her to make their debut into the world January 8, 2012! We are beside ourselves excited and feel very blessed. I have been feeling pretty good so far. Besides a bad cold/cough I have had from the beginning I have felt pretty normal. I'm trying to be good and work out and eat healthy but still allowing myself some indulgences :) I know the next 7 months will fly by so we are going to cherish each stage of this pregnancy.

No cravings really and no weight gain so far. I'm sure I won't be able to say that for long. Dan was almost 12 lbs when he was born and I was almost 9 so we are looking forward to a big baby! We told our parents for Mother's Day and they are all so thrilled to be first time grandparents. I can't wait to see Dan as a dad because I know he will be amazing. I'm looking forward to blogging about this amazing journey we are now on!

I heart Italy.

2011-05-02T19:59:00.009-05:00

Almost two weeks ago we got back from our amazing vacation. 11 days ways was the perfect length for a vacation overseas. We spent 7 nights in Sorrento, a small town outside of Rome. The remaining 3 we spent in Rome (that post will come later). Sorrento was by far our favorite town so far in Italy. Sorrento is where the limoncello was created. There were lemons everywhere and they were HUGE!

Please excuse the blurry pic of my hubby.

The weather was perfect the entire trip. 70 degrees and cool. Only one day it rained a little. From Sorrento we could take day trips. We went to Capri one day which was only a ferry ride away. We were able to take a gondola ride all the way to the top of the mountain which made for beautiful pictures.

Another day we went to Pompeii. I am glad that we saw Pompeii, but I probably wouldn't go back. Our tour guide was great, but his English was terrible. It was amazing to see a town that was so old.

Our last day we went to the Amalfi coast to a town called Positano. This was a cute little town along the Mediterranian Sea. The bus ride was very interesting. I highly recommend looking straight ahead and not looking down. The drivers know what they are doing and do it all the time. To give you an idea, the ride was along a windy road up a mountain. And the bus drove at least 50 mph. The bus dropped us up at the top of the mountain and we walked through the town until we got to the beach at the bottom. Another beautiful picture place.

I'll have to do another post on our time in Rome. We took over 800 pictures so these hardly even show all the fun we had! We had wine, pasta and pizza everyday and slept a ton. Truly a wonderful vacation!!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T19:07:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter from The Tumis'!!

I have a lot of updateing to do, but that will have to come in the next couple of weeks. Aren't Bella and Dylan the cutest little Easter bunnies?

Let the countdown begin...

2011-03-27T08:42:00.004-05:00

14 days from today I will be here...

With this guy....

In a country that we love...

For 12 days!!

And I can't wait!!!

Now we just have to work our tails off to prepare to leave...

But it will all be worth it when we are sipping wine and eating pasta and hanging out just the two of us without cell phones, computers and the daily grind.

We LOVE Italy and can't wait to get there!

Out with the old!

2011-03-07T21:36:00.008-06:00

Since we moved in our house 3 1/2 years ago we have done a handful of home projects. We have painted every room, built a pergola in our backyard and added new landscaping. Being a homeowner, the list goes on and on for what I want to get done to the house. We love our house, but there are always projects we want to do. Our biggest and most recent project was redoing our master and guest bathrooms. This was a fun project and I am so happy it is done! We left the cabinets and redid everything else. Enjoy the before and after pictures!

We had the shower raised about 4 inches for Dan. He can't wait to not have to bend down to shower! The rest of the door will arrive on Friday.

Here is our guest bath. Ignore the picture of me!

Meeting The Pioneer Woman

2011-02-27T21:27:00.007-06:00

On Valentine's Day I left my Valentine at home while my friend Danielle and I went to meet THE Pioneer Woman. For those of you who don't know who Ree Drummond is, you should. She has the most popular blog in the world and is in my mind one of the most inspiring women I have ever met. Not only does she have 4 kids, she home schools them, lives on a ranch, gardens, is a photographer, an amazing cook, and has a great marriage. She writes daily about crazy things that happen on the ranch and talks about motherhood and life from an honest perspective. Anyway, she was as beautiful in person as she is in her pictures. She had brought all of her kids and her husband to the book signing. The signing started at 6:00. Danielle and I had to pick up wrist bands when the store opened that morning to get assigned to a group. We got to Borders at 10:05 and got assigned Group 2. Each group had 100 people. Ree spoke for about 10 minutes and then the book signing started. We didn't walk out the door until 9 pm and we were in Group 2! There were 10 groups! It was so fun to meet her in person and definitely worth the wait! I really wanted to ask her how she stays so thin cooking all of her recipes!

Danielle and The Pioneer Woman

How's your burger?

