Girl's Trip '12!

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, 3 of my friends and I went on an ALL DAY shopping trip! I mean, we shopped till we literally dropped! We shopped the outlets for 9 straight hours!! Are you kidding me? I cannot tell you the last time I did that! We had no strollers, no babies, no time limit in sight! It was soo nice...and kind of weird!

Now, don't get me wrong, I sorely missed my Harpie and Brian, but, it was such a wonderful and short get-away. Just what the 4 of us needed together!  Maegan, Mary, and Sara went.  We all used to work together at the same school for several years and it was so awesome how we just seemed to instantly connect with one another.  I mean, how many of you can say that about your co-workers?  Well, last year, a few changes happened and we were worried it would affect our friendships.  But what we've learned over this year is that when you have true friends, a little distance won't change anything! Sara now works at a different school and Maegan is staying home with her son, Collins!

After we shopped for 9 hours (silly us, we thought we'd have time for IKEA, too! Nope!) than we checked into our hotel (that we got downtown Cincy...Labor Day weekend...for $75!!!), got ready, and went out! After going to a not-so-hot-place...we found ourselves at the Mynt Martini for some fabulous food and then a nightclub! We danced the night away {or until 11:30...} and then stumbled in our big high heels none of us are used to wearing back to the hotel.  As we fell asleep we giggled and laughed about old memories, new memories, and the thought of all of our steal-deals from the shopping trip!

beginning of the night...

end of the night...

Maegan and Mary

Sara and me

Thanks Ladies! I loved that my first trip away from H & B was with you all!! XOXO

Our last trip together was Spring Break 2008! Um, hi, can I PLEASE be that skinny again?!

{we missed you, Tiff!}

Baby Avery's Shower

This past weekend the girls in my life group hosted our friend, Jordan's, baby shower!  I was so so excited to throw this shower for her.  Jordan and I have been friends since college - and she was even my Big Sister in our sorority!

Here's a few pics from the party.  I didn't get as many as I'd like ~ but hopefully she did!

food had avery's initials flagged in it

bow bouquet

banner with avery's initials and a hairbow holder

guest of honor!

i finally got to meet this cutie! Blakelee is 2 months older than Harper.  Is she not gorgeous or what?!?!

shower hosts

Baby Avery is due in October.  We can't wait to meet her and see Jordan and Nick as parents!!

Harper's New Friends...

Are coming soon!!!! I'm so excited for another baby boom that is going on around me!!!

Harper is about to get a BUNCH of new girlfriends! I'm so excited since most of my friends have boys!!

Here's a few of the little bumps I am allowed to share about... :)

 Harper, Jordan, and Baby Avery Nicole

Harper, Katharine, and Baby girl!

Harper, Mandy, and Baby Kalyn Avery


One of the best things I think is picking your baby name.  A fellow blogger the other day wrote a post on how she ended up with her kid's names.  I just love hearing baby names and think it is just so fun to see how you and your hubby came up with the name! Wouldn't that be a fun link-up?!  I've always said that I would get pregnant again just to use my other names I have stored up!!!

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a great 4th!
We started off with breakfast with the family to celebrate hubby's birthday {my parents will be out of town on his actual day}!

Then we continued on downtown to see all the fun stuff going on! There were TONS of things to do...but even at 10:30am it was smoldering outside, so we decided to not stay very long. In fact, we had plans to take H home to nap and then head to the pool! Well...as it seems our plans go these days... H was in NO mood to nap. So after about 2 hours, I got her down to only get a 30 min. nap. Her darn top teeth are coming in and they are doing a major job on her - much more so than her bottom teeth. So, B decided to hold her for her nap, I tried to lay outside, but alas, it was still just too darn hot!

That night, we went to our friend's Alison & Nick's house for their annual 4th of July party!  It was super fun!

We had to leave before her neighborhood's big fireworks show...but I guess there's a ban on fireworks anyways due to the dryness, so it wasn't that big of a deal! :)


Hope everyone had a great 4th!

PJ Playdate!

Shannon invited us and our friend Danielle and her kids over for a little morning pj playdate before the kids' naps! We had a blast! Thanks!!

Harper & Grady

Tanner, Olivia, Colton, and Grady

Danielle's youngest - Dustin and Harper with Tanner

Dustin and Harper - about 6 weeks apart!

Jen's Wedding!

We've been off to vacation this past week! It was fun, but glad to be in my own home tonight!

We drove to Charleston, SC EARLY {like 330am early} on Saturday morning for my college friend, Jen's, wedding weekend! It was so much fun!

Brian's Mom came up from HHI to see Harper and keep her for us while we attended the rehearsal dinner and wedding over the weekend!

Jen made a beautiful bride! Her locations for the wedding were awesome. If you're familiar with the area; she had her ceremony at The Citadel - so pretty inside, and her reception in The Old Exchange building.

the crew that traveled for the wedding!

my husband: the traditional dance machine with the bride

Charleston is one of my favorite cities, so we were able to very quickly make it to the markets. I had purchased Harper's bow she wears on her monthly pictures in the markets along with several other fun finds.  This trip was no different as Harper came away with a few unique clothing purchases!

Then we left early Monday morning for family vacation!