It's a GIRL!

Introducing the newest member of our family...

Anderson Leigh Voelp
Born 04/29/2011 at 10:26pm
5 lbs 10 ozs, 19.25 inches

All of these pictures are from our cell phones. More pictures, birth story, and details to come soon. We are so thankful to God for this beautiful blessing! She is so amazing and so perfect!

Our family of 4!!

The proud Big Brother Owen!!

She is such a tiny little peanut...especially in her Daddy's arms!

The end of an amazing day...Mommy and Anderson are pooped, time for some rest!

Easter weekend 2011

We had a wonderful Easter this year! We decided to do church on Saturday evening and invite the Tattersons and the Pughs over for pizza beforehand. We all had so much fun and the kids really enjoyed playing together and being CRAZY! If you could only have seen the playroom when we returned home from church. I didn't have a clue where to start in cleaning up the mess! Sunday, we just spent the morning enjoying each other's company and reflecting on what Jesus did for us and celebrating the fact that He is Risen! We started the morning with Owen going on a hunt in the house for his Easter basket. Grammy was once an exchange student in Holland and the tradition there is to leave your shoes outside of your bedroom and the Easter bunny will tie a string to it and "hop" throughout the home with the string, making a path to your basket. When you wake up, you are supposed to follow the string to find where your basket is hiding. Randy grew up with that tradition every Easter morning. So, we decided to begin doing that this year with Owen. He had so much fun following the string and hasn't stopped telling everyone that the Easter bunny left his basket in the bathtub. That afternoon, we headed to the Voelps' for family time and Easter dinner. We attempted to get the kiddos to nap, but they were all too excited, so that didn't happen. We really enjoyed our time there and it was so special that Nana and Poppy were able to join us to celebrate Easter! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

Randy and baby Gregory...probably the happiest baby I have ever been around!
Easter egg hunt (indoors because the weather was not so nice outside)
Owen found the golden egg...can you tell he was excited?
Gabriella, Owen, and Hayden after the hunt
Joslynn and baby Quinn...already 2 months old and growing so fast!
3 CRAZY kids at pizza time!
This girl can get herself into the craziest predicaments! She was really stuck in that thing! Owen found his basket in the bathtub after following the string
Proud of what the Easter bunny brought him
Playing with his new tractors...I am not sure this obsession will ever end ;)Owen, Ryland, and Drew...all dressed up in their Easter best and looking so cute
The Easter bunny came to Grammy's house, too!

The boys, checking out their 2nd baskets from the Easter bunny

A gift for "Scrappy"

(Seriously, does anyone know what on earth is up with the spacing on here? I have never had trouble with it until just recently and it is making me C-R-A-Z-Y!)

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Owen has given the baby a nickname. Actually, it all started back at Christmas when we were traveling down to NC. Randy and I were talking about possible baby names and Owen was in the backseat watching his movie, or so we thought. Apparently, he was listening and all of a sudden, we heard him say, "No, that is is NOT the baby's name, the baby is called Scrappy!" And, literally, ever since then, he has called the baby "Scrappy." If anyone asks what the baby's name is, he always responds, "Scrappy!" I have a feeling that name will carry on through the baby's life...yikes!

On Thursday, Owen and I headed to the mall to make a bear for the baby at Build a Bear Workshop. We did this for Owen when I was pregnant with him and it was fun to make this one come from the baby's big brother! For Owen's bear, we recorded his heartbeat and put it inside and we did the same for Baby #2. I was trying to explain to Owen what we were doing when we were driving there and he said, "but, Mommy, Scrappy can just have my bear!" I thought that was so sweet. He doesn't seem to really understand that the heartbeat in his bear is his heartbeat and that we needed a new bear for the baby's heartbeat. But, I love that he was willing to share something so special that has been in his room ever since he was born with the baby! He had so much fun picking out the bear and making it. He is really excited to give the bear to the baby when we bring him/her home! I am certain he is going to be an amazing big brother!

