Baby Girl on the Way!

I had a bow making party with a few of my closest friends to celebrate a baby girl on the way. I called it a "BLING OUT BABY" party & tried to have lots of bling around (besides all of the bows we made!) Here is a picture of our lunch table. It was fun to walk in the room & be blasted by pink. Can't wait to do that to a girl's room one day! Little closer view:

Yummy pink candies.. also did mini tissue poms. I was going to use them as napkin rings, but then I liked the flowers better.

Blinged out everything I could... vases, pots, placetags, & even the silverwear

I added some bling to her pacifiers. Hopefully it helps Tommy know it isn't his!

My gorgeous friends :) Shelly, Brittany, Wendy, Erin, me, Anna

And after lunch we made LOTS of bows! Check out all my new bows. I made them with baby in mind, but I'm sure I'll be wearing my fair share of them too!

My favorite were the most time consuming of course... check out the post below to see a tutorial on how to make those :)

Silk & tulle bow Tutorial

I just learned how to make this gorgeous hair bow & thought I'd share :) First cut 3 circles of silk each slightly bigger than the other. Then cut 6 slits almost to the center to create 6 petals. Then shape the petals by cutting the corners off each petal. It'll look kind of square & definitely doesn't need to be symmetric. Now cut 6 strips of tulle a bit longer than the length of the silk circles & tie 3 of them together like below: Then burn the edges of all of the silk flowers to look like this:

Now Layer them biggest silk, tulle, middle silk, tulle, & smallest silk. You can either hot glue or sew them into place. I just used hot glue. Then trim the tulle down to just longer than the silk & burn just the tips.

Add some pearls in the middle & you are done! I can't wait to make a bunch more colors! Here are the few I've done so far: (the purple one is just round circles layered on top of each other with tulle & silk)

St. Patrick's Day Treat

I was reading Holly's blog & saw THIS post and was inspired to make my own St. Patrick's Day treat for a few lucky friends & the girls I visit teach. (I changed the words a little for the girls I visit teach.) Below is a picture of my 'pot of gold' Hershey nuggets & Rolos bag & what I wrote on the inside. It's fun to make friends smile with little treats like this so by sharing I hope it inspires you to make a fun little treat for someone out there :)

Snow at Last!

I kept wanting to blog on here, but I was trying to wait until Tommy & I were both finally healthy. I can't believe how long it took, but I can now say that we've both been healthy for an entire TWO days! Life is so much more positive when you can see straight! The best part about it is that we finally got snow! We haven't seen snow since Thanksgiving so I was pretty excited. We went down by the canyon to tube on the hill & look how pretty the walls were:

It was the perfect sunny day to go sledding.

Tommy was pretty tickled pink. He was so happy to be outside & I think he really loved sliding down the hill. He usually cries when his feet touch the snow, but today he insisted walking up the hill by himself and stared down at his feet the whole way. It was pretty stinkin' cute to see him waddeling up the hill... we had him bundled up in 4 pairs of pants, new bulky big shoes, & 2 hats (since we lost his!)

Later we went miniature golfing with our friends, the Heiders. I couldn't believe it was the first time that they'd taken their kids age 2 1/2 & 5! They absolutely loved it & Dillon, their 2 1/2 year old cried when we left because he wanted to keep going. Tommy was happy just to carry the glow in the dark balls around. Hopefully he loves it when he gets older too.

My cute golfers.

I really meant to get my first profile prego picture today, but forgot as we seemed to have been rushed the entire day. I can't believe I'm 33 1/2 weeks along without a picture yet! As for an update: We still haven't agreed on a name yet. I have, however, bought her lots of hats & bows :) I have now surpassed how much I weighed when I went into labor with Tommy so that is pretty depressing, especially cuz it's already hard to bend over & get around. I feel like a "fat man in a little coat" waddling around everywhere I go! I have also found that this pregnancy is way more of an emotional roller coaster than the last. I get down so easy, I guess it is all that extra girl hormone inside me! 6 1/2 more weeks... I'm getting close to counting it on one hand, that is the good part :)

SICK of sick!

