Attack of the Cicadas

They are noisy and creepy and they are taking over this city!! They are here again....the cicadas!!!

Thirteen years have gone by and it's time for the cicadas to show themselves again. They crawl out of the 67 degree ground close to older, more mature trees. They mate for about a month and a half, and then drop their eggs into mature trees or on the ground close to them. Then in thirteen years, those cicadas will emerge and the process will start all over again.
This is the first cicada experience that Brad and I have had since they only emerge every 13 years, and we have only been here for four. I know that they don't bite or sting and therefore really aren't harmful, but they still gross me out.
Since our neighborhood is fairly new with new trees, we really don't have that many close to our house. Today, we were at the Cheesecake Factory at the Green Hills mall with some friends and they were all over the place....SWARMING!!! One flew into my hair and then two minutes later one landed on my arm. Call me a baby if you want, but I was not happy!! Ewww!!! I literally ran to the car when we left.
I think they are only here for a few more weeks, and it won't be too soon!! I am definitely not a fan of cicadas....as harmless as they may be!! :(

A stork is on the way!!!

The big news has finally been released... we're going to have a sweet precious baby!!!! Ahhhhh!! We are so excited!! Brad and I, along with our immediate family, have known for a little over three weeks, but we wanted to wait to tell everyone else until after our first OB visit. That took place on Monday and the doc says so far so good!! Today I'm 8 weeks and 4 days along and due on Dec 31!!! What a crazy New Year's Eve it will be. Ha! We also had our first ultrasound done on Monday and seeing our little bean for the first time was absolutely AMAZING!! His/her heartbeat was at 171bpm, in which the nurse informed us was normal and good. We weren't able to hear the heartbeat yet, but that's on the adgenda for our next visit in 4 weeks. Can't wait!!

Lucky for me, I've really been feeling okay. (Yes, I am knocking on wood as I type this.) Really, just a little queasiness every now and then and a little headache and fatigue when that happens, but I've learned quickly to keep my stomach full and the nauseas feeling rarely happens. It's so hard to make myself eat even when I'm not hungry or nothing sounds good, but if it will keep the nausea away I'm totally for it!

We are so excited about becoming parents and we are just praying for a safe and successful pregnancy. Our families, friends and co-workers are just as excited as we are, which makes it that much more fun and exciting for us! We are so grateful for this little blessing in my belly and we are looking forward to all of the new adventures that lie ahead!!

FLOWERS!!!

Today marks the last day of my vacation, and these last 10 days have been great!! Originally Brad was going to take off last week as well, but he started a new job about a month ago, so asking for a week off right away probably wasn't the greatest idea ever. Therefore, I was home alone all week... well, for some of the week. Mom wound up driving up late Tuesday night and stayed until Friday afternoon. We had a great time just hanging out, doing a little shopping, eating out and working in our flowerbeds.
I had been itching to get out there and brighten up our flowerbeds with a little color for a while, but since this is the first spring that we have been in our house, it's the first time I've ever had to work on flowerbeds and I had no idea where to start!! I'm a girl who has to have a plan, so on Wednesday we started searching through the garden centers at Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's. It was a pretty nasty, rainy day, so we knew we weren't going to be able to plant anything just yet. Mom helped me figure out if I wanted annuals, perennials, etc. I also had three dead bushes that I had to replace, so I found some ideas for that as well. I took notes as I noticed things that I liked, then we went home and mapped out a plan as we looked over the flowerbeds. I figured out which flowers I wanted to put in which spot. Like I said, I HAVE to have a plan. I can't just put random things here and there... that's just not how my brain works. OCD? Maybe!! :)
Thursday morning we went back to Lowe's and Walmart, picked up the items on my list and went home and got our hands dirty. A few hours later ....... TA DA.... we have COLOR!!! I love it!!
This is the front flowerbed. The two new bushes are on each end. I decided not to add any color to this bed just yet. I want to wait and see what it looks like after we get those two geraniums in the background hanging on the porch above these bushes.

I LOVE these geraniums!! SO pretty! I have two hanging pots that are going to hang on the front porch. We don't have the hooks up there quite yet though.

We potted these two dahlias. They are sitting on either side of the front door, so they bring color to the front porch area as well. I LOVE the vibrant colors of these flowers!!





This is an overview of our larger flowerbed in front of the office window. I've added a little color throughout with knockout roses and azaleas.

Here are some close-ups of the roses and azaleas.

Here's hoping I can keep everything alive!! Only time will tell. I'm so excited about watching everything grow!! Now we have to mulch both beds to kind of pull everything together and make it look a little nicer. I'm loving everything so far, and I'm so thankful to my mom for helping me figure out what I wanted or didn't want because I definitely would have been lost otherwise!!

Kari's Bridal Shower

The future Mr. and Mrs. Clark!!

