Christmas blessings so far...

celebrating 28 weeks :)

Meadow lights with The Fishers!

15th Annual Christmas Party

 Christmas decorations & finally..gifts under the tree!!

celebrating 30 weeks!!!
..as this belly grows so do our hearts & our excitement to meet our lil' angel ♥

With more Christmas parties to come, lots of family gatherings & Christmas morning just on the horizon, the excitement & anticipation of having a baby here next Christmas is already bubbling! Matt & I can't wait
to wake up Christmas morning with our little family of three & celebrate Jesus' birthday with a child of our own! It's these special moments as a new "Mama & Daddy" that are so special & we can't wait to begin making these memories together! ♥

Merry Christmas to all!!

Grandma's home..

Grandma went home to be with her Lord late Friday night & I praise Him that her suffering is over. After many long months of battling cancer, not being able to eat & suffering from dementia, Grandma can finally rest in peace. ♥ Thank you Lord for taking her home.

"A garden of Love grows in a Grandmother's heart."

Unknown 

~We love & miss you Grandma~

~ Thanksgiving Blessings♥ ~

This post is coming a lil' late, but it's been busy 'round here lately :)
I am so thankful that we were able to spend the week of Thanksgiving with family. 

a glimpse of some Thanksgiving memories...

 

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gettin' more excited to meet our lil' punkin with each passing day!

continuing to add to the nursery! how cute is the cradle my sweet neighbor let us borrow :)
i'm still in awe when i look at the nursery and see all the wonderful things we have gotten from family & friends! ♥

celebrating 28 weeks! finally made it to my third trimester :)

we can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel!

with Christmas quickly approaching, i know time will only continue to fly by! the calendar is full & so are our hearts! with (approx) 5 more belly pics to come before we get to meet our lil' miracle, i ask for your prayers for a continued healthy pregnancy, decreased back pain, time well managed, a flexible work schedule & a sense of calmness for a few more months :)

Love always ♥

fun things from our week~end!

an awesome victory over the heels!!

 such a beautiful day  :)

the nursery is coming together :)

love this ♥

celebrating Lance's 9th birthday!

trick candles?

playtime in the backyard :)

enjoyin' a friday night dinner with shannon & aaron..
she's expecting too..so it was nice to compare "symptoms" & "ailments"..ha!

 celebrating 26 weeks!!
hard to believe the next belly pic we take will be the start of the THIRD trimester..wow!!

preschool sunday is always a blessing!
especially when the kids sang This is the Day (their favorite by far!)
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this is officially our last weekend pre-holiday events, so we made sure to be extra lazy for the most part!
i'm still feeling pretty good :) our lil' punkin is moving all the time lately! i know i'll miss this feeling once she's "done baking" & makes her arrival, so i'm enjoyin' laying around & just watching my belly jump at every kick she throws out :) i must say, it's also nice to have her all to myself & not have to share her for a little while longer (stingy i know, but that's the Mama in me)...i know i'm only gonna become more uncomfortable as the next few months approach, but it's so awesome to know that it's "just the two of us" until that day when we get to meet her face to face :)

i've been stressing alot lately about the whole labor & delivery thing & how everything will happen...matt tells me to stop worrying...i'm trying.
 i stress about having so many people there just waiting on me to push out a baby! i stress about sitting there in pain while visitors roam in & out watching me like i'm an exhibit. i stress about what if i have to have a c-section & i'm not the first to get to see & hold her! i stress about trying to nurse & people waiting outside the door for me to finish so they can see her. i stress about people getting upset with me because i want bonding time with my husband & baby...& not so much time with others...& the list goes on. alot of this stems from other mothers telling me their experiences & how they felt at time of delivery.

