Baking Momma

Big Girl H has a DS game called Cooking Momma. Well I feel like a missmash of baked goods tonight. If you could see me I would be a sight. I am wearing Mr. M's Michigan sweatshirt because for some reason I am freezing all the time even in the Deep South!! BUT it is covered in Chocolate and I smell super sweet.

This  weekend the girls are having a sleepover for the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Every year we have a sleep over and the girls stay up to watch. This year will be no different. We are doing makeovers, pizza, decorate your own dessert. Yumm I can't wait. Of course there will be Justin Beiber and ICarly to watch for. I personally like Selena Gomez but no one cares about me. This  is all for Mike and the girls. I must admit their stepfather is pretty cool for indulging in the evening activities too. I bet he even voted for his favorites online :)

Back to my baking and prepping 3 days in advance.... I have made so far:
Rice Crispie Treats
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Tomorrow night will be the cookie cake.
Hope and I stopped into Coastal Cupboard and got letter cookie cutters. C H J - initials for each child spending the night. For you math wiz's there is a duplicate child / letter. We will be cutting out letters and decorate with icing. I have high aspirations for everything looking absolutely stunning.....then I look at myself again in the mirror and remind myself I am not THE Martha Stewart - just a wannabe. So I will accept less than perfection. (more on this subject in a minute)

End Result - Yummy Goodness

All the necessary ingredients

Project #2 of the evening

Melting the Marsh mellows and Butter

Ready for cookie cutters and frosting

Why all of a sudden am I getting this wild hair to be creative.... I'll tell you. I have been obsessed with a little blog by Darby. She is truly an inspiration. I have this urge for a new direction in my life maybe due to the fact I am about to have another baby. So... I have been scouring the web for more inspiration. And I found it in Making Things Happen . Keep an eye out for more exciting ways for me to express myself. See you soon.

When life hands you lemons you make lemonaide



Surprise Girls!



We are into week 14!! or through week 14!! I am not really sure how this whole thing works right now. All I know is that the reveal could not have gone more perfectly. The weekend started off beautifully with a Date Night! Yep - going to have to get used to those with this little one on the way. We went to a local are studio 'Bottles N Brushes' and did the Picasso Style painting of your partner. I was so nervous never painting anything before in my life and not having the luxury of wine to help ease my nerves.



Here Mike is intensely working on my painting


 In the end, it turned out all right!! Mine looks more cartoonish and Mr. M's version of me looks like Lady Gaga with a square body and an alien inside it. Lets talk about my hair for a minute.... Mr. M will talk about this Blond hair that he thinks will look good on me. Every time he sees a girl with it he will either take a picture or show it to me. Now none of these hair colors look the same mind you so trying to imitate would be impossible. His painting of me has the PERFECT version of the blond hair he is looking for.


See what I mean about the hair??



On to the Reveal... I had it all planned out for weeks now. Give the girls respective Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers Onesies for the baby. (Perfect in my mind BC the baby is due during football season and no matter what this kid will wear school colors whether a Boy or Girl). So the girls sit in their seats I am ready with camera and..... voila! I got nothin. They both hold them up look at them and say "Mommy these are too small" Ughhh failure. My perfect vision of how this would go over is not panning out. SO plan B - Mr M and I show our portraits of each other. Immediately Big Girl H jumps up and says "Mommy is having a baby!" Really she got that from the alien looking thing in my belly. Guess so. Then the excitement ensues. The Thank yous are flowing. So funny the girls think I am having a baby for them and not because Mr M and I want to expand our family. We all went to the beach on Sat due to the heat being 85. I think I wore my 1st and last bikini this summer. On Sunday the girls and I did some retail therapy shopping for the baby. Our theme is Mint Chocolate Chip and that is all they were looking for.

Onto this week -- the week of the Lemon. By Wednesday this week I am finally giving into the pregnancy. Comfort is my desire now especially since I am so sick yesterday and today. And I cannot take anything. The nurse told me that "in my condition" I love that term -- I can take Tylenol and the Netti Pot.  Both are my friend right now. Today I had every intention of  wearing regular pants and a stretchy top. Now, with how awful I feel I pulled out the Belly Band.

