Taylor's Birthday Celebration!

Last Saturday night we headed out to Six Feet Under Restaurant, Pub and Fishhouse for Tay's Birthday.  It is a really fun atmosphere, and they even have a rooftop deck but it was too crowded for our large party.  I think a total of 15 people showed up to celebrate, and the dinner was amazing.  Kyle got surf & turf and I got a popcorn shrimp basket.  YUM!

I don't think I've laughed that hard in such a long time.  Taylor, Kyle and Mikey were just cracking all of the girls up, I mean just hilarious.  I think the 7 of us stayed till around 11:30 just talking and laughing.  Happy Birthday Taylor, we had a great time celebrating with you!

Kyle's 27th Birthday!

Kyle's 27th Birthday was this past Sunday!  It was rainy here in Atlanta all day, so it was the perfect day to just relax and spend time together.  It wouldn't be a birthday without monkey bread, so that was my first priority of the day to make!  (Click here for that recipe).  It ended up taking a little longer then I expected (ie Leah slept in) so we didn't make it to church :(

Kyle then opened his presents from me, a new long sleeved ASU shirt, lots of candy, and a gift certificate for range time and a gun class of his choice.  I never posted on here, but about 4 months ago we bought a gun, and Kyle has been interested on taking a home defense course to learn more about it.  Our neighbor is a "gun expert" so I had been working with him on the best places to go etc.

The monkey bread did not disappoint, and Kyle ended up having 2 huge slices.  As of today I think we only have 1 slice left... he's been eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  We headed over to our friend Taylor & Courtney's house to watch the Falcons game and visit with their new little baby, Gracyn.  She even had the Falcons jersey on, too cute!  We came back and got things done around our house and caught up on all of our DVR shows.  Thank you all for the calls, they made Kyle's day!

I wanted to share the coolest birthday present that Kyle's best friend, Chris, gave him.  Chris is super patient, very detail oriented, and creative and when he puts his mind to making something out of wood the results are unbelievable!  He has been selling these cutting boards for the past year to family and friends, and we are so excited to have one of our own!!

He makes the boards out of two different types of wood, and puts them in a checker board pattern.  Even on the back side he cuts out places to hold the board with your hands!  As if this board wasn't special enough, he engraved Kyle's families "Rocking G" into the backside of it.  We were just blown away!

Thank you Chris for such a thoughtful gift, we love it!  If any of you are interested in ordering a cutting board from Chris please just leave a comment with your email and I'll pass it along to him!  The boards come with washing instructions as well.

Date Night!

This past weekend was Kyle's 27th birthday weekend, and we had so much fun.  We kicked it off Friday night with a long overdue date!  Kyle was craving a big cheeseburger, so we chose THE OK CAFE!  It's a true Atlanta restaurant with tons of Southern Charm, diner style.  All the waitresses dress like this:

 

I loved how it's decorated inside.  The lamps all were in the letters of OK, and so were all the dividers between tables.  Very fun!

 

Kyle ordered a coke float and a bacon cheeseburger.  So fun!

 

 

I ordered an Oreo milkshake and fried pickles dipped in Ranch dressing.  Oh my goodness it was absolutely delicious!

 

After dinner we headed to the movie theater to go see "The Town" with Ben Affleck.  Seriously you should go see it, it was awesome.  Although the language is bad (as it's based on Boston bank robbers), it was surprisingly funny and a really interesting story.  I think Kyle and I both left the movie with a little crush on Ben :)

 

Such a fun date night!

Books on Tape & TV Shows!

I am seriously getting addicted to listening to books on tape. It's such an escape for me during my long commute, and makes time just fly. I wanted to share the books that I've been "reading" lately and see if you all had any other recommendations!

For book club this month we are reading THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett.
It was SO GOOD and I would recommend it to anyone!

My latest addiction is THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins.
(Thank you to Julie for the recommendation and Lacey for buying the first one for me!)

I just finished it and have moved on to the second book in the series, CATCHING FIRE:

And then will move onto the third book, MOCKING JAY:

And then I can't forget my favorite author, Nicholas Sparks newest release, SAFE HAVEN!
I love all his books and am excited I have a new one to read!

As far as TV Shows, I feel like we have been looking forward to this week for so long!
All of our favorites came back this week, finally!

HOUSE

NCIS

NCIS:LA

BIGGEST LOSER

GLEE

BONES

THE OFFICE

What are you excited about reading and/or watching lately?