I guess wedding season has officially started with the first bridal shower of the year!! Kari Smothers and Matt Clark are getting married in just a little over a month on June 11. I went to UTM with both Kari and Matt. Kari was also in my hygiene class at UTHSC and Matt is almost finished with dental school in Memphis. They are such a cute and sweet couple and I'm so excited for them.
Earlier this month the other bridesmaids and I gave Kari a bridal shower in Dyersburg. Abigail, who also lives in Nashville and who is also a bridesmaid, and I rode together and stayed with Kari the night before the shower. We had a great time working on wedding details and planning. The shower went really well!! The food was yummy, the decor was cute, and she had a really great turnout with great guests and great gifts!!

The cupcake tower! Delicious!!

The Hostesses

Some the food layout

Kari and me

Table full of gifts. They got some great stuff!!

Growing Like a Weed

Lola is four months old now and man is she growing fast! I took her to the vet for her last set of puppy shots on Friday and she weighed 44.5 pounds.

It seems like only yesterday she was a little 9 week old, 19 pound ball of fur. She has been such a good puppy! She is doing an awesome job with potty training. She goes and stands by the door when she's ready to go out, and if we don't see her, she comes up to us and whines and then goes back to the door to let us know, "Hey!! I'm waiting patiently for you to let me out!" She still has an occasional accident, but that is mostly when she's in the middle of a crazy, hyper, playtime mode, and it's like all of a sudden she goes, "Uh Oh, I gotta go NOW!" And so she does.

She has also done a great job learning her tricks. She can "sit", "shake" and "lay down", and we have been working on "turn around". She also knows that "Go to jail" means that it's time to get into her crate. And although it's not her favorite thing to do, she will begrudgingly "go to jail"... for a treat of course!

 Brad and I are talking seriously about getting a fence put up around the backyard soon since Lola loves to be outside so much. I'm sure this will change after the temperatures start to warm up, but she sure loves to run around on these cooler days. It would be so nice to be able to leave her out there to play as much as she wants until she's ready to come back in. So, hopefully we will be able to proceed with that fairly soon!!

Miss Lola has definitely kept us busy and on our toes for the past couple of months. Toys are EVERYWHERE, I can't keep the back sliding glass door free of nose and slobber marks, and her curiosity gets her into everything, but we have truly loved it!! She's a sweet baby girl who is growing up so fast!!

Chocolate Footballs

I was feeling a little festive for the Super Bowl this year. Mom and Adam were in town visiting, and Brian came over to watch the game too. We had some yummy finger foods like chips and dips, wings, pigs in a blanket, etc, but I also wanted to try something new. So I attempted the football cake balls from who else, but bakerella?! They are just like her cake balls, where you mix the prepared cake with a can of frosting and shape them into whatever you like, and then dip them in melted chocolate and decorate. They were  fairly easy to make, but I can definitely use some practice in shaping them. I have to give mom some credit too, because she helped me shape some of these footballs. We took some down to our neighbors who were hosting a Super Bowl party, and the kids were excited about them. Even though they didn't turn out perfectly, they still tasted pretty good!

Great Memories and New Beginnings

Since I skipped blogging at all for the month of February, it's time to get caught up!!

February started out a little bittersweet. We made a trip to Brad's grandmother's house in St. Louis to help her pack and get ready to move out of her house. Brad's grandfather died in 2007, and since then his grandmother has lived in the country on 20 plus acres of land by herself. The family started talking to her about moving closer to town and closer to her family a few years ago, and she just wasn't ready at the time.

It's easy to understand her resistance seeing as how she has lived in that same house for 55 years. It's where she made her life and her family with her husband and children. It's where all of the family got together and celebrated different milestones and events. And quite simply, it's just her home!!

However, I can also see the point that the rest of the family was trying to make. She was at least 45 minutes away from any family in case something happened. And things HAD started to happen, she fell a couple of times and even broke both wrists. It was also too much for her to upkeep...I don't even know that I could take care of 20 acres out in the country with an older house and an in ground swimming pool.

So, last year, the family finally won her over and convinced her to sell the house and move, and it sold earlier this year.  We made the trip up there so that Brad could help load some of the heavier things on to the moving truck and so that we could be there for moral support. All of her children and most of her grandchildren were there for the final weekend in the house. There was a lot of talking and laughing about good memories and good times. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Brad's grandmother though, as all of her things were being moved around and gone through, and she had to leave some things behind. I can't imagine what she must have been feeling. She has many great memories to take with her though. And the family that bought her house is using it as a weekend getaway for his kids and grand kids, so I think that made her feel better too...to know that they would use it to celebrate family just as she and her family had done. While I'm sure it wasn't easy for her to say goodbye to so many memories, I know that she is thankful to have so many great ones to take with her!

Here are a just a few pictures of the house and family over the past couple of years:

Grandma, Brad and me

Grandma with the grand kids and great-grand kids on Thanksgiving 2009