Thursday, March 31, 2011

GLAMPING!

Lindsey, Erinn and I decided back in the fall that we wanted to plan a girls' trip. I had read another blog about Glamping (glamorous camping) and we all decided that is what we wanted to do. We stayed at the Martyn House in Ellijay, Georgia. Neil's parents were nice enough to pay for our hotel room on Friday night in Alexandria since our flight was at 6am on Saturday morning. So we left our husbands and kids and drove the hour and a half to Alexandria on Friday night. We were up at 4 on Saturday and headed to the airport to fly to Atlanta. Erinn's friend from Birmingham, Kristin, drove to pick us up at the airport. Of course the weather in Atlanta had been perfect all week and the day we get there, it is cold and rainy. We drove another hour north and got to Ellijay around lunchtime. We found a cute restaurant and had a great lunch before heading the the Martyn House. TMH has a main house and three tents. The main house is where the owners, Rick and Joann live and where we ate our meals. The tents are 2 person tents each with a bathroom. I don't know what we expected, maybe something more like cabins, but no these were actual tents! They were built on a wood deck and had twin beds, hot showers, a heater and compost toilets, so they really were more glamorous than actually sleeping in a tent on the ground!
Lindsey and I had massage appointments and oh my goodness did it feel good! Just what us prego girls needed! The rain was continuing to fall, but it was actually pretty nice. The tents leaked a little water, but nothing bad. We all rested and then went for our first dinner. Rick and Joann prepared our dinners and breakfasts while we were there. It was always fun to walk into the tent to see how she had set the table and what we were going to eat. Everything they made was soo good!
After dinner is where it got interesting. All of the tents are pretty spread out for privacy, so we all walked back to Erinn and Kristin's tent to play a game and as soon as we got there it started pouring rain and hailing! We stayed until there was a break in the storm and then Lindsey and I hurried back to our tent (and got a little lost, it was DARK!) It continued to be a bad thunder/hail storm for the rest of the night.
Sunday we slept in until 9, which was so nice. We had breakfast, and since the rain had stopped we decided to go into the town of Blue Ridge to do a little shopping. We walked along the downtown area, shopped, ate lunch, and then went to an apple orchard. We then went back to the tents and took naps until dinnertime. After dinner, Rick built us a campfire and we enjoyed just talking and relaxing. We played another game of Scattergories and then called it a night (more rain all night long). Monday we woke up and had our last breakfast and then left TMH. We sure didn't do much while we were there, but it was so nice to not be on a schedule and be able to rest and relax. It is what we all needed!
Erinn's dad got us a hotel in Atlanta so that we could stay another night. After being dropped off at the wrong hotel and having to find the right one, Kristin left to go back home to Birmingham. Erinn, Lindsey and I walked across the street to the mall and had makeovers at Sephora. I have always wanted to have one, and it was much more fun to do it with friends. We all got some new makeup and did some more shopping. We took the shuttle to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then went back to the hotel. We got up early on Tuesday and went to the airport. We got back to Alexandria around noon and then drove home. To end the trip on a bad note, I got pulled over and got a speeding ticket! ugh! I have never even been pulled over before, so I was at least hoping for a warning! Oh well, Matthew thought it was funny!
We were gone a perfect amount of time. We were able to relax for a few days, but then we were all ready to get home to our families. I had such a good time with these girls and once again it reminded me of how blessed I am to have some great girlfriends!


at the Atlanta airport
Lindsey had these matching shirts that said "Goin' Glamping" made for us
The tent where Lindsey and I slept- Nightingale Nest
Sitting area (you can see where the rain was trying to get in)
Our beds

The compost toilet- pretty interesting! :)
Shower and sink
Enjoying some hot chocolate

Dinner the first night- Pork, asparagus, and cous cous


All of us checking in with the husbands :)
Erinn and Kristin
Breakfast of french toast and sausage
The main house. The yellow and white striped tent to the right is where we ate our meals

Shopping in Blue Ridge
Eating fried apple pies at the apple orchard
Dinner night #2- Shrimp with spinach, pasta and veggies
Erinn, Kristin, me, and Lindsey
We were glad it stopped raining long enough to sit by the fire

playing Scattergories
Breakfast #2- omelets, relaxed bacon (ha!) and English muffins

us with Rick and Joann
We were excited that we got to stay on the Concierge level. We could go in and get food and drinks anytime we wanted!

