Merry Christmas!

 

If I were to sum up this Christmas in one word it would be "peaceful."  I am over 37 weeks now so we were pretty much forced to stay put.  I thought I would be a little more homesick but it has actually been really nice to just rest, read, go for walks, bake, and relax.  Did I mention that I also got kankles, cramps and swollen feet for Christmas?  That also may have contributed to my contentment with not being around a lot of people this Christmas ;) 

This is a picture taken before a little White Elephant party we had with some friends.  I was pretty excited to get a Justin Bieber toothbrush.  I can listen to him sing while I brush ;)

 

This picture was taken before the Christmas Eve service.  Our church did their service outside which was kind of neat.

 Christmas Eve Dinner.  We tried grilling pork for the first time and it was delicious.  I also made some PW mashed potatoes which are now officially on my "go to" list for holidays.  They haven't failed me yet!

 

We began Christmas morning with a spicy sausage quiche, fruit, and homemade banana bread. Yummy!



 

 We used drawnames.com to pick secret santas on both sides of the family this year. It made picking out presents a lot less stressful and more fun by having one special person to buy for.  I think my secret santas must have coordinated their gifts somehow.  Kelsey sent me an awesome purse and my Dad sent me a fancy red wallet that goes perfectly with it!

 Matt received some nice pull over shirts from both of his secret santas.  We also received some gift cards and babysitting offers :)

 Ornaments from Grandma

I made this ornament for Matt.  But, I must confess I saw someone selling a very similar ornament on Etsy.  I am almost bought it but realized I was running out of time.  So, I decided I could figure out how to make something similar and save a little cash.  The only thing I needed to spend money on was buying the wooden ornament from JoAnnes and developing the picture!  Now we have  an ornament to help us remember this Christmas. 

 

We also saw Les Mis on Christmas day.  A beautiful story about sacrificial love and hope.  I am so thankful to be reminded that although this world can be very scary, we can have HOPE and PEACE in knowing that Christ has already overcome the world!  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were able to take time to reflect on the birth of our Savior.

 

 

 

 



Go Matt!

I don't take the opportunity to brag about my hubby as much as I should.  Especially lately with everything focused on the baby.  So, this post is for you Matty!  As you can see in the pictures, Matt finished his second half marathon last weekend.  The first was one was three years ago right before we got married!  I don't really get why someone would want to run so far, but he found the motivation and did an awesome job (especially considering the fact that most of the run was unexpectedly on hilly trails!)

 

 It was an early and foggy morning. I was able to find Matt a couple times during the run and cheer him on :)

What a guy :)  While I am bragging, I must add that some of the things I admire most about Matt are how patient and easy going he is.  Being pregnant is definitely a humbling experience, and in the last month you experience a lot of moodiness that you wish you could control better.  Matt does such a good job at helping me keep my cool and making me laugh when I need it.  Thanks, Matty <3

Southern Charm

Yes, there is still one more baby shower I must blog about!  This baby shower was the icing on the cake for us.  Our little community of friends here in Florida put together the sweetest couples baby shower!  Ever heard of a "BaByQ?" 

 

They thought of everything!

Bottle chug with chocolate milk...and the winner???  My hubby, of course!

This may look confusing.  We were preparing for labor by seeing who could keep there hand in ice water the longest...it is supposed to teach you how to stay calm and not focus on the pain of labor.  Hmmm...who do you think won?  (I am laughing in the picture, not screaming:)

Anyhow, the important thing is that I won.  

 

 

So thankful for God's provision over us in this past year.  We really cherish these frienships He has blessed us with!

Don't forget about Christmas!

In the midst of preparing for the baby we managed to decorate a little for Christmas.  I love Christmas but I have to admit that I don't really have my usual Christmas spirit this year.  I have been very distracted with getting ready for our little girl to arrive.  So, in an attempt to keep my Christmas spirit alive here are some pictures (taken with the camera Matt bought me for my b-day...I was having fun practicing :) to spread the holiday cheer!

 

Baby Shower #2

We had a busy trip up north visiting my family over Thanksgiving but it was definitely WORTH it!  We crammed in a lot of celebrating...Thanksgiving, baby shower, and my b-day :)  We also squeezed in some Christmas shopping, maternity pictures, and time with friends that I don't get to see too often anymore!  There is something really special about seeing friends that you have grown up with.  Even after months of not being in touch, you can just pick up from where you left off and totally be yourself.  It felt good to see so many familiar faces :)  Here are some pictures from the baby shower that my mom and sister put together.  They, of course, did a fabulous job with the decorations and food.  It made for a great party!  (My sister took ALL of these pictures, and I am sure she will post more on her blog soon.  So, check her blog too!)

