A look at our Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We were able to spend time with everyone on both sides of our families. We always kick off Christmas on the 23rd at one of Trey's grandparent's house where ALL of the cousins get together, it is always so much fun. It was a little sad this year since it was the first Christmas without Daddy Frank but we all enjoyed the time together. On Christmas Eve we went to Trey's dad's house in the afternoon and then to church with his mom and her parents. After church we headed up to the lake to my parent's house. It was so much fun. My Grandpa, my mother's father, was here which made it extra special. He always lived in Chicago and is now in North Carolina so we don't get to see him very much. My brother and sister and their families were at the lake too which was so much fun. They each have two precious kids. I added some pictures from Christmas Day, I didn't take pictures any other time and my camera doesn't take the best pictures inside so sorry for the funny colors and blurriness. We had a great day, starting with the delicious breakfast my mom made for us to enjoy while opening all of the presents. After lunch, Trey and I-and the dogs of course- headed back to town to do Christmas with his mom, step-dad and grandparents on their side. It was a long couple of days but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas! (Oh yeah-we were able to have an ultrasound on Christmas Eve and heard the heartbeat, I have the pictures but can't get my scanner to work right now. I'll add them when I can)

Hunter and Drake playing with their new kitchen from Santa


Hunter and Christopher playing with their new books




Sophie


The boys waiting on their toys to "grow" in the water...until we realized
it takes two days! Oh well!


Dumping out the stockings




Uncle Kyle and Sophie (sorry it's a little blurry)


I LOVE these next several pictures. Uncle Trey was teaching Hunter and Christopher how
to make spinner baits. Trey and Christopher both got new fishing poles for Christmas!

"Christopher, you have to be careful with the hooks, they hurt!"






Sweet Sophie!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We are beginning our Christmas festivities in about 30 minutes and will be going full speed until late Christmas night. Tomorrow morning we head to the doctor again and are actually going to have the ultrasound! Once we get back from running around town and to the lake for the next couple of days I will post a picture of it, and hopefully pictures of the next several days. I'm going to have to get used to taking pictures all of the time with a little one on the way! I hope all of you have a very happy and safe Christmas!

Disappointed

Well, today was the day we went to the doctor...for what we thought was going to be an ultrasound. Poor Trey left work to come so he could be there to see the heartbeat for the first time, yet after and hour and a half we left after SCHEDULING an ultrasound for next week! I know it's not that big of a deal, I just thought that is what we were going for. Trey wouldn't have taken time off work to come today. Not only that, but I still don't really know what the point of the appointment today was, we didn't even do anything. Oh well! At least Trey was able to meet the doctor. We are now going Christmas Eve, so I guess it will be a nice Christmas gift.

Nothing New

I don't have much to write about. We haven't had too much going on lately. We did have a great trip to the beach over Thanksgiving weekend-of course I would have liked for it to last longer. I haven't been feeling too well this week. Hopefully that will get better soon. I have just read about several people who have tried the Psi bands and really thought they worked, I may get some tonight or tomorrow. Yesterday was probably the worst day that I have had; fortunately I had the day off so I laid around most of the day. Maybe if these "miracle bands" work I'll feel better at work.

We are just waiting to go to the doctor on the 15th. We are supposed to see the heartbeat at that appointment, I am so excited! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying my favorite time of the year, I love Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am so excited, I just found out that one of my best friends is having a baby too...and she's due two weeks before me!! We are going to get to share this whole experience together and one day our kids can be in the same class together! I have not been feeling well today because of a cold but when she called me I suddenly felt a whole lot better.

So far everything has been great. I have not had any sickness or soreness or anything as of yet. I have been a little bit more tired but that is about it. I came down with a cold last night, but other than that everything has been fine. I went to the doctor a week ago for an orientation "class" (it was just me and the nurse) and we have our first appointment December 15th. The doctor said we should be able to hear the heartbeat when we come then. I can't wait!

