We had quite a crowd! After a great lunch of grilled chicken (my dad's specialty) and lots of sides, as well as many yummy desserts we headed for the living room: this is almost everyone in the living room... we were getting ready to open gifts! And lots of gifts there were! :-)
Nolan and I were blessed to receive the car seat/carrier we had registered for, as well as the portable swing that my best friend from college swears by! I hope our son enjoys it as much as hers has/does! We also received a lot of cute clothes, including matching ducky outfits that the other 2 cousins also received! (see picture below)
The three of us with our cute ducky outfits for our babies!
Me and Dad
Me, Dad and my brother's family:Kasey, Jayci, Kaleb and Grant
Stephanie, Colin and me(Stephanie was my awesome roommate at Texas A&M for 3 yrs)
I spent Friday with Stephanie and Colin at their house in Pearland on Friday, catching up and hitting up Pei Wei for lunch! YUM!
The next few pictures are of me and old K - 8th grade friends... I moved to Manvel and attended Alvin High School, but since I was going to be home, I made plans to attend West Columbia High School's 10 yr Reunion...
It was great to see and catch up with people, although it didn't seem like too much had changed since 8th grade... same little cliques of people, and not to rock the boat, I visited with a few people outside my usual group of friends, but not too many. Many in another 10 or 20 years the cliques will fade away and people will just mingle with everyone. A lot seemed to have never left W. Columbia, or left and come back.... I had definitely traveled the farthest to attend; although I was really going home for other reasons and attending the reunion just worked out...
It was great to see and catch up with people, although it didn't seem like too much had changed since 8th grade... same little cliques of people, and not to rock the boat, I visited with a few people outside my usual group of friends, but not too many. Many in another 10 or 20 years the cliques will fade away and people will just mingle with everyone. A lot seemed to have never left W. Columbia, or left and come back.... I had definitely traveled the farthest to attend; although I was really going home for other reasons and attending the reunion just worked out...
Sara and me
Erin and meErin started dance and twirling when she was 3, I started around the age of 4 or 5 and we have been friends ever since!
And, our dance/twirling teacher is still in business, she celebrated her 25th year this past year, I found out! Too funny! :-)
As pathetic as this picture may seem, it reminds me of just one of the yummy meals I had in Texas! I have craved this meal from Rudy's: Chopped Beef BBQ Sandwich, Creamed Corn and Oreo Pudding since the beginning of my pregnancy!This was on the way to my Mom's from my Dad's...
I didn't have the camera, but on a trip to Waco with my mom, to find packets of Blue Bonnets for my gardening neighbor who fed and checked on Sandi while I was away, we found a Five Guys! It was delicious and the only thing that would have made the meal better would have been to have Nolan with us... Nolan and I used to live down the road from a Five Guys when we lived in Virginia in '06/'07.
Our (me and Baby Dean) last stop was Sugar Land to visit my Mom's Dad, my Grandfather Hanna!We enjoyed a much awaited meal at Jason's Deli! Last great meal before leaving Texas!
The following week my mom came back to NC with me...
Our first day back in NC, Thursday, was my 25 week and 4 day doctor appointment, followed by an impromptu visit to the new L&D floor of the Naval Hospital. We were offered a tour of a birthing suite and WOW! it was huge and extremely nice! I learned from this visit that Baby Dean will stay with Nolan and I while we are at the Naval Hospital, in our room, unless he has some sort of health issue, then he will go to the nursery.Friday morning we traveled to Wilmington (about an hour drive) to pick up the crib that Nolan and I had ordered back in August. It was after picking up the crib that we found the bedding that we ending up ordering; it should be arriving at our house! Can't wait for Nolan to see it in person!
On Saturday we made a trip to Lowe's to get supplies for the dresser/changer project:
I found this on Lejeune Yard Sales for $100 and although it was white I planned to paint it. I think what I like best about it, is that if we hardly use it for changing Baby Dean, the dresser will no doubt be used! :-)
Before
After... in progress
It is still a work in progress... my mom primed and painted it, so it is looking better already, however it could use another coat of paint and we will need to find new pulls. It was a bit challenging matching it to the crib, which is stained wood and this is obviously a paint color, but I think the color has turned out well... looking forward to seeing what it looks like relative to the crib.
Also on Saturday, 9/18, was the "Kangaroo Court" out in California, an evening event in which Nolan was given his "call sign". I will let Nolan give details about the evening, so please ask him if you would like ;-) but I will at least share what his call sign is: "Homie"
The rest of my week with my mom was filled with odds and ends, but most everyday was filled with great food (she cooked) and the other project I came up with....
