Thanking the Lord,
Valentine's Weekend
and Registering Galore......

My first exciting news is that I passed the glucose test. If you read my previous post (see below) you know I've been a basket case worried about that thing. They let me know today I passed and not just passed, but it wasn't even close. It may look like a tiny miracle to some, but to me it was HUGE. Just a reminder God cares about it all and he's got me in the palm of his hand. Insert *sigh of relief* here!!

This weekend was Valentine's Day. I have chuckled with friends over the last week when we say "are you doing something romantic" and we all laugh, yeah right. Those days were gone with saying "I do". Seriously though I don't need roses that will die, chocolate that will break my face out or expensive gifts to remind me that Andy loves me. Thankfully he's a man who isn't afraid to remind me 100Xs a day if I need it and I'm so blessed. (I did get a box of chocolate and sweet card) Our Valentine to each other was our $200 deposit for our Fall Disney Trip, Cole's first official trip (outside the womb - he he he)!!

We decided to make the most of our icky weather Saturday since we were stuck inside anyway. We went to Babies R Us to register!! It was so much fun! Thanks for your advice a few posts back, it helped. I will confess to you here, because you're going to find out eventually right, that we have 15 pages worth of stuff!! Yep, 15 is what I said! We decided it was better to go ahead and put it all on there, you never know. Plus, we get to buy whatever isn't purchased at 10% off if we've registered for it. The place was crazy insane crowded, we spent almost 2 hours in there. Andy was a trooper and truth be told, had as much fun as me I think. I'm pretty sure there are some things on there that I don't know about, maybe I should go look at it more closely.

We got a $10 gift card for registering and I bought two sets of onesie shirts. One set is cowboy print that I absolutely adore and it will match my cowboy blankie I'm making. The other set are little cars & things that match a blankie I bought there a few months back!! I spent under $1 ~



We had our Valentine Supper at Ippolitos, good stuff. It wasn't our original plan, but we'll get to that. It was close to Babies R us and it was fantastic. We'd eaten there a few weeks back after a doctor visit. Great Italian place if you've never been, over across from Town Center, check it out.

I had a coupon (thank you Misty) for Gymboree, so I "had" to stop on the way home! The clearance stuff was 20% off the clearance price and then my coupon was an additional 20% off the total of that. Wowie Zowie, good deals. I got some super cute stuff, pictured below. The monkey blanket I had way before Cole was a possiblilty which is so fun and the little monkey hat our niece Ruthie bought for Cole. So it was fun to find monkey things to go with it.



Sunday was filled with church, lunch (where I was about to beat the door down because we were there early and they hadn't open the door yet, can't keep a preggo hungry woman out I tell ya) and then a quick nap. Followed by "Shopoholic" movie with my awesome friend Misty!!

Monday was a school holiday & Andy was off too, yipee~ We went to I-HOP for breakfast and decided to register at Target. It was empty in there on a Monday morning, so it was fun!! We came up with 6 pages worth in there, even though Target's baby section isn't that huge. What can I say? Target is my favorite place and we registered for some things at both stores. (That was the right thing to do, correct? I figured most people wouldn't make it to Babies R Us)

Monday night we went back to our original plan for Valentine's which was Sapparo for Japanese, yummmmmmm...... Funny because everyone else ate out over the weekend. We were the ONLY people in the entire restaurant last night! We had the place and our chef to ourselves. It was fantastic though, good times!! We now have one on our side of town, if you're near Hiram/Dallas there is now one on 278!!

My Friday the 13th

When I went to the doctor last week I was anticipating them saying it was time for the glucose test and she surely didn't disappoint. It was time. I decided to go yesterday and prepared a few days before trying to really watch what I ate and stay clear of sugar. I'm not sure if it helped or not, we'll see. I got there relatively early and got the "red" fruit punch flavor. I have to say that after all the talk of "it's horrible", "hold your nose", "it's so sugary it makes ya sick"... blah, blah, blah. I was surprised to find it tasted a lot like Hawaiian Punch to me and I liked it just fine, nice and cold no problem!

I had a book to keep me entertained and the hour wasn't really that bad. They took blood and I was on my way. My biggest fear in all of this is failing and having to do the long test. Not because I'm afraid of having gestational diabetes mind you, I'm afraid of the test. I'm afraid of fasting for 12 hours, going there to sit for 4 more. I MUST eat the second I get up in the morning. I'm known to eat an appetizer cracker or fruit before I have time to fix actual breakfast. I get a headache, sickie and such if I wait long at all. So, the thought of not eating is what has me terrified. Nutty huh?! I have to wait until Wednesday to find out if I passed the 'ole test or not. My doctor office uses a Lab Corp location right behind their office and I have to wait until the results get back to the doctor. So lots of prayers said and we'll see what happens.

