Weekends of Travel

Brandon and I have spent the past two weekends away from home. Memorial weekend was spent with my parents up in Bartlesville, Ok. We hadn't been there to visit my folks in quite some time, so it was really great to get up there to see them! We had a great time eating (and eating!), visiting and driving through some state parks. I can't wait to see them again at Petit Jean '09 (the Rhodes annual family reunion... I think this marks it's 26th year)! On the way home from our trip to B'ville, Brandon and I gave a first name to our baby boy: Isaac. As it stands now, his name will be Isaac Aiden Ritter, but we've not completely decided on the middle name as of yet. It's been fun calling him Isaac rather than "the baby". I can't wait to meet him!

This weekend was spent at the Ritter's lakehouse... just the two of us. It was relaxing and peaceful, as always. We enjoyed watching a movie, some Friends and Scrubs, cooking meals together and - of course - getting out on the water! No, I didn't do any wake-boarding... I promise! But I did get to drive my husband for several slolam and wake-boarding runs. For the most part, the driving was up to Brandon's standards, which is quite the accomplishment. :) Hopefully I managed to pick up a bit of color while at the lake. I'm looking rather translucent these days...

The crib has arrived!

Today was a very cool day... the day that our baby boy's crib arrived! Brandon and I put it together this evening and are very much excited about the way that it looks in the nursery. Can't wait to see how the bedding looks in it - it's going to be beautiful! Here are a few pictures of the nursery in progress.

The crib as seen from the doorway

The dresser, rocker and nightstand

The crib and rocker as seen from the dresser mirror

There are still a lot of things to be done but it's exciting to have our crib and furniture placement so that we can begin to get things underway!

Mother's Day Surprise

I had no idea that Brandon had planned to do something for me on Mother's Day. It was soooo sweet! When we woke up that morning, he already had it all laid out for me to find in the living room... a beautiful new welcome mat for the front door and the cutest card I've ever seen! It was such a special surprise.... thank you, Lord, for the wonderful man you've brought into my life!

Welcome!

Is this card cute or what?!

And here's the updated belly shot...

A Baby and a Shower

I have officially begun to realize that we will have a baby in September. WOW! What a huge responsibility... how incredibly exciting... I can't wait to meet him... I can't wait to kiss him... I cant' wait to tell him how much I love him! And what made me realize all of these things? A Johnson & Johnson no more tears commercial which, ironically, made me cry. I'm feeling him move around more and more these days as he grows bigger and stronger inside of me, and the miracle of pregnancy is overwhelming at times. A human forming inside of my body can ONLY be described as a miracle... and I cannot understand how someone could go through this process without seeing the perfect hands of God in it all. As my belly continues to swell and grow, I'm beginning to enjoy being pregnant more and more... mostly because it means that I'll get to meet our son that much sooner. And, even though he'll be perfect either way, I hope he has his Daddy's hair color! :)

Speaking of babies, I hosted a baby shower at our house for one of my good friends, Julissa, last weekend . There were 11 hostesses in all, which meant that we were able to get her the glider and ottoman that she'd registered for. The cute thing was that she didn't realize that it was her gift from us - she just thought that we'd set it up for her to use during the shower! When we told her it was her glider and ottoman, she got really excited!! There was a really good turn-out, and she got some really nice gifts. Best of all, the food was great, the company was great, and we all had a great time in fellowship with one another.

Juissa in her new glider

For those of you that don't know, I love to entertain. I love designing and creating the invitations, I love planning the menu, I love setting up the table for display of the food, and I LOVE having everyone over to visit. Baby showers are certainly one of my favorite events to plan because it is perfectly acceptable for all of the decor to be completely girly. AND you get to watch the guest of honor open all those precious gifts! Here are some snapshots of Julissa's very girly shower for her baby girl, Victoria.

A Living Room becomes a Cafe

Mmm.... finger foods...

Patty cake, patty cake... complete with a V for Victoria!

Shannon with her two adorable girls, Pheobe and Hannah.

I hereby raise my punch glass to good friends and good times.

Congratulations, Julissa!

Renovation Realities

Brandon and I are totally addicted to so many shows about home improvement and home renovation. We watch "Spice up my Kitchen", "Devine Design", "Renovation Realities" and "Designed to Sell" all the time. We both love to do our own home projects and love to get ideas from these shows. We also love to make fun of some of the ridiculous things that happen on these shows. Especially "Renovation Realities".

If you've not seen "Renovation Realities" before, it's usually about a couple that decides to do a home reno on their own, on a small budget and, invariabley, in an unrealistic period of time. I'm not sure what the criteria is for finding the people that they decide to follow through these projects, but we're absolutely convinced that one of the requirements has to be "idiot". These people never cease to amaze us with their laziness, lack of knowledge as to how to complete their project, and their lack of common sense. Brandon and I watched one episode of "RR" in which a young man was renovating his kitchen with the help of his mother. He had originally planned to refinish the cabinets in his kitchen, only to find that the cabinets could not be refinished. Upon buying new cabinets, he proceeded to install the uppers WITHOUT using anchors to hold them on the wall. Needless to say, one of the upper cabinets wound up falling off the wall, crashing onto the floor and being ruined. I mean, c'mon... really?

Brandon and I are die-hard when it comes to finishing home projects. And, while we've never tackled something as overwhelming as overhauling a kitchen, we rarely go to bed until the project has reached a reasonable quitting stage... usually sometime around 2 or 3 am. These people, however, start late, take long lunches, long dinners, and end early. Keep in mind that the time-line for finishing these projects is usually 4 or 5 days. Who can reno a kitchen in that amount of time with only two people working.. or, more accuratley, barely working? It's baffling...

On the flip side, I do understand the need to entertain an audience. I just wish I could laugh at them rather than being frustrated with their stupidity. I guess I'm still watching, though, so they must be doing something right!