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1.31.2012

DC Baby Shower

The day after my 31st 32nd (umm forgot how old I was there) birthday, my mom, friends Christy and Jen hosted a baby shower for me.  It was soo cute and so much fun!  After trying to figure out where to hold it, we decided my house would be the best location.  Main reason: everyone could get a sneak peak at the nursery.  I've been to a few showers hosted at the mommy-to-be's home and getting to see the nursery has always been my favorite part, why not do the same for my friends?

The nursery is a Peter Rabbit Theme and my mom and friends decided to carry that through with the baby shower.
From the spilled cabbages on the table

 carrots and radishes on the mantle

to Peter and all his friends on the diaper cake

with the banner hanging over head
to the tea party happening on the coffee table
The Carrot Shaped Red Velvet Cake Pops (made by Jen the cake pop goddess)
and customized Georgetown Cupcakes...

They left no detail unattended.

I was surrounded by wonderful friends, who showered us with gifts galore!
crocheted football hat, Red Cross first aid kit, lots of cute outfits and my mom's sterling rattle, cup and teething ring.

Gator outfit, burts bee's gift set, funny cards, a gator sun hat, philosophy mommy pamper kit and jon jons galore!

Dr. Seuss books, cute outfits, exersauser, tummy time mat, cute cloths and swaddlers

Bibs for our sure to be messy little guy, such cute cloths and our pack n play!

Peter Rabbit shadow box, sheets, crib blanket and more books!
I had such a wonderful time celebrating baby T with my family and friends, I can't believe he'll be here any day!
With a bunch of my Phi Mu sisters - so glad I've been able to meet these wonderful ladies!

With my sweet friend and shower hostess Christy, a fellow Florida girl we became friends at a BBQ in DC, bonding over our affinity of flip flops!

With my momma, the sweetest lady in the world who is super excited to be a grandmother!

With Jamie, a great friend and co-worker of Josh.

with Nicole a fellow Gator Gal and Birthday Buddy!

with Lauren, who lives around the corner and the only person who I have ever seen that I knew at the Grocery store up here - sooo different than Florida!

Kristin and Heidi, two of my sorority sisters from Florida, who I'm so glad live here-LOVE them!

with Lisa, Betsy and Kari - Phi Mu DC Alums and Chapter Advisers with me at AU, they are a BLAST.  I can't believe I've never had a cocktail with any of them, can't wait until it's not just club soda in my cup at happy hours with them!

My sweet neighbor Anna with daughter Audrey, can't wait for warm weather, walks and play dates with these two!

with Johanna showing off our baby bumps!

with Julia- we are the chocolate and vanilla versions of each other.  One of my former co-workers who I miss everyday.

with Jen, Lacey and baby Sophia.  So glad that my long time friends and bridesmaids live up here with me.

with my awesome neighbors Megan and Jackie

My fun friend Vanessa!

My buddy Chris, I am so glad we have become such great friends.  We have a blast advising at AU and actually with just about everything we do!
I'm so lucky to have such great friends to celebrate this exciting time in our lives!

Best part of my day, I got all my thank you notes in the mail (after a trip to the post office for some additional postage and more stamps)!


1.30.2012

Babymoon- Charleston SC


With the baby well on his way, I wanted to TRY to get in some more posts about my pregnancy before he actually arrives.  Somehow blogging hasn't been on my nesting to-do list-no labeling, sorting or organizing involved.

My little guy has been giving me lots of practice, and after the last few hours of “practice” on Friday; I’m just ready for the real deal vs mini versions every day.  I thought he may come this weekend…at least I wouldn't have call Josh to come home from work only to go back a few hours later-ha!  I'm hoping for a February baby and am due on Feb 1st-wow!

