Indiana Trip

Craig and I returned Sat night from an extended (week long!) trip to Indiana.

The trip started off with a *BANG* with a baby shower put together by the best girlfriends/sister I could ask for!!!! Thank you to Jade, Em, Becca, Kim, Sara, Cheryl, Jeni, Nicole and Julie! There were probably around 50 people in attendance, so it was a little crazy, but it was just my style :) Lots of friends and family all in one place! Even Craig's momma was able to be there. Of course, we walked away with some amazing stuff (including a suitcase FULL of maternity clothes provided by my friend Emily). Adorable baby girl clothes, toys, books, blankies, you name it! Along w/ the green stuff and many gift cards. In fact, we spent Sunday afternoon at Babies R Us spending them... We got all of the bedding we needed, including mattress & changing table pad, so Ellie's room is almost done! We'll send pics soon.

The rest of the trip was a fun filled week of driving around the state of Indiana, giving a tour of Indy to Craig & his family, eating awesome Indiana food (Steak N Shake (WHOOO HOO!!), pork tenderloin sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, Osgood Grub Co, The Mayberry Cafe, Aunt Sue's homemade potato salad, Grandma's homemade chicken noodle soup, Donato's pizza and ice cream cake--happy birthday Ian and Nicole!!), visiting with friends, playing with said friends/family's children, holding and kissing babies, touring Madison, petting dogs, shopping (hooray for baby IU cheerleader outfits!), eating some more, fishing, visiting some more, catching up, LAUGHING, and having a fabulous time w/ FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!

We lucked out on the weather too! It rained a bit, but it was in the 50's all week... we heard it SNOWED in Indy on Sunday! Sorry........

We were glad to get home, though, as usual, and see the doggies! They had a relaxing week at home with the new tile floors. The weather here is awesome this week and I get to go to the last day of Spring Training on Wednesday!

We are finishing the tile this weekend (hopefully) once and for all, so I'll update some pics soon.

Here are the pictures from the trip:

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=214301238428469685/l=480132016/g=5766466/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Hugs to all!

I think I'll be a Digital Mom!

Life as a digital mom

March 9: Technology is transforming the lives of mothers in today's modern world. Laura Fortner from CafeMom.com and mommy blogger Heather Armstrong discuss how technology can help ease moms' busy lives.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29594799#29594799

I love dooce.com!

25 Random Things

I already posted this on Facebook, but thought I'd post it here too. It would be nice if Craig would do one, but let's not hold our breath :)

25 Random Things about ME
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I love spotting and/or meeting famous people. Although the only semi-celebs I’ve ever met are: Tim McGraw, John O’Hurley and Bill Bellamy.

2. I regret not moving to Chicago after graduating from IU.

3. I am not scared or nervous to give birth. I know I should be, but I’m not.

4. I still profess my undying love to the New Kids on the Block. I heart Joey.

5. My husband is my best friend and still cracks me up on a daily basis. He is going to be such a great dad!

6. I have an uncanny knack for remembering song lyrics, tv commercial jingles & theme songs and movie quotes. I can almost always win in a game of Music Scene-It. (although Todd and Jeff Cummings will always remain superior at the movie quote game)

7. I love to sing karaoke but am fully aware that I cannot carry a tune!

8. The first time I ever smoked a cigarette was with Darren Shannon at the Peter Gabriel/Lenny Kravitz concert—maybe around 1993.

9. I love the fact that I am still BFF’s w/ my college roommates and East Side girls.

10. I once tricked my sister into believing that she was adopted. (she knows it’s not true now, don’t worry!)

11. I have absolutely no idea what my natural hair color is.

12. My first celebrity crush was on Malcolm Jamaal Warner (Theo Huxtable).

13. Emily and I used to “borrow” my mom’s station wagon before I got my driver’s license. Did we do anything exciting? Nope, we drove to Eastgate Mall and got cookies from the food court.

14. I recently got to look at a cadaver in an anatomy lab and it was fascinating and amazing—it did not make me ill at all.

