He Can Light the World Up with His Smile

Bubble-rific!

We brought home a mini bubble wand from Hilary's wedding, and I decided to try it out on the kitty. I'd shown him bubbles in the past, but he was afraid of them. This time, however, was a different story. He loves the bubbles! Now, whenever I bring out the bubble wand, he "chirps" and anticipates the onslaught of bubbles!

Adam told me there's such a product as catnip bubbles. I'll have to try those out sometime!

Corn Hole, Anyone?

Two weeks ago, Adam and I drove to Ohio to see Hilary and Mike get married. (Hilary is Miranda's sister. Miranda's been one of my best friends since 3rd grade. She was also my maid of honor at my wedding.) We drove up July 4th. I really wanted to go the day before, but Adam couldn't get Thursday night off of work. I didn't work Thursday, though, which was so nice. Since Adam was "sleeping" on the way up, I drove the entire way. Luckily, there wasn't too much traffic on the road. There and back, we listened to Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" on CD. Once we got there, Miranda, her husband Matt, and their little Jenna, took us to Miranda's parents' house for a BBQ. There was a lot of people and yummy food. We also learned the game of "Corn Hole." Scroll down to the bottom of this post for an explanation of it.

The following day was the wedding. We didn't have to wake up too early, thank goodness. We slept pretty well, thanks to Miranda and Matt lending us their bed (thank you so much!) The wedding was at a beautiful Presbyterian church. The stained glass windows were amazing. Adam and I goofed around on the balcony before the wedding and got a couple of shots of us with the windows (I'm sure if we were actually allowed to do this...we didn't use a flash, just in case). The wedding itself was short and sweet. Hilary looked lovely, of course. Next, we headed to the reception. Once the music started pumping, I could feel my little girl dancing in my belly. It must've been a little too loud for her! I actually got two dances out of Adam (miraculous!). We ended up having to leave early, though, because Miranda and Matt had to take Jenna to urgent care. She'd been feeling pretty crappy the last few days and even had a fever. Luckily, it was just a virus, and she was bright-eyed a bushy-tailed the next morning.

We were in no hurry to head to for home the next day. We didn't leave until 2 p.m. and didn't get home until after 10:30 p.m. Neither of us had to work until Tuesday. Adam drove the whole way home. We almost finished "The Host." I ended up finishing the book the next day. It was ok. I definitely like the Twilight series much better. The final book comes out Aug. 2!

Anywho, below are some pics from our mini vacation. It was so nice to see everyone in Ohio again!

The Newlyweds

Miranda, me (5 months pregnant), April (7 months pregnant)

Lovely Stained Glass Windows

Such a lovely photo of the cute little family! Little Jenna looks like a little princess.

Here's some pics of cute little Jenna. She's gotten so big since the last time we saw her! Even though she looks like she's 2, she turned 1 on July 12. It took me a few tries to get a pic of her without her eyes closed. Finally, I succeeded!

Ok, back to my blog title. This video shows the game of "Corn Hole." Apparently, it's very popular in Ohio. Everyone was surprised we'd never heard of it. Each team has four corn bags (instead of bean bags), and each side has a slanted wooden board with a hole in it. The object of the game is to toss your corn bag into the hole, which is worth 3 points. If it lands on the board, it's worth 1 point. However, everytime someone from the other team throws a bag that either lands in the hole or on the board, it cancels out any that your team has landed in the hole or on the board. The first team to 21 points without going over wins. It's actually quite fun. We're going to try to get Adam's dad to make us a couple of boards for our various family get-to-togethers.

Our Fifth Anniversary

I realize it's a little late, but here's what we did to celebrate our five years of wedded bliss.

Adam didn't tell me where we were going. We hopped in the car after our first ultrasound and ended up in Raleigh. I had no idea why he chose Raleigh until we were at the front door of The Cheesecake Factory. Yes! I've always wanted to go there, and he knew it. It's located inside a mall, so we got to walk around before our table was ready. Once we were finally seated, I got the pleasure of reading the menu. It's like a book! There's something for everyone. I chose chicken and shrimp, and Adam chose steak and chicken. We both had smoothies for drinks. It was all very yummy! Of course we couldn't leave without some cheesecake. We were way too full to eat it there, so we got a slice to go. Guess which cheesecake we chose: Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple. How could it be bad if it's "Adam's?"

After dinner, we checked into our hotel: The Embassy Suites. It was pretty cool looking inside. It was like an indoor park, complete with waterfalls, bridges, and trees. It also had a piano, which Adam pretended to play. We stayed on the 8th floor, and it was fun riding up and down the glass elevator looking at all the little people below. We had a two-room suite complete with 3 sinks. Who knows why it had that many. The room package Adam got came with two panda bears...although we only received one. He should've totally said something about that. Anywho, the bear came with a $5 off coupon for build-a-bear workshop. We still haven't gone to get him a shirt, poor little naked panda.

After relaxing a bit in our room and checking out the hotel, we went to see "The Incredible Hulk." While on our honeymoon, we saw "The Hulk" at a drive-in theater, so it only made sense to go see the newest one. The first one was so long and boring, I wasn't really looking forward to the second one. However, I was pleasantly surprised! It was nothing like the first one. It wasn't boring, and I understood what was going on. Go watch it if you haven't!

The next morning we ate breakfast and checked out the hotel's bird: Raleigh. He's supposedly a talking bird, but we didn't hear much out of him. I did manage to catch him talking on video, which was a miracle. He wasn't very friendly and tried to attack me on several occasions. I wasn't even doing anything to him...just sitting quietly in a chair next to his cage. I think he just wanted my attention.

After checking out of the hotel, we went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. I think Adam's been there before, but I've never been. I'm glad I decided to wear sneakers instead of flip flops. The place was huge...four stories of "stuff." The most amazing things we saw were the huge whale skeletons. The blue whale was by far the biggest.

Adam being dwarfed by a blue whale skeleton and then by a big ol' dinosaur.

After this pic was taken, our camera died. It held out on us just long enough.

By the end of "tour," we were pooped. I was glad when we made it back to the car and then back home. We had a really good time, though. We're looking forward to the next five years!

Morning Aerobics

We have reached a new milestone, folks! On Saturday morning, Adam put his hand on my belly, and the baby gave him two big kicks! It was the first time he really knew he felt her. He felt her again Monday morning. She was moving so much that morning...doing her morning aerobics! It's so exciting!

And last night, while I was trying to go to sleep, she was moving like crazy. I put my hand on my belly and could feel her "swimming" around in there. I'm loving every second of it!

The pics below are from my second ultrasound, which was done a week ago. I had to go again, because the technician couldn't get a third pic of the heart she needed. We almost thought we'd have to go back a third time, because our little girl still was cooperating. But at the last minute, she came through! Her heart looks good...yay!

This 3-D pic is amazing. She looks so different than just two weeks before. No more alien baby!

It looks like she's yawning in this one...how sweet :o)