Another blessing & 16 week survey!

A little while ago, I posted here how I was so thankful for my sweet friends and family to pass on their maternity clothes! Little did I know, 2 more packages were on the way from a sweet family friend, Bonnie! She is one of my sisters best friends, and another super mom of 4, you can visit her blog here. Bonnie emailed me asking if I wanted anymore clothes, and I didn't hesitate a second to say YES! I love Bonnie's style and am just so excited to wear her clothes!
I had no clue in 2 small packages, almost 30 items of clothing could fit in there!! Thank you so much again Bonnie, I will think of you every time I wear these!!

And now on for the 16 week survey:

How Far Along: 16 weeks
(Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming.)

Size of baby: Avocado (4.6 inches long)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 pounds this week! So I'm officially up 4.

Maternity Clothes: They are just so comfortable and everyday I feel like I'm shopping b/c I get to put on something new from friends and family!

Gender: Will know end of October hopefully!

Movement: Nothing yet, but I really hope this happens soon! Can't wait!

What I miss: Nothing really, everything is going great!

Sleep: Slept all the way through the night a couple days last week without getting up to go pee! Still waking up with that shooting back muscle pain a couple times, but Kyle rubs it for me and about 5 minutes later it lets up. I've found that laying on my left side is truly the answer to avoiding that pain. I have my body pillow in between my knees and under my tummy in front of me, and then I stick a pillow behind me so I won't roll over to my right side or lay on my back.

Symptoms: No throwing up this week! I am still nauseous if I eat too much or try to move or talk a lot after I eat. Tiny tiny portions are still what I have to stick to! I also got a weird rash on both of my hip bones this week. I was wondering if it's from my "tummy lotion" but not sure. Either way it's gone and never really itched, so I was lucky!

Cravings: Subs and country ham biscuits! I had the best sub from Publix the other day, I mean it was just amazing. Besides the meat and cheese it had lettuce, oil & vinegar, pickles and bell peppers on it... seriously who am I? (I am microwaving the meat for 30 seconds just in case!)

Best Moment this week: Kyle and I had the best weekend just spending some quality time with each other. We hiked a little over 3 miles on Saturday, which was really nice to get out and exercise again! The first thing to get tired are always my hip flexors, but besides that everything else feels great when exercising!

Funniest Moment this week: I tried to lick some envelopes so we could send a couple letters in the mail. Mid-lick I gagged and Kyle thought it was the funniest thing. He kept saying "what if you had thrown up all over that card?". Oh man I could definitely go without all this gagging :)

What we are looking forward to: Finding out the sex of our baby and starting to feel him/her move! Plus Kyle turns 27 this weekend!!

Okay and here is the belly shot. I pulled my dress tight so you can see the full belly shape! (I cut out my face because it was really late last night and I was NOT in the mood for Kyle to test out different settings on the camera. It makes me laugh now but I was not laughing then. Poor Kyle haha)

I'll get a better belly shot next week!

Celebrating Marshal's 30th Birthday!

For part of Labor Day weekend, we headed to Charlotte to surprise Marshal for his 30th Birthday! We ended up getting out of work early that Friday, so we were able to make it to dinner with them. Molly had reservations at 7:30, which meant they had to leave their house at 7. Well we didn't show up until 7:05, so Molly had to do some stalling! She told Marsh she wasn't feeling very well and needed some fresh air outside, and that's when we pulled up. He was completely shocked!

We all went to Zio's, an AMAZING Italian restaurant in Charlotte. It just so happens that the people who started this restaurant also have one in Marshal's hometown that he went to all growing up! We ordered so many things off the menu (2 apps, pizza and pasta), and I'm seriously counting down till we can go there again!


Saturday was a busy day! The guys headed off to golf with a bunch of Marshal's friends, while Molly and I ran errands and got everything ready for the surprise party that night. Molly ended up calling Marshal later in the afternoon saying "Leah is starving and craving Guacamole" can you meet us at Cantina in an hour? Sweet Marshal knows how pregnant cravings are and said YES, told Kyle the plan (although he was in on it), and they headed to come meet us. Meanwhile we were already there with about 20 other people!

Molly and I waited outside until the guys came, then acted like we needed a table for 4. The waitresses were even having fun playing on the surprise "checking to see if they had a table". We walked in and everyone yelled SURPRISE!
Marshal could not believe it, as he already told Molly he wanted a "low key" 30th birthday. The food was delicious and we had such a great time with all their friends!

