Wedding Week Part 6: Lingerie Shower

I have to say that I think I had the best lingerie shower ever... like EVER!

Neeley was in charge of the shower along with help from her Mom, Bailey, and Tenell.

La Posada had this amazingly cool library filled with whimsical southwestern artwork, book shelves, two couches and some tables and a big fireplace to add a cozy feeling. After visiting La Posada I knew I wanted to have something in this room and as soon as Neeley and Aunt Tammy saw it they decided it would be a great place for the shower.

All the ladies who had been invited to the wedding were invited to attend and most of them did. It was a wonderfully fun moment to let loose and hang out with the girls.

Neeley and Tammy did an amazing job decorating with delicious food and drinks and lots and lots of victoria secret bags. The cookies and cakes were toted from Amarillo with a special lingerie theme to them. Neeley had worked tirelessley on a ton of suprises all packaged in Victoria Secret Bags. There would first be a little card to read with a clue as to what may have been inside naught and nice things. Utterly Embarassing in front of some of the conservative Christian people in attendance but all in good fun... really she was trying to pay me back for her lingerie shower!

Among the naughty gifts were, plastic handcuffs, "tickle me there" dice, PromisQuous wine, and edible panties, oh and a box of condoms.... LOVELY! The nice gifts included some lotion, sweet panties, hello kitty lip gloss set, and  a white garter with a gun attached, not sure if that was naughty or nice really. The girls went above and beyond and I was truly blown away at all the fun stuff I got!

In between the Victoria Secrets bags from the girls I was given gifts from attendees. Some of the most beautiful lingerie ever and some of the most comfy stuff too! Needless to say I was going to be set for a very happy first year and probably second, third and fourth of marriage with this stuff. It probably has something to do with why I got pregnant so early on but nevertheless... Peyton was there and she was eagerly handing me bags to open. After I opened a bag everyone would oohhh and ahhh and little Peyton went right along with it...then the smarty pants would say "that's pretty Aunt Megan." or she would say "whats that whats that." Pretty sure it was a little inappropriate for a 3 year old but it was fun having her there!

I had gone with Mom and Nana about a month before the wedding to pick out their gifts for me. Mom got me two items, one for the night of the wedding, a beautiful ivory and white lacy number and a fun floral nighty robe set. I loved them immediately! Nana and I picked out a black little set and I have to say it is mine and Drew's favorite!

Moving on... during the shower there was a bar across the hall so the hostessess decided to only provide punch and coffee. Somewhere along the way someone decided to go across the hall and purchase a bottle of champagne. Next thing I know that one is empty and Polly Sumrow, a longtime friend and member of the Church of Christ with my grandparents was walking in with two bottles she had bought for the party. I died of laughter and shock! I was so excited that she was enjoying herself and our group enough to jump in on the fun.

It was a shower I could have only dreamed of and full of people I love! The memories from this shower will last forever!

I honestly cannot thank Neeley and Aunt Tammy enough for their hard work to make the shower as perfect and special as it was.

It's a .... BOY!

It is very surreal to finally know what Baby Neal is going to be... Boy or Girl. I have to say I was completely shocked when our Sonogram tech told us it was going to be a little boy. I was convinced I was having a girl, I was carrying "high" and the baby had continuously had a higher heart rate both of which usually indicate a girl. I asked the sonogram tech to be sure it was a boy. She quickly pointed out that it most definitely was a little boy growing inside of me. Nana has referred to the baby as a "He" ever since the moment we announced we were pregnant. I had felt pretty sure she was right until the past couple weeks when I decided it was a girl and began mentally decorating a nursery for a little girl.

We had a gender reveal party Saturday night to announce to the family what the gender was. It was fun and special to get to tell all of them at one time. Aunt Tammy went above and beyond with her adorable centerpiece and party favors. Now it is on to decorating a little boy's nursery and deciding on a a name!

Halfway there...

The Jekyll and Hyde of Alzheimer's

Mom at this year's Walk to end Alzheimer's. She represented those living with the disease by carrying her blue flower.



Friday night  Drew, Mom, Nana and I went to dinner at Olive Garden. As we are sitting in the lobby waiting for our table Mom continues to punch at her phone just making aggravated noises... "Arghh" "Gahh" "No No No." After trying to get her to focus on something else I finally ask what is wrong with her phone. "It's this girl, this lady is all over it, she is everywhere and I am sick of her!" Reba McIntyre would be who she was referring to and she has almost all of her albums on her phone. I spent the majority of dinner trying to delete Reba's music and managed to delete all but 3 songs. As we left the restaurant I turned on music in the car and thinking it would be funny played one of the remaining Reba songs. Mom perks up with "Ohh yes! This is good!! I love it!!" I couldn't believe it ... the very music I had spent my entire dinner removing she decides to now love. I begin to laugh so hard that tears roll down my face and before I know it I am full on crying in the backseat. She is not quite aware of what has brought on the tears but for the first time in a very very long time my mom leans over and hugs me, grabs my hand and kisses it continuously. We are a very affectionate family but for the past year or so I rarely get voluntary affection from her. I have to remind and force her into a hug when I arrive or leave. The shock of her actions took me by such surprise I started to cry harder. She continues to tell me that it is all OK and that I have a precious baby coming and we have to "get this done" for the baby.