Moving on......

Then I went shopping!!

I picked up lunch on the way and headed to the mall. If you've heard me mention the mall at all in the past handful of years, you'll know I hate it. I use to love the mall, shopping, window shopping, whatever. Andy & I spent 'a many a' evenings going to eat and then just walking around the mall. The last few years I've gotten old and crabby I guess and have no desire to walk around aimlessly fighting crowds and unruly teens. I go only when necessary.

The necessity arrives when no where carries very many maternity clothing items anymore. What is with that? Where are we suppose to shop? So I headed to the mall to Motherhood for some much needed garb.

Meanwhile I'd seen one of those handy American Cookie Company stands and was already dreaming of a cheesecake brownie!! I use to love those things and couldn't wait. Or a pecan chewie cookie or piece of cookie cake or ... maybe one of all!! (after all I'd watched the sweets and deserved a treat right?) I dreamed of my goodies and came out of Motherhood only to find the Cookie Company there only takes Cash? What are you, kidding me? Who carries cash these days, sadly never ever me! I was heart broken. I asked the little teeny bopper, are you SERIOUS? They were.... and on I went, without a beloved cookie.

I did take another few minutes to run in Baby/Kid Gap. Trouble I know! I can't resist clearance racks and found the cutest shirts ever. The blue onesie, blue plaid shirt (how cute is it?) and the orange shirt with fake blue one underneath were all $4.99 each!! A bargain for sure!! All denim was buy one get one 1/2 off and I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans, 2 sizes. They're precious! And then I found my way to the (not on sale) summer swim wear. I found swim trunks, a swim shirt & hat that match and are too fun!! With my parents pool getting water in it on Monday and a for sure Disney trip in our future, I couldn't wait to buy those fun things!!! The afghan in the background there is one my Mom made.



I escpaed the mall and headed to Joann's, oh the joy of a craft store! I spent an hour and a half roaming around and looking. I ended up with yarn for another blanket, I'm already about finished with one. The colors I bought this time match the swing, stroller, etc.. stuff I want so I thought that was fun. I also got material to make two little blankets, so fun! I love the monkeys, the green & brown is adorable. Then the retro 70 style cowboy material was too awesome to pass up!! I also walked out with letter's to spell "Cole" and a few other random small items. I love that place, good thing I don't go over there often!!



I decided to call it quits shopping before I found more trouble and headed back home, via a stop at my parents house. Where we sat outside a little bit and enjoyed the last few minutes of wonderful, glorious, warm sunshine before the clouds came in.

My Friday the 13th was wonderful, not scary a bit!! And now a long 3 day weekend with Andy at home for it all, good times I tell ya!!

Happy Happy Birthday Layla & Steve (aka: Pappy)!!

Saturday @ Sea World

-The longest Disney trip report ever comes to an end -

There are many wonderful perks that we are blessed to enjoy through the military. One of our favorites on the side of fun are the great deals we get at Disney & Sea World. Busch parks offer free tickets to active duty military persons and their immediate family once a year. We didn't use our Sea World day the past two years and were very excited about going this time!!

Growing up I always loved Sea World almost as much as Disney. I dreamed of being a "Shamu trainer", though I never have liked to actually swim. (I'm a lay on a float kinda girl) The Shamu show makes me cry, always has. I have no idea what it is about the beautiful creatures and music, but it gets me every time!! It absolutely amazes me at what they've done to the park over the years, it's sure come a long way. I'm not just talking about the addition of thrill rides, though "Kraken" is fantastic!!! (and they are building a new coaster now) I'm talking about the way you can pet & interact with the critters, the beauty of the park and the feel of it all. It's an awesome place!!

Though I need to add here that the interaction goes and comes. When we were there a few trips ago you could walk up to the edge of the new beautiful and huge dolphin area and pet them if they came up. The staff was there to call them up with whistles from time to time. Andy & I both got to love on a few dolphins and even throw a basketball to play with one guy. It was absolutely awesome. They have changed it to a money maker now though and I was disappointed. You can't get to the edge of the area unless you pay to feed the dolphins, otherwise you're a fence behind just to view. Why does it always have to be a money maker??

