Merry Merry!

Happy Holidays from
my family to yours!

Wishing you a wonderful

holiday season and a

New Year rich with many blessings.

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Holly's Baby Shower

This past Saturday was a dozy! My closest girl friends and I threw our dear friend, Holly, a baby shower Saturday morning and then we all headed out around 1pm for the SEC Championship! Days like this are so fun to look forward to, even more fun the day of, but the day after the next few days after are such a lull. Needless-to-say, I felt exhausted throughout the day on Sunday and now Monday hasn’t been much fun either. My girl friends and I began planning for the shower months in advance to make sure we threw Holly the best baby shower we possibly could! Little did we know UGA would be playing in the SEC Championship so they ended up being on the same day – cardinal FAIL in the world of SEC football! However, the problem was solved by moving up the shower time from 10-1 which everyone seemed to be pleased by anyway! I was so proud of how it all came together so I wanted to share the labor of love that went into this shower with all of you. Enjoy!

I loved the neutral theme Holly is using for baby Henry’s nursery. She is using Black and White gingham fabric with a mix of natural fibers like burlap and 100% cotton. Because this neutral theme was so fitting for the mom as well, we decided to go with it for our baby shower inspiration as well.

First up, here is the Yarn Wreath that greeted everyone at the front door. I was inspired by Pinterest to create this yarn wreath and my loving little sister, Christy, helped wrap this baby with yarn during the Thanksgiving holiday. (Thanks, Christy!)

Next, we asked our guests in advance to personalize their favorite baby book in lieu of a card. Here is the little note we inserted into all the invitation envelopes along with a group gift donation as well.

On to the food/drink display. We continued the neutral theme on the food and drink tables with a black and white gingham table cloth and burlap table runner. I purchased these fabrics on sale at Hobby Lobby and was able to give the mommy-to-be the left over fabric to use in the nursery for things like pillows or curtains.

I also made this burlap banner with side bows out of the burlap as well. Surprisingly, the burlap was easy to work with and we added the frayed edges to make it stand out more.

For the drinks, we stuck to the basics because this was a morning shower and served the coffee, mimosas, and water. However, we have a fun time coming up with some creative names and ended up making name cards for the following: Coffee with baby cream and sugar, Mom-o-sas, and H 2 PreggO. Everyone loved it!

For the food, we stuck to the basics again and served a delicious breakfast casserole, mini-quiches, fruit salad, powdered doughnuts, and monkey bread. The only created name we came up with here was “Lil’ Monkey Break.”

I found these cute vases at Goodwill for $1 each and we adorned with with burlap and b&w gingham ribbon to dress them up a bit. We used them as utensil holders and then the mommy-to-be was able to bring them home with her to use in the nursery.

After we ate, we played some games and the winners won Starbuck gift cards!

1. Game 1: Guess the Celebrity and the Celebrity baby (We handed out these sheets of paper to the guests and the first one done with the most correct answers won!)

**Side Note: We had our guests pre-address the blue envleopes to make it easier on the mommy-to-be when she writes her thank you notes. One less thing for her to do! We drew a door prize winner from the bowl as well.**

2. Game 2: Name that candy bar (We melting candy bars in diapers made to look like a dirty diaper. We passed the diapers around and the guests could open the diaper and smell it to determine the correct candy bar. The guest with the most correct answers won!) – Impt. Note: do not play before you eat!

3. Game 3: Baby Item Round Up (Tray of Baby Items. Guests had 30 seconds to scan the tray and then 3 minutes to write down as many items as they could remember).

4. Game 4: We asked guests to predict the birthday, weight, and length of baby Henry. The winner will be announced when Henry arrives!

After the games, we opened the gifts and took some pictures.

I made holly a special gift. I asked her mom and mother-in-law to send me Henry's grand parents and great grand parents names so I could make them into a family tree. Again, Holly is going with a very neutral themed room so do keep the family tree minimalistic I went with a black and white sketch. I loved the way it turned out!