He picked a bear!

This is Owen explaining who the bear is for

Time to stuff the bear

Hi Mom!

Giving the heart some love before putting it in the bear

Rubbing the heart on his heart

Giving the heart a kiss

The heart goes in the bear

Time to give the bear a bath

Scrub, scrub, scrub...and all done! The baby now has a bear made with love by his/her big brother!

My 2 favorite boys!

I love this picture of Owen and Randy...even though it is a little dark. We went last weekend to see Rio in 3D and I snapped this shot before the movie started. We had planned for a few weeks to take Owen to see the movie and we were pretty excited to take him the day after it came out. I will say that the movie left something to be desired. The previews for Rio make it look so cute and exciting, but we left slightly bored and a little bit underwhelmed. But, regardless of that, it was great to have a family outing as "just the 3 of us" before the baby arrives.

38 weeks

At my appointment this week, everything is still looking good. The baby is active and the heart rate is still strong. My belly is measuring just fine and blood pressure is still great. There is still no dilation in my cervix, but it is softening and the head is now low in my pelvis. So, that is good news...something is happening, even if I am not dilating. All in all, things are looking good. I am still in absolutely no hurry for the baby to come since I am feeling great! We are just taking things one day at a time and enjoying the last few days/weeks of the pregnancy. My carpal tunnel in my left hand is still acting up and seems to be worse each morning when I wake up. But, it is still no where near as bad as it was with Owen and pretty much goes away by the time I have gotten myself going for the day. I do have some numbness and tingling throughout the day, but with Owen, at this point, I couldn't feel my finger tips and my hands were in a ton of pain, so you won't hear me complaining about the little tingling I am getting right now! I will have my liver checked at some point in the coming week before my next appointment. But, I really think that it will check out just fine, since I am not having any symptoms like before. I went ahead and scheduled a "backup plan" c-section at my appointment today, just in case I don't go into labor on my own before 42 weeks. So, if this baby decides he/she really doesn't want to come out prior to May 18th, that will be the birthday! But, given that is 10 days after my due date, I am really hoping it will happen before. I am actually going to put this out there, only because if it does happen, it will be crazy, BUT...I have a crazy feeling about April 30th! That is my Dad's birthday, as well as my Aunt Judy's birthday (my Dad was Judy's 5th birthday present!). I was telling my Mom about this feeling the other day and she said, "I have that same crazy feeling and I was JUST telling your Meme and your Dad that on Sunday!" So, if Baby #2 decides to make his/her grand arrival on that day, I just wanted to have a record that I (and my Mom) somehow predicted it! Last night at church, the family pastor's wife said she doesn't think she will see us at church next Sunday because as she put it, "I think you are going to have a baby this week!" This same lady told our friend Joslynn the same thing the week before her baby was born. So, maybe she has some sort of crazy intuition?! Of course, only time will tell...

I don't have a 38 week picture with Owen to compare to this week since he was born on the day I turned 38 weeks and we didn't get a chance to take the picture before we left for the hospital. So, from here on out, this is all uncharted territory!!

Hockey fights...at age 3???

Maybe these boys have been watching too much playoff hockey this week? I don't know, but Owen and his good buddy and neighbor, Gabe, were "going at it" just about the entire time during their final skating lesson of the current session on Friday. As a disclaimer, they were both guilty of being the instigator, even though in the only videos taken, it appears as though Owen was the bully. But, I promise, he wasn't the only one stirring up trouble. We have no idea why they chose to do this at this lesson because they were both always so good every other week. But, we, the parents were getting a big kick out of it, while at the same time being totally mortified. The craziest thing is that they were doing it with huge smiles on their faces! They were having a blast and completely oblivious to the fact that it was wrong. As you can hear in the first video, this Mommy was not too happy with what I was seeing out of my child. His Daddy put him in "the penalty box" (aka time out) for "hitting someone while they are down." Needless to say, we all had a big talk with the boys after the lesson (because they can't really hear us from where we watch) and both of the boys seriously thought it was the funniest thing and didn't seem to understand why they were in trouble. And, it really does probably have something to do with the amount of hockey being watched in both of our households over the last few weeks. Who knows?! But, I will say, growing up going to hockey games for as long as I can remember, the fights were (and still shamefully are) my favorite part of the game. However, seeing your child do it makes it a totally different situation! I seriously hope that this "fighting" was just a fluke during this particular lesson and that it won't become a problem. At this point, it is something funny to look back on and I know in the future when these boys are playing on the same hockey team, they will get a good laugh out of it, too!

