Five on Friday

Quick five on Friday from my phone!

One - I went to pottery barn one day this week for a design appointment with their talented folks there.  We want to add a chair to our den and we picked one out. Then that night we went to a couple places in Charlotte to look too. Still haven't found exactly what we want.  PS don't y'all love this pop of coral for Spring?  

Two - this lil boy has fully recovered from his minor surgery and I'm so glad. He just has to get his purple stitches out in the next few days. It was amazing how quickly the wound healed. 

Three - y'all know I'm the least crafty person ever.  But I did try to recover chairs this week thanks to guidance from multiple friends.  Kevin helped me and we got two done. 8 more to go ahh!  I do think we got the hang of it so the rest shouldn't be terrible. 

Four - Kevin met up with some agent friends yesterday and after I left my office, I picked him up.  There was this adorable 7 week old golden named Duke there. We loved on him and it made us want another!  Mills was very jealous when he smelled us after we got home! ;)

Five - this week was a bit crazy. They said we would get 5-8" of snow. Guess what we got at our house?  Nada!!!  So disappointing but oh well.  It was nice to continue on about our usual day.  

Today is Friday!!!  Yes!

Week 22 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 22 weeks

Size of Baby: Spaghetti Squash - almost a pound and 11"

Gender: Not finding out!  We are getting somewhat close on names but Kevin is dead set on using one that I am not the biggest fan of.  I've basically started referring to who I think is a "her" as her name.  Kevin still thinks it's a boy.  Ha!

Weight Gain:  Zero.  I'm not complaining at this point.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet

Nursery:  Need to get Kevin's treadclimber out of there....you know the thing we bought and put in the nursery about 4 hours prior to finding out I was pregnant.  

Movement: Yes!  It's so crazy...feels like little flutters and I can only feel it when I'm super still and usually laying in bed. 

Symptoms:  Rib pain blah.  On Sunday I had a sharp pain on my right side that the on call nurse thinks was a muscle strain from lifting too much.  I got scolded for doing that by she and Kevin.  

Sleep: Good and a lot of it is necessary!

Cravings:  I bought a bag of robin eggs (the whopper kind) for bunco in a couple of weeks and one bag for us.  Well the bag for us is pretty much gone.  That's pretty embarrassing but I think it's because I didn't have any for the last two years so I'm making up for lost time on my favorite candy ever.

What I Miss:  Last Saturday night I REALLY wanted to have some beverages.  It was probably only the second time I've felt like that since early November so I'm not going to be hard on myself for wanting to partake.

Best Moment This Week:  One of my friends told me she is expecting in late August so that's super fun.  Now I have two close friends that will have babies right after us!  

Looking Forward To:  I have my 22 week appointment tomorrow which I expect to be pretty routine.  Still, I look forward to hearing the heartbeat and getting the every four week reassurance.  

Catch Up Post - Allie and Mills' Surgery

A catch up post was extremely necessary because I haven't gotten to document some things that have gone on the past week or so.  

Last Wednesday I was in Richmond for the night and I finally got to meet Allie!  We have read each other's blogs for the longest time and this was a long overdue meet up!  It was so fun!

I also got to stay at my cousin's house and visit with them!  My goddaughter Amelia is in the midst of having the toothfairy visit often! ;)

The next morning, Kevin took Mills to the vet for a planned surgery.  He had an infected cyst taken out of his neck and also had his teeth cleaned.  I was worried like a crazy Mama but the vet is our friend and took extra good care of him.  When I flew back in to Charlotte, I went right over there and picked up my buddy.  

That night was a LONG night.  He wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't lay down, he wouldn't stay calm, unless he was right beside Kevin or I.  After being up at 12:30am, 2:30am and 3:30am, we finally went into the den and lounged in there so at least Kevin could sleep.  

Kevin checked in on him several times on Thursday and stayed with him for awhile each time.  He was finally better by the time I got home...I think it just took awhile for the anesthesia to come off.

Poor pooch has had a rough couple of weeks but he's finally getting back to himself.

Saturday I had a record breaking Flywheel performance.  That was fun.  I think I'll always ride on Bike 3. ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Couples Bunco

Friday night I left work pretty late so I just stopped on my way home and picked up chinese.  Is there anything better than take out chinese on a cold Friday night?

Saturday I was pretty busy while Kevin worked...Flywheel that morning then errands.  I organized a bunch of stuff upstairs and got our decorations put into big bins and into our attic.  Since we are making the room upstairs a bedroom, we've been working on organizing that closet up there so there's room for guest's clothes.  

That evening I made crab dip and we headed over to our neighborhood clubhouse for our annual couples bunco night.  This was the first year at the clubhouse because we had too many couples for it to be at someone's house.  We do this fun night every February and invite the guys.  This year we played Left Right Center instead and it was complete chaos.  

