4th of July Weekend

We had a great 4th of July weekend!!! Our best friends from OK came into town for the weekend and stayed with us, The Perry's (Travis, Erin, Emma, and new baby Sam!). We had so much fun and stayed really busy! Friday night, we all went to eat at Shane's favorite pizza place Gusano's and then off to watch the Rogers Fireworks show. The kids had fun and the show was great.
For the 4th of July, every year our culdesac has a street party where we all bring our grills around front, decorate patriotically and eat some really good food! Then we end the night with all the men becoming kids again and shooting the insane amount of fireworks that we spent too much money on =)!! The show was great, if you completely disregard all the extremely, sweaty and scared out of their minds children climbing on their mama's trying to hold ear plugs in =). It was a great way to spend the 4th with our family and friends!! Here are tons of pictures from our event filled weekend!!!

Friday morning - Poppy and Jace took Owen to have his haircut. Now, if you remember the last hair cut, things got out of hand and Owen was completely buzzed! After some threatening from me and Mom, Jake and Jace did really well in making sure he got the correct hair cut AND took pictures....

Handsome boys - Jace is back with Mom and Jake for 6 months and we are happy to have him around again - since he has been back - he got braces and 2 inches cut off his hair -he is growing up fast!!!Pictures from Friday night watching the fireworks show! The Perry's and us have a pact that between Owen and Emma and then Sam and Bree - WE WILL HAVE A MARRIAGE ONE DAY!!!

Owen and EmmaClaire and EmmaMom and JaceOwen found a Bible in the back of the van and was preaching =)This is pretty much what I did all weekend, held baby Sam and LOVED IT!! I am so ready for my sweet angel to get here!!!A shot at our house and the culdesac at the beginning of the 4th of July Party! We have great neighbors with tons of kids, 10 including our 2 all around the same ages!Claire all decked out in her 4th of July gear! Trying for a brother sister shot...I have always loved the kids in red white and blue!There we go =)...Shane grilling away!!Owen being patriotic (NOT taking down my decorations =))Snoozing Sam =)Claire and Emma!Starting the sparklers!

My camera died and I did not get any night shots, but it was great! Just think, next year, we will have an almost one year old little girl dressed in her red, white and blue all over the place =)!! I did realize this weekend, that this pregnant mama is not handling the heat that well and I am starting to slow down some. I have hit it in high gear and starting picking up all the last essentials we need for Bree's arrival! I am 31 weeks and we should see her in 6-7 weeks!!!!

Have a great day!!!

Where my Football and Crowns live!!

So, finally we are almost done with the upstairs! I am so excited to show you what I have been working on for the past months!!! I hate that pictures never come out how you want them, so bare with me!

Now that all three rooms are dedicated to a child, I am able to make the whole upstairs landing for the kids. I have always struggled with how to decorate the hallway as since we moved in, there was always the guest room up there as well. Now that Bree is moving in, I have decorated in a kid friendly and kid functional way. I have used the same AWESOME muralist for all three kids' rooms, their bathroom, and now the landing. Let's first walk upstairs and you can see our fun transformation...

Just as you come up the stairs, you see the landing, yes that is zebra stripes painted on the walls! Amanda at Bibs and Cribs painted us that awesome canvas with Footballs and Crowns =)!Jenny Walker, the painter, also painted "All because two people fell in love" on that first wall above the kids' rooms =)......and each room has the name of it's resident just outside the door (as Shane put it "their own personal nameplates" =))This bench will serve as storage to linens and towels. I got this cute "Look What I Did" plaque at Hobby Lobby.

Mom made the girls this fabulous bow holder to hang just outside the bathroom. It says "hair bling" =)...

A glimpse at their bathroom...Now on to Miss Bree's room! Her room has turquoise walls with black chandeliers painted all throughout. The accent colors are hot pink and red, with black and white...the only things not finished is we have not found the perfect chandelier to hang yet and her changing/dressing table area is not complete.I made that bedskirt! It was a big project, but I LOVED how it turned out!!This table was just an ugly, inexpensive, little outside set from Hobby Lobby. After some red and hot pink spray paint, some tulle and ribbon...a fabulous little place for tea parties =)!! Box made by Scarlett Boutique!Now on to Big Sister Claire's room...

From the door - You see her play area - I did not get pictures but there are some murals on the walls in there. Claire's room was already pink, black and white. I had big plans of completely changing it. But as we worked on little B's room, Claire loved it and wanted her room the same. I loved it too and I thought it would be fun to have the contrasting rooms! So I just added turquoise and red and some more fluff and now we have the big girl version!I made these really cute toppers for each of her bed posts - really easy and inexpensive! Mom made her that precious box, her dream box! She should post about it soon!!

Claire got a tulle bed skirt too - Cooper and Oscar love it =(...I recently showed Owen's room back when he got his big boy bed, but he followed me around saying "My room, ONENS room" =)...so here are a few pics. His murals are a treasure map. Each island and water is named after a last name in our family. Hope you enjoyed the tour!! I am so proud of it!! I love the girls' rooms so much, I have considered moving Owen in with Shane downstairs and me moving up here with them =).

Have a great weekend and happy 4th!!!!

Mid Week Update!

I had a Dr's appt yesterday, my 30 week appt (that does not even seem real)! My Dr is actually on vacation, but I met with another Dr just to check my progression from last time, the lovely weight, measuring, heart beat, the usual. I only gained a pound since week 27, and apparently now that is not enough. I am measuring okay, but they want me to start eating some more protein and put on at least 10-15 more pounds by 37 weeks. I have to admit, I am not really crazy about the notion, but it is for Miss Bree as this will help prevent preterm labor. Apparently, low weight gain can induce labor. I have been having blood sugar issues in the middle of the night (I thought it was because of all the Tylenol I have been taking for this insert your favorite cuss word here toothache that I am in denial from), but apparently I am experiencing some kind of syndrome where I need to get up and eat!! So, now at 3am, I have to get up and have a nice, hearty snack. I have a feeling the weight is going to come on no problem =)! She is very active and was literally kicking and fighting the heart beat detector thing (you would think being my third kid I would be more technical savvy, NOPE). We go next week to see the little angel baby in the cool 3D / 4D ultrasound! Can't wait!! We then go back to the Dr in 3 weeks for my final ultrasound (hopefully) to check the fibroid tumor, go back the next week to see him again and start checking for progress...REAL PROGRESS!! Can you believe we are almost there!!?? Shane and I had to officially sit down with our calendars yesterday and make sure everything was planned accordingly with travel, etc. She is going to be here very VERY soon!!! If you saw her closet, we are starting look ready!! I even bought the baby bag this past weekend and something about that, made me very anxious! I will post pics of the nursery hopefully next week as we still have some final touches...

We have been REALLY busy this week with VBS! Tonight is the final night and I will post pics tomorrow of the kids in their VBS shirts and all the festivities tonight! Tonight Claire is having her very first sleepover with her buddy Halle that has tagged along all week with Claire. Big deal for a 5 year old!!

Here is a pic of the girls Sunday night, the first night. Owen went too, but he was asleep when we got there...

After VBS Sunday night, we went and watched the Fireworks show at Mom and Jake's church - here are the kiddos before the show sitting in the back of Shane's car...Here is where Owen sat during the show =)...tough guy huh!?