Shower Cake Mishap

Check out my cake for my work shower today. Stephanie Hawkins, one of my
co-workers, is the one who organized everything and when she went to pick the
cake up today, she found this. Haha!! I didn't know we were naming our baby Hawkins but I do kindof like it! ;). She did take it back and got it fixed, but I thought that was too funny! Stay tuned... Much more to come on my work shower later. My co-worker, Kristi, took all the photos, so I'll post again once I get those from her. Today was a fun day at the office.... I love my job and co-workers!!!

On another note: I'm so excited.... This Saturday is my other baby shower and we cant wait to see everyone! 30+ people are coming and we could not be more humbled!!!




Cheers,
Lindley

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My 32nd Birthday and 33 weeks--2nd Post in 24 hours!

Are you kidding me, Brian Herring? What a way to a pregnant girl's heart! :) He made Chicken Fried Steak for me last night for my birthday (we got home too late to make it Sunday night, my actual b-day) and Oh.My.Goodness!!! You didn't even need a knife it was so tender. He also made homemade gravy that turned out awesome and mashed potatoes. I made the salad and then we had Jalapeno cheese bread from Little Czech Bakery in West, TX. We stopped by there on our way back from San Antonio. Such a yummy meal. Thanks babe!!!

My team at work decorated my cube over the weekend so I came into this awesomeness yesterday morning! They also got me a delicious cake and set up a 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game for us to celebrate my 21st birthday in true fashion :) I laughed so hard that they actually brought that game to play. Can you say random!?!?! HAHA! It reminded me of when I was 6! Too funny! We're having a pinata at the next birthday. You guys rock! Thanks for making my birthday great!

33+ Weeks!!!!!!! Yes, I am LARGE!!!! :) A few pregnancy highlights...

How far along: 33+ weeks!!!
Size of baby: PINEAPPLE!!!! Anywhere from 19-22 in., 4.9 lbs
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 26 lbs.
Gender: It's a surprise!!!!!
Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth Boy: Pierce Ballard., although we also like Mac Ballard too! Brian's dad text us that suggestion last night and we really liked it! We had Mac as one of our possibilities at first but never with Ballard as a middle name and we love it! If we have a boy, the name may be a 'game-time' decision!
Movement: Little Red is VERY active! Instead of kicking, it's ROLLING around all over my belly! It feels like he/she is doing somersaults in there...so crazy!!!! Little Red is still letting me sleep at night though, thank goodness! But, the second I wake up, it starts moving again!
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good at night. I do wake up at odd times of the night and feel like I could run a marathon I'm so wide awake, but that's not consistent, thank goodness! I only do that a couple times a week. And, I have to go to the bathroom about every 3 hours during the night. It's every 30 - 45 minutes during the day. UGH!

What I miss: my memory, my Mary&Guido jeans, being able to walk up a flight of stairs without sounding like I just ran a marathon, WINE, my heels, iced tea, being able to paint my toes comfortably, bending over, getting comfortable in my bed at night, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.
Cravings: Vanilla Wafers! LOL! Random, I know, but I love them! I also still love fruit of any kind, hot dogs, mac 'n cheese, and donuts! HA!

Symptoms: I cry a LOT and at the silliest things, am having Braxton Hicks contractions about 4 - 5 times/day, & I had to stop wearing my engagement ring :o( at 32 weeks. I can still wear my band though.

Cheers,

Lindley

JW Marriott Resort, TPC Golf Course, and Spa

This past weekend, The Bailey's and us drove to San Antonio Thursday evening for 3 nights of R&R, i.e. 'Baby Moon.' Lots of people are taking these before they have their baby so we decided to give it a shot! :) Cheesy? Yes. Fun and worth it?? Absolutely! This resort was unbelievable and had incredible amenities! We had no agenda, slept in, ate a lot, laid out by the pool, utilized the spa until we were out of money :o), and played lots of Spades in our hotel room. I highly recommend this hotel, but it is VERY kid-friendly. Lots and lots of kids running around. There is an adult pool and the spa and golf course, but kids are still around. The resort has a lazy river, of which we loved, but it was full of kids. We will definitely come back here with our kids one day, but I would not recommend this resort for a 'baby moon' like we did. We wanted to be around NO KIDS since we're all about to have our own, but we still had a blast and this resort was amazing!

