The Ussery Update

38 Weeks & Celebrations a Plenty

2012-02-12T13:24:00.017-06:00

I am: 38 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: A leek ~ about 6.8 pounds and about 19.5" long. I read this morning that babies at this stage can weigh anywhere from 6-8 pounds. Parker is probably closer to 7 pounds right now.
Total Weight Gained: 22 pounds (I think Parker had a mini-growth spurt this week and I did a little more eating too!)
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a maternity shirt in this picture. Side note: This picture was taken before our date night on Saturday night. We had a really fun date night. We went and ate at Macaroni Grill ~ yum. The food was delicious and we had a really good talk. After that, we went to Lifeway Christian store and each got a CD that we have been wanting. We ended the night by going to a new cupcake place for dessert. All they sell is cupcakes so there were many to chose from. I got cookies and cream and John got peanut butter cup. Oh my...they were heavenly. Actually, the store is called "Bliss Cupcakes" and they were bliss. We will definitely be going back!
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement. I don't feel him moving all around but more like punching, kicking and stretching. His room is more limited so there's not as much movement as early on, but whatever position he's in, he's definitely moving his limbs around.
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping okay...getting a tad worse as time goes on, but I'll be good and prepared for motherhood! It's just hard to get completely comfortable and turn over from side to side. I get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom so once I get back in bed I have to get readjusted. Luckily, John's a heavy sleeper. But I do get a few hours of sleep so I'm thankful for that.
What I Miss: I miss the same things that I have all along. Some things I am looking forward to eating ~ a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, caffeine, fried eggs, hot dogs, soft-serve ice cream, more seafood...among other things! Of course not all at the same time and all in moderation. These are all things that I either haven't been able to have or chose not to because of certain reasons. I also miss being able to sleep on my back. I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. I know I will really miss being pregnant for several reasons too so, like I have all along, I'm trying to focus on the positives and really enjoy this.
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: Except for feeling big and uncomfortable and being more tired, I'm feeling really good. I have been very blessed with a wonderful pregnancy!
Best Moment last Week: Getting A LOT done on "THE LIST" and celebrating our birthdays and anniversary. Over the course of 3-4 days, we accomplished a ton. We deep cleaned the entire house. Every room has been cleaned from top to bottom...inside and out. It feels so good to have that done. Now we can just pick up and maintain it until Parker comes. John also did a little clean up outside in the front and back yards. We have our pile started and organized for the hospital and a list of what to pack and gather last minute. We are making good progress on our thank you notes. We got a lot of paperwork and office tasks taken care of. The car seat and bases are ready in both of our vehicles. We did a ton of laundry. I made a few things to freeze. There are many more things, but I won't bore you with it all. We feel like all of the major/most needed "to dos" are done so now we can just go about our daily business and do some stuff we wanted to do if we had time all the while waiting for Mr. Parker.

Here are my 18 Weeks and 28 Weeks pictures...

Onto our birthday and anniversary celebrations!

My 33rd birthday was last Sunday, on Super Bowl Sunday. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick with a bad cold so it could have been better, but despite that we had a really good day. John made sure it was extra special. He bought me a birthday balloon and had ordered me a birthday cake. It was a surprise as to what kind of cake it was - so sweet. He also bought plates, napkins and a plastic cup to match. The cake was chocolate with whipped cream cheese frosting. Let the drooling begin - it was delicious! I love all of the Disney Princess movies so that was the inspiration behind the cake John ordered. Oh, I just love that boy.

I received a few cards and gifts in the mail that I opened Sunday afternoon. "Daisy Bear" is one of the many pet names John has for me. He's called me that for years. Cheesy and corny to you perhaps, but wonderful to me. One of our many "inside things" for lack of a better term.