2011-02-19T20:33:00.006-06:00

Emily and I ate at Twisted Root the other day in Fairview and it got me thinking about my favorite burger places in the Lone Star State, and how funny the 'how's your burger' line is in Dumb and Dumber. Here are a few of my favorites:

1.) Mel's Country Cafe - My hometown of Tomball, TX boasts my favorite burger, and is ranked in the top 5 on Texas Burger Guy and one of the Top 50 Burgers in Texas Monthly. If you eat the Mega Mel burger you get to write your name on the wall, and it's no small accomplishment.

The Mega Mel Burger
1.5 pounds of fresh ground beef
1 pound of bacon
.25 pound of American cheese
lots, lots of lettuce, tomatoes, onions & pickles

This place has a lot of great food besides the burgers, my favorite is the chicken tenders, which can feed a family of 4. http://www.melscountrycafe.com/

2.) Roznovsky's Hamburgers - 3401 W. T. C. Jester Blvd, Houston, TX 77018 - If you live in H-Town you have to check out Roznovsky's. The founder was an All-American baseball player for UT back in the 70's. The review on http://www.texasburgerguy.com/ isn't that good, but if you are a Czech guy like me it's a right of passage!

3.) Twisted Root Burger Co - Ranked # 14 in Texas Monthly's Top 50 Texas Burgers, and the only burger place I know that has a pastry chef to help with their menu. Usually a restaurant asks you for your name, and then calls it when the order is ready. Not at Twisted Root, they give you a famous name, for example, Austin Powers or Michael Jordan. They have 5 DFW area locations, including their newest one in Fairview. http://twistedrootburgerco.com/

4.) Burger place in Austin - Sadly I cannot remember the name of this burger place, but I remember eating there at 2:00 a.m. many times in college after going out on 6th street. I'm not sure if it's because it was 2:00 a.m., but they had a great burger. It was downtown somewhere near the UT campus, just north of the basketball arena. Truly I cannot remember the name, but it was great.

5.) Mooyah Burgers & Fries - I asked Emily if she had one meal left on this earth (and it was a hamburger) where would she go? She said Mooyah burger, a great 'build it' burger place with several locations in the DFW and Houston areas, as well as a few locations in Tennessee and California now. Mooyah gives you about 650 toppings to choose from on your burger, and their large fry is enough for 4 people. - http://www.mooyah.com/

Honorable Mention

Jake's Hamburgers
Whataburger
Scotty P's
Frank's Place - Schulenburg, TX

Check out Emily's business http://www.shoppickledlily.com/

Should I have cabin fever?

2011-02-01T20:39:00.009-06:00

Today we were officially iced in. Some people were complaining of having cabin fever, but I loved it! There wasn't much snow on the ground but we had about 2 inches of ice on our driveway and our streets. We both work from home when we can but today we were forced to stay inside. It was really fun to spend the day together and cook all 3 meals together. For lunch we made home made potato soup and for dinner shrimp gumbo. Here is my cutie making his first roux! (we both stayed in our pj's all day...notice I didn't post any pics of me)

We try to cook together every night and we are always trying new recipes. We both love to cook. Two items that are a must have for me are by Le Creuset dutch oven (pictured above) and my handy chopper (below). Both items I use on a daily basis in my kitchen. I think I could get rid of all my other pots and pans and use only my dutch oven.

We aren't sure what tomorrow's weather will bring, but I wouldn't be against being forced to stay inside again! Thank goodness for laptops!

The pups have enjoyed the snow day too!

A Post About Food

2011-02-01T20:03:00.009-06:00

It's been way over a month since I have posted. Lots has been going on I just haven't known what to talk about. This post is dedicated to the amazing food we have had recently. Last week was by birthday and Dan treated me to a "staycation" here in Dallas. We do this from time to time and it is so great and relaxing. We can have a great evening downtown and then have only a

30 minute drive home. We stayed at the Ritz (amazing and beautiful) and had dinner at Hibiscus (omg even better than I had heard). I can't believe we have never been there. We seriously were drunk off of food after that dinner and we only had one glass of wine.

My big guy and I in the Ritz lobby

Me and the birthday cake they brought out- We took most of it home

For breakfast we went to Smoke. If you live in the Dallas area you have to try this place. AMAZING!! I had the ricotta stuffed pancakes served with apricots and blueberries. They also have bottomless mimosas! Dan and I will definitely be going back there!

Each plate had a different animal on it

Happy Birthday Emily! - You said nothing embarrasing...

