Showers of Happiness

On Saturday, my good friends Jamye and Wendy hosted a shower luncheon at the Viva Restaurant in West Reading. It was a nice gathering of all my girlfriends celebrating the "soon to be" arrival of baby Kara. The food was very good and gifts were very generous.

Wendy, me & Jamye

Wendy showed off her talent with creating awesome invitations, menus and favors. I still haven't seen the invite (hopefully someone saved one!) but I've seen her work for past showers and just know it was beautiful! I was surprised to see a menu that she printed out for everyone showing in detail what the appetizers, entrees and desserts were. The favors (see picture above) were so creative and cute as can be! Thanks Wendall for all your hard work-everything looked great!
The Cute Menu!

Jamye came up with a few games (unique ones might I add!) and we all had fun participating. The first game was called He said/She said- this is where she asked Chris and I to answer the same questions about parenting and the girls had to guess who said which answer. It was a tricky game because my darling husband surprised us all with answers that the girls thought I had said! The second game was called 'The Price Is Right'- baby item version! Jamye had a few items she bought (ie- hangers, baby wash, etc) and the girls had to guess the price of each one and then give her a total...the closest to the actual price wins. Both Wendy and Jen were VERY good at these games!! Thanks Jammers for the putting together the games- you definitely have a hidden talent that you should embrace more- maybe we should start our own event business? ;)

"The Price Is Right!" (GO JEN!)

I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends. They all took time out of their busy schedules and lives to spend the afternoon with me and baby Kara. Each and every one of you has touched my life in your own special way and I am so lucky to have your support and love! Thanks again for a beautiful shower (even if the weather was almost 100 degrees!). Baby Kara is going to be the best dressed little girl in town!

Kara is already spoiled!!

Jen and me

Lily (Jen's daughter)- she was our entertainment for the day!

Cecelia (Candi's oldest daughter), me & Candi (not pictured- baby Ava)

Kathy, me & Tina

Lauren & me

ONLY 2 MORE WEEKS TO GO!

Garden Party ~ 2008

With having to visit the DOB (doctors office building) at the Reading Hospital every week, I saw the Garden Party being advertised everywhere! I've been wanting to do more one on one things with Ryan before the baby comes and this sounded like it would be something Ryan would enjoy doing. So with the help of my cousin, Sahira, we headed over to the beautiful Reading Museum (located across from the Reading Hospital) today for some good 'ole fair fun.

We started out with Ryan's 1st pony ride. He was very excited to climb on the "horsey" and I was surprised at how well he handled riding the pony without me next to him! Check out our cute little cowboy!

After the pony ride, it was lunch time. A fun time at a fair wouldn't be complete without the fair food! We were lucky to get some fresh fruit along with the burgers, hot dogs and fries!

We ended our short stay (it was very hot today!) with Ryan checking out the ducks and beautiful garden flowers. I think the highlight of Ryan's day was seeing the "duckies!" Next year, I am sure he will be begging to go on the rides and get his face painted. It was a nice time and I can't thank Sahira enough for all her help. Hopefully she will be available next year too when there are two little ones! :)

The Garden Party will be open again tomorrow June 4th until 9pm. There is a rain date of Thursday, June 5th if the rain decides to stick around all day tomorrow. Check it out if you get a chance! It has Ryan's seal of approval! :)

Happy June!

Happy June everyone! Wow...where did the last 6 months go? Here comes SUMMER! I've had the song, "June is busting out all over..." in my head all day. Ok, all my Broadway loving friends...Name That Musical!

Today was my LAST day at work. I can't believe I'm done. I was actually kinda sad to leave...I didn't cry but I will definitely miss this field of work. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't always a piece of cake and getting yelled at on a daily basis was starting to get old, but there is something about helping people that I love doing. I haven't found "my true calling" in life (aka the perfect job) yet, but I know it will involve helping others. So with that said, GOOD BYE LEASING...hello motherhood again... :)

I also hit 37 weeks pregnant today. Only 3 more weeks to go and let me tell ya, I am ready to have my body back!!! Argg...the last month of pregnancy is very hard. Sitting, standing, walking, sleeping, etc. are all becoming nearly impossible to do. Especially sleep- it's crazy how your body can adjust to the lack of sleep. With Ryan still attending school 3 days a week, I am looking forward to taking some much needed naps! Ok- enough pregnancy venting for now.