I hope all of you have a happy Thanksgiving. Trey and I (and Baby Howell) are going to spend the day with his dad's family and then head down to Destin to spend the weekend with his mom. I am taking a couple of vacation days so we can spend the weekend and I could not be more excited. Hopefully the weekend will be full of relaxation, tennis and long walks with the dogs...oh, and more more thing a WIN for the Auburn Tigers!! :)

War Eagle and Happy Thanksgiving

How do I begin?

We're HAVING A BABY!!!!! I have looked forward to the day when I could announce this for a long time. Now it is finally here! Trey and I are actually having a baby! I still can't believe it!! Baby Howell is due in July.

Friday morning I decided to take an HPT (home pregnancy test) and it was positive. So of course I decided to take the other one in the box just to make sure, well it was positive too! So as I am beginning to digest what has just happened right before my very own eyes, I called the doctor's office to go in for another test, after all that is what the instructions tell you to do-right?!

Trey and I were planning to go to Auburn for the basketball game Friday night and were going to spend the night. SO, I packed a bag for us, loaded up the dogs and we headed to the doctor's office (yes, that's right-the dogs went too!). They did their tests and once again...Positive! I was shaking I was so excited and in such disbelief. I called Trey right as I got in the car to see if he wanted anything from Starbucks as I was passing by his office before I left for Auburn. He has no idea what I have just found out! He doesn't even know that I am leaving the doctor's office! I picked up a coffee for him, took it upstairs to him and didn't lead on one bit (and that is very hard for me!). The dogs and I made our way up I-85 to Auburn and walked around town and I didn't even turn on my headphones because my mind was racing so fast. I didn't know how to tell him. My stomach was in a knot, I can't keep anything from him-how was I not going to tell him all day?

After Mollie, Beasley and I got in some exercise I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some paint and painted two t-shirts for them to wear...Big Sister and Big Brother. After all, it would only be fitting for them to tell him the good news, they are such a huge part of our lives. Once I had the shirts painted and the Auburn onsie wrapped up it was all a waiting game. Time just ticked by so slow. Fortunately I had a massage scheduled for that afternoon. Boy did I need it at that point! I was a nervous wreck! It was so weird, I just found out I was pregnant a few hours earlier and here I am in the waiting area and have to check "yes" next to the question "Are you pregnant?" Whoa! Don't get me wrong, I was super excited but it was so weird!

After a wonderful massage and everyone wishing me good luck, I had to wait on Trey to come to Auburn after work. The plan was for him to come to the house and pick me up and we would ride to the game together. Little did he know that when he got there there would be big news. Well, the traffic was backed up on the interstate due to the Auburn/Georgia game the next day. Trey called me and told me that I was just going to have to meet him at the game, there was no way he could come home and still be able to make it to the game. I was freaking out at this point! I said you have to come home! He said there was no way. So here I am trying to think of a way to make sure that he did without him being perturbed or frustrated. If he didn't come home how was I going to make it through the night without telling him? And I wanted Mollie and Beasley to tell him! I'd spent all day working on this now. Finally I called him back and said if it's so packed then there is no way we are going to find a place for both of us to park and it would make more sense to pick me up and then only have one car to park. Fortunately this worked! I was so anxious for the next 15 minutes. Pacing...pacing...pacing! Remind you-there is nothing in the house except for one bed and a dresser, no chair, no tv, no computer. Finally he pulled up and the dogs greeted him at the door and he knew right away! We were both in shock, it was so surreal. I am so glad he came home to pick me up! And Baby Howell even got to go to his/her first Auburn game...and they won!

We are so blessed and excited to begin this journey. There is even a chance that the baby could be born on Trey's birthday!

Check it out!

Check out this blog, I have it added to the list on the left but here it is as well. She has so many great ideas for cleaning things around the house that are more inexpensive and greener ways to do things.

http://runningonemptyisokay.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Day

What a beautiful day today! The dogs and I drove over to Auburn for the day since I had the day off. We had so much fun! We went on a long walk around campus the way we used to spend most afternoons, went to the house where they had a blast in the backyard (Beasley did NOT want to leave), I grabbed lunch from my favorite-Nihon, and we went downtown to some shops. We drove around and noticed some changes, yet it's still the perfect little town. I love Auburn. I wish we could be there for Homecoming this weekend but I have to work. I'm glad we were able to spend the day there today though. It was a perfect day!