 We don't mess around when it comes to cake in our family!

 Natalie was such a BIG help with opening the gifts.  It was so fun to have her be a part of the shower.  She is going to be such a good cousin to our baby girl!

Friends from high school ("The Core").  We are missing a couple but it was SO good to see these ladies.

 

Aunt Mary and Baby Harper (cousin Rachel's new baby), my Mom (GiGi) and Oliver (my nephew)

Thank you again friends and family for celebrating with us!  Only about 6 more weeks!  

Babymoon

This past weekend we enjoyed driving further south for our "babymoon."  We had a great time being lazy, eating yummy food, and getting lots of sun by the pool.  It was nice to take some time to just be together, not talking about baby stuff, holidays, or work...just chill, and that is exactly what we did!

The first night we had some delicious key lime pie.  I have never seen such a thing.  Clearly, it was awesome.  We were in the corner of the lounge sipping on decaf coffee and sharing dessert, while there were some older adults across the room all dressed up sipping on cocktails.  We couldn't help but laugh at ourselves...dessert, decaf, and early bed time is just how we roll (especially after a long week of work!) ;)

We had some "iffy" weather, but both days turned out to be great.  There was plenty of sun with a nice breeze.  We enjoyed lunch at the pool both days, and ordered the fish tacos each time...they were seriously delicious..mmm..still thinking about them!

 

  This a nice little shot of Matty at dinner. We went to the same restaurant as last year when we came to celebrate our anniversary.

 This picture shows the view from our room. We slept with the window open.  I loved falling asleep to the ocean waves. (Especially since I need all the help I can get with falling asleep these days!)

 

I made a proposal to Matt that maybe we should have a Babymoon #2 for after the baby arrives.  haha  We will just have to see about that!  Only EIGHT more weeks until the baby is due.  Now its time to enjoy the holidays for a little while until our little girl makes her appearance.

 

 

Oh...and now for some embarrassing moments as a preggo lady...

 

1-So most people know that its very common to have to use the restroom very frequently when your pregnant...My students know this best of all because I am constantly running to the restroom between classes every day.  Well, I have gotten pretty fast with the bathroom routine at this point.  Anyhow, one day I rushed back from the bathroom to meet my class at the door.  As I was standing there, one of the teachers across the hall came up to me and said, "I promise I wasn't checking you out or anything, but you shirt is tucked into your butt."  Might I add, that I was wearing maternity pants so you could see the elastic waist band.  hahaha  Man, am I thankful she was the one who pointed it out and not my entire class of students!

 

2-Its official that I am the biggest cluts in the world.  I have lost all fine motor skills and I am pretty sure I have lost some brain cells as well.  Unfortuntately, Matt has to witness all of this.  I am constantly dropping things in the kitchen, bumping into things, and mixing up my words.  Sheesh!  The latest mishap was this morning when I dropped honey on the ground...yes...probably the worst thing to spill! 

 

Hope you had a good laugh! :)  I have defintely learned to just laugh at this point!



I can't believe you ate all my halloween candy!

It has been almost a year since we moved down here!  I can't believe it.  So much has happened since we moved, and it feels like we have been down here for longer than year...in a good way.  I suppose it was a smoother transition than we expected :)

Lately we have been trying to enjoy the luxuries of being 'dinks' (double income, no kids ;)  The picture above is of us in front of "Mount Everest" (can't really see it in the pic) at Disney.  Other things we have been up to...

 

-Matt has been training for a half marathon in December (something I will probably never do, but good for you hunny!)

-We had our very first tricker treaters EVER this Halloween!  We also made a rookie mistake of leaving the bowl out with candy when we left the house...(Kids are so greedy these days!  I wanted the leftovers!  Speaking of no Halloween candy...Matt and I enjoyed watching this youtube clip a few times hehe) 

-We have also been working at getting the nursery together...I will post some pics soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am at almost 31 weeks!  The baby weighs as much as four navel oranges and is over 16 inches in length, head to heel.  The count down begins!  In the next couple of weeks we are looking forward to a little "babymoon" and Thanksgiving up north with family.  These will be our last trips for a little while.  We can't wait to meet our little girl! 

Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago I had my first baby shower with Matt's family.  It was fun to see everyone and get a dose of the Fall weather (and then return to sunny, warmer weather :)  Here are some pictures that Aunt Katherine took!

 

Great Grandma, Grandma McCauley, me, Aunt Kesley, and Great Aunt Katherine

 This little girl will have plenty of clothes!

Polly made this cute little quilt for her!

I am sure you can figure out what is happening here. haha  Baby is making her presence known!

Thanks for putting together such a special shower, Kelsey and Polly!