Baby Shower Dinner

My fabulous friend Emily threw me a fantastic baby shower dinner! Her and her mom along with Maddie made THE cutest decorations! These bouquets were made of baby shorts, onesies and socks. How cute is that?!? Thanks for spoiling me Emily--best baby shower I've ever had. :)

Can't go wrong with Chocolate Strawberries!! Yummy cake!

 My friend Joyce gives THE best gifts! She totally spoiled me. :)

checking out the goods...

Look at this gift basket! It had so many of my favorites! I had to hide a lot of it from Travis and my kiddos! 

With my wonderful, kind friend Kindra. She made sure I had something for me AND for the baby!

Yeah I'm a dork...

Maddie is so creative, she always surprises me with her amazing ideas! She's also my prego friend due a couple months after me!

A bunch of ladies contributed to the diaper cake. So cute! I can't even open it yet, it's the centerpiece on our table right now :))

My gorgeous friend Megan (who is also pregnant!) put together a hospital essential kit. :) It was put into this carry on bag--I love it. I'm halfway packed now!

My thoughtful friend Britt gave me some cute bows along with some other baby clothes! I love girlie stuff!

 My amazing and lovable friend Erin, she's so fun :) She gave me cute summer rompers.

Most generous and sweet friend Jennifer, always need warm pj's! 

My talented beautiful friend Kenda, who took pics all night. Thank you!! It's nice to not be the one behind the camera all the time! :)

 I missed all my dear friends that weren't able to make it, but I had such a wonderful time and appreciate all the gifts and friendship I share with all of you. Now I feel ready for this baby girl in about a month!!

THANK YOU!!!

A big girl on our hands...

Mika has been potty trained for a week now! We still have issues with #2, but she'll go with out us even asking if she has to go. It's so nice. What a big girl!! ;)

We are eating lunch with Travis at a new BBQ place and all she wanted was pickles...

 Mika washing her hands after using the potty. How cute it that???

Spring Break - Hilton Head - Let's Play!

After dinner we saw a park with a statue of a guy walking an alligator. We had heard stories that sometimes people would see gators on the beach...so we had to take pics of all the kids riding a gator!

I'm 33 weeks!

 Ethan! He thought this was the coolest thing ever!!!

 Kaylin, pretty little thing...

 There was also a spinning compass thing that Kaylin thought was so fun.

Mika was very unsure about the gator. She did not like sitting on it by herself.

 We found a fun little beach park with a fountain. I love her expression. She truly is a little fish.

We had such a great time, we plan on taking a longer vacation there again. It was so family oriented, with so much to do. We love Hilton Head!

Spring Break - Hilton Head - The Beach!!!

We headed out to Hilton Head for the weekend! It was gorgeous weather and the beach was perfect for the kids. We went with our friends the Anthony's who had kids the same ages as ours. They got along so well. We had such a great time. The only problem was that it was too short!! I think we are all wishing we were still there...

I absolutely love this picture. This kiss went on for minutes, she gives the best kisses!!

I've wanted to just sit and veg on the beach for a loooong time now. It was SO nice just to soak up the sun and watch the kids play in the water with their daddy. It was also nice to have friends to talk to while I did some R&R :)

Not a fan of maternity suits, but this one was super comfy so I embraced it :) 

I swear he's the cutest dad in the world. He'd pull the kids on boogie boards, help Ethan skim board, take Kaylin out to sea and build castles and mermaids with his girls. All in all, everyone was happy.

There were 2 tidepools when the tide was out and it was perfect for skim boarding and little refreshing dips when it got too hot for those of us who don't appreciate the waves...

Ethan is practicing for wakeboarding this summer on the skim board. He is getting good!

He also enjoyed his dump truck, here he's pushing his friend Ethan, we call him E-Man. :) They had such a great time together. I have a million pics of them playing...

Travis has been running at night, but since we were on vacation he skipped. :) I'd say he still got efficient excercise....

 When Kaylin wasn't in the water, she loved relaxing in the sun. 

A few times we saw some dolphins. Kaylin was way out with her dad and a bottlenose swam right past! 

Mika enjoyed the boogie boards too, but when they got close to the waves, she bailed. It was so funny. She's still my cautious worrier. :)

She loved the tide pools best. She decided to put her head in the water for some reason. It was so funny!!!

