shower ... today!

gender reveal party photos

My cousin, Miranda, snapped the photos and there are many to share .... 

Left to right/top to bottom:  entrance door, party decor, sweet little baby clothes, name suggestion pot, drinking glasses, old wives tale prediction, casting votes, thank you note, and take home favors.

After the long wait to have a baby, we wanted to make every milestone extra-special and memorable, therefore, we planned to celebrate and reveal our sweet baby's gender with our closest friends and family.

Some of our friends and family were unable to make it - and were missed!

These friends and family have cheered us on and encouraged us during the toughest times.

And since announcing our pregnancy, this same bunch have shown special care and concern for our precious babe.

When planning the gender reveal party, I wanted Chris and I to be surprised at the party with everyone else, but Chris firmly objected.  (he doesn't like surprises)  Then, I planned to be surprised myself, but gave in and found out early as well.  We had an elective, ultrasound early at 17 weeks (not at a doctor's office).  So, this was a special time together.  The tech took a lot of time with us and it lasted over 15 minutes.  I am now thankful I didn't "mess it up" by not wanting to know.  

So, since Chris and I both knew the gender we wore both pink and blue.  All our friends dressed in pink or blue symbolic of their guess.

Here are those voting for a boy: 

 And those voting for a girl:

This was the cake with the reveal information inside!  I wish the bakery at Wal-Mart had decorated a little better, but oh well, the inside is all that mattered.  Oh, and it did taste yummy - whipped icing!

I made the first slice.

Chris meticulously, precisely, and ever so slowly carved the 2nd slice.  (notice his tongue sticking out)  He pretended that it was an arduous task that took much concentration; taking his sweet, sweet time.  Needless to say, everyone was getting antsy and rushing him along.

...... And it's a girl!

Our "family of four"

Me and Kevin -- #1 Uncle

Us with Chris' parents and grand-daughter #3

 Us with my mom and #1 grand-baby, a sweet little girl - sugar and spice and everything nice ... ribbons and bows, ruffles and curls.

We had a wonderful time.  We enjoyed celebrating.  And obviously our friends did as well ... the last of our friends didn't leave until 2:00 AM ... it was a great time!

sweet baby love

It thrills us to have others so excited over our baby.

From snail mail cards, Facebook messages and comments, phone calls, emails, text messages, etc.

 It makes our hearts so glad!!

Just three days after our announcement, family and friends started showering us with gifts.

We have received diapers, blankets, toys, clothes and shoes, gift cards, hair bows, shampoo/lotion, grooming kit, and monthly stickers to place on her shirt for pictures. 

Chris' parents sent me a dozen beautiful roses in our wedding colors, lavender and yellow.

My mom gave us this Willow tree figurine - Home.

 And a sweet friend that is also walking through infertility, gave me this Willow tree figurine - Cherish.

And it all means so much.
Of course, we have been over-the-moon crazy happy, but to have our friends and family join in the excitement has made it even more joyful.  God has truly blessed us with a wonderful family and true, genuine friends.  

looking back on 2012

2012.

Another year behind us.

As I think back over the year, most definitely it was full of blessings!

I am most thankful for God, health, family/friends, and of course,

the answer to our long-awaited prayers.

Sure we experienced a few troubles and disappointments of life; but the good definitely outweighed the bad.

 Pictured above:  Trip to Virginia to see friends.  Took L&A to the Cabbage Patch hospital for their birthdays.  Easter with family.  I became a notary.  2012 garden.  Thumpy took her first ride in Chris' truck. 
Mountain day-trip with my mom, 2 cousins, and my cousin's kiddos.  A hot date with my man.

TRYC 2012.  My brother visited for my birthday.  Many splashes in the pool.  Pregnancy announcement - definitely the highlight of the year!!!  Ultrasound at 8 weeks.  2nd row seats at Gaither concert.  Renovations to our home. 
First Christmas as a mom and dad.  Gender Reveal - It's a girl.

 

Not pictured:  Blessings of sweet friends.  Chris assisted in another house build.  Having our first Bible/book study with friends.  Sadness in a friendship.  Learning I am allergic to bee stings and I should use EPI pen.  Discovering Pinterest and trying out new ideas and recipes.  Chris diagnosed with kidney stones.  Chris' job change.  Serving lunch once every six weeks with our bible study group at local Salvation Army.  My brother survived Hurricane Sandy.  Losing my Aunt Judy. 

