Meet the Matterns

You Make Me Smile

2012-01-26T09:29:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday, (at 5 weeks old) Cambry smiled for the first time - when she was awake! It was a small smile, but she did it several times throughout the day. It was the sweetest thing! Now of course it is my mission to get her to do it again and capture it on camera. She doesn't do it much, usually only 1 or 2 small ones in the morning or when she is on her changing pad. These were all taken on my phone, so not the best quality. What would I do without the iphone camera though? Who has a real camera on hand and ready when the perfect moment strikes? Not me.

Monthly Photos: Month 1

2012-01-22T14:34:00.005-06:00

Hi my name is Jana and I can't stop taking pictures of my baby. And then I can't stop staring at them. She is so scrumptious.

I wanted to have monthly photos of Cambry that were cute and fairly consistent. There are so many creative ideas out there for this. Greg found this idea online here and we both thought it was cute and creative. So I ran out the next day and bought a large desktop calendar from Target.

We are a little late on her one month pictures, but hopefully we will keep on top of it for future months. Greg took most of these pictures and once again did a great job. We are still playing around with the editing to see what we like best but will try to keep it consistent from month to month for our top choice.

Of course we couldn't narrow it down to just one, so here are some favorites.

One Month Old

2012-01-16T13:36:00.004-06:00

Today Cambry is one month old! She is so precious and I am so in love with her. I love staying home with her. It is challenging and wonderful at the same time.

This is what is going on with her at 1 month...

Size: We don't go back to the doctor until she is two months old so I don't know her current weight or length, but I am guessing she is still pretty big. At her 2 week appointment she was 21 3/4 in. long (98th percentile), 9 lbs. 5 oz. (81st percentile) and head was 14 3/4 in. (83rd percentile). A few nights ago she was laying in her basket all swaddled up and she just looked so long! This measurement isn't very accurate but we thought it made a funny picture.

Her newborn clothes are getting too small so she wears a lot of 0-3 months clothes. Especially since I just started putting her in cloth diapers, which are bulky and take up more room in her clothes.

Likes: Baths, being read to out of the Jesus Storybook Bible, car rides (once we get going, walks (usually), being rocked and held, tight swaddles, being outside

Here she is after bath time. Her hair looks so blonde after it is washed.

Dislikes: Being put in her car seat, not being held, her swing, having a wet diaper on for any period of time

Working on: Tummy time, taking bottles (sometimes successful, sometimes a disaster), using the maya wrap ( I cannot seem to put her in correctly in a comfortable position)

Sleeping: Last night she went her longest stretch yet - 6 1/2 hours between feedings! It was glorious! Usually though her first night time stretch is 4 hours, then 3, then 2 1/2. I can't complain, she is really good at night. She doesn't cry, and goes to sleep fairly easily after feedings, you just have to rock her for a while.

Here is one of her sleepy smiles. Love them.

Eating: She eats about every 3 hours during the day. Sometimes I wonder if she has some sort of heartburn or reflux because during and after some feedings she will just scream and cry. But the majority of her feedings are fine.

I love this girl!

First Few Weeks

2012-01-06T18:56:00.004-06:00

Our baby girl is 3 weeks old today! She is so precious and sweet. Here is what is going on with her right now...

She eats about every 3 hours, and she is a good eater.

After she eats she is awake for a bit but is usually fussy. I never really know what is wrong at this point. Gassy? I am not sure, but you can't really just put her down (in a bouncer, play mat, etc) and have her be content. She doesn't cry very long, but she just seems to need to be held or rocked or something until she falls asleep. Then she usually stays asleep until her next feeding.

She does well in the car and usually falls asleep in her car seat after a few minutes. She is like her momma :)

When she starts to dose off to sleep she smiles. It is the cutest thing. Her eyes will be shut and she will smile several times.

(Don't worry, she does not sleep in our bed like this)

She usually likes going on walks. We have gone on quite a few since we have had such nice weather. I can't believe the beginning of January has been so warm! Sometimes she cries when we put her in the car seat in the stroller but usually calms down once we start going.

She likes bath time! She is so cute how she will just lay there and look around while we pour the warm water on her.

After bath time her hair gets a little crazy.

Baby girl is not a fan of bottles. We started introducing a bottle at 1 1/2 weeks. We try to give her one every day or every other day. She fights it, and sometimes acts like we are gagging her, but I think she is starting to get a little better. We have tried several different kinds of bottles and so far the Playtex one seems to get the best results.

She will only take a paci sometimes, and only the soothie kind. She usually doesn't suck on it for very long.

We have gone on several outings and she has done well. Today I made a quick stop at Target and walked around with her in the Baby Bjorn. She fussed a little at first but then fell asleep. It was really nice to carry her around like that.

I love when babies lay frogger style.

So serious.

And that's what we have been up to lately.

Behind the Scenes

2012-01-02T14:12:00.005-06:00

Here is the set up for our photo shoot. After doing this, I just kept wondering how do professional newborn photographers do it?? Do they just plan on booking a 4 hour session? There are small windows of opportunities between feedings and if you miss it you have to wait til the next round. At least that's how it was with Cambry.

Step one: Carefully undress sleeping baby in front of a heater without waking her up. Most critical and dangerous step.

If this is the reaction you get before you have gotten even one shot, you are in trouble.

Looking online at newborn photos makes it looks so easy. You just put sleeping baby in any position you want. Propped up hanging out of a bucket? No problem. Laying completely naked on a white blanket without pooping? No problem.

Um, Houston, we have a problem. Diaper removal causes baby to poop and pee on the props and head is too wobbly which wakes baby up.

Wouldn't this little box have been so cute?

Unfortunately, this was the reaction we got as soon as we put her in.

Session fail. No further attempts with this box were taken.

I think this one is precious, even though this face is a sign that our window of opportunity was closing soon.

And that's a wrap.

Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-12-31T11:58:00.002-06:00

We did a newborn photo shoot with Cambry when she was 1 week old. Greg took these photos. He did such a wonderful job - I am so proud of his photography skills. And of course I think the subject matter is the cutest thing ever.

These photos did not come easy though. Getting a peacefully-sleeping perfectly posed newborn is no small task. I will have to do another post with some behind-the-scenes pictures and some of the outtakes. It took 4 different attempts over 2 days to get these, but I love how they turned out.

Cambry's Birth Story

2011-12-23T05:36:00.009-06:00

I better write this down before I forget it. I still can't believe what a smooth, quick, and easy (relatively speaking) labor and delivery I had. God had a perfect plan for Cambry's arrival and I am so thankful for how it happened. I'll start with the day before her birth...

Greg had taken Thursday afternoon off work since he had some vacation days he needed to use by the end of the year. I was 41 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I was really hoping Cambry would come on her own and I would not have to wait until 42 weeks to be induced. When Greg got home from work around lunch time we decided to go for a long walk. We joked that we would not come back from the walk until I was in labor. We walked to the disc golf course and Greg played through the course while I walked along beside him. By the time we were done we tracked that we had gone 3.9 miles. I was exhausted by the end and barely shuffling along. That evening we rented a DVD and then went to bed around 11pm.

At 2am on Friday morning my water broke. It woke me up and I immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I somehow managed not to get it on the bed, but my clothes were soaked when I got to the bathroom. Even though I was almost positive it was my water that broke, I wanted to make sure I hadn't just peed everywhere - ha! After determining that it was definitely not pee, I called out - "Greg...my water broke." I got no response so I repeated it a little louder. About half a second later he was in the bathroom wide-eyed and excited. I hopped in the shower and we both began getting ready to go and gathering last minute things for our hospital bags.

I started having contractions right away but I didn't realize they were real contractions at first because they just felt like Braxton Hicks and weren't painful. I was excited knowing that it was the day we would finally get to meet our baby girl, but my excitement was overshadowed with fear at first. I was so nervous anticipating the pain and the whole labor process that I was shaking the whole time in the shower.

I told Greg as I was getting ready that I didn't want them to give me pitocin right away in the hospital to bring on labor, I wanted to wait for it to start on its own. Little did I know it had already started and would go very quickly!

We called our parents to let them know we were leaving for the hospital soon. By the time we were ready to leave my contractions were coming regularly and were getting pretty uncomfortable. I had to stop what I was doing to get through them.

We arrived at the hospital at 3:40am. I'm sure I was a site to see as I was shuffling along in pain and holding a huge towel because my water was continuing to leak out everywhere. I could not believe how that much water could have been inside me as it continued to come out in gushes for the next couple of hours.

After signing a few papers they wheeled me to a room right away. I was in pain now and all I could think as I was signing the forms was "Seriously?? Now??"

We got in our room and this is where I started to get a little cranky. A nurse handed me the most confusing hospital gown ever and then left us alone for what seemed like forever. Neither of us could figure out the ridiculous gown that was just a flat piece of fabric with snaps everywhere and you have to make the sleeves yourself. The contractions were getting really painful and I started pleading with Greg to go get a nurse. She finally came and started to do all the normal stuff- IV, hooked me up to monitors, blood work, etc. She checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. Contractions were very intense and painful, and I was ready for the epidural. I felt like a baby wanting it so soon but I just wanted the pain to stop. It didn't take very long for the anesthesiologist to arrive and by 5:15am the epidural was in. It wasn't bad at all, and once it was in it was the best thing ever! I am so thankful for epidurals! They checked me again at that point and I was 6 cm.

They told me my doctor would arrive at 7:30am to come in and check on me. So for the next 2 hours I just relaxed and chatted with Greg and my parents. During that time Greg's parents arrived at the hospital - they had left Waco in the middle of the night. It was a good thing they got there when they did because Cambry came shortly after that.

Around 7:40am my doctor arrived. She checked me and calmly said - "Alright you are ready to push, her head is right there". What?? I could not believe it. I was prepared for an all day labor and was completely shocked I was already 10 cm.

The doctor and nurses got ready and I started pushing a few minutes before 8am. Greg and my mom were in the room with me, as well as my doctor and 2 nurses. I pushed for 30 minutes and then the doctor said "On this next push she will be out." It was so surreal. She was right though - on the next push Cambry was out. She was born at 8:24am. And the best part was I couldn't feel anything! They laid her on me as soon as she was born and they began cleaning her up. Greg got to cut the cord. After several minutes of her laying on me and just being in awe of her, they weighed her quickly and cleaned her off a little more. She was a healthy 8 lbs. 10 oz.

Greg held her briefly and then they laid her on me again for about an hour. I tried to nurse her but she wasn't too interested. Towards the end of our hour with her our parents got to come in and see her. Then they took her to the nursery for the next few hours. They wheeled me up to the recovery room where I spent the next two days.

I was in complete shock. None of it seemed real. I couldn't believe God's goodness in blessing us with such a sweet baby girl. She was perfect in every way. She was beautiful. She was ours.

Throughout the labor Greg was so wonderful. He was a great encourager and comforter during the painful contractions and was great at cheering me on as I pushed. It was such a special thing to experience together. I loved seeing him hold his daughter for the first time. And the next 2 days in the hospital with him were so special. They didn't even seem real.

Our stay at the hospital was so nice. All of the nurses were so friendly and helpful and are ready to get you anything you need. We had family and friends that came by to see us and meet our precious baby girl.

We are overwhelmed with thankfulness for God's sweet gift to us.

First Few Days

2011-12-19T16:01:00.009-06:00

Time for some more pictures! I don't know why the picture in the last post was so huge - I posted in from my phone while still in the hospital so I couldn't control the settings. Here are some of my favorites from the past few days.

I love this one of Greg - proud new Daddy.

Baby Girl Is Here!

2011-12-17T14:30:00.001-06:00

Introducing Cambry Paige Mattern...

She was born Friday December 16 at 8:24AM, 8 lbs. 10oz. and 21 in. long. We are praising God for our beautiful baby girl!

Baby Bump - 41 Weeks

2011-12-14T20:29:00.004-06:00

I am officially 41 weeks.

Let's do another purple shirt side by side comparison, shall we?

Check out the 4 week difference. I was unsure if my belly was growing still but I think the pictures are pretty clear. Still growing. WOW. I am glad this is the last or second-to-last belly shot because I just don't see how it can get any bigger.

Greg thinks it would be funny if I tried to go on the tv show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant.

I promise, I just had no idea...

Any Day Now Cambry...

2011-12-13T10:20:00.002-06:00

Well, still no baby.

Tomorrow will be 41 weeks - WHOA.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and an ultrasound. Everything looked good - plenty of fluid and baby seemed to be doing well. She was so still at first, must have been sleeping. I couldn't believe it because usually she is so active at my appointments and she was even very active in the waiting room. Then when it was time for the ultrasound she decided to be super still. The doctor kept trying to wake her up because she wanted to observe her movement. Finally she used the beeping vibrating thing that startled her and she started to wake up. Then she got the hiccups. She gets them often but it was funny to actually see it on the ultrasound.

Estimated weight is 8lbs 8oz but the doctor said she thought she was smaller and the estimates aren't very accurate at this point. When the head is so low they can't get a good measurement of it and that is one of the factors in the weight calculation.

I had not made any progress at this appointment - still 2 cm.

So now we just wait.

If she doesn't come out by next Wednesday the 21st (42 weeks) they will induce.

I had been feeling really great until this week. Maybe it is just mentally knowing that I am overdue, but I am starting to feel pretty uncomfortable. My belly feels enormous, and it seems to be causing some back pain / pressure. Just standing and walking now are no longer very pleasant. I am not trying to complain (I am extremely thankful to have had such a wonderful pregnancy), I just want to keep record of how I feel throughout pregnancy so I can look back and remember. Also, I am wondering if she has dropped even lower because my bathroom trips have really increased in frequency.

Well, that is all I have for now. Come on baby!

Baby Bump - 40 Weeks

2011-12-08T09:22:00.004-06:00

Here is the 40 week bump. I probably should have taken the picture in a fitted tee or tank to really see the largeness of the belly but didn't have time to change for the picture before bible study. Will this be my last weekly picture?? Who knows. Maybe there will be a 41 week picture. Let's hope there is not a 42.

What can I say at this point?

I am 40 weeks 1 day pregnant. I am not feeling terribly impatient, but I am of course eager for her to come. At my appointment on Monday I was at 2cm. My next appointment is this coming Monday and I will get an ultrasound.

I am feeling pretty good overall, but I think I have a little cold, which kind of scares me. I hope it does not get worse to where I am super sick when I go into labor. I am just praying to feel better and that I would be able to trust in God's perfect plan for Cambry's arrival.

Cambry is still a major wiggle worm. Sometimes at night she just goes crazy and it makes it a little difficult to fall asleep.

I haven't had any crazy spurts of energy like I read about people having at the end. If anything, I feel like I am slowing down. She is pretty heavy these days.

It is so strange that our lives are about to change in ways we can't imagine. It doesn't seem real that we will have a baby of our own to take home very soon. So excited! It is fun to meditate on these verses at this time and think how they apply to Cambry.

Psalm 139

³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Due Date

2011-12-07T07:25:00.002-06:00

Dear Cambry,

Oh, did you not hear? Today is your due date. That means you are supposed to come out now. I understand that you are warm and cozy in there and you may want to stay a little longer. However, do not even think about trying to steal my birthday. If you try to come on the 11th, I will not let you out ;) XOXO

Love,

Mom

Waiting

2011-12-04T21:18:00.004-06:00

While we wait for Cambry to make her debut, we are partying it up.

Some Christmas parties require dressing up nice.

And then some parties require just a little more.

Baby Bump - 39 Weeks

2011-12-01T08:22:00.002-06:00

Today is December 1st - WOW! I am 39 weeks and 1 day. I can't believe we are so close to her due date. I can't really tell if my belly is still growing. I feel like it has been at size enormous for a while now and it is getting hard to notice weekly changes. Either way, it won't be growing for much longer.