And we had two tables of LRC.  The first round, we all played next to our spouses.  The next round we split up from our spouses and couldn't be at the same table.  Wouldn't you all know that I won for the first time and about 30 seconds later, Kevin won at his table?  I have never won before so this was extra exciting and for Kevin to win too?  It was crazy!  

It was fun being the only sober person there.  Hahaha!

We came home with $78 in ones and we went with $24 in ones.  I'd say it was a successful night.  By the way everyone was screaming in that room over winning $39 at a table, you'd think we had won millions haha.  

It was a fun night and one of my favorite things I heard from one of the girls was that Kevin was going to be sick the next day because she thought he was super drunk.  Well in reality, no, that's just Kevin and he hadn't drank much at all.  He was his usual self being hilarious and we all had a blast!

Yesterday we didn't do much but we did make our twice annual trip to Wal-Mart.  I got some more organizing done, Kevin worked from home and we had "dunch" out at Bad Daddy's instead of cooking.  

Successful weekend!

Five on Friday - Girls Night, Ice and Rug

ONE - we had a girl's night last Thursday at Farenheit in uptown Charlotte.  Here are the last ladies there that night as we waited for the valet guys to bring our cars around.  Me, Kathryn, Emily and Lauren

TWO - we had a lot of ice on Monday night so I worked from home on Tuesday.  It looks like snow but it's a 0.4' layer of ice.  Mills had a field day out there playing...it was so funny watching him run around.

THREE - we finally got the rug from PB and this new one doesn't have a stain on it and a crease in it that isn't supposed to be there.  Pottery Barn's usual amazing customer service made it right and had one shipped to us instead of making us bring it back (we don't have a car big enough).  This rug is pretty but wasn't big enough or dressy enough...

So this is the new rug and we also took one leaf out of the table.  Next up to buy for this room is a china cabinet on that left wall.  

FOUR - We are getting close to finalizing our bathroom selections on the tile.  A co-worker gave me a couple new ideas that we may add to customize the shower a bit more.  Body sprays and a linear drain.

FIVE - Lately our evenings have consisted of me in the chair in our den working and Kevin sitting in our bedroom working.  Very exciting right?  Even when we were in Florida, we both sat in the hotel room and worked for a couple hours.  Work hard now, play later?!  

Cheers to the weekend!  We have couples bunco tomorrow night which is always complete chaos.  It should be even funnier watching it from a sober perspective! ;) 

Week 21 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 21 Weeks

Size of Baby: Carrot - 3/4 pound

Gender: Not finding out!

Weight Gain:  None.  This could be odd!

Maternity Clothes: No!

Nursery:  Navy and gray...crib is backordered until early March, glad we ordered it early.  

Movement: I don't think so.

20w3d - my usual pudge ;)

Symptoms:  Same ole...the rib pain - awful!  I actually left work an hour early on Monday because I just wasn't right all day.  I think it was due to wearing a turtleneck which made me gag and I was too hot.  Who knows but that was the first time I've had to escape work since I've been "with child."  

Sleep: Pretty decent.  I remember all of my dreams which is kinda odd.

Cravings:  I've been into oranges which isn't a usual thing but I go through phases so I'm thinking this is a normal phase.  I'm trying to not be that girl that's like, "I'm pregnant so I can eat whatever I want."

What I Miss:  Feeling normal in general. I just want to feel like myself again.

Best Moment This Week:  I think I felt he/she this week!  On Tuesday night when I stayed still for a few minutes I felt something odd.  It was weird and cool!

Looking Forward To:  Two things - I got to see my cousin and her family last night which I loved!  Organizing the upstairs of our house so we can move things around to get things ready for the nursery.  We are cleaning out!

Happy Birthday SIL

Today I'd like to wish my crazy sister in law a very happy birthday!  There are a lot of things about Emily that I love but here are just a few - 

1.  She was responsible for one of my favorite moments during our wedding weekend - we were all getting drinks ready to head to the church and she opened a bottle of tonic and it went all over her dress.  It was SO funny and of course the hair dryer cured that situation.  Just a lil sticky.  She went with it!

2.  She puts up with my brother.  Most importantly, she's the best mama to my two lil nieces.  She is one of the Mom's that I hope to be like and one I watch how she is with the girls because I want to be just like her.  She's a cool mom but those girls are well behaved, generous and sweet.

3.  I knew I was going to like her when my brother introduced her to us.  Within 6 months of them meeting, he told us at Christmas he was going to sell his boat and buy a ring.  When we heard that, we knew she was THE one!  6 months later they were married.  And 6 months after that we got the phone call that she was pregnant with Anna Kate! 

