Frustration...

I have lots to post about but the screen to my desktop computer that has ALL of my pictures on it won't turn on!! It is at the top of my frustration list right now but at the bottom of my list of important things to get done before I go into the hospital in ONE week!!

You've been asking...

Well...we have had many requests to see what the nursery turned out like. So, here you go! There are still pictures that have to be hung on the wall by the crib, the white shelves still have to be worked on, I still have to make a table cloth for the round table & a pillow for the glider...but for the most part it is done!! For your viewing pleasure...





The fabric across the round table a sample of the fabric I am making the table cloth & pillow out of.

Love & Laughter...

As I had mentioned in a previous post Eric & I had the opportunity to to escape Tulsa last weekend & make the short drive up to Branson, Missouri. We attended a one day marriage confrence on Saturday called The Love & Laughter Getaway. I want to emphasize the Laughter part because that is what we spent most of our time doing! The day was broke up with sessions from 3 different people. Dr. Gary Smalley, a relationship expert, Pastor Ted Cunningham from the Woodland Hills church in Branson, & a wonderfully funny comedian, Paul Harris, who has a show in Branson & is a member of Woodland Hills himself. Since the main point of the weekend was how important it is to laugh & to create memories, Paul Harris really had the most stage time infront of us. Which was no problem for us because we have not laughed so hard in a long time!! It was nice to see a comedian whos jokes were appropriate & still some of the funniest I have ever heard! Since the seminar was only one day long I can't say that I learned a ton of information...but I was more reminded of how important it is to not be so serious all the time & to find ways to laugh & make memories because that is how we want our kids to remember us. That we were able to laugh with each other & laugh with our kids...and those are the memories they will truly cherish! We are wanting to go back next year & are definitely wanting to invest in more marriage confrences because it doesn't matter how great your marriage, there is always room to make improvement or try something new!! And it is always nice to be reminded what God intended marriage to be.



Outside the confrence we spents some time touring Branson...which was a ghost town!! We arrived Friday night and by that time my prego body was starving so in an effort to start the weekend out on a good note, my husband tried to quickly feed me! We ate what was suppose to be a quick meal at the hotel...one waiter for 10 plus tables equals not so quick! But with my mood much better after a meal, we decided we would strike out and "explore" Branson. The Ghost town! We made it down to the landing thinking that maybe the shops would still be open but we were later informed that they had closed at 7:30!!! So we topped off the evening by sharing a McFlurry at Micky D's!! Saturday we woke up and attended the confrence then went out to lunch at Shorty Smalls with some other couples from our church that were attending as well! Lots of fun! After the confrence wrapped up around three, we headed into Branson. Most of the shows & attractions were closed for winter but we of course hit up some of the places that were still open...the Outlet Mall, the Landing & the Titanic exhibit...which we didn't go into but we did see the ice sculpture contest outside it!! We finished off the night by eating again with our friends at Olive Garden! We had a nice long dinner with lots of good conversation & lots of laughing!! Sunday morning we woke up and ate at IHop & then headed back to Tulsa! We had a great time but are very much missing our King size bed we had at the Cheteau!



Our hotel...the Chateau on the Lake.


The view from our hotel room.


The Lobby at the Chateau.

One of the ice sculptures that had not melted by the time we got there!

2009 Wrap up!

This year has been full of changes for Eric & me! I will have to say not all bad ones though! I think this has really been a year of learning for us! We have learned a lot about other people, this world, and ourselves! I have seen God work tremendously in our marriage and bring us closer then we have been in the last 9 1/2 years together! So, I just wanted to take some time to recap a little of what has happened since my last post!

Many of you may not know this but shortly before Thanksgiving Eric's mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Her outlook on this situation has made me pray everyday that if this were ever to happen to me that I could have even an ounce of the positivity & courage that she has! She is probably one of the strongest women I know & Eric and I thank God for her daily! She has had many test run & so far everything has come back to negative, meaning the cancer has not spread to more serious areas!

