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!