Christmas Break: Part 1

Brandon and I have been very busy during this first week of Christmas break.  I thought it was going by fast, but then when I tried to think back to a week from today it seems like forever ago.  I'm not complaining though.  We have lots of relaxing and preparing to do. Oh yeah, Brandon saved up a lot of vacation days, so he's been off with me too. 
Here are some highlights...

1.) Cor's Shower
Chelsea and Caitlin (Corie's sisters) Jen and I threw Cor her first baby shower.  The shower featured a pink and black zebra theme with lots of yummy food and treats.  The shower was at my house, so it took lots of prep, but hosting fun events is my favorite thing to do.  Being 35 weeks pregnant makes things a little more difficult, but my co-hosts and Brandon were a huge help! I think I'm getting this baby shower thing down... I love it... who's having a baby next, so I can do it again.  My new personal photographer, Sylvia, came and snapped some pics so Cor could have some memories of her special day.  

Cute Invitation

28 weeks and 35 weeks in the same dress

Jen's famous cake balls

Cute Cupcakes

Diaper Cake by Katie

Food Table

Table as you enter the shower

Me and Mom

The Lovely Hostesses

2.) The Birthday of our King: Christmas 
Brandon and I were able to divide our time fairly evenly between our families this year. On Christmas Eve we went to the early children mass at 4 with my parents.  Even though we were there early, it was still rather difficult to find a seat.  My mom and I enjoyed the mass and think it will be perfect for Madelyn next year.  We'll have to have a new tradition for a few years to accommodate our new baby girl. Then we went to the annual Christmas Eve gathering at Brandon's MeMa and PePa's house.  His entire family gets together on Christmas Eve to do a Chinese gift exchange, share their favorite Christmas treats, and gather as a family.  
This year was the first year we spent Christmas morning with just the two of us and it will be the last.

Our Family Stockings

Once we got going we went to my parents for lunch and exchange gifts.  This year was the latest we have ever opened presents and after lunch.

Tree at Mom and Dad's

My Nanny Mary gave me and Madelyn her first Cabbage Patch doll.  These were a big deal when I was a little girl.  I had several of them and I even visited the Cabbage Patch hospital in Atlanta, GA when I was younger.  She even came with a birth certificate and Mary named her Madelyn Paige. 

Maddy's First Baby Doll

My brother and I gave my mom her very first Coach purse.  She was very surprised and excited!  Thanks to the great outlet mall, we were able to pull it off. 

Mom and her new purse

After spending part of the day with my family we went to Brandon's parents' to hang out and exchange gifts with his family.  We have Shane, our nephew, an 

Art Supply box and some early readers.  He loves to color, draw, and create things. 

 3.) Preparing for Madelyn

I've been trying to get the most out of our time off to prepare for baby Madelyn.  I should have taken a picture of her room last weekend and then what it looks like now.  There was stuff everywhere on the floor of her room.  I finally feel like it is coming together.  There is still decorating to do and small details to focus on, but we've gotten a lot accomplished.  I washed all of her newborn clothes, mittens, and hats.  I also started preparing lots of lists.  Not really sure if I am "nesting" yet.  I feel like this is what I am suppose to be doing, so that we can take care of our little bundle of joy. My lists are a little compulsive... a list of what we need for her room, a list of what I need for the hospital, a list of what to pack for her, a list of what to pack for me... I'm sure I missing some lists. I've also organized her drawers... I spent a good amount at The Container Store today, Brandon didn't understand at first.  Once we got home and I put everything away in her drawers and he saw that it calmed me down a bit, he understood.  Here is a sneak peak of what her room currently looks like... keep in mind I'm not finished. 

Crib with unnecessary bedding

Glider Brandon picked out and assembled

Changer that needs a pad

Book shelf with baskets, my favorite way to organize!

Okay, I'm done talking about us!  This was way too long... I couldn't even reflect or give thanks... next time! 