Us playing Spades in our room the 1st night.... Donna and I dominated! We have now beat the men 3 - 0. And, Donna is a rookie to the game so, needless to say, I'm very proud of her! :o)

And, the rooms are super nice and big with balconies. We had just the basic room too, so you can imagine what the suites are like!!

Their beds were unlike any beds I've ever slept on! Ah-mayzing! And, they give you like 8 pillows so I was in heaven since I didn't bring my faithful body pillow

The resort has 5 restaurants, but we ate at Cibolo Moon the most. Is has this tequila bar that is certified by Mexico's Board of Tequila or something crazy like that. I am sure I'm not saying that right as there's probably a more appropriate way of mentioning an award with such high prestige, but we gathered it was a pretty big deal, and it was. It has all these infused tequilas to sample as shots or in specialty cocktails, and seeing how Chad is a major tequila lover, he was in heaven! There are only 18 other restaurants nationwide with this recognition so it was pretty cool.

Crunchy wheat French Toast that was TO DIE FOR! Donna got it one morning and I got it the next it was so good!

At dinner the 2nd night--Cibolo Moon for their Carving Board buffet. All you can eat Mahi Mahi, NY Strip, smoked chicken, 3 types of salads, steamed veggies, broccoli/rice casserole, potatoes, mac n cheese, an entire kids buffet, rolls, biscuits, 3 types of dessert ...the list goes on and on.... all for $20!!!!! Super tasty for a super price! The 3rd night we went into San Antionio to eat at the Alamo Cafe. Great authentic Mexican Food with fabulous homemade tortillas!

My Birthday Hat!

The Pool!

The Spa. Donna and I both got a 50 min prenatal massage and facial. Both were heaven! It was it's very own building separate from the hotel it was so big!

Thank you, Bailey's, for a fabulous "Baby Moon"

Cheers,

Lindley

32 Weeks and JW Marriott

Well, I somehow forgot to post about 32 weeks :o( Shame on me! Not sure how that happened, but I will just post next week after my 33 week appointment on Monday, the 15th.

Also, Brian and I are super excited! We're heading to this paradise in the TX Hill Country tomorrow with our good friends, Chad and Donna Bailey, who are also expecting their first baby this December, for a long weekend in San Antonio. A little R&R is just what the Doctor ordered!

http://www.jwsanantonio.com/

Stay tuned for pics and updates after we return.

Cheers,

Lindley

More Posts and sweet Nixie

Hi! I wanted to be sure I told you guys to scroll down past the Kidd Rock costume post as I have 3 others posts after that! Sometimes I create posts when I'm short on time and just save them as 'drafts' so I can go back and finish them when I have more time, but when I do that, it posts them at the time I created the draft, not at the time I publish the post. Anyway, it's kindof confusing, but that's how it works. Just wanted to bring that to ya'll's attention so you could be sure and check the other posts.

Also, my Nixie has been the sweetest little cuddle bug lately. Ever since I put that nursery together she's been ALL ABOUT HER MOTHER! It warms my heart and I would not have it any other way to tell you the truth. I know I am having a baby soon, and will have other major distractions in my life so I am just taking any lovin' I can get from her from now until then! Why not, right? I guess people do this with their 1st child when they're about to have their 2nd, right?? The below picture is a bit dark, but last night she jumped up on the couch after we finished dinner, nudged my left hand, and crawled up under my arm like that. I just want to eat her up.

