Picking up where I left off

So to really finish catching up I need to include a few details about December and Christmas. On December 6 when I was 20 weeks we had our Level II Ultrasound/Anatomy Scan. We invited our parents to join us at the doctor to find out the gender of our baby. I have to admit that if we were taking bets the odds on it being a girl would have been going 5/1, all 5 of them versus me who at the beginning of my pregnancy thought it was a girl but about a week before the ultrasound woke up one day and knew it was a boy. So what was the verdict? I guess it's a mother's instint because in fact we are having a BOY!!! I wish I could have gotten a photo of Mr. L's face when the ultrasound tech pointed out the tell tale sign on the screen because he was all smiles from ear to ear. I could have cared less what the gender was and seeing how happy he was certainly had me overcome with emotion. Every man wants his boy and he's getting it. We also found out at our ultrasound that everything looked good and we were right on track to having a healthy baby...so many prayers answered!

A few weeks later Christmas was upon us. The holidays this year have certainly helped this pregnancy fly by. On Christmas Eve we celebrated with Mr. L's family who were so sweet to include our precious boy in the festivities and he was spoiled before he even gets here.

We also got to help another sweet boy celebrate his first Christmas, our baby boy's cousin C. He was so animated and fun to watch. I can only imagine what the two of them will be like together next year.
We headed over to my parents' house on Christmas day. We tried to keep Christmas pretty low key on this side this year as our trip to Hawaii was such a huge present to all of us. We decided a fun way to tell our families the name we had chosen was to give them an ornament with the name on it. I think by the reaction we got, they loved the name. Grandpa even jumped up right away to find a spot on the tree for Baby H's ornament.

To round out the weekend we celebrated C's baptism. Mr. L is his Godfather and it was neat to be able to see him participate.

To end the year Mr. L and I celebrated NYE with a few of my closest friends. We had a great time catching up and going out to dinner with what felt like 1/2 of the city to Montgomery Inn.

2010 was such a great year for so many reasons and I know 2011 is going to be ever better!! I can't wait to see what God has in store for our family!

I've had a secret...

So to many of you it hasn't been a secret for a while now and if you read the new title to my blog then you've obviously figured it out... Mr. L and I are having a baby! I've been on a blogging hiatus again and what can I say, life happens...and since I had this secret, I was too afraid that if I blogged then I would blab.

So...what have we been up to in the past 6 months?

Lets see. In August we went on vacation with Mr. L's family to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was a great time and a nice little getaway. I was pregnant then...but didn't know it yet.

In Sept., Oct., and Nov we went to a LOT of football games. UK games that is. Much tailgating and spending time with friends was done. We also had a fun Keeneland weekend with some of my family that came down from Cincinnati as well as came into town from Charleston, SC. It just so happens that UK played South Carolina that weekend and we pulled out a win!

In the middle of November (at about 18 weeks along) we took another trip. This time with my family and to a destination a lot farther away. Where you ask? Well Hawaii...Maui and Oahi. We were able to spend Thanksgiving there as well as attend the Maui Invitational basketball tournament and support the Cats. It also made for the perfect opportunity for Mr. L and I to consider this our "babymoon" and spend time with some great friends that were there for vacation as well. I'm already dreaming about going back one day...maybe for our 20th anniversary :-)

So...now that for the most part we are caught up my posts going forward should be pretty current. I'm going to try my best to document the rest of this pregnancy and all the excitement it brings. Hopefully you'll join me on this new adventure!

Dear sweet Mandy dog

It was a sad weekend around here. My sweet family dog that we have had since I was in sixth grade (yeah, do the math) had to be put to sleep. It's so hard to say goodbye to an old friend that has been part of the family for so long but it softens the blow to know that she's not suffering anymore. My Mom took her to the vet on Friday after she refused to eat for a few days and they discovered that she had a mass on her liver and her heart was enlarged. We knew that she was near the end for a long time with the endless list of health problems she's had over the past few years but actually dealing with the loss still stings.

