April Showers...

Clint and I decided about 2 weeks ago that we needed some us time so we went to the Botanical Gardens here in Fort Worth. It is really beautiful there. It's more of a natural take, to me, on an arboretum. Instead of lots of landscaping, there are nature paths, ponds, wildflowers and lots of big, old trees.

This is in the Japanese Gardens. They had Japanese inspired architecture and native trees and plants throughout. Very pretty!

They had Koi fish in a lot of the ponds but these were actually in the Japanese Gardens. They were huge!

We also went and ate at Cafe Brazil that night and registered for baby stuff! All in all it was a fun day. Clint rarely gets whole days off so it was a blessing to reconnect.

Our New Addition Coming June 2011!

Clint and I are so excited about our new adventure we are about to embark on. With baby M being our first, there are many things that are easy to get stressed and overwhelmed about, but we are enjoying the ride and all the new things going on. From the nursery to doctor appointments, it all has been fun and new. We have been blessed with a healthy pregnancy and even when we hit little bumps I try to take time to worship God for all He has given us thus far on this journey.

God's timing is much better than our own, and I am learning that more and more. Right now, the plan is for me to stop working and stay home with the little one. I am very excited about that and once again feel very blessed to have that option. When the baby comes, Clint will be off from school. Once again, God's timing is just right.

Clint and I found out I was pregnant on a Friday night. We were just about to go out to dinner with some friends and I decided to check before they came over. I didn't expect it to be positive but I hadn't been feeling right and I was late. I took the test and couldn't believe it. I went in to the living room to show Clint with probably a pretty funny look on my face. I asked him if he thought it was positive. I don't think either one of us could believe it so I ran up to the drug store to buy another. Once that one was also positive it started to sink in a bit. I didn't cry or anything, I think I was just in total shock. We went over to our friend's house and told them. When our friends we were going to eat with came over, we told them as well. That weekend we went to Corsicana and told Clint's parents and my mom and grandmom. It was a lot of fun telling the family. I think Bill's reaction was the best. He just seemed completely stunned. Mom and Clint's mom had similar reactions; they both gave out a little scream followed by hugging. It's a lot of fun to get to share that joy.

I have been posting weekly pictures on Facebook. I think it's fun to see how I have changed. Plus, some weeks I don't think I have changed, but then I look at my picture from the past week and I can see it. I don't always think I look great, but that's not why I'm doing it. I have tried to really go with the changes and not be freaked out by gaining weight and all the other changes that happen. Women today get so consumed about their appearance and the outward things. I think it's another sign of God's creation. He makes women's bodies able to carry and grow a little human. That's just crazy when I really think about it. This is me at 24 weeks, so just a bit over half way there.


We started on the nursery in March. This is the before picture. Unfortunately, our diplomas had to go bye-bye. It was the only link I had left to my diploma since I am currently not using it in my job. Oh well, have to swallow the pride and move on.


This is the after. Well actually, it is all still a work in progress but this is the color and the crib. So exciting to start the nesting process. The crib was mine when I was little.


Here are the workers. Mom and Lacie came down to help with painting. Thank goodness they did because that was a job! Our landlord is going to be putting in new windows which is another big blessing. They are very, very old!


My man, working hard!

I can't wait to have the nursery done, but it will be awhile for that! I have my first shower (hosted by the women at Robinson Church of Christ) in 3 weeks. That will be the one with all the family and close friends from the past and present. It will be great just to see everyone. I can't wait.

I am now 28 weeks, which means third trimester! It has gone by really fast. It is truly amazing to feel the changes the baby has made. When I first felt the little kicks, they were tiny. That changed into full sporadic kicks. Now, I can feel little feet, hands and elbows move across my uterus. They feel more coordinated now. I can even feel the baby change positions. I'll get a really hard spot on my belly, where the head or back is. It's pretty amazing and something so unique. Pregnancy isn't the easiest thing, there have been times where I am ready to be done. But at the end of the day, it is a really beautiful thing that God has tasked women to do from the very beginning. It is a miracle to me!

The Super Bowl Comes to the Cowboy's Stadium

This year, the Super Bowl was in Arlington. All of the media coverage was done from downtown Fort Worth. Clint really wanted to go check it out and see what all they were doing. It was actually fairly boring. But we could see into the set of ESPN and they had some stuff out that was interesting. We took a picture in front of the big Texas that had a football coming out of it. I'm really not sure what it meant but I think it was just celebrating football...in Texas.

We hung out downtown for a few hours, then we headed to the Pier 1 building. If you have ever been to downtown Fort Worth and noticed a huge building with top of it lit up, then you have seen it. It's hard to miss because the lights at the top are really bright. In front of the building they have a walk way that goes all the way around it with trees lining the sides. At Christmas and (I guess) when they are hosting the Super Bowl, they light the trees out front. It is really beautiful.


We told them just to act goofy and this is what we got.

Stephanie and I decided to jump. Stephanie has mad skills and I could barely get off the ground. The thing is after this, everyone was giving me a hard time about not being able to jump. In order to prove them wrong (and to show what a klutz I am) I ran ahead of them and tried to jump higher. Well, that didn't happen so instead I fell on the ground. It was the hardest fall I have ever had. It was one of those that went on for awhile, like I tried to catch myself but my head was in front of my body and I couldn't regain my balance. Not pretty.