Owen's Birth Story

Before Baby V #2 arrives, I wanted to sit down and write (or type, as it may be) a birth story of the day Owen was born because I hadn't done that yet. So, almost 4 years later, I am finally getting around to detailing the day.

This story is why there is so much concern surrounding me being pregnant again and it is what we are trying to avoid by checking my liver every 2 weeks here at the end of this pregnancy...

July 11, 2007---My pregnancy with Owen was wonderful. I enjoyed every moment of it and very rarely complained about anything. The only real complaint (besides the normal nausea in the beginning) I ever had during the entire 38 weeks was the carpal tunnel syndrome that I developed around 30 weeks that only got worse and worse with each passing week. But, that was truly the only thing that bothered me during the entire pregnancy. That was, of course, until the last week and a half when I began to feel awful. I became very nauseous to the point I would cry every day because I felt so bad. I constantly felt like I had the flu...chills, aches, nausea, headache, run down, etc. If I didn’t know better from taking my temperature several times, I would have sworn I had a high fever. Not knowing what to expect, since it was my first pregnancy, I just assumed it was normal at the end when I first started feeling that way. Then, after a few days of it, I got a little concerned and called the nurses line at my OB. I was reassured several times that what I was feeling was normal, due to the end of pregnancy and the extreme heat we were having in NC. Well, little did I know that what was happening was far from normal. Fast forward to the day Owen was born. I was 38 weeks on the dot. Being an accountant and working for the office that was the accountant for my OB, I had connections to get me seen easier than the average patient. But, I was so reluctant to ever use that card for some reason. However, my boss had finally had enough of seeing me feeling so bad. One of the doctors in the practice was actually a good friend of his, so he put in a call and got me in early for my weekly appointment. I again expressed my concerns over my nausea and feeling downright terrible to the doctor I saw (not the one who was friends with my boss). The doctor that I saw ordered blood work to try to determine what was going on. After having my blood drawn, I was sent home on disability for the remainder of my pregnancy (at my boss’ request). I went home and laid down for a nap. I had plans to get the house all spic and span after my nap…yes, I was nesting, even feeling as bad as I did. At around 6:30pm, I received a call from one of the nurses at the doctor’s office. She instructed me to head straight to L&D because the blood work was abnormal and my liver & kidney enzymes were dangerously elevated. They told me to be prepared to stay a while and most likely have the baby within a few hours of arrival. So, I called Randy and he headed home from his meeting, while I did some last minute hospital bag packing and got myself together. I HAD to take a shower and shave my legs ;) I honestly had no idea the severity of the problem…if I had, I would have never been so petty. We headed to the hospital and arrived around 7:45 or so. Once there, Dr. Brown was the one at the hospital and happens to be the friend of my boss. He had my blood work repeated because he said he honestly didn't believe that the results from the office could be correct with my liver enzymes being as high as they were. The results came back from the repeated blood work and the best way I can describe Dr. Brown’s face when he came in to tell us the results is “pale as a ghost”. He was beyond terrified, and it was all over his face. What he had thought had to be a mistake from the office blood work, because the results were so high, had actually doubled since I had left. Just to give an idea of how sick my liver was...the normal range for ALT is 30-65 and my levels were 1362 at that time, normal for AST is 15-37 and mine were at 957, and normal for Alk is 50-136 and mine was 382. At any rate, Dr. Brown said that I had developed HELLP syndrome (Hemolytic Elevated Liver Low Platelet) sometime in the week prior and that I was too sick to continue the pregnancy. The only cure for HELLP is to deliver the baby and mine had gotten so severe in such a short period of time (about 4 hours) that it had to happen quickly. HELLP can be associated with pre-eclampsia, but I didn’t have