Spoiled Rotten!

Last week, my family threw me a baby shower, and I was TOTALLY SPOILED! It was so much fun, and I'm so glad I was able to spend a night with family and friends. Thank you, thank you to everyone for making it such a wonderful night and for spoiling me and little Gavin!

Lily made her appearance at the end of the shower, and was having so much fun with her cousin, Hannah.... She looks like a hippy in this pic.
My sis, Kellyn, and cousin, Rene
My ward friends, Amy & Laura
Sister-in-laws Erica and Kara with Erica's little girl, Ella.
Mother-in-law, Paula & cousin, Kristi, with Ella and Kristi's little girl, Taylor

The gift from my mom and sisters, including my baby bedding which I LOVE!!
My ex-co-workers Jessica & Miranda
My aunt, Chris, and my Mudda
Me with the family I used to nanny - Ali, Lily (name inspiration) & Jackie
My beautiful diaper cake and Dr. Seuss frames made by my cousin, Alina, and my aunt, Chris.

I'm still working on the nursery (as well as Lily's room), so once I'm done with a few more crafts I will have to take pics and post them on here! It's been SO MUCH FUN decorating their rooms, and I hope I can get everything finished before Gavin comes.

At my doc appt. yesterday I was dilated 1 cm and 75% effaced, which the doc was a little surprised about. He doesn't think Gavin will be making it to his due date, which I am happy about! :D

Free Stuff

I just had to put this on here because I love FREE stuff, and I figure everyone else does as well. My sis found out about this website from the Tyra Show last week. It tells you all the places in your area where you can get free stuff for your birthday (at restaurants, etc.) Check it out and sign up. You have nothing to lose... and LOTS of free stuff to gain! :)

http://www.freebirthdaytreats.com/

Family Reunion

This past weekend, Lorin, Lily, and I were able to escape the heat and go to Christopher Creek for a few days. Lorin's parents rented a cabin which was ideal for the family. We were so happy it was only a few hours away and that the weather was WONDERFUL!! I've decided that if we were ever to have a cabin, this place is the perfect location!! We enjoyed hanging with the family, renting a boat and going to Woods Canyon lake, hiking down into Box Canyon, playing horseshoes, playing frisbee golf, relaxing, and watching movies. If anyone is ever looking for a close getaway, this is the place!! It was so much fun!

Box Canyon
Lily swimming in Box Canyon... it was so cold but she LOVED it!
Lo playing horseshoes
Lily admiring the view at Woods Canyon Lake
Lily and I eating lunch next to the lake.

The Windy City

We just got back from a week long trip to the Windy City - CHICAGO! Lorin had to go for Orientation for Northwestern and wanted Lily and I to join him so he wouldn't be bored out of his mind. To be honest, I never really thought of Chicago as a vacation location, but it was GREAT! There is so much to do and see there, AND the weather was BEAUTIFUL (the 80s the whole time... little humidity... some clouds.... PERFECT!) We were able to do so much and really experience most of what Chicago had to offer. If any of you ever have a chance to go - GO! It's AWESOME!
I took over 300 pics (way too many, I know), but here are a few (or a lot) of my FAVS:

Lily on the plane... we were so freaked out she would be bad and she was when we first boarded, but once the plane started moving she loved it!! We were so blessed and got an empty chair between us on the way there AND the way back... which is a miracle because both times, it was the only free seat on the plane.
Lily jumpin' on the bed at the hotel... since we were there for 5 nights, they upgraded our room for free, which was sooo nice.

I don't know why, but I just wanted to take pics of the beautiful flowers everywhere. It was soo green and they had so many pretty flowers... these ones were my favorite!
This was Lily's fav part of the Lincoln Park Zoo. The Zoo there is FREE!! Can you believe it? And it's so nice and has every animal you can think of... way better than the Phoenix Zoo. We liked it so much we went there two days last week.

Lily LOOOOVED the zoo!!
Lily on the train at the zoo. They had to stop the ride a few times cuz she kept standing up she was so excited.
The buildings around the John Hancock building.
Lily and I at the top of the Hancock building... I didn't get nervous til' we were at the top and I looked down.... so high!! I couldn't stay up there very long because my imagination started going and I freaked myself out.
The John Hancock Building from the ground.
Who wouldn't love the Hershey's store? You get free candy just for walking in!
They give all the kids a "Factory Worker" hat at the Hershey's store. You can also pay to make some chocolate to take home.
We stayed off of Mag Mile which has a lot of nice & fancy stores.... so I was excited to see a store that I could actually shop at. If only there was a Ross....
Walking along the beach of Lake Michigan - which is HUGE!! It looks like the ocean!
My fav guy and girl at the beach.
Lily loved the carousel at the zoo.
Walking along the Navy Pier.
Check out this turtle! Stinkin' scary lookin'! We went to the Aquarium which is huge and has dolphins, whales, and so much more!
Buckingham Fountain... with the skyline behind.
Again.... my two favorite people in the world!