I know this isn't a very uplifting post, but seriously... do you ever just get so SICK of all of the bugs flying around during the winter! Tommy & I were sick for 3 weeks at the end of November/beginning of December & then we got home from vacation & got another cold for 2 weeks. Tommy is now over his cold & back to his happy self, although his sleeping schedule is very messed up.
AND why I'm writing this is because... I am STILL sick! Well, I'm no longer the contagious yucky cold sick, but I have my first sinus infection. It is awful. It is so weird to walk into a room & know I should be smelling dinner, but don't & I can't taste a thing. I am always having to check Tommy's bum just in case he pooped cuz I have no clue cuz I can't smell! ...can't hardly hear anyone or myself, I'm always popping the Tylenol to relieve the pressure in my head....AND as another bonus I can't sleep at night because when I lay flat the pressure builds in my head. I am wishing we had a recliner so I could sleep on that. Oh yes, and add to that the misery of being 7 months awkward pregnant too!
Haha! This is such a venting post :) I just have to say I am so tired of going through a kleenex box a day, hoping for Tommy to take an extra long nap, but most of all that I keep wishing for each day to pass quickly with hope for relief in the next day. BEING SICK IS NOT LIVING, it is SURVIVING! and therefore.... I am SICK of being SICK!
So, please thank the Lord for your health tonight & enjoy that workout, playing with your kids, finishing up your projects, cleaning, etc. because all those things mean that you are healthy & well & have the energy to get off the couch!

January Vacation

Vic had to use or lose his vacation by the end of the month so we took off to see my brothers! Here is a little recap of our getaway.
Day 1: Driving-yuck! Although I can't complain too much because Tommy was an unexpected angel the entire way there & back!

Day 2: Portland & Vancouver
My oldest brother, Jason, lives in Portland so we spent the day visiting him and seeing a little bit of Portland. I haven't spent time with him in about 2 years. It is so nice that, with family, it doesn't matter how much time you've spent apart, you start off where you left off as if you hadn't been apart :) Here is Vic, Tommy, & I by the downtown waterfront.

I couldn't believe how green the grass was in the middle of winter! Jason & I below:
Jason got married 3 months ago so we went down to meet his sweet new wife, Lisa, at her work. This cute little playground for kids about 3 & under only was outside her work. It looks like painted cement, but all the stuff is soft. Tommy had a grand time running around.

In the evening we drove up to Vancouver to see my Aunt Jill & her daughter Sara. I haven't been to her house for at least 10 years! It was fun to run down memory lane in her yard. She is a game lover like us so we ate pizza and played games with her. It was a lot of fun & made me have one more reason I wish I lived closer to the area! After her house we drove to my other brother Ben's house.

Day 3: Seattle/Tacoma

AfterWe went to visit my other older brother, Ben, after Jason. His daughter is turning 5 in a week so they did her party while we were there. It was a Hawaiian luau at the pool. Becky made this amazing cake with Kara buried in the sand! It was so stinkin' cute. Plus we had LOTS of yummy finger food goodies. The funny thing is the kids were having too much fun playing with the dress up stuff to sit down and actually eat at the super cute decorated table!

Here is Vic, Tommy, & I in our luau outfits :) Not so flattering when I'm 6 months prego, but still fun to dress up Hawaiian!

I was trying to get a picture of Tommy in his Hawaiian hat & he decided he needed to kiss Dad at that moment which wa so cute cuz I've never caught his kisses on camera!

This was Tommy's first time swimming in a pool. I thought for sure he'd be so excited since he loves bathtime, but he was a little overwhelmed at first. I think part of it was that the pool was so cold. I don't know why pools always keep it so cold!

He had a blast after he got used to it. He loves splashing in water & especially seeing my reaction when he gets me wet :)

All of this party time landed on Vic's birthday!... so we had to do a little celebrating for him on his actual birthday. He wanted to see a comedy show so we went to COMEDY UNDERGROUND in Seattle and saw a traveling comedian, Mike Winfield. He was clean & hilarious so if you get the chance then you have to go see him! I love when laughter brings tears to my eyes :)

Day 4 Relax/ Vic Birthday Party!