any pre-eclampsia symptoms at all...no protein in my urine, no high blood pressure. HELLP is actually so rare that it only occurs in .2 to .6 percent of pregnancies. That isn’t a typo, it is actually .2 to .6 percent, not 2 to 6 percent. Apparently, it is very dangerous and has a pretty high morbidity rate when going undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Anyway, Dr. Brown informed us that the baby needed to come out ASAP so that I could begin getting well. After consulting with maternal-fetal medicine, he determined that there was actually no time for an induction because of how rapidly my liver was failing. Randy asked Dr. Brown out in the hall how serious it was and his response was, “if we don’t get the baby out ASAP, you will either be talking with liver and kidney specialists tomorrow or your wife may not be here.” Needless to say, that put Randy into a sheer panic and still traumatizes him to this day! So, we prepared ourselves for a "rushed" c-section. It didn’t have to be an emergency c-section with general anesthesia, thank goodness, because they had already started prepping me with IVs and such before the results ever came back. I was very thankful for that, at least. I was wheeled back to the OR, ready to meet our baby and Randy was shortly behind me after they got my spinal anesthesia started. I will never forget when Randy walked in, I looked at him, with empty arms and said, "where is the camera?" He realized he had left it in our room and we were both so sad. But, one of our sweet nurses literally RAN to our room and back to the OR to get it so that we wouldn't miss out on those first pictures of our first born. Another funny thing was that Randy couldn't get his glasses to stop fogging up from his mask. He had no idea it was on upside down and as soon as the CRNA turned it over for him, he could see everything without that fog in his way. Both of these things helped add a little comical relief to a scary moment in our lives. We were so excited, but so terrified at the same time. It seemed like it took forever, but I believe it was only about 25 minutes after our arrival in the OR (I could be way off), the baby was born. At 10:42pm, our little man, Owen Randall, came into this world. He weighed 6lbs 3oz & was 18.5 inches long. I couldn’t have been happier to hear his loud scream. Dr. Brown had the neonatal team present for the delivery because he was worried that, with as sick as I had become, Owen may have gotten into some distress and that it could have caused him to be a meconium baby (where the baby has a bowel movement before delivery and aspirates some of the waste). So, to hear that scream was such a blessing. He actually started screaming when they pulled his head out and cleaned out his nose/mouth. We hadn’t found out the sex of the baby, so, when I heard him screaming, I kept saying, “What is it? What is it?” And, I remember feeling slightly frustrated that no one would answer me! Little did I know, the baby wasn’t all the way out yet and no one in the room knew what he was yet either! It was a day/moment/feeling that I will never ever forget! Even given the trauma of the whole ordeal, that moment gave me the most amazing feeling I have ever had. And, even with the scariness that surrounded the day/night, I still see July 11, 2007 as the most amazing day of my life…ranking right up there with the day I married Randy, of course! The craziest thing was that within about 45 minutes to an hour of him coming out, I would venture to say that I felt about 90% better. It took my liver about 4 or 5 weeks to return to normal, but with Owen’s delivery, my enzyme count had dropped so drastically that I was finally feeling great again right after he was born. That is, until the morphine started kicking in and I was all drugged up and loopy...a feeling that seemed to last for about a week! Never again will I let myself have morphine, that is all I can say about that. I will forever be grateful to my boss for putting in that call and to Dr. Brown for making all of the right decisions with the results of my blood work. They both are responsible for saving my life that day, as well as possibly Owen’s. I have no idea how much longer it would have gone before my liver failed or ruptured if I didn’t go to the OB that day, but from the way Dr. Brown talks, it wouldn’t have been much longer. Thanks be to God for the guidance he gave all of us on that scary day. He truly works in amazing and mysterious ways!