I am feeling really good. I always hear how miserable the end is, but it isn't really bad at all for me - which has been a huge blessing. I don't have any new/weird symptoms. I feel pretty comfortable most of the time even though people look at me and ask - "Are you as uncomfortable as you look??" Ha. Um, yes, I realize my stomach is defying gravity and sticking straight out 3 feet but it's really not that bad, I promise :)

I feel like I have done most of the things I wanted to do before baby comes. Of course there is always more to do - especially around Christmas time, but most of the important stuff is done.

I went to the doctor on Monday and had not made any progress. Still only 1.5 cm. Cambry seems to be comfy and cozy in there. I will get another ultrasound if I go past my due date. I am eager to see what they estimate her weight at that ultrasound.

She is still quite wiggly. I can feel so many body parts moving across my belly, but I still can't tell what they are. I think mostly knees and feet.

It seems strange that at any moment the whole labor process could begin. I feel so normal (relatively speaking), that it doesn't seem possible that I could feel this way one day and be in labor the next. But I know it could be any day now and that makes each day exciting. I feel bad every time we call a family member because they are always hoping it is "the call" - haha.

Well, that is all for now. Can't wait to meet you Cambry!

Baby Bump - 38 weeks

2011-11-27T15:55:00.005-06:00

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving - I was 38 weeks and 1 day. I can't even believe we are so close! As of today we are 10 days away from our due date!

I am feeling really good. Going from sitting to standing or getting out of bed seems to still get harder by the day, but otherwise I feel good.

I get LOTS of comments from strangers. I have been out and about a lot and especially over the holidays Greg and I have been running a lot of errands. I no longer get asked - "How far along are you?", but instead "How much longer?!" or "Girl you are about to pop!" or "WOWWW".

Our bags are mostly packed, nursery is ready, Christmas decorations are up, most of the Christmas shopping is done, and now it is just a waiting game. At my 38 week appointment I was 1.5cm and still 50% effaced. My next appointment is tomorrow so we'll see if there has been any progress. I haven't had any signs of labor yet, just the normal Braxton Hicks and the occasional strange shooting pains which I have been having for a while now. Cambry still moves a lot and gets hiccups often.

I have so many mixed feelings right now. I am so excited and cannot wait to meet our little girl. At times I will suddenly feel panicked and scared about the actual labor and delivery. Then at times I get nervous that I will have no idea how to take care of a baby. Feed, burp, then change??? I could not fall asleep one night because I was not sure if I remembered the correct order - ha! Then other times I get a little sad that I am almost done being pregnant. I try to treasure these last few days and weeks of having the privilege of carrying a LIFE inside. I don't want to forget all the amazing kicks and movements she does - it is such a miracle. But then sometimes when I am laying in bed trying to fall asleep and she won't stop moving I think gosh I just need some alone time!

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parent's house this year. Some family friends joined us and we ate some really good food. Sadly, my sister and Cody and Kyler were in Arizona so we didn't get to see them. And of course we missed the Mattern family too. But hopefully we will see them soon! But I am so thankful for the family/friends we did get to see and we truly have so much to be thankful for.

I meant to post these a while back but these are a couple of craft ideas that I found online and loved.

I used the satin flower tutorial on Jones Design Company blog found here. It was so easy and I love how the flowers turned out. Then I just sewed it onto some elastic lace. I made a headband for Cambry and then made several more for friends who are having girls. If you have a little girl you should definitely try this out. And on the website she has lots of other good ideas for these flowers - put them on a clip, on a sweater, on shoes, etc!

I made these for hostess gifts - Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub. I used the tutorial found here. I think these would also make great Christmas gifts or good teacher gifts. I will have to remember this for a few years down the road.

Baby Bump - 37 Weeks

2011-11-18T12:48:00.005-06:00

I have gotten a little behind on my weekly belly pics, so here is a catch up of the last few weeks.

And for my current week picture, I thought I would put it next to my 32 week picture since I am wearing the same shirt and you can see what a difference 5 weeks makes!

At 37 weeks I am...

- Still feeling good, just large.

- 1 cm / 50% effaced (same as I was at my 36 week appt)

- So thankful that Cambry is head down! I had an ultrasound last week that showed she was in the head down position. They also estimated her weight to be 6lb 15 oz last week. The Dr. said babies gain about a half pound a week, making her approximately 9 lbs at 40 weeks! I know these estimates are not that accurate because I have had lots of people tell me how their estimates were way off from their babies birth weight. We will just have to wait and see how big she really is. But 9 lbs does make me a little nervous! I told Cambry she is free to come out any time now but she seems happy to stay put for the time being.

- Enjoying having normal sized feet! The swelling has definitely improved now that I am not sitting in an office all day.

- Eating smaller meals. I get hungry quickly after a meal, but still have to stick to small frequent meals since clearly Cambry is taking up ALL THE ROOM and leaving very little for my actual stomach.

- Sleeping well still. Changing sides takes an enormous amount of effort, but overall I am not too uncomfortable and for that I am very thankful!

I had my last day of work last Thursday. It was bittersweet. I am excited to be a stay at home mom but I was really sad to say goodbye to everyone at work. I had been with Transocean for 6 1/2 years and really liked my job and my co-workers. Everyone was so sweet about my decision to stop working. They had a goodbye lunch for me and cupcakes on my last week. I was pretty emotional on my last day of work, but thankfully was able to hold the tears in until I got to the car :)

But now that I am past the sadness of saying goodbyes, I have really been enjoying my first week off! Greg likes to tease me that now I stay at home and watch soap operas and eat bonbons all day - ha. I told him being a stay at home wife is very stressful trying to coordinate all my lunch dates now :) Just kidding. I have been able to relax and meet up with a few friends but I have also had a chance to be productive and get things done. It is a huge blessing to have time off before little girl makes her arrival.

Nursery and a Name

2011-11-08T19:29:00.007-06:00

Most of you probably have heard the name we have been thinking about, but it is finally official.

Cambry Paige Mattern

I am glad we have that decided. Ok, on to the nursery. We finished the nursery this weekend! I am so happy to have it done. Here are some pictures.

Michelle did the bedding. She has a blog with her other work here. She did such a wonderful job - I just love how the bedding turned out. And her prices were so reasonable. She was an absolute sweet heart. I would definitely recommend her!

Now we just need a baby in there!

Maternity Photo Shoot

2011-11-05T16:12:00.007-05:00

Today Greg and I had fun doing a photo shoot. Greg took these maternity pictures of me and then set up the tripod to get some with both of us. I think he did such a great job! He took a ton of pictures and it was hard to narrow it down because I have so many favorites. So here are a bunch from today.

Baby Bump - 33 and 34 Weeks

2011-10-30T20:54:00.003-05:00

At 34 weeks I am...

- Feeling good. Although I do feel like I get tired easily. Not necessarily sleepy-tired, but just winded from even the slightest physical activity.

- Feeling baby's hiccups all the time. She usually gets them a couple times a day. They seem to always be coming from a different spot. Is she just constantly doing flips in there? I wish I knew what position she is in.

- Continuing to have restless legs syndrome. I cannot stay still for long at all. Even sitting through a sermon at church is a challenge. I need to stand up and do some high kicks.

- Trying not to waddle. In public at least. When I am at home I let the waddle out.

- Having braxton hicks contractions a couple times a day.

- Sleeping well. Maybe a little too well. I am pretty sure I don't move at all. When I wake up to go to the bathroom I am still on the same side I fell asleep on. Having a 20lb bowling ball strapped to your stomach does not allow for easy flippage. I cannot just flip to the other side while sleeping. No, it requires being awake and assisting with lifting the melon from one side to the other. Not an easy feat.

- Constantly entertained by stranger's comments. It is fun that strangers usually strike up a conversation about pregnancy or ask me when I'm due, etc. Sometimes people like to guess what I am having - but it is usually split about 50/50 boy/girl. People will have the exact same explanation as to why they think I am having a certain gender, it is pretty funny. However, there are some times when I am out and about and just feeling kinda huge and maybe a little moody and want to avoid any you-should-have-kept-that-to-yourself comments. Comments like - Are you due any day now??? Um, no. I still have 5 1/2 more weeks left. Oh WOW. I have already written a book in my head on Things Never To Say to a Pregnant Woman.

I can't believe it is getting so close to her due date! Although it is weird to not know how much time I really have left to prepare. Do I have 2 weeks left? 7? We shall see!

Baby Shower

2011-10-21T17:04:00.009-05:00

This past weekend some sweet friends threw me a beautiful baby shower.

Here are the hostesses - these ladies know how to throw a shower!

They worked so hard to make every detail absolutely gorgeous. Everything was so special and well thought out. Here is the food table.

Here is the delicious dessert table. Cake, cake balls, chocolate covered strawberries, mmm!

This clothesline was so precious. I cannot wait to dress her up in all these adorable clothes. Look at that tu-tu!

My Dad's cousin Sandy, and Aunt Thelma were so sweet to drive in from Austin for my shower. Aunt Thelma will be our baby's great great Aunt!

And Greg's mom and my 2 sisters in law were so sweet to come in from Waco. I felt like it was my wedding weekend again having all this family in town! It was so fun.

* All of the above photos were taken courtesy of Mr. Waller. Thanks Dave!!

I am sad I didn't get pictures of more friends at the shower. I was starting to make the rounds but then I think we started playing a game and I got distracted :)

The Grosse Girls...

The pregnant Grosse Girls.

I just have to share some of the hand made gifts I received. I have such talented friends! One of my long time childhood friends, Christine, who now lives in Missouri makes diaper cakes and she sent this for the shower. I can't believe she made this! That is a little tu-tu onsie that is around the diapers. I don't want to take it apart though - it is too pretty.

My sister is super craft girl! She has always been crafty but I feel like in the past several years she has gotten into everything. From re-doing furniture, to sewing things on onsies, there is no stopping her!

I love these little onsies she did. If you are wondering what the "C" stands for, we are pretty close to deciding on a name, but have not made the final decision. I will share it once we have finalized it.

She also made these precious headbands and clips. I love them! These were on the diaper cake she made that was on the dessert table.

My sister in law Jill can scrapbook like no other. She made me an amazing wedding planning book and also helped Greg make an awesome scrapbook for when we got engaged. She made this scrapbook to document that first year of Baby Mattern's life. This picture doesn't even do it justice - each page is so detailed and beautiful. And all I have to do is put a picture in each month and I have the most wonderful memory book!

Liz's mom makes the sweetest smocked baby clothes. She has an Etsy store here. She made these 2 darling dresses. I think I may be bringing the baby home in this white one.

Abby makes all kinds of crafty things and I was so excited that she made this taggie blanket for me. I love the different textures and the ribbons and I know baby will too!

And lastly, my friend Emily made this adorable little lamb. I absolutely love it! It is hard to tell in the picture but it has Jeremiah 29:11 on it. So sweet.

Whew, this was a long post. Of course I got so many other gifts that I adore - from the cutest dresses imaginable to every day baby necessities that will be so useful. Greg and I felt so blessed by our generous friends and family and could not be more thankful. I am so excited to meet this little one!

Baby Bump - 31 and 32 Weeks

2011-10-17T18:28:00.003-05:00

I am 32 ½ weeks! I feel like the weeks are going by so quickly now. She will be here before we know it. Here is the belly – loud and proud.

At 32 ½ weeks I am…

- Still feeling good! I am so incredibly thankful for this. I have noticed a tiny bit of nausea coming back here and there but it is not much at all – definitely nothing like the first trimester.

- Sleeping well. I get charlie horses fairly often, but other than that I don’t wake up much at night.

- Realizing how the belly really does limit me physically. Getting up from laying back on the couch, getting out of bed, bending over, putting on tennis shoes, shaving, painting my toenails, etc. all require much more effort. Sometimes I forget how far my belly sticks out there, and I bump it on things or I try to squeeze through spaces that are too tight.

- Loving the expectant mothers parking spot at the grocery store :)

- Enjoying reading other peoples pregnancy blogs. I love to google the week that I am on and search for random people’s blog posts for that week. It is fun to see pictures and read their symptoms. However sometimes it makes me feel like I need to get on the ball when I read how other people already have their bags packed at this point, the nursery completely done, their car seat installed, etc. In my mind I still have 7 ½ weeks to get things done, but I know I can’t really count on that because she could come early.

- Having major restless leg syndrome – usually at night when I am relaxing. I have to wiggle and flail my legs all about because they just get so antsy.

- Maybe having a few Braxton hicks contractions? It is so hard to tell if she is just bunching up really tight or if I am having a Braxton hicks. I think I usually have about 1 a day where my stomach gets rock hard. It doesn’t hurt, just feels strange.

- Starting to feel a little sad that I won’t be pregnant for much longer. This may sound so crazy, but it is true. I really have enjoyed pregnancy and think it is such an amazing miracle designed by God that women get to experience. Ok, then of course there are times when I feel huge and feel nauseous and look down at my blimped up spider vein cankles and think it will be nice to get back to normal. But overall it is such a fun time. It is like the engagement period – where everyone is so happy for you and there is so much excitement and anticipation. Of course the marriage is way better than the engagement, but there is something so fun and exciting about that short period.

Also this weekend some sweet friends threw me the most wonderful baby shower. That deserves a post of its own though.

October and Belly Pics

2011-10-02T17:56:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it is October! I am so happy though because October is my most favorite month! I love the weather - even though it is not exactly fall weather, it just seems that October has such beautiful days. Still warm, but with a tiny hint of cool in the air.

I also love all things pumpkin - pumpkin candles, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin lattes, etc. I plan to try out some new pumpkin recipes this month. I recently made some pumpkin apple spice muffins and thought they were delicious. I also want to try pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin spice lattes - which is a crockpot recipe I found last year but never got around to making.

Another reason why I love October is because it is the start of honeycrisp apple season. I have probably mentioned this on here before, but I absolutely love honeycrisp apples. They don't even come close to any other apple. I already bought a bunch at Kroger last week and they are delicious.

Ok, on to belly pics.

At 30 weeks I am...

- Feeling good! Haven't had much back pain at all and I am sleeping well. It is funny though because at night when I am laying down it relieves the weight of my belly, but then in the morning when I first get out of bed it is always a shock how heavy my belly feels. Like - what the heck is this huge bowling ball doing attached to my stomach?

- Still dealing with monster feet. I am hoping the slightly cooler weather will help things out. Although I am realizing it is not just the heat, but actually sitting at a desk all day makes them swell. On the weekends when I am out and about and busy they hardly swell. Then during the work week they become blimps. Oh well, what can you do.

- Eating a lot of milk and cereal. It is so funny how much we go through in a week. Both Greg and I eat cereal for breakfast, and now both of us eat a bowl after dinner every day. I like to fill my bowl full of milk where you can barely see the cereal. And then I gulp it. And sometimes I have to top it off again. I am loving milk these days.

- Excited that we have finished the childbirth class! It was a 2-part class that we did last week at Memorial Hermann. The birth video was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It got both Greg and I so excited to meet our little one.

- Still amazed at all the movement this baby does. I love watching my stomach when you can see it from the outside. It never seems to gets old. It is just a miracle that there is a little human inside. God is so good!

- Finally able to say I officially have an outtie :) My belly button had been flat for the longest time, but I think it has now popped out a little. It is so funny all the changes that happen.

Growing Baby

2011-09-19T21:57:00.002-05:00

It has been a few weeks so I feel like I have a lot to catch up on. I’ll start with the belly pics from the last 2 weeks. And it is almost time to take another because on Wednesday I'll be 29 weeks. Baby girl is growing.

This past weekend we went to Waco to visit Greg’s family. Jill was so sweet and gave us a TON of baby girl clothes to borrow. I am so excited! And of course they are all so adorable because Hollyn always has the cutest clothes. We are so grateful for those – what a blessing.