15. My first car was an Audi 5000. 2 of the doors didn’t open and the sunroof leaked when it rained.

16. I once had a goldfish named Michael Jackson.

17. I love eating healthy and working out but am still overweight.

18. There is no one on the earth that I hate. Stupid people get on my nerves but I’m always willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

19. I won a “Thommy Award” in High School for “Best Supporting Actress” for my captivating performance as Ursula in Bye Bye Birdie. The obsessed, #1 fan of Conrad Birdie. (See # 5--it wasn’t too hard of a character for me to play)

20. I have climbed to the top of Camelback Mountain. On the way up Jeni and I came face to face w/ a gila monster!

21. Polihale Beach in Kauai is probably the most remote place I’ve ever visited.

22. I have a weekly online chat forum w/ a couple of friends to discuss the new 90210 episodes. I do fully realize that I am not a very “deep” person. I like it that way.

23. I secretly want to drive a mini-van! Great gas mileage! Smooth ride! Fun features! Doors that open w/ the press of a button!

24. I wish I could blog for a living. Like www.dooce.com

25. I spent the summer of 1998 living in Florence, Italy and backpacking around Europe. Best. Summer. Ever.

And for good measure.....

26. I love Red Zinfandel (7 Deadly Zins!) and can't wait to get this kid out of me, so I can have a big 'ol glass :)

Breeze's Visit in January

Most anyone reading this would know who Breeze is, but for those who don't, he's one of my good buddies from college! Our group of friends has managed to remain close even though being seperated by many states, marriages, moves, jobs, etc. He moved back to his small town in Illinois a year or 2 ago to help out/take over his family's business (a family-owned pharmacy! wouldn't you love to have that near you!?) and took a MUCH NEEDED break to come play in AZ. We had really warm temps that weekend, so I think it was a success :)

Friday night we picked him up and headed out for tacos & margaritas (I had an O'Douls!)--this is pretty much what I will always take you to do directly from the airport if you come visit me :) Saturday AM, we met up w/ Larry & Lisa for what Larry proposed as an "easy, 1 hour hike" up South Mountain. It turned out to be a 4 hour, NOT easy hike, but it was great exercise--we all needed it and it was gorgeous out. We all got a little sunburnt. Lunch was at Los Dos Molinos--the best/spiciest Mexican food you'll ever eat. Then home for a nap--before we headed out for sushi and the comedy club!!

It was all I could do to stay awake past 12 PM, so we didn't have any late night partying this trip :) But we ate a lot of good food! Craig made us biscuits & gravy Sunday morning and Breeze got to eat some yummy sushi from Ra. He claims there are no good sushi places in a small town in southern Illinois... I can't imagine why? :)

Here's some pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=264461762/a=5766466/t_=5766466

Catching up

Nicole has inspired me to get caught up here on the blog... we've had some fun happenings in Jan and Feb!!! I'm going to post them under seperate titles so I can archive them that way...

Sneak preview:

Jan: Breeze comes to visit!

Feb: Grandma Patterson comes to visit!!!

I would scan some ultrasound pics, but they just aren't the best quality, so not gonna do it.

TX Trip

Howdy folks! Sorry just had to say that in my Texas accent :)

Craig and I went to Dallas 2 weekends ago to visit the in-laws. We had a great time... Have I ever mentioned how much I love my in-laws? I get along wonderfully w/ my mother & father in-law, as well as sister-in-law and adore my nephew Tate! The rest of his family is so great too... We peed our pants laughing (Ok, maybe it was just me peeing--I am pregnant after all!) playing Skip-Bo on Saturday night.

On Friday Tate got to skip school and we relaxed, then went to eat lunch at Steak N Shake! It was GLORIOUS!! It's probably good we don't have that out here, as I think I'd want to eat there every day! We do have In & Out though, so I guess that's a trade off. After we went to lunch we went to pick up Kim at work and the fam went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. It was amazing seeing all of that REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY old stuff! 3000 years old. It's too old to even comprehend. That night we went out for BBQ (we were in Texas after all!). Saturday we relaxed again (well, I did anyway, Scherry cooked her butt off, while the boys went out running errands) until it was time for the shower. Craig's Aunt Helen, Uncle Chuck, Cousin Carly, Uncle Randy, Aunt Ginger & their 2 grandaughters, Brooke & Kyla, PaPa, Myra (Craig's step-gram) & Gram all came over! A good time was had by all. Scherry threw me the most lovely shower I could have ever asked for... and everyone spoiled us w/ adorable gifts for Ellie!

Here's some pics.

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=264651446/a=5766466/t_=5766466