10 months pregnant!

Tomorrow, we hit the 40 week mark! We are so ready for Leighton to join our family, but she obviously is quite content where she is. As long as she is healthy, we are all just fine! David remembers hearing in one of our baby classes that a lot of cognitive development occurs during these last few weeks, so we are just assuming that she will be extra smart! Actually going full term has allowed for us to prepare and get super ready for her arrival as well.

Leighton's nursery is officially complete and I could not be more in love with it!! It turned out exactly as I had in mind. A VERY SPECIAL thank you goes to Grandma Abigail for all of her hard work on the custom sewing that she did. I can only imagine the hours that she put into all of it...from the bedskirt, to the bumpers, to the window treatments, etc. And this is on top of all of the adorable things she made for Leighton at each shower. Thank you so much!

Thank you also to my parents for helping put up a lot of the wall decor and lighting. Making this nursery perfect has truly been a family affair! So many items in the room were special gifts from our mothers....thank you both.

Here is the big reveal!

Have I already said how much I love this room? There are so many special memories and pieces that went into planning and designing the room. Truly, everything has a special story and I love that. I hope she loves it as much.

We hope to meet our baby girl this week! Please continue to remember us in your prayers!

So close!

Hello guys! I know we have been MIA for a while now, but life has gotten busy over the last couple of months! We cannot believe that we are two weeks from the due date of our baby girl! Time has flown by.

The last couple of months have included some of my most favorite memories. We have had four amazing showers with our friends, family, co-workers and church family. We cannot begin to express our gratitude for these wonderful times. Here are some of the photos from those showers.

My co-workers and friends, Kathy and Amy.

Abigail and Steve's supper club wives. Thank you so much for our travel system!! We cannot wait to use it!

Mom's poem, A Daughter. I will cherish this forever.

Shower hostesses - Becca, Maggie, me, Sis, and Ash.

Best. day. ever. Thank you. I love ya'll.

Again...

Me and Grancy!

Mom, me and Abigail at the Laurel shower.

Leighton was showered with gifts by our friends at Laurel.

Shower at my work. We are taking those decorations to the hospital to make the room extra girly!

Yum...

Pretty decorations again.

Hostesses - Kathy and Amy. Thank you both so much!

Stone & Hinds shower. We loved celebrating with you guys! (setting on camera a little bright!)

We have been doing lots of work around the house. Dave said that he didn't know that nesting meant doing a lot of different projects! We have finished our master bathroom, had three rooms painted, and finished the nursery. Speaking of the nursery....those photos will be in the next post. This post has been pretty picture heavy so I will save some for later. I will definitely post this week because I want to share those with you before she arrives! We also have some maternity photos to share.....coming soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

Something yummy on this day of love....

To Dave....you are the love of my life, my best friend, my partner on this journey that God has blessed us with. Thank you for being you because I love it. I cannot wait to raise our daughter with you.

To our sweet girl Leighton....I hope you always know how much you are loved by seeing the way your Daddy and I love one other. You are the most special result of that love. We cannot wait to meet you.

To our families....thank you for loving us so much and so perfectly. We are better prepared to be Leighton's parents by being your son/daughter/brother/sister.

Hi! My Name Is...

I admit it! I am terrible at this whole blogging thing. But, I really WANT to be good at it. I am going to keep trying. I think I just need to realize that what I have to say doesn't always have to be awesome news to be blog-worthy. Please stick with me!

So, I know that I told you that our baby girl's name would be picked out by the New Year in the last blog post. Well, what I meant was the Chinese New Year, which is today! After many discussions between Dave and I and weighing a couple of serious options, we have settled on the perfect name for our little blessing. In 13 short weeks or less, Leighton Olivia will be joining our family. I cannot wait to start putting her name/monogram on little onesies and blankets!

Also, I have been promising a belly pic for those of you who we don't see on a regular basis. Here it is...

Little Leighton is making her mom a little fat, huh??

The nursery is coming together! We painted (well ventilated, of course) last weekend and have ordered the crib and some of the fabrics. The room is tiny so it is hard to get a good pic, but I promise to post some of the finished product!

