A New Mile Marker

Everyone knows about the preggo panel pants and in my eagerness to grow I couldn't resist buying a pair on sale a few months ago. And after trying them on week after week and being disappointed that they didn't quite fit yet I forgot about them until this morning....

And you guessed it they finally fit at 26 weeks!! (Although when I was at the OB last week and they "tape measured" my belly I'm actually measuring at 32 weeks; not surprising since there are 2 buns in the oven.)

And I have to say as excited as I thought I was to wear these, I'm not sure I'm the biggest fan. If I had the expertise I'd re-sew them to my liking. At least I have a few normal pairs of jeans that still fit and I won't be wearing these "panel pants" for too much longer!

On the positive side the big belly makes my legs look really skinny! Which is a feat in itself. Once that belly goes away and I gain back all the muscle I've lost when I start running again those skinny legs will be a thing of the past and I'll be sad to see them go.

Big Changes on the Horizon

So it's been 3 looong months since I've posted anything so hopefully after this post you'll have a better understanding why. There have been 2 major events in my time away.

The first being my sister, Jen's wedding on Friday, August 13 (yes, they purposely picked that day and I'm happy to say it went off without a hitch.) I can't say I'd be so brave to plan any big events on a Friday the 13th but this was a lesson for me to not be so superstitious! I was hoping to have some more/better pictures by now but I don't so you'll have to bear with the ones I have. (And the good ones I do have I stole from Jen's SIL.) I didn't get to take any pictures myself since I had a big role that day as Matron of Honor! Jen was a DIY bride and I'm really disappointed I won't get to share all those details due to the lack of pictures. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to get my hands on some other pictures to share.

Rehearsal Dinner

Joe and his parents




Dave did a reading


Exchanging vows


The married couple!!



The Bridal Party



Father/Daughter dance

And the second MAJOR event is I'm pregnant with TWINS!!! So for the past 6 months I've just been incubating these two:

And growing:

13 weeks 5 days


18 weeks, 5 days(L) 20 weeks (R)


21 weeks, 3 days

13 weeks, 5 days (L) 24 weeks, 2 days (R)

I think it's so funny I was sooo proud of my "bump" at 13 weeks and now I look at that picture and I just laugh!

Time Flies.....when you're really busy

I always find summer to be a busy 3 months and the older I get the faster they go! I don't know if it's because we try to pack them so tight with friends to see and things to do for fear of those 3 precious months passing too quickly or what but we've been enjoying our time doing lots of things that has left me little energy to write about!

We've visited Citi Field twice this year (actually in one week even) and in that same week Dave also had his first visit to the new Yankee stadium with his dad!

They finally put the Apple where it should have been from the start!


Yes, Beth and I waited in line with all the little kids to get our picture with Mr. Met!


Thanks to the hour rain delay and an awesome 3rd inning for the Mets this ended up being an incredibly loooong night!


It was ok though b/c we had awesome seats right behind my favorite player, Jeff Francoeur (at least while Daniel Murphy is still recovering)


The second game was our annual family game and boy we sweat our butts off that day!

I haven't even been able to make anything new lately. I've only made this bracelet for Pirrello which she requested for her birthday.


And after 3 neck breaking nights making this I said to Dave I wish my friends were able to make things for me and what would you know, a week later my friend Cary showed up with this gift for me!

How freakin' cute are these placemats?!?! LOVE them!

And right before we left for vacation we celebrated Dave's 31st Birthday!

This 4th of July was much more enjoyable and relaxing than last year's crazy day!


And HOT!!




Oliver even gave his little performance!

A Beautiful Day for a Beautiful Bride-To-Be

As I posted in the past my little sister is getting married in August [and boy has it crept up fast!] so this past weekend I had a bridal shower for her at our house.

It was a beautiful day with the perfect amount of people that I didn't feel completely overwhelmed! And with the help of a few key people, there was only minimal chaos before most of the people even showed up so the party turned out to be a huge success! Unfortunately since I was so busy I missed meeting a lot of people on the grooms side that I didn't get a chance to meet at the engagement party. But I barely even got to say hi to my own family. In the few big events we've already hosted at our house I've learned (as much as I LOVE hosting) you don't really get to enjoy your time with the guests because you are too busy making sure they are enjoying their time.

Each bridesmaid helped by making a dish


Joe's mom made a beautiful and delicious cake!


the favors (the fans were perfect for the warm day)


The Bridal Party
(L to R; Tracy, Sandy, me, Jen, Katie, Jaime, Rosa, & Becky)

our moms side of the family (L) and our dads side of the family (R)


Joe's family

Jen's friends and bridesmaids

All I hoped for was a nice day for my sister and that she got!

Along with lots and lots of nice presents!

Here are just a few:

One of Joe's mom's gifts were a couple bins of holiday decorations (what a great idea!)


Her China!


Our Auntie crocheted her a blanket


As part of their gift I made them their Christmas tree skirt and stockings and I made Jen a wristlet to use for carrying her essentials on their wedding day. (Photos courtesy of Aunt Rachel b/c my camera crapped out by this point already!) There was also an apron I need to get a picture of. (I was sewing like a mad-woman the last few weeks!)


And this was the beautiful end product of all the unwrapping!

And I need to add a special thank you to my cousins Amanda and Callie for taking my camera hostage and taking all the pictures for me! Otherwise, much like the engagement party, I'd only have 2! And to my Aunt Rachel for always taking pictures (a few of which I borrowed!)

And I will end with a Sangria recipe that I tried for the first time and got rave reviews.

(btw - these beverage dispensers and the tent are the best party investments we made this year; I think almost everyone asked where I got these so I'll let you in on that secret as well; Bed Bath and Beyond but I also just recently saw them at Costco)

Strawberry Sangria

Ingredients:
- 1 bottle (750 ml) of Rosé wine (white zinfandel works well also)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups strawberry lemonade (or strawberry based juice drink)
- 1 cup sliced strawberries (may use frozen strawberries in a pinch)
- 2 cups ginger ale
- I added: raspberries, kiwi

Preparation:
Pour wine in the pitcher and add sliced strawberries (and other optional fruit). Next add sugar, strawberry lemonade and stir gently. Add ginger ale just before serving.
*Chill overnight for best results.