A Belated Shower Post

On October 2nd we had a lunch shower hosted by David's coworkers. They treated us to lunch at Hudson Grille (which was yummy!) and brought cake and presents. :) They all pitched in to give us the Baby Bjorn carrier (you can see that David is so excited!), a blanket, burp cloths and washcloths.

They also made us this hilarious book filled with advise from everyone and pictures - it's definitely going in the baby book, lol! We had a great time and I especially enjoyed celebrating with David's coworkers. Thanks to Viv & Lauren for putting it all together for us!! :)

100th Post - Surprise & A Baby Shower

I wanted to wait until this week to post since I was at my 100th post and I wanted it to be special with lots of pictures.

Saturday was our last baby shower and it was hosted by a few of my closest girlfriends. I knew it was going to be special, but how special I had no idea until the big day arrived. My side of the family hosted a shower for us back in July that was wonderful and my mom and step mom got to come and celebrate their grand baby, so this time I had David's mom's with me.On Friday, my friend Vivek from college flew in from DC to spend the weekend and be with me for the shower. I hadn't seen her in 5+ years! I was so thrilled she was able to come and that we got to visit Friday while things were still quiet. Saturday morning my BFF Lacey came into town with her newest baby Jane Dare (she's 5 weeks and just precious!!) and arrived just as David's parents did and was able to join us for lunch.

We all met up at Taco Mac, one of David's favorite wing places, and I was loving on my Jane Dare while we waited for a table. After a bit David wanted some snuggles and took her from me. A few moments later I looked up and saw a little girl who looked remarkably like my niece Erin. You know how it goes, you process very quickly: "that looks like Erin, but it can't be Erin, because she's in Colorado". But then I see Deborah holding her and Carol (who was supposed to be on a women's retreat!) coming in behind her with my nephew Grady in her arms and I realize that they are really here! I just lost it and started to cry. I was so surprised and I still tear up every time I think about it. My awesome yet sneaky husband had helped orchestrate all of this and it was probably the most surprised I've ever been, second only to his proposal, of course. There are pictures of their arrival and my reaction on David's mom's camera, but I don't have them yet. I'll post when I get them.

Before I knew it we had finished lunch and it was time to head to Karen's for the shower. When I got there, I walk in the kitchen and see my friend Marleah who drove in from Alabama. I almost cried all over again!
I had no idea that so many people would come from so far away to be here with me and celebrate our little one. We had some great food and times of fellowship with my friends and family from near and far. We were spoiled beyond belief with wonderful gifts for this baby, who is already so loved, and there were a few more surprises here. A few friends who couldn't be with us sent gifts and my mom even made the baby 2 more blankets and sent them so I could open them at the shower. The funniest part was my mom used a post-it as the gift tag and we all got a kick out of it!

The post-it gift tag!The beautiful cat quilt handmade by my mom
Aunt Carol made a beautiful blanket for the baby too - it's so soft!Lacey getting in some snuggles with Jane Dare while I opened giftsWe love Sleep Sacks!Spoiled already - look at all these beautiful things!The sweet cupcakes were made by Leigh-Ann and they were yummy!Vivek, Carol, Deborah & I chattingGrady having fun at the showerMy lovely hostesses: Lacey, Karen, Leigh-Ann & Bethany

After we enjoyed some more girl time, we headed back to my house. David's mom and Carol headed back to Carol's house and Deborah, Erin, Grady, Vivek, Lacey & Jane Dare were going to stay with us. Paul & Bethany also joined us for dinner and we just had a great night hanging out together. It was one of the sweetest times I've had in this house and I certainly won't forget it anytime soon.

I absolutely love being surprised and Saturday was full of them. And Deborah and the kids got to stay through Tuesday which was wonderful since they live so far away. I certainly feel blessed to have so many people in this life who love and support us and who will love our baby.

As we were getting ready for bed David asked "so was it a good day" and I said "best day ever!"

Sweet Cotton Candy

The state fair comes every September to the fairgrounds just behind our neighborhood. With it comes the Sugar Shack and the dreamiest, fresh spun cotton candy you can imagine. Cotton Candy is David's favorite thing and I'm a big fan too, so it's an overall winner in the Bilbo house. Well this year, since I'm pregnant, we had to skip out on the adventure of the fair but we didn't want to miss out on the cotton candy. So...we waited until a night where we wouldn't have to pay admission to get the goods. I dropped David off and waited in the loading zone (to avoid parking fees) and David took 5 canned goods to donate (to get in for free) and he headed out to the Sugar Shack while I waited in the car.