M&M:

L&K:

The last surprise from Molly was a cake that she ordered for Marshal. It's the same flavor as their wedding cake and man it was SO good.
Sunday morning we went for a walk with the dogs before Kyle and I headed back. I did not take ANY pictures this entire weekend, thank heavens I can steal them from Molly :) The guys were walking ahead with the dogs while Molly and I chatted behind. Man the weather was perfect!
When we got in the car to head home, I saw that Molly had packed an entire snack bag for me including cheese & crackers, apple wedges, some left over birthday cake, jelly beans, a bagel, the most amazing cupcakes ever, etc. How sweet was that?!? We had such a great time celebrating Marshal's 30th Birthday! M&M we are so thankful to have you guys in our life, can't wait to hang out again soon!!

Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe!

So as I mentioned last week, my number one pregnancy craving without a doubt has been TWICE BAKED POTATOES!! Kyle has seriously bought all these ingredients numerous times to make these for me. I could eat these for any meal of the day, they are SO good and the leftovers taste just as amazing. Hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients:
6 - large baking potatoes
3 oz - Chive cream cheese
1/4 cup - margarine
1 cup - sour cream
1 tsp - salt
1/8 tsp - pepper
6 slices - bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 cup - grated cheddar

Directions:
Scrub potatoes, dry and oil (do not wrap in foil). Bake until soft 350-400 for 1 - 1/2 hours. Cut in half and scoop out inside. Mash potatoes with cream cheese, margarine, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Whip until fluffy. Return to shells. Top with bacon bits and cheddar cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer at 350 degrees until cheese melts. Serves 12 shells.

End result... a VERY VERY happy pregnant wife :)

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!!

We love you so much, and can't wait to celebrate with you soon!

Boat Day on Lake Allatoona

Our friend, Katie, came in town last weekend and we had such a great time just hanging out! Kyle and Katie were neighbors in Apex growing up, and unbelievably I met Katie freshman year at ASU, when she lived on my same floor! She's so laid back it was so nice to have a guest in town but not have to entertain! Katie's extended family lives in Atlanta, so they invited us out on their boat on Sunday to hang out. Kyle and I NEVER pass up boat days, as it's such a treat!

The weather was perfect, just windy enough where we didn't sweat at all! The water was a little chilly, so we floated on the raft to get some sun!
We had a picnic lunch on the boat, then Katie and Kyle decided to be brave and tube together! It was hilarious as they were flying all over the place! It didn't help that Katie's uncle was driving the boat like a mad man to throw them off!
Thanks again Katie for coming down for the weekend AND letting us hang out with your family! We had a wonderful time!

Apple Pickin'!

On Saturday a group of us "Atlantans" ventured into North Georgia, Ellijay to be exact, to pick some fresh apples! We had never done it before and it was SO MUCH FUN. The place we chose was Hillcrest Farms, and there were so many activities going on while we were there!
There was a $5 admission fee, so after we paid we rushed over for the PIG RACE! It was absolutely hilarious, as the pigs were named Elvis Pigsley, Arnold Schwarzenhogger, Donald Rump, and Tammy Faye Bacon. Next was watching the cloggers! They looked miserable as it was SO HOT.
There was a moonshine museum and of course a place to take funny pictures.
Next was a wagon ride! We wanted to do this first so we could see the whole orchard and pick where we would go. Unfortunately the wagon took us in the woods and into Wizard of Oz... no joke they even played the music. It was SO weird but hilarious.
So then we bought our bags and got picking! The trees were really short so we had no problem picking out the ones we wanted. They had so many different kinds: Rome, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, etc..

Kyle enjoyed this part!

Jen, Lacey and I with our apples!

Also included in the $5 admission was milking Buttercup the cow. I decided I would give it a try... BIG mistake. I ended up squeezing poor buttercup's udder for a couple minutes before anything came out... she was so mad at me! I finally got milk to come out ONCE. Katie walked up to her, squeezed and immediately milk came out. Guess it's not in the cards for me to work on a farm-- darn!
Afterwords, we all went to get some yummy bbq! This place has wooden pig cut outs EVERYWHERE, so we ended up getting one to put our names on too.

Even though we were all so hot and sweaty, it was such a fun day. Can't wait for fall!