2011-01-25T19:35:00.011-06:00

And I won't put anything too embarrassing :) We had a great day for Emily's birthday, we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner together which doesn't happen too often during the week. I love spending time with Emily, especially when she wants steak and potatoes for her birthday dinner. Do I have a great catch or what? We celebrated w/ her family this past weekend and then this weekend we're going to have a 'staycation' at the Dallas Ritz, should be a lot of fun. Sounds like a birthday week to me...

So I asked Emily tonight if she could meet any three people who would they be, and she gave me her 'Holy Trinity'. Sarah Palin, The Pioneer Woman, and Oprah. This brings me to a couple of thoughts:

More guys should admit they watch Oprah with their wives. We have one TV so I don't have much of a choice. I'm not saying to watch the whole show, because I cannot do this either, but at least pretend you are paying attention.
If your wife is a great cook like mine look up The Pioneer Woman, it will change your life
Buy your wife a real birthday cake, not one of those $5.99 cakes from your local grocery store. Buying a real cake for your wife provides you with special powers and privileges for 2-3 days.

So happy birthday to my best friend and chief wardrobe inspector, I love you.

As for my top three...Nolan Ryan, W., and Liz Hurley. Liz Hurley from the mid 90's when she was filming Austin Powers, of course!

Emily's been working so hard on Pickled Lily, go check it out!

How you know you are married.

2010-12-11T21:35:00.005-06:00

Last week Dan and I were at Best Buy doing some Christmas shopping. On our way to stand in line to check out we passed the home appliance section and I quickly made a detour to look at a new refrigerator that I'm dying for. I want the one with the double doors and the freezer on the bottom. I want a fridge that I can fit an large casserole dish in. One like this:

So Dan and I were looking at all the refrigerators seeing all the new features talking how how cool it would be to have one of these awesome refrigerators. Dan all of a sudden says "Oh my gosh, we are so married we have to get out of here." I laughed out loud and agreed so we left. That my friends is how us married couples spend our nights. Talking about appliances and getting as giddy as we did at our childhood birthdays.

Wouldn't it be great to have one of these though?

Merry Christmas from Dan & Emily!

2010-12-08T16:30:00.004-06:00

I know I keep saying this, but I can't believe that 2010 is almost over! What a great year this has been! We have the greatest family and friends that make everyday special. Here is a little summary of the year so far:

This year has been full of trips! We were able to visit Seattle again in the Spring with our friends Adrienne and Glenn. Dan and I LOVE Seattle and would go there every year if we could. We also went to Cabo with our friends Jamie and Dana for the 4th of July. Our big trip this year was a Baltic Cruise to Copenhagen, Estonia, Russia, Sweden and Finland. Dan's company has a sales incentive every year that is always a trip. Dan has worked his tail off and made the trip the past two years. I am so proud of him and his hard work! Dan started selling for ADP almost 3 years ago and has loved it. We have met the greatest people from there who have turned into our really close friends. Dan turned 30 this year and we had a big birthday bash to celebrate. I'll have to do another post on the party.

I am still with Edward Don selling toilet paper. Not really just toilet paper, I sell everything but food for restaurants, but it's simpler to say I sell toilet paper. It's a great job and I have been there almost 5 years! I can't believe it! This year I also launched an online boutique called Picked Lily with my friend Sarah. Sarah and Dan went to high school together and we have been great friends since Dan and I met. Pickled Lily is so fun and I'm loving every second of it. It never fees like work. Our friends and family have been huge supporters so thank you!!

Overall, 2010 has been AWESOME! We worked hard and played hard and loved every part of it. We have been enjoying being home for a while and don't plan to travel until the Spring when we go to Italy again. Life is good and I am thankful for everyone in our lives.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Love,

Dan, Emily, Dylan and Bella

The Big 3-0!

2010-12-02T11:28:00.005-06:00

My sweet husband turned 30 last week! Here he is with his birthday invitation :)
His birthday was 2 days before Thanksgiving so we had a low key birthday with family and of course cookie cake. If my husband had to choose a food to live on it would be a close call between cookies and cream ice cream (is HAS to be Blue Bell), cookie cake and salsa. Just a little background on me and my guy, on our first date he told me that if a girl wanted to marry him all she had to do was give him salsa. So, beginning then for every birthday/holiday he gets salsa :) It obviously worked!

For Dan's birthday I got him a new briefcase (with salsa inside) and basketball tickets to the Rockets/Mavericks game. I didn't take any pictures at the game but we had a great time. Dan grew up watching the Rockets and I knew he would love to see them play again. This weekend is the big bash to celebrate Dan's 30th! It should be a good time!!

Don't forget about Pickled Lily when shopping for the holidays! FREE SHIPPING all month plus other great deals!!

HE'S HOME!!!

