Merry Christmas!!

We had a lovely Christmas with family.  We started at home opening gifts from Santa and exchanging gifts as a family.  We headed to Christmas Day worship service at The Vine, which was awesome.  We had brunch after church at G-Mom's house... we should definitely make Christmas Day french toast a tradition!!  And we ended the day by traveling up the mountain for Christmas dinner at Grandma and Granddad's house.  Here are some pics from the day!!

Mom had a quilt top made by my great-grandmother quilted by my great-aunt.  So special.

Levi, Levi God Claims You!

If you've never heard this sweet baptism song, you're missing out. I think it's so precious. I sing it to Levi every day as I get him up in the morning and from naps. He just smiles! I've tried to tell him that we are not morning people around here, but he keeps smiling! Even though we didn't sing this song at his baptism, I still love it.

Levi, Levi God claims you.

God helps you, protects you and loves you too.

We this day do all agree,

a child of God you'll always be.

Levi, Levi God claims you.

God helps you, protects you and loves you too.

We your family love you so.

We vow to help your faith to grow.

Levi, Levi God claims you.

God helps you, protects you and loves you too.

Levi was baptized on Sunday in The Vine contemporary service at First Centenary. Lots of family came from out of town, and it was wonderful to share the day with them. I have to brag a little, I made his gown.

It was a proud day for our family

With Hilary, Levi's Godmother

The Needhams

The Blacks

The Trousdales

4 Generations

3 Generations of Black men! :)

Brian told Matt to ask me out, he married us, and now he's baptized our son! He's pretty special to us.

My favorite pic of the day, Levi and Grandad.

Baby Shower Weekend

Well, I just thoroughly enjoyed having Lamm and Cecily here for the weekend. And we had a blast at my baby shower on Sunday! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends!

While Lamm and Cecily visited, Matt got in lots of good practice.

We didn't get a picture of the funniest part, Matt practicing swaddling and shushing with 6 month old Cecily! It was hilarious. First of all, he was shushing her when she wasn't even upset. She looked at Lamm and me like, "why is he doing that?" But apparently, Cecily loves to be HOT when she sleeps and she loves being swaddled. Matt got her down for a nap in no time flat. I just wish we had taken pictures.

We also got to see how the animals might react to the baby. Isis could care less, Einstein is cautiously curious and a little scared as we expected (he's scared of everything), and Hurley is VERY protective (she kept using her body to block Einie from getting to the baby)!

Look at this sweet face! I had so much fun having them here.

My sweet friend Lara did the table decorations (little Sweet Peas in their pods!) which were a huge hit. All the Sweet Pea themed stuff was so precious.

We got lots of great stuff! As you can see, we are truly blessed with wonderful friends.

Autie Meghan made Sweet Pea a gorgeous quilt that coordinates so well with the nursery. Meghan and I are both only children, so we get to be "Aunties" to our friends kids. I'm Auntie Jill to lots of babies and I love it. Meghan is really excited to be an Auntie to Sweet Pea!

I love this one of me, my moms and Grandy (now G-G for great-grandmother).

Here is one of most of the party-goers. Lamm had to leave early because of snow and Lara was in the bathroom the whole time we were taking pictures and no one knew it!

Then after our wonderful shower, we got snowed in for a week! My mom wasn't able to leave until Wednesday, nor was she able to use her time here to look for apartments because we were snowed in! I boycotted taking pics of the snow. I'm not a fan. I like to look at it through a window from inside a warm house and that is about it. I'm kind of a Scrooge that way.

Happy Holidays!!!

I know it's been forever, but we've been busy around here! We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Needhams. I'm so lucky to have married into such an amazing family. Truly, they rock!!!

Our family, not really sure what our moms were doing here

Mom and me being silly making "the face"

Those that started it all. Aren't they the cutest? I didn't take this pic, but I love it!

Then we celebrated the 3rd anniversary of our engagement by decorating our Christmas tree on December 6th, like we do every year.

the tree

the stockings

the precious pups. don't let them fool you, they are not as angelic as they appear.

We celebrated Christmas in Alabama with my family. We had lunch with my brother and nephew, then we partied with the Trousdales. They are good folks who know how to party!

