Sink Bath with DD

Cadie and her DD love each other so much and have all their own little systems. I saw one of their systems in action tonight - the sink bath. I have never given Cadie a sink bath. My mom has given them to her in Kansas City and apparently DD and Cadie also do sink baths. Aren't they so cute together!!! I think Cadie looks a lot like DD. Cadie was having a great time and was actually upset to have to get out when we had to go home.

In other news, my sister CJ and I began potty training with Cadie this past Tuesday evening and she has done awesome. She has only had one accident between Friday and today and she has gotten much better at letting us know when she has to go. This week will be a good test because she is going to a friends house tomorrow and has a new caregiver at our house on Wednesday and Friday so we will see how she does with different people and schedules.

I have about 7 weeks to go before my due date and have been feeling more tired and emotional. Although I know in my head everything will be fine, I am feeling those nesting urges and have a lot I want to accomplish but seem to have little energy to actually do it. I am trying to make a little progress each day, but it doesn't feel like enough. I am hopeful to get some things checked off the list this upcoming long weekend.

I really wish I would have gotten some pictures of this! On Friday night Grant and I took Cadie up to the hospital where I am going to deliver and we spent time looking through the windows at all the babies in the nursery and talking about how baby brother will be there in the nursery. Cadie soaked it up and loved looking at the babies getting baths and dressed and diapers changed. She asked some questions about it all and has been talking much more about baby brother since we saw the babies in the nursery. I think it helped make it more real to her. And, it actually helped make it more real for me too! Maybe that is a contributing factor to the emotions of this past weekend :)

10th Anniversary Party

Grant and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary on Aug. 5, but we were in the middle of traveling and other activities. We finally had our real celebration this past Saturday evening at Maggianno's. We had a private room and it was the perfect venue with plenty of room to mingle, delicious food and nice atmosphere. I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed our wedding! I know that sounds crazy, but I felt a lot of fear and anxiety and other junk during and after our wedding and this was such a special event and I was truly able to relax and be present to fully enjoy it. We had a few homages to our wedding such as:
- Replica groom's cake (so Grant could finally have a piece of the groom's cake that he never got at our wedding)
- Surprise gift from Grant with our wedding license and vows in a beautiful frame. Our sweet friend Christy Rome did the caligraphy for our vows which makes it even more special. Grant and I read the vows during the toasts and it was a sweet reminder of our continued committment to each other and our family.
- Flowers with the lavendar colors from our wedding
- Lots of pictures in the decor including our wedding album and portraits
- Lovely toast from John and Dawna that including reading brief notes that Grant and I had written to each other on our wedding day

We wish we could have included everyone, and we are so thankful for all the friends and family that have supported us. Ten years down - many more to go! The Walsh Family including: Mitzi, John, Me, Dawna, Austin, Whitney and Grant.

Reading our vows.

Re-enacting the wedding toasts with best man RJ Sikes and maid of honor Lindsey Coffman.

My mom and dad surprised us by attending the party! They were at the wedding of a friend in St. Louis that morning and hopped on a Southwest flight to make it to the event. Loved having them there!

Flowers (by Whole Foods - liked them even more than my wedding flowers) and menu.

Grooms cake - it was delicious! Thanks to Christina Mitchella Bakery (let me know if you need a baker in the Dallas area. She is great.)

The (very pregnant) Bride and Groom :)

Baby Boy Family Shower

When we were in Kansas City my family hosted a surprise baby shower for us. We felt so special and it was wonderful to get the opportunity to celebrate our upcoming new addition with my family. Especially since we rarely get to spend time all together. We received thoughtful and fun gifts, but my biggest memory from the shower will be the "shower games" - if you can really even call them that. I believe the "games" were planned maybe in about 60 seconds and consisted of all the family members stuffing random things from around the house in their shirts and Grant and I guessing what they were. Some were totally non-baby related and then at the conclusion of the game my brother shot my Dad with a water gun. Not sure how the water gun was really involved with the game, but it was hilarious. If anyone thinks I act strange, you should hang out with my family when we are all together - complete madness.

Aunt CJ - AMAZING

My sister has been in town less than 24 hours, but she has hit the ground running. I came home from work today and my bed was made and laundry done. She had gone to Target and done all the shopping and gotten the things from my list on the family whiteboard. She also got the stuff to make homemade chicken enchiladas for dinner that were delicious - she even cleaned up all the dishes when we were finished. And the biggest thing! Look what she and Cadie were doing! Wish her luck - she needs it! I am so thankful to have her here helping me this week and I already know I am going to be so sad to see her go on Friday. She is hands down the most helpful person to have hanging around.

Hello Again

I have missed you! I have been running to keep up with life lately and am so very behind in blogging. Grant was out of town for a full week during which, of course, I had car trouble, sleepless nights due to pregnancy symptoms, adnormally odd working hours due to a few project I am working on with international teams, etc.... There has also been a few things to figure out and plan such as childcare for the next 7 weeks before I go on maternity leave as Brenda and Mimi are not able to watch Cadie any longer. Grant and I hosted a little party on Saturday evening that was a lovely memory and so special, but did require attention and planning (more to come on that). And I am starting to feel pressure to get things done before the new baby comes and a bit of the hormone emotions as well.

Anyway, enough about that. Here are a few beautiful pics from our recent family/pregnancy photo shoot and I promise to post more this week about what has been going on in our lives. Thanks so much to Melissa Restrepo Photography for these amazing photos.

One last trip to KC

Cadie and I got back late Wednesday evening from a wonderful trip to Kansas City. It was my last planned travel before the arrival of baby boy Walsh and we made the most of every minute. I hosted a shower for my cousin's fiance (Shanna) on Thursday morning, Friday I worked and Cadie went to the local La Petite, Saturday my family had a little surprise baby shower for me and then Saturday evening we all went to the wedding of our hip cousin Alan. Sunday we left for Osage Beach in Missouri and then spent a few days there which included lots of time at the swimming pool, birthday celebration for my sister Courtney, Cadie's first time tubing behind a boat and lots of laughs. It was the first my immediate family has been together in over a year and I am so very thankful for the time to reconnect and make new memories.

My dad Ron, Cadence, littlest sister Courtney, me, sister Bethany, brother Eric, Bethany's son Samuel, Mom Nicki.
The four girls! Love my mom and sisters so much.

The whole family! We only had one day, Saturday, with everyone there because Grant arrived late Friday night and had to fly back early on Sunday and then Nathan (Bethany's husband) had to hit the rode to drive to California because Bethany and Nathan were in the middle of their move from DC to California.

Chilling at the swimming pool at Osage Beach. There really isn't a beach in Missouri :) , but one of the swimming pools had a great beach entry that Cadence liked to wade into and see how far she could walk until she was up on her tippee toes and had to turn back.It is fun to splash around in your birthday suit!

Best Dressed Baby Boy

My sweet friend Lisette who has two precious boys brought over trash bags full of baby boy clothes last week. Cadie and I have been sorting through them, but let me tell you - this baby boy is going to be so well dressed! Lisette's boys always look impeccible and she has great taste. There are so many adorable clothes. He is going to have to do outfit changes throughout the day to get through all these clothes. Thanks Lisette!