All of this really hit home with me when I read a very sad blog post yesterday. Like, so sad I balled like a baby.... right here at work... in my cube...all by myself....like a blubbering idiot. One of the blogs I follow is called "Life in the Dub Lane" I do not know this girl but am fascinated with her story, life, ideas, thriftiness (Is that a word??)...everything. Yes, I might have a slight blog stalking problem, but I can't help it. As you all know: people, in general, fascinate me and blogs are just what I needed to feed this fascination of mine. Thank you Blogger.com! Anywho, her blog is http://www.everbrooke.com/ Check her out. You'll see she just got a new Schnauzer but only because they recently lost their Schnauzer and that Schnauzer reminded me so much of Nixie it's scary! I cannot imagine something happening to my Nix-Mix....she was and will always be my first baby so when I read that I lost it. If I am this crazy about my furbaby can you imagine what I'll be like with my REALbaby!?!?! God...please help me! :)

Cheers,
Lindley

No words...

Brian's friend, Otto, posted some old school pics on Facebook today and the below was one I could not let slide. That fine piece of #*+ with Elvis is Little Red's Baby Daddy 8 years ago when he was a 2nd or 3rd year dental student. Looking good, honey! Wife beater + 'Detroit Tigers' shoulder tat + faux fur coat = priceless!

Cheers,

Lindley

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Kidd Rock???

Saturday with The Hales!

Saturday afternoon we went over to our friends, Mike and Lindsay Hales,' house for a little pool and grill action. Is he not the cutest thing ever?!?! He got out of the pool because he was 'tired and needed to relax for a minute.' Love you Michael Sullivan Hale! We love your brother, John Brooks, too, but I never got a photo of him. He was never 'too tired' to get out of the pool so I could snap a photo of him like this. Boy, that kid has no fear! Lindsay and I were talking in the shallow end and we hear this splash towards the deep end. That would be John Brooks jumping in withOUT his life jacket on in the deep end! We thought he was up by the patio with Mike, but he snuck down and decided to go for a quick dip! Granted, he can 'sortof' swim, but nothing like his brother. He definitely still needs help and is in no shape, form, or fashion ready for swimming sans his life jacket! Scared us to death! He was fine though and came up smiling. Not a single tear! :o)

Thanks for having us over, Hales. We had a good time and the food was dee-lish! My most favorite part of the night, though, was the Trivial Pursuit. I can't lie. The green with all 6 pies in the middle is OUR's and the yellow one with only 3 pies is the Hales'. WOO HOO! For those who don't know....we are pretty competitive when it comes to this game and do not mess around. We've actually gotten interest from some of our friends who are wanting to be let in on this seriousness so we are going to plan a game night! Details coming soon!

Cheers,

Lindley

Il Cane Rosso

Brian and I had date night at Il Cane Rosso last Friday night and OMG! I am in L.O.V.E! This place got voted "Best Pizza"--D Magazine 2011! It's a pretty small place and they don't take reservations so we had to sit at the bar, but I wouldn't have had it any other way, in all honesty. Those are the best seats in the house! I could literally touch the pizza dough, toppings, and the cooks! So fun. We ate enough for 6 people, but we didn’t care! We started w/ the Focaccia and the Caprese Salad (both amazing, but the Focaccia is really for about 4 – 6 people! Oops! It was huge but soooo good!) We had the 'Zoli' pizza for our main dish then had the Bella Mela for dessert. I can't even begin to describe this goodness to you, you'll just have to try it for yourself. So yummy! We'll definitely be back... and probably before Nemo gets here. I don't think I can wait 52 days to have that pizza again. We took the leftover dessert pizza home and ate it the next day for breakfast! HAHA! The below pic is of the magic oven that creates this goodness and I swear, I would pay BIG money to have one of these things at my house. I am not even kidding! Ridiculous!

Cheers,
Lindley

Choctaw Resort and Casino!

Hotel Lobby

The "Oasis" Pool(s)... these were rather "Vegas-Like," if you will. Cabanas, wait staff dressed in skimpy outfits, swim-up bars....
I was impressed!


The Oasis at night!