My brother Bo, my nephew Johnathan, me

the kids, we look ecstatic!

the girls, I'm pregnant. that's my excuse.

My sweet husband got me a new-to-me Cannon Rebel camera!! I took lots of pictures of my cute animals, here is a sample. Aren't they the cutest?

We celebrated the New Year at Matt's parents' house with their family that usually gets together for Christmas. Dinner was postponed a week due to SNOW!

The Matthews family

I hope your holiday season was merry and blessed! Happy 2011!!

Our Sweet Pea

Well folks, I'm preggers. Yep, that's right, the "waiting" is over and now we just wait on Sweet Pea to arrive! Matt and I are beyond excited to be entering this stage of our lives and feel very blessed that it went as smoothly as it did.

For the most part, I have not been sick (barring one incidence of sensitive gag reflexes and a toothbrush). I have been EXTREMELY tired. I just finished traveling back and forth to Nashville 3 times in 4 weeks on top of teaching a Tuesday/Thursday class in Central time that was 1.5hrs away. On top of that our bathroom has been under construction for over 3 weeks now. We've been showering at the "other" house while we ripped out the fiberglass drop-in tub and shower and installed a gorgeous new tub and tiled shower surround. All of this would have made anyone tired, but it's been especially difficult during my first trimester.

We had our first ultrasound very early on, about 7 weeks and 4 days, and were able to HEAR and SEE the baby's heartbeat! It was so precious. The baby even waggled its head back and forth for us like it knew we were watching! We've had tons of fun telling all our friends and family. Now we get to keep planning for our little bundle to arrive next spring!

Sweet Pea

A few of the things we've chosen to do that are getting us some flack from friends and family: cloth diapers, natural childbirth, and not finding out the sex before the birth. That last one has incited some angry mobs, letmetellyou! People REALLY have an opinion about this! Folks are ANGRY because they can't know the sex of our baby. It's hilarious.

Well, that's the update from our corner!! I'll blog more extensively about the cloth diapers I've chosen to use and why later. Plus I just have to show off all the cute fluff I've gotten so far! :)

In the waiting...

Upon seeking council from a very good friend, she gave me some wonderful advice. Her own experience in her journey to becoming a mother had some bumps along the way. She and her husband had planned out the "perfect" time to start their family, but things didn't work out as they had hoped. She told me that while they were waiting for God to bless them with the child they desired, she decided to use the time she was given (even though it was against her plan and desire) to prepare herself for becoming pregnant and being a mother. Instead of being sad or discouraged about "be[ing] still and wait[ing]" (Psalm 37:7), she made the most of her time by preparing to receive God's blessing.

I decided to follow this wise council for myself. Matt and I have been trying to lose weight and get in shape for a while now. So I felt good about already being on my way. I have a walking partner that I try and meet up with several times a week, and I've decided to start adding in some weight training activities at home.

We have fallen into a rut with our dinner menu. I find that we eat the same few staple meals over and over again. I'm trying to find creative ways to incorporate more "color variation" in our diet, specifically more green veggies. Matt is much pickier about his green veggies than I am, so this one is difficult! I have to sneak some spinach into the quesadillas and hope he doesn't notice!

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this on the blog, but I'm an addict. I have fully embraced the fact that I'm addicted to coffee, and not just coffee, the caffeine in coffee. I LOVE COFFEE, and rather enjoy my addiction to it. If I don't have my morning cup of leaded joe, by 3pm I don't want to live my head hurts so bad. I've always said that if I make it through life and coffee is my worst vice, I've done fairly well.

Well, as of this past weekend I'm slowly giving up my love. I figured weaning myself off of caffeine now would be much easier than quitting cold turkey once I get pregnant (removing caffeine withdrawal from all the usual early pregnancy physical ailments). This way Matt won't have the desire to smother me in my sleep and put us both out of misery from the demon that takes over during my withdrawals. I've quit caffeine before, it AINT pretty. And the withdrawals can last a week or more. UGH.