Must-Sees in ChIcAgO:
The Field Museum
The Museum of Science & Technology
Lake Michigan
John Hancock Building or Sears (Willis) Tower
The Shedd Aqaurium
Lincoln Park Zoo
Mag Mile

We were so blessed to be able to go to all of these and more and would definitely recommend going at least once in your lifetime.

CHICAGO ROCKS!!

He's gone

No, I'm not talking about Wes from the Bachelorette.... I'm talking about my little bro, Evan. He left this past week for his mission in Louisville, Kentucky. We are very much alike which wasn't always a good thing. We got into fights a lot, but we were also really close. I got to spend his whole last day with him Monday packing him up. He even came with me to my last ultrasound that day. It was great having him there although he was trying to make me laugh the whole time just so my tummy would jiggle - haha! I'm so excited for him and can't wait to see how much he learns and grows in the next two years!!

RIP Jack-O

Believe it or not I had a crush on him... back when he was black and looked like this.

I know... I just had to blog. I got a text awhile back from Lorin saying "Jack-O died." I immediately went to the computer and looked up msn.com, cnn.com, ktar.com, azcentral.com, etc. I also then called my mom and her first response was "I know, I know." I really don't even know if it's been TRULY confirmed just yet, but I wanted everyone to know that although Jack-O was definitely a Wack-O, I still loved the guy. I grew up on Moonwalker and LOVED MJ. My cousin, Alina, had a Michael Jackson barbie doll that we always fought over. My aunt had a sequence glove that I always wanted to wear. When I nannied I had the kids watch the MJ DVD with his videos, and I think I helped instill in those kids a love for him that their mom was not too happy about. Haha. I'm probably sounding really crazy/weird right now, but I really am sad. The guy had some major issues, but he was sure talented. He could move like no other and truly was the King of Pop. I always told Lorin that if he came here in concert, I would HAVE to go NO MATTER WHAT. Too bad that will never happen.

MJ - I will always REMEMBER THE TIME the WAY YOU MADE (MAKE) ME FEEL while I ROCK(ED) WITH YOU.

The Makings of a Perfect Day... or Week!

Bahaha. Yeah Right!

I turned the big 2-7 this week and am happy to say that I had the BEST birthday ever!! I think the older you get the less you care about your birthday. That having been said, you expect less so when you do get something you're more appreciative and feel pretty darn cool. That's how I felt this last week, at least. On Tuesday, we went out to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We thought it would be fun for Lily with all the fish, fake elephants and gorillas, etc. Boy were we wrong!! She LOVED it at first, but we forgot there was a fake tropical thunderstorm every 20 minutes or so where all the lights flashed and there was thunder,etc. That freaked her out a little bit. By the second time it happened, she was trying to unbuckle herself out of the high chair and kept saying, "bye, bye..." We ate real quick and were sure to be out of there before the third storm hit. :)
On Friday, Lorin took a half day so we could really celebrate then. My mom kindly agreed to watch Lily so Lo and I could bowl, hit a movie and grab dinner. We went bowling (which was SOOO FUN!) and called my mom to check on Lily afterwards. She woke up way too early from a nap and had been crying for the last 20 minutes wandering the house and calling, "mommy." We decided we should go and pick her up and finish the date later. Fortunately, we were able to do just that and hit CPK that night and the movie the next day. We saw "Wolverine," which was pretty darn cool. It was just so much fun, and I'm glad I got to spend that time with Lily and Lorin. I was also able to celebrate with both fams which is always so great!! I've decided that I had everything I could want this past week....

Who said birthdays get more lame as you got older? Not mine!!!

Dinner with Lily & Lo
CPK (mmm, yummy!) with Lo
Bowling (AND having the highest score)
Watching Wolverine with Lorin
Cheesecake Factory with the fam
Craft Supplies from Lo
Got chalked by my Laurels
Dinner AND my fav ice cream cake at the Merkleys
A ROSS Gift card
A Target gift card
New dishes from my mom
Pei Wei's with Jess
Lots of fun presents from everyone
Birthday wishes from Family & Friends

What more could I ask for?!!?

NOTHING!!!

It was PERFECT!!