 When she was really brave she'd jump the waves with mom--note it was with mom because I pretty much went as far as she would go...

 Travis taking a moment to himself on the skim board...

Spring Break -Part 1

For a couple of the days for the kids' Spring Break we headed up to Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Sharp's house! The kids had so much fun exploring every inch of the new townhome and also being outdoor adventurers with Grandma! 

There is a creek nearby that the kids loved! Luckily it was a sunny and beautiful because these kiddos got wet!!

Grandpa's birthday was on Thursday but since we were there on Wednesday we celebrated early! On Monday their cousin Lily was there and had made some cupcakes for him, so we polished them off :) We did math problems to figure our the ages of my parents. Dad embraced it...mom, not so much. ;) We went in on a gift with Aunt Meagan and she got him some topsy turvey planters for their patio and we bought the tomato plants for it.

 We love Grandpa!

While we were there Mika went on the potty most times she had to go. BIG GIRL!!! (we are still working on it, it's definitely on her time table right now....)

My Pet Monster

Yes Mika has earned the title "My Pet Monster" or "Mika the Monster". Very lovingly of course. She is hilarious, friendly and lovable, and the next minute she's bossing me around, throwing a major fit, or running away with out listening and obeying. Never a dull moment!!

This is at a play date with Halle. She calls her "my friend Halle. No, no, my best friend Halle." Both are full of spunk and flavor ;)

 My other friend Emily has a little baby Mia who Mika adores. I was wondering about this and how she'd react to babies. So far so good. :) 

She loves being a "princess". Dressing up or even just wearing a dress makes her go into this mode of twirling and singing. I personally love the head band the best. 

As mother's we pick our battles. I think it's our way of staying sane. Every day getting into the car was a nightmare. Especially if I was running a tad late.... ;) So we decided to try to booster seat with the back. She LOVES it and honestly so do I.

 It's hit or miss with Mika at dinner time. She could love it one night and the next week won't even touch it. Such a mystery....but this night she sure loved her spaghetti!

She plays hard, talks constantly, and sleeps like a rock. This of course was right before dinner time. It's the most stressful time of the day for me, so when it's quiet and I don't have another kitchen "helper"...I bury the guilt and let this monster sleep.........

I love my little monster. She is my true joy. I was having a hard time thinking of her 3rd birthday approaching in less than 2 months--and although Travis reminds me I'll have another baby soon, I can't seem to accept that she is growing up. I wanted her to stay small forever!! But I've enjoyed watching her grow and learn so much. I treasure her--and the sugar and all the spice too! 

The name is in the bag!!!

I don't have a lot of pregnancy pictures this time around, so I figured I'd have Travis take some on a "big one." 30 WEEKS! Time has totally flown by. I'm ready in so many ways, but not in others. 2 MORE MONTHS!!! I can't believe it. One of my 'not ready' things is her name. NOTHING felt right or fit. It's been frustrating. But we've got one now and there's no going back! :))

(cool filter on this too huh? it's like grungy...)

 People say I look so small, but I feel so huge. I haven't gained a lot of weight, but this pregnancy has been different than my others. Actually when I look back, every single pregnancy has been different! Anyway this one has been a very sensitive stomach. I've thrown up more this time than all of the others combined. But I'll take that over kidney stones, pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure.  :)

So the name verdict?! Did I keep you reading? Okay drum roll please...Ashlynn.
I loved it as soon as I said it out loud, my heart just soared. I knew it was right. I told Travis and he liked it instantly (which has NEVER happened) We've prayed about it all week and every time I see or say it I'm so incredibly happy. I love that it fits with the other kids names, Kaylin, Ethan, Aidrian, and Ashlynn. We were going to use Arahia for a middle name, but now we aren't sure. We love Lynn at the end because it's Travis' only sister's middle name and it's also my Aunt Diana's, whom I was very close to growing up. So we've got both sides covered! :) Travis is debating with no middle name, but we'll see what happens. I'm just happy she has a first name now!

So I don't want to hear you don't like it, because I won't change it!! Practice saying it for when you all come visit me!!!! She'll be here May 20th!

PS

My fabulous sister Meagan made the baby this beautiful comfy and perfect blanket! I love it, I can't put it away! It's so cute and fun, and best of all, homemade. Thanks a million times Meagy!!