2010-11-21T09:24:00.004-06:00

We picked up our Dylan yesterday morning. With some at home physical therapy and lots of TLC the doctor is sure he will walk again. Until then we will be giving him massages three times a day and walking him with a sling. The things we do for the ones we love. He's happy and wagging his tail and we are happy to have our little guy home!

Sometimes being a grown up sucks.......

2010-11-18T20:23:00.007-06:00

I don't know if I have ever been so happy for a week to be almost over. It always seems like just when you think you have it all together something happens. For all of you that know Dan and I you know that we are obsessed with our pups. We have Bella, a 7 year old Dachshund and Dylan, a 3 year old terrier mix. We aren't sure what he is, but he is super cute. Dan and I adopted him almost 3 years ago from a rescue group and nursed him back to health from a really bad case of mange. Our dogs are our babies for now and we love having them in our lives.

On Tuesday night Dylan and Bella ran out to the driveway to greet me home from work. Dylan yelped in pain and started limping. He is a very active dog and isn't a complainer. He limped for a minute and then went back to normal. He tried to jump on the bed a few minutes later and screamed and fell. Hearing a dog scream is one of the worst sounds ever. He started limping again and didn't stop. We decided that maybe he had pulled a muscle and that we would see how he did during the night and see how he was in the morning. Wednesday morning Dylan could no longer walk. It was so sad. He would just drag his feet behind him and not even try to stand. When we would try to stand him up and his back legs would fold under. I took him to the vet who sent us to a specialist immediately. I didn't even know they had neurologists for dogs!

After a few hours the diagnosis was that he probably had a slipped disc in his back but they wouldn't know for sure until a MRI was done. We don't have pet insurance. We love love love our dog. We chose to do the pricey MRI and the surgery. It turned out to be the slipped disc and it wasn't too late to do the surgery. Dylan will be able to walk again and recover to his normal self. People might think we are crazy for spending money on our dog, but we love him so much and he brings us so much joy everyday. One day when we have kiddos they will have two puppies to play with. Needless to say, it has been an emotional week for our little family.

Yay for only a half week of work next week and Thanksgiving with the family (and Dylan when he get out of the doggie hospital)!

Happenings Lately

2010-11-03T22:59:00.004-05:00

Where has 2010 gone?! Every year we get to the Fall and I think about how fast the year has gone. I'm loving the cooler weather and the Fall decorations. I'm already antsy for December 1 so I can pull out all my Christmas stuff. I love this time of year!

We are staying home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year which will be so nice. We have been out of town so much lately I'm looking forward to having some time at home. A special tall guy is turning the big 3-0 this month so I'm getting ready for that!

Lately I have been super busy with my normal job and Pickled Lily. Pickled Lily doesn't feel like work because I have such a blast doing it. Have you all seen the handmade onesies on our website? The handmade part is by yours truly (plus my mom's help). I have had so much fun coming up with new designs and finding new fabric. The best part is that we keep selling out of them! I have definitely turned into my mom, which is not a bad thing :) She used to make all of our clothes growing up and I am starting to appreciate all of her work. I have always loved clothes and growing up I would find a dress that I loved at a store and she would make me the EXACT same dress.

I'll try to post more this month! In the meantime, check out Pickled Lily and find us on Facebook!

Role Models

2010-10-17T20:28:00.012-05:00

I wanted to follow up my last blog about things I am passionate about with a couple of other topics I am passionate about.

If you follow baseball you may have seen this guy a lot more lately because of the Texas Rangers. Although I'm a Houston Astros fan I couldn't be happier for the Rangers. If you ask most guys who grew up in Texas in the 80's and 90's who their role model is, a large percentage would pick Nolan Ryan. How many of you collected baseball cards like me and had a stack of regular cards, cards worth something (like the Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck Card), and then a special collection just for Nolan Ryan? I can remember crying when I was six when the 'Stros lost in '86 to the Mets in a great series. Side note: There have been a lot of bad moments in Astros history, but I still love them. And of course who can forget Robin Venture trying to rush the mound and getting beat up?!?!? I must have seen that picture on about 500 walls while I was in college, including mine.

There are so many role models out there that consistently let us down by getting in trouble with the law, taking steriods, or in the case of Tiger Woods... To this day Nolan Ryan has been nothing short of a class act with a great Texas accent and several pitching records that will not be broken for some time. I enjoyed watching him play for so many years growing up in Houston and I hope his team wins the World Series this year. My dream is for the Stros to play the Rangers in the World Series, and of course the Stros win in 7!