John gave me a beautiful card and an "I AM SECOND" t-shirt. I have been wanting one for a while and while I will have to get a bit of weight off post-Parker, I can't wait to wear it. If you aren't familar with "I AM SECOND", you can click here to visit the website. There are lots of videos you can watch from actors, directors, coaches, athletes, musicians, businessmen and everyday people as to why God is first in their life and they are second. John wrapped my shirt in a empty saltines box. You'll see a silly picture below. For my birthday meal, we had snacks since the Super Bowl was on. Good grub indeed! Last Wednesday was our 9th wedding anniversary ~ hooray! Even though I still wasn't 100%, luckily I was starting to feel a little better by Wednesday. We went to dinner and came home for our anniversary festivities. We opened our cards and gifts from each other and others. We then watched our wedding video and looked through our wedding pictures and scrapbook. It was the perfect way to celebrate the day. John got me an awesome canvas that is now hanging in our living room. I got John a matted picture of us that we are going to fill up with writing "love notes" to each other around and then frame and I made him some love lottery tickets (good for various things like a dessert of his choice, dinner out and a couple of activities). I also got him a ceramic Vacation Fund jar. Ceramic is the 9th anniversary gift and we plan to take a trip sometime next year to celebrate our big 10th anniversary. We have already started saving for it and now we have a fun place to keep the money for the next year or so. We aren't sure exactly when we are going or where (we have a few ideas), but we have a long time to save and plan because it'll be sometime next spring or summer (2013) more than likely. Plus Parker will be over a year old by then. Can't wait!! Oh and Calvin was along for it all...hanging out and observing.

John's 35th birthday was Thursday. He requested a homemade pizza for dinner and a peanut butter chocolate pie for dessert. I also made him homemade banana nut muffins for breakfast. He got to blow out candles and listen to me sing twice - haha. I had a birthday banner greet him when he woke up Thursday morning. I got him a card (maybe my favorite card I've ever gotten for him), a David Crowder band CD and a couple more love lottery tickets to scratch.

We have a Dr. appointment tomorrow for a check-up so I look forward to that. A few other things on the calendar and list this week, but should be a lot more low key than last week. Have a great one.

We are about 10 days from our due date so stay tuned!

Until we meet again...

A Decade of Memories

2012-02-09T15:24:00.016-06:00

We have known each other for 10 years. We began e-mailing one another in December 2001, we met in person in January 2002, we were engaged in April 2002 and we were married in February 2003. We have a decade of many memories, recollections, stories, treasures, adventures, ups & downs, changes, tears, laughs, moments and pictures.

With Parker's birth right around the corner, I wanted to take a moment and recognize the past decade of being "just the two of us."

I'm thankful to God for how much time He gave us to develop our relationship, friendship and marriage. While we are in our early-mid 30s and just now starting our family, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It was all part of God's plan for us for it to happen this way. I feel incredibly blessed that we have had all of this time to be together and create the life that we have. We have had the opportunity to establish an amazing, strong marriage filled with so much love and happiness. We've been able to travel, spend a lot of time with family, be an active Aunt and Uncle, celebrate many holidays, start traditions, attend various events, participate in all sort of activities, attend marriage conferences, create a warm, loving home, go on date nights, work through many different devotionals, have a ton of fun...oh I could just go on and on with all that we have experienced these last several years.

I'm so grateful to God for the blessing of our sweet little boy and cannot wait to dive into the adventure that is "parenthood", especially with John as my partner and teammate. As excited as I am and wouldn't trade it for anything, it's a little bittersweet that we are closing the chapter that was just "John and Riley". It was a beautiful chapter...so richly blessed.

The good news is, "John and Riley" aren't going anywhere, we are just adding a new dimension to our life in the form of a baby boy. Many new adventures await us and we will be side by side through it all with more memories, more fun, more traditions, more stories, more treasures, more pictures, more moments, more ups and downs, more changes and so much more! And years down the road, Parker will leave us and start a new life of his own, just like we did, but we will still have each other.