We plan to make it to their sister park Discovery Cove eventually where you can spend the day interacting with critters: swimming with dolphins, snorkeling with fish, etc.... You reserve a day and they only allow so many into the park each day, it looks amazing! They also now have a water park and it looks fun too. (I did a dolphin interaction on my first cruise with "the girls" years ago, so amazing. We talk about doing one again on a cruise, but it's always so expensive and we've never broken down to do it.)

We started off visiting the Sea Lions which absolutely crack me up. I could sit on a bench and spend hours watching them!! I love how they bark and beg for you to feed them fish, so funny! (Watch out for the birds though, b/c they will snatch the fish outta your hand in a flash!) The sea lions were swimming, sunning on the rocks and a few were cuddling or fighting. Fun times......



Look at this little guy with his Mommy soaking up some sun. So sweet!!! How can you not love them?!



This guy made me laugh out loud. He was hanging out on the rocks, with his head soaking in the water. Absolutely hilarious!! He stayed that way the entire time we hung out to watch him!!!



We were not impressed with the dolphin show at all. It was the first time ever I walked out of a Sea World stadium saying "are you kidding me?" They have really "fluffed it up" with people flying through the air and swiming on things, it's way more of an aerial "people" show than a dolphin show. I would have rather watched them swim around the tanks on their own than watched the people flying through the air. It was a sad let down!! This was the few minutes that the dolphins were actually out there swimming.



We thought it was interesting that there are currently 6 females Orca's (killer whales) at Sea World and 2 babies, but no males. I need to research a little online. I wonder if they have recently "lost" the Daddy Shamu? (Amber, do you know??) They had a hard time starting the show because a Mommy and baby were hanging out in the "big tank" and wouldn't go "back stage" for the trainers. It was neat to watch them swim around and do their own thing though and have the trainers just talk about them and their natural behviors, rather than a planned stage show. Eventually they got Mommy & Baby to do a few things and she was spinning around in this picture like a "break dancer" while baby was saying hi! So funny!! The show went on soon after this. My favorite show is the night time Shamu show though, but this time we didn't stay all day and missed the after dark show.



We didn't get to see "Clyde & SeaMore" and if you are a Sea World regular, you know them! The sea lion, otters and walrus are absolutely hilarious in their show. We just couldn't get it all in and I can't handle all day in the parks right now. We did also see the Pet's Ahoy show and we love it, it's a favorite. The entire show is all sorts of pet critters and it's a hoot!! (dogs, cats, pigs, birds, ducks, etc...)

We visited the Clydesdales, they are always amazing. Andy loves when they have them out and all hooked up to the wagon, but they were just hanging out while we were there. Andy has become such a horse lover and it's exciting since I grew up with a horse when I was young. If we ever get out with some property, we're for sure going to be horse owners!! He's been reading horse books, we love horse movies and he loves visiting them anywhere! How adorable is my husband? *sigh* He's so good to me, I'm so blessed!



The new Artic area of the park is really awesome. You can do a "walk through wimpy" way to get in where you sit down and watch a short 5ish minute movie first before you get to the animals, we've done it both times because I'm wimpy. The other side is a ride motion simulator and those things make me SO sick!! Once you get in though, it looks like you are at a research station in the Artic, great themeing. The aniamls in there are awesome and again, I could spend all day watching them. Here is a clip of the walrus, you can not believe how huge they are unless you are standing there comparing yourself to them. It's unreal!!

We love Sea World!

Yipee for great find @ Marshall's

I have been looking for a little table for baby Cole's room. I wanted something to go beside the rocking chair and there isn't a lot of room there. I had a lamp that needed a "home". I want a CD player/clock/radio for in there and a little spot to put this or that. I've been looking for weeks. In my Ross/Marshall's extravaganza last weekend, I found this little beauty. It is perfect!!!

It is an adorable green color that matches a color in the bedding perfectly, though it doesn't show up very well in the picture. It has the two little baskets perfect for storing this or that. It can be used for a night stand in the future when the bed is a toddler bed or full bed. It can be easily painted and the baskets can be changed or taken out totally. I am thrilled, thrilled I tell ya!!

The baby registry essentials 101

So I put a notice out on Facebook asking for help in registering for the essentials for baby Cole. I am so excited and want to go do it in the next few weeks. I have read several "what you must have" sections in books I have and devoured my baby gear book for months on end. Now I need to be sure I have a complete list of things a first time Mommy can't live without. So, help me!! Give me your first 3-5 (whatever) thoughts of things I must register for. Then if you want to throw out a "waste of money" item you didn't really use, let me know that too! Let the buying advise begin!
(Never fear I'll give you a chance to spread your motherly advice in months to come)