Childbirth Prep, 80's Flashback & Pumpkin Carving

Me and Roberta...Roberta was named prom queen!

Channing and Angela in matching hot pink prom attire!

Ben and I in our matching tuxedo shirts...notice my crimped hair!

My scary pumpkin

Ben's happy pumpkin

This week and weekend was really chill around the Sullivan pad, which was nice.

With our busy traveling schedule the past couple of weeks it was nice to catch up on errands and laundry throughout the week.

We did mange to squeeze in a Pho night with Steph and Pat on Wednesday though. It was great catching up over our fave food!

Friday night Ben and I went to a local restaurant Shallots for some yum sushi and thai and then headed out to Target to pick up pumpkins to carve over the weekend!

Saturday morning Ben and I were up bright and early to head to Childbirth Prep class! The class was actually very informative and I'm actually looking forward to going back this weekend.

I think the video scared me more than Ben...although I'm not sure how much he saw, considering that when I glanced over at him during the "live birth" part, he had his head down staring at the carpet.

But I think he liked the class a lot too because he asked a lot of questions. He's going to be such a good dad!

The last part of class we practiced breathing techniques while you got massaged by your partner.

So...did I enjoy the last hour of class??...um, yes!!!! Massages are a favorite of mine, and I'll take them anytime, anywhere!

After class we hit up Jason's Deli for lunch and then went home while Ben put together some baby furniture.

Saturday night, Ben and I dressed in matching tuxedo shirts and 80's attire and headed over to our friend Roberta's apt for her 80's prom night party.

We had a Blast dancing to 80's music all night long! I thought that Tyler was going to pop out at one point because I was dancing so hard! I decided to take a break after that!

Sunday morning I made waffles, we carved pumpkins, and I ran a ton of errands and met with Melissa and Amanda to get our nails done. While I was gone, Ben hit the gym.

Sunday night Ben made his "specialty" Mexican Redneck casserole for dinner!

He loves to make it, and I have to say this batch was very delicious indeed!!!!

Happy Halloween week everyone!!!

ATL Shower Weekend!

Roberta, Melanie, Christina and Erin

Me and Sylvia

Angela, Steph S, and Caroline

The sports clothes strung all over the house...so adorable!

Go Team Tyler!

My shirt at the shower!

The whole USC Crew

Me and Mom!

My wonderful hostesses!

What a crazy week and weekend for the Sullivans!

This week I FINALLY finished up my work travel with one last trip to Charleston for a divisional meeting! It was a lot of fun! We always incorporate activities after a long day of meetings so we were able to squeeze in a carriage ride, ghost tour and dinner at the Customs House!

But I'm very happy to report that I have no more work trips until my maternity leave is up! I'm pleased to be grounded for a few months!

I've had a lot of people ask me what I'm going to do when I have to start traveling again for work and have little Tyler to worry about. The answer is...I really don't know.

I guess we'll have to play it one day at a time.

I'll try to get my work done in as few days as possible when I travel and we'll most likely have a nanny to help out as well.

My intent is to have a nanny here at the house when I return to work to watch Tyler during the day. The plus side of that is that although I may be gone for traveling some...when I'm in town I'll be here in the house with Tyler, even if a nanny is sitting with him.

But back to our fun weekend! After my trip to Charleston I got home on Thursday night in time to get the house prepped for the shower weekend! We had a lot of people coming into town and I needed to be ready!

Leah and Jannell arrived first on Friday and they brought Leah's daughter Hayden.

Following that, Erin and Christina arrived from DC....then Rienna and her little Bo arrived that evening from Jacksonville.

The whole gang, including Andy, Angela, and Anastasia, went to Twisted Taco in Roswell that evening for food and catch up time! It was nice!

Saturday we were up bright and early so that the girls could prep for the shower. Jannell and I were left in charge of Bo while the rest of the girls did errand running.

It was fun to play mom for a few hours! In the meantime, my parents and my coworker Sylvia arrived! My mom and Sylvia hung with me while Ben took my dad and some of his boys to the Decatur Beer Fest! They had an absolute blast! My dad can't wait to come back next year!