I have posted several pictures of us below and they cover all sorts of things. Holidays, trips and vacations, high school and family reunions, Relay for Life, pregnancy and baby showers, birthdays and anniversarys, snow day, Christmas card photos, date nights, family visiting, weddings, graduations, events attended and sporting events. And as many pictures as I have posted, that's just scratching the surface of what we have. Also all of these were taken with our digital camera and are on the computer. We have about 3-4 years worth of pictures that are in photo albums or scrapbooks and photo boxes. One of the things I did while I was pregnant was organize all of our pictures and I'm so glad I was able to do that. Between sorting and organizing those pictures and looking through all of our folders on pictures on the computer, it was a sweet trip down memory lane.

I hope you enjoy these - again, these are but a few of the hundreds we have. They are in random order as you will be able to tell. Our smiles are genuine - we are so happy, so joy-filled and so in love. Call me cheesy and cliche, but I adore "US"!

I'm extremely grateful for the decade we have had together before having children. It means the world to me. I will forever cherish these precious years, but I'm excited about the years to come. Who wouldn't be with a husband and friend as wonderful as mine?! Thanks for the memories Johnny Boy!

Until we meet again...
Riley

Happy Birthday to John!

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

I had to use a silly picture for my silly boy...
Today I am celebrating my precious husband John.

Happy 35th Birthday, my dear! You are the love of my life and I'm thankful that God blessed this world by bringing you into it. John, thank you for making me laugh, thank you for making me smile, thank you for loving me dearly and thank you for making our life so much fun. I wish you the happiest of birthdays and I look forward to our evening together. I love you to the moon and back! "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God" Philippians 1:3

As it was last year, the birthday boy has requested a homemade pizza with his favorite toppings for dinner and a peanut butter chocolate pie for his birthday dessert - YUM! Then we will open cards and gifts ~ should be a fun evening.

Until we meet again...
Riley

Happy Anniversary to US!

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

THEN...
NOW...
Hip Hip Hooray - it's our 9th Anniversary today! Words cannot describe how great our marriage is and how much God has blessed us over these past 9 years. It's truly amazing how God brought us together and how he continues to help us make our marriage better and stronger on a daily basis. We are SO happy and SO in love, but we know that we have only just begun. Our relationship and friendship is a dream come true! We can't say it enough, but we are head over heels in love with each other and adore our life together. We find pure joy in living this life as one and having the marriage that we do.

We know that our marriage and life will look different once Parker joins our family, but we have been praying for the past nine months that we can continue to maintain a strong, healthy marriage while meeting all of Parker’s needs. We want to be the best parents we can be for Parker and that starts with having the best marriage that we can possibly have. It will take a lot of effort and being very intentional on our part. We know how important it is for Parker that his Mommy and Daddy continue to work on their marriage with each passing day. I made a magnet for our fridge (from an online idea) that reads “When you have children, your marriage is even more important, not less because other people are counting on you.” We know it’ll be hard work to be parents and continue to work on our marriage, but it’s something we are committed to because we know how important it is.

We have plans to go out for dinner tonight and then we will go back home and open cards and gifts that we have received in the mail and from each other. Also, every year on our anniversary we look at our wedding scrapbook, wedding pictures and also watch our wedding video. It so nice to remember that wonderful day! We are looking forward to our evening together.

To my sweet husband ~ I'm so grateful to be your bride! In my years of praying, waiting and hoping for that right guy to become my husband, I never imagined I would be lucky enough to have someone as incredible as you! I am blessed beyond measure by being Mrs. Ussery and I thank you for the care and love you show me EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! Not a day goes by that you don't make me feel cherished and special. I love our life together and I love you so much. I've had the time of my life these past nine years and look forward to every day to follow, as long as we both shall live. I cannot wait for all of the anniversaries to come that we will celebrate together. You are some kind of wonderful! Happy Anniversary, John Douglas Ussery.