We also did some major shopping. Jill took me to this huge consignment sale that only goes on a couple times a year. It is put on by Just Between Friends. Apparently they have these in Houston and other cities too, I just didn’t know about them. It is just for children/baby stuff. There was SO much stuff there. I ended up getting some good deals on some baby gear including a Baby Bjorn carrier for $23 and some Dr. Browns bottles 3 for $2. We also went to another consignment shop and I got a few maternity clothes and a super cute newborn gown. I found a pair of maternity jeans (that are long enough!) for $12! Now I can stop wearing the belly band with my jeans or using the classy ponytail-holder-looped-through-the-button method – woo hoo.

We have made a bit more progress on the nursery. We picked up the dresser that was painted by Jannet. She did such a good job – I love how it turned out. I was going to change out the hardware but I actually think it looks great as is.

I found the cutest drawer liner at Michaels in the sale bins that I put in this weekend. I plan to start washing all the baby clothes we have so far and put some of the things like sleepers/gowns in the drawers. I can’t believe it is time to do that already. That makes it seem like a baby is actually coming!!

I finally finished my alphabet art project. I am so excited to have finished it. Sometimes I start projects and don’t finish them if I don’t like how they are turning out. Greg can confirm this. But I am glad that this one is complete and now I can move on to my next project…the crib mobile!

I was originally just going to buy a crib mobile from Etsy. Something like the butterfly mobile I posted a while back. But then I found this one. I just love it. I think it is so sweet and pretty. However it is more than I want to pay for a mobile. So I have decided to make it myself. I am a little nervous because the one on Etsy looks so good – not “homemade” looking. After buying all the supplies I can see why the Etsy seller charges so much – I actually think that is a fair price. The nice looking floral stems are expensive, even on 50% off weeks. Also, pearl stands and fake crystals are kinda pricey too. Anyway, making it myself will still be much cheaper than buying it, and it will be fun to do. Now I just need to find a little free time to work on it…

Here is one of the pictures of the mobile from the Etsy seller. I am going to do it in shades of pink since purple didn't look as good when I held it up to the bedding fabric.

Baby Bump - 26 Weeks

2011-09-05T08:31:00.002-05:00

At 26 weeks I am...

- Feeling good!

- Pre-registered at the hospital! I haven’t given much thought to the labor and delivery. It is too terrifying to think about. But I am trying to take care of the stuff I need to do now like pre-register and sign up for classes. So far we have only signed up for the hospital tour, but will probably also sign up for some other classes like prepared childbirth, infant care, and breastfeeding. Are husbands supposed to go to breastfeeding classes too? Or should I say – life partner? (Everything I read in my baby books or on baby websites is so PC that they never use the word Husband. Gotta love it.)

- Feeling like my belly is stretched to the max. I know it is not - I still have 14 more weeks until I am at my “max”, but recently it has been feeling SO tight.

- Sleeping well at night still. Although I have started to get those leg cramps recently. They are basically like charlie horses but it is harder to flex my foot to make it go away. Speaking of feet, I have puffy feet almost every day now. It looks really awesome to have your swollen feet spilling over the top and sides of your high heels. Good thing my pants are long!

- Feeling so many crazy kicks all day long. I love it! I can tell she is getting big because I will feel kicks on opposite sides at the same time. My favorite is when I can feel a body part - although I am never sure exactly what it is. Sometimes I will feel a really big hard spot that makes me think it is a head or hiney. Other times I will feel something pointy (like an elbow or knee) or long and skinny (like a leg or arm). It is so adorable and just another reminder that OH MY GOSH THERE IS A REAL PERSON IN THERE. She is also an early riser. When my alarm goes off at 5:30AM baby girl is already awake - play time!

- Wishing we could decide on a name! I can't tell you how often I get asked that question. No, we do not have a name.

25 Weeks and Nursery Progress

2011-08-29T18:29:00.005-05:00

I am getting a little behind again since I am almost 26 weeks, but I will go ahead and post this picture from last week. For some reason I think it looks smaller than my 24 week belly pic. Oh well, I'm sure my picture from this week will be nice and big.

Greg and I have been making progress on the nursery. Last weekend we painted it. It didn't take long at all, and was fun to do. It is kind of a yellowish color, although it looks like a different shade in all of the pictures below.

This is one of the fabrics for the crib bedding. There will also be 2 polka dot patterns - one tealish blue and one light grean, and a solid pink.

This is the room after we finished painting.

I also started working on a really fun craft project for the nursery. I was inspired by some nurseries I saw on pinterest where they had the alphabet on the wall using letters of all different colors / sizes / fonts. I am doing that on a smaller scale. I bought a 24"x24" canvas, and I am buying all different letters to decorate and put on there. Some will be wood, some fabric, some ceramic, just whatever I can find at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. It has been so fun decorating them all differently! Here is a preview of some of the letters I have done so far.

Baby Bump - 24 Weeks

2011-08-18T18:23:00.003-05:00

At 24 weeks I am…

- Feeling good.

- Enjoying the comments I get from strangers. I haven’t had any strangers touch my belly yet though.

- Eating more these days.

- Trying to pick out a diaper bag…so hard.

- Working on the nursery. We are dropping off our craigslist dresser this week to get painted. Probably will take a few weeks to get done but I am excited!

- Freaked out by my puffed up feet. I am not on my feet much during the day. I sit in a cool office. Yet it seems every day now they are ginormous by the end of the day. Very attractive.

- Constantly thinking of all the things that need to be done…schedule hospital tour, sign up for classes, convince Greg that maternity pictures are not silly, decide on all the hard registry stuff (car seat / stroller / etc), pick a paint color for the nursery walls, pick a NAME for the baby, and that’s enough for now. Most of those things are fun/exciting though, so I am not complaining.

- Amazed by God’s design for pregnancy. Everything is so fascinating. Some things are weird, some are hideous, but most things are cool and amazing. I am so thankful for this time.

Portland / Seattle Trip

2011-08-17T18:00:00.004-05:00

My cousin Elliot got married last week so Greg and I went to Portland for the wedding. My parents also went, my sister Ashley and her fam, and my Aunt Rhonda visited too. It was so fun to see lots of family.

The wedding was pretty and a lot of fun. We got to stay with my Aunt and Uncle and enjoyed visiting with them.

Here are Ashley, Andrew, and Chloe.

I think this is such a great picture of my parents!

We also spent a day in Seattle. Greg and I enjoyed walking around the city, going through Pikes Markets, seeing the locks in Ballard, people watching outside of a coffee shop, and doing a little shopping. It was a short trip, but a nice little get-a-way. I guess this is the closest thing to our babymoon. Our last trip without kids!

The Beginning of a Nursery

2011-08-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

I am so excited that our crib was delivered today! It was pretty easy to put together. It is so fun to see the nursery start to come together. I can't believe that there will be a baby in that crib in a few months! We also got our glider in and put that together yesterday. Let the nursery fun begin!

Baby Bump - 22 and 23 Weeks

2011-08-09T19:06:00.002-05:00

I don't have much time, but here is a super quick post!

Here are the latest baby bump pictures. Isn't it weird how clothes can make it look different? I think I look pretty much the same size both weeks but it can appear different shapes depending on what I wear.

At (1 day shy of) 23 weeks I am...

- Feeling baby girl kick like crazy. Sometimes I feel things that make me think WHAT THE HECK IS SHE DOING IN THERE??

- So thankful that she is measuring right on track. Praise the Lord! I am so thankful that she is growing as she should.

- Realizing how hard it is to register! Greg and I started registering last weekend. We were so indecisive. Every little thing took MAJOR consideration. Like, uh, which wipes are best? Does the cost of the crib mattress correlate to how much we love our child? Are we horrible if we go for a cheap one? Should we get gender neutral bibs in case we have a boy next? Which one of these 300 pacifiers will my baby like best? Why is my husband trying on the My Breast Friend and walking around the store?

- Ordering the crib tomorrow - YAY.

- Starting to actually think about the fact that we will have a baby in a few months. Even though it seems real that she is in my tummy, it does not seem real that she will be coming out in a few months. So weird.

- Not making any progress toward picking a name. Sorry.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cuppies

2011-08-04T17:54:00.004-05:00

I recently tried out this new dessert recipe that I found on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website here. I am now in love with these. They are so moist and delicious. They are great when you need to make a lot of something. As in, 5 dozen of something. They are also so easy to make yet they seem fancy.

Here is the recipe written below with my slight modifications. I made mini cupcakes instead of regular.

1 Box Strawberry Cake Mix

1 Pkg. (3.4 oz) Instant Cheesecake Pudding Mix

2 cups Sour Cream

3 eggs

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Water

Cream Cheese Icing

Beat all ingredients together (except icing of course). Fill mini cupcakes 2/3 of the way full. Use mini cupcake liners! I didn't have any and it was a pain to wash the pan in between each batch. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes. Cool completely then squirt a dot of cream cheese icing on top.

This made 5 dozen mini cupcakes for me. I froze about half of them (did not ice those). Then when I am craving one I pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

Baby Bump - 20 & 21 Weeks

2011-08-01T18:30:00.003-05:00

Well I have gotten a little behind with the posting. Greg and I were at Rush week this past week. Rush week is the youth group's summer camp / mission trip combined. It was in Pensacola, Florida. We did service projects during the day and then lots of camp fun stuff at night. It was a lot of fun, but very exhausting! I had 7th (going into 8th) grade girls. The accommodations were so nice, and there were so many fun activities. The speakers all did a great job and I felt like God really moved in so many of the kids' lives. I am so glad I went! By the end of the week however, my feet swelled up nice and large :) I sort of had a panic attack - um is this what I am going to look like for the rest of pregnancy?? Thankfully my super fat feet have returned to normal and I now have ankles again. Let's hope it was just due to being on my feet for a week straight in the Florida heat.

At 21 1/2 weeks I am...

- Loving feeling baby girl kick! She kicks all the time. Greg can feel it and you can even see it from the outside. Her little kicks are so sweet. Although sometimes they do get a little crazy and I wonder what the heck she is doing in there.

- Feeling good. No nausea - thank you Lord! I have a bit more energy too.

- Getting comments from strangers now, which is fun.

- Having so much fun getting nursery ideas. There are endless possibilities, and so many cute nursery ideas online. I am having a hard time making decisions though. We did order a glider yesterday and had a piece of carpet made into a rug for the nursery. Now I need to decide on a crib. Isn't this butterfly mobile found here so sweet? I love Etsy.

- Still stumped on a name. Don't expect one anytime soon!

The Results are in...

2011-07-19T18:38:00.004-05:00

It's a GIRL!

I am so excited to know what it is! This really makes it real and I am looking forward to getting started on the nursery, buying cute headbands on Etsy, and picking out a name. All the important stuff, of course :)

I am so thankful we were able to find out it was a girl, because baby was not very cooperative at all during my ultrasound. She was moving her arms and legs a lot, but wouldn't move into a new position. The tech could not get a shot between the legs. Greg's mom and sister had driven in from Waco that morning to come to the appointment with me - so sweet! My mom was there with us too, and of course Greg. I was so worried that we wouldn't be able to determine the gender. The tech was very sweet and patient though, and really worked with us.

First I drank a glass of water, ate a granola bar, and did some squats and twists. This helped us get a couple views that looked like a girl, but the tech still didn't feel 100% confident. Then she put this vibrating beeping device up to my tummy, but baby girl was completely un-phased. Finally the tech told me to drink a soda while I saw the doctor and we would take a look afterward. After the Dr. Pepper baby girl had still not moved into a new position, although she was quite wiggly.

However, God answered our prayer and the tech finally got a view that could confirm for sure it is a girl. YAY!

We finally got to tell our small group tonight. Here are the snacks I brought.

Below is my 19 week picture. Today I turned 20 weeks but I didn't have time to take a 20 week picture yet. So just imagine the belly below but bigger. I can't believe I am halfway there!!

Poll: Boy or Girl?

2011-07-09T15:50:00.003-05:00

I put up a gender voting poll for fun. Here are some things that may or may not affect your vote.

My first feeling was that this baby is a boy.

At my 12 week ultrasound Greg asked the tech if it she could tell the gender. She looked between the legs and said, “Well, it is too early to tell, but I would guess girl. There is a little something there, but it is not a pee pee.” Ha!

Greg’s mom did the pencil test when I first announced I was pregnant. It said I was having a boy. She says her pencil tests have proved very accurate in the past.

I still eat sweets, but not as much as I did pre-pregnancy.

I have no idea if I am carrying low or high.

I have not peed on Drano.

I had morning sickness that lasted all day and got worse throughout the day. I was miserably nauseous, but only threw up once. This started improving around 15 weeks, although I still feel a bit nauseous at times.

I want a boy and a girl so I will be ecstatic either way. I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other on what it is, but I will make a guess.

My official guess is…Girl

Greg’s official guess is…Boy

We find out this Thursday!

Our bible study group has a tradition that when you find out the gender of the baby, you bring pink/blue snacks to announce the results to the group. Kristen made blue cupcakes and covered the top with icing so we couldn't see until we bit into them. Molly made little pink heart shaped cookies with icing. So fun! Since our bible study is on Wednesday, I have to wait a whole week to tell them! So I won't be posting the gender on my blog until after we have our bible study. I am going to tell people though, just not them -muahaha.

Baby Bump - 18 Weeks

2011-07-07T18:25:00.005-05:00

So it seems all my posts recently are just weekly pregnancy updates. But I know if I don’t write it down I will forget what it was like at each stage along the way. I also think it will be fun to read these for future pregnancies to compare and be reminded of what it was like. These details might be boring to everyone else, but I think it is fun to have it documented. And maybe I am just weird but I really like reading other people’s pregnancy updates (even long before I was pregnant). God made pregnancy so fascinating – it is such a miracle!

At 18 weeks I am…

- Having a love/hate relationship with belly bands. It is a great invention, and has saved me from buying any maternity pants so far. However, my belly is tired of being restricted. It wants to be free. As soon as I get home from work I take off the band. Freedom. Also, the band gets bunchy and moves around and scrunches up my pants strangely in the back. Ugh, First World problems (funny youtube video). Life is so rough.

- Wearing mostly maternity shirts now. Regular shirts now look semi-hideous on me. Either too short, or if they are the loose flowy type they just make me look like a blob. Have they ever made a What Not To Wear maternity edition? I am sure everyone violates fashion rules throughout pregnancy, but it would be funny. Some maternity shirts I see I just think – WHOA NO. There is no way that could be a good look. On anyone. Ever.

- So excited that I felt the baby kick this past week! It took a number of days of me second guessing myself (is that just digestion?), but I finally think it is really the baby. I have felt it every day since.

- Snacking a lot. My morning snacks include: granola bar, hard-boiled egg, fruit, chips (which are supposed to be saved for lunch). My afternoon snacks include: string cheese, more fruit, almonds, jello pudding, and anything else I can find at my desk or in the break room. My after dinner snack is either a bowl of cereal, or a homemade smoothie, or ice cream.

- Sleeping great. Obviously sleeping is one of my strengths. Anytime, anywhere. I am very thankful that I am continuing to feel comfortable and sleep well at night.

- So excited to find out the gender!! Still no girl name. I have sort of given up on our deadline since there is a 50% chance we won’t need a girl name.

Baby Bump - 16 & 17 Weeks

2011-06-30T20:05:00.003-05:00

Well there seems to be another big jump in size this past week.

At 17 weeks I am…

- Wearing belly bands with all my pants (except in the picture...didn't bother with it).

- Thankful that my morning (all day) sickness has mostly gone away. Although the past couple nights my stomach has felt pretty uneasy at night. Sometimes it will feel like that during the day too. However, overall it is so much better.

- Not having any particular cravings. Although I have been wanting some Cake Batter Ice Cream. Too bad there are no Cold Stones near me!

- Still tired. I think this is just probably here to stay.