Speaking of role models I was in Nashville last weekend visiting my Grandma on my Mom's side and 1st cousins on my Dad's side. My Grandma is not doing too well but she was still so sweet and nice to visit with, I hope she gets to feeling better soon. After visiting her during the day I went to my cousin Celeste's house for a pig roast, homemade beer, and a chance to see a lot of the family. We had a great time and I wanted to put up a couple of pictures of my cousins, their kids, and my Mom.

I visited my Grandpa's grave site which was an emotional experience to say the least, and it got me thinking about both Grandpa's of mine that have since passed. We throw around the phrase role model or hero pretty often in sports, and I know I'm the first to admit that I forget who the real heroes are. My Grandpa (in Tennessee as we called him) was a Korean War veteran and served in the Army for over 20 years in various roles. My Grandpa (in Houston as we called him) served in the Navy during World War II on the USS Mississippi and fought in one of the largest and probably last naval battles ever, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Seeing thousands of grave stones this weekend, all who served in the military, was truly a life changing event. I'd love to go to Normandy one day, I'm sure that is an emotional experience. If you haven't thanked a veteran recently please do so, they sacrificed for the freedom we all enjoy every day.

Make sure you check out Pickled Lily for baby and maternity clothes!

California Girls (and a Guy)

2010-09-20T19:46:00.005-05:00

This past weekend Rebecca and I traveled to San Francisco for a long weekend to see Kade before he leaves for his Thailand adventure. I love to travel, but am not the best planner, so luckily I had travel agent Rebecca to lead the way. Rebecca was so organized and had done tons of research so we didn't have to miss out on anything. Kade also brought his friend Foster to hang out for the weekend. Between Foster (who grew up in San Francisco) and Rebecca, we never got lost. We went to Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown to get eggrolls, and did lots of shopping and sight seeing. My legs are still sore from walking up and down all the hills! We had rented a flat off of VRBO, which I highly recommend for anyone who travels. We had the cutest 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen for $140 a night! It was a few blocks from Alamo Square which has the famous "Painted Ladies".

I'm so excited for Kade to experience Thailand. I am going to miss talking to him everyday but I know he is going to have an amazing time. I just hope he comes back!

My mom is always telling me to put sunscreen on, but I think if I wore this hat everyday I wouldn't need to!

Check out Pickled Lily for maternity and baby clothes! Happy Shopping!

Weekend Wrap Up

2010-09-06T15:24:00.008-05:00

Here is a summary of what we did on this awesome 3 day weekend:

1) Drove to Houston to see our friends Martin, April, and baby Henry.

Henry is such a good baby and tolerated April and I shopping for hours on Saturday. Here is a picture of Henry when I was holding him trying to make him smile and laugh. (I obviously rock at doing this because he is smiling in the picture)

I feel that I have a lot of experience with babies but it was very apparent that I do not have enough when while trying to make Henry laugh by holding him above my head, I didn't think to myself "Henry probably just ate and I shouldn't be bouncing him around..." Moments after this picture was taken, Henry while in the air laughing proceeded to toss his breakfast all over me....all in my hair, down my neck and all over my shirt. Then he started smiling again. I obviously need to have common sense when it comes to babies from now on. No, I didn't get a picture of the aftermath, but I'm sure you can picture how I looked.

How cute is Henry sucking his thumb?

Martin and April also took us to this awesome coffee place where they put designs in your coffee.

2) Pickled Lily.

Sarah and I spent a lot of time on the phone this weekend picking out new merchandise for Pickled Lily. I have mentioned that I own a maternity and baby boutique called Pickled Lily right? We have super cute stuff and I am so excited about some new merchandise we have ordered. We are also offering a 20% discount until September 15! code: 20OFF

Also, if you are pregnant or have a child under 24 mo (right now our baby clothes only go up to 24 mo), and you haven't seen anything you would purchase off of Pickled Lily, what would you like to see? We are always open to suggestions!

3) BBQ at the house with family and friends.

I always say how Dan and I tend to do too much, but who doesn't love hanging out with friends on a beautiful day? Monday we spent the day working in the flower beds (much needed!), grocery shopping and cooking. One of my favorite things to do, besides hanging out with Dan, traveling and yoga is cook! We try to cook every night of the week and I normally get recipes off of Chocolate Broccoli or out of Cooking Light. If you haven't checked out either of those, you need to! I try to cook pretty healthy, but it is a holiday, so I threw in some Pioneer Woman recipes into today's spread. Not that all of her recipes are unhealthy, but they just normally call for more butter than I normally use :)

We had a great time playing on our new Cornhole boards made by Jordan, eating food and just hanging out enjoying our day off from work. Rebecca brought Chase and Dan had a blast playing with him.