It was such a great shower and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as the hosts.

Congratulations, Holly! We love you and cannot wait to meet baby Henry in January!

Todd and I are expecting....

... a new PUPPY!!!

This might be premature information but Todd and I decided to put down our deposit on a new Aussiedoodle puppy, today! The litter is expected to be born around January 10, 2012 and we'll be able to bring home our new additional the first week in March, God willing.

Here are some pictures of what the Aussiedoodle puppy and full grown Aussiedoodle will look like:

Aussiedoodle Puppy

Aussiedoodle around age 2

Aussiedoodles are a mix between an Australian Shepard and a Poodle. Australian Shepards are know for their gorgeous amber, white, and brown coats, bright blue eyes, and energetic working dog temperament. Poodles are know for their curry coats, intellect, and spunky personalities. It seems like the Australian Shepard's traits are dominant in the litters as the puppies will be multicolored (Merle's) with blue eyes and expected to have a temperament of a working-dog. They love to train, learn tricks, and compete with other dogs. However, thankfully, the Aussiedoodle puppies will get the Poodle's curry, hypoallergenic, non-shedding coat which I desperately need.

Our litter's mom, Lyra, is a F1 (1st generation) Aussiedoodle and the dad is a Poodle so our litter's puppies will be F1b (2nd generation) Aussiedoodles. The F1b Aussiedoodles are know to have curry/wavy, fleece-like hair that is hypoallergenic and non-shedding. F1 Aussiedoodles are not guaranteed to be non-shedding so it's a good thing the litter we'll choose from is F1b.

The breeder we decided to go with is AWESOME! She is so knowledgeable and thorough and has provided Todd and I with tons of information. She local too with her home in Snellville, GA. Once the litter is born she will take tons of pictures each week and update us on the progress of each puppy's coats and personalities so we can choose the one that fits our family best. We will be able to visit the breeder when the puppies are 4 weeks old and then we'll be able to take one home after 8 weeks. Here is our breeder's website for more information: http://www.aboundinggracedoodles.com/

We're so excited to welcome him/her home in just a few short months!

I will keep you posted on any updates!

"Deep South's Oldest Rivalry"

I am off to Athens, GA this weekend -- greatest place on Earth -- for a weekend of fun with friends. We're planning a big tailgate for the UGA vs. Auburn game tomorrow with lots of fun and friends. Hope you have a great weekend as well!

GO DAWGS beat AUBURN!!!

Amanda and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ...

Has anyone ever read the book I am referring to in the title? Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ... My mom used to read that to my sisters and I when we were little and now when ever I have a day that doesn't go my way I think about that book.

Well, yesterday was one of those "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days"

It started off by waking up congested and irritable. My head hurt and I could not taste my coffee because I was so congested. Then I get to work and it was one of those days filled with back-to-back meetings then returning to my 50+ emails that all seemed to be URGENT!

I stayed at work late until around 7 PM and then zipped home to change clothes and meet my girl friends for dinner. (Mind you, dinner was suppose to be at 7) As I am putting the key into my doors to open, I heard our alarm systems beeping. I thought well that's strange.
Side note - our alarm company called around 1:30 PM early in the day saying that our alarm was just triggered. Todd called me to verify that I wasn't at home, I said no, so he told the alarm company to send a policeman. Well, after not hearing back from the alarm company, Todd and I both figured no news was good news.
So, back to my alarm still beeping... this was the first indication of fear I had all day. I put my key in and slowly opened the door. First things I notice, a small shopping bag full of change sitting on our steps, papers scattered all over the kitchen floor, and then... I looked up and noticed our 42" plasma missing from above our fire place. That was all she wrote. I was out of their in .5 seconds. I jumped into my car, backed 1/2 down the drive, all while trying to call Todd. Todd didn't answer so I ran up to our neighbors house. At that point I called 911.