Getting prepped for our makeovers


After their makeovers! So pretty!
Thanks girls for making this trip so fun! We are already discussing a couples' trip for next year!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

25 weeks



Pregnancy Highlights:
How Far Along: 25 Weeks
Size of baby: approx. 13.5 inches, 1.5 pounds
Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 6 pounds
Maternity Clothes: Maternity pants and some shirts, can still wear most regular tops
Gender: ??
Movement: Feeling more kicks, mostly at night (Matthew has started to feel some too!)
Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good, but waking up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom
What I miss: Nothing really
Cravings: Fresh fruit and milk and cookies
Symptoms: Heartburn, some sciatic nerve pain
Best Moments this week: Passing the glucose test, hearing the heartbeat again, and looking forward to our girls trip this weekend!

More Visitors

Mimi and Papa came to see us at the end of last week. They brought their dog, Izzie, and Mason just had so much fun chasing her around. I am so glad we got the swing set because that is all we did while they were here! We all took turns pushing him in the swing and playing with him. They are also good about taking him for walks in his blue car. He loves it when they come to visit! They will be back for Easter, along with Brian, Kim and the kids. Should be a lot of fun!





Thursday, March 17, 2011

Granna and Aunt B come to visit

It is Spring Break back in TX so we have company the whole week. Granna and Aunt B came in on Sunday and left yesterday. We spent most of that time playing outside with Mason. Aunt B would do anything Mason wanted; push him on swing, slide, and take him for walks. We cooked a lot of good meals, one being PW's chicken fried steak and homemade mashed potatoes. It was soo good! On Tuesday, we took Mason to school and shopped all day for Mason's big boy room. It is pretty much finished but we are going to wait a few more weeks before we make the transition. By 10am, both Granna and Aunt B were already missing Mason and wanted to go pick him up! We were able to get so much done though without him. We had a fun girls lunch at Biscotti's and then went to pick him up from school. We always love it when they are here, but the time always goes by too fast. We sure did miss Aunt CC though!

Can you tell how much these two love each other?!




We love you so much Granna and Aunt B!
Next up: my parents get here today to spend the rest of the week with us.

Mason's New "House"

As I mentioned in a previous post, Matthew, Trey and Neil started working on our swing set last weekend. It was quite a project, but they did such a great job! We totaled up the hours they spent working and it was around 23 hours of solid work time. They started by opening boxes and organizing the pieces on Friday night. Then on Saturday they worked all day until around 9:30pm and spent most of the day Sunday finishing. They only took breaks to eat lunch and dinner and were right back out there working. We also counted the beers consumed in those 3 days and it was somewhere around 60 beers! ha!
Mason LOVES it and calls it his "house". Everyday he wakes up and looks out the window and says "Daddy made that for Mason" and then says "thank you Daddy". I think as tired as Matthew was, it was worth it all to hear Mason say that and watch how much he enjoys it! Matthew keeps looking at it and says how they put every single screw in that thing. I think he is very proud (and they should be)! This weekend they are working on the Buteau's. They are hoping that they learned from some of their mistakes and it won't take as long. We will see!


Here are all the pieces of wood
and a FULL box of nuts and bolts
Where they started


Working in the dark
end of Saturday

starting on Sunday
one happy little boy watching(he picked out his pjs and shoes!)
almost there
FINISHED!!!! I wish I had a video camera of how excited these guys were to be done.
Mason's first time to swing on it
Love these boys!
First afternoon snack
So cool!

A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to Matthew, Neil and Trey for doing this. You have 3 very happy wives and 5 happy kids! Only 2 more to go...