Duggars, Friends, and a Date

 The last week was eventful:)  One evening I was sitting on the couch and Beau said he wanted me to "hold" him.  He climbed up in my lap and actually stayed put for a few minutes.  Love sweet moments like this!

 Sherry and I went to Ft. Smith to buy some clothes racks.  They are monsters!!  Perfect for our upcoming Pre-GKS Garage Sale!  We found them at the new Mustard Seed Thrift store for a great price.  FYI...if anyone wants to use mine I'll rent it out for $10/weekend:)  It's 10 feet long with rods on both sides.  The best part...it fits in a Suburban!!

 On Wednesday at MOPS we had a very special guest....Michelle Duggar from 19 Kids & Counting.  She was something else!  She had so many good things to say, but to be honest, I left feeling totally overwhelmed.  Her children apparently are about as close to perfect as they come, and if a mom of 19 can pull that off, then why can't I??  

Anyway, it was really cool to see her and she was SO sweet to pose for a million pictures!!

 

Sharon came down for the big event, so of course, we had to head to LaFiesta afterwards!!  Beau and Whitney just love each other SO much.  They play so good together.  They thoroughly enjoyed a bowl of cheese dip together.  Then they laid down in the booth for a rest:) 

 Sweet friends playing puzzles together.  It was so nice to be able to just sit on the couch and visit with Sharon while they played so good!

 Saturday night we got to go on a date with the Moores.  We had a blast!!!  A quick pic of me before we left.  Beau was the only one there, so there was no way to get a pic of Travis and I together.

 We went to the Movie Lounge and it was amazing!!  If you haven't been there yet, you are missing out!!  The atmosphere was perfect and the food was beautiful and delicious.  Afterwards we decided to go over the the theater side and see a movie.  We watched Jack Reacher.   I don't think I will ever want to go to a regular movie theater again.  You sit in a pairs of big cooshy seats.  There is a button that you can push and the waiter shows up and you can order anything off the menu and they bring out what looks like gourmet "movie" food on real plates with silverware wrapped in a cloth napkin.  It was awesome!

 We got back to our house pretty late.  Sweet Sarah Beth passed out with Beau on the couch:)  Beau had a blast with Abbie and Sarah Beth. 

A great night for everyone!

Lately...

 We have been going and going.  I'm feeling back to normal, finally.  I got the sweetest little package in the mail while I was recovering.  My sweet friend Sharon totally made my day!!

 You just can't beat Godiva chocolate and some "Tropical Trance" gum:)

This was a text between Blake and I one afternoon.  He had gone to Quiz Bowl practice and I was checking to make sure he made it there okay.

 Typical Blake.

I got my new 2012 blog book printed and I LOVE it!!!  It's a beast....but I love all 439 pages!!!!

 Just hanging out one morning in his PJ's, eating some Cuties.  His fave!!

 Beau and Poppy being silly with Poppy's iPhone!

 This sight makes me SO happy!!  Beau has FINALLY learned to "play" by himself.  He will sit and play with cars (btw, they are Travis's Hot Wheels from when he was little), or puzzles, or play with his screw board for long stretches of time.  I love watching him be so content!!

 Sweet boy wearing a sweatshirt he inherited from Courtney:) 

 I've got to write this down so I don't forget.  Beau's newest thing to say is "lasterday" instead of yesterday.  Almost as cute as Blake's "last morning".  Love it!!

Recently Blake got chosen to be on a "Science Bowl" team.  It was kinda like Quiz Bowl, but only science questions.  It was crazy hard!!  I was totally impressed.  Jackson Mitchell was their team captain (and the only 8th grader).  He is super smart, and Blake held his own, too.  I was SO proud.  They made it into the finals and finished the day in 4th place.  WOW!!!

 The whole crew went to watch, including Beau.  He was actually REALLY good for the first few matches.  Then he got bored. He had to be totally silent if we were in the room, so we spent some time in the hallways:)

 Poppy got to drive the bus, so at lunch time we all loaded up to go get some lunch.  Beau was in little boy HEAVEN!!  He absolutely loved it!!!

 

 My sweet boys at the food court in the mall.

 Good month so far!!

Big Decision....

 Well, Travis and I decided that we were in agreement that we were ready to "officially" be finished having babies!  Crazy how excited I was.  I always thought how in the world can someone say the are "done"???  Well, when you get there its EASY!!  Ha!

The question was, who would do it.  If you know Travis at all, you know that the chances of him EVER voluntarily agreeing to any type of medical procedure was slim to none.  So, I decided I would bite the bullet and just have a tubal.  It helped the decision a little that our insurance covered it 100% with no co-pay or deductible.  

We had to be at Sparks (weird, never been there for anything before, but since Mercy is Catholic, I had no choice) at 11 on Friday.  My sweet MIL came and got Beau and took him to her house so that I wouldn't have to worry about him.  My precious dad came and sat in the waiting room with Travis and I.  I told him it totally was not necessary, but he insisted.  And, it was nice knowing he cared enough to just sit there for me:)

He might have gotten a little sleepy at some point in hour 1.5 wait in the waiting room:)

 I finally got called back and everything happendd pretty quickly.  So weird to be on the "patient" side of it all.  I've prepped hundreds of patients for surgery, but it's very different when it is yourself.  

The bracelet and "the socks".  WEIRD!!

