Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mommies, stepmommies, mommies to be, and dog mommies out there! YOU ARE FABULOUS!!!!
I especially want to  wish MY mom a VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

I was lucky to have seen my mom this weekend. She came in town for a few days of visiting, planting flowers,  shopping, and craft fair hopping! We had a LOT of fun :)

Here is some of our planting work...

Not the best pic.. its from my phone. We planted about 7 planters, a bed up front, and 2 beds in the back. HARD work!

Here is my new wreath for my front door that I just love...

We had a great time at the craft fairs. There was so much baby stuff, but the majority of it was girl! I will find out in 25 days! As soon as I know I am going to get my mom on some embroidery projects!! If it is a boy I just LOVE these for the little man...

If its a girl.. then lots of ruffles, pink, and frill for sure!

This was my fav purchase of the weekend. I bought this at the craft fair. It could be for a BOY -or- a GIRL! 

Its especially special because I LOVE New Kids on the block and I have seen them in concert AND I am going again this summer! Baby M will get to experience NKOTB from the womb. He/she is going to love it!

Another fun purchase... this super cute bassinet... I have been searching for one and this one just fits what I wanted. It has a neutral beige bow for now. Can't wait to put the little munchkin in it!

So I am in SUPER nursery planning mode. I have been saving pics of things I like and writing down ideas for when I can finally get started. I know for sure the type of crib I want. It goes with the theme I am going for. The only way I can describe it is... vintage, timeless, classic. 

This is the Jenny Lind Spindle Crib in white. I am in LOVE with it!

For colors, I want to stay with a neutral beige, white, and then add hints of an aqua blue for BOY or pink for GIRL.

I have so many ideas of things I want to add to the room to complete the look. I will update as I find them.. 

:)

spring fever

Every spring I get the fever to plant flowers and turn my front porch into a springtime paradise. This spring I haven't had to energy to do just that YET. I am also trying to wait until closer to Mother's Day like they say you are supposed to do. My mom is coming in town the first weekend in May and I have already recruited her to help me do it up right. This is probably going to be the last spring in my cute little old house and I want to go all out. I want lots of pretty flower pots, front porch spring decor, and a new wreath for my front door. These pics have inspired me! I am dying to get to hobby lobby and the flower nursery and get started on my project!

One year, I got a LITTLE obsessed with planting some sweet potato vine.. It grew like it was on major steroids. It took over the front porch and keep growing. To this day, my mom tells me every year.. NO POTATO VINE! She came in town that summer and helped me rip it out. It actually rooted some BIG potatoes. It was quite hilarious! This pic was taken by a downtown Rogers photographer during that time and was for sale at a local art shop. I thought it was so neat that my front porch was photographed. I love this pic! I have it framed and in my living room so I can always remember that summer!

:)

Happy Spring!

Tucker & 14 weeks

Happy 6th Birthday TUCKER!

April 25th is my little boy's birthday. He is one special pup for sure. I got Tucker when I first moved to Rogers. I knew a few people when I first moved here, but still needed a little buddy to keep my company. I never would have chosen a male dog, but when I walked into the puppy store that day in  June of 05', a little white furball stole me heart. He was a crazy little puppy who liked to chew window sills and door jams, and mark his spot all over my little apartment, but he has since grown up. 

He has lots of names...Tuck Tuck, Tucky, Tucker Bear, Monkey, Monk Monk, Ruck.

 He has lots of funny little "Tuckerisms" that make him so unique.  

He only eats when people are home. He will go 12 hours without eating a single bite if no one is home.

He barks like crazy at ANY animals on TV. He even recognizes the tunes of certain commercials that include animals and he runs into the living room to bark at them. He then looks out the front door window to see if they are here somewhere. {He only does this when Mama is home, because he knows he would get in trouble if Dad was at home!} He barks all big and tough but he is really a big chicken!

He walks around at night with a certain toy in his mouth and paces the living room, as if to be trying to find the perfect place to put his toy to rest for the night.

He loves to cuddle and his favorite place is right next to you with his little head on your pillow. 

He hates it when people leave in the morning, or any time at that matter. He will give you a very pitiful look and shake, just hoping you will feel sorry enough for him and stay at home.

Doesn't this look just break your heart?

He is a Mama's boy all the way {but he loves his daddy too ;)}

I foresee some jealously in the future when baby comes into the picture. I am not sure Tucker is going to handle it very well!

Happy Birthday Tucker Bear!!!!

~14 weeks~

Today I am 14 weeks!

Little Marbury can already suck his/her thumb and move his/her little toes!

6 more weeks until we find out the sex!