Until we meet again...
Riley

37 Weeks & One Last Shower

2012-02-07T08:01:00.006-06:00

I am: 37 weeks pregnant (I am now considered full term!)
Size of Baby: Stalk of swiss chard ~ about 6 and 1/3 pounds and a tad over 19" long. At our appointment last Tuesday, the sonogram showed Parker weighs about 6 pounds and 5 ounces right now, but that is just an estimate. At this point, babies can have about 1/2"-1 1/2" of hair already, but sweet Parker has only peach fuzz, which we figured. During the sonogram it was said that "well, it looks like this little guy isn't going to have much hair."
Total Weight Gained: 18 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a non-maternity shirt in this picture. This shirt was a gift from my Mom for my birthday (last Sunday). It's not a maternity shirt, but it still fit. I probably won't wear it much more if at all because I don't want to stretch it out, but I was anxious to wear it.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement throughout the day and night ~ he's active, but has his times of rest too. His room is more limited so there's not as much movement as early on, but whatever position he's in, he's definitely moving his limbs around. I feel him more on the right side and we saw on the sonogram that is where his arms and legs are. His back and bottom are on the left side so I hardly feel anything on that side. Now we know why!
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good/okay...getting worse as time goes on, but I'll be good and prepared for motherhood, right? I still have my good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over from side to side. I have some leg and hip cramping and get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. At least after he arrives I will sleep more comfortably, have my body adjusting back to it's normal size and not make so many trips to the bathroom, but my times up in the night will be to take care of him.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. Some things I am looking forward to eating ~ a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, caffeine, fried eggs, hot dogs, soft-serve ice cream, more seafood ... among other things! Of course not all at the same time and all in moderation. These are all things that I either haven't been able to have or chose not to because of certain reasons. I also miss being able to sleep on my back (or whatever position feels good). I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. But it hasn't been too bad and has been so worth it! I know I will really miss being pregnant for several reasons too.
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: Pregnancy wise, I'm feeling good and have been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy! I do feel bigger and less comfortable each week. I am having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...etc. Aside from that though, I'm feeling great. My biggest complaint through my whole pregnancy is heartburn. I've had it pretty bad, especially here toward the end and it doesn't really matter what I eat or don't eat. But if heartburn is my biggest complaint then I've had it pretty easy. Non-pregnancy related, I have been battling a cold since probably Saturday. I felt it coming on on Friday and was hopeful it would be a minor cold and not last long, but it's still hanging around. It hasn't been fun, but I've been trying to take it easy and rest as much as I can, but it's so hard to do when there are so many things I want and need to do before Parker's arrival. Unfortunately, I was pretty sick on my birthday, but still had a nice day. (I will do a post later on our birthdays and anniversary). John's been a fantastic helper, as always, while I've been under the weather.
Best Moment last Week: Our Dr. appointment and one last shower. Everything looked good at the last Dr. appointment. We had a sonogram and met with the Dr. I was dilated to a 1, but barely. I will go back every Tuesday for a check-up until Parker makes his debut. I also got my hair cut last Thursday. It's not a drastic difference, but she did cut off about 3". I hadn't cut it since last Spring and wanted it trimmed up before Parker comes and I don't have time to go.

Here I am at 17 Weeks and 27 Weeks.Last Saturday morning, a couple of women at our old church hosted a little baby shower for me in the Fellowship Hall. We left this church at the end of 2010 and have since found a new church, but we still stay in touch with many members from there and as you can tell by what we received, we are very loved by the members there.

A special thank you to Roxanne for writing down all of the gifts and gift givers and for sweet Julie for folding up all of the tissue paper for me. I hate to see tissue paper go to waste and there was so much fun tissue paper so she folded it all up for me to keep. I think we are good on tissue paper for a while. We have quite a pile! Again, there were lots of pictures taken (thank you Kim!), but here are just a few highlights. It was a wonderful shower, I just wish I would have felt better.

Here are all of the gifts we received...WOW!

