summer time with friends

Last night we enjoyed a little dinner party with some friends to celebrate summer. Heather and I were roommates at Clemson. All of our guys went to Furman together and play basketball & tennis together...lucky for us ladies, we really like each other too. We look forward to our hang out times during their tennis matches & basketball games...and any other time we can get together! 


We enjoyed some grilled chicken, grilled corn, and a yummy candied walnut salad that I found a recipe for on pinterest. Here's a link to it in case you are interested. We then had homemade strawberry ice cream to follow...our first time using our ice cream maker since we got it for our wedding 2 years ago. Better late than never. :) 

helpful hubbies setting up the table

Heather and I shucking some corn...my new obsession. not the actual shucking of it-but the end product of corn on the cob. :) 

Angela is due 5 days before me...we're kind of hoping our little ones come at the same time and put us next door to each other in the hospital. just maybe. 

manly men manning the grill :) 

...and appeasing us with a smile :) 

slightly blurry...but a picture of all of us

homemade strawberry ice cream...yum! 

sibling love

Okay, so I wasn't actually present for this moment, but it was too incredibly precious that I wanted to make sure it got documented and never forgotten... :) 

I introduce to you Cayden and Caroline. Cayden is my 3 year old nephew and Caroline is my 2 month old niece. Up until recently, Cayden's coping mechanism for having a new baby sister was to completely ignore her existence. It appears as if things have changed though for the better. 

I got a message last night from my sister Kristen with this picture...

and a text that said that Cayden was playing with Caroline telling her, "This is a rake, this is a broom, this is a stick. We need to get you one! A pink rake, a pink broom, and a pink stick." ...and as if that wasn't sweet enough Kristen heard when she was in the other room Cayden asking Caroline if she'd be his best friend. oh.my.goodness. That is just about too much for me to handle. Where he even got the idea to ask for a best friend, I don't know...but I like that he chose his little sister. sweet.sweet.sweet.

babymoon.vacation.summer celebration

Call it what you will, but Patrick and I got a chance to go to the beach for an extended Memorial Day weekend! It was the start to my summer break as well as the last week I'm allowed to travel before our little girl gets here. I was craving the beach, knowing we wouldn't be able to make our normal family trips this summer. Both having grown up in South Carolina with only a 2 1/2 hour drive to Hilton Head or Charleston, we never ventured to the Gulf much. However, now living in Atlanta where any beach is at least 5 hours away, we decided to go somewhere different. Patrick had never been to Destin before, and it's probably been fifteen years since my family took a trip there. So, Destin it was! Not only were the beach and water beautiful, it was just so nice to take a vacation just the two of us. We've gotten to travel lots of places together, but I feel like they've always had some other purpose along with it-weddings, work, etc. This one was just for us to get a chance to relax...and that we did! We left the house at 6:30am on Saturday to make sure we got the most of it. Here are a few pictures from our trip...

Our view from dinner our first night at the Back Porch restaurant

cute hubby :) 

On Sunday we drove to Pensacola where Patrick's former roommate was with his girlfriend's family. We hadn't seen him in a while and hadn't met Maddie either, so we happy for the opportunity to hang out with them and get some more time on the beach too. 

old roommate love

A much less crowded view of the gulf in Pensacola

Side story: Patrick loves to reminisce about something I said on our first date. "Breakfast is one of my favorite meals." Yes, I realize that there are only three meals of the day-so to categorize breakfast as one of my favorites doesn't say much. Truly, it really is my favorite. I'm much happier finding a fun breakfast place to eat at than a lunch or dinner place, especially now that I can still enjoy decaf coffee but haven't found a restaurant with non-alcoholic red wine. :) Thus our new Sunday tradition of always going to the Flying Biscuit after church. I may have started it with my "pregnancy cravings" that I might have amped up a bit-but I'm hoping the tradition will continue. I found a breakfast place with great reviews in Destin, and of course we had to try it! Voted Best Breakfast Restaurant for 12 years in a row-yes, please! It is called Another Broken Egg Cafe-if you're ever in Destin, you must give it a try. We went to the one in Baytown Warf-cute little area with lots of fun shops and things to do. 

Waiting for our table...

Decaf Coffee and Beignets...perfection! I wonder if I could learn to make them. Knowing the nutrition content on them would probably be a lot less enjoyable though...so if you do know, please don't share. :) 

We then spent until 6:30 on the beach...perfection, again!

And then there was goodbye...I hate goodbyes. Patrick was already thinking about how fun it will be to bring our own little family trip to the beach soon, and in my head I was already planning our next trip here...so I think it is safe to say we'll be back! 

Shower Time!

The past two weeks have been busy with baby showers. Patrick and I feel so blessed to have so many people in our lives that we love dearly and that care for us and our little girl enough to throw/come to these showers! It has been so good to see and connect with friends and family that for some I haven't seen in a while. 

Our first shower was one that my grade level threw me at school. I am so lucky to work at a school with such wonderful people and an amazing team to teach with. Here are a few pictures...

The next shower we had was in Columbia thrown by my wonderful mother-in-law. It was mostly family with a few close family friends. Delicious treats, sweet friends/family, and lovely gifts for our little girl. 

Cayden helping out with the presents

My sweet Mema

 This was the present that Cayden was most excited to open because of its size. He was a little disappointed by the cardboard box inside the bag...I on the other hand was very excited! 

My sweet mother-in-law

Our dads :) 

My college roommate and her sweet momma

With our grandmothers

my mom :) 

Letting Caroline hang out with her cousin...baby girl McGuire likes to kick her when she's on my stomach-little love kicks that is :) 

Since it was Mother's Day the next day, we decided to take some family pics...4 generations

Sweet Mother's Day gift from Patrick...great read! 

 Patrick's dad is just a little excited about our little girl's arrival and so he had a little fun with the power washer in the driveway. 

The next weekend, my college roommates threw me a shower in Atlanta. Take a look at these pictures-love all the little details that they put in to it. The best friends a girl can ask for...I hope our little girl is just as lucky as I have been to have friends like them in her life. 

favorite candy in sweet little booties

Cayden was my little helper again...this time he got a little distracted by the books as you can see in some of the pictures. 

My sweet friends and hostesses of a wonderful shower! 

And to top off a wonderful school year, my students and room moms threw me a surprise shower! 

This weekend we head to Destin for a last trip before little Teagan's arrival. Only 7 1/2 weeks to go...and that's if she comes on time! Could be sooner or later...hoping for not too much of either of those options.