What A Cake

The cake we had at the Spa Day Shower was amazing. Not only was it chocolate but it was a layered cake and had Carmel in the middle! YUMMY! The pieces were huge and everyone had trouble finishing their piece but I forced it down. Mom and Aunt Linda wanted to surprise me with the top of the cake. I was not allowed to know anything about it prior to the shower and when Linda brought it in the house, I got booted out! When I was allowed back in the kitchen, I was totally in aww of what I saw...

An adorable baby boy!

Who looks like he's sleeping under a soft blanket!

Complete with a cute butt!!

Now I just couldn't believe the lady who made the cake was able to do this. It's just amazing and I'm not sure the pictures serve it justice. This topper is also the type that you cut off of the cake and then let it sit at room temperature for a few days. Doing so allows it to harden and then it is a keep-sake. It is currently sitting on the kitchen counter and Shea and I check on it each day. I held it in my lap on the drive from Mom & Dad's to our house. Shawn looked down and said that he thought it was cute that I was holding this boy and it was against my stomach where the real baby is. We can't wait to really meet him.

Spa Day Part II

As I promised, here are photos of Shea enjoying our Spa day. She was very excited that she could participate in the festivities- why not??!! She started by getting a back massage after I was done. She later told me that this was her favorite part because it felt so good. The girl has taste at the age of 4!


After her massage she went out to the big room where we were up next to do the hot stone foot massage. I really enjoyed this as my ankle is bothering me a bit. Shea loved feeling the stones on her feet. She looks so grown up!

After getting her nails painted it was time for her make-over/facial. She wanted her own spot and she wanted to do it all on her own-no help for anyone! Everyone was coming out to this room to watch Shea. We were really trying hard to not let her see us look at each other and do that sly laugh we girls can do. She put her anti-aging cream, exfoliating cream and her SPF 25 daily moisturizer cream. Now comes the time to apply the make up. The Mary Kay representative was very encouraging toward Shea that she was doing a great job applying her eye shadow. Do you see where she put it?? Ah this was the most entertaining part of the Spa day, that IS for sure. When her Dad heard of this later on and saw the pictures he just shook his head and said this can't be starting already. Get ready Dad, it is!

Look, all done! She has applied her make up and is the final shot. After this she was tired and headed back to Grandma Godsey's for lunch. We were so glad that Shea came along for our entertainment purposes!

Spa Day Shower

Saturday, July 26, 2008 my Mom, Aunt Linda & Aunt Nan hosted a Spa Day Baby Shower for myself (& Shea). We started out at my parents house for Mimosa's and fruit. They look good don't they??!! I can say the fruit was fabulous! I hear the Mimosa was too.

Mom models Mimosa

Then we walked a block from my parents to Moments to Remember where we started our Spa time! We all were able to get fifteen minute back massages-which I almost fell asleep during- a hot stone pedicure complete with nail polish, a facial, hand massage and some chose to also have their nails painted. It took us a couple of hours but we all had so much fun going from room to room and chatting with one another. Some people had not met each other before but that wasn't a problem with this group!

My cousin Susan, Grandma Pat, Aunt Nan & Shea get ready for their hot stone soaking.

We had to take turns and sometimes waiting was just as much fun. You see, we could talk and not worry that we were distracting each other from anything. Here, Aunt Linda and my cousin Karen are here waiting on their nails to be painted. AAhhh... Not having to do it yourself!

We had nice big couches to lounge on. Here, Sue and my Mother In Law, Paula, are soaking their feet in anticipation of their toes being painted too. This and the massage were most peoples favorite parts.

Stephanie and I had a nice chat while our feet soaked. It felt so good. Last night Shawn was rubbing my feet-not everyone at once, ahh- and he even commented on how much softer my feet felt. He said, what did you do? I said, the hot stone soaking, of course! He just shook his head. I think he was a bit jealous that we girls had a full day of pampering.
After we were all done, we walked back to my parents house for lunch. I have so many photos and stories to share with you guys that I am going to have to break this up into several posts. Shea did each station at the Spa time and let's just say that she was lively entertainment and I have to share those photos with you separately. We all felt SO relaxed after all these wonderful treatments that we could have taken a short nap! Which I hear some folks did later. More on that subject in the next post. I'm off to my two week check up but look for more info this afternoon about our wonderful day!

