Sports Wreaths

This year I decided to try my hand at a few homemade gifts. I drew my mom's name for our family's gift exchange, and after browsing on pinterst, I came across a UK wreath that was so cute! The wreath was being sold from a shop on Etsy for $50! I wasn't sure if I could do it but I decided to try! I made one for my mom and an LSU one for Guy's mom.

I loved how they turned out! The difference btw mine and the ones off Etsy are that she uses wooden initials for the schools. I just used foam lettering, which was pretty difficult to cut but it served its purpose. I think I made the LSU too large but for my first time, it came out pretty good.

I would really love to start making them more and offer them for sale! If you are interested in an order, let me know!

Happy 4th Birthday!

**This was supposed to post yesterday on Braylen's actual birthday!

Today is Braylen's 4th birthday! He is growing up so very quickly and I keep telling him to slow down. :) He says "but mom, I'm going to be a big brother!" Today we are having a little party with some friends and family! He has requested a train party this year. One year ago, we had a Mickey Mouse party. How quickly time has gone.

Last year's party!

Braylen brings so much joy to our lives! We are so thankful for him and thankful that God brought him into our family, during a time that was so unexpected. It's hard to imagine life without him.

Things that Braylen loves right now:
1) Being silly-he's actually quite hilarious.
2) Saying "mom (or dad), I love you so, so, so much." and then saying "gross" when we kiss him.
3) Playing drums to the Beatles with Guy. He plays them on beat.
4) Playing basketball and baseball.
5) Beating everyone in Candylane, Go fish, and running up the stairs.
6) His new Vtech mobigo.
7) Miss Tami and Miss Eli- his preschool teachers at Kid's Academy. He LOVES preschool and last week he was Star of the Week.
8) Wrestling.
9) Helping us cook in the kitchen.
10) Playing with trains.
11) Listening to Veggie Tales and singing every single song.
12) Talking to his baby brother in mommy's belly (Braylen has named him Potty Pootie and Rudolph).
13) Telling us EVERYDAY that he "wishes he could go camping with Gretta."

Happy 4th Birthday Braylen! 

We love you so, so, so much! 

Christmas 2011: The One with All the Singing

Christmas came and went. And I barely had time to wrap our gifts. I didn't even send out cards this year. I'm still debating on whether or not I should send a Happy New Year Card. I am pretty bummed that I ran out of time to send them.

One of the christian radio stations in Cincy starts to play Christmas music the day after Halloween. I am one of those people who loves early Christmas. So anytime, Bray and I were in the car (without Guy because he is not one of those people!), we would listen to Christmas music. After about a month into it, Braylen could sing about 90% of the songs played. He loves it! And he's still singing Christmas music (1-13-12). Today it's been Silent Night. He doesn't quite know every word but he makes up his own version. Last year we sang Jingle Bells for about 10 months as his bedtime song.

My sister's family was able to spend a week with us this year and we were so excited to be with them. Little Kaleb is growing so quickly and he is as cute as ever. I can't stand that they are so far away. Kaleb literally smiles all the time and the Lord is already using him to bring joy to those around him.

Guy's aunt and uncle from New Orleans also stayed with the Domec's for a few days this year. It was so nice to visit with them! Aunt Lee is an awesome seamstress and always comes up with creative gifts for the family. Last year she made us Christmas pillowcases (which I'm still using) and this year she made table linens. Super crafty!

CHRISTMAS OVERLOAD!

Braylen is pretending to be Santa with a bundle of toys in his pack

Highlights: 

*Being with family and friends for about 6 days straight surrounding Christmas day.

*Going to Fountain Square and Braylen and Guy being the last ones to ride the horse trolley before they closed. 

*Watching Braylen "sing" during his preschool performance. Actually, out of all the classes he was the ONLY one to cry and run to his parents. That was a fun night. He perked up and I promised that if he sang he could have candy. 

*Seeing Awaited at Crossroads. It was amazing! 

*Guy having 10 days off from work! 

*Braylen understanding what Christmas is all about

*Knowing that this time next year, we will be a family of 4! 

