First Belly Shot

17 weeks 3 days

If I were smart I would have taken the picture after getting ready for church, but I didn't. We have been taking pictures almost weekly of me in my bathing suit...but those will never make it to a public site. Ever. They will merely be for Garrett's baby book (maybe) and a family album. But here's one for public eyes, and I'll take a few more as I grow. We are anxious for the next couple weeks to bring the first kicks!

First Impressions

Yesterday was another OB appointment, and we had a few questions and concerns, and a few blood tests in line. We weren't sure if we would get an ultrasound, but with the concerns I had they of course were glad to take a look. I must mention again how much I love my office and the fun we have at every visit. Dustin and I were seeing the Physicians Assistant and we asked her if there was any way we could try and get a bum shot to see what we were having....it was a long shot, but she was totally having fun and was excited to look herself.

First we saw a wonderful full body shot.....

Then after a few little looks around, something else made its grand appearance....

And wanted to be sure and be seen...

(15 weeks 5 days)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, IT'S A BOY!

Garrett Riley Stubbs

We all laughed and laughed at his casual, open stance. He's already so much a boy!

We are simply ecstatic! This is the first grandson (out of 4 granddaughters) in Dustin's immediate family and will be grandson #4 out of 9 grandchildren in my family. We are thrilled! We are used to being around so many little girls, it will be great fun and different to have another boy in the mix.

Guess What?!

Surprise! We are 13 weeks pregnant! It was a surprise to us too when we found out, but it all miraculously happened ( due much to numerous prayers and much fasting from our family and friends). Our due date is July 21, which is actually my grandma's birthday, just one week after mine. Dustin and I are ecstatic about this pregnancy, and we feel, as well as our family, that this will be a great pregnancy and all will go fine. All my appointments have gone great with strong heartbeats, and a growing baby every time. My doctor says I can't do much more exercise than swimming and walking, but really to tell the truth- I've been so tired, I've barely even been walking very much anyways! I do miss running though so much! I'm living vicariously through Dustin.

I haven't been too sick, just a few weeks of afternoon and nighttime nausea and insomnia in December and November, then it all turned into fatigue and headaches and a little moodiness...

We could barely keep all our excitement in this long. We are happy we can now share our news for the new year!

(12 weeks 4 days)

Dustin's First Marathon!

On New Year's Day Dustin ran the Texas Marathon, which is in Kingwood just a few miles from where we live. His parents were here, so we hung out along a spot where Dustin would pass us with each loop they had to take for the race. We handed off water, gatorade and GU packs as he needed them. It was such a fun experience to see him run! And he did fantastic! The last two miles both legs cramped up really bad, but he was able to keep going in a slower pace. He had kept up a less than 8 minute mile the entire time! He came in at number 98, out of 300 marathoners, and at 4 hours 10 minutes. His goal was less than 4 hrs, and had it not been for his cramping he would have beat that time out of the water!

He did so fantastic, and I couldn't be more proud of him! All my family came the last hour to see him come across the finish line.

He's trying to recover here, but I want a picture!

He's letting us know about where it all hurts, and he's motioning to his whole body. ha! I couldn't help but get one as he's lying down, unable to stand for a second longer...

All runners got a medal.. I can't seem to find it right now, but it is huge! and weighs about 8 pounds at least, all in the size of the state of Texas.

Dustin signed up for the Surfside Marathon on February 26! Wish him luck again!

I Love Me Some Christmas 2010

On Christmas morning at about 1:30am I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Dustin woke about a minute after I did. We both lay there for about 20 minutes complaining how tired we were and how we really had some insomnia between both of us! Finally we thought, 'hey, why don't we have our Christmas now, since we have to meet everyone at mom and dad's at 6?' So we did! We opened our presents, had a great time, even woke up poor Sophie, who hated us for doing that and slept at my feet during all the unwrappings; and by 3am, we were tired again, went back to bed and slept until we had to leave for my family's celebrations. Very fun and memorable for us.