A day full of good visits

Shea & Adrien

I have two good friends from high school, Shannon & Laura and we try each summer to get together so that we can catch up and let our kids play together. On Wednesday Shea and I drove to Elida, OH (near Lima) to my friend Laura's house. Laura has Corbin and Adrien while Shannon's children are Dalton & Gavin. Then of course Shea bug! The boys immediately started playing cars, trucks, super hero together while the girls ran off to play with the doll babies. After lunch we went outside and the kids swam, the boys played in the sandbox and the girls continued with their babies in the tree house. I tried to get a photo of the boys together but it didn't turn out. We Mom's got to sit under the shade tree and talk for hours! It was SO much fun. We're going to try to do this twice a year instead of once but you know how schedules can be. We take turns coming to each other's houses. We email quiet a bit through out the year but it sure is fun when we get together. It's like no time has passed by at all. I guess that's what happens when you've been friends for as many years as we three have. Let's just say our friendship started in elementary school. No need to disclose the years!! LOL.

On our way back home we stopped in Dayton so that we could meet our niece!

Shea, Deetra, Nevan & Shawn

Shawn was already at the hospital when we arrived and had been holding the baby for a while. Shea and I quickly washed our hands so we could take over the rocking of the baby. At first Shea stared at the baby a lot and eventually touched her cheek and her head. It didn't take too long for her to warm up but I think she was taking it slow since Shawn and I had told her the previous night how fragile babies are. Eventually she wanted to hold Nevan -own her own! We sat her in bed next to Aunt Erin and placed a pillow to help with holding the baby's head up. Shea sat there for a long time holding her and kissing on her. Looking at her hands, feet, the cord that had its clip on it. She was loving it! It was cute to watch too.

Shea holds Nevan for first time.

Here come the kisses!

The funniest part came when Shea asked her Aunt Erin where the bottle was because she needed fed and a diaper change. We all laughed, as Erin is breast feeding. Shea helped change her diaper and then Erin graciously showed her where this "bottle" is and how it worked. Shea sat right beside them, gently rubbing the babies head. She didn't quiet understand that newborns take a while to eat. Every two minutes Shea would ask, "Is she done yet?" After 20 minutes or so Shea asked to burp her and Erin helped her to so. Bed time was approaching so we kissed the baby good night and home we went!

Our New Niece

Nevan Taylor Miley

Late last night Shawn and I became Uncle and Aunt for the first time and Shea has a new cousin! Shawn's sister, Erin (husband Nathan), had a c-section last evening and at 11:01 pm she came into this world. Nevan weighted 6 pounds 4 ounces and is 19 1/4 inches in length. Mom and baby are doing just fine. The three of us are anxious to meet her. Shea kissed the computer screen when she saw her picture. We had a horrible storm last night and had been with out power for approx 13 hours. This afternoon when we heard there was a photo we went over to Jenny's house to log into my webmail account to see this girl! Of course we were all googling over a newborn baby. I'll post pictures once I take some. We can't wait to snuggle with her.

I have to vent

Today at noon I watched the news as we had lunch. I hadn't had time to see the news for a couple of days. Now you all know that we live in Ohio and near Columbus. For those of you not familiar with this area, it's all Buckeye Football all the time. For me this is great, I get to hear all about my Alma Mater all the time. Shawn gets sick of it but he's not the football fan that I am. We have two professional teams in Ohio and one of them is the Bengals. I grew up watching and liking the Bengals, until the last few years. I have just lost so much respect for the team. Today, that grew to another level. The Bengals QB, Carson Plamer, did a big no-no this weekend. He went on an LA radio show and bashed the Buckeyes and ranted about how much he hated being in Ohio and hearing about the Buckeyes & Coach Tressel all the time. Now granted, not everyone who lives in OH likes or loves the Buckeyes. Here's the difference between them and a multi-millionaire who playes in the NFL--they keep their mouth shut when needed!!! Carson has every right to have his own feelings but if I were an NFL player I would just do my job, keep my mouth shut about liking/disliking the area I live in a few months out of the year and take my money and run in the off season. He has no idea what he has done. Sure, the USC game is going to be a tough one but now his sound bite just have the OSU Football team great motivation. I hope all the former Buckeye's on the Bengals roster are relentless on Palmer next month. Good grief Carson know when to talk and not to. I feel much better after that venting. GO BUCKS!

