Hoochie Mama

Okay - so I have to admit - I'm judgemental these days. We go out and I see some young woman all hooched up going out for the night and I have thoughts to myself. But.....I really should check myself on this because I sooooo used to be that girl! I LOVED to go out! I LOVED to get all dressed up for some attention! I know, I know....it really explains so much about me right! Now I know some of you will totally just freak out when you see these pictures so just prepare yourself! These pictures are from a girls trip that we took to Orlando back in 2003 - just 5 months before I became pregnant with Jenna. Yes girls - just 5 short months! Holy cow! Okay - so here we go. Please try to not to laugh or judge.........(biting my nails....)




Okay so let me have it! I know you want to say something....and before you ask....YES I still have the leather pants and yes they still fit (I just wore them last year!) Again - no judgement! :)

Our Wedding Photos

Okay so I totally got inspired by my friend Amanda who posted pictures of her wedding day on her blog. She was such a beautiful bride. The pictures made me think how fun my wedding day was and I thought I'd share some of my favorites....
We got married here in Indy at Second Presbyterian Church. It was a gorgeous church! I felt like a princess!
This is before the ceremony - just chilling out waiting for the big moment! I still love that dress to this day!
This is my handsome groom!


Here are my bridesmaids.
That's right!

What a fun day we had! It was truly the wedding of my dreams with all my friends and family there. Our reception was a ton of fun too! I will never forget this day!

The Zoo

So this morning we loaded up the van and headed to the zoo. What a great day it was! The sun was out and it wasn't too hot or too cold! We hadn't been to the zoo since last year and the girls have been begging me to go. Now, being 8 months pregnant made this a little more challenging then I had anticipated - I was completely exhausted by the end of the day. But it was a lot of fun and I'm glad that we got the chance to go. The girls really enjoyed seeing the sharks and the giraffes not to mention the elephants. Jenna was a little dissapointed that we didn't make it to a dophin show or over to see the koala bears, but I was just too darn tired and Jessa was asleep in the stroller! So I made an executive call and said it was time to go home! The girls both fell asleep in the van on the way home so no rest for mommy! Oh well! It was a great day!


So I couldn't help myself.....these elephants are just too darn cute! Jenna and Jessa were in love! They wanted to bring one home with them....I told them that Uncle Nick might not appreciate that too much. So they were okay with just coming back to visit them occasionally! Whew......barely escaped that one! :)

This was just too darn cute to pass up! Jenna was having a great day walking about holding John's hand. I think she thought she was his mother because I would hear her say things like, "No John, we have to go this way" and "Hold my hand so you don't get lost". Oh my little mommy! She's going to make the perfect big sister!

To hear are my "Ham and Cheese" as I like to call them. I tell you they love to have their pictures taken! It probably is because I've had a camera in their face since the day they were born! Poor kids!

Our Little Flower Girl

So tonight was the night that we went shopping for Jenna's Flower Girl Dress for her Uncle Scott's wedding in July. This is the big winner! She looks so adorable. It was by far my favorite! Jenna really loves it too. She feels just like a pretty princess. She asked me on the way home if there would be any little boys at the party who would think she was pretty! I said, "Of course!" I'm sure she'll have a great time at the wedding and getting to be the center of attention for a little while!

I had to let Jessa try on some dresses too. I was trying dresses on Jenna at the store and all of a sudden Jessa has stripped herself down to her diaper and is running around saying that she wants to try on pretty dresses too. So I put one on her and let her run around while we decided on a dress for Jenna. I'm not really sure anyone else was amused, but I thought it was cute! And she wasn't really hurting anything. She loved looking at herself in the mirror and doing twirls. She is such a little ham! She'll get her turn in November at Aunt Jenn's wedding!

My Day at the Indy 500

Brett and I were extremely fortunate that one of our friends asked us to join us for the Indy 500 yesterday. Brett and I both Hoosiers by birth, but neither of us have actually been to the race. We've both been to the track several times for time trials and what-not, but never to the race. I grew up watching the race every Memorial Day weekend with my entire family gathered around the TV. I absolutely love the 500!

So at 8:45am I loaded the girls in the van with my siblings and they headed to grandma's for the day. Brett and I were out the door at 10am on our way to pick up our friends and head to the track! Who knew traffic would be soooo bad! It took us over 2 hours to get to the track, park, walk the mile or so to the track and find our seats! But it was all worth it!

I sat down in my seat and was just overcome with emotion! The cars were roaring around the track and people were cheering. It was just awesome! We had such a great day of weather too. It was 72 degrees and for the majority of the race we had a great breeze that kept us the perfect temperature. We were entertained by all the drunk people around us and their conversation. It was quite an education at times!

We left the track after the end of the race and dropped our friends back at their home. Brett and I then had a nice dinner just the two of us before the girls arrived back home. And what a blessing - they were both asleep when they arrived and went straight to bed!

It was a great day at the track and a great day with friends. And it was a super nice day to just get to spend with my husband!

Nearing the End

Okay, here are the belly pics of me carrying Jessa and me carrying Baby #3. I wish I had a digital pic of me carrying Jenna, but I don't and for the life of me I don't know where I have all my pictures packed right now.

