"The Look"

Mat and I have been working hard getting things ready for Baby's arrival. We started a list of things that we wanted (or needed) to have done before he got here like packing bags, cleaning the house, finishing laundry and mowing the lawn.

Last weekend we were talking about "the list" and how it was stressing me out. I was trying not to nag Mat about a few of the items on the list, but apparently I didn't have to say anything to be a nagging wife. He told me I was nagging him with my eyes! I've always been told that I have a "look", but apparently I have perfected it.

We have accomplished almost everything (all of the important things are done) on our list, and now we're working to get loose ends tied up at work. I can't believe we're days away from meeting Baby Kelso!

Overdue...

No, not me- just this update! Things have been busy around the Kelso house lately (and I know they will only get crazier!). We have had so much going on lately that I have wanted to blog about, but I have had a hard time finding the time (and energy) to take the pictures off my camera and actually post them! It has been a busy month full of fun times with friends and family.

Mat's parents drove over early in August to deliver our nursery bedding and glider. It all looks beautiful, and it is so special that Sue spent so much time and energy making things just right for the nursery. We have enjoyed working on putting the room together, and I promise to post pictures soon- as soon as we get everything finished!

At the end of August, Mat's parents rented a house in the San Antonio area for us to enjoy for the weekend and to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary! We had a great time relaxing with the family. The house was beautiful and had a great pool that everyone enjoyed. Mat and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with our nieces, Kadence and Cameron, since we don't see them very often. Kadence especially enjoyed watching George swim, and apparently she's still talking about "dog water".

The very next weekend, my friends had a wonderful baby shower for us and Baby Kelso. Megan and Kennedy had their house decorated beautifully, and we had some delicious food to enjoy that afternoon. Kennedy (Megan's 4 year old daughter) was a perfect little hostess. She answered the door and directed people on where to put their purses and the presents. My mom, Blair, our family friend Kendra, Mat's mom and Mindy were able to come spend the day with us, and I even had a few aunts that were able to make the trip to join us for the afternoon.

Showers are such a blessing, but they're difficult for me because I hate to be the center of attention! Kennedy helped me out there because she spent the entire afternoon helping me open presents, explaining to me what to do with them, and showing them off to the room. Thanks for all of your help Kennedy! :)

Mat and I feel so blessed to have so many people surrounding us that love us and already love our son. We have enjoyed unpacking all of our presents and putting them away in the nursery! These pictures are a combination of mine and Megan's. Thanks for letting me steal some of your pictures Megan!

This past week, my team at school threw another shower for Baby Kelso. They had everything decorated beautifully with a great theme (rubber duckies) that Deb was working on at 8 the night before! :) I work with some very creative people- Baby Kelso even has his own handmade Forest Creek shirt. I feel blessed to work with such a wonderful team!

We have just a few more weeks before Baby Kelso makes his debut! We are getting very excited and can't wait to meet him.

Preggie Piggy Party

There are quite a few pregnant girls at church right now. It is so much fun to be surrounded by friends going through the same things you are. I am one of the only ones expecting my first, so it is nice to have lots of friends to get advice and ideas from!

My friend, Megan, came up with this fun idea to have a party for pedicures and snacks to pig out on. Our sweet non-pregnant friends washed and massaged our feet and then painted our toe nails. I will admit that I was a little nervous about having someone else take care of my feet for me, but it was a fun night with a great group of girls! We laughed, ate, and shared lots of fun stories. Thanks Megan for your great idea, and thanks Kaylee for a great pedicure!

Here is a picture (in order of due date) of some of the preggies from a shower a few weeks ago.

Britney (August), Amber (September), Keri (October),

Me (October), Mindi (November), Julie (December)

Man's Best Friend

Mat loves having a dog (most of the time) and George loves Mat. When Mat leaves in the morning, George grabs his leash and sits by the door waiting to go too. He loves to be chased around the house by Mat, and he loves when Mat sits on the floor with him and scratches his belly. George is in for a rude awakening when Baby comes home, but I think he'll adjust and love having someone else to play with (eventually...). Here are a few pictures I've taken of George and Mat over the last few weeks.