We did manage to get all of this put in the floor of Parker's room, but we still need to get it all put up and in place. Thank you so much again to the women of First Christian Church who came to the baby shower and showered us with so many wonderful gifts. I am also very grateful to Jana (who's battling stomach cancer ~ please pray for her) and to Dianne for hosting this shower. I appreciate your time and hard work spent in making this time so special. We are thankful and blessed. Parker is one loved little boy and I can't wait to tell him how much!

Until we meet again...
Riley

Love Is In The Air

2012-02-02T07:41:00.005-06:00

February is a month of love ~ especially in our house. Both of our birthdays, our anniversary and Valentine's Day are all in February. AND if Mr. Parker arrives by or before the 29th this month, he'll have a February birthday too. I really hope he does!

As you know, I enjoy putting out a few decorations for the different seasons and holidays...some more than others. I just have a few "heart" decorations, but we let them represent LOVE and not necessarily Valentine's Day since we have many special days to celebrate in February.
The frame below hangs in our kitchen all of the time, but I had to share it. It is an ever so special gift to me from sweet John. He made it himself and it's one of my favorite gifts he's ever given me. You can obviously see the word LOVE, but what you cannot see is what the rest of it says.

It looks like a bunch of small vertical and horizontal lines, but they are all words ~ 213 of them to be exact. They are our memories from the past 10 years. They are places we've lived and addresses, favorite places to eat, important dates, inside jokes, trips we've been on, things we like doing together, activities we've participated in, jobs, favorite stores, games we've played, food, sports recollections, names and phrases we use, favorite tv shows and movies we've watched together...I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but you get the gist of it. 213!! Isn't that amazing? And that was just off the top of his head, I'm sure the list could have gone on and on.
I guess I will get all of these decorations (except the picture above) taken down sometime before Parker arrives. The next batch of decorations will be for Easter. I can't believe Parker will be about a month old by then - wow! I'm excited to put our fun Easter decorations out around the house. I always enjoy holiday decorations anyway, but even more so this year for Parker's first Easter. I know I will have my hands full and my decorating will be more of a challenge, but luckily I have a wonderful helper living here.

Until we meet again...
Riley

36 Weeks & Baby Shower

2012-01-30T11:47:00.011-06:00

**IF YOU DIDN'T SEE THE PICTURES/TOUR OF PARKER'S ROOM, THEY ARE IN THE POST BELOW THIS ONE**

Moving on...
I am: 36 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Crenshaw Melon (I had to look up a picture of this - I had never heard of it before) ~ about 6 pounds and 18.5" long. We have a Dr. appointment and sonogram tomorrow so we will know Parker's exact size - can't wait!
Total Weight Gained: 18 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity leggings and a maternity sweater in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement throughout the day and night ~ he's active, but has his times of rest too. I am able to look down at my stomach and see it moving and things protruding out from time to time. He's not really doing somersaults anymore since his room his limited, but whatever position he's in, he's definitely moving his limbs around.
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good/okay. I still have my good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over from side to side sometimes. I have some leg and hip cramping and get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. I hate to complain because I do get some sleep and I know it could be so much worse.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. Some things I am looking forward to eating ~ a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, caffeine, fried eggs, hot dogs, soft-serve ice cream, more seafood ... among other things! These are all things that I either haven't been able to have or chose not to because of certain reasons. I also miss being able to sleep on my back (or whatever position feels good). I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. But it hasn't been too bad and has been so worth it!
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling good and have been blessed with a wonderful pregnancy! I do feel bigger and less comfortable each week. I'm not as mobile! I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that. Aside from that though, I'm feeling great. Probably my biggest complaint through my whole pregnancy is heartburn. I've had it pretty bad, especially here toward the end and it doesn't really matter what I eat or don't eat. But if heartburn is my biggest complaint then I've had it pretty easy.
Best Moment last Week: A few things or "moments" ... getting the car seat base and car seat installed in my car (THANKS DAD!!...the base for his truck is on the way), finding a pediatrician and being showered with more love and gifts.

