Christmas 2010

I love Christmas; I always have. It is fun having a husband who loves Christmas just as much or more than I do. This year, he insisted on putting up our Christmas decorations at the very beginning of November. Even though it is tradition with me and my family to put up decorations the day after Thanksgiving, I gave in. I think it was fun, making us anticipate Christmas even more. It is so weird to say that Christmas has passed, and even weirder to think that next Christmas we will be celebrating with a 6 month old!

Because of the pregnancy, my family decided to drive up to spend Christmas with us in Louisville. My dad, mom, brother, and grandma drove up from St. Augustine, Florida on December 22 and arrived early afternoon of December 23. I was so excited to see them. The last time I saw my dad was in October, my mom and grandma was in September, and my brother was in June. It felt like Christmas with them around.

After I got off of work on the 24th, all of us (minus my dad) went to Babies 'R Us and picked out the baby's crib and dresser! My mom had told me that my grandma was going to buy us the crib; however, she did not mention anything about getting the dresser. We were surprised and thankful for such wonderful gifts for our baby. We love the set and I can't wait to see them in use! Here are pictures of the crib and dresser:


Image courtesy of Babies 'R Us


Image courtesy of Babies 'R Us

On Christmas Eve, we went to Ninth and O's Christmas Eve service. We love our church family, and I was so excited for my family to be a part of something that means so much to me and Chris. Dr. Cook preached a wonderful message on the life that this Baby brings to those in captivity. I came away thankful again for the person and work of Christ, as well as for the faithful preaching that we get to hear each week from our pastor. After service, we went out to eat at O'Charleys and had a great time.

On Christmas morning, I woke up early to fix a breakfast casserole for my family. They came to the house around 8:30. We opened up presents around 9:00 and then ate that yummy casserole (if I do say so myself!). I was so thankful for the gifts that I received, some of them being maternity shirts, gift cards, and Bobby Bowden's book. Yes, I am a girl that loves football, specifically Florida State football, and I love Bobby Bowden! We had lunch around 12:30 and ate a lot of delicious food! I think Chris and I will be having ham coming out of our ears! That afternoon, we went to the movie theater. The ladies went to see "The King's Speech" while the men saw "Tron: Legacy". I LOVED "The King's Speech" and so did my mom. We can't wait to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

On the morning of the 26th, we went back to Ninth and O for church. While Chris went to work, the rest of my family and I had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (yum!). After lunch was over, the boys went back to the apartment to watch football while the ladies went shopping!! I was SO excited! I had been waiting for this moment for a while, holding out to get maternity clothes until my mom was here. I found a lot of good things and I am so happy to have clothes that fit again! I told Chris that I feel cute again. :)

This morning, my family left bright and early to head back to Florida. I had such a great time with them. While I am completely content with where I am at, it is great seeing my family that I miss. I am blessed to have a husband that enjoys spending time with my family, as well. Here are a couple of pictures of Christmas time:


This is what our living room looks like decorated for Christmas.


This was taken after Ninth and O's Christmas Eve Service. Although I am not crazy about how I look in this picture, I love my family :)

I hope that your Christmas was a wonderful time of celebration. Christ is our Immanuel! I pray that we would be mindful of that in the coming year. Blessings!

17 Week Update

Picture courtesy of thebump.com

I haven't been updating this blog as much as I would have liked. Even though I am pregnant, I see my life as being pretty boring and normal. I praise God that there has not been anything unusual in my pregnancy to make it more interesting than I want it to be. Because of this, I have missed the 16 week mark and update on the doctor's visit. So here it is a week later :)

We went in for the 16 week appointment last Monday. Because the practice that I go to is very popular in the city, we did have to wait a while at this appointment. The doctor that I was seeing had a few patients she had to see earlier than expected. This became very frustrating because I knew that all we would be doing is hearing the heartbeat and checking me to see if everything was ok. Needless to say, I was very happy when we finally saw her.

After the doctor asked me how I was doing and if everything was going well, she then checked for the heartbeat. At our 12 week appointment, it took her a while to find the heartbeat. Our little one was comfortable towards the side of my stomach at that time. I was hoping to hear it sooner this time around, but kept in mind our previous appointment. Almost as soon as she put the monitor on me, the little heartbeat was heard. I was so excited! It was in the 140s this week, down from the 150s the previous appointment. I was so glad to know that everything was ok.

Our "big" appointment will be on January 19. I CANNOT WAIT to find out what this little one is and to see how it is growing. I am also excited because I am seeing my regular doctor at this appointment. At 8 weeks she predicted that it is a girl, so we will see if she is right! I am still leaning towards boy, though not as strongly as I did before. Chris still has no idea how to lean. He just can't wait to call the baby by it's name. We already have both a boy and girl name picked. I am ready to refer to the baby as a boy or a girl. I also can't wait to go shopping! My mother is also ready to know. Grandma can't wait to spoil her grandchild :)

As you can see by the picture, our baby is around the length of an onion. I am continually amazed at how fast our little one is growing and how it is developing. I am waiting to feel the baby move and kick, although I think I may have felt it kick last week. After we went to our appointment, I was sitting down on the couch. I felt a slight bubbly feeling that only last a couple of seconds. From what I have heard and read, that is what women feel early on when their baby kicks. I will know for certain through out the next few weeks if that was really it kicking or not. I also can't wait till Chris feels it kick!

I do hope to be more regular on my pregnancy updates. Keep praying for us and Baby Garner!