27

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be 27 years old. In foresight, it seemed like an age where I'd have life figured out, a nice little career, be married (and possibly a kid or two), and love my life. I never liked being in my early twenties. I felt there was always a stigma of overall immaturity attached to being young and in college. People always were telling me to "go out and have fun," and I did- but still, I wanted to be a stable 27 year old with everything in place.

11 days to go!

Today, I am 27. And while I can't say that life is completely figured out and have everything into place, I feel like I have everything I need, nothing more and nothing less. I feel like I'm in a great place in my life, with much to be thankful for. This isn't the picture I envisioned for myself at 27; in fact, it's so much better than I ever thought possible! Sometimes I feel so unworthy of God's blessings in my life.

Today was such a perfect day. The weather here in Wichita reached 70 degrees- can you believe that? Pretty rare for one of the last days of the year.
We have really missed all this crazy weather that the rest of the states seem to be having the past few weeks. I spent the gorgeous day with my two favorite boys who took me to lunch at my favorite spot, and then to the Zoo (which seemed to be the hot spot for everyone in the city- it was packed!). I am also the proud new owner of one of these:
A KA Artisan stand mixer! I was shocked! I had mentioned to Jon a few times that I was considering purchasing a KA mixer on Black Friday if there was a good deal out there. I didn't find one, but was so surprised to unwrap one this morning!

Hope everyone has a great New Years!

A few pregnancy notes + a bump picture

I haven't really documented much on my 2nd pregnancy, so I figured I'd jot down a few notes before this baby is here!

I have a little less than 4 weeks left! I have a c-section scheduled for January 10th and I'm really excited. My doc actually gave me the choice between attempting a VBAC or another c-section, but given the 48-hour (can anyone beat that?) labor I had with Cameron, I chose the latter. After much discussion, we both agreed that I probably wasn't a good candidate for the VBAC route. I had a great and quick recovery with Cameron, and I hope that it will go as great the second time around too.
Last night we got dressed up and went to dinner and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It felt good to get out of yoga pants!


I have gained significantly less weight this time around. I gained 48 lbs total with Cameron, and so far I've gained right under 30 lbs, with less than a month to go. I don't anticipate 20 more pounds in that time frame... though I have been consuming a lot of ice cream shakes lately. My husband seriously makes the best mint M&M shakes, ever. There are no words to describe them, and I often lick the inside of the cup completely clean to get every last drop.

In general, I 'feel' smaller with this pregnancy than the last one. I won't lie, I feel huge, and I'm definitely uncomfortable, but I feel much smaller this time. Maybe that means I'm not going to have a 10 lb baby! If I had to guess, I think she'll be right around 7 lbs, especially since she'll be about a week early.

I'm going to miss my skin after I give birth. I have had the smoothest, most perfect and acne free skin for the last 9 months. I haven't had skin like this since I was in, oh... 4th grade? It's been awesome. But I'm also not holding my breath that it will remain that way. Even in my late twenties, I still have skin like a teenager.

While I don't particularly love being pregnant, I'm in a bittersweet stage right now, knowing that this is the last time I'll feel a baby inside. I'm also very happy that our little family will be complete! I say this 50 times a day, but I am so incredibly ready to meet my daughter. I think I'm more anxious to meet her than I was with Cameron! Not too much longer!

December 5, 2010.

Cameron's 2nd birthday was such a great day! We started our morning with breakfast at one of our favorite little cafes; we stuffed ourselves and headed off to church. After church, I ran to get a few balloons for Cameron's party, and headed home to finish prepping the food for the party and a little last minute cleaning.

We had 30 family members at our house to help celebrate his birthday. Boy did the house feel small! Thankfully there was a Dallas game on, so a lot of people hung out by the big screen downstairs which helped relieve some space upstairs. The food was great, and Cameron got so many great gifts.
I may not be able to decorate a cake to save my life (remember my anniversary cake disaster?) but I love decorating cupcakes and think these turned out super cute!

I used the logo I created for the invites to use on top of the cupcakes.

The menu: sub sandwiches (not pictured) fruit kabobs, chips, and cream cheese pinwheels (not pictured). Everything was really good!

I made little bags of coal for everyone to take home. I took mini marshmallows, covered them in melted baking chocolate, and then tossed them in Oreo crumbs that I crushed in the food processor. I didn't have a recipe, and had never made them before, but they were such a hit! I figured making them would be a similar concept to the Chex Mix puppy chow that everyone loves.

Opening presents!

