Voila!

I haven't disappeared..I promise! I'm here!!!

It's been a whirlwind of a time lately...

My mom and I did indeed get my house Spring Cleaned last weekend...it feels amazing to be there now! :)

Work has been..well, work...I'm pretty much uncomfortable the second I walk in the door. So, I'm never quite sure I want to be here! But oh well!!!

This weekend we're heading down to Parker for a weekend full of wedding festivities!!! Sadly, it's turning into a headache! Tomorrow (Friday) we're going early..so we can get the tux's...make sure they fit right...then hang out for a little while. We're going to figure out what's going on with the rest of the time spent there. Then that night is the rehearsal and a pot luck...which we just found out about the pot luck 2 days ago...eek..one more thing to spend money on!

Saturday, will be the wedding. I'm staying with the bride and bridesmaids on Friday night and I plan to fully photograph what I can because this is such a special weekend, I don't want them to miss out on anything! :) Saturday night it was our plan to get the bride and groom their own hotel room so they could spend a romantic night together alone. Well, it's turning into a complete hassle because everyone just wants to party. The partying is trying to take place 30 miles from the wedding instead of up the road!!!! AHHH...so who knows what is going on with that. We'll be figuring that out Friday night...

Along with Saturday's hoopla, we're apparently spending the night at a groomsman's house and I'm not sure if we'll be getting a "real" bed or what not. I'm sorry, I don't want to be the big complainer, but I'm 9 months pregnant..and I am NOT sleeping uncomfortably just because people can't plan ahead of time!!!! GRRRR

Sunday, we have to probably head to Lakewood from Denver (another like 30 miles) just to pick up some stuff that I'm thinking Steven's brother won't just bring to the wedding to save us time and gas...and then of course head home via Firestone to drop Jimmy off. I don't mind taking Jimmy with us...it is a little out of the way...but whatever!

Soooo...I'm going to be exhausted, cranky, and probably all together over people on Monday! Ha...but I SHOULD have some good pics to post! :)

365..where did you go???

I'm failing...miserably...I can't seem to get myself to post photos on a regular basis anymore! What the heck!?

The past two days have brought a crazy amount of rain to our desert-like atmosphere. But with the rain comes green...the greens we like to see in the Spring!

Then again, there's always something else...like the MUD...the massive amounts of mud that we'll be combatting yet again.

I want to clean my house...I mean, CLEAN clean it...I want to scrub every surface. Make it shine in all its white wonder. But we have a dog that lives inside with us...and inevitably I have paw prints on my floor, splashed mud up the entrance walls, and the general smell of wet dog....ugh...

I hope my nesting doesn't torture me too much...at least with the mud around. I fear that I might lose my mind!!!

Tonight, Steven works....tonight, I turn on tunes that I love to sing, and tonight, I clean my house!!!

Tis decided!

38 days....

Self-perscribed Bedrest!

Honestly, I don't think I've ever been so cranky as I am today!! I'm over it...completely, utterly over it!!!

I just want to go home from this entirely too uncomfortable work space and fall asleep in the bathtub like I did a few days ago then put myself on bedrest!

I avoided salts like the plague growing up because, one, my mom was dealing with high blood pressure, and two, we just didn't like it! Well, this continued into adulthood for me. I don't eat salt...I hate it...and I can taste it in EVERYTHING! It makes me swell like a fat kid on a binge...and I just drag...

Well, I can now drink a glass of water and I seem to swell! WORST-FEELING-EVER! I don't even recognize my feet and ankles..nor my hands anymore...I'm done!

39 days...

Please let her come early...

Baby Showers...

This weekend was our time for celebration!

First baby shower:

Was successfully thrown by my good friends Karli and Lauren. They were great!!! We had a fairly decent showing of people (it was mainly my family) and had a good time just relaxing and being girls!

Second baby shower:

Regardless of having 23 rsvp's and only about 7 people showing up from that, it was a great time! We laughed at the silly games we played and enjoyed all the loud boys having their "Beer Shower" in the front of the bar!