So I slip this thing on after reading the directions. Really Directions?? I unbutton my buttons and hope and prey my pants stay up. Much to my surprise it doesn't look bad, my pants are not falling down and it is somewhat comfortable. I am a believer. This will now be a staple of my daily outfits until I succumb to the maternity clothes. 14 weeks still in regular clothes on my 3rd child not bad...right? Still my girlfriend and I are going to start "looking" at maternity clothes this weekend. Kind of dip our toes in so to speak.

Officially out of denial

Happy St Patricks Day! Going to tell work today the secret I have been hiding for months.



BTW - I said I would never do the profile picture


UPDATE!!! Besides the fact that I don't have to suck in anymore ---  It went perfect at work. I got a lot of love and support. I also got a few "Are you crazy??" I can't blame them either. Now all we have left to do is tell the girls. Stay Tuned -- I want to document their reaction and share.

Our 1st Mini Vacation - Savannah

So the plan is that on weekends we do not have our girls -- as much as we miss them... I will travel to meet Mr. M for mini vacations as often as we can until this little peach is ripe. Or until the doctors say no more travel!!This weekend was the 1st trip. We headed South to Savannah. It was the week leading up to St Patrick's Day. Wow was that a blast. Of course me not being able to partake in all the green beer was not too exciting but I was quite the trooper. We ate at a Scottish Pub on Friday night and had long discussion about the Irish, the Italians and the Scottish in regards to how they celebrate or Not celebrate this holiday. The weather was beautiful in Savannah -- upper 70's both days. We got up and jogged our 3 miles both mornings. Along the way we came across an underground HUGO Boss warehouse sale for one weekend only. Boy did we luck out. Mr. M had died and gone to heaven. If any of you know Mr. M, he loves to shop and I hate to shop with him, BUT I do it because I love him. Found some amazing deals especially on suits.

It felt like we walked all over Savannah and still did not see the whole city. Saturday night we ate at Casbah Moroccan Restaurant. That was quite an experience. There was belly dancing, henna tattoos, eating with your hands and music. The food was wonderful!! On Sunday we headed over Tybee Island to visit the beach and see the parade. It was wonderful. 1st of all -- Savannah has an open container allowance as long as it is in a plastic cup. Mike thought this was wonderful - Drinks To Go! On the beach we had Pina Coladas (mine was virgin) and sat in a swing like a bunch of old people. I was shocked and amazed at all the people already in bikinis on the beach. Also, quite thankful I was pregnant and not getting myself into a bikini anytime soon. The day seemed to fly by and it was time to take mike back to the Savannah airport to return to his job on the road.Then I drove the 2 hours back to Charleston to get ready for a crazy week of work and activities with the girls. Next Stop Tampa .... to be continued.


Casbah Dinner



Tybee Island

The week of the PEACH

We are in Week 13 and have a Peach growing inside me. As soft and fuzzy as peaches feel on the outside that is surely not how my stomach feels. My favorite time of the day is at night before bed to lay on my back and massage my little peach. Feels more like an unrippened avacado but the experts say peach. This past weekend marked a milestone for us..... Mr. M officially told me I was showing. He could see the baby bump. I had been in pregnancy denial until this morning when my pants were to the point of tightness that made me go Ohh! Enter the belly band.

I think there will be maternity clothes shopping in our near future because yoga pants are not appropriate work attire. There is one HUGE blessing to this week - I am no longer exhausted and my cravings for SWEETS have slowed. Not completely gone but slowed. My favorite part about going to bed and soon to be a major staple in our home...



Sorry honey :)

The Day We Became Shaw's

February 14, 2011 -- Valentine's Day. It had been freezing mid 30's - 40's leading up to today. Slowly but surely the temps were getting warmer and thank goodness since we were getting married outside in February. It turned out to be upper 60's sunny and not breezy. Whew!!
We had both sets of parents in from out of town. Mine from Atlanta and Mr. M's from Canada. Our siblings were unable to make the trip to SC due to the timing of the wedding but they were in our thoughts throughout the day. We had to make many promises to visit them and re-celebrate this union of 2 families.

