It's A Boy!!!

We had our gender ultrasound on Monday, August 23rd and it's a BOY!!! Brian and I have both anticipating this day since we found out we were expecting. It was so amazing to see our little one on the screen, flipping and wiggling around. He was so active that the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting really good pictures of our little guy. I can attest to how active he is as I feel him moving all of the time. All of his measurements were right on track and she did mention that his femur measured quite long. That didn't surprise us as we are both fairly tall. Of course I cried when I saw our little guy and Brian just grinned ear to ear. He is thrilled that he will be getting his little football player. I just hope for Brian's sake that he does like football. I'm hoping for a little mama's boy!

We had decided on both boy and girl names before the ultrasound so it is finally nice to be able to call our little peanut by his name. His name is/will be Gentry Lee Sandon. When we were looking at boy names, Brian had googled "tough boy names" as he didn't want our little guy to have a wimpy name. Brian wanted a name that sounded "cool" when announced over the PA system at his future sporting events. Gentry was on the list and we both loved it. It is unique, yet when you see it, you know how to pronounce it. Gentry means "gentleman" so I'm not quite sure how it made the "tough" name list. Hopefully our little guy will be a sweet tough guy! The middle name of Lee is both my late Grandpa Francis' and my dad's middle name. I hope he feels honored to be named after them.

Below is a profile picture of little Gentry! We love him so much already and can't wait to meet him in person!

Announcing.....

With much joy and excitement, Brian and I would like to announce that we are expecting our first baby in January! We are beyond thrilled to be starting this new adventure together. The new little Sandon is due January 20th, 2011. We can't wait!

And so continues the circle of life...

LWS (Little White Squirrel) Update:

Remember my comment in my previous post about the lifespan of squirrels being quite short? Well, apparantly LWS's mother did not teach him to look both ways before crossing the street. As I drove up the street on my way home for lunch today I looked in the normal yards for LWS. I saw him alright...just not in someone's yard. He was "sleeping" in the street. Poor little guy! I'm glad I caught him on camera yesterday as today would have been too late!

The Elusive White Squirrel

Last spring, on my way to work, I spotted a little white squirrel in a neighbor's yard. I told Brian about it that evening as I thought it was neat to have seen such an uncommon little creature. (I think he thought I was crazy.) I kind of figured I would never see the little guy again, as let's face it, squirrels don't really have the longest lifespan. Obviously their mothers don't teach them to look both ways before they cross the road.

Much to my surprise, on my way to work just last week, I saw him. I told Brian that I had seen the white squirrel again, and yet again I don't think he believed me. I was determined to get a picture of him. I saw him the very next day but couldn't get my phone out of my purse quick enough to snap a picture. (By the way, I had pulled to the side of the road to take the picture...I was not driving at the time.)

The next day, there he was....and I got a quick picture with my phone...my car in park...again! (See mom...I'm a safe driver.) The photo was not very good quality however. I showed it to Brian as I had my proof that there really was a white squirrel in our neighborhood.

This morning as I left for work, I threw our little Olympus "point and shoot" camera in my purse...just in case. As I drove up Olive Street towards our house...sure enough...there he was. So I pulled over and.....voila....meet the neighborhood....little white squirrel! Isn't he cute?! Thank goodness I got a good picture of him today. I think the neighbors are beginning to wonder about me stopping to take pictures of their front yards.

Bedroom Re-Do:Complete

Our bedroom re-do is finally complete. We re-painted our room last weekend. The color we chose is called "Rust Belt" by Dutch Boy. It is a deep rust red color that really makes the room look rich. Our furniture and mattresses were delivered on Friday and after only a minor mishap (our boxspring should have been the half size option since our bed is a platform bed with the drawers underneath...the top of the bed was well above my waist) and a quick trip to Joplin for an exchange, our room is complete. The bedding looks great with the new furniture and paint color. See for yourself...and please note, that yes, Lucy has even given it her stamp of approval.

The Big Dance

How about them Wildcats? Yes, the Kansas State Wildcats are headed to the NCAA Tournament! Oh, how I love March Madness! Go Cats!