 

What a difference a year makes!
God truly has been good to me this year ... far better to me than I have been to Him.
God was GIVER to me in 2012 ... for He blessed us with our heart's desire.
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."  2 Corinthians 9:15

I look into 2013 with great anticipation.

thankful, thankful, thankful

Thanksgiving 2012 wasn't the usual, rush-rush, dinner here-dinner there.  With the unknown of the situation with my aunt, we didn't make many plans and my mother's side of the family cancelled Thanksgiving plans.  I also didn't take too many pictures, but here is an attempt to document this year's Thanksgiving.

 

Thursday morning, Chris and I slept in a little.  Since I had no cooking obligations, we got up and got busy tackling projects, taking advantage of the time off.  Chris worked on his list and I worked on mine - cleaning the stove top, stove hood filter, oven, oven door glass, and under the refrigerator.  At lunch time, we headed to my grandparents, two miles away, for Thanksgiving lunch.  What a  delicious spread of turkey, dressing, cranberry salad, turnip greens, butterbeans, macaroni & cheese, sweet potato pies, banana pudding, and apple crisp.  We thoroughly enjoyed time with family - laughing together, talking about our baby, and telling stories on each other, etc.  Chris and I headed home just in time for a late afternoon nap.  After the refreshing nap, we tackled a few more projects on the to do lists, including making multiple trips in the attic - storing summer stuff and bringing down Christmas decor and a few baby items we had saved away.  Then we called it a day and ate junk food for dinner.

 

Friday, while Chris worked, I finished cleaning out the guest room to begin preparing baby's nursery and did the usual house cleaning.  That afternoon, our friends' little boys came to stay the night with us, so mom and dad could get-away for the weekend.  It was fun and definitely interesting to have little, energetic boys in the house ... they played and played with toys, we went out for Mexican for dinner, played some more, ate ice cream & cookies, and headed to bed.  I didn't sleep well ... restless, listening and checking on the boys, up and down, and wide away from 2-3am.

Saturday, I cooked a breakfast and we devoured eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, biscuits/toast, gravy, and pancakes.  After breakfast, after only being out of bed two hours, I asked Chris if he could watch the boys while I took a nap ... he obliged, only later to wish he hadn't when both boys had to use the restroom and needless to say, Chris got in some practice.  ;)  After my nap, we went to the park and McDonald's, then the boys went to stay with other friends.  Saturday afternoon, we grocery-shopped and then the Meadows family came over for the evening.

 

Sunday, after church, we had  another Thanksgiving lunch with Chris' immediate family - complete with turkey, dressing, green beans, rolls, sweet potato souffle, fruit salad, cheesecake, lemon pies, and butter pecan cake.   Needless to say, after a meal like that, we crashed for a long Sunday afternoon nap.  And after our Sunday evening church service, we enjoyed supper with the Meadows family again.

 

Although it wasn't a typical Thanksgiving holiday, we were thankful to spend time with our nearest and dearest, enjoy wonderful home-cooking, relax together, catch-up on much-needed projects, and reflect on all the blessings of our life, both big and small ... and being most grateful for the precious God-given blessing of our baby that we will be holding in our arms next Thanksgiving.

September

Wow - September is over.  Each year, it seems that the months fly by more quickly.  Christmas will be here in less than 100 days.  September was a busy, but fun month.  Here's the highlights:

On Labor Day, the McAlister family came over and we had a cook out - except that we were mostly stuck IN, due to rain from a hurricane.  The guys were troopers and grilled in the rain hoovering under the patio table umbrella.  However, they still got soaked.  Those burgers and hot dogs sure tasted good, though.  Homemade ice cream (peanut butter and vanilla w/ toppings) topped the meal off with a hit.  After rain subsided, Logan insisted on swimming.  He had looked forward to it for quite sometime and didn't want to be let down.  So he took a quick dip.

And isn't Riley too cute - see his sweet dimples.  :)

 

The next weekend was the Apple Festival in our little town.  Years ago, on one of the highways going out of town, there was numerous apple orchards.  This was the 50th Apple Festival celebration - with booths, rides, concerts, rodeos, parades, and other events, etc.  On Friday, Leigh and her girls came over and we walked downtown to watch the parade.

