Comin up on The Growing Tree

Man! I am going crazy being stuck with only my phone to work with! It's killing me because it is so hard to compose a post, or to welcome all my new followers correctly!! I hope that you all will be patient with me until I am back up and running!

Later on, I will be heading to my mama's house to use her computer. I have a lot to share with you! Coming up:

-My new 52 in 52 list.
-A great nail art tutorial from Mrs. Y @ Miles Behind Me.
-Instagrammy catch up
-The return of My Hubby Rocks, which will now be a Sunday Link up!
-An update on Natalie and her first birthday party!
-Two new additions to my family - one furry and one not-so-furry but just as cute!
-A new nail files post! Finally!

That should keep me very busy tomorrow! And keep you entertained for a bit I think!
Stay tuned!

Sending you sunshine,
Rachael

A few exciting things!

This past week I had two "first times" for myself: my first pro-basketball game, and my first pro-hockey game! I never thought I would be a fan of either sport, because hockey is SO hard to watch on tv (I can never seem to follow the puck, and the camera just moves too fast for me) and because basketball is a little confusing and feels like it takes forever on tv. But, we had a great time at the games! So, I thought that I would share with you a few photos, since they were both my first for the sport, since my husband got some awesome photos,  AND since both our teams won!

From Wednesday (Magic vs Wizards):

Our view

My friend ended up not being there, but the girls were awesome!



Why HELLO JJ....!



Best shot of the night!

Dwight Howard

Me and the Hubs =)

And from Friday:

Ilya Kovalchuk

Zach Parise



Johan Hedberg

Victory!!

My best friend, Me, and the Hubby

 (sorry the pic is a little washed out the camera was being wonky)

Again, camera being wonky:

Hubby's cousin, Hubby, Me, my best friend

And Me and the Hubs =)

It was so much fun!!

Weekend Recap - complete with pictures!

I just have to say that this weekend was a BLAST, but I am exhausted!

Incomplete
Complete

Friday:

Finish dishes and wash bottles
Work at 5

Saturday:

Organize bills  - still need to do this. Problem is it has gotten so out of hand that I don't know where to start
Plan Couch to 5k training~ Finish planner with daily cleaning duties
Pack baby bag
Drop Natalie off for an ENTIRE day stay with her Nan (great-grandmother)
Work at 4 until 12

Sunday:

Nascar race in Dover!!
Pick up Natalie and go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Jets game - we ended up stopping at the Green Turtle about halfway home to eat, and then picking up the munchkin before going home.

We had a blast! It was super cold and super windy and NONE of our favorites won, but we still had an awesome time. Here's a picture of us:

And a picture of Ben and Courtney watching the race:

They're getting married in November on the day before my birthday, and I am so excited for them!

Ten Year Anniversary and Football

Before I get down to business I just want to say a few things:

1. I will never forget where I was, this day, ten years ago. I was sitting in French class and we turned on the tv just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower, and then watched in horror for pretty much the rest of the day. At the time, I was a junior in high school and selfishly all I could think of was how PISSED I was, because that means that our class trip to Paris was going to get cancelled. (they cancelled all international flight)

2. I cannot put into words the emotion I feel when I see the memorial. So I won't. I'll just show you a photo.

Beautiful. I will go - soon. (Probably the next time hubby and I head up for a game)

Ok, down to business!




FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!!! The hubby and I had an amazing time at the game, it was crazy, fun, emotional, and just an all around AWESOME time.

Tailgating with our new friends (old friends to Hubby as he's been talking to them on the Jets blog and on twitter) was really, really fun. And we finally have an updated Jets photo of us!

The pregame ceremonies were really cool, and being in the same stadium as George W. Bush was pretty darn cool.

The halftime show was emotional and heartbreaking and touching all at the same time. The maglights are flashlights held by friends and family that were lost in the tragedy, and is in the exact measurements of the twin towers. In the center are two searchlights representing the towers themselves.

Here's a better picture from a stock photo from Google. (You can't really see the searchlights - that was taken with Hubby's camera)

Final score:

Here we are celebrating our V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

And in front of the stadium after we left with it all lit up behind us (Hubby insisted on this one, and I believe we took about 4 photos before we got one he was satisfied with)

And just because I could, I posed for this little jem:

But of course, we couldn't leave without something for our little munchkin!!

