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.

Prayer Request

My dear sweet friend, Adair, and her precious babies are heavy on my heart. Adair is one of the most beautiful people I've ever met, inside and out. She and her husband Cal have been on a long journey over the last 2 years to bring them to this place. They have been through so much to even GET these babies, and now they are facing more trials.

I'm asking for prayers for this sweet family. As I write this, Adair has been admitted to the hospital indefinitely for pre-term labor. Today she is 26 weeks and 4 days pregnant with their twins, Jack and Lucy. These babies need to get to 28 weeks to be out of the "scary" part of the woods. Would you please pray for my friends and their babies, that they will stay safe in her womb for as long as possible?

UPDATE

God is truly taking care of Adair and her sweet babies. After weeks of "off and on" contractions, there is absolutely NO CHANGE in her cervix (I think it must be made of steel or something). She got to go home for a while, but is back in the hospital. Her faith and attitude through all of this is amazing. As of LAST Wednesday (8/25), she was 29 weeks and the babies are weighing 3lbs 7 oz (Lucy) and 3lbs (Jack). Adair will be 30 weeks in 2 days, PRAISE GOD!!!! We are just praying those babies stay in there as long as they can, and giving HIM all the glory for these miracles so far! Thanks for your continued prayers for my dear friend.

Sweet Cecily

One of my BFFs Lamm had a sweet baby girl on Monday, July 5th. So, I took Friday off and hopped on down to the ATL to see them. Lamm is doing great, and so is her hubby Keith. Their son Knox was asleep the entire time I visited :( so I missed seeing my little buddy. But I got LOTS of snuggle time with sweet Cecily!!

Lamm is such a good mommy!

Lara's baby shower

Our women's small group (Bible study group) has been excited for a very long time to help Lara and Bryan welcome a baby into their family. We just had no idea (nor did they) that God would work in their lives the way He has. We are all truly amazed by the great blessing He has given to them.

Lara and Bryan are our friends who had just finished filling out their adoption paperwork when she found out she was pregnant, that I mentioned here. They have decided to adopt after little Hayden is born! They may have TWO BABIES by Christmas!! She is so amazing and dedicated to healthy living and treading lightly on this great Earth that she is going to cloth diaper both babies!

Well, it was finally time for us to plan Lara's baby shower. Since Lara has her very own organic garden, and her nursery is garden themed, we thought it the logical theme for her baby shower. So we got to work on the plans, and OF COURSE I called Lamm to design the invitations!!

Of course, last names, addresses and phone numbers have been removed.

Aren't they ADORABLE??? I was quite proud of coming up with the rhyme!! We wanted to make sure and acknowledge that Lara and Bryan are awaiting the arrival of their birth daughter, Hayden and an adopted sibling.

Anywho, this was the best shower I've ever co-hosted! We just did "everyone bring a dish" so no one person was overwhelmed (except maybe Merrell, she had to clean her house!). I signed up to bring the dessert, sugar cookies. My MIL gave me her/Grandy's coveted recipe and all the fun stuff to make them for Christmas and I've been DYING to try it out!

Well, I grossly underestimated the time it would take to roll out, cut, bake, ice and decorate 24 large cookies. But all the effort was worth it. They turned out so CUTE! I even found a cookie cutter at my favorite craft store that was a large flower with a small cookie bumble bee to stack on top, perfectly matching the invitations! SEE?!?!?!

Note to self: do not stack bees onto flowers until you've arrived at the destination (carry separately), some poor little bee faces got smushed :(

Here are all the ladies from small group (except Meghan who had a little trouble finding Merrell's house) that attended the shower.

Note to self: do not wear this outfit again until you have lost 10 lbs.

And here is Lara with her sister-in-law, neice, nana and mom.



Lara got tons of cool stuff for both babies. Her mom made a little sweater and booties (so cute); her nana made a blanket, and Meghan embroidered some onsies, a blanket and some bloomers.

Yep, Lara is cracking up because the onsie says "organically grown"

I think Lara's favorite gift was a few items of clothes worn by Bryan's favorite cousin that they are so close to. They were very special!