What a weekend

We had a fantastic weekend, it was full of work and fun! Friday night was my monthly Bunco night. This month we didn't have many girls able to play so we had a un-Bunco night out on Jodi's boat. Jen K & Kirsten were the brave ones who went tubing. We tried hard to flip them out but no such luck. Then back to Jodi's for excellent appetizers. Shawn and Barry had taken the kids out in our boat and let them swim. Jen & I hear that it all went well and the kids had a great time. What great Dad's to venture out there with the kids!

Saturday, Shawn got up as early as he could and put the drip edge and tar paper on the shed. Then started to put the shingles on the back side of the shed. After all, there were shade trees back there. Think again. Saturday was so hot here and no breeze. Poor guy, it was over 100 degrees on that roof. I stayed outside sitting in the shade watching him as long as I could take it. Then I headed inside! He came in close to 4 and he looked bad and felt worse. We threw him into the shower with a cool drink in hand. Then made him lay under the ceiling fan in our room and he cooled down. Off to the boat we went! We swam for a while in the big cove and Jodi & Marvin pulled up next to us. The kids loved jumping off of each other's boats. Then Jen & Barry called, they were all up from their naps. They were picking up the pizza. We went and picked them up in the boat and we sat in the cove and ate dinner. We had to feed the kids pizza as they jumped off the back of the boat. Shawn & Shea were first up in the tube. She actually let me take them at a reasonable speed! Kendall went next, all by herself. She did great. Barry was up and thought he'd try the wake board. After just a few pulls he was up and doing well. Doesn't take long to get tired on that board. Then Shawn went even though he was already pretty tired. He did great and this was the first time this season we've had an opportunity to get him out wake boarding. Sorry, I forgot to take my camera on the boat! No pictures to share...gasp!



Look out kids, DJ is going to get you!! Sunday afternoon we went to Isaiah Jones' 5th birthday party. The kids were told to come prepared to get wet... and so they did! They played water limbo, balloon toss and then dump the remaining water on the kids. DJ and his brother were also at war with one another. For some reason people thought they'd hid behind me thinking they'd leave the pregnant lady alone. Must have worked as I remained dry.

Here you see Shea and Abby Homan preparing for the games... are they getting a plan together? Who knows! However, all the kids won metals for attempting that limbo. Next year I think the adults need to try it.

It was a nice afternoon in the Jones' backyard, full of shade trees & a great breeze. Once we got home Shea pleaded with Shawn to go on a bike ride. He said we'll start by going around Shoshone. This is the street behind us that is a half circle. Twenty-five minutes later they came back and he was impressed with her riding on the road, on two wheels, for the first time. They ended up going a long distance! I was envious that I couldn't go but my legs were hurting pretty bad. This fall I'll be going with them!! Afterward Shawn got back up on the shed roof thinking he may not get better weather to finish the shingling in. There was a breeze and at least it was getting cloudy! He got it all done. He just has to finish the ridge vent at the top. He'll get that done before he starts traveling in August. He also says he'll get the babies room painted for me, keep your fingers crossed!!!

We hope that you had an enjoyable weekend and that you didn't get too over heated. Lucky for me I've been inside catching up on household things today. Enjoy your week!!!

Exciting News!!!

Try to keep up, Dad!

A VERY exciting thing happened last night when we got home from swim lessons. She wanted to show her Dad how well she was doing on her bike, since he had raised her training wheels all the way up... The night before!!! Then she asked him to take the wheels all the way off. I said to him, "they can always go back on". He agreed and off they came. Shea was very excited and I think Shawn and I were both internally hoping...don't wreck too hard. Shawn told her he'd run beside her in case she needed any assistance. Off she went. Needed NO help and was completely riding on her own. We all three had the same look on our face, wow! I ran inside and got the camera as Shea is yelling to me, "take pictures Mom"!!

