Easter, Fashion and the Baby Bump reveal.

Here are some pics of Easter 2011. If you've read my blog awhile, you may remember this massive bag I made for Cooper's first Easter. It was the size of him then, but worked perfectly this year!

 We had an Easter brunch with my family before they left that day. They came all the way from Georgia and Ohio for Coop's party!

After Church, we took some pics in our backyard.

Coop hamming it up as usual after refusing his adorbs navy loafers for Toy Story flip flops.

Sometimes, self photogs work when your hubs arms are the length of your entire body. Hehe.

The very best fashion is the kind you don't have to pay for. Like this maxi I stole from my sis.

It is sooo comfy and covers up "Baby Sam" quite nicely.

Side note: When I asked Cooper what he wanted to name the baby, he said "Sam". Then I asked if it's a girl, what should we name her? His answer again was "Sam". So until we find out the sex and decide on a name, Baby Sam it is.

Then it was off to the Hubs sis's house for lunch where we took even more pics.

Y'all, I'm pretty embarrassed with this bump. I'm 12 weeks. And I look like I did when I was 24 weeks with Coop. I'm up about 2lbs at this point, but I look so much bigger! I am feeling much better and haven't gotten sick in 4 whole days! Yeehaw! Now if I could eat something other than orange juice, apples with peanut butter and lightly salted Lays, I think I'd be 100%!

Hope you all have a fab weekend!!

3 years went sooo fast!

This is what I remember my sweet baby boy looking like yesterday, and yet, it was 3 years ago.

If you have a desire for the juciness of the birth story, go here and here.  

The first time I held Cooper, I knew love like I'd never known.

His 1st Birthday we spent in Disney World and I didn't know one little man could be so happy! I also didn't know how the past year had gone by so quickly.

That was the last trip we went on before he started walking!

That same trip, we went to GA to my parents house so we could celebrate with them.

Obviously, Cooper's first cupcake. Poor thing was so sheltered that first year.

But it was all over after that!

We were living in a hotel waiting on our house to be built for the big 2. We had a little party at my sis-in-laws house.

And another at my parents house.

The strict no-sugar rules were long gone.

And the excitement on his face for his 3rd Birthday party was simply priceless. Worth every single second of craziness!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cooper William!

I am so blessed to be your Mommy and I love you more than anything!

The Toy Story Party!

Ahhhh, the party! It was a lot of work, but totally worth it. Cooper loved every minute and every detail. My awesome family came and helped with the prep and my sis-in-law took awesome pics that I'll get soon. Here are some of the in-between-the-craziness shots I got.

The adorbs cookies from Cakes by Jodi. She did a fab job on these and I was sooo impressed with her fast delivery when I forgot to tell her we changed party date!

 This was the start of the cake. My sister made it right down to the homemade fondant!

 Showing Cooper the cake for the first time.

 CAKE!

 Birthday banner I got from Paper Circus.

 Mr. Potato Head and Hamm cake pops that kept me up until midnight the night before the party!

Coop wearing his "3" shirt that I made for him and getting ready to open presents.

Love the little friends.

Pizza Planet pizza. (This was a messy post-party pic)

Blowing out his candles. I'm was so proud right here. Hehe.

Inside of the cake, which was very sad to cut!

Anyone want some leftover gummy army men?

Easter Egg Cake Pops!

You still have time to make these adorable treats for Easter!

I am completely in love with Bakerella's cake pops. Go check her out and get inspired!

They are actually pretty easy. Bake 1 box of cake in a 9x13. (I went with funfetti, because seriously, how cute is it?)

When it cools, crumble it up in a big bowl.

Mix in almost 1 container of frosting.

Then it will be nice and gooey.

Shape into eggs and chill, chill, chill.

I used the little candy melts in different colors from Michaels. I melted them in the micro in a tall glass and dipped the eggs on a stick in. (Tip: only take a few out of the fridge at a time. When they soften, they tend to slide down the stick.) The quickly put on your sprinkles because it dries fast! Push the sticks into Styrofoam to let them cool completely and refrigerate until set.

If they don't get eaten before they cool...

And your house is full of springy goodness!

These suckers are seriously good. I served them at our neighborhood Easter egg hunt and they were a huge hit!

Birthday Party in T-4 days!!!