Fun was had by all (except Bryan waiting back at home). Bryan promptly got some horrible flu while we were at the shower and is now in quarantine at his mother's house for a week. Bryan needs prayers of healing, Lara needs to not get sick, and baby Hayden needs to stay in Mommy's belly until Daddy is well enough to welcome her into this world!!

We can wait a week to meet you Hayden!! Stay in Mommy's belly!

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!!!

Health, Love and Wealth...

And Time to Enjoy It. That's what the pewter plate reads that was given to us for our wedding by GP and Grandy (Matt's grandparents). It sits in a plate holder on top of our refrigerator. The same plate spent many years in GP and Grandy's kitchen, and it meant so much to us when we received it. And now, today, I realized how much more I treasure the gift and the blessing inscribed on it.

My friend Karson faces a very long battle ahead of her, that started this morning with the first of her INDEFINITE chemo treatments (that's right, indefinite, straight from her doctor's mouth). I noticed our plate this morning, and it rocked me to the core. It sits beside the bananas, and I get a banana for breakfast every morning, but today I really noticed it and read it for the first time in a while.

Life, love, family, friends, time are such precious gifts from God. Brian preached about it Sunday. The way we choose to spend our TIME each day, each task, are the most important decisions we make. No one is ever faced with their own mortality wishing that they spent more time at the office getting work done, or the gym trying to perfect our physical appearance, or in the yard trying to have the greenest lawn on the block. When faced with the big stuff, life or the end of it, we want more TIME with the ones we LOVE.

I am possibly facing an opportunity that may take more TIME from me than I am willing to give. Even though I've been waiting a while on an opportunity, this opportunity just may not be worth it. I can wait a little more, I guess. In the end, I will thank me for it. Right now, I have HEALTH (thank you Jesus); I have LOVE from an amazing man and so many family and friends; I have enough WEALTH to be comfortable. In light of all of that, I choose to spend the TIME I do have enjoying it!

PRAYERS NEEDED

For all the 10 or so people who actually read my blog, here goes. There are PRAYERS NEEDED, so I'll just tell you about them.
First. Some of you know about my dear friend Karson, many of you don't. Karson and I went to graduate school together at UT Knoxville. We became friends through other friends really, but I am so glad we did!! Karson is one of those wonderfully infectious people that you just have to smile around, because she is always smiling! She has an equally dear amazing husband, Jason, whom I am also good friends with. The summer after we graduated, Karson went somewhere cool for like a month. We (her girlfriends from grad school) were in charge of entertaining and keeping Jason company while she was gone. Everywhere we went (out about 2 times a week or so), there were all the girls... and Jason. It was fabulous! Anywho, I say all that to say that Karson and Jason are BOTH very special friends of mine!

Karson and Jason

Karson was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2007, she was 30 at the time. About half a year and a mastectomy of her left breast, a ton of chemo, sickness, joint pain and other side effects later, Karson was cancer-free. Many of you donated to Race for the Cure that year, many of you prayed for her, and I appreciate all of you.

Grad School Girls @ Race for the Cure 2007

Well, my sweet prayer warriors, it's time to hit our knees again to pray for this amazing woman and her equally awe inspiring husband. A couple of months ago they found a lump in her breast, which turned out to be nothing, but feared they may have punctured her implant during the biopsy. The CT of her implant was fine, but went down just far enough for them to catch a couple of nodes on her liver. This is very very bad. A closer CT has caused concern among her doctors and her oncologist has been pulled into the case. They are in the process of scheduling another CT and a liver biopsy (hopefully ASAP). Karson and Jason need our prayers of healing, strength, comfort and peace.

If you care to follow their journey, her website is below. If you sign her guestbook, you will automatically receive email updates when she posts a new journal entry. Or you can go and look at a few more pictures of my sweet friends whom I love dearly. They were both beautiful and amazing before cancer, and they are more so now - very raw and human, but positive and lovely. Please pray for my friends and all of us who love the Beatys so much. We need it very much right now.

