Baby Shower for Ixchel

Besties & Baby Boy Shower 

Baby boy Rex is almost here! My best friend Ixchel is having a baby boy in March and I hosted a shower in her honor yesterday. The shower was a great success! We all had fun playing the games and watching her open presents while we all squealed "Aw that's so cute!" The food was really good if I do say so myself--I made everything from scratch and mostly got my ideas from Pinterest. I'm so happy and excited for Ixchel & Than as they start their cute little family with Rex on the way! I apologize for the poor quality of the photos...the lighting wasn't very good and I think my camera was accidentally on the wrong setting. Here are the pictures showing the highlights of the shower:

tissue paper pom poms tutorials here

food table

Baked Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls

finger salad

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Mini Fruit Pizzas

baby whale cupcakes

blue dum dum lollipops

lemonade

Ribbon Measuring Game

How many Baby Ruths Rex in the jar?

            Write your wishes for baby Rex                          Baby Sweets Candy Game

Guessing measurements for Ixchel's baby belly

cute baby booties I gave her for baby Rex

Erin, Chelsea J, Nicole E, Ixchel, Jessica, Me, Hailee, Whitney & baby Claire, Nicole B,  Alli, (Carly had to leave early)

Favors: Bath Salt & Washcloths in cute cup with cherry on top! 

So much fun showering Ixchel with gifts and celebrating baby Rex!

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The U.S. Men's National Soccer Game

Last night James and I went to see the U.S. Men's National Soccer team play against Venezuela! That's the nice thing about living in Phoenix--there are so many sporting events around us that we can take our pick! So far we've been to an Arizona Cardinals game, this soccer game, and we'll be sure to go to basketball and hockey games as well. So anyway, back to the game: James was super excited! Soccer is his true love of sports. He's been playing his whole life and at the game last night he says he could watch soccer all day and never be bored. 

Before the game we went to our favorite restaurant Chili's. For once I did not get my usual Cajun Chicken Pasta (shocker, I know), I had the California Club Toasted Sandwhich--delish! James had the Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger. We felt very American :) 

We hurried to get to the game at the Cardinals stadium in Glendale (so awesome that it's in the same town that we live in). Traffic was a NIGHTMARE! We couldn't believe how poorly the parking was set up. Cars were backed up for miles. We ended up cutting most of them in line by getting into the farthest lane. When we finally got up to the front of the line to park, the workers there taking the money for parking were not fast at all, in fact they were older folks. No wonder it was taking forever to get to the front of the line! So we hurried and parked and found our seats. Luckily we only missed 20 mins of the game. Ha. Our seats were really good though as you can see in these pictures here.

View from where we were seated

Row 16 seats 1 &2

The game was going pretty slow, no one scored the first 90 minutes of the game! They added extra injury time on at the end. On the USA's last chance, they headed the ball in the 97th minute, scored and won the game 1-0! It was super intense and when they finally scored we all went crazy! The last time I got excited about a game like that was in high school, and that's saying something because I don't get very excited about sports haha.

Go U-S-A! 

USA has the ball

James' super excited/happy face when USA finally scored!

The final score 1-0! Note the 90 minutes on the clock

USA team on the field

We were both so happy USA WON THE GAME!!!

View the winning play here

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Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes

Guess where I found this recipe? If you guessed Pinterest, you are right! Haha. That's where I get all my recipes now-a-days. James and I made these unique cupcakes tonight. They are not "healthy" cupcakes, but as James and I like to say, they are "healthier" cupcakes :) This is a chocolate  avocado cupcake with  cauliflower frosting. The chocolate cupcake w/ avocado tastes yummy. The cauliflower cream cheese frosting doesn't taste bad, but I was not pleased with how the consistency of the frosting turned out because it did not turn out. Do I recommend this recipe? YES for the cupcakes, NO for the frosting. Here's how my cupcakes turned out:

You can find the recipe here

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Life for the Chapmans

Today Chelsea went here:

I was nominated for my excellent customer service by the assistant branch manager at Chase to have lunch with the district manager! Free lunch? Of course. Cheesecake Factory? I'm so there! Deliciousness? Best lunch I've had in a long time! That was probably the highlight of my day today (besides spending time with my amazing husband). 

Here is what James is studying this week:

That's physiology for ya. I think the picture on the right is of a heartbeat. He just took an anatomy test today, he has a psychology test on Friday and a physiology test on Monday. Let's hear it for the boy! I love you James!

Spring semester is here! I'm taking 7 credits for a ridiculous price as a non-resident at GCC. My classes are Dance Production, Rhythmic Theory for Dance, and Jazz IV. Hurry up June so I can get residency and finish my degree faster! 

Plans for this week include school, work, baking "healthy" cupcakes, planning Ixchel's baby shower, and going to see the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team play on Saturday. James is really excited for that :) Watch for my posts throughout the week! 

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Blogging for 2012

It's time for me to start blogging. I love reading other blogs and getting new ideas so I figured it's time for me to start my own blog for our family! Here are my top 3 reasons for starting a blog:

*To keep some kind of a journal*

*To keep family & friends updated with our lives*

*To keep track of other blogs I love to read*

I will try to post at least once a week. Wish me luck!

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