My most wanted thing for Christmas was fruity twizzlers and hot tamales candy..which I got a double dose of each! Santa was very good to both of us this year.

Santa brought both of us some camping chairs since we didn't have any, and he brought Dustin his own circular saw.. which he immediately wanted to put to good use.

Action shots!! Just picture having 7 little kids and all their presents, plus all the adult presents.... there was a mountain!

My wonderful Mom and Dad

Miss Addison and Emma with their new doll wagons

Jared and Jake- such adorable little guys

Grace still trying to wake up, Haylee feeding her new doll, and Miss Ava loving every minute of the morning.

Russell with little Jake- who absolutely loves him to pieces! And Russell's Classic Wrapping job, you never know how he's going to wrap your present. Keisha got something wrapped up in a towel then duct taped closed. Nice. Very jealous!

All grown up Kyle and Keisha. Dustin and I just chillin' in front of the fire.

None of the parents with young children got any sleep the night before... but it wasn't because of excitement though. Poor Bruce here is proof.

Kyle and Mandy and a Classic Gabe photo along with his pretty wife Sonya and little Addison.

I love, love, love my family and that so many of us were together this year! Holidays are always better with your family. I couldn't be more blessed with such an incredible family and all the fun we have together. I wonder who will be joining us for Christmas 2011?!

So Funny!

Dustin sent me this, and I had to share!!

The Finale

Well here's my last cake of all! This fondant and gum paste class was definitely my toughest one, but I had so much fun! I'm, not sure if you can see the board the cake is sitting on, but it is covered with white fondant and I rolled in onto a stamp that had flowers and vines all over. Definitely want to get some of those stamp pads!

Here are the other two cakes of my classmates. They did a great job too! The one with brown lilies was not finished yet, but she let me snap a shot of it anyway. You can see better on the purple base the design that I did on mine. I loved her purple roses, she did a great job.

We all laughed and joked every class day and really enjoyed each other and always helped the one who was having an 'off' day.We all exchanged emails and numbers so we can keep in touch.

Happy Birthday Dustin!

Happy Birthday Dustin! We are now both the same age! I'm a cougar and he likes older women, so it all works out. Just kidding- I'm totally not a cougar....

I love birthdays, and I loved preparing for Dustin's this year. I love you Dustin, I'm so grateful that you are all mine and I am all yours!

We just sang happy birthday, and here's Dustin's reaction to his cake! I loved it!

I forgot to buy candles the day of the party, so all I had to offer were some tealights. They're kinda outdoors-y to go along with the cake theme, right?

I made a mexican feast for dinner- homemade enchiladas, lime rice, pico de gallo, and some spicy dip recipe with ranch mix and cilantro( a Cafe Rio recipe). It was so great! We had my parents, and Kyle and Keisha over to celebrate.

A few views of Dustin's birthday cake. This was my first attempt to cover a cake with fondant- we have not learned that yet in class- and boy was it difficult! The top tier looked so hideous and bumpy I put all the tootsie rolls around it to look like tree trunks. I tried so hard to make it look like camouflage, but that didn't really work out either! But in the end it came out pretty cute. It was chocolate cake with homemade dark chocolate frosting.

Mom helped me out with ideas of what camping scene I could make. She thought of the tootsie roll logs and making a fire. She got me thinking of what to do! I forgot I had a little bag of leaf shaped sprinkles that I happened to find at the last minute; they worked out perfect!

My favorite part are the gummy bears in the tent.

Here are the flowers I learned in class. I also learned how to make a bow, but my first one didn't really turn out very well, so I'm not showing it.

I'm so excited that I have learned so much in my classes. My last one is next week! I actually need to get my rear in gear and think of my final cake design. I hope I will be able to increase my talent in cake design and share it with others- that would be a nerve racking job I'm sure, but I think it will be great fun.