I look like I haven't even left the ground. Meanwhile, Stephanie is taking up the whole picture! I don't think pregnant women were meant to jump. Something keeps up grounded.

Early February Snow Daze

I am catching up on posts I should have done last month so please forgive me. The beginning of February brought snow and ice with it. It was a wonderful break from work (and school for Clint). I know we set lots of records for all the low temperatures, the ice and the snow. Our month's income definitely suffered but it was a lot of fun just getting to hang out with friends and enjoy the different weather. Here are Clint, me, Brad, Stephanie and Claire. We went out the school that is near our houses. They have a football field so the dogs enjoyed sliding around while trying to catch the ball and eating snow off the ground. We thought about Cherry a lot because she loved the snow.

What a cutie. The snow almost hit her belly! This is from last year when we had a ton of snow.


In order to make the most out of the weather we decided to go sledding. We made it a competition to see who could make the fastest sled. Clint and I with our game faces on. We were team Goggles (hence the goggles).


Clint trying out Stephanie's sled. Hers was the best out of all of them. Unfortunately we couldn't find a good place to sled but Clint was brave and tried a few places out for us. In the end, we grabbed the dogs and went up to the school again. Good times!

Ski Trip 2010

Without further ado...Ski trip 2010!! We were very happy this past year that we were able to go on one last ski trip before baby M makes his/ her debut! When we made plans to go, I wasn't pregnant but we talked to Clint's dad and he gave me the okay as long as I took it easy. I was only able to ski one day. (And it was tough even then. I almost had to call ski patrol because my lungs and legs didn't want to cooperate. But luckily I had some good friends to encourage me!) We made some great memories with some good friends!

"Oh man, that was a loooooong drive here...."

"But I'm so excited!!"
The whole gang at Keystone. There was: Andrew Sullivan, Brad and Stephanie Barham, Clint and I, Joanna and Colby Brownlee, Claire and Daniel Townsend. (Two of our group had already bailed. Kaylann and Austin. They were dealing with a broken wrist.)


It was cold. Really cold. We all ran outside in our t-shirts so we could experience below zero temperatures. (Except Clint, he grabbed his jacket. Fuddy- duddy as we say.)

At night, we just hung out and played games. This is Daniel recreating a fall that Clint had when they went to take out the trash. The parking lot was pretty icey the whole time. The poor Vibe had a hard time on it. So did Clint.

My brave husband on the last day. Bundled up!!


And this is why he was brave. He took a picture of one of the billboards warning people to be careful.

It says the high was 6. No, apparently it never made it there. The high ended up being around 4 and that was in town. Not on the mountain! Yikes!!


And we got to celebrate New Years the last night! That was a lot of fun to get to do that up in the beautiful mountains! Everyone was really tired so it was pretty subdued but fun none the less.


All the girls!



Last but not least. The reason we enjoy skiing and don't mind driving so far. God is in the mountains. What a wonderful and amazing creation He has made. For us.





It was a great trip! And now, one of these days, we get to take our kids up there and show them the majesty of God's creation.

Those Eyes...

As many of you know, our sweet dog Cherry is gone. We had to put her down January 3, 2011. I will always have a special place in my heart for her. I had totally forgotten that I had posted about her back in December. (See Dog Breath.) It turns out that bad breath was caused by something much worse than tartar or tooth decay. The vet believes she had cancer of the kidneys and probably went into full renal failure about a week or so before. It was unexpected and devastating. She was Clint and I's first dog and only animal before children. For that, she is special to us. We did everything we could with her from vacations to just strolling around the neighborhood. I thought I would post a few of my favorite memories with her.

Bath time. Cherry hated it. But it was fun for us because she would run around the house like a mad woman. She would jump all over the furniture and get her wet hair on everything. I think she did it to spite us. She was quite ornery.

We took her for lots of walks. She hated water most of the time but when it was really hot she would start looking for it. She drank a lot. When she happened on this puddle on a really hot day she just went ahead and sat in the water while she was drinking it. It was pretty funny.

Cherry also hated Duke. He was loud, high energy and playful. All things Cherry couldn't stand. If you look closely, Cherry (who weighed 48 pounds) is taking up most of the backseat while Duke (who weighs about 80 pounds) has a very small space to fit into. This was on the way home from Abilene so Cherry would go to sleep and Duke was just stuck standing there the whole trip. He tried to go to sleep but he couldn't get comfortable because of Cherry. It was pretty funny.

This was the only time Cherry ever (voluntarily) swam. Like I said, she hated water. This was on another one of our long walks on a hot day. It was probably high 90's that day and we had walked probably 2 miles or so. We were at the Trinity Trails so we decided to take the dogs down to the river so they could get a drink. Before we knew it Cherry had gotten in and was taking laps. She would swim and drink at the same time. Eventually, she got out and just sat on the shore. But that was a great memory because we had tried to get her to like the water the whole time we had her.

Well, it is the end of one chapter in our lives and the beginning of a new. I have mourned for Cherry, who she was in our lives and in our hearts and also for the life that we had with her. She represented our early, independent life together. Now, we begin a new chapter. I'm excited about it and look forward to it very much. But I will always have a special place in my heart for her and those sweet beginnings.