Fast forward less then 24 hours later, I am running errands with Mom and Nana. We have stopped at Walgreen's to drop off some film rolls my Mom has had for 20+ years. As she and I wait for Nana to finish her business  Mom begins to look for "something Tammy gave her." With no clues as to what it is and after many guesses I decide to just follow her around the store until she recognizes it. Fifteen minutes later with still no clue she is more frustrated and the three of us are standing near the checkout. I take this opportunity to try and get her onto a different subject and move her toward the door. As we stand in line Mom unleashes her fury on Nana and I. "Yall don't help me!" "You don't Get it! Nobody gets it!" She stands by the door glaring at me and I feel like fire could pop out of her eyes at any second. I have learned to just ignore this behaviour but as we get home and Nana and I settle down to watch some TV and let her calm down. However Mom decides she is not done yet and comes in to give us another go round of her anger. Eventually, hours later,  she apologizes and there are tears involved but the whiplash of Alzheimer's over the past 24 hours has left me numb.

This disease is horrific! The effects it has not only on the victim but those caring for them are never ending. I hate what it has turned her into and I cherish those moments of vulnerability and glimpses into my Mom's true personality all the more.

Birthday Getaway to Dallas

Last Thursday Drew and I took off work a little early to head to Dallas. For his birthday Drew requested a weekend away and Dallas was the most logical choice. He wanted to stay downtown and eat at the Reunion Tower in Dallas so that is what we did. We managed to hit up all our favorite places despite having a wreck on Saturday Morning.

Thursday night we drove straight in to eat at the Cheescake Factory, My Personal Fave! We took our cheesecake to go as we checked into the Adophus Hotel in Downtown Dallas. The hotel was "old elegance" and we enjoyed staying there. Saturday for lunch we met Patrick in a local grill and then he took us on a little tour of his offices in Downtown. So Proud of him!

I managed to talk Drew into doing a little retail therapy after that and we hit up H&M for their maternity section and awesome sweaters. After that it was a visit to Cabela's, Drew's first time! Definitely a Man's store!

We headed back to the hotel after that for this little momma to be to rest and Drew met up with Patrick for some shuffleboard. (Who knew that was the hot thing to do after work!) We then headed to meet Drew's Dad and Stepmom at Reunion Tower to eat at Wolfgang Puck's 560. The atmosphere was wonderful. The views were amazing and and food was delicious! A wonderful Birthday celebration for a wonderful man!

Saturday despite having our little accident we managed to still have fun. Drew had been dying to go to TopGolf with Patrick and so we did. It was acutally really fun. I sat back in a comfy chair with chips and queso and watched them hit balls for an hour or so. Nice Breeze took off the stress of the morning.

 

We headed to Drew's Dad's house to stay with them for a night and enjoyed another wonderful celebration dinner with cake and ice cream followed the next day by the Cowboys game and Pappadeaux! I think the birthday boy was quite happy!

Heartbeat that sounded like Heaven!

Today we got to hear Baby Neal's heartbeat for the first time.... Magic!!

Drew and I were in Dallas over the weekend taking some time away and celebrating his birthday. Saturday morning as we were leaving downtown Dallas we were involved in an accident. The other car hit our rear tire and we were both buckled in but very scary. Our car was left in Dallas since it was not driveable. I didn't suffer any hits to my abdomen and after talking with the EMT's we all mutually decided I was ok to wait and get home to see my Dr. in Amarillo.

Now I will be the first to admit I can be a hypocondriach but I started having severe cramping in my pelvic area coupled with some severe back pain I had been having for quite some time. After taking Tylenol and the pain not fully subsiding by the time we made it back to Amarillo on Monday I began to do the thing you NEVER do, especially while pregnant... Googling symptoms. As soon as I saw these symptoms on a list of possible signs of miscarriage Drew and I were out the door headed to the ER. I thought on our way there to call my Dr. even though it was after hours. She promptly called me back and said to wait and just come in to her first thing this morning. Last night waiting for that appointment was the longest and scariest  yet. I was praying fervently that our little one would be safe.

Once at the Dr. she began to use the doppler to find the heartbeat. After minutes of searching and only finding my own heartbeat the look of concern on the Dr.'s face caused tears to roll down my cheeks. I couldn't bear to look at Drew. Finally off to my right side and higher than normal there was our little one with a strong steady heartbeat! Relief and Praise were being shouted out in my head. Drew released a huge breath of air and the stress we had been holding onto.

It is such a surreal feeling to feel so lost and upset about the thought of losing something I have yet to actually touch. The thought of life without you little bug was overwhelming me as we are already making plans for our lives together once you come into this world. Our love for your is growing beyond what we could even imagine and you are only the size of a bell pepper. What a blessing you are to us already!

October 4th we will find out if you are a HE or a SHE although we are already guessing you are one over the other!!

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to the man who has completely turned my word upside down! I never thought a love so strong and so right would come along. He blesses me every single day with his humor, courage, love and protection. I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend the rest of my life with or to father my children! 

Happy Birthday Drew!! I love you madly and forever!!

#29 feels like it could be the best yet!!!!