New Look, New Year, Random Stuff

Greetings, blogosphere!  I've been lacking in the inspiration department lately, so that's the lame excuse for the lack of posts as of late.  Additionally, school is about to start.

After watching several blogs undergo beautiful transformations, I started hunting for a fresh, updated look for this blog.  While I did find a sweet template, quite a few of my photos were thrown off.  And I still want to make a header with multiple photos...can anyone enlighten me because Googl.e hasn't. :)

In the Baby News Department, Baby Girl continues to grow and kick.  She is definitely dancing inside!  To my disbelief, I have officially entered the final trimester.  My nerves continue to grow.  The baby's room is finally getting organized.  One of the stressful details has been sorting the clothes.  I found a wonderful do-it-yourself idea on a blog, speedily went to Michael's, and copied and used it to separate Baby Girl's ever growing wardrobe.  Ah, much better...

In the Random Useless News department, my dear hubby took me to our state fair on Saturday.  Having gone many times to the Calif.ornia Stat.e Fair, I wanted to see how Ken.tucky compared.  Unfortunately, I have to cast the vote for my home state.  But the Ken.tucky fair had its share of weirdness.  The "big food" item this year is a Krisp.y Kre.me Bur.ger.  Ugh.  The photo below probably doesn't do it justice: think of a regular cheeseburger, except instead of buns, there are 2 Krisp.y Kr.eme Doughnuts holding the heart attack (I mean burger) together.  There was quite a line in front of the stand!

Today is also my birthday.  The past few years have felt bittersweet due to infertility.  Strangely enough, while my heart feels joy at the new life inside, relief seems to overshadow everything.  Last year I thought my first birthday as a mother would feel more complete, more right, etc.  Instead, there is relief that the IF chapter has been solved (for now) mixed with a bit of apprehension of what next year's birthday will be like ("come on, hubby, we need another diaper before we go out for my birthday drink at Star.bucks!").  As always, every birthday reminds me to thank God for another year of life.  We have known friends and even family who have died young, so I try to look at that side of the coin rather than my wrinkles.

To see just how old I really am, check out the hidden clubhouse at Disney.land that I must see before kicking the bucket someday.  RyanAnn and Jeremiah should know what this is right away:

Praying for "Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry..."

This summer a large number of bloggers did a "Prayer Buddy" campaign, and I had the privilege of praying for Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry.  She is an amazing, courageous woman who has endured multiple failed adoptions and the pain of infertility.  A couple weeks ago, she adopted a precious baby girl!  I've relished all of the pictures of her holding her long awaited daughter.  What a blessing to see the painful wait ended and the joy begun.  Of course, many people have been praying for PHDW and her husband for a while (heck, her sister-in-law is a Poor Clare nun!), so I'm glad to have added my little prayers to all of theirs.  PHDW also exemplifies a hard lesson we all try to learn: never give up, trust in God.

God bless your new journey as a mom!  (By the way, I will mail your package this week.  Sorry it's a bit late!)

Thanks, TCIE and JBTC for organizing the prayer buddy effort. :)

Back in the Saddle Again...

Thanks for the anniversary wishes!  I had a whirlwind trip to the West Coast and enjoyed catching up with family and friends.  Jet lag, which normally doesn't affect me much, had nearly pounded me to the floor the past couple days.  So lest my words come out unintelligible, here is a photo essay of my trip with a few pithy captions.  Fellow ex-Californians may recognize some of the food joints.  Warning: some baby shower photos at the end.

In honor of Jeremiah, I begin with a shot of food from our favorite eatery.

(I just had to snap a picture of this tool!)

This place has the best chocolate dipped cones ever!  Also, it used to be a gas/service station before the new owners converted it into a restaurant.

Here are the baby shower photos.  My mom and sister hosted the event.  It was awesome to catch up with family and friends that have been a part of my childhood and beyond!

This gorgeous shot displays the decadent awesomeness of the shower cake.  Four years ago, my hubby and I ordered our wedding cake from the same local bakery.  Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to eat much of it due to the large party.  Also, our favorite layer (which looked just liked this) was the first to be eaten.  So having this cake at the shower was a very special treat!  And yes, I am the type of sweet lover to photograph the inside of a cake and gaze at it longlingly.

Last, but not least, here is one of my shower favors.  I just love coffee and was so excited to incoporate it into a shower favor!