We continue to remain optimistic and prayerful that the birth of Baby #2 will be much less dramatic and much more calm...whichever way he/she needs to come into this world! I am, of course, hoping for a VBAC, but I also understand that things happen and a c-section may be necessary. Either way, I just pray that both the baby and myself will remain healthy. After the trauma that surrounded the birth of Owen, we (especially Randy, who is understandably on pins and needles and has been from the day I told him I was pregnant again) could really benefit from a calm experience this time around!

37 weeks

I am now considered full term and I guess this baby could really come any day now. But, I don't feel like it will be anytime soon. I feel like I will be closer to the due date for some reason. And, I am perfectly OK with that. At this point, I am just trying to take in the last few weeks of being pregnant and enjoy our last few remaining days/weeks as a family of 3! I am very excited about the arrival of this baby, but there is a part of me that is sort of getting sad for Owen. Don't get me wrong, he is super excited, too! But, I feel like he doesn't truly understand what is coming. He has only known life as our sole focus for almost 4 years, so this will quite possibly be a little bit of a shock for him. There have been several instances where he has nonchalantly asked if the baby is here. The first time, I was getting the car seat cleaned out in the living room and he glanced in from his play room and said, "Oh, is the baby here now?" We just simply said no, but the realization that he really thinks it will be that easy and that life will be completely normal hit us at that moment. The car seat is in the car and ready to go, so Owen has said a few times when we have gotten in the car, "Is the baby in the baby seat?" Well...no Bud, the baby hasn't arrived yet. He really doesn't have a clue what is coming. He is just thrilled about having a baby "brother" (since he refuses to believe he could be having a baby sister!) and doesn't understand the impact this new baby will actually have on our lives! I guess I can't really expect a 3.5 year old to understand...I just hope he will be as excited about the baby once he/she is here and that the whole thing won't be too upsetting for him.

At my appointment this past week, everything was still looking great! My liver is still healthy, which is great because we *think* my liver issues started sometime around 36 weeks with Owen. I really do feel like I will have some indication if my liver starts failing again, considering I felt so bad before. But, the bloodwork every 2 weeks is a great reassurance. The doctor checked me and my cervix is still "closed tight" and the baby is not really low, despite the feeling of intense pressure I get from time to time. She said that was pretty common in second pregnancies due to the muscles being weaker, so I guess as long as it is normal, I am OK with it. But, man, that pressure is crazy sometimes...I seriously feel like the baby is going to just fall out sometimes! Anyhow, as long as I continue feeling great, I am fine with the baby staying in there a few more weeks. You won't find me rushing things unless I get miserable :)

So, all of a sudden, I look at my belly and it looks huge. I think it might be the placement of my shorts because it seems that I may have them a little lower this week than in past weeks, but I am not positive of that. It just looks much bigger this week for some reason. Perhaps I am just hitting that point where I feel huge, so I look huge too?! Who knows!