Overall, we had a great weekend and are sad it's over. Yay for a 4 day work week!

Blue Bell & Texas Stereotypes...Y'all

2010-09-02T21:15:00.004-05:00

9/2/10 - This is the day that Emily allowed me to post on our blog, which is a day she might regret. Since this might be my only blog post ever I wanted to make it count with two things I am very passionate about.

Blue Bell Ice Cream - If you find yourself standing in front of Dreyer's, Bryer's, Ben & Jerry's, etc. at the store, you are obviously either a.) Not in or from Texas b.) Cannot spell or see 3.) Have not experienced the greatness that is Blue Bell.
Texas Stereotypes - We have one TV, and surprise, Emily enjoys watching Lifetime. Emily is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my soulmate, so naturally I have to spend my entire day stalking her and hanging out with her. This also requires that I trade nights of watching sports and Man vs. Food (a show I am very passionate about, thanks Martin) for Suburban Sally. Suburban Sally is my poor attempt of making fun of a Lifetime movie that goes something like this: Sally is a beautiful brunette with a great husband and two great kids with a perfect lawn, house, wood floors, and no mortgage payment. One day Sally finds out that her son's female teacher has a crush on her husband, however, the husband is actually cheating on his wife with another teacher, and his son's teacher is jealous. The husband ends up dying in a fiery crash and the wife ends up with her son's teacher in a lesbian twist. Does this not sound like a Lifetime movie? I digress. My point is tonight on Lifetime there was a movie that started out with Police Officers in the middle of Houston who all had on cowboy hats, everyone had a huge accent, there were mountains in the background, and it looked like a desert around them. We'll come back to this.

Blue Bell Ice Cream is needed after at least one meal a week. Why you ask? Let me answer my question with another question. After you work out and you are sore, don't you ice your body to keep the swelling down? After you exercise your stomach and eat a big meal you should ice down your stomach, it's just common sense to keep from stomach swelling.

I have to finish up now because my wife says I get a 'creepy smile' when I start discussing Blue Bell, but I did want to provide some value to our viewers. Cookies and Cream is my favorite Blue Bell Ice Cream and my favorite dessert of all time, if you have not tried it, you should. It is especially good when you get a container that has a lot of big cookies in it, it's like a great surprise. Several weeks ago I came across a new flavor, 'Vanilla Cookies and Cream'. I suggest after your next workout that you try it out.

Texas Stereotypes: For all of you non-Texans out there let's get a few things straight.

Yes, we do have cowboys. However, so does South Dakota and New York.
Yes, there is oil in the ground in Texas. No, not everyone works for Exxon. Quick aside: Why does everyone complain about oil company profits, they are usually in line with other corporations when times are good (10-15%) You don't see people getting ticked off when Target or Baby Gap's profit is this high. And aren't companies suppose to make a profit.
Yes, we have deserts. So does California. We also have more trees in East Texas than you can imagine, swamps near the Louisiana/Texas border, and big cities. The deserts are near El Paso, that's about 12 hours from my house. This is like someone in New York City driving to Indiana, big difference right? I actually only know one person from El Paso and I've never even been there.
Yes, we have accents. So do people in Boston. The accents in Texas are really not that bad compared to other states. Try Tennessee or Kentucky, their accents will blow you away.
We have farms and cows. So does Illinois. I drove through Illinois once, it was 8 hours of corn and then Chicago. Several Cubs fans tried to tell me two things 1.) Girls in Texas are not pretty, which is very funny 2.) Everyone lives on ranches in Texas. Cubs fans, I drove past more farms in your state than I do in Texas. Also Cubs fans, you are the Los Angeles Clippers of baseball with grass on your outfield walls.
Texas is better than you, please deal with this accordingly.
The University of Texas football team and the Dallas Cowboys are two teams in Texas. We also have about 10 more professional teams and about 30 Division I football teams.
Longhorns on the front of cars. Yes, I have seen Longhorns on the front of a car in Texas...maybe once. There are so many times in movies that I see cars with Longhorns on them, it just doesn't happen.
I have been on a horse twice in my life, both times in Colorado. I once had a joker in Pennsylvania tell me he was in downtown Houston and police officers were parking horses everywhere, and he did not see many cars. Penn man, there are 6 million people that live in Houston and hundreds of thousands that work downtime, do you really think they take a horse in 30 miles from The Woodlands?
We don't all live on ranches. We live on 1/10000 of an acre (which I hate). I can broad jump across my yard.
Cowboy hats - Yes we have cowboy hats but we also have baseball caps too. Anytime you see a police officer in a movie based in Texas they are wearing a cowboy hat.