As you can see I'm quite a bit bigger this time around!!!! The picture on the left was taken on January 2nd and I delivered Jessa on January 19th. The picture on the right is taken on May 24th and my actual due date is still a month away. Wow! Kind of scary! I wonder how much bigger my belly will get before the end! :)

All in all though things are going great! I've had a good pregnancy and really can't complain! I'm getting very anxious to meet this new little one!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

So yesterday afternoon the girls were begging me to go outside and let them play bubbles. They had a blast. The wind was just enough to really carry the bubbles up into the air and make the girls scream and giggle! Jessa is finally getting the hang of blowing into the wand to make the bubbles. A huge improvement over last year when she just licked the wand and cried because they tasted yucky! :)

4 Generations

So this past weekend we traveled back home for my mom's church's Mother Daughter Banquet. It was very nice. And it was special that we could have 4 generations of our family represented. In the picture down front are my two girls. The middle row is my Grandma Bergman (my dad's mother) and then my Grandma Sutton (my mom's mother). In the back row is my mother and then me of course!



I think it is really cool that my girls have gotten to know their Great-Grandmothers. I was blessed to have known 2 of mine of well. I know someday they will enjoy looking back at photos with all of us in them and getting to see everyone together!



We are truly blessed and I am so thankful for that!

Getting Wiggy with it!

Okay! I was looking through some old photos and came across this one! I just had to share. My girls are totally into playing dress-up these days! From the looks of it - so was I when I was their age!

As adults I could see the need to re-invent ourselves. But what is the big draw to dressing up as kids? Maybe just the fun of wearing something you normally wouldn't? When my girls put wigs on they just go crazy and think they are hysterically funny! I can't help but laugh at them laughing! It is so cute!

Therapy

So after my last couple of posts people probably think I've gone of the deep end. I am happy to report that things are getting better. My household is finally coming into some sort of harmony. The girls are getting into a better naptime and bedtime routine and it just feels like we are settling in - finally!

I've also decided that I just need to try to find all the positives and try to stop dwelling on the negatives. So hopefully that will help too!

Tuesday started off rocky for me, but by the time I made it to Bible Study and had that hour and a half of girl time I was feeling better! Bible Study always lifts my spirits and helps me get back to a grounded state! The ladies in the group are just wonderful! Then last night our Bible Study group headed out for supper - just the ladies, no kids. It was great fun! And it is always nice to just have some good girl chat! Very good for the soul!!!!!

So I am feeling better! There are a few things I'm still working on, but they are going to take some time to figure out. But I'm leaning on God to help me through it and to show me the right path!

Somewhat Sad Mothers Day

So my Mother's Day started at 3:30am this morning with a vomiting child. Poor Jenna....I felt so bad for her. We had to strip her down and I had only brought one pair of pjs for her so we scrambled to find something for her to wear. Brett was sweet and let me sleep in until 9am after that, but with Jenna being sick that meant we couldn't all make it to church. This was very sad to me for 2 reasons. The first being that Mother's Day is a huge deal in my family and we always all go to church together - Great Grandmother, Mother, Daughters and Granddaughters. Only today there were no granddaughters there. The second being that I thnk this may have been the last Mother's Day when that chain would be in place. My grandmother is in failing health - not only that, but she truly wants to die. Every chance she got today she would talk about the fact that she wouldn't be here much longer. She gave me an angel and told me that it was so that I would always remember her. She gave Brett a check to go and buy a new suit for her funeral. It was just all so sad - to see her giving up - not willing to continue to fight.

She has always been a rock in my life - a strong Christian example. I admire her stories of hardship and sacrifice that she has endured and overcome. She is an amazing women who came from an amazing woman (I'm so thankful that I knew her mother - my great-grandmother) and who raised an amazing woman (my mother). So much of who I am is because of who these women are and the examples they lived out in front of me. So it was just so sad for me today to hear her talk about the end of her life as if she knew it were tomorrow. That day, when it comes - when God decides to take her to Heaven, will truly be one of the hardest days of my life.

So today was just a hard day for me. Even as I sit here at the end of the day reflecting my cheeks burn with tears. I know no one lives forever, but to have someone say goodbye in such a way is just so very sad to me.

Bad Day

Okay really, it hasn't just been a bad day.....it all started to fall apart about 2 weeks ago. I think the stress of moving, amoung a few other things, has just finally caught up with me. I've been in a funk the last couple of days and I can't seem to kick myself out of it! How sad is that! I just feel absolutely overwhelmed and frustrated to no end.

Today I seriously had one of those days that if I could have just walked out the door and gone on vacation by myself I would have gladly done it. I felt the walls closing in on me and the air was getting thin. I just need a break! Not just a break - a vacation. A step away from everyday reality into a world of relaxation and freedom.

I know things will get easier. I just keep telling myself that and I guess the frustration is that is still hasn't come true. About 8 months ago I concluded my general unhappiness was that my life was at a crossroads and I needed to make some decisions about the direction I wanted it to go. And at that time decisions were made, plans were set and I felt better. My life felt like it had meaning and purpose. But here I am again feeling at a crossroads. This time it is definitely not in the same areas of life that it was 8 months ago because those things still feel very much on track. So I can't really explain it. Something just feels really off to me. Maybe if I can put my finger on it this frustration and feeling of overwhelment will go away. I just keep praying that God will work in my life and through my life for His greater good and purpose.