Women's Wellness Retreat

Friday night, Macie, Brian, and I all did separate things. Macie spent the night with Grammie and Pops, Brian had a few friends over to grill and hang out by the firepit, and I headed to Murpheysboro, Ill for a Women's Wellness Retreat with my Health Club. We all had a great time!
My cousin, Roxie, lives in Murpheysboro, so we went to stay with her. We did a lot of awesome things, but the main purpose of going was to go to the Farmer's market on Saturday morning. Since we were staying the night, we added a ton of other fun stuff to the agenda....making yummy, healthy, delicious food, ear candling (more about that below), going to her local co-op, lessons on herbs, and plenty of girl talk.

Roxie had signs on the door to welcome us

Roxie always talks about how her kitchen is big enough for 12 people to dance in it...there were only nine of us, but we had to dance!

All of us had our ears "candled". Basically, you buy these special candles, light them and they pull all lot of wax and crap out of your ear. Then, you cut open the candle to see what came out. I have to say that I was very skeptical at first, but it was amazing how much junk came out of my ears and how much better I could hear!! It was so disgusting....I have a close up but it literally gags me to look at it!
Here are all of our candles...

We had a contest to see who had the most junk and that was Wendy. However, I had to most unusual because I had a bunch of junk and WATER!! No wonder that ear is always bothering me. Who knows how far in there it was!
Dylan was ready to go to the farmer's market!

Our group at the market
All of the stuff that we bought!!

Roxie has ugly green tile in her bathroom, so she bought some dry erase markers and encourages all of her friends and visitors to write quotes on the wall. What a neat idea!!

All three of us had a great time, but it was nice to be all together again!!

It's About Time!

Macie has FINALLY rolled over from her back to her belly. She has been able to roll over from her belly to her back for quite some time now and she gets very aggravated that she can't get back over. On Tuesday, Macie rolled over at my mom's house but no one saw it. Today, she rolled over in her crib but I didn't see it. Then, she rolled over when we were playing on the floor and Annie saw it but I didn't:( I laid down on the floor for a minute and I missed it! Oh well....hopefully, I will see it soon. I'm excited that she is finally reaching this milestone, but at the same time, I know that she is going to be all over the place before I know it!!

A Visit from Grammie and Pops

This afternoon, Grammie and Pops came to Evansville for a short visit. We went to lunch at Logans and then headed to our house for a bit to play. They brought Macie a new toy...of course. She is a bit young for it, but she loved it anyway! Thank you Grammie and Pops!!!

Macie and Grammie
Pops had to join in

Macie with her new discovery table

Pops loves to play with Macie

Congrats Timothy!

Today, we went to my cousin, Timothy's, graduation party. He graduates from Mater Dei today and will head to UE in the fall. It was a great party with live music! Tim (that is what he is called now, but it is hard for me...) plays the drums, his friend came over to play the keyboard, and Mary's husband, Joe, plays the electric guitar. My cousin, Katie, even sang a little bit. It was a lot of fun!

Joe and Tim jammin'
Olivia looking as sweet as can be

Proud Uncle Nate holding Hannah while Mommy feeds her

Hanging out with Grandpa

Hannah giving Macie a kiss goodbye

Olivia gave Macie kisses, too!

Swimming

A parent at Holy Spirit was kind enough to give Macie a pool to play in this summer. It is pretty big, has a slide, a drain, and a place to hook up the hose for a sprinkler. We put Macie in it for a bit this morning and she loved it!!! I know that we will have a lot of fun in that pool this summer!

Daddy got in the pool with Macie
This turtle is her favorite toy. It swims in the water.

My sweet baby

Wheee.......

1.8

I have only lost 1.8 pounds since starting the Biggest Loser Challenge. My scale said more than that, but the official scale didnt. Oh well....I guess I better get movin' if I want to win this thing!

On a happy note, I am officially out of school for the summer!! Macie and I will get to spend a lot of time together and I have a LONG list of projects I am hoping to complete. We will see how it goes!

Here are a few random pictures from the last week or so...

Aunt Allie put an army hat on Macie in Walmart on Saturday night...I think she is already trying to recruit her!!
Macie and the boys are so cute together. I look forward to when they can play together.
As long as Macie doesn't hurt them!!!

Aunt Annie helping to make Auntie Anne's pretzels at home last weekend.

Brian bought me a pretzel kit back when I was first pregnant and we just got around to making them. I have to say they were very good and close to the original!

Photo Shoot

Here are just a few of the many awesome pictures that my sister took of Macie. As you can see, it was a very hard decision picking...

What a mess!!