Nothing new to report...but I am slowly getting a little energy back. It's my day off today and I was up at 7:30 this am and didn't want to lay in bed for hours and hours... so thats a big improvement!

Will keep you updated! Hoping to feel the little one move around in the next few weeks!

fun and food filled weekend....

I am resting up this am after a busy, but fun filled weekend!  I wish I had pics to showcase, but I didn't think about it :(
Friday, we took Melissa, her cousin, and friend to eat at Bariola's. Mmmm. Their pizza is awesome and their spaghetti is delicious!! Then we went over to fast lanes and let the kids enjoy some games and laser tag while we bowled a few games.
Saturday, we went to a garage sale just down the road. The proceeds went to the training center at our church {Fellowship} I scored 2 pairs of designer jeans for 1 dollar each!! YAY! I have to wear a belly band with them though ;) I just love finding bargains!
Saturday afternoon we went to my friend Emilys' daughter's bday party. Austyn turned 1! It was so cute and boy did she LOVE her cake!!!
Saturday night we worked on some housework and I made dinner. I have made these a couple of times and both times they were a big hit!

Crunchy Whole Grain Chicken Bites

1 lb chicken tenders

dry ranch dressing mix (or italian works too)

1 egg white

6 cups of whole grain chips (sun chips)

{or I used bran cereal flakes this time}

1/4 tsp paprika

vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut chicken tenders into 1 and 1/2 in. pieces. 

In a resealable plastic bag, crush chips or cereal and add paprika and dressing mix.

Coat chicken in egg white and then coat in chip/cereal/dressing mix mixture.

Place chicken bites on a cookie sheet or baking pan and spritz with cooking spray.

Bake 14-16 minutes.

Serve with ranch dressing or other desired dipping sauce!

* I served these with the homestyle mac and cheese. YUM!!

Sunday we had a lunch and easter egg hunt planned with our new neighbors. We brought dessert and a fruit salad and they made pizzas on the grill. They were OMG good!

This was our first experience with pizzas on the grill. I can't wait to try them myself sometime!

They made their own dough and formed little personal sized pizzas. They also made their own pizza sauce, which was delish! To make.. you coat one side of the dough with olive oil and a little salt and grill it. You then take that off the grill, coat the other side with olive oil/salt. Next, you cover the already grilled side with the sauce and your desired toppings and cheese. Then put the pizza back on the grill, grilling the side that was just coated with olive oil. Grill until cheese melted and underneath is grilled to your desire. Then, dig in!!!!

Since the day was so beautiful, we decided to stay outside for a bit and enjoy the weather. We took Tucker to a local dog park. He was not even the slightest big interested in the other dogs there. He just ran around and sniffed everything and marked his spot on every tree there. O well! He is not the best socializer. 

After that, we walked around Lake Atalanta in Rogers. 

{short nap time}

Then, I decided to teach Melissa how to make dinner! She always loves helping me in the kitchen, but I wanted to leave it all up to her this time. I was there to supervise and instruct. She did really well! 

We had Garlic and cheese biscuits, cheese tortellini and sauce, and a salad. I look forward to teaching her how to do more things in the kitchen :)

Now its back to work to play pharmacist :)

peachy!

13 weeks! 

Baby's now the size of a peach!

Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient.

It's so crazy to think that I have a little peach-sized human growing inside of me. Wow. beautiful. 

Little peach, I can't wait to know if you are a BOY or a GIRL so I can start calling you by name!

Patrick and I have had names picked out since the first time we ever even talked about babies :) We liked the idea of having the baby's initials matching our initials.... PCM for boy, after Patrick Charles Marbury & KJM after Kimberly Jones Marbury.

Most people already know our names, so I might as well share with all....

If it is a BOY.... Preston Chase Marbury

If it is a GIRL... Kennedy Jewel Marbury  (Jewel was Patricks' grandfather's name)

only like 48 days til' we find out!

Here is the first belly pic! I took it right before 13 weeks. Not much there yet.. but it is starting :) ... { and there is little Tuck in the background}

Ironically, I am watching to TODAY show as I am blogging and the topic is about pregnant moms sharing too much on the internet! I hope that I am not sharing too much! I love being able to write about this wonderful and beautiful experience...especially for the friends and family that do not live close to me. 

Don't worry, I will leave all the not so glorious details to myself!

:)

all things happy!

Just a few updates on what's been going on lately. I have been so utterly exhausted lately, so blogging has taken the back seat. I am hoping to find some energy and spunk here very soon!!