i have never been one to worry about much, but this just seems to be getting worse the closer it gets to february. i know the Bible tells us in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious [do not worry] about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  & i really am trying to do this & let all these worries go! so please say a prayer for me & for matt (& his poor ears!) i know the Lord will work it all out & i just need to chill out & enjoy this time :)

with Thanksgiving & Christmas just on the horizon i know these next few months will fly by & february will be here before we know it, so again, please keep us in your prayers (for all the above) as well as for a healthy baby & mama & daddy :)

hope everyone has a wonderful & blessed week ♥

happy hump day :)

hope it's been a great week so far :)

there hasn't been too much excitement around here lately..just tryin' to take it easy.

celebrating 24 weeks (6 months) would definitely be at the top of our list this week of things that make us smile :)

 this belly has grown alot in the past few weeks! i'm getting alot of comments this week along the lines of..."wow! i can finally tell you're pregnant" & "aww! look at your belly"..

hang on...let me step up on my soap box for just a moment..

ok, i'm up

..as well as lots of reaches to touch the growing belly. at this point i usually either 1.) put my hand on my belly before someone else does. or 2.) say, "only if i can touch yours"..which usually gets my point across that i'm not crazy about "being rubbed." i never thought it would bother me to be "rubbed"...but it does. i know that it's just other's way of showing affection for our lil' girl, but i still don't like it....i'm sure i'm not alone on this.

..& now i'll step down :) thanks for letting me vent..ha!

 pretty fall flowers :)

tiny swimsuits from the fisher's!!

i cannot even begin to say thank you enough for everything y'all have given us or let us borrow for our lil' punkin!

thanks also for dinner & great company this past weekend :) 

watching nicholas' soccer game!

these kids are very entertaining to watch  :)

hope everyone had a very happy halloween! & are ready to root for the pack this weekend!!

i know..it's a long shot for us to beat the heels, especially after last weekend's game, but either way, matt & i will be there in our red & white!!

i'm thinkin' our lil' princess may just be a karate kid :)

happy monday to all! i hope everyone's weekend was nice & relaxing :) it sure is a beautiful day! i just got home from 2 doctor's appointments, both went very well. thank you Lord!

however, this lil' punkin is kickin' up a storm lately! i'm not complaining at all, this gives me peace that she is healthy & well :) matt was finally able to feel a kick this past week! & i could tell by the look on his face that it was much stronger than he was anticipating :) just one more "reality check" for him! yes, she really is in there & we really are going to be parents soon! not sure this will completely sink in for him until we are actually losing sleep & can't figure out why she is still crying! 

today was my 23 week appt! the doctor had a hard time tracking down her heartbeat b/c she was moving so much! she finally said, "wow! 150 beats/per min! she's very active!" to which i replied, "yes, i'm well aware!" you could actually see the lil' wand she was holding on my tummy kinda take a hop when lil' miss would throw one of those strong karate kicks out :)

our lil' karate kid :)

 my next appt in 4 weeks will be the glucose tolerance test...fun, fun! the nurse already told me i would have to drink the "sugar" in 5 minutes & then wait for an hour before having blood work to test for gestational diabtes. not so excited about this appt, but it must be done!

other fun things lately look like this...

matt's birthday :) 

celebratin' 32 years!!

 ~relay golf tournament~

me & mama

 matt & his team

23 weeks!

 celebratin' ms. connie's 60th birthday!

puppies posin' by the pumpkins :)

 the nursery so far...

 still tryin' to talk matt into one of these for his truck :)

so far..no luck.

happy end of october!! can't believe thanksgiving is just around the corner!

hope it's a blessed & safe week for everyone :)

what's good..short & sweet

what's good is...

sweet treats for dessert!

a closet full of baby girl clothes, blankets, hats, socks, etc!

thanks Mama, Ms. Connie, Joni, Traci & Brandy :)

supporting Relay!

my reason to Relay this year ♥

God is Good!!

cornhole!!

pumpkins & mums for fall :)

picking out bedding for our sweet girl ♥

baby soft greens & pinks for her walls :)

yesterday marked 21 weeks & our lil' sweetpea is now 10.5 inches long!

happy hump day!!..almost :)



We are tickled pink & happy to say, a baby GIRL is on the way!!