- Not able to decide on a girl name! Greg and I have a boy name picked out, but we don’t have a girl name. I read through the whole girl section of the name book Jill let me borrow. That is about 50,000 names! Um, what is wrong with me that out of 50,000 names I could not find one I like?? Well there are lots that I like, but I didn’t want to choose a name that is too popular. But I guess any name you choose could end up being one of the top names in the next few years so you never know. I have given us a deadline of our next ultrasound (when we find out the gender) to decide on a name. That is only 2 weeks away!! Although Greg is ignoring my deadline and refers to it only as a goal.

- Anxious to feel the baby kick! I can’t wait until I can feel it move. Sometimes I poke it to try to provoke it to kick back. So far, no results.

- Feeling overwhelmed by all the options for baby gear. What kind of stroller to get - Snap-n-go, travel system, umbrella, jogging? I remember Greg and I having a hard time registering for wedding gifts. We would research things like Calphalon pots and pans and knife sets. Baby stuff seems even harder.

Maternity Clothes Shopping

2011-06-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

I went maternity shopping for the first time this past weekend. It was pretty fun :). That may be the only time I have fun maternity shopping, but since it was the first time it was exciting.

First I went to 2 consignment shops that my friend Joan told me about – Second Childhood and Children’s Collections. They have mostly children’s clothes and only a small selection of maternity clothes, but I thought I would give it a shot in hopes of maybe snagging a good deal. No such luck. Second Childhood did have 2 pairs of cute maternity jeans though – one Gap and one Citizens, but they weren't long enough. Maybe I could have bought them as capris :)

Then I went to maternity Gap. It didn't have as much selection as I was expecting. They were having a nice additional discount on sale items though, so I bought 2 tees and 1 tunic/dress thing to wear with leggings. I did not find any pants my size that came in long. What is with that??

Then I went to Old Navy which had an even smaller selection of clothes. All I bought there were maternity leggings (just super low rise to go under the belly). I also looked at Target which I have browsed before, but didn't find anything.

Also this weekend we made a little bit of progress on the future nursery. I am waiting until we know the gender before doing any decorating but there were a few things we needed to do first. Since it is an empty room, it tends to collect junk. Dirty laundry piles get formed in that room, items waiting to go to goodwill or sold on Craigslist get stacked in that room, and random I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-this stuff gets stored in that room.

We cleared out almost all of the junk, and moved a small bookcase into the closet to hold toys/books. We also bought a dresser on Craigslist this weekend that will be used as the changing table. I am pretty excited about it. It is really old (made in the 1800’s we are told) and needs to be refinished, but I love the look of it. I am planning on having the top remain wood colored, and the rest of it painted cream with heavy distressing – just like how Lauren redid herdining room table. I loved how it turned out. Except I am not going to attempt to do it myself. I already attempted redoing an end table and I didn't do a very good job. Maybe because it wasn't real wood, or maybe because I am impatient and have no time for things like primer or sealer or sanding or doing things “properly”. Anyway, the only bad part about the dresser is that the drawers are pretty wonky – there are no drawer guides. But I think we can deal with that. The picture makes it look in better shape than it really is. Anyway, I can’t wait to find out the gender so I can start on the decorating!!

Man Weekend

2011-06-26T19:51:00.005-05:00

A few weekends ago we had a "man weekend" to celebrate Greg's birthday, Cody's birthday, and Fathers Day which all fell on the same week. My mom put together a backyard pool party and it was so much fun. She had everything decorated so cute and festive.

We enjoyed swimming in the pool, and Kyler was living it up relaxing on the float.

My mom bought water guns for the birthday boys and they put them to use attacking unsuspecting party attendees and wasps.

We relaxed outside and enjoyed some guacamole, queso, shrimp, potato salad, and beans. We had lots of sweet friend come over which made it so fun. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of everyone. I was too busy eating guacamole.

My mom made this cute man cake.

Aren't Kyler's eyelashes the most beautiful, longest eyelashes ever? He is so cute.

We had a great time celebrating out men that weekend!

Smoothie Kick

2011-06-21T19:24:00.002-05:00

Greg and I have been on a smoothie kick recently. I am not sure if this is a pregnancy craving, but if so then Greg has been having cravings too cause we have both really been enjoying making smoothies lately. Probably in part due to it being summertime which makes cold drinks sound all the more appealing, all the delicious fruit in stores right now, and the relatively cheap fruit prices (at least on strawberries). I also am proud to say that I worked at 2 different smoothie establishments in high school and college, so I guess I just have a love of smoothies. And it makes me feel like I am being super healthy when I drink a smoothie for “dessert”. Now, don’t think we get all crazy with our smoothies – I mean they don’t contain things like flax seed or spinach, but I still consider them healthy.

They are nothing fancy, but we usually blend up the following.

4-5 fresh strawberries

Blueberries (1/4 cup maybe?)

½ of a Banana

1 single cup of light vanilla yogurt

Crushed Ice

It usually makes enough for 2 large glasses. We change up the fruit combinations – maybe use kiwis, peaches, grapes, etc. Greg sometimes puts protein powder in his, but I don't like the taste of it.

By the way, that is not a picture of our homemade smoothies above. We are not that fancy.

Baby Bump - 15 Weeks

2011-06-19T16:58:00.005-05:00

I am a little late in posting this, so I better get it up before I hit 16 weeks! I am not sure if you can fully tell in the picture, but I felt like my belly grew a lot in the past week.

At 15 weeks I am…

- Still feeling nauseous, but it is not as bad as it used to be.

- Getting majorly lightheaded in the mornings. I have to sit down a lot while getting ready for work.

- Tired. Forget everything I said before about having a bit more energy. I do not have more energy. I still take naps sometimes during lunch, and I still try to go to bed before 9.

- Starting to wear belly bands.

- Not having any big cravings yet. I have slowed down on the Cheetos. Oh but wait, I have been drinking a lot of milk. Mmm milk. Overall, I haven’t really noticed an increased appetite yet. Although last night I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I was starving. I almost got up to eat a bowl of cereal at 4 AM, but was too tired to do that, ha!

- Not eating desserts as much as I used to. Greg got me a chocolate bar a while back and I have barely eaten any of it. Who am I???

In other, non pregnancy related news – Greg’s brother Jameson got married to Michelle the other weekend! We enjoyed all of the wedding festivities in Waco, celebrating with them and adding to the family. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun. The band they had was amazing – so fun an energetic. Too bad I was not feeling my normal self, I did only minimal dancing. Although Hollyn did enough for everyone! She was the cutest flower girl ever. Even when she ran through the reception with just panties on- ha! Now all the siblings are married. Even though Michelle is at all of the family functions anyway, it is good to have her officially a Mattern now. And she will be Aunt Mel Mel to baby Mattern (at least that’s what Hollyn calls her).

This past weekend we had man-celebration weekend since Greg and Cody's birthday as well as Father's day all fall on the same week. Pictures to come!

Baby Bump - 13 Weeks

2011-06-03T19:11:00.003-05:00

This is for you, Lauren.

The bump looks bigger or smaller depending on what I wear. I feel like you can barely see it in my work clothes because my work pants come up higher and hide it. But my jeans are lower and allow the little bump to show more freely :)

Currently I am...

Still experiencing morning sickness (aka all-day-but-worse-at-night-sickness)

Tired, but improving

Eating a lot of cheetos suddenly

Struggling to drink fluids - water grosses me out right now

Taking 2 gummy-vites a day instead of my prenatal vitamin. I can't even look at that big nasty pill.

Not having strong cravings yet, but I am really liking watermelon right now. And cucumbers. And chips and salsa.

Thankful for all Greg does for me! He cooks, cleans, does laundry, etc, while I lay on the couch.

Pregnancy Announcement Video

2011-05-27T18:32:00.005-05:00

We made this video to show the youth kids at church to tell them we are expecting. We wanted to show it yesterday but it wasn't a normal Sunday morning youth group, so we are waiting until next week. None of them read this blog so I can share it on here. Greg is such a good sport :)

Running on Empty

2011-05-26T18:14:00.002-05:00

I had heard that during the first trimester you can feel extremely tired, and boy is that true! My normal non-pregnant self on an average day doesn't have a ton of energy anyway, so I figured I would probably be really wiped out when pregnant. I have always been able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, and am not much of a night owl (unless I am playing games and then my competitive self comes out and says BRING IT ON - I DO NOT EVEN NEED SLEEP AND I AM PREPARED TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT IF NECESSARY TO BEAT YOU).

Needless to say, the 1^st trimester has used up a LOT of energy. I have been going to bed at 8:30pm! (I get up at 5:30am) Getting those extra hours of sleep at night has really helped a lot. It is hard to do sometimes though. We can’t even watch The Event because it comes on from 8:00-9:00. Whoa. Way too late. Of course I do make exceptions for Bible Study which lasts from about 7:30 to 9:15 or so. Also, at work, many days I have closed my office door during lunch and have taken a nap.

I used to be a fast walker. Greg can barely keep up when I “turn my legs on high (speed)” as I like to say. I have recently turned into a slow walker though. It is just interesting how everything works. But it makes sense. There have been so many major things happening as God forms the baby that it takes a toll on the body. But I am happy to give up the energy for the new life growing inside me. It is just so amazing!

Thankfully, I feel like things are starting to improve slightly. As I near the end of the first trimester, I feel like I have a bit more energy. Even though I pretty much slept / lazed around all of last weekend, I have been staying up past my 8:30 bedtime recently. I think one night was 9:30 – party animal! And I haven’t taken any lunch-time naps this week Today I even worked out. Well, worked out = slowly walked 1 mile. Progress!

Greg and Jana +1

2011-05-24T19:47:00.007-05:00

Baby Mattern is due Dec 7^th and I am so excited!

That means currently I am about 12 weeks along. I went to the doctor today and it definitely feels real now after seeing the baby jumping all around on the ultrasound. It seems we have an active little one on our hands. Or maybe that was just the Skittles I ate earlier...

The first couple days after we saw the positive pregnancy test I think we were both sort of in shock for a while. It is a hard thing to grasp at first without any visible changes or symptoms. I would wake up every morning and the first thing I would think would be – oh my gosh, am I really pregnant??? Yippee!! The morning sickness hit soon enough and I think once that really came on it started to feel real. Even though it is no fun, it is definitely a good reminder that God is knitting together a little life inside me.

Time has gone by very slow so far. I am glad though, and thankful that it is going by slow. I know the baby will be here before we know it and I’m sure the latter part of the pregnancy will fly by when we are busy getting a nursery ready and working on a never ending to-do list. And of course once the baby is here I know time will be flying by even faster. So for now I am really appreciating the slow pace. I have also heard friends say that their 2^nd (3^rd etc) pregnancies go by super fast once you are busy chasing around another kid, so it is nice to have a chance to soak it in. However, it has been hard not to count down the days until the morning sickness goes away. But even in the sickness, I am praying for a good attitude and that I would be able to appreciate these days too. Pregnancy is such a miracle!

Greg and I are both so excited. I just cannot believe God’s goodness in answering our prayer for a baby and I feel so privileged to get to experience pregnancy and see first-hand God’s process of creating life. It is so fun to read about each week what is going on with the baby. Every source says something different, but I think it is around the size of a lime or plum. It is unbelievable to me that pretty much all of the main organs/systems are formed, and the baby has tiny fingers and toes, ears, eyelids, etc.

I am so curious to know if it is a boy or girl but we still have to wait a while for that. I really want both, so I will be excited for either. Greg and I both think it is a boy, but that is not really based on anything – purely a guess. For now only God knows the gender of our precious little gift. So exciting!

This was my memory verse at the time I found out I was pregnant.

“I am still confident in this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14

God has shown us His goodness indeed!

Here is the ultrasound picture at 7 weeks. Baby is looking like a cute little dot.

Here is the ultrasound picture from today - which is one day away from 12 weeks. I could not stop staring at this picture. It looks like a baby. A REAL BABY.

Grosse Family Maycation

2011-05-22T14:46:00.007-05:00

This year's Grosse Family vacation was to Dauphin Island, Alabama. We spent last week relaxing, laying on the beach, and enjoying family game nights. It was so much fun! Unfortunately I don't have a good picture of all of us. Our camera was having issues during the group photo shoot, but my parent's got a good one so hopefully I can get a hold of that one soon.

Obviously we had to take some jumping pictures, cause that is just who we are.

Lauren looking graceful like a ballerina.

All of my jumping pictures were hideous so I am not posting them. But let's not forget who the photog was in these pictures - so I do get credit for doing at least something.

This one was pure luck. This was just supposed to be a shot of Greg. I didn't even realize little sis was in the background making this a masterpiece.

So then we thought, how cool would it be if everyone was in a line jumping at the same time? We tried to recreate it but failed miserably. Did we say anything about lifting your arms Cody? No, no we certainly did not.

Now it is time for sandcastle building. We take this very seriously.

Gigi and Paw-Dad with Kyler. Dad's grandpa name was initially Grandpa. Or was it Grandad? He could never remember and was caught numerous times introducing himself with different names to Kyler. "Kyler, hi, it's Grandpa!" or "Hey there Kyler, it's Grandad!" Due to the confusion my sister decided to make his name Grandpa-Dad. Well, after a while she decided that was too long and changed it to Paw-Dad. Kinda like Craw-dad. Perfect.

Speaking of Kyler, look how adorable he is with his suntan lotion mohawk. He is so cute. Our niece Hollyn and nephew Kyler are so ridiculously adorable. Greg and I frequently discuss our concerns that we will never be able to have a kid that out-cutes those two. The bar is set too high. But then I just tell myself, even if my kid is not very cute, at least I'll think they are cute. Cause all parents think their kid is the cutest one in the world, right? Problem solved.

Here is a Kimmel family photo. Windy outdoor pictures are not the best, sorry.

Here is our attempt at a picture with Kyler. Again, not the best.

We did a bit of fishing on the trip. Dad caught a fish right on the beach.

Greg and I took the kayaks out a couple of mornings. It was nice and peaceful. We didn't catch many fish, but it was still fun. Here is Greg with his catch.

My mom planned Minute to Win It games for us each night. It was so fun. There were fun prizes involved for each game. Here is the cup challenge.

Can you feel the intensity?

For each challenge the guys went against each other, and then the girls. This one involves balancing dice.

In addition to these games, we also played lots of other card and board games. We also ended each night with a poker tournament (not for money, just for bragging rights). Good thing money wasn't involved because I didn't win at all! It was still fun though.

Thanks Mom and Dad for such a wonderful vacation!!

Dallas Moms Blog

2011-05-02T20:12:00.005-05:00

For all my Dallas Mommy friends, and for anyone else who just likes to read mommy blogs, my sister started up a new blog with a friend called Dallas Moms Blog. I thought I would spread the word. She is a much more consistent and entertaining blogger than me :), and you will probably get to see some pictures of my adorable nephew Kyler. Also they are having a giveaway right now for $50 to a cute baby boutique. Check it out! DallasMomsBlog.org

I will try to blog again soon since I have been so bad lately. I really wish I had more time to update this so I can look back years from now and enjoy remembering all that we were up to. For a super quick update of what has been going on, here are a few things.

Spider problem still a problem, but Greg did help in a huge way. I can now park in the garage! This is a first for us. He hung up the kayaks on the wall of the garage in this really awesome contraption and now a car can fit in there! Now don't think that I haven't still had spiders, cause um, I HAVE. But I am hoping they start decreasing. Just yesterday I had what I thought was a spider on my car, but after calling Greg from the driveway to come out and get it I was informed it was a preying mantis. Oh, cause that makes it better.

I bought 2 new pairs of shoes last week - in the same day! Who am I? And they were not Target brand either. Kinda pricey. But I realize (with the help of Greg pointing this out) that I have a big problem - I wear shoes to DEATH. I wear heals pretty much every day to work, and I wear then until they are falling apart and the metal comes through the heel making the loudest sound when I walk. And then what do I do? I just keep wearing them. Sad. So I finally threw away some LONG overdue shoes and got some new ones. Now I can wear those to death :)

This past weekend we had such a fun family weekend. Greg's family came in town because Greg's brother and fiance had a couples shower in Houston. Greg's family stayed at my parents house and so did we. We are so blessed to both have such great families that get along. It was so fun to have everyone together this weekend.