Playing Catch Up

For the past month and a half we have not had wifi. And our macbook is weird and it wouldn't let me connect through the cable...so I haven't been able to or had the time to go to Panera and upload pictures/work on the blog/sell things on ebay/keep up with our budget/you get the picture. Does anyone know how to use icloud by the way? I have pictures that say photostream on my phone but I'm not sure where they are streaming to. They don't seem to be on my computer.

Anyways. Here are two fun things that happened that I just didn't want to miss writing about.

**Thanksgiving.
We missed my sister's family and baby Kaleb while they stayed in Charlotte, but we enjoyed seeing both sides of my family and spending the day with the Domec's. We always see a movie on Thanksgiving night with my dad's side and for the past 2 years, they have picked a kid friendly movie so that Braylen can come with us. This year we saw the Muppets and it was really cute! Pretty funny too. My mom's side usually has our get together the day after or on Saturday and I am so thankful for that because we don't have to rush out of there. We ended up staying for a while at my aunt's house, ordered pizza, and watched the UK game. This year we made Caramel-Pecan Pie with homemade pie crust and Braylen helped us. He loves being in the kitchen. My mom usually makes this pie and it is soooo good. We also made Pumpkin Cake and it is always delicious.

**Babymoon to New Orleans
We like to visit Guy's family once or twice a year down in New Orleans so we snuck in a trip on the first weekend of December. Braylen stayed with grammy and poppy (Guy's parents) so it was a nice trip just the two of us. One last little getaway before we become a family of 4. We flew standby which is always a nightmare but we eventually made it down there. We enjoyed seeing family, cute baby Ava, and eating much food as possible. :) One of my favorite places to eat down there is called Zea's. It was especially good now that I'm further along in my pregnancy and everything tastes delicious. But the real reason for our visit was to go to a Saint's game!!! One of my good friends from high school's husband is on the coaching staff for the Saints! Seriously. She is that cool.  She offered to get us tickets to a game and we were like, um yes please!

My love for the Saints is obviously because I am married to Guy, but I really do like this team. When Katrina hit and wrecked the city a few years ago, it had an impact on Guy's family too. His grandma stayed with them for months as well as another couple who stayed for a few weeks. After everything "settled" down, the Saints actually won the Super Bowl and it was so amazing. It was like a huge victory for the city! It was really emotional for everyone connected to Katrina. We took a last minute trip to New Orleans a week after they won the Super Bowl and the city was seriously crazy! People were so excited! And it was during Mardi Gras so we saw Drew Brees in one of the parades.

*If you've never gone to Mardi Gras, you should totally go! It is so much fun! It is so not like "girls gone wild" unless you visit Bourbon Street-which we never go to. 

So back to the game. Kelly graciously offered us tickets and told us that we could go on the field for pre-game warm ups! Wow. I am pretty sure that if no one was watching, Guy would have ran sprints around the field out of pure joy and excitement. It was awesome being so close to the players and coaching staff. Even the owner came by and rubbed my belly. :) He said you've got something poking out of there. Can you believe the owner actually says hello to the fans?  Mike Brown, take some notes! We took some amazing pictures and had the best time.

The Saints killed the Lions and after the game, we went to the post-game after party! The families of the players and coaching staff are invited and you needed a special bracelet to get in. We saw a few of the players and Drew Brees wife and Coach Peyton's wife (or ex-wife....drama.). When we were leaving the parking lot in Kelly's car a few people actually stopped us for an autograph because they thought there was a player in our car. Oh I forgot to mention that I almost met Will Ferrell. He just didn't hear me yelling his name.

We had the best time! It was a perfect, much needed trip for the two of us. I am so thankful to be married to my best friend!

 On the field! 

Will Ferrell! So close to meeting him! Not sure what I would have said. I love you? You're hilarious? 

Pierre Thomas!

Drew Brees!