Pink and Brown Baby Shower

It's almost been a week since two of my dearest friends gave me an amazing baby shower!  I call it the "Pink and Brown Baby Shower"  because every detail was pink and brown.  Sylvia mentioned in a blog that it had thrown up in her living room.  After seeing all of the little details that went into preparing everything I can see how it may have looked like that all over her apartment.  
Anyways...
Jen and Sylvia, without knowing each other previously, partnered up to throw me a wonderful baby shower for Madelyn Paige.  Both of these strong women have not had "the best of luck" this past fall.  I'm sure one of the last worries on their mind was a baby shower.  That did not stop them from planning together over the phone, threw email and even facebook.  After attending you would have never known that they didn't spend hours and hours together planning and coordinating.  I didn't even realize all of the little details until I got home and really looked at everything very closely.  The diaper cake alone was a big project... it even had a tutu.  

Diaper Cake by Sylvia

The decorations were well done and a perfect match for Madelyn's room.  Pink, brown, ribbons, bows, and frills!!!

Center of the Shower

The guest for my shower included best friends, friends from church, second moms and family, mostly from Brandon's side.  One of my best friends from Austin, Liz, even traveled in and stayed with us for the weekend to come. 
The food was awesome and the sweets were delicious!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the spread.

Food Spread

Did I mention the beautiful cake, Sylvia's Oreo balls, and Jen's signature cake balls?  This was defiantly a shower for a girl having a girl. 

Jen's Signature Cake Balls

The Cake "Welcome Baby Madelyn"

The shower also had a little twist.  Guest were asked to bring a book for Madelyn in place of a card.  I loved this!  She got a good start on her library with a verity of books.  Books her mommy and daddy can read her, books she can play with her self and books she can listen to before bed time.  The guests even wrote little messages to her, so she will know who got it for her when she reads it. Her favorite one will probably be "My Little Golden Book About God."  This was from her Loli that was actually my book when I was a little girl. I received this book as a birthday present when I turned 2. 

We received some great gifts!  We got almost everything to help prepare for the arrival of baby Madelyn.  

All the Awesome Gifts

Along with some essentials we also received some cute and original things as well.  Her family and friends are loving buying her girl clothes and accessories. One of my favs, that also has a story...

Miss Priss Bloomers from her Bevy

One of the items for nursery I was most anxious about was the bedding.  Well, Brandon's Aunt Linda saved the day.  I had no clue I was going to actually get her bedding and love it! (I was a good girl a week or so out from the shower and did not check my registries.) I love her bedding more then I thought I would.  I had only seen it online.  It matches her wall colors perfectly and goes well with her furniture.  Here is a sneak peak of the bedding.  I will post a pic of her bed with all of it on there later on. (Brandon has to help me put the sheets on.)

Quilt from her bedding

A huge THANK YOU goes to my best friend Jen and my Sylvita for doing a beautiful job putting on a baby shower in honor of Madelyn Paige!  We are so blessed to have sooo many true friends in our lives.  I wish I had a pic of us three, but I had to jack these pics from Sylvia's facebook.  I guess she choose not to put the one of us up.  Stay tuned on nursery pics and possibly more pics from Madelyn's showers. 
Thank you to all who came to help us prepare for the arrival of Madelyn Paige in late January.  We love you! 

Photo Session with Sylvita!

I'm a little late on this post!  The Saturday after Thanksgiving Brandon and I took "maternity" pictures.  This was something I insisted on doing.  We never truly took engagement pictures, so its was important to me to capture some pictures of just us and Madelyn in the womb. I was set on doing this even before we were pregnant.  Sylvia, not a professional, but a very creative and talented journalism major at Sam, offered to take them.  Oh, PS, and she's one of my bestest friends! After waiting several months for Madelyn to grow and show on the outside, it was time to go out and see if Brandon and I could be photogenic. We went to some places not too far from home. 
She took over 400 pictures and half of them Brandon is being a goof or my eyes are closed.  The other half are wonderful!!! Taking pictures is a lot more personal then you think, even with a really good friend.  Sylvia choose her favorites and edited them for us.   Within 24 hours of our first photo session with Sylvia McMillan I had all the pics on a pen drive.  I've even already made and ordered Christmas cards using one of the pics, stay tuned! 
The following are some of the artist's top choice!

 All pictures were taken and edited by Sylvia McMillan.  Her dad is so proud of her work and so are we!

I'll leave you with one last picture...

Yes, Brandon wanted to wear the wreath!