Yesterday, the sweet women in my Wednesday morning Bible study and Sunday school class gave me a baby shower. It was hosted at the beautiful home of Fred and Paula Lively ~ our Sunday school teachers. Paula also teaches our Wednesday morning Bible study.

The hostesses: (starting on the far left) Paula Lively, Jennifer Hansard, Becky Covington, Jennifer Metcalfe and Marla Smith. Marla made the adorable centerpiece in the Radio Flyer wagon - it is precious. There were yummy things to eat ~ chococolate covered strawberries (made by Jennifer M.), crackers and cheeseball (made by Jennifer H. and her husband Stan) and Becky brought the delicious cake. Oh it was all so good ~ Parker and I really indulged. The punch was AMAZING! Paula made it and it was a coffee punch. It was some of the best punch I've ever had. Paula was so sweet to let us use her china plates and cups and beautiful silverware.

All of the wonderful gifts we were given. At the end, you will see a picture of everything. I laid it all out when I was back home. We are so blessed and received lots of wonderful stuff for Parker. I wish I had time to detail it all, but know how sincerely grateful we are. Here are a few pictures of me opening gifts and Paula writing them all down for me. There were several, but I just picked a few highlights.
After the gifts were opened, Paula read Psalm 139 (which I actually have a portion of framed in his room). A prayer was then said by Becky, Elaine, Barbara and Paula. Paula referred to them as the"older Moms". I know they are older and wiser and filled with experience and pearls of wisdom. I treasure all of the motherly knowledge I can get. The prayer was so touching and meaningful. It was an awesome moment to hear our family and son lifted up and prayed for with so much love. And yes, tears were shed by many of the women.

Except for two women (Diane and Monica - both from Bible study), Jennifer Hansard managed to take my picture with all of the women that came. Thank you so much for doing that Jennifer! This is her. Her and her husband Stan are in our Sunday school class. They have two boys so I may be leaning on her for "Mom of boys" advice. She's been great to get to know.
A HUGE thank you to all of the women who came. I'm so appreciative for you taking the time to come and spend your Sunday afternoon. I had such a great time and am very thankful for your gifts and presence.

This is another Jennifer, Jennifer Doss. (There were three Jennifers at the shower.) She and her husband Barrett are in our Sunday school class. She does a great job of keeping up with all of our prayer joys and concerns. Do you see me still gripping the cute tea cup filled with delicious punch? Hah!
This is Kristen. Her and her husband Don are also in our Sunday school class. A special thank you to her for taking the pictures of me opening gifts. She also gave me a gift for the hospital. Two pair of aloe socks - so very soft!
This is Jill from Sunday school. She was one the first to introduce herself to us and always asks how I'm doing. She has two girls of her own and is quite the runner. More power to you, Jill!

This is Becky, who is also married to a John and is in our Bible study on Wednesday mornings. She introduced herself to me at a Beth Moore event last September. She's a hoot! This is Lana, from Bible study. She gave Parker an adorable "touch and feel" animal book. I can't wait to read it to him. She also gave us all a fun scarf tutorial before I opened gifts. How cute is hers? I've enjoyed getting to know her and listening to her in Bible study. This is Elaine from Bible study. She was one of the women to say a prayer and I loved what she said. She told me to enjoy every moment because it goes by so fast. She has children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This is Marla. Her and her husband Glyn are in our Sunday school class. Not only is Marla crafty (see the Radio Flyer wagon above), but she has a gorgeous voice and I love to hear her sing. She sang on Sunday - lucky us. Unfortunately because of Glyn's job, they will be moving to Southlake once their house sells and other things are in place. I hate to see their sweet family go! This is Barbara from Bible study. Barbara may be one of the first to hold our sweet boy at church. She rocks the little babies in the nursery and can't wait to get her hands on Parker. She said a prayer with the other women and it was awesome.

This is Judy who I also met at the Beth Moore event last September. She introduced herself and we had an instant connection after talking for a while. She shared lots of advice yesterday and gave me permission to call her if I needed. She may regret that, haha!