I had decided I wanted to try to make my own baby shower thank you cards, so to Michael's we went! With a lot of my mom's help and creativity, we made a little over 50, not one is alike, cards!
I really hope everyone who is so gracious to shower us with a baby gift enjoys the handmade cards - I think they turned out super cute! :-)
He surprised me when he came home a day early!! :-)
Due to the Bell's Palsy he was unable to actually fly an Osprey back from California, so he flew commercially, with a large portion of the mechanics (in his squadron) of the Osprey, and was able to come a day early! Whoop! What a great surprise! I had no idea!
I should wrap this post up, but all in all, I had a wonderful time in Texas, as well as with my mom back here in NC! What a great two weeks; just wish Nolan could have spent it with me, but I was able to talk with him at least each night to share our days with each other, so that was good! :-) It is so great though, to be back home with Nolan (and Sandi) at our home in North Carolina!
Lastly, Nolan's Bell's Palsy is very slowly starting to improve, but we have great faith that his complete recovery is coming over the next month or so... His headache continues to come and go... It will have been 2 weeks on Wednesday... Nolan has put in for leave starting October 1st until the 12th, under the advisement of the squadron, to continue his recovery at home/not at work, so we are hoping to get up to visit Washington DC for the weekend if all goes well at the doctor on the 1st... (Friday is our baby Dean doctor appointment to see how the polyhydramnios is doing...)
PS - 28 week belly photo next Sunday! I have grown a TON, so it should be an interesting one! ;-) haha
Our first day back in NC, Thursday, was my 25 week and 4 day doctor appointment, followed by an impromptu visit to the new L&D floor of the Naval Hospital. We were offered a tour of a birthing suite and WOW! it was huge and extremely nice! I learned from this visit that Baby Dean will stay with Nolan and I while we are at the Naval Hospital, in our room, unless he has some sort of health issue, then he will go to the nursery.Friday morning we traveled to Wilmington (about an hour drive) to pick up the crib that Nolan and I had ordered back in August. It was after picking up the crib that we found the bedding that we ending up ordering; it should be arriving at our house! Can't wait for Nolan to see it in person!
On Saturday we made a trip to Lowe's to get supplies for the dresser/changer project:
I found this on Lejeune Yard Sales for $100 and although it was white I planned to paint it. I think what I like best about it, is that if we hardly use it for changing Baby Dean, the dresser will no doubt be used! :-)
Before
After... in progressAlso on Saturday, 9/18, was the "Kangaroo Court" out in California, an evening event in which Nolan was given his "call sign". I will let Nolan give details about the evening, so please ask him if you would like ;-) but I will at least share what his call sign is: "Homie"
The rest of my week with my mom was filled with odds and ends, but most everyday was filled with great food (she cooked) and the other project I came up with....
I had decided I wanted to try to make my own baby shower thank you cards, so to Michael's we went! With a lot of my mom's help and creativity, we made a little over 50, not one is alike, cards!
I really hope everyone who is so gracious to shower us with a baby gift enjoys the handmade cards - I think they turned out super cute! :-)
He surprised me when he came home a day early!! :-)
Due to the Bell's Palsy he was unable to actually fly an Osprey back from California, so he flew commercially, with a large portion of the mechanics (in his squadron) of the Osprey, and was able to come a day early! Whoop! What a great surprise! I had no idea!
I should wrap this post up, but all in all, I had a wonderful time in Texas, as well as with my mom back here in NC! What a great two weeks; just wish Nolan could have spent it with me, but I was able to talk with him at least each night to share our days with each other, so that was good! :-) It is so great though, to be back home with Nolan (and Sandi) at our home in North Carolina!
Lastly, Nolan's Bell's Palsy is very slowly starting to improve, but we have great faith that his complete recovery is coming over the next month or so... His headache continues to come and go... It will have been 2 weeks on Wednesday... Nolan has put in for leave starting October 1st until the 12th, under the advisement of the squadron, to continue his recovery at home/not at work, so we are hoping to get up to visit Washington DC for the weekend if all goes well at the doctor on the 1st... (Friday is our baby Dean doctor appointment to see how the polyhydramnios is doing...)
PS - 28 week belly photo next Sunday! I have grown a TON, so it should be an interesting one! ;-) haha