I was looking through my photo archives to see if I could find any pictures of her and came across these that my photographer took of her on my wedding day. What sweet mementos these are of her and I'm so glad that I found them. We'll never forget you sweet girl...

He's such a doll!

Thought I'd post a link to the awesome photos taken of my sweet nephew. He is growing bigger everyday and although we had a chat the last night about staying a cute, cuddly little baby forever I don't think he's going to listen :-) Enjoy!

Baby Cam

Crazy Weekends

We have had some crazy weekends lately! And a lot of them have involved attending weddings. There is nothing better than seeing your friend so completely in love and making a beautiful commitment. With each celebration that Mr. L and I attended I had to stop and take a minute to appreciate the personal touches that each bride incorporated into their day and all the time, effort and love that went into the planning. I love it when the personality of the couple really stands out.

Grace & Tim

I have known this beautiful gal since she was a very little girl. She and my sis have been best friends for as long as I can remember. Growing up in church together it was so amazing to witness the faith these two share and how perfectly they compliment one another.

Katherine & Jake
Kitty as I like to call her, lived next door to me in the sorority house and then became one of my roommates off campus my junior year of college. She is such a great friend and one that stays close no matter how much time passes between our meetings. These two got married on a beautiful beach in Mexico and Mr. L and I attended their lovely back yard reception at their home after they returned.



Lisa & Ross
Ross has been Mr. L's friend for as long as he can remember. He was in our wedding and Mr. L was the best man at his. This couple has become such close friends of ours and we were so happy that Ross found such a great partner for life in Lisa. I was given the honor of being in the wedding as well as a bridesmaid. Everything about the day was beautiful and so much fun. I truly can't wait to see what is in store for these two in the future!

Kristin & Wes
Wes is a friend of Mr. L's from college. I got to know his now wife Kristin this past football season through tailgating before all the games and now consider her one of my friends. They are so great together and had beautiful wedding and outdoor reception at her grandparents farm. I have never been to anything like it and the attention to detail was outstanding. I'm really looking forward to many more opportunities to spend time with these two in the fall.

And after all those weddings, Mr. L and I made a stop in Lex to help celebrate my preggo friend Stepheny and her little boy that is due in August. Steph also lived next to me in the sorority house with Katherine (from above) and also was one of my roommates
We were able to hold the shower at the sorority house and it was such a fun time of reminiscing
for all the alumnae that attended.

Here is a photo of Sallie and I with Stepheny.

I'm definitely looking forward to a relaxed weekend this weekend! Hopefully I'll get some photos edited from Fourth of July and get them posted in the next day or so. Enjoy!

Wednesday Ramblings

I'm so excited to announce that our trip to Hawaii that we've been planning for this fall is booked! Wahoo!! Now we just have five months of eager anticipation to wait before we go. Part of the reason I am so looking forward to this trip is 1. Well obviously it's Hawaii and I've never been there before 2. We'll get to spend some great quality time with my family and 3. this couple will be there to add to the fun!

(this photo was taken at their wedding shower 3 years ago...so hard to believe!)

Here are a few photos I forgot to post related to Father's Day. We've been trying for a while to teach Dakota to like the pool at my parent's house and as of late she will just venture onto the first step to cool off her paws and then hop back out. I've forced her in a few times just to confirm that she can swim in the case that she falls in but I can tell you with certainty that she doesn't enjoy it. My Dad took a new approach to this on Sunday and I think we've finally found what works... May I introduce the floating puppy!

If you are shocked that her nails didn't pop a big ole' hole in the float I am right there with ya! She crawled right on so gingerly though and just plopped down. She is always doing something goofy that makes us laugh!I was sad because I thought I hadn't gotten any photos of my Dad but turns out I had gotten this shot with his grand-pooch. They are BFF's!
The quality of these are not that great but considering I took them with my Blackberry, not too shabby. Happy Wednesday Ya'll!