Ish your birthday!

We celebrated Melissa's birthday last night. She turned 26!








We went to the new Westside's Six Feet Under - SO fun and what a cool restaurant. Happy Birthday to my youngest sister, who isn't so young anymore. We missed you Jess & Garrison, Ryan, Matt & Joey. Happy Birthday Sissy, we love you!! Oh, and the general consensus is that I am definitely looking prego! Yay, Baby on Board!

Five Months Later

Much better than the first x-ray picture we posted in September.

Holiday Weekend - UPDATED

Second update: Not buying home. Fell through. Took down pics of us in the snow in the backyard that is not ours, and never will be. Kinda funny. Still on the search for the perfect home for us for the next 5.5 years of our lives. :) Stay tuned.


We stayed pretty busy & had a really nice time. Friday night we had dinner with some friends and then went to listen to a band. Our Baby heard heavy metal for the very first time! I'm sure his or her little hands went up to his or her tiny little bitty ears and closed them as best as possible. It was pretty intense and we were there supporting a friend. Got home LATE for us, around 10:30! Starbucks Saturday AM, then headed in the cold to Barnes & Noble. While we were both enjoying our home decorating & landscaping books we looked outside and it was completely white with falling snow! It was absolutely beautiful. We decided to leave & ride by the house so we could see it with snow on it (and see the Under Contract sign again, thus making it more & more real!) so we took some pictures of the roof with snow on top. After lunch I went to see 27 Dresses with some friends, and then we spent the rest of the day with Damon & Katie. While the boys enjoyed a malt liquor and a cigar on the porch, snow falling all around, Katie & I enjoyed a non-alcoholic beverage and a whole lotta food. That girl can cook and is the best host ever! For dinner, the four of us went to Damon's brothers house for dinner, there were four other families there. Thanks Meredith, it is always so good to see you and the fam!! There were nine kids total, ranging from age one to ten. All absolutely precious and excited b/c they had played in the snow all day! It was a big dose of reality - and really fun to see where our lives are headed.

On the home news, we heard from the sellers this morning, and they've agreed to our requests and now all we have to do is wait until the closing. I'm really looking forward to getting in there & decorating, and Matt can't wait to get in the yard and make it our own little paradise! We're so blessed and thankful. We'll hopefully be all moved in by March - that's the goal, anyway. First dinner party will happen very, very soon!

It's currently 26 degrees outside, the snow is still all over the ground and on parked cars and homes. This is such a great city, and with snow all over, it really became a little Winter Wonderland and we had a great time enjoying this lovely, cozy weather!!

Whoa Baby!!

You're growing so fast already!!!











It looks like a little teeny tiny baby in there! Hard to believe that just four weeks after our first ultrasound, this is what we saw last week. I can only imagine what Baby C will look like in four more weeks. Back to the doctor on February 6 for the anatomy ultrasound, where we will not be looking at the screen. Oh...how hard it will be to not peek, just once!!

Words Seem Inadequate, But I'll Try...

Today was a BIG day for us!!

We went to the Doctor for our second visit. The ultrasound was AMAZING! We already have some bragging rights - our little guy or gal was flipping all over the place, turning upside down & sideways, waving at Mom & Dad, and we even saw one of the precious, tiny hands go into his or her mouth. We may have a little ham on us, everyone, a big show off. Wherever does our baby get that? It was as if our little one knew that all eyes were on him or her, and the excitement was overwhelming. For all three of us!! Heartbeat was 171...we saw the face, the spinal cord, legs and arms, LONG fingers & toes, everything looked healthy so far. Our doctors both said everything looks to be on track for the July 13 due date! Thank you Lord....what an answered prayer, and we know we are blessed. It truly is a miracle.

I hope that one day our little one will know of this blog and perhaps read this, and I just want to write here that Mom and Dad LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Hearing your heartbeat was incredible and our life will never be the same. You have already completely stolen our own hearts.

We have several months to go, lots of growing, lots of changes. We're still going to wait and not find out if we're having a girl or a boy. Many nicknames have been established already!

Photos to come soon!

Much love to all.

Back in the Swing of Things

Well, after four long months I'm actually going back to work tomorrow. It's really hard to believe it has been that long, but here we are in 2008 and I'm amazed at how fast the time has gone by - not to mention all that has happened and how much life has changed.




We are entering 2008 with such bright hopes, and we have so much to look forward to -a new home, a new addition to our family (YAYYYY!!!) and all of the new experiences that will inevitably come our way. I get completely nostalgic when I think about it (imagine that). It just makes me realize in the blink of an eye, things can change. I know we have all had a life changing experience, and for me, I know God allows those things to happen for a reason. Looking back on the last several months I know for an absolute fact that I am not the same person I was six months ago, and one big lesson that immediately comes to mind is that since I have been so dependent on others, it's been really weird having to ask others for help, whether it was a ride somewhere or asking if someone could get a few things from the store for me. But, I have learned that it's ok to do that, because of course I would do it for any of my family and friends without question....but accepting it was something I have almost had to relearn during this. People enjoy helping others in need, which is something I've always known, but I now appreciate so much more. Patience, thankfulness, appreciation for your family and friends, getting support from those you love, giving those you love the support they need...and just simply being the best person you can be to all and enjoying life. That's what matters.

I will never again take the simple task of driving to the grocery store for granted again, and I vow to help those who are so much less fortunate than me. There are so many volunteer programs that I am interested in working with and that is my main goal for this year (among many others!!) so I am looking forward to working with hospitals, shelters, etc......anything to show people who are in need that someone cares! I'm excited about this and I'm writing it down in order to be held accountable for it, so everyone who reads this needs to ask me every now & then how that is going, please!!

Any resolutions for me? To try and remember all of the above every single day.

The old adage is true: Life is fragile, handle with care.

HAPPY 2008 to everyone!

Happy New Year!

We wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Boy, 2007 flew by faster than we ever imagined. There were broken legs, broken arms, bahama trips, skiing trips, and a few other little surprises. What a great year! Anyone have some interesting New Year's resolutions? Leave it in the comment section, we'd like to know. After the break, you'll see some of the more interesting photos of this year.






Here are a few pictures from this year.