Y'all know that I've gone a wee bit crazy with this Toy Story Birthday party. Well, now that it's 4 days away, I am in full crazy mommy mode. My parents, brother and 2 sisters are coming in on Thursday to help me with the chaos and my sis making a Toy Story cake masterpiece.  

I have gotten a couple things from some amazingly creative people that I just can't resist sharing.

Kelly from Your Life Long Memories made these cute invitations for me. She did Cooper's 2nd birthday announcements that I was in love with, so I was so happy when she offered to do his party invites!

 Then she outdid her self and did thank you tags for me to hang off the goodie bags. Adorbs, right!?

She can do invites, Christmas cards, save the dates, baby announcements and tons more!

 These precious Toy Story fondant cookie toppers are from Cakes by Jodi. She literally creates edible masterpieces! She can make toppers to match tons of different themes and I am just ridiculously impressed with her skills!

Thanks Kelly and Jodi for helping me make this party come to life!

Wordful Wednesday - Storytime isn't what it used to be.

The hubs and Coop got a new Winnie the Pooh book download on the iPad. Cooper loves to "turn the pages" just swiping his finger and I love that we don't have to have 50 million library books everywhere.

It makes me wonder what in the world will our grand kid's bedtime routine will include?

Wordful Wednesday is brought to you by:

Monkey Bread - AKA butteriest breakfest ever.

Don't tell my preggo self that I can't make a recipe with 2 sticks of butter in it. Because this is proof that I can. And you will want to make it too.

The Pioneer Woman's Monkey Bread

Quarter 3 cans of biscuits and shake in a bag of cinnamon sugar.
I realized when the time came to shake it up that I was out of gallon size ziplocks. It would have been a lot easier if I had those since I had to shake in little batches.

Once you put all the biscuits in the pan, melt butter. 2 whole sticks of butter. Just do it. It's delish.

Then add 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Wisk, wisk, wisk until its all mixed and brown.

Pour it all over the biscuits and you're ready to bake.

I don't have a bundt pan, but this would be way prettier in one. Don't worry, its on my Mother's Day wish list.

Once its baked, try to let it cool for 15 minutes until you turn it onto a plate.
I totally picked off the top while I was waiting knowing it would end up on the bottom. Hehe.

The three of us ate almost the whole thing...well, I guess I ate the majority of it.

Monkey Bread

3 cans biscuits

1 cup sugar

2-3 tsp cinnamon

2 sticks butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

 I am beginning to love The Pioneer Woman way too much. I didn't know she uses almost as much butter as Paula Deen and that makes her downright magical.

9 weeks pregnant and feeling...sick.

Thank you all so much for your sweet congrats! We are soo thrilled to be adding to the family and Cooper is so excited about being a big brother!

 

I know I owe you all some details. The first and most exciting thing (I think) is the due date. Ready?

 

11.11.11

 

No kidding. Not planned and probably won't be born that day because I will more than likely be induced, but still so fun!

 

I don't know if I'll post this every week or not, but thought it would be a good way to start.

 

How Far Along: 9 weeks

Size of baby: 1", about the size of a grape or green olive.

Total Weight Gain: Lost 5lbs.

Maternity Clothes: Wearing mostly my normal clothes, but already got out maternity pants and the bella band since they're way comfier. I am shocked at how much faster I'm showing!

Gender: ???

Movement: Nothing yet.

Sleep: Tons. Like I've never felt this tired in my entire life. Being pregnant with a 2 year old is no joke. Hubs is being so great letting me sleep in and Cooper likes to snuggle up and watch a show with me in the afternoons.

What I miss: Feeling "normal", having energy to run errands and cooking.

Cravings: Lemonheads and Zofran

Symptoms: Nausea. Vomiting. More vomiting.

What I’m looking forward to: Eating and not seeing the food afterwards.

I'm adding aversions: Wine, coffee, chocolate. Isn't that nuts? 3 of my favorite things before being pregnant now make me gag at just the smell of them.

I had a very small bit of queasiness when I was pregnant with Cooper, but this is a whole other level of crazy. I am living on saltines and lemonade! The Zofran has helped the vomiting, but not really the nausea. Feel free to give me your anti-nausea tricks, especially if they are something other than my current go-to...sleeping. Hehe. I wake up thinking about nap time!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!

It's time to tell a big secret.