So, in order to avoid the VERY unpleasant withdrawals from my dear love, I've started by drinking 1/2 caff and 1/2 decaf. With each week I will add a little less caff beans and a little more decaf beans to the grinder until I'm brewing all decaf (otherwise known as USELESS) coffee. So I'm still a little bitter about giving it up, sue me! Hopefully, when the time arrives, I will be caffeine free and feeling fine. :)

I also want to start preparing spiritually by doing a new individual study book of some kind. I haven't visited the book store yet, or put out feelers to acquire advice from knowledgeable friends. Any suggestions are appreciated. My search begins soon!

Show Us Your Life - Baby Names!!!

I know this seems like a crazy (or torturous) post after yesterday's depressing one, but I've always (like my girl Adair) been obsessive about baby names. So I wanted to participate, even if it is a day late, in Kelly's Korner's blog carousel!!!

I have lots of "name rules" that I'm a stickler for (in no particular order):

1. The name that they "go by" can't be too common. With every name we consider, I check the social security rankings. I'm not kidding people! It cannot be in the top 20 for that gender, preferably not in the top 50. My "given" name was Amanda Jill. I was an Amanda born in 1979. There were 4 Amandas in my Kindergarten class of 20 kids. That's 20% of the class!!!! I got sick of being Amanda M., so I decided in the 1st grade that I wanted to go by Jill. I love it, it fits me, but I don't want this to happen to my child.

2. I'm traditional and Southern, so I want at least one of their names (first or middle) to be from our family.

3. The entire name, first middle and last, has to sound good together. To achieve this, the following guidelines must be followed:

• The name they go by has to sound good with our last name.
• The last letter of the first name and the first letter of the middle (or last) name cannot be the same letter or sound. We could never have a Jacob Brooks Black, for example.
• The first, middle and last names together must have an odd number of syllables, because it's just more pleasing to the ear. If you don't believe this one, try it. It's true.

4. The name has to sound right for an adult. With every name I think, "Could s/he become a CEO, an engineer, a doctor or an attorney with this name and be taken seriously?"

5. No ridiculous spellings of traditional names. Don't ruin a perfectly good name like Caleb by spelling it Kaleb. It just makes you look like you can't spell!

I can't help it! I'm OCD! Don't judge me! Now, on to the names.

Ever since I was a young girl, I've heard stories about my great-grandmother (my mom's maternal grandmother), Grammie. By the time I came along, she lived in a nursing home and had severe Alzheimer's. She was struck with this horrible disease, that also took my Meme (her daughter), at the age of 55. You read that correctly, she was 55 years old when she began to show signs of early dementia that eventually developed into Alzheimer's. She was an AMAZING, TOUGH, Southern woman. She divorced Poppa after her children were grown, because he was mean-as-a-snake, back when it was not common at all. And she supported herself by turning sheet metal on an assembly line in an aluminum plant next to some of the roughest men around. When I say she was a tough lady, I mean it. She was a woman that most certainly passed on her strength and determination to the women in our family (we get the crazy from her ex-husband!). And for that reason, if we are blessed with a daughter some day, she will carry on the legacy of my Grammie with her name.

Clara

It's classic, beautiful, not too common and I LOVE IT! We still have not decided on a middle name. This topic of conversation even came up at dinner last night with no resolution. Since she will have one family name (which I'm very insistent upon with our children), I don't mind if we just pick something we like. We will probably use Matt's middle name, Lindsey, which is much prettier for a girl than a boy! There is also Matt's mom's middle name, Erin, that we like. I also like Faith, just because. But Faith would break my "odd number of syllables" rule, so I don't know if I could. We'll cross that bridge someday, I hope!

For a boy's name, we are still somewhat undecided.