So, Happy Birthday to Emily!!!!  Love ya DSIL! 

A Few Questions Answered

I always want to reply to your emails but I can't unless you use this tutorial - it's super easy.  OR unless you leave me your email address in your comment.  Otherwise, I have no way to answer your questions!

Here are a few questions from lately:

1.  Allison - yes, the PB Henley rug is super soft and I had been looking for the same thing - a neutral rug that wasn't rough.  I highly recommend!

2.  Katie - the rug in our living room we got at an auction that was locally held in Charlotte.  I think the auction travels so maybe they'll come to your city?  Google - World of Decor auctions!

3.  Alayna - I usually always use my iPhone for pictures.  Kevin got me a new camera for Christmas but it's too convenient to pull out my phone!  I'm a stickler for backing up my phone too so I never lose a single photo!

Valentine's Day Weekend

Friday night we went to Kabutos for dinner.  It's one of our favorite spots so that was fun to do after a long week.

Saturday we hosted a few folks for a last minute Valentines Dinner.  I fixed a quick cheese plate - the top right is the Italian Truffle Cheese - is anyone as obsessed as I am?  I got this from Trader Joes.

Lauren & Andrew, Kathryn & Justin and Benjy.  We had steaks, PW's Twice Baked Potatoes and Asparagus.  The guys grilled the steaks and I just popped the potatoes in to warm and asparagus in to roast.  Making the potatoes ahead of time was essential since it took approximately 5 hours haha.  Not really but it felt like it!

Kathryn made chocolate covered strawberries and the tastiest pie.  It was a graham cracker crust, 8 oz. cream cheese mixed with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk with 1 cup of cool whip folded in...layer this on the bottom.  Then mix instant chocolate pudding (follow directions on the box), let it set and then pour as the next layer.  Then smooth about 1 cup or so of cool whip on top.  Refrigerate and serve!

Kevin took this picture when I wasn't looking.  This was basically how the dinner went...we were all cracking up at Benjy's stories the entire time.  He's a hoot.  

Mills stayed up late with us...kinda!

Yesterday we went and looked at mattresses for the guest room upstairs.  I think we may get one soon.  That was about it for the days events.  I did A LOT of laundry (towels, sheets, down comforters etc) and watched The Bachelor last night.  

Back to the grind today.  Traffic was non-existent because of President's Day which was SO nice.

Five on Friday - Mills, Rug, Allie, Etc.

1.  Mills got groomed after his stay at Camp this week.  I don't let him come home without a bath and this time Elisa cut his hair too.  She is the only gal in Charlotte I've found that grooms Mills like a golden should be done!  Plus, she texts me pictures of him haha. 

He is always extra fluffy and soft.  

2.  I saw these pretty pink and white tulips this week at Publix and had to get them.  They instantly brighten any room!

3.  Mills got sick during the night the first night he was home from camp.  It was SOOO sad. Kevin was right on top of cleaning it all up at 2am, 2:30am, 3am etc etc while I just held him and told him he was going to be okay.  Bless his lil heart.  I stayed home and worked from there while I took care of him.  I did take him to the vet to be sure it was nothing major and thankfully it wasn't.  Poor buddy!

His cousin in Pawleys Island sent his well wishes.  ;)

By evening, he had finally moved to his couch (our ottoman) and was on the mend.  

4.  In other news, we got the PB Henley Rug for our dining room and we really like it.  Here is a sneak peak.  It actually is getting replaced because it has a defect in it (you can see the crease at my foot) and the store wasn't supposed to give it to us.  At least we know we like it!

5.  Allie sent me these blue and white balls and I just think they're so cute!  I had commented on her posted a long time ago that I loved them and she ended up sending me these.  Seriously, how kind is that?!  She and I have been reading each other's blogs for a LONG time so I feel like I know her!  Thank you again Allie!  I think they're fun in this bowl with the valentine's hearts.

That's all I've got for today!  Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day weekend!!!

Week 20 Pregnancy Journal

How far along? 20 weeks.  Everyone says this is halfway but to me I've only known for 3 months and I have 5 to go.  I'll count 24 weeks halfway!  

Size of Baby: Banana - 10" long and 10.5 ounces

Gender: We're excited to not be finding out!  Navy and gray will be our nursery with pops of color after he/she is born!  I see on the poll on the side, 60% of yall think boy!!  Funny!

Weight Gain:  None.  

Maternity Clothes: No!

Nursery:  We have collected lots of cute things from our family and friends that are taking over Mills' room/my craft room.  I'm getting antsy to move the treadclimber out of the nursery and get on with placing things where they belong. 

Movement: Not yet.

