Etched Glasses

Last month, we were able to get away for a long weekend at the beach. It was heavenly!! Lots of naps and relaxation and a chance to catch up on the stack of magazines that were gathering dust on my nightstand.

As I was reading the latest Southern Living (one of my favorite magazines!), I ran across an article on etching glass. This is not something I had ever thought of doing - but they made it look so easy...

...and they had this adorable idea! Don't you just love them??



These would be perfect for summer dinner parties - nobody would lose their glass! I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them and NEEDED a reason to make them. With Mother's Day only a few weeks away, I decided they would be the perfect gift for my mom. We have a large family, and every time we get together for dinner we pull out the faithful red plastic cups and everyone writes their name on a cup. It accomplishes the intended purpose...but THESE glasses would be SO MUCH CUTER!!

So, I picked up 16 glasses from Walmart:



And I set out with my trusty Southern Living magazine and the listed supplies. I used my Cricut to cut out the numbers directly on the clear contact paper. Then I simply put the contact paper on the glass, brushed the etching cream on, let it sit for 10 minutes, and then rinsed under running water. Take the contact paper off...and you have an etched number on your glass. Oh my goodness, this seriously could not be any easier. Truly!!

An inexpensive, easy, handmade gift - I love it!





My stencils weren't quite as fat and chunky as the numbers on the Southern Living glasses...so my glasses didn't look quite the same. But I still liked the way they turned out. I might play with some different fonts next time. The possibilities are really endless! I even thought about trying some with a monogram. They would make a unique wedding gift.

Which reminds me...I need to go get some glasses and make a set for me! If you want to try it out for yourself, the instructions are on the Southern Living website here.

The Gender Reveal Party

About a month after we found out I was pregnant, I ran across the cutest idea for a fun twist on finding out what we were having. A friend from my college days was pregnant with her 4th, and she posted this idea with some pictures on her Facebook page. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to do the same thing!

So here is how it goes:

On our sonogram day, we told the technician that we wanted her to write down the gender and put it in sealed envelope - without telling us the results! So she warned us when she got to that part of the ultrasound and we turned our heads. We left the doctor's office that day with a sealed envelope - the inside telling us whether the baby was a boy or girl. I will admit that it was difficult to not tear that envelope open - but I knew it would be worth it in the end to keep the secret! Of course, it was even more difficult since the sonogram was on Wednesday...and we weren't finding out the result until Saturday!

I then took the envelope to a friend that makes cakes. Her instructions were to make the cake either pink or blue on the inside, depending on the results inside the envelope - but to make the outside of the cake gender neutral so it wouldn't give anything away.

We picked up the cake on Saturday morning, and that afternoon we had a party with our family to find out the baby's gender. I decorated the dining room in both pink and blue...it was so fun!



We even had pink and blue fruit dip!





I sent Chris to pick up the cake that morning and it was SO CUTE! Far beyond what I had imagined! Of course, when he walked in and showed it to me, I was caught off guard because the outside was blue. But he told me that our friend said the outside in no way indicated what the inside would reveal. So that left me even more confused...was she giving a hint, or was it to throw us off because the inside would be pink?? Only time would tell!







Tanner had a soccer game later that morning, and then the whole family came over after the game for our "baby reveal" party. I had everyone guess what they thought we were having - by writing their name on either a pink or blue piece of paper. The overall result was 5 "boy" guesses and 7 "girl" guesses.

Chris, Tanner and I then cut open the cake for the big reveal.

It's A Boy!!!

We are very excited about having another boy in the family! There is nothing quite like the snuggles and kisses that a little boy gives his mommy!

Let's Try This Again!

I can't believe it has been almost 10 months since I have posted on my blog! It seems like the more time that went by, the more pressure I felt to have something really great to post. Which made me procrastinate even more...and the vicious cycle kept repeating.

And some great stuff has happened in the past 10 months, so I'm not sure why I didn't post before now. But it is time to start fresh, and try once again to keep this blog updated on a somewhat regular basis. Or at least more than once every 10 months!!

So here goes...

For the biggest news in our world, we found out on December 26 that we are

HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!

To say that we were surprised would be an understatement. After trying for over 4 years for another baby, we didn't think it was going to happen. In fact, after much prayer and discussion, we had decided to adopt through the foster program here in Texas. We took our training classes in October and we were very excited about the direction God was leading us. Our home study was scheduled, and we were only a month away from being certified foster parents.

And then I took the pregnancy test...and got the big surprise. Actually, if the truth be told, I took 4 tests over the course of 2 days because I couldn't believe it!

So, the fostering/adoption plan has been put on hold...and we are now preparing for the arrival of the newest Adams family member at the end of August. We are very excited and feel so blessed that God has given us this gift. We know that His timing is always perfect!

In my next post, I will tell you how we found out what we are having - a boy or girl! I would include it in this post...but it is getting close to 9:00 and this pregnant mommy gets tired very early these days!!