The Honeymoon

Happy Honeymoon!!

babies. was this really only 5 years ago??

on top of the Mayan Ruins

Shortly after we arrived to our hotel after the wedding reception, we had to leave around 5am to go to the airport. We even missed our complimentary breakfast! We were flying to Cozumel, Mexico to stay at the Cozumel Palace. It was a very short flight but as soon as we arrived, my new groom starting feeling sick. Headache, stomache pains, feeling weak..... perfect timing! I remember having to go down to the resort store to buy him some medicine, and everything was in a different language. That was fun. We had "Mexican Tylenol" for a few months after the honeymoon. :)

Our resort was so beautiful and right on the ocean. We stayed for 10 days! We had so much fun! It was all inclusive so we could eat whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Chocolate cake brought to your room before dinner? Why not! Steak? Sure! We mostly layed out by the pool and used the on-site snorkel equipment to swim in the ocean. Although, Guy is not the type of person who likes to sit and lay out. He didn't even bring a book to read! He has since changed his ways...well sort of. He would still rather be up and playing on the beach, rather than laying. I have no idea why but that's why I love him! We also signed up for a scuba diving lesson but they canceled it due to weather. One day we'll go back and do it!

We took a tour to the Mayan Ruins (one of them-I can't remember the name) and spent some time in Cancun. We rented a Jeep Wrangler for the day and toured the island of Cozumel. It only takes a little under 2 hours to drive the entire island. We saw a wild pig too. We were located 15 minutes (on foot) away from the "city" so we would walk there and visit shops or local restaurants.

It was such a beautiful island! We were fortunate to go back a few years after our honeymoon while we were on a cruise with our friends! That time we were told of a local beach where you can lay on beach chairs and snorkel in the ocean. It was so fun! And we finally ate at Coconuts! During our honeymoon, someone told us to eat at Coconuts and for some dumb reason, we chose not to. I am glad we went there during the cruise! It sits on top of a mountain and overlooks the ocean. It's litarally a tiki hut with plastic tables everywhere, but the views were amazing and the food was great!

What a blessing it was to be on a beautiful trip with my best friend and new husband! I really hope we can go back to Cozumel with our little family one day.



Rehearsal Dinner

The night before the wedding we had our rehearsal dinner. All the bridesmaids and scripture reading friends and singers came over to my house for a mini-bachalorette party. My dad and I were sitting outside on the patio waiting for the girls to arrive, and we just looked at each other and cried! It was a happy/I can't believe I'm getting married cry! It was sweet. My dad is awesome!

We had great weather that night and after the rehearsal ceremony, we drove over to Indiana for dinner at the Applewood Restaurant. We had the whole top floor and there was a huge outdoor patio that overlooked the river. Even though it was November 10th!!, we were able to be outside and enjoy the night with our friends. Guy and I said our goodbyes and I went straight to bed. Well first my entire family came into my room and sat on my bed. But then I went to sleep. :)

Guy and I took the more traditional route of wedding day well.....traditions. We decided not to talk, text, or see each other until I walked down the aisle. Which I LOVED! Even though I was super, super nervous, I was so excited to see Guy walking down the aisle. Such a special memory! We weren't able to get a lot of awesome pictures ahead of time but it really didn't matter to us. Now that we have kid(s), we just have pictures of them around the house anyways!

This was me walking down the aisle BTW. I was a wreck. My dad walked super slow so that we could savor the moment. So fun! Thanks dad for making this moment a very special memory!

One of my most favorite songs that I wish I would have played at our wedding is by Shane and Shane called "When I Think About the Lord." I feel like that was my theme song to this day. It still is! I was just so thankful for where the Lord had brought me. And of course, I am more thankful than ever!

when i think about the Lord
how He saved me, how He raised me
how He filled me with the Holy Ghost
how He healed me to the uttermost
when i think about the Lord
how he picked me up
turned me around
how He set my feet
on solid ground

it makes me want to shout
hallelujah! thank you, Jesus!
Lord, you're worthy
of all the glory, and all the honor
and all the praise!
Hallelujah! thank you, Jesus!
Lord, you're worthy
of all the glory, and all the honor
and all the praise!

*side note: whenever I play this song in the car, Braylen says "yea. turn it up." and moves his head to the beat. So funny.

Happy almost anniversary to my husband!

Life with the Domec's!

5 years ago this week, I was preparing to walk down the aisle with my sweet husband. I had most of the week off from work and we prepared programs, out of town gift baskets, gathered pumpkins and mums, and tried to stay cool and collective before the big day. I LOVED our wedding. It was one of the most special days of my life. I was so very nervous but thrilled to be marrying Guy. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing (except for adding a few touches via PINTEREST! darn you pinterest.). We had a packed house at the ceremony and ran out of food at our reception! We felt so loved by our family and friends. What an awesome way to "kick-off" a marriage.