Karson and me at our wedding last year

Tell everyone you love that you love them, right now.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karsonbeaty

Second. This part is going to be a little harder. I need prayers. I have come to realize that I am struggling with depression. I've made an appointment with a counselor. I kept telling myself that it's situational and that it will go away, but I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. That was the kicker that I need more help. I'm very blessed and happy in certain areas of my life, others that are bad/have been bad for a long time have become unbearable and are now affecting the good parts. I can't compartmentalize it and deal anymore. Something's got to give! I am trying to avoid medication. I try to live "naturally" in my body as much as possible, because I really react to medication in an extreme way (especially those dealing with hormones). But I don't know. I certainly DON'T think meds are bad, NOR do I think those that take them are any weaker than anyone else. I'm just stubborn about what I want for myself, but I won't resist it if a professional tells me it's necessary.

So there they are, my prayer requests.

^"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James1:2-4

Blogger Award!!!

My sweet sorority sister Adair gave me this blog award!! She has been a blogging buddy for a while now. I love keeping up with her online; we haven't seen each other IRL since I graduated! :( Thanks for my award Adair!!! MWAH!!!

Here are the rules:
1. When given the award, you list 7 things that you love.

2. Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you love.Be sure to tag them and let them know they've won. (You can copy the picture of the award and paste it on your sideboard.)

7 Things I love:

1. My Lord and Savior
2. Matt, DH (darling husband), love of my life, sweet sweet man
3. My wonderful family - biological, adopted (if I've adopted you as my family - you're there whether you wanna be or not), and married-into
4. My collection of friends - I say collection because I have a few BFFs from childhood, a few - ok just 1 from HS, a few from college, and a few from Grad School, and a few from Chattanooga - it's like I just collect them as I go through life!! I love them ALL!!
5. FOOD - namely chocolate, sushi, avocados, artichokes, olives, pasta, Ben & Jerry's... NOT all together
6. Finding new practical ways to be green and enjoying God's beautiful creation
7. My SWEET BABIES (the four legged kind)

7 Bloggers I LOVE

1. Hilary - doing what she can to make this world a better place!!
2. Lamm - being a FABULOUS work-at-home mom and a creative GENIOUS!!!
3. Lauren over at thickneckARTS
4. Christie's crafty creations over at The Silly Monkey
5. Sarah over at Makers and Water
6. The Busbys living life with 2 amazing kids!!
7. The Bevins family (I stalk, I mean follow their sweet family's story)

SOOOOOOO TAG YOU'RE IT!

Trip to Arkansas

So I promised to write more about our trip to Arkansas for Mother's Day. It was SO wonderful. I really miss Molly because she lives so far away, I don't see her much. She is one of my dearest friends from college and I just cherish spending time with her. She also gets along splendidly with Matt (basically she laughs at all of his jokes and means it!), which makes it that much more enjoyable to spend time with her. Pictorial evidence...

Yes they are playing with deer antlers at the Nature Center!!

I was so honored last year after Joshua was born when she asked me to be his godmother. I have a wonderful relationship with my own godmother, and I so look forward to the special relationship that Joshua and I will have. Matt asked if he is the godfather, since I am the godmother, and I informed him that he got the job by default! Until this weekend, he argued that he never signed on to it, so he can't be held responsible. He's not arguing anymore, Joshua and Matt are big buddies now... case in point.


























Molly cooked some WONDERFUL food for us (I learned how to make Chinese dumplings from scratch). We had fun really just hanging out. There were a couple of older ladies in the grocery store (Matt went on a run while we went out) that were fishing to see if Joshua had 2 mommies (I think it's my new glasses plus the short hair)!!! I'm always flattered to be mistaken for "family"!


We had a great time Saturday at the Crowley's Ridge Nature Center, especially since it was FREE!!! Molly put on a great puppet show for us about a squirrel named "NuttBag". As you can see, Matt enjoyed the show as much as Joshua if not more! But most of the time we chilled at home and just caught up on life and played with Joshua.

He's really not terrified of me, REALLY!

Sunday was Joshua's baby dedication at Molly's church. It was wonderful to see her stand in front of her congregation of peers and promise to raise Joshua in a Christian home. I hope as his godparents we will set a Christian example for him as well.


It was a fabulous weekend, and I was still beaming even yesterday. I am looking forward to a (tentative) visit from Molly and Joshua in August!!!

our adorable godson Joshua

I will blog more about our wonderful weekend with Molly and Joshua. But for now, a couple of precious pictures of Joshua before his dedication.