In November, Josh and I went to Charleston for our babymoon.  We decided to go somewhere in driving distance vs flying for some flexibility and the Gators were playing South Carolina, so I negotiated that Josh take another day off work and we go to the game that weekend…

Lesson learned, always have plane tickets for future vacations- if a meeting gets scheduled for a day after you were supposed to be babymooning, husbands can't delay the trip if tickets have been purchased-ha!  Plus the flight time to Hawaii and drive time to Charleston (with frequent bathroom breaks) were about the same.  Gators and low country food won out over beautiful beaches in the Pacific.  Maybe for our next babymoon?

We stayed at the Renissance in Charleston, it was right on the College of Charleston Campus, and in walking distance of most things we wanted to do and see.


Our room was beautiful, lots of pillows were great to keep me comfy.


The lounge and dining room were beautiful and we enjoyed the BEST Cheese Grits for breakfast every morning we were there!


We did have a fantastic tour guide in the form of my friend Lisa who went to the College of Charleston and lived in the area before making DC home earlier this year.  She gave us fantastic advise on what to do and where to eat!  Our first afternoon in town we took her advice after a nice long walk on the beach and went to Poe's on Sullivan Island.  It was awesome and totally reminded me of my fav Gainesville establishment, The Swamp.  I had the Gold Bug Burger - which was topped with Pimento Cheese - ahhhh, yes that's Angels singing from heaven. 





After lunch we headed back into town and decided to go on a horse and buggy ride to become more familiar with town.  It was really fun to see all the sites this way.
This is not us, but this is what it looked like!

That night we went to Cypress for dinner, with Lisa touting the Caesar Salad as the best we would ever eat.  Well, as we were deciding what we wanted, I asked Josh to order the Caesar Salad for us, where he informed me the dressing was surly made with raw eggs.  Dang raw eggs being on the no-no list for pregnant gals.  No need to worry because everything else we had that night was also the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!  I also loved their 4 story wall of wines, it was a really cool way to store the wine.

On Friday we headed out to Magnolia Plantation and brought a picnic with us provided by Publix.  This may not seem like a big deal, but we live two states away from "Where Shopping is a Pleasure." We are thrilled every time we get to enjoy some of our favorite items from this Florida based grocery store, and enjoyed it even more among the stately oaks.


This bridge is just so symbolic of the South to me.




I'm so glad all the Camilla's were in bloom, they were BEAUTIFUL!



We were at Magnolia Plantation which is a popular wedding location on the most popular wedding date of the year 11/11/11.  We saw lots of weddings, and they were all beautiful, what a day!



We were super tired from all the walking and touring we had done the past few days, so we decided instead of keeping our reservation at HUSK, we would order in from Hymans Seafood - which was a great way to avoid the line that was always wrapped around the block..  My fried green tomatoes and She Crab Soup were AMAZING, but I am sad that we never ate at Husk. 

I didn't know how tired I really was until Saturday morning came and our alarm went off to make it to Columbia in time for some tailgating and the noon kick-off.  I literally couldn't move.  I had been suffering from SPD for a few weeks, but had gotten to a good place with physical therapy before leaving on our trip.  Well after all the walking I had been doing, I was in a very bad place on Saturday.  I had to stay put.  Josh being the sweet husband he is stayed put with me, and we watch the Gamecocks whip the Gators good from our hotel room that afternoon.  After some TLC, laying in bed most of the day and a long warm bath - I was mobile enough to go get some dinner.  Plus I really wanted to see the sun set on Shem Creek.








We had a nice dinner at Red's and watched more SEC football.  Josh said Red's would be his place if he lived in Charleston.  We loved it. 

We headed back to the city for dessert at the famed Kaminsky's - wow it was AMAZING!



I had the toll house pie a la mode with a big glass of milk and Josh had a fantastic milkshake.  Don't worry I shared with him.




Throughout the trip I carried a copy of Pat Conroy's South of Broad with me.  A friend of mine turned me onto reading books set in the place where you are vacationing a few years ago, and I can't tell you how much I enjoy doing this.  I was able to read it all on the trip and being in the city where the book was based really made it come to life.