Look who can even do turns.

For a pregnant lady, I ran pretty fast to get the camera and managed to get a shot of her first attempt at turning. She did it! Plus, she was looking across the street to see if Abby Weiner was out to see her do it. We told her no hot-doggin' yet! Shawn moved my truck out of the drive way so she had the entire space to practice on. Then we asked her to see if she could keep turning, essentially going in big loops and not stopping. She did it 6 times in a row and then said, "I'm getting dizzy". Time for a juice box break. Shawn and I grabbed lawn chairs and watched her ride her bike until well after dark. She had to call all her grandparents and tell them her exciting news.

You go girl!!!

This morning she was up at 8:50 am saying to me that she was getting dressed, brushing her teeth and hair and going out to ride her bike. Now this is the girl that wants to lounge on the couch and watch Noggin the first half-hour each day. She also wanted to call Aunt Nan and Aunt Linda to tell them her news. She did and by 9:05 am was outside riding up and down the drive way. At 9:30 am she had a wreck and then wanted breakfast. I know we'll be going back out here soon. She is so excited and told me that it was totally cool. Where oh where has our baby gone. She's 4, riding on two wheels, headed to pre-school in the fall. Oh ya, last night at swimming she dove into the pool! Don't blink, she'll be asking Dad for the keys to the hot rod soon.


Now for how her "brother" handled all this excitement last night. Chief stayed behind the big truck parked in the drive. He wanted nothing to do with his sister riding on two wheels. After I took this photo he parked him self on the step by the front door and napped. Granted, it was hot outside yesterday so he may have been too worn out to join in our cheering.

Welcome, Baby Girl Caouette

Yesterday afternoon our friends, Adam & Mary Jo Caouette, welcomed their third daughter into our world!! The baby did arrive four weeks early but is doing great! At this time they have not decided (or agreed) on a name yet. For now it's just baby girl. She weighed in at 5lbs and 10 ozs and was 18 1/2 inches long. You forget how tiny these newborns are! Big sisters Annie & Sophia are anxious to meet her.

She is already posing for the camera!

I went to visit them in the Madison County Hospital this afternoon. Baby girl has had some trouble regulating her own body temperature. When I was there the nurse came in to get her vitals and check her temp. It was normal! Way to go! At that point Mary Jo decided since they had woke her up to change her diaper. We got a shirt out of the drawer to put on her too- it's SO small! I had the privilege of putting her shirt on while Mary Jo washed her hands. It took us a while, we forgot how newborns don't move their limbs as well. We had a good time ooing and aahing at her. Hopefully soon she will have a name. When I left they were talking about Kate or Claire. Both are nice names.

Look how little!!!

Good Guys 2008

Justin & Shea making the dip

Taste-tested and kid approved!

Nice ride!

Last weekend was Shawn's favorite three days of the year, 11th annual PPG Good Guys Nationals in Columbus, OH. It's a HUGE car show. Cars come from all over the USA and let's just say most of them are top notch cars. Shawn just loves walking around the State Fairgrounds for three days looking at each and every car or truck. Normally, Shea and I go too. This year with being eight months pregnant, I just couldn't handle the heat or that much walking on black top! We had a back-up plan. Friday night we drove to Polaris to see Shawn's new office-which it totally sweet- picked him up and off we went to see cars. We had dinner at this diner called Fitzy's. Great home made food, one of those "greasy spoon" type places. Then we went to the Crowne Plaza hotel, the official Good Guys hotel while they are in town. We heard the live band, looked at all the cars in the parking lot and then set up our cars to watch them cruise. We think that the price of gas is really affecting how much these cars are driven. Normally the cars are driven around, burn-outs are done.. You know, things these cars are made to do! This year there wasn't a whole lot of that but it was still fun. Shea took the picture you see above, she did a great job!!

