Texas Baby Shower- April 17th

Here are pictures from my Texas baby shower, given on April 17th. I posted a lot of pictures so that mom and Ashlyn can feel like they were there, because I know they wanted to be.




Blair and Sandra

Courtney, Karel, and Patti. Courtney Prescott was the main hostess for my shower. She is married to my boss and dear friend, Warren. I was so surprised and honored that they wanted to host a shower for me. I am truly going to miss working at Rent A Frog. It has been the most incredible blessing for Josh and I in so many ways. I have so many wonderful memories there, it will be hard to say goodbye.



Kari, Deren and Jessica. All three of these girls and their husbands are apart of our Union class. Deren and I dog sit for each other on occasion. Jessica and Mark have truly become like family to Josh and I. Josh and Mark are accountability partners, and Jess and I are too. I could write for a long time about funny memories with them and things we've learned from each other, but now is not the time. We love them dearly.

My dear friends Anna and Marissa. Both girls and their husbands are apart of Union, but more importantly, our small group that meets every Tuesday night. Our group has been together for about two years now and we've all grown really close. Anna actually asked me to sing at her wedding last August before really knowing me. Once I met her and Brad, I could tell they would fit right in to our small group. They tried it out and have been apart ever since. Marissa and Brad used to live in our apartment complex so we were able to get to know them a lot better by living so close.

Karel and Patti

Karel, Patti, Shelley, and Blair. Karel and Patti are friends I've met through the women's bible study I'm apart of at church. Shelley Harvey has been like family to Josh and I since we've moved to Fort Worth and their family is the reason we ended up at McKinney Bible. Josh actually met the Harvey's before meeting me... he was their son's pop warner football coach. When they learned that he was getting his Masters Degree in Math, they hired him to tutor their daughter, Laura. So he would go over to their house every week for tutoring, and he ended up becoming like family. Once Josh and I got married and moved, they became our "family" in Fort Worth. Blair is also a girlfriend I met through bible study at church and she was one of the awesome hostesses that helped throw me this shower.

Blair, Kari, Marissa, and Deren.



A cute little "I Love Dirt" blanket and bib from Courtney Dabney, my bible study leader.

This was an awesome hand-made gift by my sweet friend Kari. She stitched his first and middle name on the front. It's so cute and I love seeing his name written out.

This was our stroller, given to us by Karel and Patti.

Sweet Julia. She and Barry got us this cute little monkey backpack for when E gets a little bigger and can carry his own things. Yeah!! I told Josh it was a backpack for the dad to carry.


The high chair given to us by the hostesses

Girls from Union


Monica flew in from Houston to help host the shower. She was my first friend in Fort Worth. We met at church in the fall of 2007, but she ended up moving back to Houston in May 2008. We've stayed in touch and continued to be close friends. I think it's pretty awesome that the Lord crossed our paths when/why He did. We both really needed a friend. Now she's married and expecting her first baby in December. We've been able to go through a lot of life with each other in the few years we've been friends.

A special thank you to all the hostesses that helped give me such a beautiful day. Courtney, Monica, Jessica, Beth, Hillary, Blair, Jennifer, and Bessie Ann. You all made me feel so special. Thank you also for the high chair that you all went in on together. This was such a beautiful party, the food was SO good, and I really enjoyed being able to celebrate this exciting time with all my dear friends in Texas. Thanks again for all you did.

Josh and I

I love this man
With all of my heart

AZ Baby Shower- March 18th

Morgan and Ryan Ohlin with Josh and Brian

The Beltramos

Kaylee trying out the car seat

Our diaper cake... by Aunt Jess and Aunt Julie

Thanks to my mother-in-law, Jess, and Julie for throwing us such a fun couples shower! The food was great and so was the company. It was really nice to be able to just hang out and visit with so many people we love, but don't get to see very much. Jess, you did such a great job with the cake! Josh and I both felt very blessed by all of you and we really appreciate all the time and effort you put into our special day.

36 Week Update

Josh and I just got back from the doctor. Here is the latest...

- Elijah weighs 6lbs 13oz
- I've started dilating (only to a 1, but at least it has started)
- He is head down
- Heartbeat is great
- Since at this point, the average baby gains a half pound a week, if I make it till 40 weeks, he'll be almost 9lbs when I deliver him.
- SO... this means that we might induce. We'll wait and see what the status is next week and then maybe schedule an induction.
- Oh yeah, it looks like he has my profile. Josh and I both thought that while watching the sonogram. SO weird to see that... someone I haven't met who kinda looks like me.

More AZ pics

Dinner with Rikki and Mason at Houston's in Scottsdale, then baby gifts back at the house. Thanks Rikki... what a great night.





Lunch with the Carrillo's at The Farm in Phoenix.



My Mexican Dad

Baby Shower in AZ- March 6th

Best friend Hallie and her daughter Layla

Tori, Ericka, and Priscilla

Judy on the left and Barb in the middle. I was Judy's flower girl about 23 years ago and Barb has been like family for many years. Her daughter Katie and I have been friends since...gosh maybe 5 years old? Katie couldn't be there...she's in D.C.


Holly Stewart


Just look at what this little boy is getting himself into. A family full of estrogen! The few good men who support all these women are certainly looking forward to another dude to hang with. And this isn't even all of them!





All the Aunties! Aunt Alicia, Aunt Ashlyn, Aunt Jessica, Aunt Julie

MiMi and GiGi. This is a first for GiGi... not so much for MiMi.

Mom and Ashlyn, Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend. The party was so beautiful. I still can't believe it was for me and my baby! I know you both did a lot of "behind the scenes" to make sure it all went smooth and it certainly paid off. Everyone enjoyed themselves, the weather was perfect, and it was a great reunion of friends and family. You guys are so generous and sweet to me. Thanks again. I love you.

A major time saver!

So, I have to spread the word. I just started a new budget saving trick and I'm LOVING it. I signed up for emealz. What's emealz, you ask. Basically, it's a dinner plan at a (very) low cost. I get 5 dinner plans per week that stay in between $35-$45 per week.



It worked perfectly for me because I love to cook and I like variety, but it seemed like every time I got creative, I doubled my grocery bill. This gives me some great variety and keeps it in my budget. PLUS, they give you a grocery list for all the items you need to make your dinners. It seriously saves me SO much time, since I would do this anyway on Sunday afternoons. All I do is print my meal plan and I've got 5 dinner options and my grocery list. I just write in the other things I need on the side of the list like milk, eggs, etc. They make sure to tell you what staple items you'll need for all the meals each week too.



You get to choose between a few options. Meal plans for 2 or meal plans for 4-6 people. They have a general meal plan, a low-fat meal plan, and a low-carb meal plan. Josh and I are on the low fat... and it is super good. It's probably not THAT low fat, and that's why I like it. :) We've been doing it for 3 weeks now, and honestly all the recipes have been good. We had friends over and I made one of the dinners for them and they ended up signing up for it too.



It's $5 per month to be apart, and they suggest having the $5 automatically withdrawn through your debit card so that it come directly out of your grocery budget. Dave Ramsey also recommends it through his website.



Yes, I love being able to be creative with my dinners and try fun and fancy stuff, but that is becoming less and less practical for me. Especially with a baby coming, I'm not going to want to worry about all that. But seriously, I don't feel like it's a bummer at all, at least not right now. If you go to the website, they let you download a sample meal plan so you can see what it's all about. Let me know if you have any questions!

www.e-mealz.com