HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD!!

To my Husband:

When I was a little girl, I played make believe.  What girl didn't?

I pretended to cook and clean and to be a Momma to my baby dolls.  

I imagined a man-- a husband.  He was brave, strong and very handsome.  And he loved me.

It was a dream.  Some may have called it a fairy tale.

But I call it my life.

Because you are the man of my dreams.

You are the first to hold me when I am afraid.

You are my encourager when I doubt myself.

You are the one who has made me a Mother-to-be.

You are also the one who still leaves his clothes on the floor and the toilet seat up.

I am not a little girl anymore. I am a woman and you are a man.   

Today you turn 34 years old.  And more than anything, I want you to know that I love you more than I ever dreamed.  

You are a man among men. You are my heart, my life, my best friend, my soul mate.

You are unique and beautiful.  

And you are mine.

Happy Birthday, Brad!!!

Oh and Thank you for making my dreams come true.

Below are a few pictures from Brad's birthday weekend!

Brad with his nephew Lane!

Brad, Janice, Sam, Josh-yes his mouth is full of cake, LauraLee and Lane

Tonight Brad got a few things from me and Braden!

A cookie cake

New running shoes

And some long sleeve shirts!

Someone was wanting some cookie cake before it was time to cut it...

Oh and not to mention we went to CFA for dinner!!!

And look who we met there-any guesses???

Yep that is Lee and Meredith on his bike-boy she is BRAVE!!!

28 Weeks!!!

Things for Braden's Room

I got these knick knacks from Hobby Lobby and Kirkland's  

LOVE IT!!!

This will be hung on the wall above his dresser.

Meredith and I painted Saturday

This is what we painted-a basketball, baseball, football, and soccer ball.  

This is not the finished product-we will paint more Tuesday night!!!

I got two of these and they will be towel holders in his bathroom

Now off to have some cookie cake.  Tuesday brings a new day!  

Thank you so much for everything-Brad-I hope you have really enjoyed your day.  

You deserved so much more than what I can give you!!!

Not much to update on today.  I hit my third trimester!!!  I go Friday for my "kool-aid" test.  I have heard many horror stories but I am just going to take a book and relax and drink FAST!!! I got on the scales and I have gained 18 POUNDS!!!  Crazy-- here are a few pics I took last night-

side view doesn't look too bad

getting closer to the front view getting scary

JUST PLUM SCARY!!!

I am so ready to start back working out hard-Brad even said he couldn't wait-he has been so patient with me-I know he can tell that this is killing me having to slow down.  And yes my friends I have slowed down.  I got in my nesting mode yesterday and decided to come home after work instead of going to Janice and Sam's for the night.  I got off at 2pm went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and then came home.  I cleaned and cleaned but it seemed like it took forever to get one thing done.  I really did a lot of cleaning or so it seemed like I should have with all the time that I spent cleaning.  I got the floors swept, all of Braden's hand me down clothes washed and put away, all the laundry cleaned, and decided that was all I could do.  So at 11pm I went to bed-woke up at 6:30am wide awake ready to go at it again.  So I threw the sheets in the washer, mopped all the floors, and put clean sheets on the bed.  And decided it was time to get ready for work.  I worked 10-7 today and got a pretty good amount of things done there.  

Tomorrow I have lots of meetings and then we have AWESOME AUGUST at church.  Looking forward to the great message. 

Good Night!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Dear Mom-

Today is your birthday.  On this day you were a brand new baby girl placed in your mother's arms, a gift to your parents from the Lord.  I love this special mother-daughter relationship that you and I have.  This is a relationship that I never knew existed when I was a child-how can you be best friends with your mother?  Now the question is how could you not!!!  You and I have a special connection, a bond, a never ending friendship.  I can't wait to teach Braden things that you taught me- to be the person that God wants him to be not someone he is not.  

I remember growing up watching you get ready in the mornings. You would dry your hair and put on your makeup and I would wander if I would ever grow up to be the beautiful person that you are and get married to the man of my dreams.  WOW-did time fly-here I am with a man that I never thought of marrying-after all we were just friends.  But with the man I could never live without.  And soon to have our own child.  Thank you for being my cheerleader and my friend.  But mostly thank you for being the mother-even through those tough teenager times.  I could never ask for a better mother!  I hope that I have made you as proud as you have made your Mother.   I love you more than anything in this world.  I am sorry that I didn't get to see you on your birthday but I am sure that Dad took special care of you.

I LOVE YOU MOM!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

RANDOM THINGS

Another random blogging report from me this weekend.  Brad and I didn't get much accomplished this weekend.  Friday night I worked until 9:30pm-Brad worked at the station.  I went to the Heart Walk on Saturday-here are a few pics...

Here is the start line...

This was a Team's shirt -I really want one of these-it is AWESOME...

The fountain at Lynn Park was LIME GREEN!!!

Brad did cut the grass when I got home Saturday.  While he mowed- I sat in a chair and read my book.  I wasn't thinking of how much sun I was getting until I went inside to shower-my tummy is like  RED HOT!!!  I wasn't out there but like 45 minutes-but it is red.  I got to thinking and it is from all the oil/lotion I rub on there every day to prevent stretch marks.  We went to Chick-Fil-A for our usual Saturday lunch and then just drove around Gardendale enjoying the nice weather.  We came home around 3:30pm and decided to take a nap.  I sleep so good on the couch-I slept for almost 2 hours!!!  Then Brad was ready to go eat dinner.  We asked Lee to go with us-we went to OUTBACK!!!  It was so yummy.    

