I'm a genius! Jessica said so.

Wanna know what I've been doing the past couple of weeks? This. It's pretty much been my every evening and too many hours during work than I would care to admit. I loved every minute of it. I'm kind of sad it's over.

This was probably the most fun I've had planning a baby shower to date. I think it's because the theme was sooo, sooo? Jessica! I have to give most credit for the theme idea to my fellow party planning genius, Brooke. The second reason this was one of my favorites. Shower planning with her makes everything so much easier. She and I like to think that we have impeccable taste and almost always we like the exact same things. And. And! I didn't cry even once! I ALWAYS cry at least once during an event planning opportunity. That's huge, folks. Ask my husband.

I'm excited that it's over because that means that Jess' little Baby Colton (I refuse to say "Colt" until my Titans beat Indianapolis the last game of the season) is gonna be here super soon. I'm disappointed that the shower has passed because now I no longer have an excuse for not writing the thank you cards for my shower the week before.

Congratulations Jess! I hope you enjoyed your special day as much as I enjoyed hosting it for you. And as much as I enjoyed the leftover pumpkin bread with cream cheese icing. Yum!

A few of my favorite pics from the day:

Hehe. Behind that logo is my big clock that has been set to 9:40 for the past two months. Nathan and I had plans to change the batteries when the time changed for Daylight Savings. I figured it would just be easier to put a big green circle over it.

(Note: almost a week after the shower, it's still there.)

My Starbaby Chalkboard. I LOVED doing this. Nathan said it was good enough that I should work at Starbucks. I told him I would if the chalk dust didn't make my contact lenses suction permanently to my eyeballs. (This is also still sitting in my dining room. I can't bring myself to take it down and erase it.)

Note to self: Preggos should NEVER wear big green aprons. Ever.

All of these people love Jessica. I've never seen my living room shrink so fast.

Birthday Love

Nothing says Happy Birthday like a super sweet card from your husband in the front seat of your car before leaving for work. Except maybe a SpotBot. Or a piece of cheesecake the size of your head.

Pardon me while I de-throne

Well, as the self-proclaimed "shower-queen", it is now time for me to turn my crown over to a few other people. My baby shower this past Saturday absolutely blew me away. Let's just say I cried TWICE in the first 10 minutes. Some may blame the pregnancy hormones, but I know me best and I was simply overwhelmed by all of the love and hard work that went into every single detail of that afternoon. Nothing! was overlooked and I will never, never forget how I felt. Here are a few pics of the big day:

The Hostesses and THE BELLY. How will I ever repay these ladies for all they have done? I really don't think I have ever felt more loved and blessed to have such wonderful women in my life.

The Fam: Pam (SIL), Jane (Big Sis), Me and Mom ("The Nana" as she prefers to be called):

Jess and the Anna-grams. So cute! Little note cards for people to write messages to Anna. I swear that shirt of mine looked way better at home:

I love this pic of Brooke and I:

Samantha made the fruit bouquet. Can you imagine? I know it takes her 3-4 hours.

The details. Nothing less than jaw-dropping.

The food table:

The Cake. Made by Brooke AND Derek. No Kidding. It was perfect:

Sparkling Pink Lemonade. Yummy!:

Crying section #1, Anna's Banana Split Bar:

Room decor/party favors. My sister and SIL know my taste all too well:

Just a few of the guests. I am so lucky.

Work friends: Denae, Missy and Jenny

Renee and Jenny. Game partners:

Laura, Courtney and Alberta:

High School Buddies:

The aftermath. And a note.

A certain someone is way confused as to why her world is surrounded by gift bags and crinkly tissue. It's like she's in heaven:

A note to Anna's Memere (french for Grandma and pronounced "meh-may") in Maine:

Sue,
I just wanted to let you know that although you are many miles away, you were still at Anna's shower in spirit on Saturday. I wish you could have been there, but know that I thought of you often as did many others there. Your granddaughter-to-be knows you love her and can't wait to meet you!

Love You and Miss You,
Liz

AACCCKKK!!

I freakin' hate blogger!!! I just want to posts four different entries in opposite order of how I wrote them. Why is this so difficult?!

I'd do it all over again...

I hate that it has taken a tag from Emily to get me writing about something that crosses my mind every single day; just how lucky I am to be married to my best friend. It will be nine years in January that I met Nathan for the first time at McDonald's of all places. Although I was actually there for someone else I was "totally in love with", it was Nathan that captured my heart for good.