Weekend pictures

I'm still waiting to take our official "before and after pictures" but I do have a couple of pictures from this past weekend and one from just over a year ago. So you may not be able to get the full (get it!! full!) effect, but you can certainly see the difference in my face. This past weekend we had some friends come to town for a wedding party we were helping to host for a cousin of Trey's. We had a great time seeing our friends we don't get to see as often. Trey was able to go fishing with his dad on Saturday so I've added a picture from that too...I just liked it!

The dogs and I have been keeping up with our exercising, i.e., walking since Mollie is prohibited from running at all. We've been to Shakespeare several times and have logged around 20 miles over the past four days! Hopefully we will all see results soon.

Trey and I are headed to see Fireproof tonight, I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully when we get home things will be looking good from the election's standpoint. There has certainly been a good turnout.

Wake Up Call!!!!

So I've had a bit of a wake up call today. I've known for a while now that I can't fit into the large majority of my clothes anymore. I don't understand what has happened either. I eat very healthy, always have and I have been more active in the last year than in the previous 5 or so years...yet I keep gaining weight!! I've been working on it though, so far not much success but at least I'm out there working on it. But today there were a couple of things that have made it more evident than ever. I had to get a new driver's license today, and we all know we dread the picture. You have to stare at it for 4 years! Well a year ago when I got a new one (to change my name) I actually really liked my driver's license picture (not possible, right?). Today, I was not so lucky. It is awful!! Of course they zoomed in and made me fill up the whole box, and the picture of me is appalling anyways, but to compare the pictures from today to just over one year ago is eye-opening! Gross!

On another note: I had to take Mollie and Beasley in for checkups today. Well, apparently not only have I let myself go but the dogs too! Both of them are overweight!! Mollie is a whopping 97 lbs and Beasley 103.6! The funny (or not so funny) thing is Mollie has more to lose than Beasley. Dr. Golden said he wants Mollie down to at least 85 and Beasley to 96 or so. It was so depressing. I expained that we walk (almost) everyday and I tried to take them running last night. (I don't like to run with them b/c I have less control over them but thought I would try it). Well he stopped me in mid-sentence and said it was dangerous for Mollie to run. DANGEROUS!! Oh my gosh! I can't believe this. Once we left the vet's office we went straight to Shakespeare and walked for almost an hour. On the way home I had to stop and PetCo and switch to a weight management food, how sad.

So I've decided that I am going to hold myself accountable using this blog. Now every post won't be about this, but I am going to have Trey take a "before" picture of myself and the pups. I'm not only responsible for myself but the health of my dogs, so we're going to do this together. Hopefully all three of us can show great improvement by Christmas. That will be a gift to myself. I'll add the pictures later...so you can throw up! :)

***Trey did give me a new pair of running shoes for my birthday last week. They are a pair of Nike+ and I used the money my grandmother gave me to buy the wristband and sensor for my shoe. This is the coolest thing. I'm sure I'm really late to using this but I've got it now and I LOVE it! I used it last night for the first time, so between my new gadget and the wake-up calls today I should be motivated.

It's about time...

It's about time to get out of town and go somewhere! I rarely get to go anywhere since I work weekends. Unfortunately Trey and I don't get to spend too many days off together since my days off are usually in the middle of the week...when he's at work! Then he is left by himself on the weekends while I'm at work! I have been itching to go to the beach or somewhere, preferably for a long weekend, but just "regular" weekend would be nice too. One of these days we will get to go up to the mountains during the fall, not sure when that will be though. Oh well...

Fall is finally here!