My nice neighbor kindly came with me back into our house and we walked around checking out the damage and looking for items that were missing. This was the scene we saw last night...

The burglars tore right through the screen door on our deck and use a something like a crow bar to shove open the door. There was a deadbolt on this door and it easily did not stop them.

This is our informal living room where we watch all our TV shows. That's the back door they broke in through and that is a piece of the door frame that fell in from break in. Notice the missing 42" Panasonic Plasma from above our fireplace?

This is a picture of the damaged from our blaring alarm systems being ripped off the wall. Lovely.

This is our guest bedroom where I keep some of my clothes and jewelry. they must have been looking for money because I did not have any jewelry taken that is shown in the pictures. However, I did have a bunch of purses on the bottom shelf where at beach bag is and they were all taken. Luckily they were knock-off purses from the Bahamas Straw Market.

And lastly, this is a picture of Todd's dresser drawers that was pillaged through. They took a 32" SAMSUNG TV that use to sit on top of this dresser in our Master Bedroom. They also took an antique gold ring that was in a jewelry pouch in the top drawer.

All in all, we are just happy that the items taken were all material items that can be replaced. I am happy that no one was home during the break-in as well. I need to be positive and hopefully Todd and I will just learn a valuable lesson from this terrible, horrible, no good very bad experience.

Cheers to a much better weekend!
GO DAWGS beat the GATORS!!!

Rachel & Charlie's Wedding Weekend!

Another BIG weekend in the BALDREE household.
One of my very best friends, Ms. Rachel Elizabeth Lawrence,
(last time I can really write her maiden name!)
is GETTING MARRIED this weekend!
Rachel and I met during Sorority Recruitment at UGA
and we both ended up pledging Kappa Delta.
We became fast friends and have been together ever since ;)
Rachel is marrying a charming southern gentlemen,
always equipped with bow-ties & suspenders!
Charlie has truly made Rachel a complete and beautiful woman inside & out.
I cannot be happier for the Rachel + Charlie.

Here is a picture of the happy couple:
This picture was taken at mine and Todd's wedding with Hairy Dawg (UGA's mascot)!

CONGRATULATIONS
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES HOWELL, III

Nashville!

Hubby and I are headed to Nashville this weekend to hang with this lovely couple.

Oh, and to cheer on the Dawgs' victory over Vanderbilt.

It’s shaping up to be a fabulous fall weekend!

Hope you have a great weekend as well.

Maternity Photo Shoot

Once again I have let another 6 months go by without posting. Every time I do this, I think to myself, I am not going to let it happen again... and then it inevitably does. I really do have a good excuse this time... We moved into our house, got MARRIED, honeymooned, but just think…. Now I have tons of great material to blog about!

I do not know where to start. I have so much to share, but I thought I would share this since I am SO excited how it all turned out!

My good friend at work, Allison, who is 38 WEEKS PREGGERS kindly asked me to take some maternity pictures of her and her family this past weekend. “Family” as in her, her husband Clint, and their first child dog, Roxey. My sweet sister Christy was in town from Athens so she volunteered to help out Roxey during the Photo Shoot. Christy was such a big help because Roxey was easily distracted with all that Piedmont Park had to offer… included Atlanta Pride Weekend. That was interesting.

Well, here are some of Allison’s favorite pictures from the Maternity Photo Shoot:

Great pic of Mom & Dad-t0-be!

Sentimental shot of the baby bump!

I personally love this artistic shot of the baby bump and the awesome reflection in the pond!

Family Portrait 2011

Great shot of Allison and Client with beautiful Piedmont Park in the background.

Lovely picture of the Mommy-to-be! She looks good at 38 weeks, doesn't she?

Another family portrait, but this one is one of Allison's faves! She loves Roxey so much!

I hope you like the pictures. With the holidays just around the corner, you need to plan ahead for Holiday cards! If you would like pictures taken of you and your family, please email be at MandyBaldreePhotography@gmail.com! Thank you :)