Update on Kara- everything went well at my last appt. Her heartbeat sounded very strong and she seems to be growing at a nice steady pace. My blood pressure is fine, strep-b test came back negative, and I am still measuring where I should be. Now my weight, arggg, that's another story. I need to lay off the oreos!! ha! No seriously, I have gained as much as I did with Ryan's pregnancy. Which surprised me because I didn't eat nearly as many sweets with his! So it hasn't been bad, I just feel a lot "bigger" this time around.

I also had a conversation with Dr. Feio about my delivery with Ryan and he seems to be pushing c-section. I do not want to go down this route but I know that if it has to be done, it has to be done. Luckily, I am doing well enough that I could start labor naturally and if a c-section is necessary, then they will do it then. I also do not want to be induced this time around...cross your fingers I won't have to go through that as well! Our next visit is on Friday (6/6- I see the doctors every week now) and we are getting an ultrasound done to check the fluid levels. I am excited to see Kara (here's hoping she didn't grow another body part since March!!!) and hopefully I will get a nice picture that I can post.

Introducing...

Ava Marion Johnson

Welcome to the world Ava! Khalil and Candi welcomed their little Ava on Friday, May 23rd at 8:19pm. Ava weighed a hefty 9lbs. 5.5 oz and was 21 inches long! Wow!...and check out all that hair on her baby photo! She is absolutely beautiful and we couldn't be more happy for Khalil and Candi. Ryan and I went over to visit the baby today. (Thanks again for lunch Khalil- it was very sweet of you to also take Ryan for a nature walk around the grounds!) Not only was I excited to see Ava but the visit was also a test. I was very curious to see how Ryan would act around a newborn. To my surprise, he was very well behaved and gentle with her. He didn't seem to care when she cried and even held her for a little at the end of our visit. Candi was nice to take a few photos...enjoy! (and yes the visit only made me more anxious to meet our baby Kara!)

Ryan with baby Ava- too cute!

Bobbi and baby Ava

(could my tummy get any bigger?)

Happy Memorial Day!

Today we honor all our service men and women for their couragious duty in serving our county. So many have died over the years fighting for the Freedom that is America. I served 8 years in the Army Reserves and this day will always have a special meaning in my heart. I was lucky to have avoided serving in a war, but my cousin, Jess did serve a year in Iraq. Thank God she came back unharmed. God Bless all the families of service men/women who have lost their lives serving our great country! We salute you!

Memorial Day is also a fun filled day with Bobbi's family. Every year (tradition!) we attend a picnic held at Nanie & Pop-Pop Delp's house. This year was especially nice because the weather couldn't have been more perfect! In years past, Memorial Day is either too wet or too cold! It is always nice to get together with family that you don't get to see much during the rest of the year. Ryan especially loved playing with all his cousins! Another tradition I've started is taking a picture of all the kiddies. It is neat to see how much they've grown each year! This year we also got all my sisters and brother together with our dad for a picture too. My parents are the proud grandparents of (soon-to-be) 11 grandkids! William is 10, son of Billi-Jo...Andres is 10, step-son of Rich...Madison is 8, daughter of Tara...Ian is 7, son of Bambi-Jo...Autumn is 6, daughter of Bambi-Jo...Billy is 6, son of Tara...Ethan is 4, son of Bambi-Jo...Joey is 3, son of Rich...Ryan is 2, son of Bobbi-Jo...Owen is 5 months old, son of Bambi-Jo...and baby Kara will join the family soon!

Enjoy the pics and I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend! :)

2007 Memorial Picnic

(top- Madison, William, Andres)

(middle- Billy, Ian, Autumn)

(bottom- Ryan, Ethan, Joey)

2008 Memorial Day

(top- William, Madison, Ian, Billy)

(bottom- Autumn, Ethan, Joey, Ryan, baby Owen)

Dad with his kids!