The last two weeks have been filled with a lot of activities and a lot of work. Aside from the loss of Daddy Frank, the last two weeks have been a blast (even though I am exhausted). I am blessed to work at one of the best places around. Hampstead is designed by some of the best architects and town planners in the country. I work for great people who are very involved with the community and creating events to get the entire community to mingle and experience a new way of living, a more responsible way of living. In addition to the Parade of Homes the last two weeks, we had an outdoor movie last Thursday (the Bee Movie), a fall festival for the kids on Saturday, this past Thursday we had our grand opening with the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce and today we had our first farmer's market. This is such an exciting time and the weather has been PERFECT!! (well except for the event Thursday night when it poured) Needless to say, I have been swamped lately so I haven't had a chance to update anything on here. I will be able to keep up better when things slow down a little bit. In the mean time, check out the website for Hampstead if you haven't already www.townofhampstead.com. Enjoy your weekend!

Daddy Frank

Daddy Frank went home to be with the Lord this morning. Thank you for all of your prayers. Please continue to keep all of the family in your prayers. Granny Sally and Daddy Frank have been together since they were 13 years old so this will be quite an adjustment for her. Fortunately they were able to have a moment together this morning which is such a blessing. (I will try to add a picture of him as soon as I can- I am having trouble with my scanner)

Update

Trey's grandfather has been released from the hospital today. Hospice will be coming in Monday. He has been so anxious to go home. He looked much better yesterday. I was up there all day and last night. It is so hard to watch someone suffer like he is. He has always been such a hard worker and independent. To be confined to a bed and not able to move under his own power has been extremely difficult for him. It is great to see how family and friends have come together to take care of him and visit. You could see his eyes brighten up with each new visitor. It is hard for everyone around him to watch him be so frustrated with not being able to go home but everyone knew he was where he needed to be to be able to get the care he desperately needed. I know he will be much more comfortable at home now. The doctor said he is getting over the pneumonia...which is such a testament to how strong of a person he is. He still has a lot of pain emotionally and physically though. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as well as the rest of the family. As I mentioned, and as you know if you have ever experienced anything like this, it is so hard on the family members to watch this happen to a loved one. Please especially pray for Granny Sally as this is very hard on her and she has some tough decisions to make. I will update again as we learn more.

Please Pray

Please pray for Trey's grandfather and his family. He was diagnosed with cancer about six weeks ago. It has been an extremely rapid spreading cancer and he is now in the hospital. We don't know if he is going to make it through the night; if he does, Hospice will come in tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers. We love you Daddy Frank.

Where's Fall?

Fall is my favorite time of the year...but where is it this year? We had a tease a couple of weeks ago but ever since then it has still felt like summer! OK, so it's not 100 degrees anymore but it's still in the mid-80's! UGH!

We know that Fall is officially here, just turn on the television and you are bombarded with political ads, it HAS to be fall, right?!! I happen to be one who has always been very interested in and have tried to always stay educated on our nation's politics. I feel it is a responsibility. I am sick right now over the status of our country and the looming decision that is going to be made in 26 days. I have been agonizing over the way that it appears the country is leaning. I hope and I pray that people show up to vote and when they step behind the curtain they will be completely honest with themselves before they make their selection. I don't want to get too far off on a tangent here, because believe me I could go on for hours, but I pray that you and everyone you know will take advantage of your right and responsibility to vote. I know that God has his hand in this, my fear is in what those voting will choose. I can't sleep at night right now. This is such an important decision that we are about to make.

War Eagle!

Still Learning

OK, I'm brand new to doing this myself...not just reading everyone else's. It may take me a little while to figure all of this out. The post below is a little different than I had imagined it and I still can't figure out the link list!

Here we go!

So I've become quite addicted to reading blogs. I love how you can be on one page and end up ten pages later and have no idea who you are reading about but be so wrapped up in learning about their life. There are several in particular that I visit frequently and I have no idea who they are! I love it though. I've really been holding this page to use when our life gets more interesting, but thought I may just go ahead and give it a try anyways. Here are some pictures of our "children" for now. I don't know how frequently I will be updating this for now. Trey and I stay very busy with work, which is a good thing. I'll post more later on all of the happenings with my exciting job. For now, have a great day!