This coming weekend we will get some more family time as I get to see Lauren and Cody and Kyler. Ohhh I just love that boy. Can't get enough.

Ok, that is all for now.

Spiderman

2011-04-14T20:38:00.002-05:00

Greg is my spider hero. He will kill any spider that crosses my path. He has been BUSY recently.

My spider issues started months ago. Since then, spiders have continually attacked my car. On and IN my car. We have a single lane driveway and a carport. When we have a car parked under the carport at night spiders form webs that stretch from the poles of the carport to our cars. We feel like we are walking through spider webs in the morning getting to our cars. Then I started noticing spiders on my car – on the driver side door, on the hood, on the windshield. This did not happen once or twice. This happened OFTEN. FAR TOO OFTEN. Then I had a couple instances where spiders were IN my car. Having a panic attack on 610 because you are trapped in your car with a spider above your head results in frantic 7:00AM phone call to husband. As if he could really do anything at that point, right?

Spider sightings started to get out of control. After several spiders in one week, I decided to stop parking in the driveway. That seemed to be the source of the spiders. Now I park on the street every night. I am that annoying neighbor who refuses to use the driveway. Greg cleaned and detailed my car. He checked every nook and cranny for any signs of spiders. He found FOUR webs in my car. (No, I do not ever leave my windows down, I don’t know how this happened.) He also cleaned the carport and sprayed insecticide around it. I was so thankful for all his hard work. Then there was a temporary decrease in spider activity. I would still closely inspect the door/handle/windshield every day before getting in my car. Sometimes Greg would walk out to my car with me. So sweet.

Well, the spiders have found their way back to my car. Mostly just little ones. Earlier this week I noticed a small web and tiny green spider on my driver’s side window. Then this morning there was a LARGE black/brown spider doing sprints across my driver’s side door. Then he hid in the mirror. It was 6:35AM. I called Greg from the street. “LARGE BLACK SPIDER ON DOOR” (click). Out comes Spiderman. In his work clothes and all, armed with flashlight and spider spray, he sprays away. Then flushes it out with the water hose. What would I do without him?

Sometimes spiders make me start quoting David-goes-to-the-dentist. “Why is this happening to me?” “Is this real life?” “aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH”

I know everyone is terribly interested in my spider issues. What could be more fun than hearing how I am such a big baby about spiders? Blog material doesn’t get much better than this. Stay tuned for future updates on the spider saga.

And also, a big public THANK YOU to Greg, who has had to continually put up with me and the spiders. You are the best, Greg!

You Win Some You Lose Some

2011-03-15T18:05:00.003-05:00

We lost the bougainvillea. It started out beautiful. We made sure to pick the very best one in the bunch. Covered in beautiful pink blooms. About a week later it looked like this. No pink in sight. Complete Fail. I am gonna go ahead and blame this one on the squirrels. Stinkin (flower) bed intruders. Hide'cha plants...Hide'cha shrubs. But really, there are squirrel tracks all around this and they are also attacking my forget-me-not seeds that are just starting to sprout. And we also realized we need a bigger/taller/fuller plant for this bed. I zoomed in so you couldn't tell how embarrassingly small this plant is compared to the size of the bed. We will do better next time!

Even though the front yard is a bit shabby, we are making progress in the back. I am so impatient and I practically check the citrus tree every day to see when I can stop buying overpriced cuties at the store.

See, those have gotta be oranges, right? Or tangerines or clementines or whatever it is that we planted. I hope so because there are quite a number of them on the tree already.

In other household projects, we decided to paint some closet doors this weekend. Here are the before and after pics. First, here is our bedroom, from it's "good" side.

Now the "needs improvement" side.

The painting.

The after. You can't really tell in the picture, but when we put the doors back we realized the trim was definitely NOT white. Shoot.

I guess we know what the next project is! We got 3 sets of closet doors painted but we still have all of the other interior doors to paint. But I'm in no rush to get this done, so the other doors may just stay as is for a while.

Adventures in Gardening

2011-02-20T20:43:00.004-06:00

This weekend was one of the best weekends. We had almost the whole weekend free to relax and rest! The weather was beautiful so we took advantage of it and worked outside to plant some trees. We have been in our house for a year, but we haven't done anything on the outside since we have concentrated so much on the inside. First thing to go were the clothes line poles. Yes, we had 2 of them still in our backyard. Greg decided do dig them up. What he found was 3 feet of solid concrete holding the poles down. Those things were in the ground FOR GOOD. They could withstand a hurricane and a tornado. At the same time.

But, strong man was able to get the job done. Way to go!

Well at least he got one pole down. The other one is just getting sawed off tomorrow. No one will ever know there is an extra 3 feet of pole hidden underground.

Next we planted 2 redbud trees. I know nothing about planting or gardening so I hope they actually bloom!

And I couldn't pass up buying a citrus tree. I would love to be able to pick fruit from the backyard. I have no idea if it will really grow or if Houston will freeze again and ruin our plans or if squirrels will have a feast on our crop.

We also planted an avocado tree. I love love love avocados. We buy them at the store every week so wouldn't it be wonderful if we could grow them in our backyard?? This could be a total fail but I am choosing to be optimistic.

We planted a bougainvillea in the front of the house, as well as some forget-me-not seeds that we got from church. I'll post pictures if they bloom. Yay for the first signs of spring!

Snow Day

2011-02-03T15:04:00.003-06:00

I am declaring today and tomorrow the coziest days of the year. Why? Let me name the reasons.

We got early release from work today.

Tomorrow is a snow day. It is technically a "work from home" day, but that is fine with me.

Homemade cookies are in the oven. I am using the recipe my sis posted a while back. Can't vouch for the cookies yet but the dough is delicious. Don't worry I tested it a couple times. And then a couple more times.

It is supposed to snow soon and I am a native Houstonion and that makes me excited.

The Office is on tonight.

We have leftovers and homemade soup ready for tonight and tomorrow.

I brought home the extra copy of the Insanity workout video from the gym at work in case Greg and I suddenly get tired of being warm and comfy on the couch watching a movie and eating hot chocolate cookies and decide we really want to sweat a lot and become sore and exhausted.

I have pancake mix in the pantry and I am not afraid to use it tomorrow morning.

I don't know why half of this post revolves around food.

I reealllly hope Greg does not have to go in to work tomorrow.

Ok I need to get ready for the snow.

Happy 2011

2011-01-13T22:04:00.011-06:00

I can't believe it is 2011! I am thankful for a great 2010 and looking forward to this next year. Greg and I enjoyed celebrating the new year with the couples in our Bible Study. We have been with these couples for about 2+ years now so it has been really neat to develop those relationships and grow in our walk with the Lord together. We are really blessed with some great friends.

This year I am really excited about our 2011 goals. I have never been good about setting and sticking to goals. This year I hope to improve, but I feel like we are definitely off to a better start. Tim and Kristen have been a great inspiration to us in how they set goals. We typed out all our goals in all of the various categories (marriage goals, spiritual goals, household, financial, fitness, personal, ministry, etc). One of our marriage goals is to do Sunday night talks - this idea also came from Tim and Kristen. Each Sunday we discuss the week's plans, discuss things we are reading / learning, pray together, and things like that. I hope it will be something that we stick to and will really grow our marriage.

In other news, these are some random things we have been up to lately.

We are now addicted to Settlers of Catan. Thank you Brandenbergers.

This is a craft I did a couple of months ago. I saw this on a crafty blog and copied it. It was so easy to do. How come I didn't think of this before? Use a picture frame as a dry erase board. Genius. I really enjoy using it and I feel like it has helped me keep dinners more organized. I also made 2 of them for Christmas gifts.

The Event.

After Lost ended, I wasn't really ready to move on. I still held on, hoping for a miracle. Season 7 please. Best tv show ever. I want to go back and watch them all again. So what?

I heard The Event was a mix between Lost and 24. Three episodes in and I completely agree. I think I am hooked. It isn't taking the place of Lost, but it is definitely good. I don't even think they have finished season 1 yet. We watch it on Hulu because we don't have tv channels because we are cheap and that's how we roll. All I'm saying though, is they better not stop making this

show mid season, or decide to make only one season and leave me hanging. I feel like it is not that popular though. I don't know anyone else who watches it and I'm not sure why. Does it come on a weird channel or something? Does is get really lame by episode 4? Is everyone sick of Lost and 24 type shows? Anyway, I like it. A lot.

2nd Annual Youth Group Slumber Party. Boys were at our house, girls were at the Allemans. I was a little nervous that when I came home in the morning our house might not be recognizable. Thankfully, everything survived and Greg had it all nice and clean when I came home. At the girls party we ate pizza and oreo balls, played Charades, Mafia, Apples to Apples, and watched a movie. So fun! I didn't bring the camera to get any pictures of the girls, but here is one of the guys playing rock band. I was worried our house would be so lame since we have no channels, our dvd player is broken and we don't have any cool video games. But jr. high boys all have those things so luckily they brought them!

That about wraps it up. Too bad I didn't make any 2011 goals about being a more frequent blogger! My monthly-ish posts will have to do for now.

Christmas Celebrations

2010-12-28T20:32:00.004-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and got to have some great family time. It started out the week before Christmas with the annual Mattern Family Christmas Reunion. There is always a great turnout and it is always good to see family. Too bad we only get to see most of them once a year. Since Jameson and Michelle are getting married this summer, hopefully we will get to see a lot of them mid year.

Greg and I stayed several nights at my parents house over Christmas. It was so much fun having a full house. My sisters were there with their families and we had a blast playing games together. There were also 3 dogs running around the whole time which just added to the excitement.

We were especially glad to get in lots of Kyler time! He is so smiley and can sit up now. He is so much fun. We got some practice feeding and bathing him and snuggling him.

Since Lauren and I were both with away for Thanksgiving with our husbands families, we did the traditional Grosse Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas day. Then after dinner we went on a walk outside to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. It was COLD. But hey, you know what sounds great in the cold? A polar swim! So Greg, Cody, and Chloe decide that when we get back to the house they are jumping into the freezing cold pool. Chloe jumped in first and she was so fast I didn't even get a picture of her. I managed to (sort of) get Greg, and got a great shot of Cody.

Later that night we ended up playing hours and hours of Catch Phrase. As we got tired the game just got funnier. We finally had to call it a night.

I am thankful for such a great Christmas spent with family and time to relax, laugh, and celebrate Christ's birth.

We Know Christmas Fashion

2010-12-05T20:50:00.004-06:00

When we go out, we know how to look good. Real good.

Highlights

2010-11-30T18:55:00.007-06:00

Here are the highlights recently:

- Celebrating Thanksgiving in Waco. We had lots of fun spending time with Greg's family, watching Hollyn be totally crazy, and hanging out with Greg's extended family and cousins. We had yummy food and enjoyed the Aggies beat the Longhorns! I got to go Christmas shopping with Greg’s mom while poor Jill was so so sick and the boys went hunting.

- Getting an early start on Christmas shopping…I have much more Christmas gifts purchased than I did at this time last year

- Christmas decorating! I bought our first full size tree this year - yay! It may not have many ornaments, and we may not have a tree skirt yet, and there might not be a star on top, but c’mon, minor details.

- Training my little cake apprentice.

- Flying to St. Louis with Greg and my parents to see one of my oldest friends (as in long-time friend, not elderly) get married. St. Louis was a really neat city. Christine (“Chrissy”) was married at the most beautiful church and the reception was super fancy. We had a great time and even made some time to stop by the zoo for a bit.

- Getting to meet Cayden! My best friend Lindsay had a precious baby boy a few weeks ago. I got to see him the day he was born and then again a week later. Lindsay did so wonderful. She had a (relatively) easy labor and baby Cayden is perfect.

- Crafting! I have had a lot of fun making a couple of crafts recently but cannot post about them until later because they are Christmas gifts.

- Going to the Nutcracker Market with some girls from my Bible study class. So much stuff there! I think the food samples were my favorite though.

- Eating lots of soup and using my crockpot. Here are some of my favorite recipes that I have found so far for the crock pot (not all of these recipes are soups).

Hearty Pasta Tomato Soup

Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Roast
Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Mexican Crock Pot Chicken (for soft tacos) (thanks to Lesley for posting about this one)

Now I am looking forward to going to the Christmas show at our church with some of our neighbors. There are tickets for sale here if anyone wants to go. Last year there we live animals - including an elephant! Y'all know how I love animals!

Bienvenido a Guatemala

2010-10-24T18:40:00.021-05:00

We left for Guatemala on a Saturday. It's crazy how a plane ride under 3 hours can take you a world away. We went with Living Water International, to drill a water well in a village in Guatemala that did not have clean drinking water. This organization is amazing – they have dug wells all over Guatemala, changing the lives for so many people. And not just Guatemala, but all over the world.

We arrived at the team house in Antigua – where the full-time American Missionaries live that work for LWI.

This is the view from their yard. Yes, that is a Volcano erupting. His name is Fuego. He often goes off several times a day!

After getting settled in, we got to go to the market (the one for the gringos and also the “real” market), and see some of the city.

The next morning we headed out from Antigua to the small village where we would drill the well.

One of my prayers for this trip was for God to use this trip to increase my love for missions. It was definitely something I had to pray over and over again. I knew that I was there to serve in any way I could. And part of that means sacrificing comforts. I am spoiled though. I like familiar things - hot water, bug-free environments, toilet seats… Honestly, at first, it was a bit of a rough start. And as the trip went on and we discussed some of these things, the topic of spiritual warfare came up.

It is not something I think about much, but it is true that there are spiritual battles going on.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God…" Eph 6:12-13

Satan wants to stop anything that would bring God glory. He can use normal everyday occurrences to create fear, discourage, distract, plant doubt, etc.

I had some bad stomach issues for a couple days as a side effect from my malaria medicine. Stomach problems + 7 hour car ride = not cool. However, it just so happened that a lady on our team was a Pharmacist – and she advised me to take the medicine with food (even though the instructions stated otherwise). Once I started doing this, no more tummy troubles! God provided.

It was rainy season in Central American which means mud slides, bad roads, and broken bridges. Our drive from Antigua to the village where we would drill turned out to be a 7 hour road trip along crazy bumpy pot-hole filled roads. The LWI staff later told us that they had no idea if we would even make it to the village to drill and were worried about us making the trip to Guatemala for nothing. Despite some major traffic jams on the way – we made it safely to the village. God provided.

The first night we stayed in Hotel Seis (near the village) I had major trouble falling asleep. Did you hear me? I could not sleep. What?! I can ALWAYS sleep. I can barely stay awake most of the time. Rain makes me sleepy. Sun makes me sleepy. Movies make me sleepy. Cars make me sleepy. Food makes me sleepy. I am borderline narcoleptic. There is no explaining what happened the first night in Hotel Seis. After hours of laying there wide awake and becoming more anxious about not falling asleep with every hour that passed, I finally fell asleep and I think I got 1-2 hours of sleep that night. Want to know the miracle? I was not even tired the next day. Crazy. That next day was a full day of drilling and I needed energy. God provided.

These might seem like small things, but it just goes to show that God is in the details of our lives. And He is good!

Uh oh, little pothole...

We arrived at Hotel Seis! There is really no where to stay in the village, so we stayed at the only nearby hotel.

That critter was found in our hotel room the second night. Great idea to leave the windows open to air out the room. Might as well have sent out a Scorpion Evite. Thankfully Greg came to the rescue with a broom and the scorpion was no more. After that, nightly checks took place for the rest of the trip. Under the bed – clear. Floor – clear. Covers – clear.

