September 20, 2011

And so it begins.... The name war. So far we have:
1st of all the due date is my Great Grandmother's 128th birthday ~  Frieda Christine Schenider
~Freida Brook Shaw
~Christine Frieda Shaw
~Brook Freida Shaw
~Alfreda Julia Shaw
This is where I told everyone that my husband ordered a BOY...and so it continues
~James Michael Shaw - after Grandpa Shaw
~Joe Michael Shaw - After my great Uncle
~Michel - for my sister who was supposed to be a boy

Good to know we have the name picked out girl or boy we have one down.

Tweet Tweet ... what??

I am on Twitter. I am new to Blogging. I am trying to find my way in my hormone enraged body. I am inspired and excited to learn, master and conquer these new adventures. We will laugh and grow ~ literally in this process. So far I am following a lot more than I have following me. I have 4 tweets (soon to be 5) and I plan to post this blog post to my Twitter Feed. I hope I am doing this right. Found this site that shortens my links so I can Tweet them. Wish me luck.

The Cooper River Bridge Run

Year #3.... and counting. I have lived in Charleston for 11+ years now and I had always wanted to run this race. Especially since I had run the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta while I was much younger and still in college. It would be the one time a year I actually brought myself to do any form of running. Fast Forward (or Rewind) to 3 years ago.... I was starting a new chapter in my life. I had just started dating my now husband and we were going to do the race together.  We made the treck down to the Guillard on Friday night and waited in line for 3+ hours to pick up our race packets. Come 11 pm, no dinner, only surviving on Starbucks coffee we finally made it home AND we were still in good spirits: I knew at that moment this was the man for me. He was willing to endure anything to make me happy and make a dream of mine come true without complaining.

How could you not love this man?

Since that race I have fallen in love with running. Whether it is a 4 mile run on the beach, weekly bridge runs during soccer practice or running on the treadmill at the gym.... I am hooked. My girlfriend, Amy and I run as many races together as we can. Being 2 days  shy of 4 months pregnant - my goal this time was not to beat my best time of 1:00:00 for a 10k, but to make to it to mile 4 without walking. Now... Mile 4 is at the very TOP of the bridge and marks the downhill portion. REALITY... I hit my wall at mile 3. I was on pace for  10 minute miles through the 3rd mile. Then I needed to walk. Failure... the thoughts of OMG what am I thinking trying to run this race?? My Ipod came to life with this amazing song and it gave me what I needed to get over my wall. Then on Mile 5....This  is what I received:

My girls and My husband Cheering me on..... The girls ran the last mile with me. As we are walking and talking here they are killing my pace I was working so hard for but all is OK....this right here made my day.
Final Result: 1:14:37 Not Bad. Next year Baby Shaw will be here and the WHOLE Family will run it together.

Sneak Peak to the next post....

Baby Shaw idea board

1 Sherwin Williams Mint
2 Blue Paint
3 Mobile for above changing table
4 Larkin Changing Table
5 Larkin Glider
6 Larkin Crib
7 Cheerful Critter Nursery

Thanks to all the Bloggers out there with beautiful nursery ideas. From the beginning we have decided Gender Neutral since we are waiting to find out what we are having. Please stay tuned to see the Progress and the Final Reveal.

One little Baby Shaw treat

The soon to be revealed / Created / inspired Baby Nursery....... Color Scheme will be Mint Chocolate Chip. Recently I am falling in love with Clean Lines.... why?? I am not that type of design person. I have always hated it. This must be a sign  that the soon to be named S Shaw aka wiggle worm is a BOY. Don't get all excited -- we are still not finding out.

I can't wait to install this mobile

Credits
Nursery : Live the Fancy Life, Martha Stewart and The Lantern Shop

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.