Here is a picture of Lee-he saved Meredith a seat but...

she was not in town-poor guy.

When we finished eating we saw a bunch of cars across the street so we drove over to see what was going on-it was a Car Show-check out this school bus...

This stranger was in our backseat...

Sunday (today) we got up and went to church.  After church we went to eat at Diplomat Deli in Vestavia-I love the chicken salad from there-but I think my favorite now might be the Reuben sandwich-that is what Brad got and I was wanting to eat his sandwich more than mine-maybe next time I will get that one.  We left there and went to Open House at Brad's fire station in Hoover.  Then we headed home.  I did stop and pick me up some ice cream that I had been wanting for a long time-but when I started eating it-it was really not what I wanted.  So I will save it for another day.  Luke-Brad's friend wanted to workout-so me and Cindy and their two boys went to the Hayden track and walked.  It felt so good-now I am home trying to cook dinner.  Pork loin, veggies, and pasta-then it is off to bed.  I have to get up early for work tomorrow.  

I am hoping that I do better this week-blogging, exercising, and getting the house cleaned!!!

PUSH UPS

So I have not posted in a while. I am 26 weeks and 5 days. I have been extremely busy the past few weeks. Once you go on vacation it is like you need another vacation from that vacation.

Here is what I have done the past few weeks:

• I have all my addresses ready for my baby showers and have the dates set for October.


• Preparing for 8K training on Monday-we will walk 2 miles and work our way to 5 miles by the end of October.


• Nursery-more pics to come-Bradens room is coming together. I have all the furniture except the glider. Next thing to get started on is the paintings-I can't wait!!!


• Registering at Target and Babies R Us. I have so many items that I really want-here are a few of the things that I just can't wait to get my hands on-



• JOGGING STROLLER

  


• CAR SEAT
  


• SNAP-N-GO STROLLER
  

BOPPY PILLOW

PACK-N-PLAY

Braden has really been moving-I think he is already wanting to be like his daddy-this is what it feels like he is doing in there right now...PUSHUPS
Gotta go for now-more this weekend!
Mandy

25 weeks and things for Braden

I will be 25 weeks tomorrow.  I can't believe it!  Just think in just 15 weeks we will have our little precious boy in our arms.  15 more weekends of just me and Brad-maybe we should start planning some things to do with just the two of us.  

This little outfit was given to Braden from Meredith and Lee.  They went to Jamaica on their honeymoon and brought Braden this cute outfit.

Gran bought these two outfits for Braden for next summers family vacation.  I can't wait for Braden and Daddy to wear their matching shirts.  Brad has a shirt that says Chick Magnet on it too.  They are going to be fighting off the chicks at the beach next summer.

I bought Braden's baby book at BAM while at the beach.  It was just perfect-since we are doing his room in baseballs and sports-I knew Brad would love it too.

We didn't do much this weekend.  I got back home Friday afternoon from the beach.  Saturday I got up early and went to work from 7-12pm.  Then I came home and cleaned up a little.  Brad cut the grass and then we took a nap.  we went to eat and then went to Babies-R-Us to start on our registry.  It was kind of hard because I forgot my list that I had made-but I can go back or even go online and get registered for more things.  Plus it was kind of hard walking around the store with Brad and he was not really enjoying it that much-until we got to the cute sports stuff. That is when he got gun happy and wanted me to register for everything that said Daddy's Lil'Sport or Daddy's Lil' Rookie.  So if you are out there wandering what to get Braden-Brad will be happy with any of that stuff-mommy on the other hand thinks we need some cute church outfits and things that are not all about "Daddy".  HAHA

Sunday we got up and went to church.  We had a GREAT service.  Left there and went to Zaxby's and then got home and loaded up the boat and took it to the lake.  I enjoyed it so much. We just road around and then laid out and I read a book that I have been wanting to read for the past three months.  I read over 100 pages.  Got really hot after a while so I decided I would get in the water to cool off-well I put the life jacket on like it was a diaper and next thing I know I slip and fall in the water.  I guess it is true that you become a klutz once you get pregnant.  But at least I fell in the water and not on the boat.  

Got a lot to catch up with at work-since I was off on vacation all last week.  YUCK!!  Later-

Mandy

Mandy and Brad at the Beach

Rylan's Birthday

Family Portrait

Tuesday August 4 was Rylan's first birthday.  

Here is the day he was born.

After cake and ice cream he went for a dip in the pool.

Then it was time for gifts-he loved what Uncle Brad picked out for him.  

A big green tractor with legos.

The Lawrence Family-

Magon, Chad, Dylan, and Rylan

Uncle Brad with the boys in their Superman T-shirts.  

Next summer we will have to be sure to get Braden one to match his cousins.

Other things-

Brad left this morning around 11am.  SAD TIMES!!!  I went with my mom to the outlet malls and we walked the whole thing and then back around to the car-I thought my feet were going to explode.  I got back home and ate lunch and we all laid around being lazy-there wasn't much else we could do with a thunderstorm headed our way.

Rylan before nap time

Dylan taking a nap in Mandy's bed.

Magon on one couch

Chad on another couch
And I was on the other couch.

Magon had to wake Rylan up he slept over 3 hours!!!