George watching Mat work in the yard. I open up all the blinds, and he moves from window to window following Mat around the yard.

Mat holding George's bone while George chews. I love how George puts his paw on Mat's arm just to make sure Mat isn't going anywhere.

Waiting for Mat to come out of the bedroom. The other day (while Mat was at work), George fell asleep by the bedroom door waiting on him.

Playing before bath time

Happy Birthday Mat!

Mat loves to try new things around town and experience Austin. For his birthday this year, he wanted to celebrate by eating at one of his favorite Austin restaurants- Shady Grove. He loves anything with Green Chile sauce, so this is one of his favorites. We don't eat there very often, but we enjoyed it!

As Mat was getting ready for work that morning, we were talking about how birthdays just aren't the same when you're older and have to go to work on your special day. I said something about how you don't even get to take cupcakes to work with you (like you do in 2nd grade!). We decided this was a perfect time to try a new Austin favorite, Hey Cupcake, for a birthday cupcake.

Mat ordered 2 cupcakes- a Standard (white cake with chocolate icing) and a Red Velvet- one to eat there and one to save for later.

Baby Kelso enjoyed his share of the cupcake too! He was doing flips after I finished my Michael Jackson (chocolate cake with white buttercream icing) cupcake.

After our cupcakes, we drove around downtown and even stopped to see the bats fly out from the Congress Avenue bridge. We were a little late and ended up having to watch them from the parking lot, but it was still impressive! My mom was here for the night, and I know she enjoyed getting to celebrate with Mat and see a different side of Austin than she is used to!

Sneak Peek

Mat and I spent this past weekend in Kingwood. Our goal for the weekend was to get plans started for the nursery bedding (which Mat's mom is making). We had picked out this bedding set that we liked, and luckily we were able to order the coordinating fabrics to add in other parts of the nursery.

Before we ever started the nursery, I told Mat that he had to be a part of the planning. He has very specific ideas about what he does and does not like. Even after being together for so long, some of the things he picks out still surprise me. I don't think he was excited about spending the day looking for fabric and decorations for the nursery, but he survived!

Saturday morning we went to the fabric store and picked out more fabric to go into the quilt, window treatment, and other elements of the nursery, and that afternoon we went to an enormous baby store in Houston to get some more ideas for the room. It was a neat store that had tons of nurseries set up. We picked out a glider, found some decorative things for the nursery that we loved, and found a quilt pattern.

We are so excited to have bedding made with love especially for Baby Kelso, and we can't wait to see what it all looks like in his room!

The 4th

This year to celebrate the 4th we had a house full of visitors- my parents, my grandparents, and my sister and her husband.  It wasn't a very relaxing weekend for our visitors because we put them to work while they were here!  

We picked up the nursery furniture and put it together.  

Pop, Dad, and Mat figuring out the instructions

Supervising

Putting on the finishing touches

Finished product (minus a mattress and bedding!)

We installed 3 new ceiling fans and dimmer switches.  

Mat and Kyle working 

Mat and Pop

Me, Blair and Gigi

I know Mat enjoyed having Pop and Dad around for their expertise and knowledge of electrical work!  They even helped diagnose a problem with our air conditioner Sunday morning before church! I realized that I have no pictures of my mom from this weekend.  She kept herself busy (as usual) by cooking and keeping the house cleaned up so that I didn't have to!  Thanks Mom! 

We had a few games of Scrabble (very important for any Herman family gathering), played with the Wii, and enjoyed catching up.  Blair even managed to study for her test on Monday! Saturday night we enjoyed an old-fashioned American meal- hamburgers and hotdogs, peach cobbler, and homemade vanilla ice cream.  After dinner, we went out into the backyard and watched the Pflugerville Pfireworks from the comfort of our own home!  I loved not having to deal with the crowds and traffic after the show.  George even enjoyed watching the fireworks! We loved having everyone here for the weekend!