Lots of Love,

Sarah

1.19.2012

Freezer Meals

Getting ready for baby, meant getting prepping some food for us to eat post baby.  While Josh was home over the holidays he helped me cook up a storm and we have a stocked freezer to prove it.  Thanks to my BFF Pinterest I was able to make a Freezer Meals Board and pin away all the recipes I wanted to make.  Here's what we have waiting on us:

Breakfast was truly inspired by Southern Living, the January issue had a great looking recipe for Applesauce Muffins with Strussel Topping, which were as good as they look! 



While on the site, I searched for a banana bread recipe and found one that involved cream cheese and peanut butter (of course we added a bag of chocolate chips for good measure).


I also made my mom's Deviled Ham Quiche which I don't have on my pinterest board.  It's a favorite of mine and I'm looking forward to heating up a slice or two.

For lunches and dinners we are stocked up on
Chicken Divan, I have loved this a long long time.  I added more lemon juice than this recipe called for.


Paula's Wild Rice and Shrimp Casserole - a recommended recipe from favorite mommy blogger, Kelly



We are really looking forward to these Butternut Squash and Spinach Stuffed Shells which lead to a discussion on if lasagna or stuffed shells were easier to make - the jury is still out.



We also made Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells, but added broccoli a la Kate



Asian Turkey Meatballs were such a hit, most were eaten instead of frozen - boy were they good!



I also made a few different batches of enchiladas.  Green sauce has been a long time favorite of our and I threw a Monteray Jack/Sour Cream variety in as well.  Should be yummy!

I also stocked up on a bunch of Stouffers family entrees like lasagna, enchiladas, chicken casserole.


1.14.2012

All About Baby

Our little guy hasn't arrived just yet, but we've been real busy getting ready for him these past few weeks!  I went into all out nesting mode right around Christmas.  It was perfect because Josh was home with me for 11 days and boy did I put him to work!  We made a slew of freezer meals, worked a lot on the nursery and rounded out just about all of our "must have" baby items.  We also attended a few baby classes, Dr. Appointments, etc.

Let's see, there were a few appointments with our OB practice - baby is still doing great, and I still weigh less than I did before I got pregnant.  Our third and last ultrasound-he has hair (we are wondering what color as Josh is blond and I am brunette) and was projected to weight 6lbs 14 oz at my 36 1/2 week mark - which means (as my Dr put it, I will not be having a moose-ha!).  Breastfeeding Class - Josh is still scarred and truly upset that I made him come when he could have been watching football, but I learned a lot and was glad to have him with me.  Prenatal Orientation at our Pediatrics Office- we were with 7 other couples all at the same stage of pregnancy as us, and I'm still scarred that the woman sitting next to me went into labor while we were there, but so happy with the pediatricians that we will be seeing.  Baby Care class - we learned lots of great tips and tricks and Josh changed his first diaper (on a doll) and did better than me. 

Now, I'm just getting super anxious about actually having this baby.  I honestly feel so lucky that the sorority chapter I advise has workshops and recruitment right now because that has been a WELCOME distraction.  I've had a great time with them this week, but felt really old when they were crafting this afternoon and listening to '90's music - Brittney and Backstreet Boys songs that were actually the popular songs I listened to when I was their age.  I actually remember my sisters doing Backstreet Boys dances at our recruitment workshops-he he he.  Instead of Backstreet Boys, I'll be listening to Surfing for Birthing tonight as it helps calm my delivery nerves with ocean waves and birthing affirmations. 

The nursery is well on it's way.  I'll take some pictures on our Nikon after I finish his name display (we are waiting to meet him to finalize his name), but here are some iphone sneak peeks.  Oh yes, and maybe I'll upload all the pics from my AMAZING baby shower last week!

My Pottery Barn Chair with Peter Rabbit quilt and pillow, lots of time will be spent in this chair.  


Peter causing trouble over the bed!
Gator Corner - we haven't put up the rest of the artwork yet, but these Gator prints were a priority for my husband!