We spent 3 full days drilling, and a few hours finishing things up on the 4th day. It was really neat to see the drilling process. There are 2 LWI staff members - Alvaro and Manolo, who were in charge of the drilling, and taught us what to do. We all got to rotate through all 4 of the drilling positions. There were a lot of hard working local men who would arrive early every day to help us with some of the drilling process.

The current water source that the people in this village used was from a hand dug well that was not very deep. The water is contaminated, which causes lots of sickness and disease. The kids have diarrhea more often than not. Imagine trying to do every day chores such as clean, wash clothes, cook, etc. with no clean or running water. Wow.

Here is the team (except for the LWI staff), and without Lisa. She was the other lady that went. That was a HUGE prayer of mine that was answered. I was praying for another girl to be going on the trip, and God was so kind and gracious to answer my prayer! Lisa helped teach health and hygiene classes (with the LWI Hygiene leader, Blanca) during the day to the women and kids. Things that we may think of as common knowledge - how germs are spread, parasites, proper ways to wash your hands, the importance of eating healthy, food groups, etc, are not necessarily common knowledge to the people of this village. They worked hard every day teaching truth on how to care for your body. They also shared the truth about the Living Water - Jesus Christ, and how he is the ultimate thing we need.

Each day in the village this group of ladies would cook us lunch. We would walk down this dirt road from the work site, and go to their house for lunch. They were the sweetest ladies ever. And the food was delicious. We always laughed because they cooked SO MANY TORTILLAS. Every meal includes tortillas. There were probably enough tortillas for each person to have 8-10. We could never finish them all.

We drilled the water well right in front of a school, so it gave us a wonderful opportunity to play with the kids each day. Of course none of them spoke English and none of us spoke Spanish (fluently), but it didn't really matter. They would just come up and crowd around me and stare. Is it because I am ghostly white? Or because I have no make-up on and I am hideous? Or is it just the blonde hair? Who knows, but I was loving getting to play with them. And they sure did LOVE having their pictures taken.

Maria. Sweetest. Girl. Ever. Am I allowed to have a favorite? Maria followed me around every where. She gave me hugs about every 2 1/2 minutes. And she is absolutely gorgeous. You probably can't tell from this picture but her eyelashes are to die for. How do you say - "Are you wearing fake eyelashes?" in Spanish? Ok, clearly she was not. She was just that beautiful.

And obviously we had to teach the kids to take a jumping picture. Cause we are the Matterns. And that is just what we do.

On the third day, when the well was all drilled and the pipe in, we had to let the water run out of the well for hours and hours until it got clear. What do you do with enormous amounts of spare water that is just going to waste because it is not clean yet? Water fight, obviously. It was amazingly fun and we were all completely soaked.

This is an attempt to form the largest game of Duck Duck Goose, ever.

Praise God that we were able to hit water and complete the well! This is the team together with the finished product.

After we completed the well the village had a dedication ceremony for us. It was very meaningful and well planned. They sang the national anthem, the Mayor spoke, a local pastor preached, we sang hymns, they prayed over us, they had a different child present each of us a gift as a token of their gratitude, expressed their thanks over and over again, and gave us a chance to speak as well. It was wonderful.

Before we left we stopped by the ladies' house that prepared our lunches every day to say good bye. They had fixed us more food which they called a snack (even though it was a HUGE amount). All of the ladies were crying their eyes out as we said our goodbyes. It was so touching. We were strangers to them just a few days before but they really showed us what hospitality and love look like.

We traveled the 7 hours back to Antigua after the dedication, and arrived at night. The next day was our last day before we left to fly back to Houston, so we got to spend the day being tourists.

That night we went out to eat at a very fancy restaurant. Here is a picture with the LWI staff. They were amazing. We were only there a week, but they do this all the time. Living their lives to serve the Lord. I am so thankful for them.

I have some other cool pictures of the city, but maybe I'll post those later since this is already a crazy long post. I will just end with this last picture. No explanation needed.

It was a wonderful trip. To see the finished well and the gratitude of the people was priceless. God is so good!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-18T19:55:00.003-05:00

Growing up Grosse involves elaborate pumpkin carving for Halloween. I always have enjoyed it and thought it would be fun for D and little D.

Little D got tired after a while, so Greg ended up finishing up the pumpkin.

Lil D found these safety glasses in the garage and didn't take them off for the rest of the day.

The kids did such a great job! I think the pumpkins turned out really good.

For our pumpkin we decided to just stick with the M - you know, something slassy*.

slassy - adj. (slass - see) simple, yet classy.

*Slassy - a Lauren Kimmel word.

October - My favorite month

2010-10-11T20:07:00.010-05:00

I love October. It is my favorite month. Mostly due to the wonderful weather, honeycrisp apple season, and anything pumpkin flavored. Might as well get in one of my quarterly blog posts while it is still my favorite month. I don't know why it is so difficult to blog. I want to have an up-to-date blog so I can look back and remember what all went on, but usually the idea of blogging just overwhelms me.

Since my last post - a lot has happened.

First, we have been so blessed to have 2 new additions to the family - and they both happened the same week! First, my most precious, perfect little nephew was born on July 8th. We all went up to Dallas for the birth. Greg had to fly in the day after, but that was probably for the best. There were lots of labor/deliver/anatomy vocabulary words used that make him cringe. My poor sister had a difficult labor, but after hours of pushing and a c-section later, she had Kyler.

This picture cracks me up because he looks SO chunky.

So adorable.

A few days after Kyler was born, Greg's brother, Jameson, proposed to Michelle! Now I have another sister-in-law - yay! We drove from Dallas to Waco to be there for the engagement. They are getting married next June and I am so excited for them.

Then in August we went on the Grosse Family Vaca 2k10. We stayed in a lakehouse on Lake Caddo with my parents, and Lauren & Cody & Kyler. We relaxed, fished, kayaked, went on a pontoon boat tour, played games, and played with Kyler. It was wonderful. My parents are so amazing to plan great vacations that we can all enjoy together.

The lake was absolutely beautiful. Who knew? I had never even heard of Caddo lake before this vacation.

I think I am busy rescuing a small frog with my paddle in this picture. (microscopic frog not pictured)

I hope it's genetic to look this good after having a baby.

Ok, what next? Oh yeah, August was also the month for hosting showers. We had a baby shower for my BFF Lindsay, who is due in November (less than one month from today!!). Also, we had a wedding shower for one of my childhood friends, Christine, that I grew up on Heaton Drive with. She moved away when we were kids and now lives in Missouri, but we have visited each other many times over the years. We are flying to St. Louis for her wedding at the end of this month and I am so excited. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from Lindsay's shower, except the cake. Even though I am sort of retired from cake making (for now), I made an exception since I was one of the hostesses and we have been friends since...oh...second grade!

I copied these monkey cupcakes from some I found online. They took for-ev-er. There has got to be a faster way...

This is Christine and I at her bridal shower.

After the showers, it was finally time for Greg and I to go to Guatemala! It was such an amazing trip. It will have to be a blog post of its own since there are so many wonderful pictures and stories, but for now I will leave you with my favorite picture from the trip. Greg took this and I just love it. Praise God for clean water!

Summer Happenings

2010-06-29T21:26:00.004-05:00

We have been staying busy so far this summer. 2 weeks ago we got to go to Camp 456 in Huntsville with our youth group kids. It was a lot of fun.

Who doesn't love slip-n-slide kickball? Giant tarp + baby soap + sprinklers + over sized kickball = FUN. Didn't exactly get to play...I guess it is sort of for the kiddos ya know...but Greg and I did have a race to see who could slide the farthest while the kids took a water break. Here are Greg and Thomas racing around the bases.

In addition to kickball, other fun activities included swimming, staying up late with the girls, improving my french braiding skills, playing "Little Sally Walker", practicing my runway walk, playing "Categories" off the diving board, and just spending more time with my 6th graders. Not only was Greg there, but two other girl friends were counselors there so that made it really fun.

Here is one of the really cute brunette counselors and his cabin :)

I didn't get any pictures of me with the girls, but here is a good one of some of the girls in my cabin. They are so cute! Way cuter than I was when I was in 6th grade.

Then the weekend after camp we went to Waco to visit with Greg's family. It felt like forever since we had been to Waco and it was fun hanging out with them. Hollyn (our niece) just gets cuter every time! She was talking so much. She loves to go hide and have people find her. She also like to tell people "clap for me!" after she does something neat. We went fishing in the morning and then bowling in the afternoon. It was a really nice and relaxing weekend.

Now I am eagerly waiting the arrival of my nephew, Kyler. My sister could really go into labor any day now. Lauren is hoping she has the baby this week. I am hoping Kyler comes this weekend. Should I get my go bag ready? Charge the camera? Top off my car with gas? Hopefully I will have an update soon.

Also, the other night while I was reading a book in bed, I hear talking coming from the living room. Greg talks to himself a lot, so this was not that unusual. However, he was talking in Spanish. To the computer. Turns out he was doing some online Spanish lessons, ha! So we did a couple of them together. We need to memorize a few key words and phrases before our Guatemala trip so looks like we might be doing nightly Spanish lessons together.

Oh, and in other news this week, I may or may not have eaten a maggot worm. When I looked down at my HALF EATEN peach, there was a small, yet lively white worm crawling about my peach. Sick me out. The piece I was chewing fell out of my mouth. At work. At my cube. Very professional.

I was also held hostage by a roach this weekend for 45 minutes. I REALLY dislike roaches. Really. I have bad dreams involving roaches/bugs on a regular basis - about every other month. Sometimes people like to roll their eyes and tell me things like "They aren't going to hurt you". Please. Roaches are fast, and aggressive. They run toward me. One time when one crawled up the armoire while watching a movie with Greg, I ran and hid in the bedroom while Greg went after it. Next thing I know, the roach is in the bedroom with me! I even had the doors shut. Well I guess it doesn't help that there is a 4 inch crack under all the doorways in our house. Not very roach proof.

Reason #114 why marriage is awesome - husbands kill bugs.

Reason #237 why marriage is awesome - you always have a partner for the HOV. (That is one of Greg's reasons)

This 3 Day Weekend

2010-05-31T17:03:00.002-05:00

We hung out with friends.

I might have taken a couple of naps.

We watched more Lost.

We found out the first 5 seasons of Lost are only available on Hulu until the end of this year. Now we have a deadline. A goal. It is like we are running a marathon. We may be tired, but we must press on.

I did normal weekend chores like grocery shopping and laundry.

We went to eat with my parents at Ciros. One of the best things about Ciros is that they have bocce ball outside. Sometimes I just want to go there to play and not eat.

I went kayak fishing with Greg for the first time. Greg caught one catfish and I didn't catch a single thing. It was fun though.

I fed a bunch of greedy ducks and ducklings. I fed them tortillas cause I am from Texas and that's what I do.

And that is pretty much it.

Oh and as a side note my sister is due in just a little over a month. Can't wait for a nephew! Everyone is excited. My mom keeps saying things like "We are going to have a baby!!!". Yes, she says WE. All of us. Collectively. We are all getting a family baby. All equal part owners. Poor Lauren, she still thinks she is the one having the baby. Don't worry sis, we will let you see Kyler every now and then :)

Lost

2010-05-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

Is it ironic that the same weekend that the Lost Series Finale aired, Greg and I started watching Season 1 Episode 1? It’s true. I’ve never seen an episode until this weekend. I blame it on the youth department at Church.

Greg and I are going to Camp 456 in June – our church's summer camp for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. The theme: Lost. At the leaders meeting a couple weeks ago they played clips from the show that they put together that they will be showing to students at camp to tie in to the theme and the lessons. Oh no, their plane crashed! How are they all going to make it on that island? I had to know.

So this past weekend we were taking it easy one night, and trying to decide what movie to rent. We always have a hard time trying to find good movies, so we decided to watch the first episode of Lost on Hulu, because you know, Matterns love free. 4 episodes later we are hooked. Watching Lost is like eating thin mints. You are always left wanting more.

Apparently Greg and I just love tv series where the hero's name is Jack.

Before we go any further into Lost, I think we need to set some ground rules. Last time we watched the 24 series we had to set boundaries. It started out with setting the limit of no more than 1 episode per "school night". Then I think we just started rushing through our evening routines/bible reading time/etc, just so we could watch it. So then we moved it to only on the weekends. But we are sneaky and started expanding our definition of "weekend". We will need to clearly define all terms and conditions of our Lost bylaws.

Guatemala Anyone?

2010-05-20T20:44:00.004-05:00

Greg and I have been looking into different mission trips because we really want to go on one soon. We found a great one through Living Water International. They send out teams to drill a water well or repair a water well for a community. It really is an amazing organization. Here are a few facts from their website.

- At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

- Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.

- The weakest members of communities are the most vulnerable; every day water-related diseases claim the lives of 5000 children under the age of five. That’s roughly one every 15 seconds.

Those are crazy statistics. So by the time I get done writing this post multiple children have died of unclean drinking water. I never see this, so I never really think about this. It is heartbreaking though.

Living water not only drills water wells to provide people with clean water, but also tells people about the LIVING WATER, Jesus Christ.

We are applying to go on the Guatemala Trip, September 4 - 11. It is not through First Baptist (although they do a have a Living Water Trip in October). It is directly through Living Water. There are 7 spots left open on this trip.

If you already have off for Labor Day (Sep 6th), you only have to take 4 vacation days. Only 4!

I am hoping my company will pay for the trip. Ya know, since I am in the drilling biz and all. It would kind of be like field training...right?

Ok, not really.

Sooooo, if anyone is considering going on a mission trip this year, this would be a great one to go on. And then we would know someone else on the trip!

Random

2010-05-16T20:07:00.003-05:00

I am going with the random list because I don't really have anything too interesting to write about.

- This weekend was the first restful and relaxing and slow weekend I have had in quite a while. It was nice.

- I watched my first episode of Modern Family. Lots of people I know think it is hilarious. I thought it was just OK. So sue me.

- I tried out a neti pot for the first time this week. I found it to be unpleasant yet moderately helpful.

- Lately I have really been into making homemade pizza. I made 4 pizzas this weekend to freeze so that we can have something already prepared on a night where there is no time to cook. I use Money Saving Mom's pizza dough recipe except I used some wheat flour in addition to white. I almost hated typing that because of my next point below.

- It bothers me when I read recipe reviews and people say things like - "this recipe was great except I substituted a for b, used c instead of d, left out the e, and added f, g, and h." Um, then basically it must not have been that great of a recipe.

- And yet, sometimes I do that.

- We bought a filing cabinet this weekend. There are always so many random papers / bills/ etc. that I don't know what to do with, yet I feel I shouldn't throw them away. My current file folders are bursting at the seams which causes me to hate using them for fear I will not be able to close them again. So I am hoping the filing cabinet will help us to get super organized and make me more inclined to file things away sooner instead of letting papers pile up.

- We forgot to buy hanging file folders when we were at Walmart buying the filing cabinet. So it looks like we won't be getting organized quite yet.

- Somehow we did manage to buy the little file folder labels though. Cause we are just that good.

- I have been on an extended "cake break", as I like to call it. With the exception of my sister's baby shower, I have been taking some time off from making cakes. While I enjoy it, it just takes up so much time. And I feel like there are always other things being left undone when I spend so long making cakes. It has been nice though. So I am sorry for those who have tried to order cakes, but I feel like my time needs to be spent doing other stuff right now. Not exactly sure what that other stuff is...but anyway.

- Greg and I walked to Mytiburger last night. It was such a nice night and we didn't even realize we live with in walking distance. So fun!

- We also didn't realize how easily this neighborhood floods! We were out driving on Friday night and some of the streets had such high waters. They even closed down one of the streets near our house.

- Well, this concludes my random list. Ciao.

Radical Series: Beware

2010-05-10T22:18:00.005-05:00

Greg and I recently started listening to the Radical Series. I had never heard of this Pastor before, but read about this series on the Hendricks blog (who i stalk because she is so stinkin' hilarious and yet an amazing Godly example who is encouraging and challenging all the time), and also Katie's blog (who I heard about through the Hendrick's blog).