Saturday, Shea and I stayed home. It was hot and humid and she slept in, until almost 10 am! We did some things around here, hung out basically. Then in the evening we headed back into Columbus. We were going to meet up with Shawn, his Dad and brother again to watch cars but plans had changed and so had the weather. Rain moved in and it stormed off and on all night. Shawn, Wayne & Justin brought dinner back to Justin's house- BW3 wings!!! Now keep in mind that no women went to the car show with the guys this year. They did not come home with car parts... They came home with an assortment of dips! Wahoo, this is great. Shea talked Uncle Jut into making one of the dips after dinner and she was eager to help. We picked the Onion dip and it was YUMMY! We dipped pretzels & plain potato chips into the dip. Both were excellent. Then it was time to come home and hit the hay. Sunday Shawn went back to the car show for a while and Shea and I didn't do much around here. I started experiencing round ligament pain that day. Thankfully, it has since gotten better. For dinner that night we went over to Jen & Barry's, we hadn't gotten together for a while and the guys were needing to get together and drink a couple of beers. All in all, it was a good weekend.

Look at that belly!

28 weeks

At the Homan's party last Friday, Jen took an updated picture of my belly. We have to document it's progress! Shawn has been getting home so late from work that I don't feel up to a picture at that point. Jen got the job done and just in time, Kim is after me to get her a new update. You may not think this belly looks all that huge but trust me, it feels like it! He has been having a party in there- kicking, rolling, both at the same time. He's having a ball at my hips and bladders expense. Oh well, he's worth it! We still have not settled on any name. We have a few ideas that we toss around to each other but nothing concrete. Shea is still vying for boy-boy. That is the only answer she gives you when asking if she likes a new name we've thought of. Let me know if anyone has an idea for a name!

A Nice Thank You

A nice surprise!

Yesterday afternoon I received a nice surprise when we returned home from the London pool. There were flowers for me! Yes, for me! I was perplexed as to who could have sent them, it's not something Shawn likes to do and he wasn't in trouble. Hum... I couldn't wait to see who they were from. They were at our neighbors since I wasn't home when they delivered them. I had missed him by 15 minutes. I ran over to the neighbors and sure enough, she gave me this beautiful basket of flowers. I can home and opened the letter attached to it. It was from the Madison County Hospital. The Director of Customer Service, Darla, had sent them to me as an apology for the fiasco I went through last week doing my glucose test and RH antibody test. How nice of them. In the letter she thanked me for bringing the matter to their attention and assured me that the proper procedures were explained to all involved. Flowers sure beats the $5.00 gift certificate to the gift shop the girl in lab had given me last week... that is after I turned down the one for the cafeteria! Now I can enjoy some beautiful daisies. Thanks Darla!

Celebrating Independence Day

Look at the beautiful star!!

Amy trying a delicious desert

Sherri, Jen, Amy, me, Kirsten & Jen

Leslie, a new neighbor, Christy & Colleen

Shea, Elena, Kendall & Mary

Independence Day started off a little soggy as you saw from the bike parade pictures. We were wondering if the Homan's annual 4th of July party would be able to happen. Yes it did! The rain stopped around 3 pm and we were all so thankful. Everyone looks forward to their party, we all have so much fun! There was a slip-n-slide, pool, swing set, toys, ride-on-vehicles...all for the kids to play with. It was a cool day outside, the kids didn't swim much. However, they did set up there own party area out in the front yard. They were content to play and we adults were content to be able to talk and eat-partially un-interrupted! Go figure. Periodically Shawn and I went to see what Shea bug was doing. No worries, they were having a great time. One of Jodi's friends was painting the kids' faces. Shea chose a beautiful red, white and blue star.

The food!!! The food was AWESOME as usual. Marvin did a terrific job grilling. There were three tables of side dishes and deserts to choose from. If you went away hungry then it was your own fault! I could go for some of those side dishes right now. I must get Sherri's corn recipe, I was still savoring that taste the next day. As you can see, Amy loved trying out this desert! YUMMY!