About 5 minutes later I see him strolling down looking fierce with 3 massive bags of cotton candy in his hands and I start laughing. I love my husband, he always makes me laugh. He was looking fierce to keep the carnies from making fun of him and his loot - lol!!

I made him wait until we got home to open the bags so I could take this picture.

mmm...cotton candy

Making Room for Baby

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of our nearly complete nursery. :) First up was putting the crib together. The crib was a gift from Mama & Papa (David's folks) for the baby and we absolutely LOVE it!! It was a big night in the Bilbo house when we put it together and the whole family was involved in the process...

Out of the box!David getting startedScotty checking out the springsMarty helped unwrap the big piecesI helped too!!Almost done...All dressed up

While David's folks were here they painted the nursery in 4 different colors for us. David is so creative in putting colors together, we are thrilled with how the room came out. We have white, a creamy yellow and 2 shades of sage. When we first started trying we bought an unfinished oak dresser and we hired a friend to finish it for us. With the new knobs we really love the finished product.  We found the bookshelf last, and can hardly believe that all the pieces match so well, but they do.  

BookshelfDresser
This Rocking Chair was David's when he was a baby...the Tigger was his too.  :)Here is another view with the window and black curtains to round out the room

I still need to put up the pictures, but I figured I'd go ahead and post the progress so far.  We really do love how it's turning out and can't wait for the little one to get here and use everything.  :)

It's my birthday!

I love birthdays. I always have. As I've gotten older I've found less of a need for the big hoopla, but I still relish in celebrating in quiet ways especially with my David. This year I saved all of my birthday goodies to open this morning so as soon as we got up I opened all my gifts.

Today has been a GLORIOUS day. I love fall and today was a perfect fall like day. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze and it was about 73 degrees...just perfect. David said he ordered this weather special - just for me. :) I met David for lunch and he took me to Olive Garden, then I headed over to the Doctors office where I got to hear our little one's heartbeat. Afterwards, I ran a few errands then came home in time to get David and go out for Chick-fil-a and a walk at the soccer park. A mile is a little much with my poor hips aching, but I was glad to get outside and enjoy the weather.

I am so excited for all that will happen in the next year and so grateful for a wonderful birthday!

8 weeks to go

I can't believe we're under the 2 month mark until our little one is due. I thought I'd take some time to write out a few of my favorite things about this pregnancy and also note the few ailments I've had before this baby arrives and my life goes topsy turvy.

My 3 favorite things:

• Feeling the baby move and more recently, seeing him/her wiggling around from the outside
• Watching my belly grow
• BEAUTIFUL nails...seriously strong gorgeous nails. Nails so pretty that I no longer bite them (and I've bitten my nails all my life).

My top 3 ailments
(that I'll be glad to see go with the arrival of our little one):

• A constant headache that started at the end of my 1st trimester that has yet to cease but often gets worse
• Hips constantly feeling like they have been beaten with baseball bats
• Pinched nerves in my lower back

I am so grateful to experience being pregnant. There were often times when I thought that getting pregnant was out of our reach and I am so unbelievably blessed that the Lord saw fit to make us parents of this child. There are of course ups and downs to pregnancy, but I can honestly say I've tried to enjoy every minute of it and relish in all the joys with as few complaints as possible.

Family Time & Belly Shots

Today has been a glorious day. Chris, Carol & the kids were here this weekend, and while it's wonderful to get to spend time with them, 4 kids under 6 is exhausting! Especially for me being very pregnant and hot all the time. With the rain keeping us inside yesterday, we enjoyed an afternoon of Wii with the boys which they loved - and they were surprisingly good at most of the sports games. We did get to go out to dinner to celebrate our birthdays which was fun and we got free dessert without having to be sung to - can't ask for more than that. :)

Today we all headed to church and after a great service, the Clarks headed for home and we went out to lunch with our friends the Crabbs. Mmm...mexican.

When we got home, we had nothing on the agenda so we read for a while, napped and then watched some TV. Before I changed out of my dress clothes for our afternoon of relaxation, David snapped a few pictures of my belly. Just 8 weeks to go and I'm getting bigger by the minute (and loving it!).