Busy, Fun-Filled Weekend

Brian and I have had a very busy but fun-filled weekend! Saturday morning we got up early and headed to Joplin in search of new bedroom furniture and mattresses. We had looked locally but couldn't find anything that we both liked. We don't have an actual bedroom set, only pieces of mismatched furniture. Over the past three years we have slowly been phasing out our old college furniture and purchasing new, grown up pieces. Since our current mattresses have been causing us both lower back pain recently, we decided that is was finally time to take the plunge. We have been doing our research online and both had agreed on the particular style that we were looking for. That made shopping so much easier as we could be in and out of a furniture store in about five minutes if we didn't see anything we liked. We went to Ashley Furniture, Westco, Slumberland, Furniture Factory Outlet and finally Furniture Row. A big factor in where we bought our furniture from was if they would deliver to Nevada. We ultimately made our purchase from Furniture Row because they had the perfect set for us and they would deliver for a great price as well as take our old mattresses. We bought the queen size bed with storage underneath on both sides, the dresser with mirror, the chest of drawers as well as two nightstands. Below is our new bedroom furniture that will be delivered in about two weeks. We can't wait for all of the storage we will now have as well as the new euro-top mattresses that we will soon be sleeping on.

I wanted to have a completely new bedroom when we get the new furniture so I ordered new bedding for our room. Brian has always thought our current bedding is "girly." I think it is beautiful but after almost three years of use and a dog who thinks it is her bed too, the fabric looks a little worn. Not bad, and it will definitely get used in the future, but I was ready for a fresh look. The new bedding is not "girly" at all. I orginally thought I would re-paint our bedroom a shade of gray/blue to go with the bedding, but when it came in, the blue was much darker than it looked online. I am now thinking I will paint our room a rich, brick red/red brown color, the same color as one of the stripes in the bedding. I found a paint sample at Home Depot yesterday that I liked so hopefully I can find a similar color somewhere here in town. What is best about the paint color is that it actually matches our current bedding so that if I ever want switch them out for some reason, we will be able to. Take a look at our new bedding. Beautiful!!!

After a successful day of shopping, we came back to Nevada to play with Lucy for awhile before we went to the Presenteeism Banquet at 3M. We had a great time with friends enjoying the delicious food and playing Bingo. We were not big winners last night, we just didn't have the luck. But in our group of friends, three of them won big money. Oh well, maybe it will be our turn next time.

Today, Brian's dad stopped by to visit us on his way from Bettendorf, IA to Coffeyville, KS. It was great to visit with him. Instead of going out to lunch, which we normally do when he stops by, Brian grilled some chicken I had marinated and I made a nice garden salad and my mom's famous scalloped potatoes. I haven't met anyone who isn't instantly a fan of these potatoes. Divine and so so easy!!! Mark brought along a photo of Brian that he had taken and developed when he was taking a photography class. Brian was probably around four or five years old in the picture and he is soooo cute. It will definitely be getting its own frame.

After Mark left for Coffeyville I was in a baking mood. I just finished baking a batch of Brian's favorite cookies from his childhood, Busy Days. They are the simplest cookies you could possibly make and they are so tasty. For some reason, mine spread out a little more today than usual but they still tasted great. Brian is a happy man!

As you can tell, it has been a busy weekend in the Sandon Household and with the time change I feel exhausted. I think it will be an early bedtime for me tonight.

Nashville

Last Wednesday, Brian was told that he needed to go to Nashville to meet with a supplier to cover a run on Friday. So that meant that he needed to leave on Thursday....as in the very next day. I got the go ahead from my boss to make the trip with him since he would be driving 9 hours each way by himself. I was ecstatic as Brian and I haven't really gotten to travel together except for roadtrips to see our families and to a few K-State football games. We boarded Lucy bright and early on Thursday morning and set off for Nashville. We decided to stay through the weekend so that we could do some sightseeing since all day Thursday would be spent in the car and Brian had to be at the suppliers plant on Friday afternoon.

Below is a picture of one the the huge, NARROW bridges that we had to cross going over the Mississippi River and then the Ohio River. Soooo not my favorite part of the trip.

Friday morning we got up and toured the Vanderbilt University Campus since it was just a few blocks from our hotel. It is a very old but beautiful campus with gorgeous old magnolia trees dotting the grounds. I bought a couple of books at the campus bookstore to read while Brian was at the supplier that afternoon. We then had lunch at a cute little diner called Noshville. I loved their play on words. It was delicious and I loved the atmosphere. I would definitely go back. Below is Brian on the steps of Vanderbilt's Mechanical Engineering Building. Look at that beautiful stone and brick work! So cool!