37 weeks-Baby #2

37 weeks-Owen

36 weeks

36 weeks-Baby #2

36 weeks-Owen

1 more week down, only 4-6 or less to go! The weeks are still flying by, but I have a feeling they are about to slow down. As I told my Mom yesterday, I have been checking things off of my to-do list like crazy. So, all of a sudden, things are getting close to being ready for Baby Voelp's arrival. I feel like I have been saying all along that I wish time would slow down just a tad because I just haven't been ready for this baby to come quite yet. As my Mom said, "be careful what you wish for!?" Now that my to-do list is dwindling, I have a feeling time will slow down and I will be begging for the baby to hurry up and come. But, as long as I continue to feel as good as I do now, I am fine with the baby coming later rather than sooner. I was chatting with Amy on Friday and telling her that I was folding some of Owen's old newborn clothes, just in case this is a boy, so that I will have some clothes for the baby to wear when we get home. I was explaining how it doesn't seem possible that he ever wore those clothes. I seriously can't believe he was ever that little! She said, "Wait, did you just say you were folding baby clothes? Are you in nesting mode?" I guess I am sort of in nesting mode, but not quite full blown yet. I am just getting things ready...hospital bag packed, a few necessities washed and ready for baby when we get home, carseat in the car, things wrapped up at work, major errands run, etc. But, I won't consider myself to be full blown nesting until I have the urge to deep clean the house...NOT there yet, I can assure you of that! Amy said she gives me 1 week until the baby comes! Ahhh! The crazy thing is that it is actually possible at this point that she could be right. We shall see!

On another note, I went for a prenatal massage yesterday! It was amazing!!! For Christmas, Randy had given me a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure at a local spa because he remembered how bad my feet and hands hurt towards the end of my pregnancy with Owen. Well, I wanted to wait until I got uncomfortable and swollen this pregnancy to make my appointment. Also, I wanted to wait until closer to the due date so that my toes might still be pretty when I deliver...I am strange, I know! I still only have a little swelling and I am really not all that uncomfortable, but I felt like I needed to go ahead and make an appointment. Anyway, I called this week and the lady told me they had phased out their nail services. Bummer :( So, I had to apply the gift certificate towards another service. I knew they offered a prenatal massage, so I chose that. I had one when I was pregnant with Owen and I only somewhat enjoyed it. I think it was just awkward and uncomfortable with the hole in the table where my belly went. For some reason, my neck hurt the entire time, too, so I couldn't let myself relax completely and enjoy the massage. I just think the table was all wrong for me. So, I was somewhat skeptical going into yesterday. But, it was an entirely different experience this time around. First of all, no hole in the table! She used what she called, "side lying positions" to get to my back and neck, which, to me, was much more comfortable. I was so relaxed and it was just perfect! I sure wish I had the means to have that done on a regular basis! Thanks so much to my wonderful husband for the gift certificate and for giving me a few hours to go run errands prior to my appointment and have a "me" morning! I think he and Owen had a blast while I was gone, too! I know Owen always loves his time alone with his Daddy!

Our Sweet (and Funny) Boy

Owen is constantly keeping us on our toes and sometimes, he just says the sweetest and funniest things! Here are just a few things he has said lately that I wanted to make sure I document so we don't forget...

1. My Bestfriend---Owen was out and about with Grammy one day, running errands and something came up about Grammy being his friend. Well, he, for whatever reason, quickly proclaimed, "My Mommy is my bestfriend!" Grammy said, "but Grammy can be your friend, too!" His response was, "Yes, but my Mommy is my BEST friend!" Apparently, there were other people around that heard this and were commenting on how sweet it was. It made me feel so special to hear that because being with him all the time, we sometimes butt heads a little bit when he is having his 3 year old, defiant moments. I don't feel like the best Mommy at all times when those things happen, so to hear that he still thinks I am his bestfriend just melts my heart! I sure do love that boy!!

2. Daddy's home!---To see Owen's face light up every week when his Daddy returns from being on the road is truly something special! His Daddy definitely hangs the moon in his eyes and he gets so excited when Randy walks in the door. This week, when Randy got home, he and Owen were playing around and wrestling and Owen all of a sudden stopped and said, "Daddy, I am so happy you are back home again!" How sweet!

3. You know what?---This is Owen's newest thing the last few weeks. He will all of a sudden stop whatever he is doing and say, "Mommy/Daddy, you know what?!" We say, "What?" And, he responds, "I love you!" Isn't that the best?! I love it every time he says it! I can assure you it never gets old!