At 1pm we headed over to Steph's house for the shower! It was SO adorable! The whole sports theme was too cute and there were clothes for Tyler strung on little clothes lines all over the house. The food was delicious and the games were hysterical . We even had a surprise appearance by my good friend Donna and her adorable little boy Christian!

I had a blast and I feel so honored to have friends who care about us so much!

Thanks to my hostesses Christina, Erin, Rienna, Steph, and Amanda for making my shower so special! Love you girls!

Saturday night, I hosted everyone at my house for a bbq that included a South Carolina vs. Alabama viewing. Everyone had a great time but unfortunately we were a little depressed about our loss. We put up a good fight but the Cocks did not prevail.

Sunday, we bid farewell to everyone. Christina and Erin stayed in town long enough to watch the Redskins game (again, another loss) as I played chauffeur to the airport.

It was such a wonderful weekend and it was so great to see all of my girls! I love you all and am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family in my life! I can't wait for Tyler to feel the same love!

I'm Feeling Faint!!!

What a week! Ben and I returned from Charleston and celebrated my actual bday with dinner with some of our friends on Tuesday! We went to Loca Luna with Steph S, Anastasia, Roberta, Mike, Andy and Angela and had the "All you can eat Tapas"! It was a great deal and a lot of fun!

Wednesday - Friday consisted of one of my last work trips to Jacksonville. It was a good time because I got to hang with one of my best buds Rienna and her little boy Bo! We had dinner on Thursday night and lunch on Friday before we left!

Saturday, was supposed to be a fun day spent celebrating the marriage of two of our Atlanta BFF's Steph and Pat but unfortunately there was another plan in store for us.

Here's the story:

Saturday afternoon, Ben and I went to grab lunch at one of my fave places and then headed to Walmart to do a little shopping before we got ready for the reception. As we are walking in, Ben notices that there was a Flu shot clinic and mentioned it to me. I knew that my OB Doctor and Tyler's pediatrician advised both Ben and I to get a flu shot so I said "Let's do it"!

I get my flu shot and head over to grab a cart so that we can do some shopping. Meanwhile, Ben got his shot.

Just as he finished up, he came over to the cart. As soon as I saw him I said, "Ben, you look pale"...Ben said, "I don't feel well" and just as he finished his sentence, he passed out on the floor of Walmart. I SCREAMED and the nurse came over just as he started to wake up. I called 911 and ambulance came shortly after. We took Ben to the hospital because he hit his head on the floor pretty hard. The CAT Scan came back clear so we were discharged!

I seriously was doing a LOT of praying and was EXTREMELY grateful that everything was fine!

I can't begin to tell you how scary it was, and I'm just glad that it's something I can laugh about now! My hubby apparently has an aversion to needles/medical procedures! (he's always been really healthy since we began dating 6 years ago, so the topic of being afraid of medical procedures never came up)

Am I worried about his reaction in the delivery room? Ummmm...YES!!!

At least I still have a few more weeks to prep him!

On another note, we were both sad to miss out on the wedding reception of our friends Steph and Pat who eloped in California last weekend.

We were both so looking forward to going, but I guess these things happen sometimes!

A BIG CONGRATS to Steph and Pat! We couldn't be happier for you!!!

Happy Bday!!!

Today marks a very special occasion...Okay, well a very special occasion for me that is! Today I turn 30 years old!!! Happy Birthday to me!!!

I'm very excited about this new milestone, yet it freaks me out at the same time.

I always knew I would turn 30 and I always knew I would be a mom, but to have them happen at the same time is unbelievable! I can't believe that so much has changed in the past couple of years. Marriage, kids, and now my 30's!

I know that things will only get better from here! As Ben told me last night, "Every day of my 30's with you has been better than any day of my 20's!"...AWWW How sweet right? Yeah, I have a great hubby :)

So, while I look at this day as a huge milestone, I can't help reminiscing a little bit about the past 30 years!

Here's a few shout outs:

1. I had the greatest family growing up! I have such great memories of having "the cool parents" and of being spoiled to death by my amazing grandparents! How many kids do you know that grew up on the same street as BOTH sets of grandparents? The bond I formed with my parents and grandparents was life changing and something I hope to share with my son!