I am 12 weeks today! Baby is the size of a plum today. No belly pics yet! I am not quite showing yet, but will take some pics soon :)

Everyone tells me that I am going to feel GREAT and have a lot more energy in the second trimester. I am waiting on that day! I am still so exhausted, I live for naps! I wish I could take one at work on my long days but I know that would NOT go over too well.  I am hungry all of the time! I do good most of the time and make healthy snack choices but the urge for pizza kills me from time to time :) Baby M is going to be a pizza lover when he or she is older for sure! 

Now that the weather is nicer I am going to try to get outside and enjoy it. I like to go for walks and really like to ride my bike, but not sure that is the safest thing right now. 

I am still able to fit into my regular clothes but some of my pants are getting a little snug and uncomfortable. Picking out work outfits is becoming a daily chore.

I keep seeing all these fun cute spring/summer outfits in the stores and online and I want to go on a shopping spree!! BUT, I have to remember that I probably won't be fitting into most of them before long. {sigh} I am keeping my eyes open for cute and stylish maternity clothes or regular clothes that allow for a little "bumpage."   :) I have found some good fun things on ebay!

I love this fun, floral, flowy dress from the Liz Lange Maternity line at Target.

Tonight Patrick and I have date night and are celebrating a healthy first trimester. We are grilling out steaks at home (YUM!) 

Another fun thing going on in our family.. Melissa made cheer! We are so very proud of her! She is going to be in the 8th grade at Southwest Junior High School next year. OMG!

She made the cheerleading squad a few weeks ago and has already started practice! They are having practices and a cheer camp throughout the summer and then in August for a couple of weeks before school starts, they will even have 2-a-days (practices twice a day). O my!

She is super excited! The girls on her squad call her "short stuff" because she is one of the littlest girls. She is going to be a "flyer." This makes P and I a little nervous, but I am sure she is in good hands.

We are looking forward to watching her cheer on her school's football and bball teams come fall. :)

Melissa also tried out for choir at SJHS and made it! She is going to be one busy girl!

She makes us proud!

On another note... we still have our 2 houses. We are still in the process of trying to sell the house we are in now. We had an open house this past weekend and had a few lookers. I also showed it Monday to someone who seemed pretty interested. I just keep praying the right buyer comes along. I would love to be in our other home by this summer so I have some time to plan Baby M's nursery and get all settled in before he or she arrives! 

P has been making some great progress on our other home renovation project. He has had some help from some guys at work and they have really knocked some projects out! I am proud of him and all the great work they have done! Hopefully I can post some pics for you soon!

and the journey begins....

So as you just recently found out, I am pregnant! Patrick and I are expecting a little baby Marbury in October. I wanted to share a little bit about our journey so far :)

We found out about our little bean in early February. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the 2 lines on the pregnancy test, so I had to take 5, yes 5! just to make sure :)

We went to the doctor on Valentine's Day and they confirmed that we were in fact pregnant!!

We had a special dinner already planned at Ruth's Chris steak house for Valentine's day but we had 2 reasons to celebrate that night! Here is a picture from that night.

Here is the first picture of my little bean... this was around 5 and 1/2 weeks.

I wanted to call my mom right away and share the good news, but we decided it would be more special to tell  our families in person....so we came up with the idea of wearing fun t-shirts to reveal the exciting news.

Patrick designed and made our shirts. We planned a trip to visit my parents and wore our shirts underneath jackets. When we arrived, we we just getting settled in and talking and then I said, " Hey, we want to show you something that Patrick made for us." We took our jackets off and it took a minute but my mom screamed in excitement! Everyone was very happy! It was a fun reveal :)

The day we got back home, we had a dinner planned with Patrick's family. We did the same thing for them and they were so excited and surprised too!

Melissa is so excited to be a big sister! She loves babies and is so good with them! Some of my girlfriends are already hitting her up for babysitting jobs and she loves it! She is going to be a wonderful big sister and a BIG help too! ;)

These first weeks have really flown by. I have had some nausea but nothing overwhelming. I've learned how to keep it under control by eating snacks throughout the day and making sure my belly never gets empty. 

My cravings so far: FRUIT, pizza, anything with marinara sauce, chocolate milk.

My biggest obstacle right now is exhaustion! I am ready to have some energy back! Today I am 11 weeks,1 day. The baby is the size of a lime!

We had our first big OB appt this past Wednesday and we were able to hear baby's heartbeat! Baby had a strong heartbeat and it was so incredible to hear it. Its really amazing to know there is a little life growing in my belly. Doc said everything looked picture perfect :) My due date is October 20. October is my favorite month!

We are very eager to find out baby Marbury's gender. We have to wait until June 2nd to find out. 

So far, Patrick has said he just has a "feeling" that it is a BOY. 