On a different note...Christmas was a little different for us this year as well! Starting with the fact that it snowed!!! Something I have always wished for but when it actually happened was a little irritated by!! As you may or may not know, my parents moved into a new house this year. It is their dream house...the last one they will live in...its on the lake in the area they are orginally from. In years past we have always spent Christmas eve at my grandparents house since we lived in Dallas and had to travel there. This was the first year we did not do that! So this year we planned to have a nice Christmas eve of opening presents, eating & going to church. Instead a blizzard moved in and we hurried through presents, church got canceled & ate pizza from the local gas station (did I mention how small the town is that they live in!). We rushed through presents so my older sister & her family could travel back to their house before the roads got bad! That did not happen! The highway to their house got shut down & in the process of turning around to head back to my parents house they got stuck on the side of the highway! So my mom & I sat at home and waited while my Dad, Eric, Leandra & her boyfriend Chris struck out to pull them out & many others while they were at it! The weather then delayed our Christmas morning plans of going to my grandparents which further delayed us getting to Eric's parents house!

However, we did end up getting to Dallas in a timely manner since they had virtually no snow! Christmas ended up being great but it went by way to fast!! Before we knew it we were driving back to Tulsa where we found tons of snow! Which is still on the ground today!!

We ended 2009 on a boring note this year! No fun parties for us! We were back in Texas because I threw Casey a baby shower & my family threw me a small family shower that weekend! The week leading up to New Year's I had a stomach virus & Eric got in an accident on his way to Kansas. His car had to be pulled out of a ditch & is now at the repair place for who knows how long. We were suppose to celebrate my sisters birthday on New Year's day but she & my mom came down with the stomach bug as well...so they spent their time in their room & Eric and I bypassed the germy main floor at my parents house by taking the elevator from our room where we watched a lot of TV on the third floor the the gameroom on the bottom floor where we played a lot of Wii, to keep ourselves entertained!

We are hoping for a better start to 2010! My mom & my grandparents are coming up this weekend to put together the nursery! I will post pictures when it is all done! Monday is my 25th birthday! Yikes!! Eric's mom has surgery on Monday as well, in Houston. Then will be spending some time at a condo in Galvaston recovering. Next weekend Eric & I are headed to Branson for the weekend to do a one day marriage seminar and spend some last time as a couple before we become a family of three! We have a couple more baby showers to help get us prepared for our little girls arrival, which is a short 2 months away! I hope to keep you all posted as these things happen but as you can tell I am not very good at keeping this up-to-date! I leave you with some pictures...

For those of you who don't know that is suppose to be a lake out there! It was snowing so hard you couldn't see it.

Christmas Day...this is what the other picture is suppose to look like!

Christmas Eve!
What we came home to after Christmas!

I Love This Time of Year...

Seeing as how it has been a month or so since my last post, I figured I should write again and update everyone on what has been going on with us! Since we last chatted we spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with Eric's family then on to have two more with my family to finish out the weekend! Needless to say my craving for Thanksgiving food that I have been having since the begining of my pregnancy has been sufficently satisfied! This year we did again brave the cold & the crowds and go shopping on the dreaded day after Thanksgiving! I however did not have the worst end of this deal, as I got to sit in my car with the heated seats on until Babies R' Us opened, while my wonderful husband & mother-in-law stood outside to be first in line to get us a glider & ottoman for 50% off! Waking up at 3:50 a.m. wasn't all that fun...but I know the minute I unpack it all from its box it will have been totally worth it. Here is a picture of me at a little over 24 weeks right before Thanksgiving.

For some reason we only remember to take these pictures at night when I could not possible look anymore ragged!

So far this December we have kept busy! We got our Christmas decorations up shortly after Thanksgiving so we would have plenty of time to enjoy them, since we spend most of the week of Christmas in Dallas! We have purchased lots of the big items for our little girls room...all of which still sit in bags & boxes in our guest room/soon-to-be nursery! This past weekend was full of fun and exciting things. We spent Friday night at a great restaurant/bar here in Tulsa at a Christmas party for one of Eric's clients. We had great food & great company! It was lots of fun! Saturday was a very exciting day as we made our way over to Fayetteville, Arkansas to see Eric's best friend's fiance & very very good precious friend of ours, Hope, graduate from Nursing school! They are getting married some time this summer & we are so excited!