Macie was really cranky and rubbing her eyes, so I rocked her for a bit and then laid her down for a nap. She heard my dad come in to take a peek at her, so she decided to cry until we came back. I put her paci in and then let her fuss for a bit before going back to check on her. When I went back in, this is what I found. What a mess...

The Biggest Loser

My Wednesday Night Health Club has decided to have a "Biggest Loser" competition. It costs $10 to enter and the winner gets $100. It is only a 6 week competition and you must lose at least 9 pounds. The person who loses the most weight wins. If there is a tie, it will come down to percentage lost. I have entered the contest because I really want to win $100. However, I do need to lose some weight too, so it will be good for me no matter what.
Wish me luck!!!

7 Months Old!

Yesterday was Macie's 7 month birthday. As promised, I took some pictures of her with the duck. I am so glad that I did this because it is so cool to watch her grow and see how big she is getting.
Here are some highlights and updates from the last month:

• Macie is sitting up all by herself and she can very easily roll over from her belly to her back but she still isn't rolling over from her back to her belly.
• She has started crying when someone leaves the room and shouts out to get your attention if you aren't paying attention to her.
• She is very amused by the dogs and laughs out loud more often.
• She still loves tv and hates the car seat. She has started pushing herself up so that she doesn't have to sit in it.
• She has been experimenting with her voice, but she still hasn't made any consonant sounds.
• She is still a pure joy and the absolute love of our lives. We think that she gets cuter by the minute if that is even possible!!

Just chillin' by the duck...

I love the crossed ankles!
I'm so big!!!

OMG!!!

OH MY GOODNESS......my sister just brought over a cd of pictures from Macie's photo shoot last weekend and the pictures are absolutely adorable!!!!! I have no idea how I am supposed to pick some. I may post a sneak peak later...
On another note, Macie is 7 months old today!! I will take her duck pictures and post them tomorrow.

First Official Mother's Day

Today was my first official Mother's day. Last year I was pregnant and I can't believe that I am really a mommy. I have wanted to be a mommy my whole life and I have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl! Brian and Macie got me a beautiful heart diamond necklace and a blog book (basically a hard copy of the blog). I loved both gifts, but I told him that no gift he could ever give me would be as awesome as the one God has given me. Macie is a true blessing in my life and I am so grateful to have her!
We celebrated the day by Brian letting me sleep in and then we packed up and headed to my parent's house. Allie took some more pictures of Macie, which I can't wait to see, and then my parents offered to take Macie with them to my aunt and uncle's house while we went to Brian's softball games. After the games, we headed out there too. For the last couple of years on Mother's Day, we make a little competition out of the food. We vote on our favorites and give out prizes in several different categories. My chocolate chip cheese ball won a third in the appetizer category and a fourth in the dessert category. I guess people didn't know which way to vote! My dad tied for first place in the grilled category, but my mom was the big winner of the day...she one three first place ribbons!!!
Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there!!

A Mommy and Me pic
Mom showing off her ribbons

Macie and I showing off our ribbons

Giddyup Horsey!

After running some errands this morning, we headed to Sturis to celebrate Mother's day and Pops' birthday. We went to lunch at The Feedmill, which is a favorite of Brian's, and then hung out at their house for the day. We brought them gifts, but we weren't expecting Macie to get a gift. Aunt Katie just couldn't wait any longer to give Macie a cuddle 'n ride horse that she bought for her before she was even born. It is adorable and Macie loves it!! Aunt Katie was even promising her rides on a real horse when she gets bigger. It will be a while before I'm ready for that! Pops loved the new shirt that we got him (he is wearing it in the picture). But even more than that, he loved his time with Macie!!

Look how big she looks....
Before long, she will be scooting across the room on it!
Giddyup!!

Meeting Lillian Piper

Last night, my good friend, Brandi, had her baby. Lillian Piper Coomes came into the world weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. They are calling her Lily. She is cute as a button and looks a lot like her big sister and brother. Bailey was very willing to give Lily away, but he assured us all by saying, "But I do love her." How cute!!

What a sweetie!!Before we left, Lily had her eyes wide open and I couldn't resist the photo op!
Bailey was playing with Macie and she was so excited. Too bad they wouldn't sit still so this is the best I could do, but I wanted to capture the moment anyway!

Finally!!

I am finally done reading the Twilight series. It took me a little over 2 months to read the four books because of my busy, crazy life. Although I was pressured to read them by some teachers at school and I was very reluctant to do so, I have to admit that I am glad that I did. I thought that each book got better and better. I loved the last book until the last 200 pages. I thought that it drug on and didn't have that great of an ending. Overall, I would recommend the books to anyone. Brian is happy that I am done with the books and so am I! I can now focus on other projects.....scrapbooking here I come!!!