Busy Busy Busy

We have been busy this past week (and last), and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon!  Let's see if I can catch you up and let you know what's coming up.

Thursday (12th) we had our 22 week Dr. appointment.  Anna Kate is doing great and growing like a weed.  Her heart beat was around upper 140's.  She's grown so much since 18 weeks and looks like she might get her height from her Daddy! Although, as my sister pointed out, I'm not sure how I will feel having to look up to my "little girl" one day.

Friday (13th) and Saturday my Dad was in town.  We saw Ole Miss win in basketball and football!  And ate some great meals at places Dad used to frequent when he was in school here.  Was a great weekend for us and for Ole Miss!

Tuesday (17th) we had our friends the Byars over for dinner.  They have the cutest little girl, Taylor, who is 4 months old now.  Brian and Jake went to school together and Brian was a groomsmen in our wedding.  Liz is becoming my "go to" person on all things baby!  Before we go register I really want to sit down with her and find out what we really need!  We had a great visit with them, and are so glad that they live we all live in the same town.

This Friday (20th) my whole family is coming into town for the weekend.  Mom is coming to help me decorate for Christmas (I know it's early, see previous post for the reason).  Dad and Rachel are going to see Ole Miss vs. LSU (hopefully another exciting game for them).  I can't wait to have my house all decorated for the holidays, even though I will be a little early!

Thanksgiving is next week and we will be traveling to Baton Rouge to spend the holiday with Jake's family.  Our Homebuilders (group at church) Christmas party (at our house) is on Dec. 12th; Christmas with my family on the 19th; Christmas Eve with Jake's family; and Christmas Day with my mom's side of family in Brookhaven.

Then we will be ringing in the New Year.  Is it bad of me to hope that we will ring the new year in with a quiet night in our house, just the 2 of us, and maybe asleep by 10?  Anna Kate will need to rest because Jan. and Feb will be BIG months for us all - time to get ready for her arrival in March!!! 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

I can't believe it's almost that time of year!  Just a few days ago, a friend asked if everyone had finished their Christmas shopping.  My response:  Haven't even STARTED!  Nor had I even thought about it!  And then I realized that there's only about a month a half left.  So I've started my shopping.  Have one family member completely done, one person halfway done, and lots more people to think about! :)

  My mom is coming next weekend, and we will be decorating the house.  Yes, my house will be decorated for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving!  In my house growing up, we always went and got our Christmas Tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and we started decorating a little then and just did a little each day.  Since Jake and I have been married, we have done very little decorating, so I waited until December.  This year will be different for a few reasons.  Jake and I are having a Christmas party the first Saturday of December, so I knew I wanted it decorated for that.  And we will be gone the weekend of Thanksgiving, spending that holiday with Jake's family. And I like to get decorations up fairly early so we can enjoy them.  So next weekend made the most sense.  And I'm so glad my mom is coming to help!  Although she will probably never admit it, she has great decorating ideas!  She always has touches of Christmas in every room of the house, and I am hoping to at least attempt to copy some of her great ideas!

I went home to Mom & Dad's last weekend for Cleveland's Holiday Open House.  We had a great time. Two of Mom's sister's were also in town and we hit Paul Michael's on Saturday before the Open House Sat. night and Sunday.  For anyone who has never gone to a Paul Michaels (there's one is Arkansas, Louisiana, and 2 in Texas) you HAVE to go! I LOVE that place.  It is like a huge warehouse filled with home decor.  And for Christmas, they do it up BIG!!  Jake worries every time I go, he's afraid I'll wipe out our checking account and max out the credit cards.  And I could!  So between Paul Michaels's and the Open House, I've got all my ideas of what I want to do, and pretty much everything I need to do it with, if only next week would come!

Thankful Thursdays - Family

I know, I skipped last week.  Sorry!  So to make up for it, this will probably end up being a longer post.  But only because we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. 

Jake and I are very lucky people, we come from great families!  We both have a set of parents who still live together and love each other (which is becoming fewer and fewer these days) and a younger sister each, and one brother in law.  We also both have big extended families and are pretty close with our families as well.  We live fairly close to both families (within 2 hours drive) and get to see them a lot! 

We are so lucky to have such a great family.  Our parents and siblings all live fairly close by (all are within a 2 hour drive, some not quite so far)  and we see each other fairly often.  One thing I love is having our family together.  It's so great to sit down at a table to share a meal, and look around at all our family.  Not only that but we have several "honorary" family members (Ms. Beverly) who just happen to live close by.  It is so nice to have an extra "mom" close by if I were to ever need one! :)  I mentioned earlier our big extended families.  Between the 2 of us, we have 25 aunts and uncles, and about 42 first cousins (and spouses).  I HOPE I didn't leave anyone out, but it's hard ot keep track of that many!  We are all pretty spread out and don't get to see each other too often, so we love the holidays when we can get together and catch up..  There is always a big group at any family function!  It is so nice to have this big family unit, so many people that we know love us and are there for us. 

And the other part of our family that I can't forget, is Daisy.  She has really been a blessing to us.  When we were looking for homes around Oxford, Jake had 2 dogs that lived with his parents (we couldn't have fit 2 grown labs in our apartment).  We (especially Jake) were extremely excited to have our dogs with us again.  But before we closed on our house, both dogs died.  It was very hard on us, we lost 2 family members.  Duke, the older dog, was like a brother to Jake.  After a few months or so, we decided we were ready to start looking for another dog. And then came Daisy.  She was ADORABLE and I fell in love with her the first time I saw a picture of her. (I also fell in love with at least 1 of her brothers and sisters, but Jake said we should do this puppy thing "1 at a time.")  I can still remember the day we got her, and I love looking back at pictures of her.  Watching her grow up has been so fun for Jake and me, and we love seeing her personality develop.  She is our first child and is spoiled rotten.  And I'm sure, even though there will be some adjusting, she will remain spoiled rotten!  She's just too cute to resist!

And the last piece to our family, our little "Butterbean" Anna Kate who will arrive this March.  I am so thankful that she has this wonderful family that she will become apart of.  All the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents who are just going to love her.  We're so ready for her to arrive. These past 21 weeks have flown by.  And although I wish they'd slow down just a little (Mommy is a planner and she's not getting all her projects done fast enough), I'm glad they're not dragging by!  We are so excited about Anna Kate's arrival!  Anna Kate, we don't want to rush you too much, but as soon as you're ready to arrive, we're so ready to have you! :)