Sara's "Ready to Pop Shower" for Brett

Early in January, our family and lots of friends threw a "Ready to Pop" shower for Sara. Baby Brett is due in March and we can't wait to add another boy to the family! Sara's sister, Jessie, organized the entire shower and did such a wonderful job with the theme. We had lots of things with "pop" in them-popcorn, cake pops, soda pop, Pop Rocks, lollipops, and so much more. We are all about to "pop" with excitement over seeing Sara because we had not seen her (or her growing belly) since Allison's wedding back in October. She looked precious as always! She got her own surprise when she was greeted by Aunt Lisa and Allison who drove in from Tennessee completely unannounced. It was so much fun to see all the gifts Baby Brett got. Sara is going to have lots of fun when he makes his arrival! 

Popcorn Bar

Jordan and Addi

Yummy food!

Mason jars for our soda pop :)

Pinterest inspired chicken salad that I made--SOOO GOOD!!!

Jordan and Sue

Me and Sue

Jess, our wonderful party planner :)

Allison and Sue

Surprising Sara when she walked in

Sue, Belinda, and Tammy

Jess, Jordan, and Allison

Sisters

Sarah and Baby Brett :)

Addi and Grant look like they were dressed to match but neither one of their mommies knew what the other one was wearing. They both showed up in black and white and looked just precious!

Sara could only come in town this one weekend so everyone made sure to come to this shower and give her their gift for Brett. She was so blessed and got so many wonderful gifts!

If you look closely at the tool belt, you'll notice it says "Shane's Diaper Tool Belt."

Let's hope he doesn't really use this to change little Brett's diapers!

She was so happy to have a lollipop, but she didn't exactly know what to do with it! 

See what I mean? :)

Sarah, Sara, Jessie, and Jordan

(These four grew up together and have been friends for a long time!)

Sara and Vera

Jess and Addi

Sara and her mom, Wanda

Jessie, Sara, Wanda

Mamaw Chandler and Sara

I LOVE this one!

Sara and Tanya, her mother in law

Lisa, Sara, and Allison

Sara and her Mamaw

Grant's best bud :)

Hostesses

All the girls in the family

Jess and Grant

Cousins :)

It was a WONDERFUL shower! Now all we're waiting on is little Brett to arrive. It won't be too much longer!!! 

Playing from Dawn Until Dusk

Saturday was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY for us. Josh, Dave, Allison and Spencer had an early tee time at one of the local golf clubs, so Eli and I made yummy Blueberry Sour Cream muffins and went to Mamaw's house to share with Mamaw, Papaw, and Lisa. These are the absolute best blueberry muffins I've ever put in my mouth. Go here for the recipe. You won't regret it!

After breakfast, people started coming to Mamaw's house to help cook food for lunch. If there's one thing the Chandler family can do, it's EAT! Eli was too busy for all that though, so he and Peyton had tons of fun playing together. They rode around on their fire truck and scooter, played golf, kickball, and zoomed all around the house pushing their cars back and forth. It was so wonderful to see how well they got along with each other. Eli and Peyton are 18 months apart and Peyton is so good with Eli. He is kind and so gentle with him. It's fun watching them play together so much!

While they were playing, Eli stumbled upon the oscillating fan in the pantry and was quite intrigued with it. He had to stop playing for just a little while so he could check to make sure the fan was in proper working condition.

Before lunch, Mrs. Carla, Mamaw and Papaw's neighbor, invited Eli and Peyton over to play on her kids' inflatable water slide. Eli heard the word "outside" and he was sold; when we added the word "water" that just sweetened the deal for him. We got the boys dressed in their swimsuits and walked over to the big slide. Eli had so much fun! I love the fact that he doesn't know to be scared of anything right now, so he was more than willing to climb, with assistance from Aunt Lisa, to the top of the water slide and slide down to the bottom. He wanted to do it over and over and over. It got to be too much to keep throwing him, basically, to the top, so I jumped in the water and just sat him in the middle of the slide and let him go the rest of the way down on his own. He still got the thrill and we didn't have to work as hard :)

I love the expression on his face in this one!

Just like usual, Eli lost interest in the slide after about 30 minutes and wanted to do something else. He spotted Carla's kids John Deere power wheel car and decided to take it out for a little test drive. He actually managed to drive it on his own after I showed him one time how to press the floor pedal. He picks up on things so quickly!

But what little boy's dream wouldn't be complete without a pink and purple Barbie Jeep power wheel? Much to his Daddy's dismay, Eli preferred the Barbie Jeep. I think it had more pick up and go than the John Deere did.

I don't listen to rap music, but the only thing I can think of when I see this picture is that song by Snoop Dog...."Laid back, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind...."

We got back to the house and Eli was pooped! He took a nap and then we went back to Mamaw's to play and eat some more! (Allison's boyfriend, Spencer, was most impressed with the food that was offered over the weekend. He seems to fit in very well with the rest of us gluttons.)

Eli and Aunt Lisa played with Mr. Potato Head until it was time for us to go. It had been a long day and we were all ready for bed. We said goodbye to everyone, including all the itty bitty babies and made our way home.