I was originally planning the whole thing and wasn't going to make a big deal...but my friend Jamie called me Friday night saying that we were fighting because no one should have to organize their own baby shower! Well, needless to say, when I arrived at the shower she has FOOD, GAMES, DRINKS, ETC. all set up and ready to go!!! I was blown away!

Forgive the finger...it's one of the better pics and he's of course doing that!!! FIGURES!

We also got a few belly pics and maternity nice shots to use in our baby book!! THANKS TO KARLI! :)

What now!?

I can't believe stress has completely taken me over lately. I've been so good about keeping my life even tempered..but it's just getting the best of me.

I don't think we really have a ton to do in the next couple months, but I know it's all financially taxing and just making me compute far too many numbers! My poor little brain can't handle it any longer!

Sure, I make $12 and hour...but 20-25 hours a week doesn't really cut it much! Things just start to add up and I'm not really sure what to do about it!

I'm freaking out...

This week we've been unable to get things squared away for the baby showers on Saturday. I'm excited. Really, I am. But I'm also nervous, scared, and entirely stressed out!

Then after baby showers, there's the organizing of EVERYTHING in my tiny, tiny house...which is going to be a daunting task all on it's own!

Sunday is my "sister-in-laws" bridal shower. But I doubt we'll be heading down to that. It's in Parker...80 miles away...and costs far too much to drive there!

Tuesday- Doctor's appointment. Everything has been easy and simple each time so I can't expect things to be much different. But man, does my pelvic bone hurt lately...and I'm just wanting to be done with all this!!!

Fast forward a little to the end of the month. The wedding takes place on May 1st. But we have to be down in Parker on the 30th for the rehearsal...which means I have to take the day off (losing money) and we have to pay for the tux...a hotel room...food....gas....ugh....

Once we get home from that, it'll take a little while to recover financially and physically from a weekend of partying basically...and before we know it it'll be a couple weeks from having our Miss Marlee enter our world!!!

WHERE'S MY TIME TO REALLY NEST?! TO GET THINGS REALLY READY!?

I have none...and I'm not sure what to do...

Let me guess, you're thinking..."It'll all fall into place.." <~ heard it! ha...sorry...

BELLY..yes I know it's been a while...

Here y'all go!!!

And here's some comparison...since it has been 5 weeks!

I've got my baby showers this Saturday! I'm really excited! Not so much for the showers themselves, but for seeing EVERYONE!!

Ring-a-ding!

I couldn't decide which one I liked more! But that's the flower he gave me randomly...and the great ring!

This one has to be added. '53' is his semi-pro football number and we were using his jersey's as background. Naturally, we had to get the number in there so it could be more "significant" to him! haha :)

I captured this loving moment between best friends this week too. Hercules is a terror sometimes; a tried and true puppy! But we can't help but adore the living crap out of him! It's quite apparent in Steven's eyes if you ask me...

And what do best friends do more than anything??? They share beer!!! Yep, Steven usually ends up pouring a little beer into Hercules' bowl so that he can enjoy one of the simple pleasures in our life. More often than that, Hercules will just indulge in the condensation that collects on the outside of the bottle, can, or mug. We find it hilarious! Is that wrong???

Yesterday was one of the better days I'd spent out and about in a long time. Steven's best friend Jimmy came up and spent the night on Wednesday night. They enjoyed a bit of Wii playing while I read a book. Then come Thursday morning, we all woke up, I called into work (wasn't feeling too great as it is...), and then headed south to get Steven fit for a tux for his "brother's" wedding on May 1st. (I say "brother" because they're really cousins..but they were raised together more like brothers...). It was enjoyable to hear the stories from the both of them and just enjoy the sunshine! Round trip, we probably drove around 200 miles but it was worth it! I got this shot of our mountains in the distance...blue and snow capped...along with the slowly greening plains! I love Northern Colorado!

The conversation...