Seriously, you should go read Katie's blog. She is a young, single, beautiful girl who lives in Uganda. As in, she LIVES there. Not coming back. She has adopted kids. 11 of them. Or 12. Or some number around there I can't quite remember. She is simply amazing. Greg and I are both addicted to reading her blog. I check her blog all the time and cannot wait until she posts. Then Greg and I just look at each other, and ask - Why are we so lame? How can she serve God 24/7, have given up EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, and we are just living life for ourselves?

Start with this post. That is the one that got me hooked. I will even post a picture just like Heather did in case words are not convincing enough.

Why does she have to be the cutest person ever?

She is wise beyond her years. She also challenges me to read the scripture in a different way. A scary way.

Anyway, back to the Radical Series. There are 8 sermons. We have only listened to the first 3 so far. They are TOUGH. They bring up so many questions. I need other people to listen to these so I can have others to talk these things through with. Actually, more than that, I need to be praying for a changed heart. But also it would be great to talk this through with other people.

The other night Greg and I were at our friends' house, the McNallys, for dinner. We had finished eating and had talked for a long time without actually getting to the point of what we had met for (Houston Project). Then Kevin said - ok, 1 more thing and then we can get to our agenda. Radical Series. Have you heard it? Um, why yes we have Kevin. Just recently. We hate it. Well, not exactly hate, but I am selfish, and these sermons point that out even more and that is hard.

How will I give account to God for how I have spent my money?

God, I didn't know that every day tons and tons of people die of hunger. Of no clean water. Of preventable disease. Oh really? You didn't know? You thought everyone had food? Ok, maybe I did know, but I live in America, in Houston, not far from Highland Village, and I don't see it so much, and I forget. Forget? Ok, maybe I don't forget, maybe I purposely ignore that fact because I like buying clothes, and going out to eat, and buying throw pillows.

I am pretty frugal. More frugal at some things than others, but still frugal (by my standards at least). Greg is too. We like to buy the grocery store brands. We order water at restaurants. I use coupons. I reuse foil. Greg puts the peanut butter jar in the microwave when it seems there is nothing left so that not a single molecule of peanut butter goes unused. We only eat half a stick of gum at a time. I am serious. We shared this fact in Bible study once and have been made fun of ever since. I don't think Greg has bought a belt since high school.

But I have been thinking - why am I frugal? Is it so I can give more? So I can give more to missions? To feed the poor? To support ministries? No. Unfortunately no. I am frugal because I like getting good deals. So I can buy more cheap stuff. So I can have the security of knowing more money is going into savings. Sometimes I like to pat myself on the back for being frugal. But then when I realize WHY I am actually frugal. Not awesome.

Anyway, I am not really sure where I am going with this. These are just thoughts. My recent ones.

Back to our dinner - Kevin said - "Can I REALLY say that my 401K is not storing up for me treasures on Earth?"

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mt 6:19-21

Oh wow, don't even go there. I never even thought about that and now I have to. Don't worry, no one is cancelling their 401K, these are just questions. Questions I had never really thought of. Because America and the church, and myself, am so conditioned to think a certain way, that I would never really think about doing something crazy risky to serve God. Yes there is wisdom in saving & planning. I am not saying there is not value in that. I am just sayin. That is what David Platt mentions in the Radical Series. His teachings sound so radical, because the church has gotten so far away from those hard truths in the Bible that they sound exactly that - Radical. Kinda sad, eh? I am accountable to God, and that is a scary thing. Not that any amount of works could get me into Heaven. Far from it. It is by grace alone through Jesus Christ that we are saved. But I am still accountable for how I used what God has given me.

So if you have listened to this series and have thoughts on it - let me know. Or if you start listening to them, lets talk!

Warrior Dash

2010-05-02T19:15:00.004-05:00

I know. It has been some time. Too much time has gone by since my last blog to catch up on so I will just go ahead and pick up now. What better way to come back to blogging than with a Warrior Dash Report? This weekend was Warrior Dash in Forney, Texas.

18,000 people.

2 days.

3.5 miles.

Fire.

Water.

Wind.

Mud.

Costumes.

I saw Yoshi, Santa Clause, an Avatar, too many unitards, men in dresses, tutus, vikings, kilts, a hot dog, super heros, lots of body paint, and more.

Here are the warriors before the race.

And here are the wives - supporting our men.

Greg doing a few practice jumps before the race.

Here is my man crawling through mud under barbed wire. Oh yeah.

After the race. No hugs please.

I like this picture because it is like Where's Waldo.

Can you spot the bride and groom? The smurfs? The pink body suits?

I'm not gonna lie, being a spectator at Warrior Dash kind of made me want to do it next year. I said kind of. We'll see. I tried running today, ya know, to get ready. 364 more days to train. Only if the other Warrior Wives will do it with me though :)

Christmas for Two

2009-12-22T17:40:00.002-06:00

Today was my last day of work, and now I get to enjoy a 6 day break! I will work 2 days next week and then enjoy another 4 day break. I am so excited! I am looking forward to spending some relaxing and fun time with family.

Tonight however, Greg and I are having a little Christmas celebration just the two of us. It is a Grosse Family tradition to go looking at lights together on Christmas Eve (everyone including pets pile into the car in your PJ’s, hot chocolate in hand). Since we won’t be with my family on Christmas Eve this year, Greg and I are going to look at lights tonight. We are first stopping at Starbucks – which is a special treat because we hardly ever go there and I am looking forward to a white chocolate peppermint mocha. Then we are going to drive through River Oaks and look at Christmas lights. After that, we are coming back home to do stockings. We realized the other day that we didn’t actually have stockings to put our stocking stuffers in. Hmm, minor detail. So we decided to hide them throughout the apartment and find them. It will be like a Christmas Easter hunt. And believe me there are plenty of good hiding spots right now since you can barely see our floor, or kitchen table, and we still have packed moving boxes ready since our last move a few months ago stacked everywhere.

Merry Christmas!

Singing Talent

2009-12-18T23:22:00.001-06:00

My sister's dog Duma is amazingly talented. Go check it out here for a little laugh.

November / December Catch Up!

2009-12-16T21:47:00.003-06:00

Since I haven't blogged in a while, I will have to do a quick summary of what we have been up to in November and December.

First, as I said before, we bought a house! Praise God for His goodness in leading us to a great house. We closed just before Thanksgiving and have been enjoying starting the process of turning it into our home ever since.

Thanksgiving was spent in Dallas at my sister and brother-in-law's house. We rode with my parents there, and we all spent 2 nights together eating great food, playing Christmas Vacation Trivia, napping, shopping, and having fun. Here is my favorite picture from that weekend.

As soon as we got back from the Thanksgiving festivities, Greg and I went to work on the house. His Aunt, Uncle, and Mom came down for a weekend to help work on the house. We are so grateful for their kindness because we got a TON of stuff done. We painted, removed wallpaper, removed carpet, and removed the kitchen!

We still have lots to do but it has been a fun project to work on. We have been watching a lot of you tube videos around here trying to decide what we can do on our own and what we need to pay other people to do :)

We have already met several of our neighbors and they are all really nice. I am so excited to get to know them more and form relationships with them.

Next up, we went to a "Thrift Store Prom". Reason #167 to work with youth: You get to wear things like this.

I hope you noticed Greg's red tights. What you don't see are the argyle socks pulled up over the red tights. He's all mine ladies.

Then last weekend we hung out with our friends D and Little D, and made gingerbread houses! We did this every year as a family growing up and is something I always loved and still love doing.

We also got to go to an amazing Christmas show at our church last weekend. So much time and effort went into it and it was great to watch.

Now this weekend's agenda includes the following:

Finish Christmas shopping

Wrap presents

Work on house updates

Sunday School Christmas party

Mattern Family Annual Christmas Reunion

Baking

Cleaning!

whew I am getting tired just typing that...

But I am enjoying this Christmas season and the Christmas show at church was a good reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. We have such good reason to celebrate. I can only imagine the celebration that took place the very first Christmas. The people had been LONGING for the promised Savior, and he had finally come. THAT is something to celebrate!

I Married a Warrior

2009-11-15T20:58:00.004-06:00

Greg announced to me this past week that he is going to participate in this.

Warrior Dash.

3.5 miles of crazy obstacles. Think 5K run meets Wipe Out (tv show).

Mud, fire, water, forests, gale force winds. Costume optional, but there is a contest. You get a helmet like the one in the logo picture.

I think this looks miserable. Greg is ecstatic. But I am going to paint Greg's chest like a warrior so I am excited about that.

The Warrior dash is coming to Texas May 1, 2010. It is in Forney, Texas (near Dallas).

Greg has started recruiting some friends to do this with him.

Ladies, if your husband is crazy like mine and wants to sign up to do the warrior dash, we can all road-trip it to Dallas and cheer on our men. Let me know!

PS- Lauren, make some room - we are staying with you! And maybe some friends too?

2009-11-08T22:26:00.002-06:00

This post is long over due. My blogging has been very inconsistent. Jenny tagged me a while ago and I have been meaning to do this. I had to navigate through her old posts to even find the questions. But better late than never!

1. Where is your cell phone: Somewhere in this apartment. I usually just call it from Greg's phone to locate it.

2. Your hair: Bedtime-do

3. Your mother: Creative genius

4. Your father: Wise in all things

5. Your favorite food: Cafe Red Onion

6. Your dream from last night: Don't remember. But I dream all the time. Even when I fall asleep in the car on a 10 minute car ride, I will start to dream.

7. Your favorite drink: Diet Root Beer

8. Your dream/goal: Still figuring that out

9. What room are you in: Living room

10. What is your hobby: Cake decorating, frisbee golf with Greg, making crafty things, reading blogs

11. What is your fear: Being a widow

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years: A mommy!

13. Where were you last night: At Olive Garden with the Perots

14. Something you are not: Bilingual

15. Muffins: Pumpkin chocolate chip are my new fav

16. Wish List items.: furniture

17. Where did you grow up: native Houstonion :)

18. Last thing you did: Fell victim to a flying head-butt by Greg. Running dive, head meets hip. That could leave a bruise. Greg needs a son.

19. What are you wearing: A hybrid mix of church clothes and pj's. That is weird.

20. Your TV: Found out we had been receiving free premium cable for a year and a half. After moving apartment units we realized we actually only get 13 channels now. None of which interest me. Stink.

21. Your pets: None

22. Your friends: Love to be around

23. Your life: Blessed

24. Your mood: Relaxed

25. Missing someone: I guess family, and extended family. I could always use more family time.

26. Vehicle: Olivia is her name. I am very fond of her. Although she attracts door dings from other people. I think I get a new one a week.

27. Something your not wearing: Make up. I am about to go to bed.

28. Your favorite store: Target, Hobby Lobby, the Limited

29. Your favorite color: Blue

30. When's the last time you laughed: Earlier when Greg charged at me with his head

31. When's the last time you cried: About a week ago. House hunting can be emotional.

32. Your best friend: Girl: Lindsay, Guy: Greg

33. One place you go over and over: Work, Kroger, Church

34. One person who emails me regularly: Greg, usually daily

35. Favorite place to eat?: Red Onion

I said a Boom Chicka Boom!

2009-10-25T17:05:00.000-05:00

Is that how you spell that? If you are wondering what that means, then you should go on a middle school retreat. I just got back from the Middle School Retreat at Lake Tomahawk, and I had a great time with all the kids! All girls in one bunk room, all guys in another. Craziness from morning til night. Yellow school buses to and from. Lots of singing Taylor Swift songs. Camp food. What more can you ask for? Here are the highlights:

French braiding girls hair at midnight

The perfect October weather

S'mores! You can't leave camp with out em. Some kids couldn't leave camp without 8 of them. Yeah. That is the answer I got to "What number s'more are ya on there?". Yikes. What does that equate to...like 4 Hershey bars?

Playing Zip Boing (a ridiculously funny game involving covering your teeth with your lips and not being allowed to laugh/show them)

Watching 6th grade boys unashamedly and passionately lip sync every word to Miley Cyrus "It's the climb".

Ok, girls were singing too. It was just wasn't as funny as the boys because it is more expected.

Sitting around a picnic table as my girls eagerly look up scripture verses.

Watching a "who-can-finish-their-lunch-faster" contest involving nacho cheese & lettuce coated fingers and faces.

Hearing songs I haven't heard in years. Ex: "I'm squishing up my baby bumble bee, won't my mommy be so proud of me..." and "Hi, my name is Joe, I've got a wife and 3 kids and I work in a factory". Anyone? Anyone? Those are the classics.

Getting to know lots of kids I didn't know before.

Camp games. Who comes up with these things? Pelting the opposite team with flour filled socks? 1 part pain, 2 parts fun!

Learning more about the fruits of the spirit and hearing all the kids recite Galatians 5:22-23.

Overall, an awesome weekend. I just woke up from a 2 hour nap to tell about it. That feels better :)

Here is a picture of some of the 6th grade girls.

C'mon girls, picture time, try to form a clump.

There we go!

The Bright Side of Moving

2009-10-04T20:51:00.003-05:00

Well, we moved apartments this weekend! We are now the proud renters of a first floor apartment in the same complex. It wasn't the worst thing ever. In fact, it was a pretty easy move. Mainly due to the fact that...(drum roll please)...we got movers! It was absolutely worth it. We were planning on moving ourselves until the boxes began to accumulate, and accumulate, and accumulate. Granted, it is only a one bedroom apartment, but still, it seemed like an overwhelming task. Plus, we were on the third floor. I now LOVE getting movers. They did a great job, and got the whole thing done in under 2 hours. We still had plenty do as far as unpacking, organizing, and cleaning the old place, but things went so much faster with movers. We are pretty much all organized in our new place, and we have cleaned out the old. All in one weekend! I am so happy about that.

So to look on the bright side of moving apartments, here is a list of the good things that have come out of this move.

1) We are now on the first floor- no more carrying groceries up stairs!

2) We have wood floors. I love them! Some apartments in this complex have them, some don't. We didn't realize until we moved in that this one did. It makes the fact that we have cardboard boxes everywhere just a tad more classy. Yep, the boxes are staying like that. Since we are still hoping to find a house soon, we are not unpacking all of our boxes.

3) We are closer to the parking garage. I know this sounds lazy, but it is nice :)

4) Since our new place is the same layout as our old, when unpacking, I didn't have to decide - hmm...where should the bowls go? I just knew. To the right of the microwave, of course.

5) We got rid of some old stuff; such as tylenol that expired in March of 2007, and some old flip flops.

6) We are partially pre-packed for our next move. We are saving all our boxes and packing material so we will be ready to go at any time.

7) Greg and I are getting to practice patience, and contentment. We are fine where we are, and will wait on God's timing for when/if he provides us with a house.

8) We get a chance to be in our third "love nestle" together. That is Greg's phrase. No, not "love nest", "love nestle".

The Stinkertons

2009-09-21T20:44:00.004-05:00

We are going on night 3 of an unusable shower.

After several months, Greg and I finally got tired of taking shaths (the dreaded shower-bath that results from a slow/clogged drain where you are standing in 4 inches of water but actually taking a shower).

Greg tried some draino, but to no avail. Actually, things came to a complete halt. Water no longer draining, and actually coming up from the drain. Not a good sign. This took place on Saturday night.

Night 1 solution: Hope the water is gone in the morning.

Water not gone in the morning. Wash hair in sink. Convince self that yesterday's shower still has 5 more hours before it wears off, enough to get you through church. Double up on deodorant and perfume.

Night 2 solution: Maintenance can't come til Monday. Pack up shampoo and towels and go to the Brandenbergers house to shower. Fresh and clean. Thanks guys!

Night 3 solution: I guess maintenance didn't have time to get to our request. Greg and I take different approaches.