My team from work, minus Lisa and Michael, (we mised ya'll!!!) went to Choctaw Resort and Casino in Durant, OK last Thursday night for hitting our incentive for the 1st half of the year. Glenn, our boss, never dreamed we would hit 140% of plan by June 30th, but we did! 140.1% to be exact! HA! It was super fun! This place is nice! Didn’t win, but Glenn did! I sat down at a Wheel of Fortune $1 machine, put in a $20, didn’t win anything so I was getting ready to walk away when Glenn stuck a $20 bill in the same machine and won $328 right off the bat! Darn him! :o) We had a good time. Ate dinner at the steak house there (Not very good, unfortunately), gambled a little, checked out the pool, sang karaoke, and I called it a night around 12:45 AM. I thought that was pretty good for preggers in a smoky, alcohol-infested casino! HA! We had breakfast then left at 11 AM on Friday and I napped all afternoon once I got home. I was tired! Thanks, Glenn, for a fun time and the day off!!!

Glenn on the left, Janice in black in front of me, Kristi in the hat, and Amy in white. Fun goup!

Glenn's Wheel of Fortune Winnings!

Our rooms were super nice!!!! The bathroom was huge....This is only part of it!

Fantastic rain shower!!!!

Cheers,

Lindley

Nursery Sneak Peak Part II

My sweet mom came to town on Monday and Tuesday of this week for some dental work, but also to help me with my nursery since I hadn't done too much with it yet. We have all the main items (crib and changing table thanks to The Hales', our glider thanks to my in-laws, & our bedding thanks to my parents, we just hadn't put anything together or actually set it out and up since we've been using that bedroom for guests up until now. We had such fun and really had a good time getting everything ready for Little Red. The nursery's, obviously, very plain right now, but will get there I'm sure. My sis had a few hand-me-downs that we washed and put up for immediate use once the baby gets here so that helped, plus she gave us her darling little cradle that my niece, London, slept in when she was a newborn so we were thrilled to get all of that from them. Thanks sis, and thanks, Brian, for putting everything together!

Also, today is my daddy's birthday! Happy 65th birthday, Ken Douglass!! We love you and wish you many many more!

Poor Nixie....I don’t think she’s quite sure about what’s happening around Casa de Herring these days. Do you see her in the baby’s Moses Basket? I think she thinks that 'bed' is for her!

And, lastly: the best picture of all! Do you see something with eyes, ears, and grey in complexion down below on that bottom shelf of the changing table?? I think she thinks those clothes and baby furniture are for her! :) Not to worry: we have a plan! We’ve actually read about how to bring home a new baby to your pet because this is very important to us and we want to do this right. We don’t want to send our ‘1st ‘ baby over the edge so we’ve really done our research. Brian is going to come home with a blanket that’s got the baby’s scent on it a few days before we come home with the baby to let her sleep with it and keep it in her bed so she’s used to the scent and then when we get home I plan to really make a conscious effort, as will Brian, to still love on her like we do the baby. She’ll be fine, it will just be different for a while. I have heard Schnauzers are, for the most part, fabulous family dogs so here's hopin'!

Cheers,

Lindley

31 Weeks

A few pregnancy highlights...
How far along: 31 weeks!!!

Size of baby: Head of Lettuce 19 in., 3 lbs 10 oz

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 22 lbs.

Gender: It's a surprise!!!!!

Names: Girl: Cameron Elizabeth Boy: Pierce Ballard.

Movement: Little Red is VERY active! Instead of kicking, it's ROLLING around all over my belly! It feels like he/she is doing somersaults in there...so crazy!!!! Little Red is still letting me sleep at night though, thank goodness! But, you better believe the second I wake up, it starts moving again!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping really good at night!
What I miss: my memory, my Mary&Guido jeans, being able to walk up a flight of stairs without sounding like I just ran a marathon, wine, my heels, iced tea, being able to paint my toes comfortably, bending over, and lime Diet Dr. Peppers from Sonic.

Cravings: No new cravings, really, I just LOVE fruit and donuts! HA!

Cheers,

Lindley