I had it all worked out when it was just me (you forget that you have to agree with someone else as a teenager). My Papaw was my-most-favorite-very-special-person. He was the man who stepped up to be my father, when my own was nowhere to be found. He was the first "love" of my life really. Words cannot express how special this man was to me, and he was taken from me much too soon. I was 14 when he died from bone cancer. I always thought I would name my son for him, and still might. ;) My Papaw's name was J.T. He, like Adair's grandfather, named himself. It was common back then for people just to name their boys initials only, which is what my great-grandparents did. When Papaw went to register for the draft for WWII, they asked him his name. He told them J.T. was his name. They insisted that those were initials, not a name, and asked him what they stood for. So he told them the first thing he could think of, James Thomas. My cousin Jennifer, whose father's name is also Thomas, used that for her son's middle name. I always thought I would use James with Grammie's maiden name, Durham. But we can't have ALL the names come from my family. :)

Right after we got married, I fell IN LOVE with a boy's name. It's not a family name. It has no particular meaning for us, other than I love old Hebrew boy names from the Old Testament. Think about it, Elijah, Ephraim, Abraham, Asher, Canaan (I still love this one, and is in contention for a second boy's name as far as I'm concerned), Jacob, Caleb, Matthias (which I think is an awesome take on Matt's name, Matthew), Joshua, and the list goes on. It took Matt a while to come around to the name I fell in love with, but he loves it too now. If we are blessed with a son, his name will be

Levi

Like Clara, it's traditional yet not too common. Besides, Levi Black sounds like a jazz musician's name to me. Since our family is full of engineers who play the trumpet and are not particularly athletic, I think it fits. :) As for his first or middle name (he will be called Levi either way), that is still up for debate. Matt is sold on a VERY non-traditional first name, which breaks my rule of at least one family name. However it would give him the same initials as Matt (MLB), which he feels is sufficient for the family name tradition. It's a name that I kind of like, but it will get strong reactions either positive or (but mostly) negative from our family and friends. Matt wants to name our son Memphis Levi Black.

Being a child that chose to go by her middle name, I know full well that our child may choose to do the same thing. I want to LOVE both names that we give our children. I also want to ensure that we follow rule #4, which I'm not sure Memphis does. The only Memphis I've ever heard of is Memphis Raines from "Gone in 60 Seconds" and he's a car thief. This is not a legacy I want to pass to our child. But remember, parents have to AGREE on a name, and I have to let Matt have an opinion, right? So I'll save my veto for when I'm actually pregnant. ;)

Other family names in the running to be paired with Levi, as a first or middle name, include: James (after my Papaw, Matt's grandmother's brother and Matt's aunt Jamie), Victor (Matt's GP and uncle), William (Matt's stepdad), Wesley (Matt's cousin, MDH has not signed off on it's candidacy but I love the name and this is my blog!), and Mitchell (Matt's uncle, who has two sons that may want to use the name so we will probably defer this one, but it's a great name).

So there you have it! Still much to be negotiated when the time finally arrives, but the names that we will call our children are pretty much set. Now if Clara or Levi happen to have a sibling of the same sex, Lord help us because we have no idea!

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

"You take it on faith, you take it to the heart.

The waiting is the hardest part."

I feel like this is my theme song (by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers). So here goes. I did not clear this blog post with MDH, and he rarely reads it, so don't mention it ok? We are waiting on a lot of things, and it SUCKS. We are waiting for this house to sell so that we can move on with our lives.

Let's face it, I'm approaching 31 and I can't just assume that I have all the time in the world to have children. All I've EVER wanted to be is a mom. Anyone who knows me IRL (that's blog speak for in real life) knows that I am, and always have been, a very maternal person. Motherhood is the deepest desire of my heart, and I will take it in whatever form it comes, but I have a real and deep longing to be pregnant. It's normal, age appropriate, biological, and I'm not going to pretend it's not there anymore, because it is.

I've also been plagued by the fear that I wouldn't be able to have a baby. Infertility is a real problem that many of my friends have faced, and it is a very real fear for me. There is no medical reason that has surfaced to support this fear, but it's real just the same. The thing about fertility is that you don't know whether you can or can't have a baby until you start trying. And we can't start trying until the house sells.

HOUSE = BABY

We can't afford childcare as long as we are paying two mortgages. And we can't afford two mortgages if I'm not working (at home with a baby, eliminating the need for child care).

So we wait. We wait for the house to sell. Because there is nothing else we can do. We wait, and wonder, will we be able to have the family we desire when we are done waiting? Only God knows. In the mean time, we wait. And it sucks.

Happy Graduation!!!