Greg's approach: Pre-soap loofa, hop in shower for no more than 13 seconds, hop out and remove all of the accumulated water by means of bucket and cup. A sink hair-washing is scheduled for the morning.

My approach: Decide my lunch time post-workout shower at our work gym is enough to get me through tomorrow. Do a sink hair-washing and call it good enough.

If maintenance doesn't come tomorrow and you are friends with us...and live within 8 miles of us...and have a working shower...and we are close enough friends to where it is not awkward to come over to shower only...you might be getting a call...don't screen our call.

**Ok, I know this is not actually a big deal. Many people do not even have running water, so this tiny inconvenience is nothing. I just needed something to blog about, and this was the current event in our household.

Momentary Marriage

2009-09-15T22:06:00.002-05:00

Today as Greg and I were listening to part II of the Matt Chandler sermon we started this weekend, he used in his teaching the parable in Luke 20 where the Sadducees ask Jesus about marriage in Heaven. Here is the passage in Luke.

Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.

"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage... Luke 20:27-35

No marriage in Heaven? This is a hard teaching to think about.

We were discussing this topic with Greg's family the last time we were in Waco. It a strange thing to think about. But I think Greg's mom said it well when she said that there is no purpose for marriage in Heaven. Marriage on earth is a picture of Christ and the Church. When we are in Heaven, we will no longer need a reflection of that, because we will have the real thing. That is hard to understand though. More along the lines of impossible...at least for me. It is hard to imagine what relationships will be like in Heaven. Will we just be so consumed with being in the presence of Christ that we will not be concerned with others? Or will we in our perfected state have perfection in all relationships with others? For a newlywed, it doesn't sound like the most awesome idea to have no marriage in Heaven. But who am I to question God about His knowing what is best and most wonderful? If there was marriage in Heaven, what would you do if you were married to more than one person? Or what if you were single your whole life but wanted to be married - then for eternity would you have to be single? That doesn't sound fun. I guess it is just going to be completely different in Heaven and we can't understand it until we get there. Greg said we could just be BFFEEs (Best Friends For Ever Eternally) and high five each other.

Matt Chandler didn't go deep into this passage since it wasn't really the point of his sermon series. However, he did mention that John Piper wrote an excellent book on this topic titled, This Momentary Marriage.

I immediately looked up the book and guess what.....you can download it for FREE on John Piper's website! How cool is that of him to let anyone download and read his book for free! Go here for a preview of the book, which has a link to download it as well.

I am only a few pages in to the book but I can tell already that I am really going to enjoy it. I am tempted to stay up really late reading it, but I think I need to put it on hold tonight, and get some sleep.

I'll end with a quote from what I just read...

"There is no human marriage after death. The shadow of covenant-keeping between husband and wife gives way to the reality of covenant keeping between Christ and his glorified church. Nothing is lost. The music of every pleasure is transposed into an infinitely higher key." John Piper, This Momentary Marriage.

Weekend Report

2009-09-13T21:03:00.002-05:00

This weekend was nice and relaxing. Nothing too eventful. Friday Greg and I relaxed and started on season 7 of 24 (once again, some sweet friends let us borrow it!). I love this season already. I also did a little furniture shopping...although I'm not really sure why since we just signed a 4 month lease at our apartment complex! Yep, that is right, we are going to stay here for a while longer while we continue the house hunt. But staying in the same unit is just too boring so we are switching it up. Who doesn't love packing up all their stuff and moving out of a 3rd floor apartment? Since we did give our 60 day moving out notice, someone else is already scheduled to move into our unit. That means we have to be out. But, we are so grateful that there is a first floor apartment we can move in to. YAY! We thought we were going to have to move to another 3rd floor apartment at first, but this is so much better. And even though it is not the most convenient thing to do, it is really not that big of a deal, and we are still trusting that God will lead us where he wants us in His perfect timing. We are very thankful that our complex worked with us to get a decent rate on a short term lease (and again, one that is on the first floor), and we will just wait to see what happens next. Maybe we will find a house soon, or maybe we will sign another lease after that. Either way, it is sort of a fun adventure.

And just for the record, this will be the THIRD unit that Greg has lived in. He lived in this complex several years ago before we dated, but had moved out since. I told the leasing managers we needed a frequent leasers punch card. Maybe something like sign 4 leases get the 5th one free? Well, it is unlikely that we will be getting free rent but at least we have been getting plenty of free candy from the leasing office. They always have big bowls of chocolates everywhere. Sometimes I just want to find an excuse to get more Hershey's special dark. Hey it's me again...just thinkin about signing another lease, got any good deals? oh I guess I'll just take a few more candies while you get me that quote. Anyway, back to this weekend.

Saturday Greg and I went out to eat with some friends at Canyon Cafe. That place is so great. The best part is those frozen white chocolate things they serve in the tamale wrappers (what are those called, corn husks?)

Today Greg and I enjoyed a great morning at Church, then played disc golf. This is one of my new favorite things. I love ultimate frisbee, but had never played disc golf until a few months ago. Now Greg and I play fairly often and it is so much fun. Then we came home and I tried out a new recipe - Turkey cutlets with roasted potatoes and mushrooms. It was really good - although I don't think I did the turkey exactly right. I know for next time though. My friend Lindsay gave me a whole stack of theses cooking magazines and I am looking forward to trying out lots of new recipes. I may post some in the future. After dinner I made a few fondant flowers while Greg and I listened to a Matt Chandler sermon. He is the pastor at the Village Church in Dallas which Greg and I have been to several times and really like him. All his sermons are online so sometimes we like to listen to those. Now it is time to go to bed early and get a good night sleep :)

Experience the Magic

2009-09-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

Does everyone own one of these? Does everyone love these more than anything ever?

I have used them before, but I guess it had just been too long, and I forgot about the magic. The magic that is unleashed in a single foam square. The dissappearing act that takes place before your very eyes.

Mr. Clean just took away this ugly ring that had formed on our bathroom counter that neither 409 nor bleach could tackle. Greg said a UFO (unidentified filthy object) had landed on our counter. Really it was just the stand up mirror. It left a stain after only a few days. But it ain't no thang for magic eraser. Poof, gone.

In my excitement I began running around the apartment looking for other things to erase.

What else? Point to something. Anything. I will erase it. Oh you want me to erase that scratch on the door from our towel rack? Gone. How about that scuff mark on the wall from moving furniture and not pivoting fast enough? Gone. I can't be stopped.

Am I really getting excited about cleaning? Who am I?

Tip for My Fellow Swagers

2009-09-01T18:07:00.004-05:00

To all my fellow swagers out there, starting today you can download the Swagbucks new toolbar. I'm not sure what all the toolbar does, but they are giving 1 Swag code away every day in September through the toolbar! Yay! I just downloaded it and it told me the first swag code. Is it sad that I still get this excited every time I win a swagbuck?

By the way, if you haven't heard of Swagbucks already, go here to read about it.

Cake Class Catastrophe

2009-08-31T19:43:00.002-05:00

It's hard to say exactly at what point things went downhill...

literally

down

hill.

Somewhere between too much icing and heavy flowers things went terribly wrong.

Things started to droop a little in class. I whined to my teacher about my sagging basket weave and she said my icing was too thin. After a short car ride home one section had started sliding down onto the board. A couple hours later and more icing was on the table than on the cake. (The picture was taken in the early stages.)

Greg walks in and looks at my cake with huge, terrified eyes - "it's.....beautiful honey" (eeeek!)

So much for cake class #2!

CVS Deal of the Week

2009-08-20T20:41:00.003-05:00

Not every week at CVS is something spectacular, but this week did not disappoint. I just got 4 Clean & Clear facewashes for about 87 cents each! To me, that is amazing. I got different kinds, and two of them even came with a bonus travel size face wash.

I don't want to berate the people about coupons all the time who really could care less about them, but this deal was really good so I had to share. I know CVSing isn't for everyone. It takes a lot of time, effort and consistency. But you don't have to be a fully committed CVSer to take advantage of this.

Anyway, here is the breakdown. I bought the following:

$4.99 Clean & Clear Face wash

$5.49 Clean & Clear Face wash (I got 3 different kinds, and 1 repeat)

$20.46

- $4 CVS coupon - "$4 off $20 beauty purchase"

This one was emailed to me from CVS, but if you don't get the CVS emails just go to their pharmacy and ask about their Readyfill program and they will give you a coupon booklet with lots of great coupons, one of which is similar - $4 off $20 Facial Skin Care purchase".

- $8 (I used a $2 off manufacturers coupon for each face wash) You can go here to get links to these coupons - you can print 2 per computer. Yes you have to sign up with personal info (email, etc). That is why I created a junk email account for when I sign up for these things.

Total: $8.46

There is also a deal going on if you buy $15 worth of Clean & Clear or Neutragena acne products you get $5 Extra Bucks. And by the way most of their face washes were considered acne products so the deal worked.

Since I got $5 back in Extra Bucks it was really like I spent $3.46 or 87 cents each! Ok, so I didn't calculate tax, but I can never figure out how CVS calcs tax when you are using all those crazy coupons and paying in Extra Bucks.

Another great thing about getting one of those coupon booklets from asking about the Readyfill program is that it has 2 coupons for $4-off-a-$20 purchase. You may not think you want to spend $20 at CVS, but there are cases where it may be worth it. I am going to use those coupons for razor cartridges. They are so dang expensive. Greg uses the Gillete Fusion and an 8 pack is around $24. I price checked those at CVS, Kroger, and Target and they were all the same (a few cents difference). There was a $4 off Fusion cartridges in the newspaper a few weeks ago, so if you combine that manufacturer's coupon with the $4-off-$20 coupon, that is an $8 savings right there. Ok, and maybe I use the fusion razor too. Don't judge me. Greg and I have our own. I can't believe for more than a decade I never discovered one of man's best kept secrets - the awesomeness of a man razor. I could write an entire post about this. But really, have you ever shaved with a little slice of heaven? That's right. Venus has nothing on Gillete. That is why I jumped for joy when the Fusion razor was 99 cents at CVS one week. Anyway, CVS, you have been good to me this week. Thanks.

24 Season 7 Time Share

2009-08-12T18:39:00.005-05:00

I really want to see 24 Season 7. We have watched all of the seasons on DVD, and have successfully managed to borrow all of those DVD from very awesome friends. Yep, instead of renting movies on the weekends, Greg and I just watch 24. It is great.

Now it is time for season 7. We didn't watch it when it aired because we still hadn't finished season 6. Now we are caught up and ready for more. Bring it Jack.

We don't know anyone who owns season 7 (is it even out yet?), so I came up with a time share plan. It works like this:

Several couples go in together to buy the DVD. 4 couples would be a good amount. If you get too many on the time share then some people have to wait too long to watch the DVD's. If you get too few, then everyone has to pay more. So let's say there are 4 couples (including us) that split the cost of buying Season 7. Then we create a rotational schedule. Whichever couple thinks they can watch the DVD's the fastest, starts out. Now lets not get crazy here, we aren't asking anyone to cram it all in one night and be lazy tv addicts...but I just mean a reasonable amount of time. The first disc (4 episodes) could be finished in about 2 weeks. Yes, it can be done much sooner, but Greg and I like to limit ourselves to watching it on weekends only so it doesn't consume us. Others can do whatever they want, we just don't want to rush anyone. Anyway, after couple #1 finishes disc 1, they pass it on to couple #2. Then couple #2 watches it, then passes it on to couple #3. You get the idea. After everyone has watched the whole season, we sell it on Ebay and split the money. Seamless, right? And maybe there could be penalties if you don't pass the disc along in a timely manner. Such as, you may have to include a batch of brownies or other delicious treat along with the disc if you are late. Our penalties will be paid in cake. Our freezer is always well stocked with cake scraps.

If you would like to sign up for this time share, please let me know!

And it just occurred to me that I used couples in the example. It doesn't have to be couples though. Anyone is welcome :)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just after I wrote this Greg read it and said...

"That's already been invented. It's called Netflix."

Whatever.

It's different.

Sort of.

60 day Count Down

2009-08-06T20:38:00.003-05:00

Let the countdown begin! Greg and I just gave our 60 day notice to our apartment complex that we will be moving. Where to, you ask? Not sure. We are busy looking but haven't found anything yet. But we are continually encouraged by friends and family that God is faithful and will provide for us in his perfect timing. Maybe that is in 60 days, maybe that is in 6 months. But He is our Good Shepherd who leads us in the way we should go and we trust that he will lead us in these next couple months.

We are now well acquainted with HAR.com (that is Houston Association of Realtors website for the non-Houstonions) since we search in daily (er, um, hourly), and we have have thought of a few tips for the people who are selling their house on there.

-Try to take decent pictures. Maybe a flash would be nice. Do not aim at the floor unless you are trying to show your nice wood floors.
-If a toddler came and threw every thing you ever owned on the floor, consider picking up a few items before you take the picture.
-Do not stand directly in front of a mirror, aiming directly into it, and take a picture.
-Do not use your spring break 02 picture as your professional realtor picture.
-Do not have a larger than life close up of you taking up the whole wall above your bed. That scares buyers.

We have seen so many other weird things that I can't think of at this time...but that is a good starting list.

Clothing Rejection

2009-08-02T17:30:00.003-05:00

This weekend Greg and I decided to tackle our non-walk-in-able walk-in closet. It was like a Super Walmart crammed into a 7 x 4 ft. space. There was the clothing department, craft section, outdoor world, home goods, luggage & accessories, and more, all packed in together. Since we were getting rid of some stuff, I thought it would be a great idea to take sell our clothes that we didn't wear any more to Buffalo Exchange. I was talking about that with some friends at work last week, and I thought that would be a great way to clean out some of our stuff, and be thrifty.

We had several bag fulls of clothes, plus a few shoes and accessories. We headed over to Buffalo Exchange - which is an adventure in itself trying to find parking, walk several blocks to the store, etc. The line for selling clothes was outrageous. Of course it was Saturday in the middle of the afternoon, but who knew so many people did this? We waited in line and it was not looking good. We could tell from watching the people in front of us that the store is extremely picky about what they buy back. The people in front of us must have packed 10 years worth of clothes in their trunk and were hauling it in load after load. The employees would look through it quickly and not take any of it. I thought, even though I am not quite hippy-cool, do not have any tattoos or a funky haircut, and my clothes are not very vintage and unique, at least they will probably take a couple items. Wrong. They went through our stuff (which was actually all mine with the exception of one jacket of Greg's) and rejected it all. You mean you hate all of my clothes? Come on - AT LEAST they could have bought back the way cool vintage dress I bought NEXT DOOR at the exact same type store several years ago to wear to a Halloween party when Greg and I went as Johnny Cash and June Carter. See picture below - complete with homemade guitars.

Can't see enough of the dress? Here is another view. (I love Julie and Jana's costumes!)

How could they not take the dress?? Wish (the store I bought it from) sells the exact same kind of clothes as Buffalo Exchange. It is old, unique, right up their ally. I also had 2 old tshirts that were the kind that we worn so much they were sooo comfy that I bought at a thrift shop on that same street several years ago. Sheesh. Greg and I left completely defeated. Being thrifty isn't always easy :)

Cake Class

2009-07-30T20:21:00.002-05:00

I have been wanting to take the Course II cake decorating class for quite a while now, and I think it is finally going to happen in August! Course II at Hobby Lobby has always been on Wednesday evenings. That is our Bible study night, and I definitely was not willing to give that up. I just checked the Hobby Lobby calendar and they are having course II on Tuesdays in August. Woohoo! I am going to run by the store tomorrow for some supplies I need anyway and see if they have any of those fliers for 1/2 off classes. When I took the first class it was a half off special - $17.50 for a month of classes (2 hrs. each week). That is a deal if you ask me!

And if anyone is interested in taking course II at the Hobby Lobby in Meyerland, let me know.