The entire day went as planned. Visit both girls at school with Grandma and Grandpa Sedgley for their V-Day parties. Big Surprise that Mommy got to come let alone Grandma and Grandpa. Wait a minute - what are you all doing here? You are not coming until NEXT weekend. SURPRISE -- Mommy and Mr. M are getting married today. "Do we get to come?" Of course, we would never get married without 2 of the most important members of our family - Lil Miss J and Big Girl H. Off we went to get our hair done at Sherry's Salon. Lil Miss J and I went curly for the big event (we NEVER go curly) and my curly headed Big Girl H went Straight!! She looked amazing. My mom was on hand for all the festivities aka keeping the girls calm cool and collected. After hair off to Makeup. ULTA did a wonderful job making me look like a princess.
A little crammed for time but I was determined not to fall behind schedule as we drove over the Cooper River bridge to check into the Bridal Suite!! Mr. M - my soon to be husband, sent up some wonderful presents and roses. The card was beautiful and a promise to Honeymoon in France. My dream come true. My photographer Katie Moore was absolutely amazing. Everything I could have imagined. Thank you Katie Moore  you were an absolute dream to work with. Our wedding was officiated my Michael Winship of Winship Productions. He did a truly amazing job. The whole event felt so personal and intimate.  Michael and the rest of the gang eased their nerves at a Local Pub. Katie whisked us off around Charleston for some amazing photos.  If anyone knows me they know how much I love my camera and just how few pictures I get to be in since I am always taking them. Our Reception was at my Favorite Charleston Restaurant 39 Rue De Jean. Our friends and family joined us for an intimate Valentine's Day dinner and our cake was from Cupcake. Yumm!!

I ended up taking another day off to spend with my new husband and his family before they headed back to Canada. Unfortunately they came down with a stomach bug and did not see much of the outside of their hotel room. They are all better now and back up in the great white north counting the days until they can come back to 70 degree weather.
Thank you to all of the wonderful people who helped make our day Special.

The Shaw's

It all Begins....

Today is the day I have been waiting for.... Today is January 14, 2011. I have fought the urge all week to not sneek and take the test early. Why -- Because Mr. M is out of town for work and comes home today. I knew I wouldn't be able to contain the excitement if I knew and he didn't. Last night after the gym I went to the drug store and got all the  "Goods". Of course I was trying to be sly and not let Mr. M know what I was up to bc I had the PERFECT way to to tell him. So when he is calling me on my way home and I am avoiding his calls he is asking all these questions and I am thinking - Stay cool - you got  this. Inside I am freaking out that he is going to figure it out before I can tell him. Whew not today. Friday morning I get up and go to the bathroom...... YES positive. So I take this precious little test that says we are having a baby and I lay it on his pillow on his side of the bed. I head off to work and just wait. On the inside I want to explode with joy but I need to stay calm and collected until I see Mr. M.
Mr. M flew home early that day and had been working at home when I got there. I had heard nothing from him in reference to any BABIES. I went to the bedroom and the bed had been slept in but still nothing about the BABY. How can this be? He comes upstairs and he is sitting right there with it behind him. By this time I am acting completely unlike myself and he knows it. As he is sitting there on the bed,  the hormones have taken over my brain and made me a crazy woman. I am thinking "how can he possibly not know what he is supposed to do to figure out that we are pregnant?" I then go on some random rampage and find the test on the pillow and throw it at him frustrated that he couldn't read my mind. At that moment his entire life started going in slow motion and 10 minutes later it registered -- I am going to be a Dad!!!


I do not have a face to see,
Or put inside a frame.
I do not have soft cheeks to kiss,
I don't yet have a name.
You can't yet hold my tiny hands,
Nor whisper in my ear.
It's still too soon to sing a song,
Or cuddle me so near.
But all will change come September,
That’s when they say I'm due.
I'm your new daughter or son;
I can't wait till I meet you.
All I ask between now and then
Is your patience while I grow.
I promise I'll be worth the wait,
Because of all the love we'll know.
So what I have to give you now,
Is a wish to you from me.
I cannot wait to be a part
Of this wonderful family.