I'm so incredibly proud

of my husband

for getting his Master of Science in Engineering

and his cousin Alex, on his way to being a CPA

(after passing a few tests) ;-)

Happy Graduation!!!!

A NEW kind of Christmas

Long time, no blog, I know I know.

I wanted to share the Sunday school lesson I wrote for the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation, anticipation and hope. As Christians we celebrate Advent on the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas Day.

During this time of the season, we are usually occupied with lists and gifts and hustle and bustle, but what are we really preparing for?

Most people have favorite Christmas traditions, whether from their childhood or new ones created as adults with our own families. What about this Christmas season do YOU anticipate the most? What is your favorite tradition?

MY favorite part of Christmas as a child was my whole family spending all day at Meme & Papaw's house. After opening gifts from Santa on Christmas morning, each daughter's family would pack up (children with favorite new toy in tow) and head to Meme & Papaw's for lunch on Christmas Day. It was so much fun, because if there was something that you didn't get for Christmas, chances are someone else did and you still got to play with it! When I was a little older, Mom and I started a tradition of spending all day on Christmas Eve watching old and new Christmas movies and baking treats! To this day, White Christmas is still my favorite Christmas movie. Or is it It's a Wonderful Life? Or the ORIGINAL Miracle on 34th Street with little Natalie Wood? What was I saying? Oh yes, a different kind of Christmas.

Matt and I started the tradition of celebrating Advent as a couple the year we got engaged. We read the Upper Room daily devotional for Advent together each night, sometimes over the phone! The first year we were married we participated in the Advent wreath making event at church and made a beautiful live wreath, remember? We complete our observation of Advent by attending the midnight Christmas Eve service at church, my favorite. The rest of this season, the rest of what we have made Christmas about, stresses me out! The lists, the malls, the parking lots, the traffic, the bills, and on and on, I can do without.

As we leave the time of Thanksgiving and are reminded of our many blessings, even though times are hard, we are still truly blessed. Our homeland is peaceful, our bellies are full, and each of us can cling to someone who truly loves us (whether family or friend). Ever since I attending the "Adventures in Missing the Point" *conference at First-Centenary, where we hosted the two authors of the book of the same title Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, I've been thinking about ways that I've missed the point. I immediately thought of Christmas.

*This conference blew me away and I am SO incredibly thankful I was there. If you haven't read either of these authors, I suggest you pick something up. "Adventures" is a great place to start.

We recently studied the history of many of the denominations of Christianity, ending with Methodism. Each doctrine we studied had something worthwhile and admirable to give us, but it confirmed that I am right where I should be. I am Methodist to the core. I'm not saying we have it right and no one else does, I'm just saying it's right for me! Having said that, I wanted to see what the Father of Methodism, John Wesley, had to say about Christmas. My web search turned up a sermon entitled "The More Excellent Way" based on I Corinthians 12:31.

"But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way."

He based an entire sermon on the verse directly preceding I Corinthians Chapter 13, the love chapter.

We as Christians are all striving for the most excellent way (not to sound too Bill and Ted-ish) in our walk as Christians, that's the point. Advent is about preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our King. So what is the most excellent way we can spend the season of Advent 2009?

Christ is God's greatest gift to us. And the more I walk with him I come to realize His purpose for dwelling among us, was not ONLY to save us from sin, but to TRULY bring God's kingdom to Earth. We are called as His children, disciples of Christ, to bring God's kingdom to our world (as we know it).

Christ even taught us to pray:

"Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil."

Matthew 6:9-13

And we are told to "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

All of these lessons appear in the greatest sermon ever given, Christ's Sermon on the Mount. It tells us just how important the message of the kingdom is to our lives. Jesus spent some time preaching, but what we read about mostly is Him healing the sick and feeding the hungry.

As we think of our own celebrations of the birth of Jesus, what can we do to truly honor Him and celebrate His reason for coming to Earth? What can WE do to bring God's kingdom to OUR world? I'm not talking about ditching Santa and breaking the hearts of children worldwide. Just consider starting a NEW family tradition. For your relative who has everything, make a donation in their name to a charity you think that they would appreciate, or volunteer together as a family. Think about what YOU can do to make Christmas about REAL MIRACLES again.

