More thoughtful gifts.....

I have some of the most amazing friends in the world....and all over the US at that.....It always means so much to me to know that they think of me/us especially during times in our life like now.....I love all the friends that I have met....in grade school....in college....in Connecticut and now California.....I have been so blessed!  

Yesterday there was a knock on the door and I was surprised by another thoughtful gift from a great friend/family of ours back in Connecticut.....The Sines!  Jeread was on the USS Alexandria with Josh and Annette(his wife) was so welcoming to me from day 1.  She has always made me feel welcome.....I can't tell you how many times I would come home from work in CT while the guys where gone to find cookies or some kind of goody made/left by her and their son Cooper!  Thanks Jeread, Annette and Cooper!

I had to take a picture because I was so excited b/c EVERYTHING they sent us where things on our "still to get list" before the baby comes......

The book was picked out by Cooper...and we don't have very many books at all so I was super excited about it!  We don't have any bottles so the bottles were a definite need!  We only had one pack and play sheet and since that is where she will sleep when she first comes home we needed more!  The pacifiers weren't necessarily a NEED but definitely a want for me b/c we don't have any girly(pink) pacifiers....the only ones we have were gender neutral...which is fine...but I wanted some pink(thanks Annette)!  Lastly are two pink hooded towels and 4 wash cloths......and did I mention that they are Kitty cats and Animal Print!!!!!  I love love love them and can't wait for her to get here so we can give her a bath and take a picture of her cute clean self wrapped up in them!

The Price of Children....

I got this email from my grandpa today and thought it was too good not to share (Thanks PaPa...Love you):

THE PRICE OF CHILDREN:

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle
income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,

* $741.38 a month,

* $171.08 a week.

* A mere $24.24 a day!

* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is ; don't have children if you want to be 'rich.' Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle and last!

* Glimpses of God every day.

* Giggles under the covers every night.

* More love than your heart can hold.

* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.

* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.

* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.



For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,

* carve pumpkins,

* play hide-and-seek,

* catch lightning bugs,

* never stop believing in Santa Claus .



You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,

* watch Saturday morning cartoons,

* go to Disney movies, and

* wish on stars.


You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle
wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day .

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,

* taking the training wheels off a bike,

* removing a splinter,

* filling a wading pool,

* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and

* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.


You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

* First step,

* First word,

* First bra,

* First date,

* First time behind the wheel.


You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of
your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing,
criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away
the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren !!!!!!! It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!! !

Not so exciting post...

Not much going on today....Josh took two of his finals today....so I was at home alone...cleaning and of course making more bows!  I know...I'm gonna stop for a little while....She is going to have too many bows if I keep this up.  The next ones I make will be a different style of bow!  After Josh got home from his last final we decided to take a walk to the market....I have not been on a walk since before I was on bed-rest and let me tell you...we took it SLOW and it was still brutal.....we walked for about an hour and a half straight...which is usually nothing for us....but after being restricted from walking and the obvious growing of my body taking place right now....it made me realize how pregnant I really am.  Josh wanted to be a kid again and had to get a HUGE grape snow cone while we were at the market......the lady at the apple stand where I got my apple even commented on the fact that he looked like a happy little boy with his snow cone!  With that...I am now exhausted from the day so I'm relaxing while Josh studies for his last final tomorrow morning!  Here is a picture of the bows that I made today.....I actually made 3 other larger ones that are a little different but didn't get a picture of those!

Bow day....

Since I am off today and Josh is here studying for finals I had to find something to keep me busy so that I wouldn't bug him every 5 minutes.....so I decided to make cute little hair bows for baby A. It was so much fun and I didn't want to stop but I ran out of alligator clips to attach the bows....so until I can get to the store for more clips...this is what I have made so far.....I decided to start out with solid, simple bows that are small....then as she grows I will make bigger ones....

The first set of bows I made was to match the pink and camo outfit from my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Joe.....She will fit in perfect out at my parents land...:)

The next little boy I made was to match the little yellow and green lime outfit from Eric and Christie!

This one was just one I made practicing with different types of ribbon.....
These two are actually two of my favorite....they are a khaki/cream color with brown stitching!
These are just simple sets of light pink, yellow and royal blue.....she has tons of outfits in all colors.....pink is a given and then all her little blue and yellow duck outfits and then she has a couple of blue and white pin stripe dresses...one that has anchors all over it...super cute...can't wait for her to be here so we can dress her up in it!
She already has more cloths than we know what to do with......so now I just have to make her bows in every color...because there is NO WAY that our child is not going to have a full head of hair when she comes out......

Thats all for today...