A shower for baby Cade!

L to R: Jessica Youngman, Melinda Guthman, Me, Megan Trower, Erin Parmley, Brooke Guthman, & Sarah Muhs

Over Labor Day weekend, some of my closest friends threw a shower for Cade and me. It was more perfect than I could have ever imagined. The desserts, punch, and fruit were great and each table had a "diaper cake" for decoration. What a great idea! A table decoration that will actually be of use someday! There were about 7 or 8 tables, so needless to say, I have plenty of diapers to last us a while. So thanks ladies! Cade and I got all kinds of neat stuff from everyone. Here are just a few pictures that were taken throughout the night. Of course we loved EVERYTHING we received, but this post would be neverending if I put all of it on here. So here is a little sample. Thanks to everyone for all the great gifts. And thanks again to my friends, sister-in-law, cousin, and hopefully someday sister-in-law for a wonderful evening. Love you all and loved the shower!!!

Blanket that matches Cade's bedroom along with his mobile, baskets, and all kinds of other things to match his room. Thanks Gramma Gaye! His room is going to be so stylin'!!! You're the best!

Toy chest for Cade's room. This was his Uncle Kody's and Grandma Debbie painted it and attached little animals and things to it, along with his name on top. So cute and so perfect for his room! It's already filled with toys and blankets! Thanks Grandma!

This cake was made and decorated by my cousin Sarah. She did an awesome job. I hated that it had to be cut and eaten! It was too cute for words!

Here is one of the many diaper cakes my sister-in-law Jessica put together. Some of the themes included SIU, Lindenwood, Baby Einstein, Golf and a few others. Each one was so unique and done so well. I hated to take them apart! I had no idea Jess was so creative. I guess this means I have some rather big shoes to fill when it comes time to return the favor :)


Some cute little onesies for Cade.

This quilt was made by my cousin's good friend and my old neighbor from Louis Wides, Michelle (Mollet) Calvert. She did an amazing job and even put Cade's name on it! Cade received a few other handmade blankets that were all so neat as well. He will have no problem keeping warm or having a place to play!

Busy, Busy, Busy

So it's been a hectic couple of weeks and we are finally home to stay. The past few weekends, Cade and I (and dad for 2 of them) have been to Chicago, St. Louis, and Springfield. I think it is safe to say we are staying put in Carbondale for a while now. All three weekends were great. The first was Melissa's bachelorette party (which I've already posted pics of), then there was my birthday celebration at the Kenny Chesney/Dierks Bentley/Carrie Underwood concert in St. Louis, then our good friends Jasen & Brie's wedding in Springfield. I plan to post some pics from the concert & wedding this week sometime. But for now, it's hard to believe we only have 5 and 1/2 weeks left to prepare for little Cade's arrival! I've had some great practice lately as I have been chasing our godson Owen around for a week and then spent a weekend with Miss Avery on our Springfield trip. Love them both, and can only hope Cade will be as great as they are! Owen is 18 months; so I have quite some time before Cade is his age (but it's still great practice). However, Avery is (well, she is as old as I am pregnant) almost 8 months. She is starting to get a cute little personality of her own. I learned a lot from her and Melinda over the weekend. I think what I learned the most was the bond they share. I can't wait to have that of my own. It was so neat to see them laugh and play. And so amazing to see how Melinda puts Avery first and foremost in her life. As does Sarah with Owen, and Megan with Adyson. It is so neat to see how these little lives have changed their lives so much. I am so looking forward to this life changing experience for myself.

Cade's room is all coming together now. We have just a few finishing touches to make and all his itty bitty clothes to wash and then we should be ready to go! I plan to post some pics of his nursery sometime this week. Well, I must go to bed now. I need some good rest for the week ahead of me-The Apple Festival!!!

A not so traditional, but FUN bachelorette party!