(Bambi-Jo, me, Dad, Tara, Billi-Jo, Rich)

one proud mama

Yesterday I had Ryan's last parent/teacher conference. I know, I know...what are you talking about? Ryan is only 2.5 years old??! I have to admit, the first time we had a conference when he was in the "tweenie" room, I thought the idea was a little crazy. But after leaving that 1st conference, I had a better understanding of where our son was developmentally. There were areas that he excelled in and some areas that needed some work. Ryan moved to the "toddler" room Sept. of last year and has had Miss April for his teacher since then. The Goddard School has a grading scale of N (not exhibiting) S (sometimes) and A (always). We had his first conference with Miss April in November and at the time, there were a good amount of areas that were marked "N" because he was one of the youngest in his class. The biggest was in his Language Arts section. After meeting with Miss April yesterday, I am happy to report that he has made a huge improvement in this field. Over the last few months, we noticed his language skills increase a lot. It's like he flipped a switch one day and decided to talk to us in sentences. He still has a "gibberish" kinda talk, but we are hoping this will clear up after seeing an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. The two areas that Ryan has always excelled in are Creative Art and Social Sciences. Nothing but "A's" across the board! Miss April made some wonderful comments on his report card. She stated that "he is a joy to have in her class, his smile is contagious and his friends love him! Ryan loves to sing songs, build with blocks and play in the dramatic play areas. His interest in learning has grown immensely!" At this point in his young life, he seems to be following in his mommy's footsteps with art and music. But he does have a good amount of Daddy in him too. He is obsessed with how things work and building/fixing things. He truly is a good mixture of us both (in his appearance and his personality). We couldn't be more proud of our little guy!

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The Countdown Continues....

The baby ticker on the side bar states 30 days to go! We are finally in the 9th month and baby Kara could decide to come any day now! We would prefer her to stay in for at least another 2 weeks (even better...just come on her actual due date 6/22) so we can finish up everything that needs to be done. I am now extremely uncomfortable and in the last week have had some signs of the baby preparing for delivery. We are currently at 1 cm dialated but I am not worried about that because we were stuck at 1 cm with Ryan for over a month! I believe Kara has also "dropped" because I am able to breath easier and it looks like I am carrying lower now, along with tons of pressure down there. I keep reminding myself that when she arrives, all the yucky pregnancy symptoms will be well worth it! We can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy!

Weekend in Review and...

ANOTHER COUNTDOWN BEGINS!


Today marks only 2 weeks of work left! June 1st is my last day with Madison Apartment Group. I plan to stay home for at least one year with Kara as I did with Ryan (with the exception of a part-time job working some nights and weekends- still not sure what that might be yet?). In Jan. '07, I decided to go back to leasing apartments and have been working in this field for the last year and a half. It was a very difficult decision to start Ryan in daycare, but the Goddard School put those many anxieties to rest. I absolutely love their curriculum (Ryan has a structured day just like he would in Kindergarten someday) along with the fact that they teach him Spanish and Sign Language!
Ryan loves "school" and I do feel bad for taking him out now (he is done the end of July) but hopefully we find a really neat pre-school (something that won't break the bank!!!) this fall.

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Community Yard Sale ~ 2008

Saturday (5/17) was the Annual CTCA Community Yard Sale. We live in a development that has over 100+ houses and this was our 3rd year participating in the yard sale. Our Community Association puts it together and only asks everyone to donate a small percentage of our sales to go towards a fund for future family events. This year was another success. We didn't make a ton of money, ok maybe enough to fill up a tank of gas, but we did get rid of a lot of little things that were just clutter in the house! :)
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~Welcome Home Clouser Family!~

Our good friends, Jen & Brent Clouser just moved into their new house this weekend! They sold their 3 bedroom starter home and bought this 4 bedroom BEAUTIFUL home in Exeter. It is located right down the street from the Exeter Township schools (Reiffton & Jr. High). It has a 2 car garage, spacious floorplan, fenced in back yard and awesome deck! The previous owners (the house is only 4 years old) were very clean and had painted the house in nice neutral colors so they were able to move right in! Their daughter, Lily, is very excited about the new house and loves that she has a playroom for all her toys now! Ryan and I went over today to see the house and I was amazed how clean this house really was!! Ryan loved playing with Lily (teaching her that hiding in closets are tons of fun all the while giving Jen a heart attack when she couldn't find the kids!- gotta love boys!) and I loved just being able to hang out with Jen & Brent. With living on the "other side of town" now, we don't get too many opportunites to see all our friends in Exeter. I really miss living there!! While we were gone, Chris was hard at work on Ryan's Big Boy Room! He only has to work on the new shelving for Ryan's closet and install new doors. The furniture arrives on June 5th- can't wait to see it all come together soon! Look for an update once the room is finished--hopefully before Kara decides to arrive! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is MOMMY DAY!! I hope all the moms reading this post had a wonderful Mother's Day and got some much deserved love and attention today!