A few weeks before the big day

Of course a lot has changed since that precious day! I wanted to take a few days this week to think about all that the Lord has done to capture our hearts and how he has brought us together to establish our little family.

To go with the 5 Year theme, here is my TOP FIVE MEMORIES!
1) Our Wedding Day!

So much has changed in photography since then, and I barely have any pictures from that day. I refuse to shell out $20 a print for an 8X10. But here is one of my favorite pictures from that night. I remember driving down the street to our reception with our bridal party and being so excited to celebrate with our friends and family. The Southgate Center has giant windows and we put candles everywhere so when we pulled onto the long driveway leading to the building, you could just see tons of glimmering lights and people socializing. So fun! We had our DJ annouce the bridal party to "Bring 'Em Out" - Guy was so "gangster" back then. :) Then Guy and I strolled in to Harry Connick Jr.'s version of "It Had to Be You," and we had our first dance. Loved making that entrance with my new groom!

2) Of course your first year of marriage isn't complete without a surprise pregnancy!

SURPRISE! You're pregnant after being married for 5 months. :) What a crazy time in our life that was. Guy was sooooo excited and he really was a solid rock during all of my emotional meltdowns and panic attacks. Seriously I had panic attacks. The Lord provided us with everything we needed to get by during those 9 months. I had lost my job when I was 4 months pregnant and we moved in with my parents. It was such a change for us. When most new mom's are decorating nurserys and buying crib bedding, I was just wondering how we were all supposed to fit in our tiny bedroom in the basement. "Baby's sleep through the night right?" Wrong. Being pregnant was hard for me. I am sooo wimpy. Had horrible heartburn and sciatica and I gained about 50 pounds!! But I did enjoy not working and having my mom make dinner for us and occassionally help with our laundry. :)

3) Welcome Mr. Braylen K. Domec!

Wow, the story of Braylen's delivery is for another post but we survived and welcomed the greatest addition to our family. Guy has is so sweet with kids. They love him! And he stepped in and took care of our little newborn when I was dealing with so many changes, and couldn't figure it out! Shew. After only being married for 13 months, and still trying to figure out how to be husband and wife, we had to learn to be parents. Thank you Lord for getting us through Braylen's first year! :)

P.S. Isn't Braylen sooo very handsome??

 4) Owning our first home!

We moved into our current home after Braylen was 1 month old. We love this little house (minus the tiny closets and one bathroom!). I remember my friend Nina who said that she loves to minister to people using their home. I love the thought of people feeling loved and comfortable just by being here. We hope that people always feel welcomed and accepted. One of our college YL guys said it may be small but it feels like a mansion. I love that! God has been so gracious with our finances and has totally provided for us. We have had sooo many ups and downs and he has brought us through. He usually brings Guy through gracefully and I am usually holding onto something kicking and screaming. But here we are!

5) Guy's first day back to school!
I love this memory. Guy has always been the greatest servant to those around him. He is always the first one to help out a friend or anyone in need. He decided that school wasn't for him early on but after so many crazy jobs and circumstances, he knew that going back to school to be an elementary school teacher was the right choice for our family. I remember Braylen and I meeting him for dinner before his first day. We brought him a card that told him how proud we are of him, and then off he went! I know that this is a strange memory, but I love the thought of the 2 of us (Braylen and I) being in his corner. Cheering for him! Yelling from the rooftops that HE CAN DO IT! And Guy being in school has really defined our family the last few years. He has an intense work schedule and is going to school full-time. God has graciously guarded my heart to not be bitter that Guy is not always here. We know that the long term benefits of this decision far outweighs the present. Being in school has also taught us more about reaching and accomplishing goals. One day soon we will look back and be amazed that we made it through!

I hope to share a few other highlights from the last 5 years! What's really funny is that on "major anniversary" years, I am always pregnant. Our first anniversary, I was due in 8 weeks and now on our 5 year, I am pregnant again. So much for that trip to Vegas! :)