We had more time on Sunday to celebrate Vic's birthday so the girls helped me set up the decorations, make his banana cream pie, and make a few games. They had a blast & in Kiersten's words made the room "oh so beautiful". I don't know whose idea it was, but one of Vic's gifts was wrapped in toilet paper & Kara thought it was hilarious to give him a "poopy gift". :) My sweetie is now 31!

Day 5: Zoo & Aquarium

Tommy was okay at the zoo, but when it came to the aquarium he had a hay day. He ran around gibbering & pointing his finger at everything. It was really cute.

I liked the seahorse area best. It was all so bright and colorful that it almost looked fake!

Here is a close up of some of the bigger seahorses. It doesn't look real-- right?!

Just a cute picture of cousins checking out the fish together.

Tommy by the shark tank. He liked them, but he didn't like the walruses. I guess they were a little too big & close for him. I, myself couldn't believe how huge the walruses were.
Happy boy at the end of the aquarium part.
Here is Tommy's first slide ride all by himself. His coat made him go really fast & it's a little big of a slide for him so he wasn't real happy about it! He did love going down with his dad though.

Day 6: Princess Party!

We went shopping and out to eat during the day & for some reason it exhausted me so I took a two hour nap when we got home. ....which made me sad cuz I wanted to do a full princess party with a picture shoot, fancy hair, and make a princess cupcake kit that I bought for Kara, but I was so tired and I didn't want to let Kara cuz she'd been talking about it for a few days so I did a quick version of my other party. We dressed up like princesses, had a tea party, stamped cards, and made a pixel craft. Kids are so easy to please so the girls still had a great time.

Day 7: Drive Home

I think that late night game playing and early wake ups with Tommy wore me out every day. I really wanted to do a full photo shoot with all of the kids and individually, but every day I was too tired! I was still determined to get a picture so right before I left I threw up a background and took a few pictures. Kara was gone to school so I couldn't get her in the picture, but I attempted to get this picture:

This isn't even an actual picture, but a collage I put together! See the chaos below to see why I couldn't get a real picture, haha! (and some super cute pictures of my sweet little nieces)

A Very Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
This year was especially fun with Tommy being old enough to participate and being able to move without the pain of postpartum strains. Here is our cute little Christmas family (and 5 month prego belly)

We saw LOTS of Vic's family for Christmas. We did Christmas Eve at Vic's brother's house. We had the elf deliver our Christmas pajamas there this year. Here is Tommy cute as ever in his new jammies :)

Here is a little glimpse of how crammed & crazy it is with the Sutherlands. I always feel like I'm stepping on someone the entire time I'm there! This is 1/2 the kids dressed up to act out the nativity scene while his brother read it from the scriptures.

Here is Christmas Morning. Tommy checking out his stocking. He instantly grabbed the big toy sticking out, but it took some more coaching for him to check out the rest! I thought he'd be pretty excited I gave him a sucker cuz he loves them & I never let him have them, but Vic's stalking had oranges & peanuts in it & he went crazy over them instead! He grabbed an orange & ate right through the peel then did the same with a peanut!

My cute boys dressed up for PRESENT TIME!

Tommy has a unique way to open his gifts. I'll walk you through the

STEPS TO OPEN A PRESENT:

1. Jump & Climb all over it

2. Tear off the smallest pieces, peek inside, & try to play with it before all the wrapping is off! ...and then continue pulling off pieces little by little.

3- CRY because you are so impatient that Dad can't get the toy unattached from the box fast enough. (make sure to cry with EVERY gift for the same reason!)

4- DIVE into boxes no matter what there size is (even if your face is the only thing that fits!)5-EAT the packaging

6- Make a MESS of yourself

7- Find the garbage & try to make a mess.

and finally... PLAY with new toys!!! :)

And here is our happy little camper with most of his presents. He is CONSTANTLY moving these days so its hard to get a picture that he isn't in action!

Later we went to Vic's parents house for lunch and played games that made us laugh the ENTIRE day & evening!

...and games that made 3 grown brothers hold hands, so cute :)