Family Shower

On Saturday, my mom's side of the family threw me a lovely little baby shower. I'm so lucky to have friends and family that love us and baby girl so much. 

I mean, look at all these gifts! But the one that really touched my heart was the little white bag with Snoopy's name on it. I love that my aunt brought a gift just for Snoopy as well. 

This shower was at a local library. It's the same library that I used to go to when I was really little. It was neat to go to the children's section and remember back to some of my earliest memories being there. It's like my life has come full circle. 

I loved the baby's breath and burlap/lace table runners. They totally nailed my style with this shower!

And those puffs were neat. I ended up bringing some home to try and hang in the nursery, I'm hoping they will catch baby girl's eye and amuse her.

My aunt and cousin-in-law made the cakes. They were so delicious and pretty! It's hard to tell but they were ombre roses in a few shades of pink. So pretty!

My mom stayed with us after the shower so we took her to breakfast at the Aviary for crepes. Hello, nutella!! I've been wanting one of these since the last time I went to the Aviary!

And then, I came back to my desk to find these at work Monday. What a great start to the week! Flowers from my dad just to say he was thinking of me! 

Thankfully, I have great people in my life like my Dad and Hubby. It was a frustrating week at work- just the normal grind, but I think hormones made me a little more rage-y than normal, so Hubbs tried to cheer me up one day. Ice cream is always the way to my heart.

I'm ready for the weekend! Date night tonight, friend baby shower tomorrow, hanging out with some company from out of town, Vikings football, and who knows what else! Happy Friday! 

Work Baby Shower and the Week

We are in the middle of baby shower season over here. And I realized I forgot to post about the awesome work shower we had last week. My husband and I both work at the same company, so our departments got together and threw us a little shower over lunch one day. 

They nailed the theme! The cutest woodland creatures!

And that cake was the highlight. It was from Julie's Chewies, and my department spent the rest of the week savoring each piece! 

The little cutie oranges had faces drawn on them to look like jack-o-lanterns. So cute!!

We are so thankful to have such great co-workers. They made us and our little girl feel so loved! 

After all the cake last week, I had to make an effort to get to the gym. Needless to say, this exercise ball is totally my jam right now! Hubbs even bought me one so I can sit on it at home. It relieves some of the pressure I've been feeling in my hips. Seems like baby is getting ready to go!

After our work shower, we got all excited and  put together our crib. I thought the dresser was hard. Nope. We put this sucker together wrong twice! We had to take a break in the middle to stop and get dinner because we were so frustrated. But, finally- it is done!! So excited to see baby girl's room come together. Hopefully I'll post about the entire room in the coming weeks. 

Side note- we will remove the puppy dog from her crib. But it was a gift from the first Christmas Ben and I had when we were dating. How sweet! Love that it's in our girl's room now.

Friday Night Fun!

We are officially counting down our final date nights (for awhile) in anticipation of the big life change coming up in the next month and a half! So for this date night, we started out at the Red Room in Flame downtown. 

Red Room has some great happy hour deals! From 4-6, drinks are half off, and they have some good appetizers too. I have been thinking about their calamari since the last time we went back in the spring. When we went that time, they had calamari rods- that I have yet to find anywhere else! Sadly, this time they served regular calamari. I was a little disappointed, but it was still delicious. And I just love the intimate atmosphere of Red Room. 

We worked off our appetizers by doing some shopping. I found this guy at Marshall's and couldn't resist!

                         

After Marshall's, we ended up at Ocean Zen for dinner. I always forget about this place for some reason, but it is another big favorite in Springfield. I ordered a side of the lobster mac and cheese. Delicious! 

And then, of course, sushi. I would eat sushi every night if I could. Hubbs had the orange chicken, and it was also delicious! We had a great time just hanging out in a comfy booth, enjoying each other, and relaxing. Great date night!!

Washington & St Louis

Sunday morning, we enjoyed another long walk along the river as one big family. It was crazy to have a niece and nephew with us and see them snoozing away in their strollers.