I will admit, this lesson was not totally uninspired. The seed was planted on my heart LAST Christmas by my friend Sarah's blog post that included the link to the Advent Conspiracy promo video for 2008. I tried to get Matt to buy into the Advent Conspiracy totally, throw out the lists and make donations in our friends' and family members' names, but he wouldn't hear of it. He loves giving gifts. SO, I'm going small scale this year, starting with a few folks I know who will really appreciate it. But really, I'm just trying to follow the advice of my dear John Wesley.

"Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can."

Maybe if we Christians followed this advice more often, the kingdom of God might be a little closer to our world's reality.

HAPPY 3-OH to me!

So, as you know, I turned 30 last Thursday! Mom sufficiently humiliated me at work by sending a cookie bouquet along with the 16x20 GLAMOR SHOTS print from when I was a Freshman in High School. The delivery sat at my desk for over an hour before I got back to the office and everyone had a good laugh. HAHA. Unfortunately with this new phone I can't figure out how to pull the pictures off, so my blogging friends will have to imagine 14 year old me, the iconic Glamor Shots flag jacket, rhinestone earrings and all.

Thursday night, my husband took me to P.F. Changs for dinner! But not before revealing my "mystery gift" in the garage. I have been banned from our garage for a good 3-4 weeks; there was newspaper over the windows and everything. It was all because my amazing husband was MAKING my gift. It's something we've wanted since we got married and it's so special that he made it for me. He would get up at 5am, dress for work, go out to the garage, change clothes into bum clothes, work on my gift for an hour, change back into his tie and work clothes, and go to work. Without further ado, I give you CORNHOLE!!! And because we are staunchly loyal to our respective undergrad alma maters, this is how we do cornhole in OUR FAMILY.
























Anywho, I had lunch Friday with my local BFF Mere at one of my FAVORITE lunch places, Petunia's Silver Jalapeno. It's an old silver airstream trailer joint that has THE BEST fish tacoes ON THE PLANET. Top it all off with a homemade from scratch peach milkshake (that's fresh peach slices and Mayfields vanilla ice cream and milk) and you've got yourself a fantabulous lunch!!

My sweet father-in-law and step-mother-in-law gave me a certificate for a mani-pedi, which I promptly used Friday afternoon in preparation for my birthday party. When I pulled up to the nail salon to meet my mom (in town from Cinnci) I noticed my BFF Hilary (from Indianapolis) through the window. She rode down with mom for the weekend to surprise me! EEK! AND THEEEEN Hilary and I got home from the salon (Mom had run to the "grocery store") when Mom delivers my BFF Melissa (from VEGAS) that she just picked up at the airport!!! Double EEK!!!

Melissa, me, Hilary
These ladies traveled the farthest for my big celebration!!!

SATURDAY is when we had my birthday party and my BFF Lamm (from Atlanta) came up with her husband Keith and baby Knox. My godmother Brenda also came up Saturday from Birmingham. My sweet husband FINALLY broke down and gave me a Pandora bracelet that I've been wanting since Christmas with the cupcake charm for my birthday. And each of my sweet and loving friends and family got me a bead or set of beads to add to it! Each bead means something between me and that person, and it's just perfect! See?

























We all loaded up and headed to the park for the celebration. Lamm surprised me with a custom birthday hat and a "Pin-the-Crown-on-the-Princess" game that she made with a photo of me when I was 3!! That was lots of fun. Some folks did well and some not-so-well as you can see!

Here are some pics from the party for you to enjoy!

Mel, Lamm, Me, Hilary, and Mere - love these ladies!!

Knox dressed up for the occasion. He heard that every girl's crazy for a sharped dressed man.

Grillmaster Ken and me (he's my big brother, can't you tell??)

I collected school supplies for the Inner City Ministries program at our church in lieu of gifts. Check out the LOOT!!! I'm so excited to deliver this basket to the church!!!


Thanks to everyone who donated supplies, came to my party from near and far, sent me wishes and cards, and otherwise recognized this monumental birthday! I'm blessed by you all!!!