2. High school was so fun and I met two of my best friends in the world! Proms, beach trips, Movie marathon Sundays, & Band competitions (keep your dork comments to yourself) are things I'll forever share with Johanna and Ethan!

3. College...oh College how I LOVED thee!!! Seriously, those 4 years were some of the best! The friends I made and the stories I collected are ones that I wouldn't trade for all the money in the world! CMFB's forever! I'm still just as tight with my girls from college as I was 8 years ago! (Wow did I say 8 years)

4. DC...The 4 years I spent in DC were just like a continuation of college. From living with 4 of my best friends in a huge house in Arlington (Troy St. forever...love all my Troy st. ladies), to learning how to play kickball, to meeting a ton of amazing friends!

Another extraordinary thing happened in DC too! I happened to meet a cute guy in a bar one night and simply asked if I could make out with him! Here's to falling completely in love with said guy and realizing that I had finally met "the one"!

5. UNC - The year I spent at UNC while Ben finished his MBA was so much fun! We met a ton of great friends, Ben and I got engaged, and I secured a job that I love and hope to have as a long lasting career!

6. ATL - Living in Atlanta has been all I hoped it would be and more! Ben and I got married, started a family and met so many wonderful friends!!! It's been so great, and I couldn't have picked a better man to share my life with!

Looking back, it's amazing how quickly you weed out the bad memories and concentrate solely on the good! I can remember a handful of bad things that happened a long the way, but the list of fun and wonderful memories would take another 30 years to tell!

Here's to 30 more!

Charleston Baby Moon and Bday Celebration

Playing with Hayden

The view from our hotel balcony

Poogan's grave at Poogan's porch

Ben getting shot by the cannon right before our dinner cruise

Me and Tyler at the Charleston Battery (ps - those asking for bump pics, this is as close as you'll get) :)

Ben on the swing at the battery

Me and my O'Douls at the hotel Happy hour!

Couple pic on the dinner cruise! (Again, one of the few bump pics you'll see of me)

It was a very fun week/weekend as we headed to Charleston to celebrate my 30th bday and to have one last "couples getaway" before little T arrives in December.

The week leading up to the trip was eventful as we finally picked a pediatrician for Tyler and went out for Pho on Tuesday! Thursday morning we got on the road to Charleston just as my company officially went Public! All of my coworkers and I were extremely excited to see our CEO ring the bell on Wall Street Friday morning. It was definitely an historic moment!

Ben and I arrived in Charleston Thursday evening in time to have cocktails and appetizers on the hotel patio! Then we headed downtown where we grabbed dinner at Mad River Bar and Grille and then headed to Market Pavilion Hotel for drinks on their rooftop. Market Pavilion is one of the nicest hotels in Charleston and their view is one that certainly should not be missed.

Friday we had breakfast at our hotel and then headed downtown for a carriage tour of the city, shopping in the Market, lunch on the rooftop of the Vendue Inn, & a trip to the battery to sit on the swings and watch the ocean. We then headed to Isle of Palms to drive around the beach for a bit.

That evening, Ben arranged a special treat for me. We took a dinner cruise of Ft. Sumter that was a lot of fun! The shrimp and grits definitely hit the spot.

Saturday morning we had brunch at a local (very yummy) place called Poogan's porch...named after a deceased dog of all things.

Then we rested at the hotel for a bit before heading over to Mt. Pleasant to meet up with Leah, David and Jannell. We spent some time hanging with Leah's adorable little girl Hayden before a big group of us headed to Wild Wing Cafe to watch USC take on S. Carolina St.

We whooped some major butt and I was very proud of my Gamecocks!

Sunday, Ben and I were up early and on the road back to ATL so that we could meet Steph and Pat to watch the Redskins vs. Bucs game.

Pat and Steph are big Bucs fans and of course Ben and I love our Skins (although this season has been just terrible). The Skins pulled out a victory (barely) and Ben and I headed home to crash!

What a weekend, but so much fun!!!