As the time neared for the fireworks to start we headed out on our friends the Fraysier's boat. We tied up with Roger, Leslie and their kids. Also with Dave, Colleen and their kids. We parked so we could hear the band that was playing at one of the lake front houses. It was a good band! The kids loved honking the horns on both pontoons during the fireworks. I have to say that our fireworks were pretty good this year. We all enjoyed them!! Afterward we docked the boat and headed back to the Homan's to pick up our stuff. Of course Shawn had to have one more beer with Marvin and friends of his from "back home" that were still up. Everyone else had already headed home.

We had a terrific day and we hope that you did also. How did everyone celebrate?

4th of July Palouse Bike Parade

Go Shea!


Shea and Alexis

Happy 4th of July!!!!

This morning we woke up to cool temperatures but the rain had not arrived yet. The kids were hopeful they'd get their annual bike parade in. Down by our common mailbox area there is a road called Palouse and it is a dead-end road. Lots of kids reside on this street. Every 4th of July at 11 am they decorate their bikes and have a parade. Shea has been invited down the last couple of years and she was really looking forward to it. Yesterday evening after the rain stopped we washed her bike all up and decorated it. At 10:50am this morning the parents were all calling each other. The kids wanted to proceed with the parade and it was only drizzling at the time. We all met up at the mailboxes and wouldn't you know- it started to rain at that moment! The kids didn't seem to mind and we parents were all under umbrella's so off the kids went, riding down Palouse. The rain started to come harder so they only went down the street once and they were all ready to be done. We lined them up according to height the best we could and took a photo. Athena Powell was the youngest participant this year, at the age of 1. Next year we'll have three babies to add to the parade. Due to all the rain, me holding an umbrella and trying to take pictures I did not get a good shot of all of the decorations on Shea's bike.

We came home to find Shawn still working on the shed- in the pouring down rain! Poor guy. We got him a dry shirt and I found one of our old rain coats that he put on. He was sheeting the side of the roof he tore off the other night. Currently, he's out there nailing it down and then I think I have him talked into to coming inside- there's lots we can work on in here!

We are hopeful that the rain will end this evening and the party at our neighbors will go on and so will the fireworks. If not, we'll do it all tomorrow. We did watch Columbus' fireworks on TV last night. They are called Red, White & Boom and they were good! I hope we get to see some live this year! Keep your fingers crossed. We hope that everyone is enjoying their Holiday, safely and happily. Happy Birthday America!

All the kids lined up

Swim

Hum...You want me to do what?

Swim Shea Swim!!

Tonight was our second week of swimming lessons. Our friends, the Wolfords, have a fantastic pool in their back yard. Plus, Miss Colleen is an excellent swim instructor and she's taken on quiet a task this summer with teaching 10-12 kids how to swim. They vary in age from 4-6 years old. They are all doing very well. Colleen has asked me to be in the pool with her so there is an extra set of eyes on the kids while she is working with one of them. Afterward they get free time to swim how ever they want! Now...if Shea would stop being stubborn and straighten her legs out when she kicks them, she'd be swimming on her own! But you know she must do as she wants and not as we ask. But, overall she's doing well and we can't complain. Tonight we had some rain during the lesson and the kids were like...we're getting wet. Hello! You're in a pool already. Colleen and I just laughed at them and told them they wouldn't melt. Ok folks, get your beauty rest because tomorrow is the 4th of July!!

Roof Man

After Shawn got home from work and grabbed a plate of spaghetti it was off to tear off the sheeting on the shed. It came off easier than he had anticipated. Thank goodness! It was scary to watch him walking on boards that I don't think are sturdy at all. He assured me it was fine...As tools were sliding off the shed roof!! It all came off and now he has a few things to fix. For example, there is a rafter that is out of wack compared to the others. Hopefully he will get the new sheeting on it before this weekend. I heard the weather forecast tonight...there must be a summer holiday coming up. Rain is predicted for three days! I hope the weather man is wrong. On another note, Chief is not happy with me tonight. I gave him a bath this afternoon with the hose. You know- the Yellow Lab that we have that hates water! Go figure since we live at a lake. He was stinky! Now, he's a handsome good-smelling dog! I also got a pound of hair off of him. I hope the shedding season ends soon. Now he's in bed and happy. I think I'll join him!

Humm... How should I fix this problem?