Brady's Tent

Brady got a tent for Christmas from his Gigi and Papa.

We have saved some of his Christmas/Birthday presents because he got SO many! I was off last week for President's Day so Brady and I broke out the tent.

 I had hoped it would be nice outside so we could get out, but it wasn't so we played with the tent inside.

 Brady LOVED the tent!

He would crawl in and just laugh! 

 He even got back in to show daddy once he got home!

We will play with this again soon!!!

Date Night- Weeks 4 and 5

I am a little behind on my weekly date night blogs, so I am doing two weeks in one post this time.

Week 4
Last week I had a cold and really didn't care to much about "date night". So Caleb brought home soup and sandwiches from Panera and we decided to watch the opening ceremonies to the Olympics. It worked out great because Caleb LOVES the Olympics and we actually were able to talk a lot. You don't have to really pay attention and I didn't feel well! It wasn't much of a "date" but it was better than me in one room and him in another and it fit that night in particular perfectly!

Date:       Olympics
Cost:        $0
Length:     2 hours or so
Outcome: Success

Week 5
This week my brother and his girlfriend were in town and the only night we could all get together was on Friday night. Since Fridays are our date night, we decided to give each other back massages once we got home. We each agreed on 15 minutes each. I lit a candle and Brady's lullaby c.d. was on through the monitor so it was somewhat spa like. We each gave 15 minute back massages and had such a great time. It was nice to get a little time to relax and we were able to talk a lot more than I expected. We felt like we had really spent some time together and it was only 30 minutes! I will say that giving a massage seems like forever and getting one was not nearly long enough. We may try to do this again!

I am not getting comments from Caleb on this post because He and Brady are asleep in the recliner as I type. We have tried to get Brady to take a nap all day so I am not risking waking them. Ha! They look so sweet! Oh how I love my boys!

Date:        Back Massages
Cost:        $0
Length:     30 minutes
Outcome:  Success

Date Night- week 3

You could call this the date that never ends, LITERALLY!!! We decided to put together a puzzle. In our 7 year relationship, we have never put together a puzzle. We thought it will be fun.

We picked a puzzle!

We thought this will be fun and it won't be too hard!

Uhm!

4 hours later!

We only had the outline done!

Oh My!

My comments: It was fun, but if you are not extremely competive or patient, this is probably not for you. I am extremely competetive, hince the reason we worked on it for 4 HOURS!  I couldn't bring myself to stop. Now 4 days later, we are still working on that darn puzzle. We even had a friend help last night. There wasn't a lot of conversation because we were so focused, but I enjoyed it. I don't know that we will do this again for a while, though!  It was more stimulating than watching t.v., but I think we talk more during an episode of the Bachelor than the puzzle! Ha! I was a little disappointed in the "date" and my ability to finish the puzzle. It has made for a fun inside joke.

His comments: So I was thinking it would only take a few hours to complete. How hard could it really be, anyway? Oh my gosh. About 400 of the 750 pieces are blue and look exactly the same. At first it was really fun and enjoying myself with the puzzle and Amber. It is now to the point that all I want to do is throw all the pieces up in the air and hope they fall into place. aside from that, I enjoy the time with Amber, no matter what are doing. I really hit the jackpot when she decided to put up with my garbage for the rest of her life.

Date: Puzzle

Cost: $15

Length: 4 hours

Outcome: to be determined, if we can ever finish the puzzle.

I heart baby showers!!!

My sister is having a baby boy, Noah, in March. This weekend some of her friends and I threw her a baby shower. I love baby showers! I really considered being a wedding/party planner at one time. I still think about it on occasion. I just love to plan, decorate, and throw a good party! Baby showers are the most fun, because baby stuff is, well, so fun!!!!

Where we live, we basically have one HUGE shower and invite everyone. We sent out about 115 invitations and had a great turnout. It was come and go, so you bring your gift, eat, visit, and come and go as you please. Everything turned out so perfect! The shower colors were red and brown to go with Noah's nursery colors.(and the shower just happened to fall around Valentines Day) We also did a chocolate theme. Everything was so fitting for Amy and she got tons of nice things for baby Noah!

One of the dessert tables. We made chocolate cakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and used m&m's as decorations.

The 2nd dessert table. The board says "Welcome Baby Noah!"

The centerpieces were these bowls with red and brown chocolates and either red or brown polka dotted ribbon.

The food table and clothes line. We had crab dip and spinach dip and a fruit display. The center is an awesome diaper cake that one of the girls made.

This is the basket that my mom and I made for Noah! We found this awesome basket at Ross for $20 and filled it with tons of goodies. It is full all the way down to the bottom. There is even a sweet onesie that says my aunt rocks!!! Because, well she does! Ha!

We are so excited to meet our nephew. Caleb and I have zero neices or nephews between us. So, we are patiently awaiting Noah so we can spoil him and send him back, the way everyone does with Brady. Ha! Amy and Bryan are going to be wonderful parents! Noah is going to have a fun and great life. Congratulations! We love you all!

Date Night- Week 2

For our second date night we decided to do chocolate fondue. We have a fondue set that we got as a wedding gift. We have used it on occasion when we have company or make christmas truffles. We melted chocolate into the fondue set. You can get tons of fondue recipes online but we just kept it simple and you could just use a crock pot if you don't have a fondue set. I bought fresh strwberries, marshmallows, grapes, and canned pineapple. We had almonds and nilla wafers already. I set everything up on the table, lit a candle, and that was it!

 This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea.

My comments: This was really fun! We had grilled chicken salads for dinner that night so we wouldn't feel stuffed and that worked great. I was afraid that this wouldn't last that long and it would defeat the purpose, but that was not the case at all. We munched on the fondue and talked and talked and talked. It was really great! We talked about everything from work to future plans to Haiti to adoption to Brady. We sat at the table for 2 hours just talking. We didn't eat the entire time, though. It was like we were "out" on a date, but we were at home. The planning and the set up made us sit there and pay attention to each other.  We had gotten home early this day because of the snowy weather so after we had our 2 hour date, we did watch a movie, because we weren't hardly ready for bed. But the movie wasn't really part of the "date" so we didn't really break any rules. Ha!

His comments: The fondue was awesome. The conversation was great! I really enjoyed the time together. It was great to have some uninterupted quality time. We don't always get that and it was nice.  I am really enjoying these nights and can't wait for next week.

Date: Chocolate Fondue

Cost: about $15, chocolate, fruit, and marshmallows. We had everything else.
Length: 2 hours
Outcome: Huge Success and Yummy!

We would do this again any time. It didn't take a lot of effort or money and was really enjoyable.  Can't wait to see what next week holds!