Baby Shower Fun!

I've been busy, busy planning a baby shower for my good friend Vicki. We had it last week, and it all came together beautifully! If you guys are ever hosting anything, you have to check out this site. It's seriously amazing and has so many great ideas! We went with the Mod Monkey theme since the baby's nursery will be decorated in monkeys.

We had the shower at our church, so please excuse the music equipment in the background.

The "M" is for Mom, and Monkey!

Our "trees" - glass cylinders wrapped in scrapbook paper, and topped with a styrofoam ball covered in tissue paper.



Mom-to-be had lots of fun  :-)

Only 9 more weeks until we meet baby Cade!!

Did You Know?

Did you know that it is really difficult to good a good picture of a kitten that doesn't sit still and wants to chew on the camera? Well it is. Very. Difficult.

Meet the newest member of our family - Millie  :-)

She chews on everything, including my fingers.

.

But she is a total snugglebug, too.

I forgot how sweet (and destructive) new kitties are. And funny. Oh so funny.

She wants to sleep on top of us. Literally. I assume it's because we are warm, since neither of us sleeps in a shirt, but she does her very best to cuddle at night. Last night, she draped her entire body across my neck and started purring. After insisting that Josh roll over to witness this cuteness, of course I had to move her. So then she kept trying to cuddle on my chest, but she had a hard time getting comfortable on my...eh hem...hilly bits. She settled for right in between us, stretched out so her front feet were touching me and her back feet were touching Josh.

We have learned a few valuable lessons this week:

• We cannot leap off of the second story balcony onto the tile below (oh yes, she did)
•  We do not play in the litter box
• The clicking that results from my typing on the laptop does not mean that we go insanely crazy and must play,play,play RIGHTNOW
• 4 AM is not when we wake up

Obviously there is much to be learned. She is adjusting well though, and we are completely and totally in love with this 2 pounds of crazy!

Sunday Nonsense

Whoa! Who's been away for awhile!
(raises hand in shame...)

This week my head has been all over the place, so get ready for a post that is all over the place, too.

Tuesday was the most awesome show I've ever been to. Ever. Not in terms of talent (Celine Dion still holds that record for me), but in terms of total fun-ness!!!! (that's so totally a word)

NKOTBSB!!!!

Oh yes, people. I was there.

I cannot even begin to describe the noise level. Nonstop screaming for two and a half hours at a decibel that could shatter glass. I could count on one hand the number of men there. All of the women there were between the ages of 25-40, but that's what made it so fun. Everyone got a night to re-live their teenage years. I went with three of my girlfriends, and we screamed and danced the entire time!

I saw my first episide of Toddlers and Tiaras. It made me a little sad. There were 5 year old girls getting acrylic nails, fake hair extenstions, and tons of makeup. What happened to being a kid?!

We got the quotes from our insurance company for a SOC (super ovulation cycle) and IVF. We've been talking, but still haven't made a firm decision on next steps.

I totally love iced coffee. I'm not a hot coffee drinker, but iced coffee is ahmazing. It rocks my world.

Our dear friends Rachel and Michael got married last night, and had a beautiful wedding! Michael is the same age as my brother Michael, and they have been the best of friends since around 4th grade. He's basically a part of our family, so it was an emotional day. The wedding was outdoors, and it was so beautiful, that there wasn't even really a need for many decorations. There was a wooden bridge over a creek, weeping willow trees, and magnolias in full bloom.

Today has been pretty lazy. We didn't get home till super late, so we slept in, and then Josh had to go to work. I've been camped on the couch watching Say Yes to the Dress. Makes me want to go buy another wedding dress. Ten year vow renewal next year maybe???? :-)

And there you have it. My collection of totally random and unorganized thoughts! Hope you've all had a fantastic weekend!

The Time Where I Spilled Paint On My Head...

Remember how I was painting my bedroom? You know, the very quick project that I started 2 months ago?

*crickets*

Wellllllllllllll, I'm finally finished! And by finished, I mean the painting is finished. The cleaning up part? Notsomuch.