Have a great Labor Day weekend y'all!

One more thing...check out new merchandise on Pickled Lily! If you "Like" Pickled Lily on Facebook you will get updates on new merchandise and coupon codes! Happy Shopping!

I see Russia....

2010-08-29T19:52:00.008-05:00

This month we took a trip of a lifetime. Every year Dan's company does a sales incentive trip and this year it was a Baltic cruise. The cruise was 5 days, but we decided to go early and stay later. We spent 2 days in Copenhagen before heading out on the cruise. From Copenhagen we went to Estonia, Russia, Finland and ended in Sweden where we spent 2 days before heading home.

This trip was AMAZING to say the least. We had so much fun with everyone we were with and laughed the entire trip. Dan and I love to travel and this trip was one of the best. We tried to eat the local food in each place. In Sweden a delicacy is reindeer. So yes, I ate reindeer...and no, Santa Clause didn't serve it. The reindeer was actually really good. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of it, but it just looked like beef.

One of our favorite things we did was a bike tour in Copenhagen. The tour lasted about 3 hours and went all over Copenhagen. It was nice to see the entire city in a short period of time. We also went to Tivoli Gardens, which was a theme park that was Walt Disney's inspired for Disney World.

The boat was awesome. We had a decent size room with a balcony. The food was fantastic and had anything we wanted. I always take work out clothes when we travel and hardly ever work out but managed in one (I know it's not that impressive, but better than normal!) work out on the boat. The gym was at the front of the boat and the treadmills overlooked the water....beautiful!

There is so much I can say about the trip but I don't want to bore anyone. It was awesome, amazing, beautiful, educational, FUN...I could go on and on. The pictures tell it all. I'm grateful that Dan works so hard so we get to go on these great trips! Thanks, babe! :)

Now another week begins, but it will be a good one because next weekend is a 3 day weekend!

Also, I have to add in my plug...check out Pickled Lily! We are offering a grand opening 20% off discount off of your entire order through September 15! Coupon Code: 20OFF Check out Pickled Lily and tell your friends! Happy Shopping!

Has it really been 3 years?!

2010-08-19T08:40:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Dan and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! I can't believe we have been married for 3 years already! It seems like yesterday that all of our friends and family surrounded us for our wedding day. I think one of the best things about being married is that I have a permanent date. We are a perfect match and I can't imagine life without him. Dan is my rock and supports me in whatever I do and I love him so much for that.

Dan, thank you for making me the happiest girl alive! I look forward to spending the next 60+ years with you!!

Pickled Lily!

2010-08-04T15:44:00.008-05:00

My friend Sarah and I have been working on a new project for over 6 months and we are so excited that Pickled Lily is live!! We have created an online boutique for maternity and baby clothes. We have spent months searching for the perfect brands to carry that are also affordable. We want women to love the clothes they are in when they are pregnant and feel beautiful and not break the bank! So far we have a lot of the basics and are adding new products weekly. I'm really excited for some of the Fall items we are getting in.

Check it out and let me know what you think! Our website is http://www.shoppickledlily.com/

If you wish upon a Lily, make it Pickled!

Kade Visits and Chase turns 2!

2010-07-27T18:54:00.006-05:00

My brother came into town a couple of weeks ago and stayed for 10 days. I love it when he comes to visit and we had so much fun when he was here. I was so happy that he was here to celebrate Chase turning two. Dan and I call Chase our nephew, but really he is my cousin, Rebecca's baby....except he isn't a baby anymore! Rebecca and I are as close as sister's can be, so I feel like I can call Chase my nephew :)

Saturday after Kade arrived we went to a peach orchard in Gainesville with Rebecca, Jessica and Chase. It was so much fun even though it rained at the end of our visit. We left with 15 lbs of peaches, so I had to get creative with what I made with all of them.

During the week we spent time at my mom's house and saw a lot of family. We have a lot of family that lives close so it's always nice to find a reason to get together.

The night before Kade left we celebrated Chase's birthday at Rebecca and Jesse's and it was so fun. I made a new Sangria recipe that was a hit! I think it should be a staple at all birthday parties!

Happy birthday little guy! We love you so much!

Somehow I managed to not get a picture of Dan and I but I did capture his awesome hand stand! I had no idea he had this talent!

Rebecca and I are going to California to visit Kade in September before he makes his trip to Thailand. I'm going to miss him when he's gone but he is going to have an amazing time.

Bad Blogger!!

2010-07-15T21:21:00.005-05:00

My has this year flown by!! My last post was about the Fall and now it is half way through July!!
I LOVE summer and we are trying to get as much in as we can this year. Growing up I always looked forward to summer and now I still do. It's not like I get a break from work or anything...I do think it would be nice to be a kid again sometimes!

