The Gift That Keeps On Giving

GIFT CARDS!

I have had so much fun shopping with other people's money this week!

My sister and my sister-in-laws gave me some gift cards to Charming Charlie for my birthday. I got this cute green purse and these flip flops. I couldn't model either of them for you, because I am still in my pj's and I haven't had a pedicure in a while. It's been cold!

I LOVE yellow box flip flops. They cost a pretty penny, but I think they are worth it. Especially in Texas when you can wear them from March to October. I hope Texas knows that March starts on Monday and it better start warming up around here! Anyway they are super cushy and comfortable and will last more than one season.

And my friend Laura gave me a gift card to Old Navy. I have been loving that store lately.

My regular tanks have been getting a little bit shorter lately? I needed some maternity ones. I was looking like that guy on the Simpsons. I think his name is Barney? His belly is always hanging out. I CAN burp like him though, so I guess it's appropriate.

I also got it in black.

Their flip flops are 2 for $5 right now. That is about 2o times cheaper than the Yellow Box shoes!

I also got a pewter pair.

And I love these light weight short sleeve cardigans. They are perfect to wear over tank tops or sundresses.

As usual at Old Navy, I got 2 of each thing. I do that when I find something I like. I also got this in apple green.

Uh oh! I just noticed a BLUE trend going on. What do you think that means?

Then on Wednesday when I got to work, I got a gift from Jennifer:



See I told you birthdays are fun. She got me my first peeps of the season. I LOVE peeps! And she also got me some super cute flip flops in hot pink and black. Which I really needed. And a fun pink mirror. I guess all that pink will even out all the blue I got.

We will find out if the baby is PINK or BLUE in 4 days!

35

I am 35 plus one day. So I am officially closer to 40 than 30. Weird.

I made up my mind several years ago to not let my age or getting older bother me. It just seems ungrateful to complain about getting older. You know the alternative is death, right?

Plus who doesn't love cake, presents, and parties?

I had a wonderful birthday. For lunch I met my friends at the Cheesecake Factory. We had a great time.

Courtney and Anna

Me and Laura

They each have 2 kids and Anna is expecting her third. (That is just a strawberry smoothie she has in her hand. No need to call the pregnancy police or anything! ) So it is rare that we all get to be together, just girls, and no kids. These girls are some of my best friends in the world. We all met at church about 7 years ago. They are more like family now and I appreciate them so much.

Oh and look what Courtney gave me:

An XXL bag of m&m's! So now she is my favorite!

The rest of the day was spent with Marcus. He always makes my birthdays special.

Look, you can see my baby in this picture!

We spent the afternoon in Ft. Worth and had dinner out there. Then when we got home, both our families met at our house for cake.

A Super cute cake:

Then, of course, I pooped out on the picture taking and did not get ONE of our family. Whoops. They were super generous and I got a lot of gift cards and other fun things.

I will be shopping tomorrow!

I'm Pregnant

I am fully aware that I told you all that I was pregnant sometime in December. And I found out right before Thanksgiving. BUT it is just now sinking in.

I think it's because I am getting a round belly and I am already waddling sometimes. I guess my bones or ligaments are stretching and it makes walking a little uncomfortable. I haven't felt the baby move yet, but Marcus and I saw my stomach moving a little last night. That was a little crazy. And to be honest I am kind of scared to feel the baby move in me. It might freak me out.

And sometimes I am hesitant to write about my pregnancy on my blog, because I know so many of you want to have babies and I sure hate to rub my pregnancy in your face. Then I realized, me being pregnant could give you some hope. We tried or at least didn't prevent a baby for 5 years. There were times I wondered if it would ever happen. I had a real peace about everything though. I didn't want a baby if God didn't want me to have one. I just stayed thankful for the things we did have. There was a time or three I wondered what my identity as a woman would be if I wasn't a mom though. It feels like you don't "fit" sometimes around other girls unless you have your kids to talk about.

So know that I know how blessed I am to be pregnant. I don't take it for granted. I shouldn't shy away from the subject, because this is a miracle from God.

Some pregnancy updates at 18 weeks:

*I haven't barfed at all! And I don't plan on it.

* I am hungry a lot. My hunger usually wakes me up at 5 am. I don't feel like eating, but I have to.

*I have lost 2 pounds so far. Who knew getting pregnant would make me lose weight?

*I haven't worn maternity clothes yet, but I need to. I got a Bella band to use on my existing pants and I love it.

*We will find out the gender in a little over a week. On March 2nd. Of course I will let everyone know!