Now, almost a decade after watching him pick his tomatoes off his hamburger and thinking to myself, "This guy is the slowest eater of all freakin' time," we're preparing for the arrival of our baby girl in just a couple of months. It's hard to believe that so many years have passed. But, I take comfort in the thought of all the wonderful years to come. Together.

I thought I would list some of the things I love about Nathan that he may not be aware of. Even though we get busy, I get cranky, and responsibilities tend to take over our days, I still take notice of the wonderful things that Nathan brings to my day. To my life. I love you Nate! And if I had the choice, I'd do it all over again.


Random things I love about my husband:

*His obsession with chap stick. And how it makes me laugh that he gets so annoyed when I ask to borrow it while he's driving.

*His commitment and effort to go back to school to get his CPA. I know that his main motivation/goal in doing so is to be able to provide everything he could for me and for our future children. And he's done it in all A's fashion. I'm so proud of his hard work.

*His patience. I know I am not the easiest person to live with.

*He thanks me every single time I make dinner. Even if it's just Hamburger Helper.

*He never gets annoyed when I have questions about football.

*If I'm already in bed, he'll bring me a drink of water, turn my light off, or fix the covers for me. I'm spoiled. I know.

*I love when he calls me every weekday morning when he gets to work and tells me some random fact about the economy, the weather, our football stats, or just checks in to work out what we are doing that night. I hate the days he has an early meeting or is at an audit and I don't hear from him.

*I secretly adore that he is so passionate about the weather. I wish I was as passionate about something.

*I love that if there was something that I really, really, really, really wanted, even if kind of expensive, he would find a way for us to afford it.

*He never makes me clean the bathrooms. Get in line ladies!

A Shower and a Shave?

My first baby shower is in about 24 hours from now. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm glad that this first one will be co-ed and thus Nathan will be there with me. It's so hard to have all of that attention on just you. Granted, I'm usually an attention hog, but for some reason opening gifts in front of a room of people can be a little intimidating.

I am SO wearing pants. There is no way I can concentrate on unwrapping a gift, smiling the whole time for pictures, making sure to use lots of different adjectives other than "cute" AND keep my legs crossed the entire time. It's just not gonna happen, folks. So pants it is.

This brings me to my second shower which is scheduled for next week. I'm really looking forward to it as it will be the shower with all of my girlfriends. The shower invitation (which I adore, btw) even says "Please join us for a day of girl time...". Is it bad that my very first thought was "Hmm... What are they planning? Do I need to shave my legs?"

I mean with the five ladies that are hosting the event, there is no telling what they have up their sleeves. And they sure like to keep me in the dark. So, needless to say, I will be shaving my legs for that one. Cause if "girl time" involves anything with nail polish or lotion or something like that, the woolly mammoth look I'm currently sporting just ain't gonna cut it. Oh God! Nail polish. Now, I have to shave that little patch on my big toe too. Shut up. You know you have one too.

Henrietta the Hippo

Dear Daddy,

I neeeeed this, whilly, whilly, bad.

Love,
Anna ( your devoted daughter who will never get in trouble and will always clean her room)

Go Vote!!

That is all.

Quick Halloween Update

Well, we came through Friday night with no eggs and no t.p. in the trees due to our non-chocolate candy assortment. We had a great turnout on trick or treaters this year compared to last year. A few observations:

* Some of these kids need bigger buckets. Those tiny plastic pumpkins are full after just a few houses. Maybe I give more candy than other houses?

* I was impressed that almost every single T-or-Ter said thank you before leaving our doorstep. All in the world is not bad.

* Enid was the hit of the night. Almost all of the kids made some sort of comment on how much they liked our cat or how cute she is. Like my little Enner-Beener needs any more attention or praise than she already gets. Puh-lease. Can we say spoiled?

* Homemade costumes are still the best. And thus, still receive more candy.

* My favorite thing is when the 4 and under crowd comes to the door, rings the bell, and then they don't quite understand that they have to scoot back for me to open the screen door. It takes a little coaching from me or their parents to show them how the pros do it.

* My second favorite thing is when it's Nathan's shift to answer the door and I get to listen to the comments he makes on their costumes. We're talking about the person who was scared that "one of them" would talk to him while we checked out day cares. I can't wait to see how he is with our little one.

* Best costume of the night: The cutest 18 month-old Frankenstein. Homemade costume of course. You can see pics here. I may or may not be a little bias.

* Worst costume of the night: The 14 year old girl from down the street dressed in a trench coat that after I gave her candy, asked me if I wanted to "see her goods." Then she flashed me!! Granted she had pajamas underneath. But, Are you kidding me?! THAT is NOT lady-like behavior. Where are her parents? Give me my Smarties and Twizzlers back!