When we told my Granny, she looked at Patrick and said, "Its a BOY," just like she just knew for sure.

I took a silly gender prediction test for fun and it said it was a BOY.

Chinese Lunar Calendar says its a BOY.

So far everything leads to BOY!

Of course, we would be happy with a boy or a girl!

Just a couple more months and we will know :) I can hardly wait to be able to call baby by his/her name and start buying some cute baby stuff!

March Adventure

Patrick and I just got back home from a whirlwind trip all over the world. Ok not the world but it felt like it was. We left on Monday, March 14th and arrived back home on Sunday, March 20.  The reason for taking this trip was to sell our fish and ski boat to a guy that lives in Canada. RANDOM huh? This trip had been in the making for months. We agreed to drive our boat up to the border to meet the guy who was buying the boat and he in return agreed to pay for some of our travel expenses. We decided to make an adventure out of it! So here is a summary of our trip!
Our first stop was in Indianapolis..we didn't see anything but the hotel we stayed in. It was halfway between Buffalo, NY which is where we were meeting up.
On our second day of driving we stopped of to see Lake Erie. It was an awesome sight. I had never seen any of the great lakes before. I was amazed at how large it was, it looks just like an ocean! It was still frozen which was  incredible to see.

After 2 days of driving, we ended up in Buffalo, NY. We stayed on the outskirts of Buffalo and then met our boat buyer the next day. All went well with the transaction! We were very excited to say goodbye to the boat ( well I was!) For P it was a little bittersweet. On Wednesday we ventured into downtown Buffalo, NY to try out the famous ANCHOR BAR. It is supposedly the home of the original buffalo wing. It was super yum and we were so glad we stopped there. Here is a funny pic of us in chicken wing hats!

Niagra Falls is only about 30 minutes away from Buffalo, NY. Everyone has said that the Canada side was way better, so we ventured across the border into Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada and stayed for the night. We had a room with an amazing view of the falls. It is a very touristy town with lots of shopping, great restuarants, and a casino. I am not big on gambling but we decided to spend $20 each at the casino and I was lucky! I put my money into 2 different slot machines ( one of which was named "HEE HAW" ;) and won 90 dollars right away! I cashed out and ran with it! 

The falls on the Canada side are STUNNING! Words can't describe how powerful and amazing they are. It was great to just stand there in awe and listen to the roar of the falls. We got some great pics!

This time of year, there is still lots of ice as you can see in the last picture. The only thing I wish we could have done is take a boat up to the falls, but they do not run this time of year. 

After Niagra Falls, we headed up to Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is a BIG city of about 2.5 million people. It was a little like NYC.. busy busy busy and cabs everywhere! It was St Patricks Day and people were lined up around corners since the morning to get into the Irish Pubs in town. We didn't get to spend too much time in Toronto and it was really cold so we didn't get to do or see a whole lot. 

All in all, Canada is much like the US. They have a lot of the same restaurants and stores, but many different ones too. Canada is VERY expensive!! We ate at an IHOP one morning and our tab was a shocking $50. It would have been about $15 in the US. 

Canada is also on the metric system so that brought much confusion! The highway signs are all in kilometers or meters, and kilometers per hour. The thermostats are in Celsius. Kind of crazy. 

We enjoyed our Canadian adventure! Our last big stop was CHICAGO!! It was my first time to visit the windy city and I had several missions to accomplish in our short time there...

1. Eat a real Chicago style hot dog

2.  Stroll down Michigan Ave/Magnificent Mile and buy myself a treat!

3. Take a trolley tour of the city

4. Eat some amazing Chicago style pizza!

I was able to accomplish all 4 of my missions in just a matter of about 9 hours. We left Chicago full and happy but VERY EXHAUSTED. What a fun place! It is so fast paced and busy like any other BIG city. There is so much to see and take in. I loved Michigan Ave, but wish I could have had some more spending money to really do it justice! I could have done some damage so it was good we only had one day there. :) The food is yummy! I wish I could have tried more of it. 

Here are some highlights from Chicago...

On this trip, we logged about 2400 miles of driving, drove through 8 states and another country,  stayed in 6 different hotels, saw 4 of the 5 great lakes, and saw one of the natural wonders of the world!!

We are grateful for the opportunity to go on such a fun trip but it was so good to get back home last night.