This year has been full of trips. Dan and I love to travel and we try and do as much traveling as we can fit in. In April we went to Seattle with our friends Adrienne and Glenn. We normally travel with just the two of us, but it was so fun to have another couple with us! They love to eat and drink (in moderation of course) just as much as we do so it worked out well and we all had a blast. Seattle has great weather despite what Grey's Anatomy shows. It was sunny and cool the entire time! The food is amazing and we tried to eat as much as we could. I think we had appetizers for breakfast, then breakfast, then dessert after breakfast, mid morning snack, appetizer to lunch, lunch...you get the drift. Again, the food in Seattle is AMAZING!! Dan and I worked out really hard when we got home...the food was worth it!

For the 4th we went to Cabo with our friends, Jamie and Dana. We had never been to Cabo before but I was very impressed! It was nice to get away and do nothing but lay by the pool and relax!

In a couple of weeks we head out for a Baltic cruise. I'm super excited about this trip and we bought a fancy camera that we are going to try to figure out how to use.

Puppy Photo Shoot

2009-10-26T21:17:00.014-05:00

Yesterday I decided that I needed to take some pictures of our adorable dogs, Dylan and Bella, for our Christmas cards. We have two and they are the greatest dogs on the planet! We love them to pieces and they always entertain us. I thought it would be cute to put bows around their neck. We recently got new couches and we don't let the pups on them, but I allowed it for the pictures. They sat there an didn't move...the pictures almost look like mug shots. They were so funny because they didn't do anything!

So they sat there for atleast 10 minutes just letting me take pictures. So then I decided to pull out some costumes. I DID NOT make these costumes, they were given to me years ago. We sometimes put them on the dogs for a good laugh. We think it's hilarious...they don't....

Let Fall Begin!

2009-10-05T21:09:00.005-05:00

I am LOVING this weather! We made our annual trip to buy pumpkins tonight spent the evening getting out all of our Fall decorations. This is my favorite time of year!

Last weekend was my Rosette reunion at Flower Mound. It was so great to see all of the girls that I spent so much time with all through high school. I was able to catch up with my friend Casey who I haven't seen in 7 years! The director went all out to make the day special and even included a fashion show of all of our costumes. I wasn't in high school that long ago but looking back at those costumes made me feel really old... It was great to catch up with everyone and I look forward to more reunions!

My name is Emily and I'm an addict...

2009-09-09T21:34:00.003-05:00

This is what I'm going to have to say at a Sudokuaholics meeting if I can't quit playing this game. My friend Matt taught me this game a couple of years ago on our way to Chicago and I fell in love with it. I carried a Sudoku book and pencil in my bag at all times. I would go for a long time playing this game when I had any free time, then get tired of it and put it down for a while. About 2 weeks ago I discovered a Sudoku App for my phone and I am drawn in again. I can't stop playing. I want to, but I keep wanting to try and beat my fastest win time!

This morning after Dan and I got home from the gym at approximately 6:30 I sat at my computer to answer some emails and my computer started running slow so I started playing Sudoku. My fastest time was 4:41 and I HAD to beat my time before I could start my day. Dan kept walking in saying, "are you seriously still playing sudoku," 30 minutes later, I had beat my time winning a game at 3 minutes and 30 seconds!! I was so excited I threw my arms in the air! I still had on my heart rate monitor from my workout and I saw that my heart rate was at 135...from playing a game. That is when I realized I might have a problem. I love it though!

I have moved to the next level hoping that I will get frustrated and quit. They say that doing games like this is good for your brain right???

That's all for now. Only two full days left until the weekend!

I finally gave in...

2009-09-07T18:27:00.000-05:00

Today, September 7, 2009 I gave in...I started a blog. I have been against this for a long time because I felt that since we don't have kids yet our blog wouldn't be exciting. I have many friends with blogs that I love to read so I thought maybe I would enjoy writing one. It is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends. So here I am on this Monday writing my very first post. I hope you enjoy reading and keeping up with what is going on in our lives.

Dan and I have been married for a little over two years. Everyone has said that as you get older time goes by really fast and now I know what that means. The past two years has FLOWN by and have been the most fun I have ever had.

I always tell Dan and being married is great because you have a permanent date. I always have someone to watch a movie with or eat dinner with. Best of all, the most dreaded chores (like going to the grocery store) are fun when Dan and I are together. I know, I know, I am super cheesy and I will try to not be too mushy in my posts, but I truly feel blessed to have such a great man in my life.

Well that is all I have for now but I look forward to posting more.