Our Babymoon in Branson, MO

Rusty and I spent the weekend in Branson, MO. It was our last weekend away without a baby in tow! It was really nice because we were able to stay at Big Cedar on Table Rock Lake. Friday, we arrived to some VERY chilly, blustery weather. Luckily, Saturday and Sunday were in the mid 70's and beautiful!



Saturday we drove to Eureka Springs, AR and walked around all the boutiques. We were able to have lunch outside but I ended up with a sun burn... bummer! We went back to the lodge and played some put-put, walked around the grounds and had some ice cream.



On Sunday, we had brunch (the most incredible food!), shopped around at the gift store and then headed to down town Branson to take in the Titanic museum. It was an absolutely fantastic weekend, the only problem, it was not long enough!



Our view from the balcony

That is Table Rock Lake behind me

A view of the arm off of Table Rock Lake

Rusty hit both of our balls... I was afraid I would fall through the fish

In side the fishes mouth...

Rusty is in there... you can only barely see him

He won both games that we played!

Neither one of us could sink a hole-in-one... it was a pretty hard course

Waiting on the shuttle to take us to breakfast... that is one really nice thing about the lodge, door-to-door service Our building that we stayed in

Having an outdoor lunch... it was great. Eureka Springs is beautiful. But, it is really hard to walk all the hills while pregnant. My feet still hurt and are still swollen... hopefully that goes away soon!!

Another belly pic...

Well... here I am at 34 weeks, 5 days. I feel like I look bigger in the picture than in person!!! It's crazy to think that there is only 5 weeks left! That means I will probably only take 1-2 more pictures, CRAZY!!!!

Yeah!!! We got the chair back

I really wish I had a before picture of this chair. Rusty has had this chair for the past 5-7 years. It originally belonged to his grandpa Roy and was probably purchased in the 50's if not sooner!! It was a pink, torn up, shabby looking chair that had pieces of fabric hanging off all over the place. Plus, the padding on the chair was pretty smashed. So, for the past 4 years, it just sat in a room, not being used and taking up space. Well, we had it reupholstered with this great velvet material in a neutral color. It is now functional and beautiful. Plus, when we are ready to move it out of the nursery, it can be incorporated in with the rest of our furniture. The greatest part, I know it has a lot of meaning to Rusty and his family and now it can be displayed and used.

The Nursery is Slowly Coming Together...

This morning I finished hanging all the art, letters and decorations on the walls. The room is almost done! I'm supposed to get the rocking recliner on Friday and I think I will put 1 or 2 pink throw rugs down to make the room 100% complete! I'm really happy with how it all came together.

This is the view from the door.

Her crib is to the left of the door. Babies R Us was out of the letter B when I picked up all her other letters. So, right now it looks like her name will be A Igayl!

The back of the room

Her dresser is on the right side of the room

I just have to decide where I want the chair to go. I guess once we get it back I can make the decision. I'm afraid it might look cramped in there but, I think if I put a rug down in front of it it will tie the room together.

My Artistic Attempt

In attempt to get the house in order before Abigayl arrives, I have found that I need to redecorate the spare bathroom to make it hers. I received the shower curtain that I really wanted from Pottery Barn Kids as a shower gift but found that I had nothing for wall decor to match the new designs.

I decided that instead of paying close to $80 for a set of three art pieces from PBK, I would make my own. Mind you, I am not artistic in the least. Matter-of-fact, in high school I took "I can't draw but I wish I could". I still can't draw!! But, here are my 3 masterpieces I attempted this afternoon. I have to say I am sort of proud of myself, they don't look too horrific!!

Baby Shower Fun

Saturday, the 22nd, was my baby shower. My friends Stacey, Laura and Megan all threw it for me at a golf club near my house. They did a wonderful job setting up, making food and bringing LOTS of desserts! It was really great having friends and family around to celebrate this exciting time.

We played two games, my mother-in-law won the first game. Everyone had a clothes pin and you weren't allowed to say baby, Abigayl, or Abi. Patty was tricky and ended up winning! For the second game, it was shower gift bingo, they were given a blank card that they had to put 16 items they thought I would get. As I opened the gifts, they would mark them off on their bingo cards. Tiffaney and Dana ended up winning that one!! It was a lot of fun and I'm really happy that I have so many friends and family that were able to come support me and this life changing event that is about to take place.


The diaper cake that Laura and Megan made for Abigayl.

The gift table before I tore into it!!

The dessert table.... which I devoured!

Eating a cake dot.... the most fabulous thing I have ever tasted!


My mother-in-law, Patty, my grandma,my husband's aunt Dana and Patty's friend, Sandy.

Chatting with Stacey, Megan and Sheri.

Waiting SO patiently to dig into the gift table!!!

The sweet sheets my baby girl will be sleeping on!

The Coach diaper bag I have always wanted.... yeah!

Laura, Megan and Stacey.... they were such great hostesses and are such great friends.

Just some of the Stamper family women. Grandma, Megan, Sheri, Laura, and Dana. I'm so lucky to have married into such a wonderful family.

Happy Easter!!

Well, yesterday was chock full of excitement! We got up early so we could go to the 7:45 am service at church. We decided that would be wise so I wouldn't over heat in the crowded later services. We decided that Easter Sunday would be the perfect day to join our church. We have been attending there for over a year now, but have not been courageous enough to join.

We then went home and built, cleaned, hung and put away all of Abigayl's loot from the baby shower on Saturday (post coming soon... when I get pictures!).

Rusty had fun building her toys!

And her bouncy seat

I put all of her new bedding on the crib... I love it!!

We then went to Grandma's house for Easter lunch. We enjoyed a little poker, food and desserts!! Plus, we got to see a bunch of family.

Not only was it Easter Sunday, but it was also Patty's birthday. So, we enjoyed a little yummy cake along with all of the other desserts!

It was a fun but very exhausting day.... well, make that weekend!!