My Mother's Day was great this year! The boys let me sleep in and surprised me with breakfast in bed (they brought up orange sweet rolls they made and a large glass of yummy cold milk!~I know some would say that's not a good breakfast! But to an 8 months pregnant mama who can't get enough milk and sweets!- it was a VERY good breakfast!). They also made me a card and flower! It was so creative and I was touched that they made a gift that will last forever instead of buying flowers that will only live for a week or so!

All was going well until Ryan decided he didn't want to sit on the bed with me anymore and flipped his legs over the side to get down. As he was climbing off the bed, he accidently hit the tray that was holding my breakfast and knocked my milk over! Well we all know that carpets and milk DO NOT mix so Chris quickly cleaned up the mess while I took Ryan into his room to get dressed for the day. I also had the "you have to be careful and pay attention to what you're doing" talk with him but at 2 years old, he doesn't fully understand. As the old saying goes, "No need to cry over spilled milk"...but it was sad because it looked so yummy and it was the last glass of milk in the house. (until we went grocery shopping this evening) Do you have a funny or crazy Mother's Day story to share? Please tell me all about it in the comment section below this post! Here are a few pictures of my beautiful and creative gifts...

Ryan with the flower he and Daddy made this morning for me.


the beautiful card Ryan made with Daddy's help, the Mother's Day gift (flower pot) he made at school, and the beautiful card Chris gave me

Other highlights of today:

• We went to the Cloister Car Wash to get the Acura cleaned and found out that they were giving FREE carwashes to all the Mom's today! WOOHOO...the car was cleaned for free
• We finally after 2 months of searching, found Ryan his "big boy" furniture. It will be delivered on June 5th! I can't wait to put the finishing touches on his new room.
• Chris made my favorite dinner, roast beef with potatoes and carrots. YUMMY!! I can't get enough of meat and potatoes with this pregnancy.

Thank you Chris and Ryan for giving me a fun filled but also very relaxing day. It truly was wonderful and I love you guys very much. Hugs & Kisses to you both!

Congratulations~ Peter & Desire'

Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty

Pete and Desire' were married on Saturday, April 26th. The weather couldn't have been nicer, it actually felt like a summer day instead of the end of April. Right now they are enjoying an awesome honeymoon touring Italy and then taking a cruise around the Greek Isles! Yes, we are super jealous!!! Pete was one of Chris' college roommates at State College. We hadn't seen him since our wedding almost 4 years ago! The wedding and reception were beautiful and we can't thank Pete and Desire' enough for inviting us! We decided to stay the night because the drive was almost 4 hours (the wedding was in Lexington, MD) and it was so nice to finally have a night for just us. Kinda like a "babymoon" before we have 2 kiddies to take care of! It was our first night away from Ryan and even though we had a great time, we missed him. We couldn't get home fast enough to see him!

introducing the new Mr. & Mrs.!


mmmm...yummy cake!

centerpiece with the cute "photo coaster" favors

Chris with his PSU alumni buddies!

Chris and Bobbi (8 month's preggo and BIG!)

The Countdown begins...

Have you checked our cute little baby ticker on the side bar lately? Today marks only 60 days til Kara's due date!! I can't believe we have only 2 months left. It feels just like yesterday on October 15th when Ryan and I surprised Chris with the news!

"Big Brother" Ryan with his sign!