 

Cheesing!  As you see Aubrey could smile, but she couldn't take her eyes off of the action.  :)  We were a little disappointed that we didn't get much candy -  we were at the beginning, so the parade participants must have been anticipating running out of candy - so then went skimpy on us.

 

The third weekend, South Carolina was graced with the presence of the Dottry Family.  Carmin and Libby  moved to Kentucky several years ago.  We haven't seen them in over 3 years.  And we were so excited to get together with them for lunch at the Woods' place.  

 

The kiddos formed a band.  I absolutely LOVE this picture.  It cracks me up every time I look at it.  This was not staged.  They were all singing - all a different song - and seriously playing those guitars like mad.  It was great!

 And the last weekend, our church hosted a Youth Day for children and teenagers with outdoor games, crafts, devotions, food, and lots of fun!   This 'human ball' was a hit!

 

And now time marches on into OCTOBER!

mid-summer's night swim

With the temperatures dropping lower at night now, the water is cooling off, but while we can still enjoy the warm water - we love to swim at night!  I love the way the lights twinkle on the water and it's not quite so hot.  Chris' favorite time to swim is at night.

A few Sunday nights ago we had friends over for hot dogs and a swim. 

 

Kolben and Klay both love the water ... and are fearless jumping straight into the water.

Jump!  Jump!  Jump!

Sweet Kenley didn't take a dip.  
She snuggled with her taggie blanket that my mom made.

Laurel enjoyed holding Kenley.  
It's been a while since her sister was this small.

Laurel and Aubrey took the recliner for a spin - round and round.

 

It's great to spend summer nights with friends.

play me some bluegrass music

Last weekend there was a festival in our little town.

One of our favorite bluegrass groups, Third Tyme Out,
was playing on stage that evening.(Chris and Brian)
We grabbed dinner @ Zaxby's with friends, Brian and Casey.
And headed over to get a good seat around 5:45 PM.(New Dixie Storm)
We enjoyed a few local musicians
waiting for Third Tyme Out to come on stage at 8:00 PM. (Third Tyme Out) - Russell Moore can sing!!!
A few times, we thought an afternoon thunderstorm was headed our way, but no rain fell and the threat was just enough to cool things down a little. So it turned out quite nice for the evening. Stephen and Christina showed up a little later.Kolben and Klay enjoyed a blue snow cone - can you tell?
Kolben wanted to see his tongue; so I took his picture.
Then of course, little brother had to see his too. ;)Nap? --- NOT! :) We topped the evening off with peach homemade ice cream.
(needed more sugar and the peaches were at the bottom)
It was so not sweet and peachy -
that Chris and Brian mixed in peanut butter for PB ice cream.
Crazies!
But, it was all fun!
I love summertime weekends.

procedures and bloodwork

We had more appointments with the baby doctors this morning. If you don't mind, please pray for answers and God's will concerning these appointments. We are anxious to know what our next step will be.

And 'thank you' to you who continually pour out love on us and keep us in your prayers. Just today we received a sweet card -- "what perfect timing." The love and support of our family and friends surrounding us holds us together, as well as the hand of God. We feel your prayers. And we could never tell how much we appreciate you doing so. We love you.

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matthew 21:22

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dinner w/ friends

Thursday night, Chris and I met friends for dinner.

Since "C's" birthday was Wednesday,
she choose the restaurant.
Chris was thrilled! -- she chose Los Amigos.The outdoor patio was empty when we arrived.
So, we enjoyed this perfect weather - it was awesome!
We talked and talked and then talked some more.
Fun conversations about getting older, our jobs,
funny jokes, dieting, music (David Phelps and Jason Crabb),
old people stories, eye doctors, and such.
Before we knew we'd been there nearly 2 hours.
And we kept right on talking in the parking lot.Great times!!
Hope you had a happy birthday, C!
You're an amazing friend - thanks for being there for me.
PS -- I'm elated that you're becoming a Phelps Phan!

bluegrass under the stars

A beautiful Saturday spring eveningwith awesome friends and Mexican food,bluegrass music,deep-fried oreos, funnel cakes, & boiled peanuts, cool cousins,face paint,cuddling with sweet boys,some bands "livelier" than others - rockin' out tunes,fireworks, and tons of fun.It doesn't get much better than that!