3.29.2011

incredible reading list...

the last 3 books i read for class were all excellent reads...

the surrender tree by margarita engle
this is an awesome book of poetry about the cuban wars for independence, first from Spain, then from us. this is the second time i've read this book, and i loved it even more then the first time. for history buffs...i highly recommend this. for poetry lovers...also highly recommend it! there are multiple narrators and it's just great!


the wall: growing up behind the iron curtain by peter sis
this is an autobiography by a man who grew up on the east berlin side of the wall. he struggled under the control of the soviet union. the book contains many drawings and simple narrations, but the concepts discussed are pretty deep. probably for older readers than it appears. but it really was a good read and i learned a lot about the cold war that i never knew...from someone who lived it first hand.


the arrival by shaun tan
AMAZING! if you are into graphic novels, this book is a must! the artwork is incredible. seriously. there are no words in this book...none at all. but it is easy to forget that you are reading pictures. the story line puts the reader in the shoes of an immigrant moving to a foreign land to provide for his family. he goes to a whimsical land with intriguing creatures, new language, new weather, new foods, new everything. very eye opening for someone who has never dealt first hand with immigration. seriously good book and even better art.

3.28.2011

from 16 - 36 weeks...

i thought it would be fun to post all of the belly pics from the beginning until now to see how much crosby has grown! i cannot believe that we are three weeks from his due date. april 18 has seemed so far away for so long, and now it is just around the corner. unbelievable! well, here goes...

16 weeks...really? was i ever really this little?

20 weeks

24 weeks...

28 weeks...

32 weeks...

36 weeks (this was last week)

i guess the next pic will be when we leave for the hospital...and i am almost positive that i will not try the black tank top again...it needs a break! :) hahaha...this was fun.

ok...crosby, we're ready to meet you now. :)

showered with blessings...

i had two amazing showers in march! they were both so much fun and such blessings. josh and i received so many gifts that we will use once crosby gets here. it is incredible to see God provide for us and for our new baby. it makes me wonder how people afford to have kids who do not have such an abundance of friends and family to support and help them. i have felt truly blessed by all of the love and generosity that people have shown! amazing!

the first shower was given by several of my friends. they rented out the auburn lakes club house and went all out decorating, planning, cooking, and everything else. it was seriously awesome!

here's a pic of the room once they got it all decorated...it was giraffe theme, of course, and it was so incredibly cute!

me and all of the hostesses. these girls all worked so hard to make this day happen for me. i appreciate them all so much!

i opened lots of presents and got lots of things that we really really needed!

autumn with her great great grandma...i am so happy that grandma was able to make it to the shower. i love her.

this was the corsage i wore...lauren took a cool pic of it with my ring. yes, my fingers are officially too fat to wear my wedding ring, so i have gotten creative! :)

lauren made yummy cupcakes and cake balls. there were also adorable giraffe cookies that rebecca and ashley made...everything was sooooo good!

courtney and niki, who both worked soooooo hard on this shower, gave me an amazing gift. everything had crosby's name on it...onsies, bibs, burp cloths, this cute bucket, a quilt, and more!

me and mommy (or granny)

this was the table when you walked in. those blocks are now in his room and look so cute! i also put the cute little piggy bank in his room. love it all! everyone got to guess crosby's birthdate, weight, and length too. josh and i had a lot of fun going through the guesses. we shall see who was closest! :)

dana coordinated a game with crosby's name...each bag had a baby item that started with each letter of his name. the bags were so cute!

such an amazing day! thanks so much to everyone who helped!

the next shower was on wednesday during lunch. all of the ladies at work got together and threw me an incredible shower. we had so much fun escaping the office for a couple of hours and hanging out at mrs. judy's house. they did such a great job planning this shower!

i had to wear these cute giraffe ears while i opened presents. it was fun! there was a tail too, but since i wore a dress, i messed that up. hahaha...i love this picture!

my co-workers got together and got us the car seat and pack and play! this was such a blessing. these things are pricy and very very necessary. josh put the car seat in the car on saturday. i'm not gonna lie...it's strange to look in my mirror and see a car seat. exciting!