Symptoms:  Nothing new. Headaches are def better.  Rib pain, not so much but nothing I can do about it.  Doc said at 20 weeks I have to start sleeping on my left or right side (she told me it doesn't matter despite what I've read) so I've been trying to start doing this early.  I never have a problem falling asleep on my side but staying there is something else.  I've been waking up a lot more being paranoid that I'm not on my side, which I'm usually not.  I always wake up on my back.  I've tried pillows but it doesn't work. 

Sleep: Good...slept through the nights this week!

Cravings:  Nothing really....a couple days this week I forgot I was pregnant which was odd. It must have been because I wasn't sitting in one spot for more than an hour in Florida!

What I Miss:  A gin and tonic would have been nice in Florida but I survived!

Best Moment This Week:  Being with just Kevin and talking about what's going down in 5 months.   It was a good three nights together to not worry about work or anyone else..  Well kinda not about work but ya know!  Also some of my girls told me when they are planning to have a shower for us!  Excited!!

Looking Forward To:  A chill weekend and pulling more ideas together.  We are working on a lot of house projects that we are getting really excited about. 

Rest of Kevin's Birthday

We got back to Charlotte at midday yesterday and picked Mills up. I ran and got Kevin a cake then we got ready for dinner with his parents, brother, SIL and niece at 131 Main, one of Kevin's favorites!

We came back to our house so he could open presents and have cake. 

I gave him golf lessons with a local pro near our house. He's been wanting to learn golf for the longest time and when I struggled to think of a good 40th birthday gift, my Dad mentioned this and I thought it was perfect.  It's a lifelong skill and game he could always remember was for his 40th.  He's really looking forward to getting out there.  

My parents gave him golf shoes and also a Cross pen with his initials on it for a nice momento of 40!

His parents gave him a dart board and he's excited to add that to his man cave! His bro and SIL gave him an iTunes card, something he will use by the weekend probably ha!

I think he had a great birthday and we are looking forward to a big year!   

Marco Island, Florida

On Saturday we headed to the airport and cruised down to Fort Myers, Florida for Kevin's 40th birthday trip!  He didn't know where we were going until the night before when I started giving him clues.  The next morning he figured out we were specifically going to Marco Island which is close to Naples.

We had lunch at CJs by the Bay when we first got there!

And stared at amazing boats.

We tooled around then found our hotel.  We used some Hilton points I had been saving for awhile. It was right on the beach so was perfect for a few nights.

We went down to the beach and just hung until the sun set around 6.  Then we went in and got ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Verdis and the food and our waiter was good.  We had a not so great table for calling ahead for reservations a couple weeks ahead of time.  We told the snobby owner who could have cared less.  I had even told them it was Kevin's birthday.  Oh well, we still had fun.  Kevin had the sea bass and I had grouper.

After dinner.

Sunday AM at the resort pool. 

We headed out for a private fishing trip!  We were going to go offshore but the captain said they weren't catching anything.  Instead we went to the backwater and caught a bunch of sheepheads and snappers.

Kevin catching his first with Captain Steve.

This is Joe Biden's brothers dock and house.  The captain said he likes fishing there because it ticks Biden's brother off.  One time he came out and yelled at him haha.  We were happy to fish under his dock. ;)

The Dolphins were having a field day in our wake.

I could live on a boat. Most days I prefer a boat over a car or house.

We ended up going here for lunch after we got off the boat.  The Snook Inn.  Ended up being our favorite place.  Just a cool spot on the water, off the beaten path, not on Yelp or any of that and the best grouper sandwich.

The captain told us about it. 

Back at the Hilton, view from our room.

Back on the beach for the afternoon until the sun set.  

It was stunning.

We got cleaned up and went to a late dinner at Marco Prime which was probably one of our favorite meals we've ever had.  It was just a cool atmosphere. We had drinks at the outdoor bar then ate inside.  

Breakfast yesterday was at a local spot Doreen's Cup of Joe. This crunchy French toast - I wish I could have shipped some to my mom.  She would have loved it.  We stopped by the local insurance agent for the company Kevin works for and said hey after breakfast.  That was cool.  Happened to be the same day their numbers came out from their 2014 performance.  

We went to Naples and walked around some shops for awhile.  Eventually we headed back to Marco and I fell asleep for an hour.  We ended up going to a 3pm lunch back at the Snook Inn and this guy was playing music. Check out his hair!!  It almost touches the ground.

We decided to catch up on work emails from the day and chill until 7 or so when we walked to get ice cream for dinner.  Isn't that the best dinner sometimes?!

Today we are back in Charlotte and today is his actual birthday.  We are excited to get lil Mills from camp and know he will be extra handsome after his girl Elisa grooms him and his Spaw bath! ;)  We also have fun plans tonight to keep the celebration going!  Cheers to my Kevin!  Love you!