Saturday morning we got started sightseeing early so that we could fit in all of the things that we wanted to do. Nashville has a full scale replica of the Parthenon that was built for their Centennial Celebration many, many years ago. It was originally built of plaster and wood so when it finally started to crumble they planned to tear it down. The people of Nashville loved it so much that they fought to have an even better one built...and they did. We took the tour of the inside which included an art gallery and a huge statue of Athena, among other things. Below are a few pictures of our time there.

Me by the entrance in front of one of the massive pillars.

Brian between two of the pillars.

Fist bumping the gryphon.

Brian with Athena.

The Parthenon.

After touring the Parthenon, we went to Belle Meade Plantation. This plantation was the former home of the Jackson and Harding families. They were known for their thoroughbred race horses. Some of the famous horses who bloodlines can be traced back to Belle Meade are Seabiscuit and Secretariat. Have you heard of them? We toured the mansion, carriage house, slave cabins and the winery that is now on the property. Such history!

The mansion

The monument of one the the thoroughbreds that made his home at Belle Meade.

The mausoleum where many of the family members were once laid to rest. They have since been moved to the Nashville Cemetery.

After Belle Meade we went down to Music Row and had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe'. We went to Coyote Ugly and no, I did not dance on the bar! We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and checked out the Riverwalk. We then had dinner at Wildhorse Saloon where JC Anderson was the live entertainment.

Music Row

Hard Rock

Heading into the original Coyote Ugly.

Patsy Cline's dress at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was beautiful.

Are you ready for some football? A Monday night party! Hank Williams Jrs. Monday Night Football jacket and guitar.

Brian with Johnny Cash's guitar.

Brian on the Riverwalk.

View from the Riverwalk.

JC Anderson at Wildhorse Saloon.

Brian with one of the fillies at Wildhorse. :)

The AT&T Building at night. Doesn't it look like Batman?

The only thing we missed out on when we were in Nashville was the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Hotel. We would love to go back and see a show there just for the experience.

Since I could not put all of the photos from the trip on here, I created a slideshow of our time in Nashville. Below is a link to all of the photos.

http://www.slide.com/r/gA1p8Mep2D8uwW0BvzuEgAmSMdISAvNS?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Finished Bathroom Floor...Finally

The bathroom floor is finished and it looks fabulous. Even though we just changed the tile, it looks so much bigger. It was a much needed change and we just love the outcome! It looks great...don't you agree? 

Lucy Update!

Lucy is still the baby of the house and we wouldn't have it any other way. This was how I found her after the Super Bowl party. Apparantly she was as worn out as I was. Isn't she cute?

Lucy thinks that she is a person. Here she was laying with Brian on the couch all stretched out in his lap...just like a little kid. Crazy dog!

She even gets to choose what we watch on tv. Just kidding, she just steals the remote and then naps with it.

2nd Annual Sandon Super Bowl Party

Okay...so I'm a little late in posting pictures from our Super Bowl Party. I guess it is more like a month late. But what can I say? I'd rather come home at night and make dinner for Brian and hang out with him and Lucy than be on the computer. I just love spending as much time with them as possible so the blogging has to wait.

The Super Bowl Party was great once again. We had a house full of friends and more yummy food than we could all devour. We may have to invest in a bigger tv for the game room if we have more guests next year. Our living room was quite cramped but we were all cozy.

During half time, the boys weighed themselves to see how much weight they had gained in the first half from all of the delicious food. Oh, the things that entertain grown men! They all watched as each one got on the scale. You know women would never reveal their weight to each other. *Just a note....our bathroom scale is in our kitchen only because our bathroom is so small that there is no place for it.

We had enough food to feed an army...see for yourself. In the crock pot are pizza rolls. If you have ever been to a college town with a Gumby's Pizza, you know what these are. AMAZING is the way that you describe these little creations. There is also raspberry black bean dip and under the foil are bbq meatballs and runzas. You may know them as bierox. So delish!

In the large crock pot is shredded buffalo chicken for buffalo chicken sandwiches and in the small crock pot is spinach artichoke dip. So divine! You can also see my lovely Kitchen Aid mixer making her debut in this photo. It came in quite handy in mixing up the meatball mixture. Also pictured are mini pigs in the blanket. Can you see why they were weighing themselves?

This is my black eyed pea salsa that we now prefer over regular salsa. So many different flavors and textures. It is wonderful.

