33 Weeks Today...

Good Morning Friends...

 

I hope you all had a terrific Easter!! We spent the weekend up at our cottage...it was our 1 year anniversary of  purchasing it and we had hoped to spend it with both of our children, but with Hannah not being able to travel that far, and our son being busy with work, it ended up being just me, John and Cooper.

 

We drove up very early on Friday and it was absolutely gorgeous out...sunny and high 40's. John did a little ice fishing since there was still over three feet of ice on the lake!! I stayed inside the cottage with the fire roaring and worked on a couple of new cross stitch designs. It was very relaxing, just what the two of us needed!!

 

We had intended on staying until Monday, but it turned pretty cold so we decided to head back home on Sunday. We stopped on the way back to spend a little time with Hannah and (her) John's family and had a wonderful time and a delicious Easter dinner.

 

You will be happy to hear that Hannah is doing GREAT!!! She is 33 weeks today and at her appointment last week Friday they finally got some wonderful news!! Her test results came back negative, which means at least two weeks more without delivering...that means that she will be at 34 weeks and 2 days at her next appointment and almost to that crucial 35 week mark!!! YAHOOOOO!!!!! Her DR. also told her that if she were very careful, she could get out on nice days and walk ONCE around the block if she wanted to...and of course she is!!! She is still on bed rest other than her daily walk, but we couldn't be happier with the way things are progressing for her! Thank you again...EVERYONE...for your thoughts and prayers, emails, etc. It has helped us all get through a very difficult time and I am truly grateful to all of you!!

 

On the 23rd we had Hannah's baby shower. What a fun time!! Hannah got permission from her DR. to attend and everything turned out beautifully. Baby's other Grandma did most of the work since the shower was up there, but I did what I could in between running back and forth to help Hannah and all of my work here. I did however manage to get a couple of cute projects done for the shower...here are a couple of photos for you...

 

This was taken before any guests arrived...we were still decorating...notice they brought down a nice, soft chair for Hannah to sit in.

We chose a mint green and pale yellow color scheme and I found some great white and green table cloths. See those cute little "diaper" favors??? I got that idea from Pinterest. I am sorry that I don't have a close up for you, but I purchased three pieces of flannel (a pale yellow print, mint green print, and a solid white) and cut them into a shape that when folded, looked like a little diaper. I fused the back side of the fabric with fusible interfacing to make them easier to cut out, and it also gave them a little stiffness so they wouldn't lose their shape and then pinned them together with little one inch long safety pins. I even painted the heads of the pins with yellow and white nail polish to give them the look of actual "old fashioned diaper pins" with the colored plastic heads...I popped one of those paper cupcake cups into each diaper and filled them with pastel mints and they turned out very cute! Thank you again Pinterest!!

My baby posing in front of the cake. (Just long enough for me to snap a shot) Poor little thing was hesitant to be in any pictures because she is so puffy from bed rest and has dark circles under eyes from lack of any good sleep, but I thought she looked BEAUTIFUL and I am so proud of how she has done everything her DR. has asked of her these past months.

Grandma Jeanne came up with this idea...she brought in some wonderful old books...some that belonged to John when he was little...some Teddy Bears (old and new) and we did a drawing for $25.00 gift cards. Anyone who brought a pack of diapers to the shower could get in on it. This table was so full by the time everyone arrived that we had to pile the overflow on the floor!

She found the little buggy at a thrift store... how cute!

These belonged to John when he was little.

For the center pieces on the tables, I filled baby bottles with pastel colored candies and tied balloons to them then we placed a teddy by each bottle. I wish I had a better picture of this...they were just darling.

More ideas from Pinterest on the cake table...I made "Cake Pops" for the first time and even though I was very skeptical while making them as to whether or not they would turn out (I am NOT a baker)...everyone loved them. I also made the "Fruity Pebbles" lolly pop treats (another Pinterest idea) and Jeanne made the white chocolate dipped strawberries.

Here is the cake that I designed especially for Hannah. It was made by Manderfield's Bakery in Appleton, WI. I chose a lemon cake with raspberry swirl center and white cream frosting...I can honestly say that I have NEVER had a more delicious cake in my entire life!

Hannah has always loved elephants and she doesn't like a lot of fru-fru, so I wanted the cake to be simple. Isn't it just ADORABLE? Everyone loved it!! I couldn't have been happier with the end result. They made it exactly like I had envisioned it. :) It looks small, but we had almost forty guests show up and everyone had a piece...we even had enough left over for the "guys" when they came back to help us clean up.

 

It was a really fun day, but very tiring for Hannah. They got so many wonderful gifts and are now completely set for our little "Nugget" (as they are calling baby) to arrive IN MAY...when baby is actually due. :)

 

Well everyone, I have to get going, so as always, thanks so much for stopping by!! Now that Hannah is doing better and I am able to stay home more, I hope to get back into the swing of things around here and will try to post a little more often.

 

Before I sign off though...I have had numerous emails from folks asking about my new Christmas book...I will be posting a few "sneak peek" photos late this month, so please be a little more patient with me, OK? I will also be posting ordering info at that time...as of right now, I am not yet taking orders or reserving copies...so very sorry...but I truly appreciate your patience in this matter. :)

 

Enjoy your day everyone!!

 

Until next time...Tina