I've been having mixed feelings lately. I can't wait for her to get here but I also feel like we need all the time we can get to prepare. I am also starting to get very uncomfortable but trying to enjoy this pregnancy because it could be my last. Of course as we get closer to the due date, my fears of delivery are creeping in! I hope this time around is not only faster but with no complications! Wish me luck! :)

Penn State Blue & White Game~2008

On Saturday, we took Ryan up to State College for the 2008 Blue & White Game. It was a beautiful 80-degree day and a record 73,000 fans showed up to watch the game. For all those non-Penn Staters, this is the last game that the PSU football seniors play against each other. It's a FREE game for the fans and we are able to sit anywhere in the stadium. After the game, fans are allowed to go down to the field and get autographs from the players. We decided that Ryan was still a little too young to experience a crowd of crazy fans so we didn't go on the field this year. He really enjoyed the game and cheered for the BLUE team the entire time. They actually won 27-14 over the White team! Uncle Mike might want to see if Ryan can help him choose the winning picks for his football pools this year!

After the game, we headed into town to do some shopping and walk the campus. We did A LOT of walking (I am sure my doctors would not have approved that much walking! shhh...) and I didn't have too many braxton hicks. As we approached the Nittany Lion Shrine (it was a good up hill walk to get there!), my contractions did increase and my entire body was just pooped. We took a few photos with the Nittany Lion and then Chris ran back to get the car to pick us up. This was our last trip up to State College as a family of 3 and it was neat to see Ryan's reaction on everything.

Highlights of the trip:

• seeing Ryan react to a live football game and learning the WAVE...too cute!



• learning that Ryan not only has a fear of inflatable characters but also the JoePa statue



• SHOPPING- we got baby Kara a few items and of course we all got new shirts!



• walking the campus and seeing Spring bloom everywhere



• taking family photos at the Nittany Lion Shrine!

I put together my first montage with One True Media. I think I enjoy using the PhotoShow program with comcast better but I am not sure if I can put photoshows on the blog? This is an ongoing learning experience! Enjoy the show and please excuse my big tummy pics...(yes we are SURE there is only one in there!!!)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Green Team

Daddy & Ryan watering the Rose Tree~2006

Ok, so how many of you actually knew that Chris has a "green thumb"? Yes, it's true!! My husband has many talents but the one that stands out this time of year is his passion for planting flowers and landscaping. During our renting days, Chris would always day dream of owning a house and land where he could plant his own gardens. He would keep himself content with planting mini roses and plants in pots. We have so many pots that now sit in our garage because that's all we could use at the apartment. As soon as we moved into this house in 2005, he quickly started planning our rose garden. The following Spring we ordered several large rose bushes and planted them along our house. Each year they grow larger and more beautiful because of the love and care he puts into them. Many of you might be wondering if I share this same passion? No, sadly, I do not. Not very good at keeping plants alive. I love to stand back and admire his work!

That same Spring he decided to plant a wild flower garden in the back of the house. From day one, our little Ryan has been involved with this beautiful garden. I call them my "green team" because Ryan already at 2 years old is showing that same passion with flowers as his Daddy. It is so neat to watch the two of them take care of the plants. The following pictures are of Ryan and Daddy planting the Wild Flower Garden in 2006 and how great it turned out!


the planting begins...

Daddy's Little Helper!

The Green Team's beautiful garden!



Spring~2008

Ryan and Chris started their planting season indoors this year! We got Ryan a little pot that comes with soil and lavender seeds. This weekend Daddy decided to help Ryan put the lavender seed in the pot and they also planted a few more things. Mommy wasn't excited that they did this indoors but in the end it was fun to watch them plant the little seeds! Enjoy the following pics of Ryan with his indoor lavender plant! :)

Plants need soil...
and water...

lots of TLC...
..and the sun!

TWINS?!!!!

APRIL FOOLS!!!! ~heehee

I thought it would be funny to add this post because I can't tell you how many times I've been asked if I am having twins?!! No, there is only ONE baby in there! I am nearing the end of this pregnancy with hitting the 3rd trimester milestone!

We are officially 7 months along and now the pressure is on to get everything done. I had my 28 week visit with Dr. Consoli (love her...hope she delivers Kara!) and I found out that I passed my glucose test- no Gestational Diabetes for me! woohoo

My weight is on target...only gained 4 more pounds making it a total of 22 so far. So I guess it's all tummy...hence the "are you sure there aren't two in there?!"

Everything is going so well and I hope it continues through the next 12 weeks. :)

Live~Love~Laugh