'Tis the Season...

For holiday parties, baking, indulging in all those baked goodies, shopping, and most importantly, spending time with family and friends.  The past three weeks have been very busy with lots of get togethers, starting with the annual INTECH Holiday Party - my sister was my date this year since hubby had to work.  As always, it was a terrific time with my fabulous co-workers and their significant others....too bad it was on a Thursday night instead of a weekend, but we made the best of it and still had a blast!  I stayed up way past my bedtime for a school night and was struggling the next day ~ it was one of the very few times I have actually drank caffeine during this pregnancy!

 The INTECH ladies and April :)

The next event was the Ribley's Tacky Sweater Party ~ trying to find a tacky sweater in general was not an easy task, coupled with the fact that I am 7 months pregnant!  So I resorted to looking for a cute holiday t-shirt, especially since it has been unseasonably warm for December!  Add in cute elf socks and voila ~ you have a party outfit!! 

All the girls decked out in their holiday attire!

With the other mommy-to-be, Vanessa, who is also having a little girl! :)

Finally, the 2nd Annual Cookie/Ornament Exchange was held last week at our house.  This is a tradition that was started by the mom of one of my best friends from home.  Last year's party was a huge success and this year was no different ~ 10 more ladies (27 total!) joined in the fun and everyone stepped up their game in the baking department!  From fabulous Oreo truffles to chocolate cannoli cookies, the army of Gingerbread men to several batches of red velvet shortbread cookies (dipped in white chocolate!), and the always awesome sugar cookies to anything made with peanut butter!!

Two of the tables covered in delicious cookies of all shapes and sizes!

All the ladies after the ornament exchange!

The five preggos - in order by due date (and coincidentally in height!). 

The upside of being preggo during this time of year is you can eat a few extra cookies and not feel bad about it.  The downside is all that walking through the mall causes really sore feet and legs :( 

Hope you are all enjoying this magical time of year as much as we are! :)

Turkey Time in the Keys...

It was wonderful to enjoy the long holiday weekend with the hubby and great friends!  We spent Thanksgiving with friends from Cleveland who have always opened their home to us since we usually don't go to OH for the holiday....I was sad to not spend the day with my sister who went over to the west coast of FL to visit with our aunt and grandparents, but since we were leaving for the Keys on Sat, I figured that would be too much driving for this preggo!  She did stop by later for some dessert (my awesome pumpkin cake with maple cream cheese frosting - I was pretty proud of it if you couldn't tell - thanks Melissa!) and some Christmas decorating! 

We spent Black Friday at Best Buy, the mall, and Home Depot!  I'm not usually one to go out shopping with all the crazies, but we were looking for a front loader washer/dryer and there were some amazing deals to be had!  Thankfully that is checked off the to-list, along with a video camera for when the new bundle arrives!  That night friends of ours from Cleveland flew in and bright and early the next day we headed to Key West for our last get-away before the baby arrives!  The trip was very relaxing and we stayed at the cutest B&B...plus it was fun to see the island all decorated for Christmas!  Here are some pics from our adventure:

The Azul Key West B&B...

First night out...at the smallest bar in Key West (where I drank water!)

Being tourists and taking a picture at the Southernmost Point of the US!

We biked the entire island, which was so much fun!  The weather was absolutely perfect and the water was gorgeous.  I only had slight issues with the bike in the beginning - I wasn't used to the big handle bars and I think my added weight didn't help my balance either!

On a sunset catamaran cruise with Gary & Danielle!

A beautiful sunset with my wonderful husband!

25 weeks!!  Baby's first trip to the Keys was a success!

We stopped at an awesome little tiki restaurant on the way out of the Keys called Morada Bay on Islamorada.  The view was amazing and the food was so fresh and fantastic!  All we need is a Corona (non-alcoholic for me please!) to make this a perfect Christmas card photo!

Thanks to Gary & Danielle for making the trip down to visit and for such a great time!