After the party, we went out to look at Christmas lights, a tradition we started last year on his birthday. He loves looking at lights! I think I may have been more tired than anyone else and by 7:30, I was ready to come home and get into bed. We all had such a fun day, and I still can't believe my baby is two!

Closing thoughts on Cameron's 2nd year.

2 years ago today, my due date had already came and went. Little did I know that it would be 5 more days before we would meet our baby boy. Little did I know that I would spend 48 hours in active labor before we met our baby boy. And little did I know that I'd have to have a c-section in order to meet our baby boy.
These last 2 years have been so awesome. We have been blessed so much having him in our life! Oh how this boy entertains us; to say he is the light of our life would be an understatement. Jon and I spend so much time laughing at him, and with him. He's smart. And he's funny.
The other day Cameron and I were in the check out lane at Wal-Mart. He was being quiet and well behaved, but the cashier mentioned that he looked very ornery. I laughed, because he absolutely is and he gets that "look of ornery-ness" from his dad. He is so much like him and that's quite alright with me. =)
Since Cameron's switch from the crib to his toddler bed, he now gets himself out of bed in the morning, opens his door, then opens our bedroom door, yells "hi momma!!", climbs in our bed, gives me a big hug and kiss, climbs over to dad, says "hi dadda!!!" and gives him a big hug and kiss. I can't imagine a better start to the day. He is very generous with hugs and kisses, and loves to snuggle.
I can't wait for him to be a big brother. The other day we swaddled his monkey and pretended it was baby sister. He held "her", carried her, body slammed her, and even fed her milk.
Once he gets past the jealousy I think he'll have towards his new sister, I think he'll be so glad she's around. I love him so much, and it's hard to imagine loving another baby the way I love him.
Sunday, his actual day of birth, we'll be having a party for him. I can't wait!
He's about as obsessed as humanly possible with trains right now, so we're doing a train themed part. I designed these invitations, and the little logo on them will also be on a few other party items as well.
I'll definitely have (and share) a lot of pictures after the party!

Around the homestead.

We're getting a little closer to finishing the 3rd bathroom we started. When we initially started, I wanted it done by Thanksgiving, and I set such a quick finish line because I didn't want this project lingering over our heads at Christmas, or worse, during the arrival of our new baby. It's not looking like we'll finish by Thanksgiving, but we'll definitely finish it for the weekend after, for Cameron's birthday party.
Jon's friend who has been an invaluable handyman through the whole process, has somewhat bailed on us this week for a nice paying side job, so we're trucking along without him. (Note that when I say "we", I mean "Jon under my supervision." Ha!) "We" cut all the tile and have it laid out- now it just needs to be set and grouted. "We" are doing a pretty good job for never having done it before! After the tile is set, all we really have left is to place the toilet, vanity and fixtures. I'll sure be glad to have this project done, as our basement has just been a mess since we started.

As a reminder, here's where we were:
And here's where we are now:

I'm totally aware of the horrendous picture quality of these; I had my zoom lens on my camera and was too lazy to switch it out, but you get the idea.

As soon as the tile is set, I want to repaint the walls. I had picked the neutral color with the notion that we were going to put dark/cherry laminate flooring in instead of tile. We had quite a bit leftover from our kitchen project, so I thought we could use it up. At the last minute (after we'd already painted) we decided to go with tile, and it happens to be pretty much the same color as the walls. We're almost there though, and I know how we'll be spending our holiday weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday hustle and bustle!

This year, much like last, is turning out to be a busy holiday season! And since 3 out of the 4 members of our family (me, Cameron and soon-to-arrive baby sister) have birthdays within 3 weeks of Christmas, I don't anticipate any lack of business or activity around the holidays for years to come!
This weekend, I'm co-hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law. This is her sixth baby, so we're having a diaper shower since she doesn't need much else. I decided that there was no better time to attempt my first diaper cake- and I think it turned out pretty cute! There are definitely things I'd do differently (construction wise) but I'm very happy with it seeing as how I didn't follow any sort of direction.
Eek- I didn't realize it was a little off-centered until I took a picture. Oh well! I love the bear up top. I got it at Hobby Lobby and thought it would compliment the cake nicely.

We've got a lot going on in the G household; I'm trying to finish up a few things in the kids shared room, the downstairs bathroom is coming along well, Cameron's birthday planning (3 weeks!), Christmas shopping (90% done!), and decorating (I started pulling out a few things today). I don't typically decorate until Thanksgiving, but I'm over my fall decor and anxious for a change. The Christmas tree won't go up until the first week of December though.
How about you- have you started Christmas shopping or decorating?