Car travel can be tiring and its always good to get home to your own comfy bed! I wish I had more time to rest before going back to work but I have to go back in just a couple of hours. :(

Have a great week!

teeny hint of spring and a little goodbye

Even though its dreary, cold and rainy outside, I can't help but get a little excited about springtime! My forsythia is blooming and my tulips are sprouting. Two of my favorite things about spring! I wish these were pics from my yard.. but they are just pics I found online. :)

 There is only one thing about spring that I do not look forward to...
SPRING CLEANING!
I really don't like to clean anytime of the year. I can "tidy up" or "de-clutter" a room anytime but deep cleaning it is a different story. I have to be REALLY really really bored to want to do that. I usually call on my bestie who LOVES to clean and she helps me out when needed :) ( I pay her of course!)
We are also starting a spring cleaning program at work soon and we will be in a competition with the other stores in our community. Gee, sounds fun! I am actually better at keeping my workspace clean more so than my home. I guess because I spend MORE time at work than I do at home. I am always disinfecting counter tops at work in fear that I will catch all the bugs my patients have. It won't be too bad.


On another note, we made the decision last week to give Izzie, the dachshund/beagle mix dog to another family. We tried it for a few months and it just didn't work out the way we wanted it to. She was a super sweet dog and very loving but she was still very much puppy and drove us as well as Tucker ( who is almost 6!) crazy! He was always trying to get away from her as she liked to chew on him and chase him everywhere. She was also a chewer of anything and a digger. Bittersweet goodbye. Things are much calmer and quieter around the Marbury house now. Izzie went to a sweet young couple who just adored her. She will have a little companion to play with too.

Goodbye Izzie..we hope you are loving your new home and new mom and dad!!

treasure!

After work today I was in the mood to run around and check out some a couple of antique stores in downtown Rogers.  I stumbled across this super cute treasure that I couldn't live without. The best part was that it was only 10.00!! What a steal! :)

It is an old pewter bird cage. 

Now.. what to do with it? I have to find the perfect place for it. That's the really exciting part! I searched the internet for ideas and came across these pics for possible inspiration...

You don't have to do much to make a cute display.. bird cages make a statement on their own just simply sitting on a shelf, bookcase, or accent table. I love the pewter color of it now, but would also LOVE it in a bright funky color too!

OR, maybe save it for a nursery one day? what a cute idea...

I love finding treasures!

What I Made Monday

Just a quick little post about what I made last night for dinner. I was introduced to this recipe by my bestie, Tiff. It is a Southern Living recipe and sure to please! It is very simple and can be made ahead.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Our poppy seed chicken recipe is a Southern Living stand-out. It's easy to prepare and loaded with rich flavor.
Prep: 10 min., Bake: 40 min.

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3  cups  chopped cooked chicken
• 1  (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1  (16-oz.) container sour cream
• 3  teaspoons  poppy seeds
• 31  round buttery crackers, crushed
• 1/4  cup  butter, melted

Preparation

1. Combine first 4 ingredients. Spoon mixture into lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.

2. Stir together cracker crumbs and melted butter; sprinkle evenly over casserole.

3. Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Keebler Town House crackers.

IN LOVE!

I am IN LOVE with my new desk! :) It was finally shipped to me a few days ago and we just finished putting everything all together late Friday night.  It came in 2 huge heavy boxes in a bajillion pieces and came with a 30 page manual...but it was sooo worth it. It has cubby holes, drawers, & a filing drawer! I know its silly to get so excited about a piece of furniture but I just can't help it. I have spent the majority of the weekend getting everything in its perfect place... from my many fun colorful paper clips and highlighters to my stationary and post-it notes.  So here is my new desk... it is in the sun room for now until we sell this house.

The sun room is one of my favorite rooms in my house. It is now a multi-purpose room as it serves as an office, the room where the dog bed and toys are, and a place to get comfy and read a good book.  I will miss this room so much when we move.

Another thing I did this weekend was FINALLY put my wedding shadow box together.  My friend, Angela bought i for me as a wedding gift for our wedding celebration in October. She had it engraved & it reads... "Kim and Patrick   October 30, 2009." 

I wish I had more memorabilia from that night but I added some pictures, our invitation, and a couple of other cute things and I love how it turned out...

I had a pretty productive weekend! I love my weekends off, just wish I had more of them.

I also found time this weekend for some other fun....

Dixie, my bestie's dog turned 8 and she threw her a dog birthday party. It was super cute and I think about 7 dogs came, including my boy, Tucker. The girls enjoyed some yummy food compliments of Tiff and the dog shared some doggy cake. They had a ball. Here is the birthday girl...

Happy Birthday Dixie!

After the party, I took Melissa and some friends to see Justin Bieber's movie, "Never Say Never." I honestly REALLY enjoyed it! It was a great movie about how Justin got started, his family, and life on tour. He is a sweetie. I might just have bieber fever now ;)