We had our 19 week ultrasound last monday & we can finally confirm what Matt & I have thought from day 1...

IT'S A GIRL :)

& let me tell ya, she wasn't shy about showing off her "girly" parts one bit...spread eagle!

I'm sure the snickers bar I ate on the way had something to do with all the backflips she was turning! The ultrasound tech tried her best to get us a good 3D pic, but lil' miss wouldn't stop showing off long enough for her to get a good image. She even asked us, "so, which one of you is she taking after with all this energy?" At the same time Matt & I both confirmed it definitely wasn't her Mama :)

After the ultrasound, we met with Dr. Roche & she confirmed that everything looked good with the baby as well as my BP & weight. Her only concern right now was where the placenta is (in b/w the baby & my cervix.) She reassured me that this happens all the time & in about 8 weeks we'll do another ultrasound to see if it has moved. Hopefully it will...& if not, she mentioned possible decreased activity (that's easy) as well as a c-section. Evidently, a vaginal birth is not an option when the placenta is sitting where mine is right now, so please say a prayer that it will move before the next ultrasound.

Since last Monday (7 days ago to be exact) we have literally almost filled up the closet with little girl clothes from family & friends who were dying to buy something pink! I've been washing, hanging & adoring all these teeny tiny little outfts one by one :) Last night, Matt & I were both hanging & folding when he just kinda sighed or maybe it was a grunt. I asked, "what was that?" He replied, "all these girl clothes.." & kinda shook his head like it was either finally sinkin' in that he's got ALOT to learn or a sign of defeat...not sure which! We washed everything from dresses to tights to bows & then we ended up with this tiny little sock (just one of them.) Matt stood there holding this little sock that looked even smaller in his big hand & said, "I know I washed both of these!" & began searching the washer/dryer (probably for fear that I was gonna fuss at him)..little did he know that this missing sock is gonna be the first of many that are lost :)

We're also gonna start on the baby's room this week..hopefully! If nothing else, our plan is to at least get the room cleaned out & ready for some paint :) I've been looking online for some nursery ideas, but nothing is set in stone just yet...just like lil' punkin's name. Lots of people are asking about her name. We are still discussing/searching this & not quite sure if we're gonna tell it or not. I have already learned, in the short 5 months I've been pregnant, that people will give you their opinion on pretty much everything (whether you ask for it or not), so the last thing I need is to pick out a name & then someone tell me they don't like it or worse, roll their eyes!...& I have yet another breakdown..no thanks! Maybe we'll just tell her initials once we decide (just in case someone wants to have something monogrammed!)

Today marks 20 weeks! Halfway there & lookin' forward to getting near the homestretch of this adventure! I know, I have a long way to go :)

This past weekend was just how I like it..cool! I hope these cooler temps hang around. Friday was an awesome day! I was off work & enjoyed the beautiful weather by sitting outside with the dogs & reading :)

Later that day Matt & I took them to the pond for a quick swim!

Friday evening, we met up with Lee, Alesha, Bobby & Meredith at Logan's for dinner. It was great to see everyone since I don't get out much these days! After dinner, we headed over to Target for some Dreft & baby hangers..they sure do think alot of that Dreft! Saturday & Sunday flew by as they always do. I had my Saturday morning BSF class, went by Mama's, did a little shopping & has all intentions of tagging along with everyone to the NCSU game, but after all the above I was exhausted! So I headed home & crashed on the couch the rest of the day..(I'm kinda glad I missed that game.)

 We ate lunch over at Matt's parents Sunday & got more cute gifts for our lil' punkin & I visited my grandma afterwards. Before heading home, I stopped by my sister's house to see all the decorating they had done & she bought a little bouncer for us that does all sorts of thing! I told her she was gonna have to slow down with all the buying :) (I don't think she can help herself!)

We are very grateful & blessed to have so many thoughtful people in our lives that already love our little girl so much! Please continue to keep us in your daily prayers ♥