Mourning & Celebration

W. Millard Smouse
July 30, 1917 - September 16, 2009

My grandfather passed away a week ago after a long battle with a staph infection. He was 92 years old and such a wonderful man. I am so sad to say goodbye and will miss him terribly! I am even more upset that he won't get to meet this sweet little one in my belly until we are reunited in Heaven. I was grateful that my Doctor let me travel and David & I drove the nearly 11 hours (with stops of course) to WV to be with my family. I'm so glad that we were able to go and mourn together while celebrating his life.

As a Christian, death is bittersweet. On the one hand, we mourn for what we are missing with them here with us on earth, and on the other we rejoice and celebrate with them that they are home with Jesus. I am so glad that he has been released from the pain of this life and freed into his perfect body in Heaven and I know that I will see him again someday. That brings me comfort, but doesn't take away the sadness of missing him.

This weekend was hard and definitely emotionally trying. Especially with all the pregnancy hormones I have had such a hard time processing my grief. I still get caught off guard by what will remind me that he is no longer with us. I so appreciate the thoughts and prayers of all our family and friends...thank you for loving on us.

Makeup Lesson

Wednesday night I headed out to Dunwoody for a focus group on DirecTV. I love my DirecTV and was happy to do it, plus it paid $100 for the 2 hour session - score!

The study started at 4 and it's about a 35 min drive. So I changed out of my PJs into shorts and a nice-ish top around 3, brushed and put up my hair, grabbed a book, a snack and my water bottle and I was off. As is normal for me, I left the house with no makeup, no fancy outfit on, no necklace or earrings...just my regular "plain jane" self.

I got to the study and after signing in, we talked about DirecTV for about 45 min when the facilitator left the room for a few minutes. I thought - awesome, we're getting out of here early! They told us when we arrived that the session was being recorded, video & audio, and that DirecTV execs were behind the mirror, but all that is pretty standard (at least for the focus groups I've participated in). When he returned, he said that the Execs liked what some of us had to say and they wanted to know if we'd be willing to film a brief testimonial on why we like DirecTV for their new national ad campaign. We all said sure, but I'm thinking to myself - seriously? Thankfully my mother-in-law stocked me up with a few key maternity tops that aren't my standard crew neck T-shirt, but I had no make up on and I couldn't even remember if I had brushed my teeth that morning! I just kept hearing Lacey saying to me "you need to start wearing makeup - you're somebody's mother now"...

I got into the studio, which was HOT because of all the lights (I'm a photographer, I'm usually on the other side of the lights & cameras) and I immediately start sweating. While I was totally comfortable doing the interview, in the back of my mind I just kept thinking...I can't believe I don't have on makeup. They loved some of the things I had to say (I have a marketing background I do know how to sell!) so there is a part of me genuinely scared that they will use this piece in their testimonial. Not to mention I said my first and last name, and lets be honest...it can be "heard" as something totally different. Anyway, I stopped by the restroom on my way out and wasn't completely horrified, but I did look like a hot, sweaty mess.

Lesson learned - I'm putting makeup on my Christmas list and will make more of an effort so I don't end up embarrassing my child by being "that mom". I'm still not giving up my yoga pants though. Some things never change. :)

Family Update

My mom & stepdad came down for a brief-er than scheduled visit this weekend. We didn't get time to do alot of the things they wanted to do because my grandfather is not doing well. He has been fighting congestive heart failure since just before Christmas and in March got a Staph Infection in a wound that has never healed. He's 92 years old and a believer so we know where he's going and that we'll see him again, but it's still hard. They went to see him Thursday before they drove down and when mom called Saturday, he had lost the ability to feed himself. They felt it was important to return home Sunday so they could visit with him today. I know this is really hard, particularly on my mom, and we of course understood their desire to go home early. If you think of him, please pray. Pray that the Lord would free him from the pain and that he would comfort our family, particularly my grandmother, my mom and my uncle.

We did have a good day Saturday while they were here. We split up and the boys went out to Fry's & Bass Pro Shop and mom & I went up to Joann's and of course hit Kohls. It was a relaxing day and was so nice to get to visit together. I also got to show mom the baby's room and all that we've done in the house in preparation for the little one's arrival and I know she loved seeing everything for her grandbaby.

Yesterday, after they headed home, David & I lounged around together through the afternoon and then had the Drehers over for dinner. We had alot of fun with deep belly laughs, playing Wii and catching them up on episodes of the Big Bang Theory. Today we're looking forward to more of the same and lots of relaxing.

Oh, and David brought home our La-z-boy on Friday and we got it in our bedroom - it looks so nice!! We love it. I just sat in the chair and rocked and told David "this is where I am going to feed our baby." So exciting. :)