4. Sweet boy---Ever since Owen was a baby, I have always called him "Sweet boy". It just seems to be part of my every day language when talking to him. Almost like a nickname, but just sort of nonchalant...not that I claim it as only I can call him that or anything. So, once again, he was with Grammy one day and she was putting him down for his nap. He needed her to come back in for something and she called him "Sweet boy" as she was leaving the room. He told her, "don't call me sweet boy, only my Mommy calls me that!" So, apparently, even though I don't claim it to be strictly my name for him, he sees it that way. He is a mess!

5. Boogie water---Now for a funny one! Last week, Owen had a low grade fever with quite a yucky nose and a little bit of a cough. It only lasted less than 2 days, but his nose took a little while longer to clear up. His nose was sometimes stuffy and gunky and other times really runny. From his playroom, he yelled to Randy that he needed a tissue. Randy's response was, "do you have boogies?" And, Owen replied, "No, just boogie water!" Oh my goodness, we both just about died laughing so hard at him. So, I guess now when he has a runny nose, it is called "boogie water" instead of a runny nose?! Too funny!

Talking to Daddy

This is Owen chatting with his Daddy while we were down in NC! It was bedtime and we just called Daddy to say "Goodnight!" But, Owen got a little carried away in the conversation. He is too funny! I love when he says, "No buts, just say OK, Owen!" He is a mess to say the least!!

Another fun VBP wedding

(once again, the spacing is driving me crazy! I usually don't have this much trouble, but I am not fighting with it anymore! Ugh!)

We had a wonderful time at the Feightner/DeTroia wedding a few weekends ago! It was great to have a night out and enjoy a beautiful wedding at an amazing location, the Heinz History Center, overlooking our favorite city in the world, Pittsburgh! We had so much fun, dancing the night away with the VBP (Van Buren Point) Lake crew!! Always a great time to be had when that clan gets together!!

34 week pregnant me and my hubby

Shawnee and Og

Shawnee and her "little" brother

I promise, the beer is NOT mine and the pink drink is a Shirley Temple!

The Voelps and the Ogrodowskis

Randy and his girls

Aunt Shawnee lovin' on the bump!

The best in-laws a girl could possibly ask for!! LOVE them!

Cheeseballs! I swear they are NUTS!

The Bride and Groom...Damien and Sue DeTroia

Dancing the night away...even 34 weeks pregnant! And, doesn't Ms. Holly look like she could pass for our sister?!

No alcohol was consumed...by me anyway, I can't say for sure for Shawnee ;) We definitely had a blast, that is what I am sure of!!

Shawnee and Randy on the drive home...we had such a fun night!!

Surprise Sprinkle

(as a disclaimer to this post, as well as the last one...please ignore the spacing! I am over it at this point and I am tired of fighting with it!)

Again, Thank you to Steph B and CC for such a sweet Sprinkle! It was so sweet of you to put that together for Baby V and me while we were in town. I was so surprised and shocked!! And, thank you to everyone who came to help celebrate! I truly am so blessed to have you all in my life and I am so thankful for each and every one of you! HERE is the e-vite invitation that went out!

Me with the hostesses

Aubrey was too cute not to add to the picture ;)

Me with some of my best friends in the whole world

Me with Steph F

The actual moment of the surprise

Again...in total shock!

And, the tears started flowing as I looked around the room and saw everyone that was there!

Still shocked!

My Mom was so relieved to finally have the surprise revealed! It was a long few days of keeping it a secret from the time I arrived in town!

Aubrey and Owen helping me with gifts (Aubrey LOVES cards!)

Blanket for Baby V made with love by G-Ma

My "hooter hider" that Amy made

Of course, I HAD to try it out!

And, more help from Owen and Aubrey

Such big helpers...hehe!!

These 2 had a blast together!

Little stinker kept getting in Meme's bowl! It was so cute!

We see you under there!!

These 2 are playing "footsies" already...uh oh!

This is probably a bad sign of things to come!!