(yes, yes, there will be pictures)

And I didn't finish without a disaster. And by disaster I mean spilling paint on my head. Fun times.

Here's how it went down. Josh and I had a fight slight disagreement last night. It's rare in the Lynch household, but it does happen occasionally. While I was pouting folding some laundry, Josh had been finishing up the last coat of paint. I saw him pick up the roller, and so I assumed that he was finished with the ladder, which I needed. I grabbed the ladder, and (imagine this next part in slow motion) the large container of paint that was sitting on the top of the ladder fell. And by fell, I mean it practically exploded and coated my hair, my face, my entire body, my feet and flip flops, the hardwood floor, the ladder, the bathroom tile, and the legs of my new bed and nightstand. I couldn't make this up people.

Remember that I am already mad, so I do *not* find this even remotely funny. I strip off my clothes and shoes, and wipe what is running off of my face/hair/feet/body, then proceed to spend the next half hour cleaning up the spilled paint naked and muttering very nasty things about the person whose name starts with J that left a container of paint on top of the ladder. Because seriously, who looks at the top of a ladder?! (HELLO I'm fivefootONE)

That was followed by the longest shower in history, where I spent, at minimum, a half an hour scrubbing till I was bright red and the paint was mostly off.

Fast forward two hours. We're in the bedroom, Josh asks me if I can see the mark on the wall, I say that I don't see anything, and he says, "It's probably from all of the paint in your eyes", and we both started laughing. Just like that, our fight was done.

Lazy Saturday

This morning I had big, big plans. I was going to do laundry, work on the flower beds that are ridiculously out of control  in need of just a tiny bit of TLC, decorate my dining room table with something, and cook a wonderful dinner tonight.

It's 4 PM, none of those things have been done, and I am sitting in my pajamas watching Meg Ryan in French Kiss. Clearly, my day has been productive.

I feel slightly less guilty since Josh is asleep on the other couch.

Happy lazy Saturday!

Try It Tuesday - Healthy(er) Cupcakes!

This weekend my mom, her husband, my brother and my nephew came over Sunday afternoon for lunch. I recently discovered that I can roast a chicken marvelously well, so I was anxious to show off my skills! I made a broccoli salad and roasted sweet potatoes to go alongside the chicken. The hold up, however, was what to make for dessert. I didn't want anything heavy; I wanted something that was light and summer-y.

Behold, Orange Pineapple Cupcakes!

Ingredients
1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix
4 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 (16 oz) can mandarin oranges in juice
1 (3.5) box instant vanilla pudding
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapples in juice
1 (12 oz) container fat free Cool Whip

Instructions
Mix cake, eggs, applesauce and oranges.
Beat on high about 6 minutes (This is a very important step - it will double your batter)
Fill cupcake liners 90% full
Bake 15(ish) minutes at 325 degrees, or until cake is done.
Let cool.
Mix pudding and pineapple with juice, fold in a large tub of whipped topping.
Top cake with this.
NOTES: Refrigerate.

A couple of things. Normally when making cupcakes, you only fill the liners half full or three fourths of the way full. That's what I did with the first batch, and that's when I learned that these cupcakes barely rise at all. This was what the first batch looked like:

The second batch, I filled the liners to here:

PERFECT!

These cupcakes got great reviews from my family, and Josh and I have been eating on them for a couple of days now! They are absolutely DELISH!

Memorial Day Fun in Pictures!

We hung out at my dad's house today. We headed to the lake on the boat, and my nephew Aiden loved it! Of course I had to get some pictures  :-)

This one makes me laugh. My sweet Aiden will be 2 next month so he is finally developing a little attitude. I was trying to get a picture and I told him to say "cheese". He scowled at me instead!

My brother and Aiden on the boat.

Me and the honey!

Aiden after an unexpected BIG splash

Helping Poppy (my daddy) drive the boat

4 out of 5 pics are of the baby. Can you tell that his Aunt Kristen is absolutely in LOVE with him?! That sweet little boy melts my heart!

Hope you all had a wonderful day, too!!!!!