Until next time Meadowlands/Metlife Stadium! We shall see you soon, because you are HOME =)

Our Last Hurrah Babymoon

So before I get into the drama of this past weekend, I would like to share with you some pictures from our "Babymoon"!

After I got discharged from the hospital on Monday and rested for the rest of the evening, everything seemed to be fine. On Tuesday I followed up with my OBGYN and they sent me over to my delivery hospital for a non-stress test to make sure I wasn't contracting anymore. They also gave me a steroid shot to help with her lung development in case she does come early, which is very likely now that I have had positive labor. They told me no working, and that I would need to go home and put my feet up, but we decided to go to the game anyway, since it was our two year anniversary (omg!) and since I was feeling good and wasn't going to be doing a lot of walking anyway. It was so fun! Between the three games that we went to, we lost two and won the last one. But it was super cool to sit behind the Cubs bullpen and watch the pitchers warm up! The last game was an AWESOME win, the Cubs were down 8-0 and came back and won 10-9!! Here are some pictures from the games:

 I also wanted to share some pictures of the progress of the baby's room. I haven't really gotten to do much, but I will get to the reason behind that in just a little bit.

 This is her dresser which was bought for her by my Dad and Stepmom, Lisa. Thank you guys we love you!

They also came over last Friday and helped us paint her bedroom purple! Doesn't it look fantastic!!?

I printed off the letters that I want above her crib. It reads : Life is but a dream... Right now the dresser is sitting there but it will actually be moved to the back wall under the window. The letters will be painted up on the wall in dark purple. I also have a wooden letter project in the works that unfortunately I can't work on at all right now.

This is the first baby gift package that I got from some of my AMAZING customers at work. There is a baby blanket, a few onsies, bottles, two rubber ducks, a rattle, a bottle brush, a few bibs, a stuffed bunny rabbit, and her first piggy bank! They are so sweet! I want to document all my gifts like this!

So, the reason I can't paint the walls or do my wooden letter project is because....

I am BACK. in. the. hospital. My water is now "cracked" and leaking and sent me back into contractions on Sunday morning. The doctors said I wasn't doing enough to be determined to be in active labor, so they have put me on bedrest and pumped me full of fluids (although I am now off of them because they are feeding me) and now I just get to wait. And wait. And wait. There's no going home since there is a chance my water could break, but I don't think I'm going to be having this baby for a few days or MAYBE even a week or so. It's going to suck being cooped up in this hospital bed for days on end, but she's still WAY too early to be coming into this world. And the plus side is that all the nurses are super great and are making sure that  I am happy and well taken care of. They are definitely making this easier, because while I enjoy being lazy, I definitely do NOT enjoy being confined to bed, or being away from my pets. I can only hope that either by some grace of God she stays in and they eventually let me go home with strict orders for bedrest, or I have little Natalie here soon. I was hoping for an August baby, but little Natalie is SURE being impatient! Let's just hope that she can stay in a few more days.

I will update soon!

One more post about wrestling...

One comment: It's about - damn - time!

That is all =)

First post of three tonight...My Husband Rocks!

I know, I know, it's pretty much three days late. That's just how I roll.

My husband rocks this week because he got tickets for THIS:

We had so much fun! The wrestlers were all really really awesome, and without further ado, I will share some pictures with you now!

Madison Rayne and Mike - Abyss and Mike

Kazarian and Me - The Pope D'Angelo Deniro and Mike

Me and Mike with Velvet Sky

Me and Mike with Don West

Mike and Me with Jeremy Borash

Me and Mike with Chris Sabin

Me with Jessie Neal of Ink Inc.

The Founder of TNA - Mr. Double J, Jeff Jarrett! (so awesome)

The other love of my life, AJ Styles =)

Mike's Infatuation, Velvet Sky

The totally modest and fantastically awesome, Jeff Hardy (who threw his armband to me woo!)

Don't ya just love my hubby's photography skills on that last one!?

I have to say just one thing: TNA Wrestling practices what they preach. They are definately the most fan-friendly company today. They treat every fan like gold, and they respect the fact that without us, there would be no TNA Wrestling. They take the time out to say thanks, and really give their fans the one-on-one experience and it's just - plain - awesome. My hubby and I can't wait to go again!!

So, that is why my hubby rocks =)