The IV and me looking pretty excited!!  Little did I know how miserable I would be just a couple of hours later:(

Everything went totally fine.  I woke up hurting really bad.  Thank goodness for good drugs.   By the time I got to recovery my mom was there and she and Travis helped me get ready to go.  The smile on my face at this point must have been a drug-induced illusion.  I was pretty miserable!!

The next several days were truly some of the most miserable of my life.  I was expecting to lay low Friday night and Saturday and be back to normal by Sunday.  Ha!!!  I have NEVER hurt so bad in my life...and I had 3 babies completely naturally!!  It was intense!  It didn't help that I ended up with a horrible sinus infection on top of everything else.  

I finally ended up at my parents house on their couch because they have recliners and I could be halfway comfortable and breathe.  It's times like that when you are SO thankful for your family.  Travis was SO sweet and good and took care of the boys when I couldn't.  And my parents were SO sweet to take care of me and wait on me hand and foot.  By Monday morning I was back at home, but it took me until a week later to really start feeling normal again.

So, in retrospect, I'm so glad I did it, but I'm SO glad it's over!!!

New Year!

 Travis and I started the new year off with an awesome date night!!  It wasn't actually New Year's Eve, but close enough:)  We went to Talianos for dinner and it was SO nice.  Sometimes you just forget how nice it is to go to a quiet restaurant and not be in a hurry at all.  We had an amazing meal, and a great time just enjoying each others company.  Oh, and by the way, believe it or not, Talianos has the BEST fried pickles ever!!

After dinner we went to Target and just looked around.  Then we went to Starbucks and had coffee.  A perfect night with my sweetie!!  Thanks Nonnie & Poppy for keeping the kiddos!

 Back when we moved GaGa and Dessa into Brookfield, I brought this piece of furniture home.  I loved it for so many reasons.  It had been in GaGa and Dessa's house for years so it has lots of sentimental value.  I also just thought it was cute.  Lots of potential.  So, I finally decided to make it pretty and put it into use!

The before....

 In progress.....Thankfully my friend Sherry is just down the street and was willing to come down and tutor me as I went;)  I never thought I would pick such a "color", but as Travis and I were talking about it, (and talking about what shade of gray it should be), I said maybe we should just go for a big pop of color.  He jumped all over it.  Since he is my interior guy, I have learned to trust his instinct.  He brought home a color fan deck and we decided on a color.  I LOVE it!

 After the "waxing".  So glad Sherry was willing to loan me her supplies!!

 And...the final project!!  I decided to keep the original hardware.  Again, just a sentimental thing that made it more special to me!!

 One day before school started back Poppy took the boys "treasure hunting".  Since Blake got a metal detector for Christmas he needed to start "searching".  Poppy got a metal detector too, so they had plenty of supplies!  They had a blast, and found a few "treasures" in the process!

 Sharon decided to come down one Saturday night for a "Girl's Night".  It had been WAY too long!  It was great to hang out with good friends and enjoy a beautiful meal!

2013 is off to a great start!

Christmas Decor

 I absolutely LOVE the house decorated for Christmas.  But, I absolutely HATE doing it.  I truly start to feel sick when I know it's time to decorate for Christmas.  I don't know why, but it just totally stresses me out!!  So, this year I decided I was only getting out the stuff that I love.  I'm certainly no interior decorator, so I decided I wasn't putting any pressure on myself.  Just put out what I like where I think I will like it.  

I decorated really early this year (the week before Thanksgiving) and I thoroughly enjoyed it every single day it was up!  I took some pictures for our memories sake....not to impress anyone with my lack of decorating skills:)

Our tree.  There is NO rhyme or reason.  Every single ornament has some sentimental value.  It's a jumble of everything and I LOVE it!!  It has clear and colored lights and it is beautiful to me!!

 I put a tree up in the dining room this year for me.  It has all of my Lenox ornaments that match my china on it.  My Aunt Jan started giving me these ornaments years ago and they are very special to me.  I haven't put them up in a couple of years because I didn't want to be mad at Beau if he broke one:)

 Evan put a little tree in his room.  Sharon gave us some blue lights and ornaments (since she didn't need a Bulldog tree anymore).  He put them on "blinking" mode.  Ha!  Whatever.  I wanted him to love his tree in his room!

 These Santa hats were a "craft" Sherry, Sharon,and I did a few years ago.  I still love them!

 Just a touch of Christmas on my coffee table.

 This is one of those recordable Hallmark books.  Becky made it last year for the boys and Beau LOVED it this year.  I'll be I listened to NaNa read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" 100 times this year:)

 This is probably on of my MOST favorite Christmas decorations.  I made it last year and I just love it!!

 The side of our refrigerator covered in Christmas cards.  One of my most favorite things about Christmas!

 This nativity set is one of my most prized Christmas possessions.  My Nana's next door neighbor, Mrs. Robertson made it for us when I was a little girl.  I treasure it.

 A little something on our table.

 My little tree in the hearth room.

 The mantle.  I simplified big time this year and loved the simple look!

One of my most favorite things to do is sit on the couch in the dark and look at my Christmas tree.  Perfection!

So, I un-decorated yesterday.  I hate un-decorating almost as much as putting it up:)  But, it's over again for 11 more months!  Woo Hoo to an un-cluttered house!!!