Fredericksburg, Family and Furniture

Fredericksburg

In late July, my mom, sis and I hit the road for Fredericksburg! We shared old family stories, lots of laughs, excellent dining, and of course, a little shopping. The hotel we stayed in had a great pool and was just fantastic after a minor A/C issue. We had such a fun time just enjoying each other's company. Mom, Priss (as we call Kristin), and I haven't spent a weekend together like that in forever - it's one of those times I'll treasure forever. Thanks, Mom! :)

Here's a couple pics of the purchases. We did horribly on the people pics this trip!

Kristin and I LOVE Dr Pepper! We stopped in Dublin (home of DP) on the way. I got this shirt and she got some Dr. Pepper cake mix. I got Matt some DP bbq sauce - delish!

I got this book for Matt to read to Baby Payne. It's like Goodnight Moon. :)

This is a present from Mimi (Mom). I cannot wait to see Baby Payne in this!!!

Family
The next weekend, Matt's sister, Annie and her hubby, David, came in town for their annual visit. A few years ago we jokingly started calling it Wild Turkey Week (long story). Since Annie and I are both pregnant, we renamed it Mild Turkey Week. Aren't we cute? Ha ha! :) Despite the new name, we had a great time. We spent time at PK lake, went to Hurricane Harbor and ate way too much delicious, yet awful-for-you food. We love Annie and David and can't wait until next year's visit!

Annie and her pup, Shelby

Matt and his catfish!

David and Matt fishing from the boat

Furniture
Normally, when it comes to just about any type of purchase, I am Frugal Franny. Many of my clothes are from Target - if not, then they're on sale. To me, $50 is a lot for a pair of shoes, I love Half-Price Happy Hour at Sonic, and I'm a new fan of Once Upon a Child.

And I intended to stay that way with the baby furniture and bedding purchases. Two problems: 1. Once I get something in my head I want, it's really hard to change my mind. 2. Consumer reports - Matt and I are not great at putting things together in the first place and even worse when they fall apart.

So, basically everything that I liked appearance-wise that was also in our budget got terrible reviews. So what do we do? Well, most reasonable people would say they would adjust what they're looking for appearance-wise. No, not us -We (well, mainly me) just move on to the expensive stuff! And that's where we stayed. For those who care, the furniture is Munire (given an A in Baby Bargains so maybe we're not totally crazy!) and the bedding is Glenna Jean. And seriously, we'll be completely frugal on all purchases for Baby Payne from here on out. Right???




Oh - you're looking for the belly pic? Here it is at 24 weeks. It's for real now.

Dog Days of Summer

Matt and I went out to Possum Kingdom lake last weekend for some fun with my dad and Connie. We took a long boat ride, rode the Sea-doo, and ate some delicious food. My dad's steaks are my favorite!

We had a great time, and clearly the dogs did, too!

Haley and Dad floating on the raft

Matt throwing Dixie's frisbee. She's relentless!

So proud of herself


Ellie looks on - although she was quite the swimmer, too!

Ninety-five percent

Well, this may sound weird coming from me, but I really like statistics. It's not so much the math piece that I love, but stats can be so persusasive in an argument. Can really help drive a point home.

A few years ago, Matt was fantatisizing about becoming a bull rider or something else rodeo related. Of course, he's never even ridden a bull, but in my mind he's already competing in Las Vegas. My mind is racing..., the travel, the time away from home, the huge possibilility of injury - even death! How can I win this battle?

Statistics, of course.

Haley: "Honey, do you know what percentage of rodeo marriages end in divorce?"
Matt: "Umm...no idea..."
Haley: "95%! If you were to join the rodeo (as if you can just join), our marriage would be set up for failure!"

Now, in reality I have no idea how many "rodeo marriages" end in divorce, but how compelling did 95% sound? Matt never spoke of "joining" the rodeo again. Don't worry - I told him I made up my stat...2 years later. :)

Then about 8 weeks ago, we were at the doctor's office for our 12 week ultrasound. And the doctor gave us a guess on the sex of the baby. Matt and I would've been so happy either way, but I like to know things for sure.

So, naturally, I ask " And just how accurate is that guess?" She says, "95% and I've only been wrong 3 times in a year and a half."

Sweet - 2 stats in one statement. Proof enough for me.

Except that I couldn't stop thinking about that other 5%.

