Mums and Things

We have landscaping that I'm not embarassed of anymore!!! 

Patty and Stu came for a quick visit this past weekend.  We were hoping they were going to be able to come and help us with a few things before the baby came, and they pulled through!  I have to say, I was rather exhausted going into the weekend.  Clay came down with a nasty flu bug of some kind and was completely wiped out for almost 3 days.  I didn't think motherhood was starting for a few more weeks (gosh..can it be that close already?!?!), but I feel like I have been officially inducted into motherhood now. 

In all seriousness, the Lord has a way of reminding me that things are not about me.  As my belly grows and my body gets tired, I still have a responsibilty to serve my husband..our little family of two (and a half).  Although I have no desire to go through that flu bug again, I am thankful for the Lord's reminder that even this time in my life is not about me. 

So back to Patty and Stu - it was nice to have some extra help as Clay finished recovering.  Not only did the house get disinfected, but our landscaping got planted!  Here are some pictures:

You'll notice I am not in the pictures..I am really good at delegating and managing.

If only I could remember what all the plants are called!  Also, about a month ago, we had a friend from church come help take the big tree bushes out.  We really like how open the front of our house is now!

Here is a picture of when we bought the house:

And here is a (kind of dark) picture of our house now with our new landscaping:

We're still not sure what we're going to do with the random front walkway...  Aside from the yard, Patty also helped get some things in the nursery settled!  We are now confident that the baby's things will not be covered in dust after sitting in the dresser :).

Thanks for the visit!  We are so appreciative of your time and energy!

Shower for the Baby

Clay and I got to spend Labor Day week in Illinois visiting family.  My sisters were super sweet and threw me a wonderful baby shower and we got to spend a lot of time just being together.

I'll start with the shower..

Kari, Kelli, and Mom did all of the planning for the shower.  Kelli hosted and Kari planned the games and ran the shower.  It was fun getting to help with some of the decorations and favors since I was in town the few days before the actual shower date.  I really enjoyed getting to spend that time with my mom and sisters. 

Baby Lindner bunting:

Another banner on the other side of the room (I loved them..so festive!):

The cake that Kelli and Peter made!  It was a lemon cake with a super tasty lemon filling..so good!  The outside is real marshmallow fondant.  I know this sounds cheesy, but Peter especially went through a lot of work to get this cake looking nice and I felt very special :).  That's Kari in the background because I realized I didn't get any pictures with my mom or sisters!!!

Kelli and Peter have a nice open layout in their home; this is from the kitchen area where the food was all set out:

A different angle of the food..everything was so nice:

We had a veggies tray, cheese and crackers, almond cream cheese filled strawberries, chocolate cookies, lemon cake, and bacon wrapped water chestnuts:

Some of the sweet ladies at the shower..all of them have I known since grade school or earlier:

 The other sweet ladies at the shower:

The sneaky tray game where you think the questions are about the tray, but they're actually about the mom to be:

Opening presents:

Everyone was so generous at the shower!  Kari practically bought out WalMart of all of their baby supplies :) and Kelli made me this quilt.  She surprised me by making the one that I had picked out on Etsy.  This is the quilt that we've pretty much planned the colors of the room around:

The favor stand full of cupcakes!  Mom worked hard on baking enough cupcakes for the ladies to take home to their families as well :).  I had fun helping frost and decorate and even Clay helped tie on some tags:

A close-up of a cute little elephant cupcake:

 Overall the shower was so nice and relaxing and such a good time of fellowship with Christian women that have had a part in my life growing up.  Thank you especially to my sisters and mom for all they did to make me and Clay and our growing little baby feel special and celebrated! 

So what else did we spend our time doing while in Illinois?  You can't visit in the Fall and not have a trip to Tanner's!  Clay and I actually went to Tanner's the first time he came out to visit me in Illinois and meet my family so I have especially fond memories of going there :).  Here are some pictures of our short trip to Tanner's.

Feeding the goats:

Mom and me :)

Kari and me :) 

 Mom and Dad being cute:

Clay and I comparing my belly to his pumpkin: 

I guess we didn't do so well taking many pictures on the visit.  It was nice to have time to do things like go shopping with my mom or clean out my bedroom closet on this visit home.  The shower was fun and relaxing and such a nice celebration to have mid-way through the pregnancy.  Going home is always a reminder of the blessings the Lord has put in our life!