Thanks for being patient with me! We love you and thank you for your continued prayers!

Merry Christmas!

I know, I know....I promised to blog more frequently! I apologize. I certainly don't want to lose any followers by being the absent, once a month blog poster. I will get better!

Since posting last, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our families and have been enjoying the month of December celebrating the Christmas season. As we were recently having dinner with some of my very best friends, the group was discussing all that we had to be thankful for this year....good health, loving families, meaningful friendships, stable jobs, etc. The Lord has blessed us all so much. I pray that we never lose sight of that.

Dave and I feel especially grateful this year. We had a great visit to the doctor on Monday where they told us that our baby girl is growing wonderfully. She has 10 toes, 10 fingers, 4 chambers in her heart, 2 kidneys, and so on. It is so amazing! She is also very flexible as you can see.

One of my favorite parts of this last ultrasound was when they were counting her toes and she had her little feet crossed. Then, she arched her foot and squished her toes. It was special to me because Dave does that all the time while he is sitting on the couch with his feet up. See precious foot below.

She is moving a lot more these days (and nights!). She is not bashful anymore, so Dave gets to feel her wiggle many times a day. She weighs less than a pound and measures the length of a carrot. Now that the sickness has mostly gone away, I am beginning to pack on the pounds! I will post pics of the growing belly in the next few blog posts. We purchased the first piece of furniture for her nursery. It is an antique, baby pink wardrobe for all the many dresses that she will have! We need all of the storage that we can get in our old house! Below is a photo of our fabric and color scheme.

We have narrowed down the name list to four choices! I hope to have settled on one by New Years. Stay tuned for that announcement!

As you go about your Christmas festivities this year, always remember the true reason we celebrate. A baby, a Savior, came and changed the world. Merry Christmas from our home to yours.

Sugar & Spice....

That's what little girls are made of...

IT'S A GIRL!

First off, let me say that David and I are SOOOO excited! While we are very excited, we also happened to be a little shocked (got over this shock in less than 5 minutes) and many of you know why! At about 11 1/2 and 13 weeks, we had two ultrasounds that, at the time, looked like a little boy was hanging out with us. The ultrasound tech, Jenny, explained that it was still very early and a lot is forming around those time periods that can change daily, so not to start planning quite yet. Nevertheless, being the "planners" that we naturally are, we have been thinking about "him" for the last few weeks.....talking about names, spending lots of time looking at blue fabrics (that would be me), etc.

THEN, we go in yesterday and immediately there was silence in the room as our heads all turned to try to figure out what exactly we were looking at. It looked completely different than the few weeks prior! Jenny confidently said, "Well guys, you have yourselves a little girl!" My, how things changed over those weeks because we now have 100% girl, girl, girl! For sure, no questions about it!

She is healthy and throws a little party for herself every day around noon, 3pm, and 6pm. She likes to play tricks on David and not kick when he is trying to feel. I doubt that she is going to be the bashful one, but for now, she holds out on him! I am sure that will change over the next couple of weeks.

We are so thrilled to have a daughter on the way! I cannot wait to see how she wraps David around her little finger, I cannot wait to share the special relationship with her that me and my mom have, I cannot wait to play dress up with her and have tea parties, I cannot wait to watch her love her Daddy and want to marry a man as good as him, and I cannot wait to teach her about Jesus. 

Please keep praying for her as she continues to grow. I promise to post more often between doctor visits. Now that we know for sure, we will keep you in the loop about names, nursery planning, and all the other fun girly stuff! We are so blessed to have all of you be a part of this special time. Thanks again for being so good to us and to baby girl!  

First comes love...

August 9th, 2008 seems like just yesterday.

And two short years later, here we are....

We are so excited about our coming addition! Please pray that our baby will continue to grow healthy. We will do our very best to keep you updated with recent photos, potential names, nursery ideas, etc. November 22nd is the big day...BOY or GIRL?? Stay tuned! Thanks for loving us so well.