the cake was sooooo cute! it was giraffe themed too! :) i never knew how much i loved giraffes until i chose that as crosby's nursery theme. now i just love it!

we played the crosby bag game at this shower too. it was cool to see the different items that they used for each letter. very very creative! :)

lots of adorable clothes, books, toys, and so much more. again, blessed!

these showers were awesome and i cannot believe all of the gifts that we got for crosby. with three weeks left until the due date (crazy!) i can truly say that i am ready for him to get here and i have everything i need for his arrival. i can only thank my amazing friends for that! now...time to write lots of thank you cards! :)

3.06.2011

family baby shower

so, like i said before, last saturday was our family baby shower. it was downtown at megan and jeff's amazingly beautiful condo in houston. they threw such a beautiful shower. jeff, megan's hubby, is a chef at the houstonian downtown, and he is seriously an amazing cook! they came up with a fancy menu for the shower, and all the food was delicious! we had open faced sandwiches...chicken salad, lamb, and ham. all good! we also had bacon wrapped green beans and potato hashbrown things which were soooo good. for dessert we had yummy cupcakes and homemade strawberry iceream. it was seriously all so good!

a lot of people were able to come into town from josh's family, and it was great to see everyone. from my family we had people drive in from trinity, humble, needville, and pearland. we really appreciated everyone making such a huge effort to be there for us! the only hiccup was that josh had to carry my grandma up the stairs to the second floor where the main living area is, but she was a trooper and it went really well. i was worried about that part, but there was no need to worry. josh was our hero! :)

here are some cute pics from the day...

nana and granny feeling crosby kick

yummy food...

josh's family, sans josh :)

love this one :)

we got lots of amazing gifts!

niki was getting creative with her photography :)

josh and i with our mommies

yummy desserts...

michele and jeff working hard in the kitchen...jeff even wore his official chef shirt. :)

i loved this..."mommy's new man!"

my beautiful host...megan! she and i met on the first day of school in kindergarten, and have been friends ever since. i love this girl!

my great grandma...i am so glad she was able to make it

my mom knit this little hat for crosby...so cute! and very sweet of her i might add :)

me and my mommy

josh was such a trooper...he was there with all these ladies, ooohhhing and awwwwing over baby stuff. he opened gifts, smiled, and seemed to have fun! :)

what a wonderful day! it is such a blessing to have such loving families who care about us enough to travel to houston for a baby shower, bring us amazing gifts, and love on us like this. thanks for everything!

3.05.2011

current reads...

books i've been reading

looking for alaska by john green:
great book! super sad. also very inappropriate for young readers at times, but still very good. pudge, the main character, leaves home to go to a prep school, and he learns a lot about life. he deals with love, death, and growing up. good read.


the chocolate war by robert cormier:
i'm listening to this now on CD when i drive to work and back every day. it's an old book, but i had never heard of it. it's very interesting, and i think young male readers would especially like it. the voice on the CD really helps to develop characters and add emphasis. i can't wait to see, or rather hear, how it ends! :)


athletic shorts: 6 short stories by chris crutcher:
so far i have read the first two stories, and they are both great. they deal with teens, so far all boys, and their struggle through relationships...with girls, parents, and friends. i am looking forward to reading the rest of the stories.

more nursery and belly pics...

i haven't been blogging well lately...things have just been super busy. we had our family baby shower last weekend, and it was amazing! megan and jeff did such a great job with the shower, and we had a blast seeing everyone. i will post pictures of that soon...although there are a ton on facebook! :) we have also been taking classes at the hospital to get ready for crosby's arrival. so with all of that, plus school and crazy busyness at work...things have just been flying by!

about two weeks ago i took my 32 week belly pic, and i never posted it. oops! :) here you go...


haha...i don't know how much longer i can wear that tank top! :)

josh and i have also been working on putting crosby's room together and all of his fun things for him to play with/in. in fact, as i type, my wonderful husband is working on putting together an adorable giraffe musical bouncer. so cute! here are some pics of the nursery with his bedding and stuff in it...






i love it!!!

i will post more soon....love you all!