For those of you who are wondering that is me at almost 28 weeks or a week or so into my 7th month!

We came back late Saturday night so we could get up & help with Toys for Tots at our church on Sunday. What an amazing day that was!! While the parents shop in other parts of the church their children attend a Christmas party where they get to see Santa, watch a movie, see a magician & make crafts! Eric & I helped in the craft area where we got the chance to talk with some amazing kids! I think this is one of the most amazing things our church does & I love it. I haven't heard an exact number of kids that accepted Jesus & got baptized but Eric and I talked to a ton that had!!!

Well, I think that gets us caught up until now! This is Eric's last week of work until after Christmas & then he only works three days after that! We will probably spend a lot of that time cleaning out & rearranging so we can get our nursery set-up in January. But I can't wait just to spend some time with him! I am offically in my third trimester! I'm really excited about that. I go to the doctor tomorrow for my normal check-up & the fabulous glucose test! Which I am sure I will fail & then have to take the three hour test because I JUST LOVE SWEETS! From this point on I start going every two weeks to the doctor!! Exciting & scary at the same time...exciting because it is really hard to wait an entire month to see her move & hear her heartbeat between visits...scary because that means the end is coming near! But we are really excited! I leave you with some holiday pics!! Merry Christmas!

A quick update...

It has been a while since my last post so I thought I would give a quick update on what has been going on with us lately!

• Last Saturday we went to Oklahoma City and did some shopping. We both agree it was one of the best days we have had in quite a while. It is so nice to get away from your normal day to day lives and go somewhere...even if it is only a couple hours away.
• While in OKC we ate lunch at an all time fav of ours...Moe's (which we haven't been able to since they closed the one in Tulsa)
• After finding some great shopping deals we headed to Norman for the OU v. A&M game!
• Love, Love, Love my sooners but one of the highlights was watching the Aggie band perform! Something I have loved to watch for most my life!
• Finished off with a dinner that can only be found in Norman & then headed home!
• Went to the doctor yesterday for our last monthly visit & everything looks good!
• Next month we start going every two weeks and we get to have another big ultrasound that I am very excited about...but I also have my glucose test which I am not very excited about!
• Our little girl is moving around sooo much! Eric can feel her move & now you can see my stomach move when she does. Sometimes at night we just sit & watch my stomach as she dances all around!
• Our guest room that will become the nursery is begining to be taken over with baby stuff. Her furniture came in the other day & it has added to the chaos that has become that room!
• Eric continues to melt my heart with the love he already has for our daughter. I find him on baby websites looking at outfits & things that she "must have"!
• I'm excited because Eric took the day off tomorrow! Then he only works two days next week before we head to Dallas!!

Have a wonderful day!!

Lessons learned...

I will be the first to admit that sometimes when I am at school, frustration gets the best of me. But a sweet little eight year old girl today made me realize two very important things about children.

1. They ask things because they are learning and they don't know any better.

2. They are so observant...it makes you realize how unobservant adults are.

I have been pregnant for a little bit over five months now & I have not had a single person ask me if I was. Now, don't get me wrong...I will be the first to say that until this week I have looked more "Pudgy" in the middle then I do normally instead of preggers. But on our way out to recess today I had a little girl ask me in the most innocent tone "are you having a baby?". When I replied "yes" excitement broke out with all the surrounding girls.

She made me realize that adults won't ask until it's obvious because they don't want to be rude or hurt your feelings if you are in fact not pregnant. This little girl had an aunt that was expecting & connected how I look and how she looks...she is just learning.

It also made me realize how much more observant children are then adults. As adults we get caught up in the business of our lives that we forget to pay attention to anything that does not pertain to that exact moment. It makes me ask myself how much have I missed out on since I have too "busy" to observe the little things. And what have they observed me doing in a moment of frustration or irritation that I didn't even realize they were paying attention to.

Little kids just make me smile sometimes!