So, he did it! Steven successfully asked for my hand without any hitch at all! In fact, the only complaint he keeps having is that my dad wouldn't let him pay for dinner like he had planned! haha Good ole DAD!

I guess the conversation went as such:
Steven: "So i guess you know why you're here..."
Dad: "Yep, sure do..."
Steven: "Well, Kendra and I both agree that we don't want to get married right away. The traditionalist in me wants to ask if I can have her hand in promise though."
Dad: "Ok..."
Steven: "So I guess I'm just asking for your blessing..."
Dad: "You got it!"

Ha...simple as 1, 2, 3....

I haven't an uber beautiful picture of the ring just yet...but I have a GREAT idea for one! :) That I'll probably take tonight or in the morning...involving the flower he showed up with on Monday too...

Aside from that, we had our hospital tour last night. And I have to be honest in saying that I really just wanted to book a room right then and have this baby!! Ha! The rooms are great (which I knew they were from friend's having babies) but I just kind of felt a bit of extra excitement at the thought of me being there...bringing our little Bug into this world! *sigh*

Click click...

Some for the 365 days collection...first is Hercules and his trusty stick!!! This dog is crazy about them...I can't get enough of him bounding around the yard!

Second, the side of my house. Last summer, Steven aquired these yard sculpture thingys...and he decided to put this one. I'm thinking I need to plant some flowers or something under this window to kind of "accent" the sculpture..but I'm just not sure Hercules would leave them alone...hmmm...

I wanted to also put up this little random photoshoot that Steven decided to have last week. I just laugh my butt off every time I look at these pictures! Granted, as you'll see, he's drinking beer and definitely being a goof ball!!! :) Just wanna spread some blog-laughter!

Cat's out of the bag...

Thursday night we had a bit of a revelation...
While the usual fights do happen to everyone, I'm constantly tired of being the one that says sorry. So, a few weeks back I told Steven that he has to fix it...no more of me just crawling back...the ball's in his court!

Know what he did with that ball?! Came up with this scheme...this idea...this gift...

I'm not supposed to know what I do, but because (as he claims) I "stressed him out making him clean his closet and gave him vodka" I do know. Before I let you know what it is...I'm going to clarify the assumption he made toward me.

See...we live in this tiny little house...honestly...420 square feet. There's two adults, a dog, and a cat...and we're adding a baby!? Holy cow...anyways..I've been very adament about cleaning out our clothes and getting rid of the things we don't wear because we really need to make room for our little BUG! Well, this is a super easy task for me...I don't hold an emotional attachment to my clothes...but for Steven, well, it's another story!

He indeed poured himself a mixed drink of vodka and some juice to take this task into his hands while I sat and observed...he was freaking out...worried that one measely t-shirt was going to be life or death for him! Newsflash: he survived!!! :)

But alas, once all the madness was done, he continued to inform me that he's going to take my father out to dinner and ask for my hand.... NO NO, not marriage, we've both been there and done that and aren't looking for that road anytime soon. Rather, he wants to ask for my hand in promise...in the promise to love me forever and be my best friend, my love, my everything! How freakin' sweet is that?!

So, today, he bought a ring...and tomorrow is the faithful dinner...

*sigh*

Oh, and this loving man brought me a rose today at work...simply because he could....

Forgive me...

So while I'm still OVERLY excited about my 365 days of photos... I'm having a hard time keeping on top of it. It's not for lack of material, or heart, or anything like that...it's because I've been feeling like straight shit...

I spent all last evening/night in bed because I hurt from head to toe. I'm not sure if it's a virus attacking me, or if I'm plagued by general pregnancy aches...but either way, I want them to stop!

Here I am again today, suffering... My back aches so badly that my stomach begins to hurt... At that point, I don't want to eat...but I force myself to for the sake of our little one. I really, honestly just want to crawl into a hole and sleep for the next 8 weeks. I can't keep going on like this...

So, maybe this weekend I'll find some energy and inspiration to step outside or even to the next room to photograph something and we'll have beautiful pictures posted once again!