Weekend snippets & pictures

Sunday morning before church, we headed to a local park so I could take some fall pictures of Cameron before all the leaves fall off the trees. I got quite a few shots that I love- and these will most likely serve as his 2 year pictures since his birthday is just 5 weeks away!
I'm not a fan of pictures of myself these days, but I like this one Jon took of us. It required a bit of doctoring but the lighting is fun.



Can you believe it's November already? It's starting to get pretty chilly at night here, so I'm going to put our Christmas flannel sheets on the bed this week. =)

Cameron got his first pet this weekend- a blue betta fish! His name is Alex (which is also the name of his 5 year old cousin who lives a few houses down). I love this tank, because it's small, but is still filtered and has a night light. I also think the quiet hum of the tank will be soothing when they sleep at night- especially for baby sister.
Cameron was a gorilla for Halloween this year! I found the costume at Kid-to-Kid (a second hand shop) for just $10 bucks. He really didn't care so much about the costume- but he didn't want anyone touching or holding his pumpkin bucket.
This one was taken last week, when he kept the hood on for more than one second. The sprinklers came on, and he decided to test it out in the water.

He was pretty mad that we kept trying to put his hood on and take pictures. This is the best we got last night!
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Construction Zone: a few project updates

I mentioned last week that we were going to put a 3rd bathroom in (in our basement) and we are now going full speed with that project! This is the current state right now; and while it doesn't look like much (okay, so it doesn't look like anything), you should know that this room was FILLED from the floor to the ceiling with junk, boxes, Christmas stuff, and just crap. Clearing all that out was a feat in itself! There weren't even the 2x4's you see- It was just one, big open room. So the past few nights, Jon and his friend have been working on the plumbing, electrical and constructing the walls.

Meanwhile, I've been at a few wood related projects myself.

I finished the bookcase I started back in July, and I also decided to squeeze in one last project before this baby comes! I wanted Cameron to have a table for his trains, so I made him this play table that can also be used for legos, drawing, and other crafty type things for the kids. This will be his main Christmas present- along with some new train tracks and stops to add to his collection.

A little edge to prevent toys and trains from rolling off.

This was definitely my quickest project to date- from cutting the lumber to finish took about 2 1/2 hours. Both of these pieces are ready to be stained! Here's PBK's version for $349 (yikes!)- my version only cost roughly $60 (after I finish the carts).


What's nice about the size of this table, is that it fits the Thomas the train mats you can buy for those specific tables, since the tables are exactly the same size. Perfect! I'm going to build the carts that slide underneath the table too, since I have so much scrap lumber. But after that, I think I'll take a break for a little bit. It's funny the looks I get from construction-type workers buying stuff at Lowe's- like "what on earth is this huge pregnant girl doing in the lumber section?" I just smile and keep on pushing my lumber cart. I've become quite a regular at Lowe's- building has definitely become an addiction and hobby!

Why Hello!

Wow, it's been an entire month since I have blogged! I have been keeping up with all my favorite blogs, but I've really left my own on the curb for awhile. Here's whats been happening around our house:

About 3 weeks ago, we were hit with a massive hail storm. Usually when we get hit with hail, it's pea sized, and lasts for about 5 minutes. This time, it lasted nearly an hour straight, and we got hit with softball sized hail. It was pretty insane. At one point I insisted we all go into the basement in case a hail stone came through the ceiling (and they did at a few homes). Everyone in the area is getting an entire roof replacement- even new plywood; we had about 13 holes in our roof.

Since we're going to have a little insurance money left over from all the damage to our home from the storm, we're going to put in a 3rd bathroom (in the basement) in our house. Hopefully we'll have it done in the next few months! I know this will be an attractive extra to potential buyers when we sell our home in the next few years.

I am about a week from my 3rd trimester! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. To be honest, I haven't really had time to think about being pregnant up until this point, though I'm starting to get to the uncomfortable stage where breathing becomes a luxury.

I'm really excited for the holidays to get here. I can't wait for Christmas (probably because I'm due a few weeks after!) and I've already got a good start on my Christmas shopping.

As crazy as it seems, we're going to have a 2 year old on our hands VERY soon! I'm already in the planning stages for his birthday which is less than 2 months away.
This weekend I am FINALLY going to finish the bookshelf I started many months ago (yeah, my husband doesn't believe it either). It's been sitting in the garage for so long, and I probably only have a few hours worth of work on it. It's now or never!

Thanks for reading! =)

24 hour Vegas review

As I mentioned in the last post, we were in Las Vegas literally for 24 hours (24 hours and 45 minutes to be exact). Obviously we would have liked to stay longer, but I consider us lucky to have the time we did! This was my 3rd time to Vegas, so I had seen and done a lot of things already.