This past weekend I traveled to Chicago (by train) for my good friend Melissa's bachelorette party. We mostly shopped and ate the whole weekend. Then we surprised Melissa with dinner (where I had my 1st glass of wine in 7 months) and tickets to the musical, "Wicked" on Saturday night. Of course she had already seen it twice, but loved it so much that she was determined to see it again. She started crying the minute they turned the lights off to start the show! Now I know why. It was absolutely amazing. I loved it and can't wait to see it again! It was a fun weekend to honor Melissa with all her girlfriends and sisters. The best part was, we felt great the next day! No hangovers!!! Here are a few pics from throughout the weekend.

32 1/2 weeks

Mom-to-be at 32 1/2 weeks

Little Alia

Here is a picture of my cousin Kevin's little girl. Her name is Alia. She is the spitting image of her father. I saw a picture of her not that long ago and asked why Kevin was carrying a girl's backpack or something to that nature. I truly thought it was an old picture of him, but it was actually her! She is beautiful to say the least. And from the looks of these pictures, she has quite a personality too! She is growing way too fast!



Hello to everyone in Texas! We miss you and hope we get to see you soon! Love you all.

Meet Cade Matthew

Our precious little boy. Today we went to our 4-D sonogram. What an awesome day it was. Seeing him like this was unbelievable! What was most unreal was feeling him kick and move around as I was watching him on the screen. It took my breath away. I am more anxious now to meet our little boy than I have been the whole 7 months! He seems to be doing pretty well in there. I'm happy to say he had all 10 fingers and all 10 toes!

He had his hands up by his face pretty much the whole time. I guess there isn't really anywhere else to put them. He looked pretty squished in there!

My favorite picture of all. Here is a shot of our little stinker smiling. What an intense moment. There are no words to describe it. He was probably happy about the Mt. Dew and chocolate his mommy had just fed him!!!

Our trip to Tennessee!

Here we are in front of Unit 1515 at the Fairfield Glade Resort in Tennessee. This was our last morning of the trip and we decided to take a break from loading up the cars to get a quick picture. The condo was a nice size and had a room and bath for each couple (the six of us, plus my mom and dad). My aunt, uncle, their grandkids, Maddy & Owen, and Grandma Avis all stayed at the house my aunt and uncle own near the resort. We had dinner at the condo most nights followed by a board game or poker. As for the board games, we came out even. Boys won one, girls won one. As for poker, well, Sarah took us all two nights in a row. It was her first time ever I think at a real game of poker and she didn't even WANT to play the first night. Of course after winning all of our money, she was more than ready to go for another round. We had a nice, relaxing vacation. For the guys, there was golf, golf, and more golf. For the ladies, there was kids, kids, a little shopping and more kids. Chasing around Maddy & Owen was good experience for me I suppose. Loved every minute of it though. It was a great time and it was nice to not have to be anywhere or do anything. We hope to do it again next year. Here are some pics we took throughout the week.

29 weeks

Mom-to-be at 29 weeks.

29 weeks down...

...and 11 more to go. It's hard to believe I've made it to the 3rd trimester already. It seems like yesterday I was just starting out and feeling miserable. Now he will be here before we know it. So far, I feel pretty good. The heat is no picnic, but then again, is it for anybody? Cade is kicking quite a bit- which is a good sign! He definitely reminds me he's in there! The nursery is coming together and we're just getting ready for this major change in our lives. This weekend we are heading to Fairfield Glade, Tennessee for vacation with my family. There's 13 of us going. It should be a lot of fun and a very relaxing trip. The guys play golf (everyday) while the girls hang out at the house or shop. It's my husband's dream vacation. He has been waiting for this all year so he is more than ready to go. He and my uncle are actually driving down a day early just so they can play an extra round of golf! Needless to say, he fits in our family well.

Once we get back from vacation, we will be going to our 4-D sonogram appointment. We are very excited and can't wait to see what little Cade is up to! Well, I plan to post my 29 week picture Thursday, but if not, stay tuned for the vacation pics!

27 weeks

Mom-to-be at 27 weeks

Me & Miss Adyson

Adyson and I had fun at Dawn's Bridal Shower!

24 weeks...

...and not much different

Owen's tricks

ALL GONE!!!

and....

SO BIG!!!