And lastly, if that all wasn't enough, we had magic bars and famous chocolate chips cookies. I say famous because these cookies do not just have chocolate chips in them, but toffee pieces, white chocolate chips and lots of other rich ingredients!

The party this year was a ton of fun and we can't wait until next year! Maybe the Saints will even be playing and win...again!  Go Saints!

Exciting News!!!

Brian was just told this morning that he would be going to Nashville tomorrow for a meeting. I decided to tag along for the trip. We are both excited to get to actually get to go somewhere together! I will take lots of pictures and when we get back I will catch you up on the happenings in our life the last few weeks. I've kind of taken a hiatus from blogging but I've had a few of my favorite people remind me that I haven't had an update in weeks. The Super Bowl party was a success yet again and the bathroom is looking quite spiffy with the new tile. I PROMISE I will update next week.

A Dream Come True

I have always wanted a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. My wish has now finally come true. (Well it will when Mr. UPS delivers it next week.) I finally broke down and ordered one. Two times a year my sorority makes sugar cookies as a fundraiser.  The finished products are fabulous, but the dough is sooooo thick. My poor handheld mixer just can't handle the dough. When I made them for Halloween, my little mixer was smoking and had that smell of burning electrical parts. JC Penney had such a great deal that I just couldn't pass it up. They were offering free shipping on all orders over $75, which this obviously was. The shipping alone was $40 because these mixers are so darn heavy. The mixer was also on sale for $100 off, plus Kitchenaid is offering a $30 mail in rebate. What a great deal!

I now just have to patiently wait for my new Artisan Series Gloss Cinnamon Mixer to arrive. Hopefully it will be here in time to make the next round of cookies for Valentine's Day and I'm sure it will come in handy for our Super Bowl Party next weekend! Which reminds me...I still need to work on my menu! I'm still taking suggestions!

Bathroom Floor Update

The new bathroom floor is being installed on February 16th. That was the earliest it could be done. I was hoping for sooner, but the 16th will be here before long! I'm excited to see the end result!

Lucy's Favorite Napping Place

I had the best Christmas ever! I have always wanted a handmade quilt. This year at my parents house, the last gift I opened up was, you guessed it, a handmade quilt. Handmade by my mom! How great is she? Pretty great! I cried. Over a quilt. It is extra special because it was sewn on my grandma's sewing machine. My dad even helped pick out the fabrics. A lot of people had a hand in making this quilt so special. I LOVE IT!!! I use it every day...and so does Lucy. I always find her asleep on it. She is actually asleep on it right now as I type. Below is a photo of the gorgeous quilt and my pup napping on top of it! One day I hope to make a quilt just as beautiful. My mother-in-law got me a sewing machine for Christmas, something I have always wanted. There are all sorts of projects that I would like to create/make, so we'll see how domestic I can be!

The Finished Products

All of the projects from my three day weekend are now complete. I say "now" complete because I did not actually get them completed in my allotted three days. I couldn't find any curtains that I liked to match the bedding for the guest room. I finally found some this week and I finished the guest bedroom yesterday on my half Friday off from work. I think everything turned out pretty well. I still have a few paint touch-ups to do this weekend, but all in all, I think I did pretty darn well! Brian wasn't so sure about painting our vanity black, but when it was done, he commented on how nice it looked. Below are some photos of the finished products!


The bathroom vanity...at odd angles...since our bathroom is soooo small! Brian did say that now that the vanity is black, that the bathroom seems bigger. I guess black really is slimming! Below that are the mirror and the tile sample board. We are having the floor re-done in a few weeks. We have chosen the color in the top right hand side. It has more gold to it than shows up in the picture. I can't wait to see it done!

The kitchen...re-painted. It is close to what it was before but it needed touched up. Since we didn't know that colors the previous owners had used, we re-painted the whole thing. It looks much warmer. You can also see Brian's handyman work in the background. He re-tiled the backsplash while I was in San Diego this summer for work. I think it turned out fabulous. Thanks Brian!

The finished guest bedroom. The bedding was a gift from my parents for Christmas. I love it! The guest bedroom looks really romantic and classy now! Lucy even approves! When I went to take the picture, I found her laying on the bed, asleep. I think she knew she wasn't supposed to be on the bed because she jumped up really quick and stood there looking at me like "What mom? I wasn't doing anything wrong." Visitors are welcome any time! The new bedding isn't just for decoration, it needs to be slept in too!