I arrived 30 minutes late into McCarran airport on Saturday, Sept 11th. I was a little flustered that a plane change in Denver (for mechanical reasons) was cutting into my already-too-short vacation, but I am thankful that I arrived safely. Jon had arrived in Las Vegas earlier that morning after a 20-ish hour drive from Wichita. The customer he moved there let us use his car while we were there which ended up being really awesome, so we didn't have to pay for cab fees at all. He picked me up at about 5:00pm from the airport, and we were off to our room at the Wynn Encore!
Before I tell you about our time in Las Vegas, I want to share with you my review of the Wynn Encore. It's pretty much a given that anyone who walks into the hotel and it's rooms would be blown away by the beautiful and intricate European decor. But at a second and third glance, it becomes obvious that the attention to detail in these hotels are unmatched. No aspect of the design of this hotel was overlooked. The hotel staff, to say that they were amazing would be an understatement. EVERY single staff member was happy to direct you or help you. If you ask where something is, the staff member would take you there, not just point you in the right direction. I have never seen a hotel staff go out of their way for the guests like the staff at the Wynn. No request was too big or little. When we checked out, the concierge asked us if he could check us into our flight and print our boarding passes for us. Truly amazing service. They treated the guests like royalty. I highly, highly recommend a stay there.
Even though we didn't have a view of the Strip, we had a beautiful view of the mountains that Vegas sits in. So breathtaking!

When we arrived at our hotel, we quickly got ready and headed out. I had made dinner reservations earlier in the week for Olives at the Bellagio after hearing so many great things about the restaurant. Olives overlooks the Bellagio water fountains, so you get to see the fountains while you dine.
The Bellagio fountains still give me chills- even after seeing it over a dozen times! The restaurant was beautiful and the service was great. The food was wonderful, though a little pricey (which one can expect in Vegas!). I loved the olive tapenade they serve you while you wait for your food. If I were to recommend this restaurant, I'd probably suggest going for lunch instead of dinner (but be sure to catch the fountains at night!).

From dinner, we walked to the Venetian where we saw the Blue Man Group. (Side note: I started the night off wearing these really cute rhinestone sandals that weren't too high. I'm so glad I put a pair of trusty black Havaianas flip flops in my purse cause I put them on after about 45 minutes. Saved my life and I didn't give a crap that I wore them with my fancy little skirt!) The Blue Man Group was GREAT! Very entertaining and funny, and had some awesome music. It was about a 2 hour show, a lot of which was audience interactive. They pulled a girl up on stage to be a part of the show which turned out to be really funny. I'd definitely recommend the show (even for older children). We had great seats, but I'm really glad we didn't sit in the "poncho section." Gets kinda messy at times. =) We walked back to our car at the Bellagio and after a day of traveling, I was ready to lay my head down on that luxurious Wynn bed! Mental note: next time I buy pillows for our bed, I'm going to spend more than $8 a pillow. Those pillows were amazing.

We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at The Buffet at the Wynn. I have never been to a buffet this ridiculously large with so much amazing selection! The food was wonderful- and it wasn't just breakfast- they had pastas, sushi, desserts, etc.

After breakfast we played a little roulette, and I'm sad to report that I did not have beginners luck! We walked across the street to The Fashion Show Mall to do a little shopping. I liked this mall because it wasn't just upscale retailers. As much as I like to walk into Hermes and Burberry, those stores "slightly" out of price range for this mostly stay-at-home mom. I ended up getting a really great purse (that will be big enough for a diaper bag as well), and a Swarovski bracelet to replace one that I had, loved and lost.

We were quickly running out of time, so we headed back to our hotel where we had lunch at WaZuzu (an Asian restaurant). We weren't really too hungry from that large brunch we had, but we had a dining credit and didn't want to waste it. I had sweet and sour chicken, and Jon got Mongolian beef- both were excellent but the Mongolian beef was better! Jon also got some sushi and even though it was cooked, I was scared to try it. =) After our late lunch, we sadly had to go back to our room and grab our bags to catch our 5:45 flight. We arrived home at midnight, and picked Cameron up the next morning. We missed him! A lot of kids we saw in Las Vegas reminded us of him in someway. He was the topic of a lot of our conversation!

We had such a WONDERFUL time (and did I mention much needed?) just the two of us. It was nice to get away knowing it will be quite some time before we could do it again without our kids (thanks again, mom!). I'm already ready to go back! Maybe for my 30th birthday... =)