Happy Thanksgiving!

Randy and I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday at Randy's parent's house. A huge thank you to his mom and aunts for their hard work and superb skills in the kitchen!My dad and brother were able to spend the holiday with Randy, me, and Randy's family. We spent the afternoon hanging out with the cousins and playing Omar's Wii.

On Friday, we traveled back to Valparaiso to spend the remainder of the weekend with my family. Friday afternoon we braved "black Friday" at the Michigan City Outlet Mall. It was well worth the headache, as we got some great deals and loaded up on Christmas presents for others. On Saturday, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Kevin hosted the McGinley Thanksgiving. Uncle Kevin is quite the chef!
Auntie Sheila and me posing with the baby belly. I'm officially in the Third Trimester of the pregnancy and at the beginning of the 7th month. In no time at all, baby will be here! We are so excited!

Nursery Construction Continued

Another heartfelt thank you for those who helped bring the baby nursery to completion this past weekend. It's been an enjoyable process preparing for the birth of the baby. We are very happy with how the room turned out, baby is sure to love it too! Decorations and finishing touches are put on hold until after the baby is born and we know the sex. Soon to be Grandparents helped put together the furniture and install a new light fixture.
"TA DA" A photo of the "finished" baby nursery After a long day's work, Saturday evening we enjoyed dinner and a comedy show. Randy and I are looking forward to the upcoming holidays and sharing some quality time with our families and friends.

Baby Nursery Under Construction

I must begin this blog by stating how thankful we are that Randy's grandmother arrived safely in West Palm Beach, FL last week. She's been a "snowbird" for many years now and really enjoys her time there. We will miss you Sitty, but are looking forward to your return when the baby is born.
Randy and I are also extremely thankful that his parents arrived safely in Turkey on Thursday. They are taking a well-deserved and long over-due vacation for 14 days. We missed them this weekend, but hope they are enjoying every minute of their time there.
Much progress was made this weekend in preparing the nursery for the baby, thanks to my parents and Ryan and Katie. The process began bright and early Saturday morning with the men hauling some large furniture to storage (aka Randy's parent's basement).
The "Before" Guest Room Photo

Katie and my mom hard at work,, and with a smile :)

Ryan and my dad starting to prime the walls with the new color
Soon to be "mom and dad" in our newly painted Sage Green nursery. After 2 days of hard work, the remainder of the project should be completed next weekend. My parents and brother are returning to help assemble the crib, dresser, and changing table and complete some finishing touches.

With the help of Katie and my mom we tackled Babies R' Us in about 2 hours flat...the registry is also a work in progress. I am quite certain you don't need half of what is in that store to raise a baby/child, but hey, what do I know?!?

This weekend wasn't all work though, we managed to head downtown for dinner in Greektown and a trip to the casino. Unfortunately no one hit it big, but we had a great time together!
THANK YOU to all of our help...we love and appreciate every one of you!!!

Halloween Weekend

With a spontaneous phone call and some last minute planning, my Aunt Vicki and cousins Alexis and Lindsey, visited us for Halloween weekend. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to help them put together costumes to trick-or-treat, but we did keep ourselves plenty busy. Our cousins on Randy's side, Emann and Rana, are the exact same age and year in school as my cousins. Thankfully, we were all able to get together at our house with a few other friends and family to enjoy the wonderful weather and adorable kiddies.

Randy and I have the best parents and in-laws! My mother in-law brought dinner to the house for all of us to share, while we passed out candy. A little later in the evening, Emann and Rana took us to another subdivision in our city that is known as "The Haunted Street." After many screams and running from the chainsaw man, the baby and I were done "being scared." So, we all retired back to our house to watch a movie full of more suspense and to enjoy all the goodies from earlier in the evening.
Lindsey and Alexis were good sports as I dragged them to Sunday school with me. We had a great weekend visiting, shopping, and eating!