It was a gorgeous day, but I have to admit- the heat was a little more than I can handle right now.

We ate at Sugarfire for dinner. I'm not a huge bbq fan, so I ordered the chicken biscuit and asked for some veggies. It hit the spot as did the sweet tea!

Monday morning, to wrap up the weekend, some of the family went to check out the Arch. It was Snoopy's first trip to the Arch too! It was super hot, and there was a lot of construction so I was kinda crabby the whole time. 

But it was still neat to see the Arch up close again. Since I've lived in Missouri my whole life, I forget how cool it can be.

That concluded our Labor Day weekend getaway to Washington. Definitely a fun and relaxing weekend with family!

Washington, Mo- Friday Night Kickoff

Friday afternoon, we hit the road to Washington, Missouri! Snoopy was super excited. 

We arrived earlier than the rest of the family, so we got settled in the house then found a place for dinner. Of course we chose the restaurant that had "distillery" in the name.

Driftwood Distillery is right on the river in Washington- a cute little area. We were sad to find out that they aren't a distillery quite yet, but they're working on it. Looks like the place was pretty new. I had a hamburger with gouda and the tots. Delicious. 

It was definitely a beautiful night. And even though the Missouri River is dirty and creeps me out, it was beautiful too. Perfect start to the weekend! 

Washington, Mo - Day 2

Who wakes up early on vacation? Me! I love waking up before everyone else and getting some peace and quiet. Hubbs and I took advantage of this time and went out for a walk.

Washington is so quiet and peaceful, especially early in the morning. Beautiful start to the day!

When we got back, I had my first breakfast of the day. These are so good! I'm obsessed!

And then I enjoyed some milk-coffee with Snoops. :) 

I'm all about the pumpkin stuff right now. These were delicious, and I couldn't stay away from the bag! Vacations are calorie-free, right?

We spent the afternoon just relaxing with family. Love me some Snoopy snuggles.

Then, the family threw us a little Halloween themed baby shower. So thoughtful and cute!

We had cookies, punch, and lots of little treats. I love this little red headed Halloween girl they found. 

Such a fun day!

HomeAway- Washington, Missouri

Last year, we started the tradition of renting a house with my husband's side of the family- somewhere between Louisville and Springfield. 

This year, we ended up in Washington, Missouri. I have to say, I was quite surprised by this house and the quaint little town it was in. It was the perfect, relaxing weekend that we all needed! 

I have used VRBO before, but this house was listed on Homeaway. So far the experience has been great- as long as I get my deposit back, I'll be a happy camper! 

This house is absolutely beautiful. We had four families and a dog, so that limited our options a bit. This house was pet friendly and had a bedroom for everyone- plus room to grow into in the future! The picture below is the master bedroom.

And another bedroom across the hall. The decor of this place was great, very put together and well thought out. 

The living room had enough seating for everyone!

As did the kitchen. This table was perfect for all of us to fit around! The owner has thought of everything, and we were able to find all the kitchen utensils and odds and ends that we had forgotten during our stay.

The steps going upstairs were pretty steep. Once you made it up, there was a little sitting area in between two more bedrooms and a bathroom.

One of the upstairs bedrooms had two full size beds and a small, toddler bed that isn't pictured. That'll come in handy for the niece and nephew in the coming years. There was also a high chair, pack n play, and box of toys in the living room, making this house very child friendly. 

Outside, there was a nice little patio with a table and chairs. The front porch also had the most comfortable patio chairs ever. I had coffee out there every single day.

This is totally not a sponsored post, but I just wanted to let you all know about our great experience. I'm really growing to love VRBO/HomeAway stays for family vacations. The prices are reasonable and it's much easier when you have a big group to be in one house, cook all your meals in one place, and just have a place to relax. We absolutely loved our weekend in this house and wanted to pass along the info to anyone interested!

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p767378vb

Stay tuned for more info about our long weekend and what we found in Washington, MO!