A Magnolia Christmas

Shawn and I spent Christmas here at home in Magnolia. On Christmas Eve, we went to see Yes Man and then came home to open presents. We couldn't wait until Christmas morning! After we opened presents, we had dinner at Buca di Beppo-our favorite! Given that I managed to pick up a cold somewhere, I slept the first half of Christmas day then got up and we are having enchiladas for our Christmas feast. While we miss being with our families for the holidays, it has been a very nice break for both of us so far. It has been a great time for us to rest and get to spend some time together. Shawn actually has only had one practice so far since he has been off so this is the most time we have had together since the summer. It has been great timing because both of us were pretty worn out and it is nice to have some time for just the two of us before two becomes three!

The candle warmer was a perfect gift given that I am likely to burn the house down one of these days leaving candles burning!

Shawn was pumped about his Pro V1 golf balls-just in time to play on Friday!

Maggie didn't get the call again this year to join Santa's team...so sad!

Babymoon

This Saturday Shawn and I went on a "babymoon" instead of a honeymoon. Since it is a little late for me to be flying anywhere we went to the Houstonian here in Houston. The hotel was beautiful with all of the Christmas decorations up. On Saturday, we both went to the spa and I got a pre-natal massage and he got a deep tissue massage. The funny thing about the pre-natal massage is that one of the best parts was actually being able to lay on my stomach thanks to some special pillows they had! I don't know how relaxing it was for Shawn since his therapist embraced the concept of "deep tissue"-he actually woke up sore this morning! In our room, they had sparkling cider and a gift box of bath products and baby goodies. On Friday, I had driven down and left a present for Shawn for them to have in the room when we got there. I got him a "daddy diaper bag" complete with Florida State baby gear. Even if it is a girl, she will have that tomahawk chop going during football season! For dinner, we went to downtown and ate at Shula's Steakhouse. It was so funny that just by staying at a hotel made us feel like we were not in Houston anymore and truly on vacation.

It is hard to see in the picture, but they had a village complete with a train surrounding the huge fireplace in the lobby.

At Shula's Steakhouse

Maternity Clothes Dilemmas

The further along I get into this pregnancy I continue to discover more and more problems with maternity clothes. The first one I ran across is that drawstring pants are a big risk. When the bow does not untie right and gets in a knot it is impossible to see the knot to get it out! Unfortunately, this discovery was made when I had already waited way too long to find a bathroom! The other discovery is that the bigger I get the harder it is to keep pants up and shirts down-I assure you no one wants to see what is revealed when this happens! Tonya, whenever you are ready to start our business of designing maternity suspenders I am all in! The only solution that I have found to many of the issues that I have run across...WEAR A DRESS(even if it does somewhat look like a tent)!!!!

Thank You!!!

What a fun day! Today I was scheduled to have a ride along with my manager, Robin. We were supposed to make calls to some of my offices this morning and then go down by the Galleria to conduct interviews of the potential temporary reps to fill my territory during my maternity leave. We finished up making calls and then headed toward the Galleria area to get some lunch. When we got down there she told me that there was a problem-she hadn't received the resume of the candidate that was scheduled for 1:30 and HR had been unable to get in touch with him to confirm. She said that we would have to hang out and wait to hear as HR tried to reschedule the other candidates for us. We finally gave up waiting to hear from them and went on to the Grand Luxe for lunch. When the host took us back to our table, there were all the other reps from my district for a surprise baby shower!! They had balloons on my chair, presents everywhere, and a cake! I had absolutely no idea-I LOVE SURPRISES!!!! Thank you so much Houston District!

Rock-a-Bye-Baby

The rocking chair we are using in the nursery has been in the family for a long time-my mom remembers rocking Jaf to sleep when he was a baby in the same rocker! I remember sitting in it in Jerry and Janet's living room when I was growing up and since then it has spent some time in Jaf and Shelly's nursery to rock the girls to sleep. Jerry and Janet were so sweet to let us use it and agreed to it getting a face lift to match our nursery. We can't wait to be able to rock our little one in it!

I put my mom to work while she was here for Thanksgiving!

I still need to find a cushion, but it looks so cute in the nursery!

Shawn helped me make one of the dishes that his mom makes for Thanksgiving.

Just think, the next time we decorate a tree will be for baby's first Christmas!