* Our girl name is Katie and our boy name is Jack. We have had those picked out for YEARS. I like traditional names, because mine is NOT. It always gets misspelled or mispronounced. For those of you that don't know, Dina rhymes with Tina or Gina.

*I am craving more salty than sweet. Which is crazy, because I LOVE sugar. It's probably how I have lost 2 pounds.

* Tomorrow begins the official "Advanced" in the Advanced Maternal Age I keep hearing about. I will be 35.

And my sweet mother in law took me shopping for some clothes for my birthday. Here are a few things we got at Motherhood Maternity:

I will get them tomorrow at my birthday party, and not a moment too soon. I am busting out of most things. It's funny, because it surprises me every morning?

The Leftovers and Some Love

Well in continued to snow last Thursday night and Friday and everything was so beautiful!

But here are the not so beautiful leftovers. The snow was too heavy for our Texas tree limbs! Marcus spent the day on Friday with his chainsaw in the backyard.

We are waiting for everything to be picked up this week by a tree company.

We are only 136 on the waiting list!

And here are the leftovers of the Freedom Tower!

Marcus was surprised it left a red and blue mark on our grass??!!!

I was not surprised.

And now some LOVE!
I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but every Sunday after church we eat with Marcus's family. We all live close by, but it is a good time to catch up with each other. We each take turns cooking on a Sunday, so we just have to do it once a month.

This Sunday was my sister in law, Lisa's turn. She went all out for Valentine's Day:

I think I ate most of these chocolate covered strawberries!

I need to go over there one day and just take pics of her whole house and share them with you. It is beautiful.

Marcus and I went to dinner on Friday night to celebrate Valentine's Day. We thought we would be the crowds, but we were wrong. He gave me some beautiful flowers (that I didn't get a picture of) and a gift card to a maternity store. I thought that was so thoughtful!

I guess he noticed none of my pants fit anymore.

And I commissioned my friend Jennifer Towery to paint these pictures of our dogs for Marcus. Because, let's be honest, next to me these dogs are the loves of his life!

I think they turned out so cute and Marcus loved them!


I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

It's Not A Snowman...

The flu kicked my butt, but now I am back and ready to blog.

Thankfully mother nature and Marcus gave me something to blog about.

It's Snowing!

And Marcus got me out of bed to show me what he made...

What in the World?

I should have been curious that he was singing a patriotic song as we were walking to the front door.

I reminded him that our house was for sale and maybe a nice tasteful snowman would have been better. The rocket, or whatever it is, might have been a better backyard choice.

**EDIT UPDATE**

I was just told by the artist that it is a Freedom Tower!

And he used spray paint for the colors.

And here is Blue enjoying the snow.

We actually got 2 really good contracts on our house on Monday. We chose one over the other and they ended up backing out yesterday. So it has been a roller coaster. They wanted us out in 2 weeks though, and that put me in a little bit of a panic. So now we are back to square one.

On an unrelated note, did you guys see the Bachelor on Monday?!!! It really made my blood pressure go up!

Show Us Your Beauty Tips

Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Show Us Your Beauty Tips and Favorite Products"!

I could use some tips, so I am excited to look at all the links.

My main issues, being a brunette in my 30's, is this pesky gray hair that keeps growing in so fast. So I use 2 products to try to keep up with it.

Nice 'n Easy root touch up. It's permanent hair color that you just put on your roots.

And Oscar Blandi's touch up pen. It's kind of like a magic marker that you just color on your hair. It's perfect for when you just colored your hair 5 days ago and you already have some grays peaking out!

Why is it that when you get older the hairs on your head turn lighter, but the hairs on your face turn darker? It's really unfair!

Next is Mary Kay's Oil Control Moisturizer. I love this stuff. I have oily skin, but I need to use moisturizer. So this stuff helps absorb the oil while helping me fight wrinkles.

And finally, Never a Dull Moment from Origins. You can use it a couple of times a week and it cleans off all the dead skin cells from your face. It makes it not dull!

As I am getting up in years I find that you can never have enough beauty products in your arsenal. It's like fighting an uphill battle!

Just remember Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Another Virus

I guess all that cleaning made me sick.

Now I have the FLU! The real live FLU!

That's what happens when you spend all your energy organizing closets. Don't worry I learned my lesson. It won't happen again.

I even had to miss my 16 week appointment today, because of the stupid flu. I will get to go next Tuesday. I hope my baby doesn't get sick too.

And the Open House went great and the house has shown a lot this week, but no contracts yet!