first craft show

I realized I posted pre-craft show and not post-craft show.  Well, it was a success!  I shared a table with my friend Mary (who makes gorgeous jewelry!) and we both made a profit, even after our entry fee.  We were both pleased as we weren't expecting to sell anything!  So here we are with our little set-up (ps check out the homemade banner):

Super cute right?!

you don't choose your family...

... they are God's gift to you.  And so blessed are we that we have such a wonderful, thoughtful, giving and caring family!  Little Sharkbait has already been the recipient of so much love, and for that we are forever grateful.  So we just wanted to give some shoutouts where they were due, and because baby things are so cute...

Aunt Kelly, Uncle Kevin (and all 7 cousins) sent along this fun countdown calendar and an adorable puppy blankey (No, Winston, it's not a chew toy)

***They also sent Patrick a recordable storybook for his birthday.  The story is "Guess How Much I Love You" and I can't wait for him to get home and read it out loud the exact same way Sharkbait will hear it every night while Dad is off being a hero.***

 Grandma & Grandpa gave us our first little outfit (jammies!) and a super soft blanket

Aunt Christy and Aunt Jamie sent a cute ultrasound frame that can be personalized (right now it says "coming soon") and "The Belly Book" a tradition they are sharing with me (in which I immediately filled with info from the past 3 months)

Meanwhile, Mimi and Bepa are busy at their new house building an apartment for me and Sharkbait to move into when Patrick leaves, whenever that may be... We've already picked out paint colors!  Don't know what we'd do without them... and everyone else who loves us so much!  Thank you times infinity to everyone :)

Oh, and I can't forget all of the Wolfe St. Aunties who insisted couldn't resist rubbing my "belly" when they visited.  And our dear friend Ms. Eileen gave us a sweet (and authenticated) Peter Rabbit stuffie, plus the first funds towards Sharkbait's first piggy bank (which was won in a card game... and I am under strict instructions to only add to the piggy bank money that I win gambling... I am mother of the year already)

Disclaimer:  If I failed to mention your personal outpouring of love for us, I am sincerely sorry.  Pregnancy Brain is not a myth as I am coming to find out.  I am more and more frequently forgetting things, the scariest of these 'things' would be forgetting to finish my sentences.  So it is not that you are not loved, it is simply that I forgot you.  No offense.

4 months down...

5 months to go!

And so begins the 3rd countdown for my little blog here... the first of which being Patrick's 10 month deployment in 2009, the second being our wedding in July 2010, and of course this one is until Sharkbait's arrival.

As we are 24 short weeks away from parenthood... well at least I am.  Patrick will still have about 6 months to wait before he even meets the little one... I can't believe how fast it has already flown by.  I think that Patrick's impending departure is sort of a blessing in disguise.  While I'm sure most moms-to-be are counting down the days to not be fat anymore, I am finding myself wishing the days would slow down because I am not ready to have my husband leave.  Which of course is only making said days go faster.

At this point in time I have no real "belly shots" (sorry for those of you who may have been hoping).  But I did take a picture with Patrick the night he left for pre-deployment training so we could compare it to when he gets home in about a month or so.  I will post something when we have the comparison.

As far as an update, which most of you probably don't care about...
- I am somewhere between 16 and 17 weeks (the Dr's have given me conflicting reports)
- We are officially 10 days away from the next ultrasound which will tell us if we will have a blue or pink nursery (in actuality it won't REALLY be one of those colors, but at least we can buy coordinating accessories)
- We won't actually find out if it's a boy or girl until Patrick returns home as it is my plan to go to the ultrasound and not look and have the technician write it on a picture and stick it in an envelope for us to open together
- So far I haven't gained a single pound**... which I am very excited about... however I know that one morning, out of no where, I will wake up and roughly be the size of the moon

That's all for now... off to get myself another snack!

**Update... approximately a week after this post I have discovered my insatiable appetite so I guess I won't have to worry about that gaining no weight thing anymore.  Darn.

flowers flowers everywhere

I'm getting ready for my very first craft fair this weekend and I may or may not have spent too much time on this banner and not enough time on my flowers... but it's so cute, right?!

I have enlisted the help of my wonderful mother to help me make this and add the finishing touches on the flowers.  If it weren't for her I doubt I'd have anything to show at the fair!  Thanks mom!

low key bday

Yesterday was Patrick's birthday.  And in typical military fashion, it was yet another holiday marred by something.  In our case, this something was (is) pre-deployment training.  

Jack is helping Dad pack... or trying to tell him not to leave us

So THIS is what turning 27 looks like...  Oh wait, you're birthday party didn't look like this?

We did do a little bit of celebrating though.  Patrick got to be as lazy as he wanted since it was his day.  I let him sleep in until about 12:30.  Until his pregnant wife begged for sustenance... then I let him take me to lunch wherever he wanted.  And after all that we even had cake!

It looks gross because it has the "coconut pecan" frosting that Pat loves, but my icing skills are fantastic, aren't they?

 Poor Patrick had to be subjected to me singing him "Happy Birthday" a capella and alone

  

Too bad by the time we got around to the cake it was just about time to leave for base and Pat was only hungry for one little piece (of which he gave half to the dogs - you know so they could share in the celebration...)

So here's to you Hubs... Happy Birthday!  I (we) love you and I hope to hear from you soon!  See you in May!

honoring ireland

Every year Emerald Isle, NC pays homage to its namesake, the original "Emerald Isle", in a big way.  This year was the 20th annual St. Patrick's Day Festival on the island.  And also this year, some of my bestest friends came down for the party!  Four of my fellow Wolfe St. roomies trekked down south for the extravaganza, and I hope that we showed them a good time!  We missed you three that couldn't make it.

The festival seemed bigger this year then it was last year, and it included everything from a beer tent/garden (don't worry I didn't partake) to 3 stages with live music (one of which being karaoke), tons of food and booths with everything under the sun you could buy.  My favorite part, not surprisingly, was the petting zoo!

My favorite parts of the weekend, include (but aren't limited to) the shark attack at the E Club, and our group nap...  I quickly jumped in there on the end with the dogs (and Patrick too!)

Love you girls!

meet sharkbait (oh ha ha)

For those of you who aren't die hard Finding Nemo fans (basically if you weren't my roommate in college) you might not know who Sharkbait is.  Well he is actually Nemo.  Sharkbait is the name given to Nemo at his "induction ceremony" in the dentist's tank.  This little clip shows the scene (which is a Wolfe Street fave).  I know it's long, but if you skip to 1:50 in the video you'll get the general idea...

Now this post isn't really about Finding Nemo.  It's about our own Sharkbait.  With me loving this animated classic, and both of us being saltwater fish enthusiasts, the nickname Sharkbait just seemed right.  The following photos document Jack and Winston meeting Sharkbait.

In typical Jack fashion, he licked it (can you see his tongue?)

And in typical Winston fashion he gave it a little nose bump

The piece of paper isn't actually Sharkbait; it is a picture of Sharkbait.  Or rather, and ultrasound of Sharkbait.  Yep, that's right, I said ultrasound.  Sharkbait just so happens to be our baby!  We are very excited about this little addition, who should make his/her appearance sometime between September 13-17 (the Dr's have changed it on us).  Not that the change matters, Dad still won't be here.  Sadface.  But he will be off keeping our country safe, and we are proud of him for that!

In the meantime, we have lots of things going on, and I have a feeling that these next 6 months are going to fly by and we'll be meeting little Sharkbait in no time!

Sharkbait ooh bap ah doo...