We told a few people very cautiously that it's just a guess, it can totally change. And everyone else agreed that yes, it was just a guess. Some people even said, "Yeah, those early guesses are usually wrong." We would just have to see.

Last week, we went to our 19 week ultrasound for the official confirmation of the gender. Both of our hearts were beating a million miles a minute (baby's 141) as we waited to hear, " It's a GIRL!"

We're both overjoyed - a precious little baby girl. We cannot wait to meet her. :)

So, was the 12 week doctor right?

You betcha! Good thing Matt didn't join the rodeo after all... :)

20 week pics below

Sweet summertime...

Can I just say I'm really missing being a kid this summer? Ahhh... the feeling I got on the last day of school knowing there was nothing but fun ahead for a whole 3 months! PK lake, the Country Club, floating the Frio river, mini Bluebell cups of vanilla ice cream, Countrytime Lemonade, and endless nights of slumber parties. It was the best!

But now as adults we'll usually settle for the fact that we can partake in some things children cannot: a cold Corona with a lime or a not-too-sweet, not-too-sour, salt on the rim frozen margarita.... WAIT - I can't enjoy those things either this summer! What's a girl to do?!

While there are definitely some changes this summer, Matt and I have already had some fun times so far, and I've had some days where I've felt semi-normal. We've also really enjoyed thinking and talking about all the fun things we'll get to do with our future child for summers and summers to come. Makes me smile. :)

Here's a mini re-cap of the last few weeks. So wish we were better at taking pictures!

- Memorial Day Weekend - We made the long, but totally-worth-it drive to Amarillo. We spent time with Matt's sister and brother-in-law, Annie and David, his mom and dad, and several more extended family members. Matt even showed me how he used to dunk basketballs at the Dumas High School gym. You've still got it, baby! Ha ha! We visited Matt's Pawpaw at the VA and met Matt's cousin newest little arrival, Samuel. It was such a refreshing trip - West Texas folks are the nicest, most easy going people ever!








- Painting the hallway - So, on a weird whim Matt and I decided to paint the hallway when we got back from Amarillo. We went for a neutral for most of it, but then went bold at the end - Beaux green. Still deciding, but we think we might like it.




- Lake time with the fam - A couple of weekends ago, we enjoyed some lake action on Lake Lewisville with Mom, Marty, Nathan and Kristin. One of my most favorite things ever! However, I must mention - do not go to Sneaky Pete's when you are pregnant unless you want to feel old, fat and ugly. Not a big winner there!


- Other randomness - Celebrated Kristin's bday at Ana Mia's in Coppell, joined a book club, savored SEVERAL delightful snow cones, scratched my eye, visited the urgent care and missed Vel's bday, had a pool party at the neighbor's and the dogs decided to take a swim as well (don't tell! :))

Picture of the fam sleeping. Wonder where baby will fit? ;)

Oh and the belly stuff! So, I guess I'm getting a little bit of a belly. This is so weird for me. Matt keeps reassuring me I look great, but I haven't quite joined that party yet. See for yourself! :)

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always one of my most favorite days of the year. A day to celebrate my wonderful, fun, beautiful mom!

It's a tradition in my family for my sister, Kristin, and I to cook for my mom each Mother's Day. (We used to plant flowers, too, but I think we griped enough about it in our teenage years that she gave up.) This year, we made Almond Chicken, twice baked potatoes, steamed asparagus and super fresh, super yum fruit salad. We sat outside and enjoyed what turned out to be a beautiful day! The girls even took a picture to commerate the day - a real rarity for us!

We wish we could've been with Matt's mom, too, today! Amarillo just needs to move closer to Dallas. :)

Well, this Mother's Day felt even more significant for us this year. And many of you already know, but it's because I'm going to be a mother next Mother's Day! Crazy and exciting and overwhelming...all rolled into one. We feel so blessed.

I'm about 11 weeks right now, and we're due the first week in December. It's been a rough ride so far - the "morning sickness" and exhaustion have been no fun! Matt has been the best husband ever - he totally doesn't mind going to the store 10 times a week for odd food and drink combos! Ha ha! I'm starting to feel more like myself, but I may have a few more weeks to go before I feel a lot better.

I posted a pic to start chronicling the belly growth. Right now, it's just from eating way too much, but I'm sure there will be something "real" soon.

We'll do our best to keep this updated, but we're notoriously bad at this kind of thing. :)