Singin' in the Rain

Brooke's Baby Shower

I was soooo excited to plan Brooke's shower since we have been waiting for YEARS for Baby Hudson Grant to get here!! This was such a special day because there have been so many prayers lifted up for this special child for so long. I was especially an emotional wreck! Brooke's husband, Johnathan, is my husband's best friend and was one of his roommates at Lispcomb. We have shared so many special memories with them these past 10 years and cherish every single second we are with them! We feel so blessed to be able to share our pregnancies right now. God has brought us Moores' and Akins' a long way from several years ago when we were both wishing more than anything for a precious baby to hold. We are just in awe of our answered prayers!

Andrea, Carrie, Tara, and I hosted Brooke's shower at Tara's beautiful home in Nashville on Saturday, August 14th. We tried our best to add some special little touches to make Brooke's big day even more memorable. We had a wonderful turnout of friends from Harpeth Hills church; Johnathan's mom, grandmothers, and aunts from Bowling Green; Brooke's mom; my mom, and Beth & Jana's mommas. All of these ladies are playing a serious role in helping to spoil Hudson rotten! Ha ha!

Brooke & the hostesses... Carrie, Tara, Andrea, and me

Diaper Cake I made :)
Hudson's name banner I ordered off Etsy.com... the BEST website ever!!

Super cute cupcakes Carrie brought with toppers from Etsy.com

The shower favors were too cute!

They read, "Thanks for swingin' by! Hudson Grant"

Brooke & me... She was 30 weeks and I was 13 :)

Me, Brooke, & Cherie... "Steve's Angels".... Ha! Cherie was the one who started us all on acupuncture! She went first after several years of trying to get pregnant and sweet Brady was born December 2009; then Brooke with Hudson being due October 2010; and then me with baby due February 2011! And the chain keeps on going because all 3 of us have sent several people to Steve to help with infertility. He says he's gonna put us all on his payroll! :)

Sweet gift time! I just couldn't resist this sweet ABC sleeper & matching hat!

LOVE the bib that Andrea made!

Sleeper & hooded blankie from my mom... she just loves buying sweet baby boy things!

Adorable Presley (Carrie's daughter) with Ms. Hargis
Brooke & Jaquatta (Johnathan's mom) showing off the sign Andrea made!

Brooke with Johnathan's grandmothers... so thankful they were able to be there!

Andrea and me acting like we were in 7th grade again! I guess because I looked like it, with my famous side ponytail! :)

Eatin' us some yummy cupcakes!

My mom got a hold of her some sweet babies... Presley (born April 2010) & Wyatt (Tara's baby born May 2010)

Hudson Grant, we have waited LONG ENOUGH, and we can't wait to meet you in October! YAY!

Remembering the Nashville Flood

I ordered us some "I Love Nashville" t-shirts to help raise money to help the victims of the May 2010 flood. A Facebook page was set up to sell these t-shirts and they sold so many that it became very overwhelming and customers had to wait a couple of months to receive their shirts. I ordered pretty early, so we received ours within a month or so. Mason's is pretty big so that he can wear it for a few years and be a little older to where he can understand this piece of history that took place in this birth city. I love wearing my t-shirt to show my love and concern for the city I love so much. Even though we no longer live in Nashville, so many of my family and friends were devastated by the flood and my heart is right there with them as they are trying to rebuild their homes and lives. Our friends from church, the McCleans', and my acupuncturist (Steve) & his wife, are moving back into their homes this weekend after months of renovating them. And that's just 2 families on the long list of people in similar situations. I am so thankful for my family and the blessings God pours down on us. He never leaves us, nor forsakes us, not even through the toughest storms in life!



Please continue to keep Nashville and the other affected areas in your prayers.

15 weeks pregnant in my Nashville Flood t-shirt... The first day of my pregnancy (May 14) was spent helping clean up in the McCleans' subdivision in Bellevue with a group from Greenwood Park, our church here in BG... just 2 weeks after the flood. We had Mason's 2nd birthday party planned for the actual week of the flood and didn't know if we should go on with it and spend that day having fun when so many people were hurting. We decided, for Mason, to go on with his special day on May 8, 2010 (his actual bday was May 11). This flood will always be something that was a part of our children's childhood, yet they didn't even know it at the time.
And a couple of last pictures to leave with you... how in the world could we ever get through trials in life without having moments like these mixed in!??!?!

Andrea & Luke Visit BG!

Mason and I always love it when Andrea and Lukie come and visit! They have come several times since we have moved to Bowling Green and we get into the randomest adventures every time. This time we spent our Friday night at.... the mall! Just like our high school days! :) But this time we had 2 VERY CHALLENGING little boys with us! We ate some yummy Sbarro and bought the boys some matching outfits at Crazy 8 and Gymboree to wear on our upcoming beach trip. Mason and Luke were not in the mood for shopping this night, but it's okay cuz they're gonna look STINKIN' CUTE at the beach and we will forget about the fact that we were pretty much chased out of Gymboree! Thank you. We had these big 'ole strollers in this tiny, tiny space and all these people staring at us like we were in their way. It was the most annoying. Leave us alone, we're just 2 mommies of toddlers in some desperate need of shopping! Oh, I also made some very-much needed purchases in Motherhood Maternity where both Mason and Luke watched me try on bras... thank you. I will definitely be reminding them of that moment when they're 18! Ha! When we got home we had a very fun night of getting the boys ready for bed and then staying up until the wee hours of the morning just talking & catching up and stalking people on Facebook. Another similarity to our growing-up days, except there was no Internet then. Just us calling boys all night hanging up on then and writing down all the boys' names who we had seen at the mall that night and hid from.

The next morning we got up and ate at Fazoli's (where Mason ate BOTH his and Luke's spaghetti) then hit up a little consignment store where we made some more fun little purchases. Then back home to see Andrea & Luke off on their drive back to Nashville.

Mason & Luke's Nighttime Routine

Step 1: Puttin' on pj's then chill in Mason's room for a while (tryin' to wind them down to get ride of some of that energy!)

Step 2: Move the party to the living room for a while where the colors aren't so bright so maybe, just maybe, there's a chance they'll calm down??
Step 3: Brush teeth

Still brushin' teeth 10 minutes later...

Rinsing for the 20th time...

Step 4: Put Luke in the pack 'n play where Mason has to join him for a little bit... within seconds a jumping contest begins...

The boys FINALLY settled down and went to sleep so mommies could stay up talking til 2 am!!

Breakfast time the next morning...

And of course.... photoshoot time!! "Yay!," said Luke!!

Mason comparing the feel of their heads

Hey dude, let's get up and get outta here!

We always love it when our BFF's come and stay a while! Please come back soon! Miss you already!