Sweet Paula - so kind to put this together and open her home to us. She is such an inspirational woman of faith. I have a lot I can learn from her and really appreciate her influence. Isn't she the cutest too? Her and her husband Fred have twins - son and daughter. They are grown with families of their own and have given them four grandchildren. This is the third Jennifer, Jennifer Metcalfe. She is in our Bible study group and is really fun. She cracked me up with her story of going to buy items off our registry and how overwhelming it was. She has three older kids and said things have sure changed since they were little.

This was on the middle of Paual's kitchen island. Love it!

Here are all of the fantastic gifts we received. These are now in the floor of Parker's room so I need to get it all put up in in it's proper place.

Until we meet again...
Riley

Welcome to Parker's Room

2012-01-28T09:09:00.010-06:00

"For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted what I asked of Him" ~ 1 Samuel 1:27.

As most of you know, John and I prayed for a child for a long time. It wasn't an easy journey, but one we walked together with the Lord by our side. In His perfect time, he blessed us with a child and taught us a lot along the way. I say this because I was starting to lose hope that we would ever have a child's room to paint, decorate and prepare. But here we are, just a couple of weeks away from meeting our son and his room is ready and waiting for him.

We might make a few changes and add a couple of things here and there, but these will pictures will give you a good idea of Parker's room. We are having a baby shower this Sunday afternoon so there will be a few additions after that.

Let's begin the tour ~ for your safety, please keep hands and feet inside your car and here we go...

This is the hallway that leads to Parker's room. His room used to be the guest room (you can click here if you want to see pictures of what it looked like). We converted my home office into an office/guest room.

I painted the "P" for the door and the little pillow is from Mamaw (my Mom).
This is the view right when you open the door.

The view from the door back out into the other side of the hallway.

The east wall in his room. Please forgive us, we are already horrible parents. We have nothing for our son to play and interact with. How will this sweet boy be entertained? Oh I kid.

We plan to hang a picture or bulletin board on this wall (above the toy box) along with metal baseball and football hooks, but we are still in search of the perfect piece.

The Little Champ Sports Center (basketball goal with baseball and football games) was a centerpiece at the baby shower in Odessa (thank you GramMomKitty). It is electronic with a few fun learning games. The toy box is a gift from Mamaw & Gramps filled with all sorts of toys. Some of them are gifts we have received, but a few are ones we already had and have been saving or used with our nieces and nephews. There are also several unopened toys in the closet that he'll have to grow into and play with a few months down the road.

To the right of the toy box is his bouncer that matches his swing.

Our rocking and reading corner. This chair is very special because it was my Grandmother's and I remember sitting in it many times at her house. I wanted to be the one to get it when she passed and I was lucky enough to get it. I simply wanted to have it in our home, but now I will get to hold, rock and read to Parker in it. His comforter is laying over the back of the chair if we need a warm blanket for snuggling.

Gramps made this side table several years ago for our guest room to go along with the nautical/lighthouse theme. We really wanted to use it in this room, but the table had oars for legs. Carianne had the brilliant idea of making baseball bat legs the same size as the oar legs and doing a simple swap out. She enlisted the help of her Dad and brother Joe to make these legs for us. Thanks a billion to those Lovell men! John stained them and put them on - they look great and fit the room perfectly. We still have the oar legs if we ever need to put them back on.

A close-up of the top of the table. His lamp, piggy bank (that my dear friend Kimberly made) and a scripture I typed up and put on cardstock. This is where we will set the books we are reading too. The bottom shelf has a CD player on it. The south wall with the trash can, Diaper Genie and changing table a.k.a. Diaper Central.

The top is of course the changing pad itself, the second shelf has all of our diapering and changing supplies and the bottom shelf is filled with all sorts of blankets. Some are gifts, some are homemade and a couple of them were mine when I was a child. All so special. You can also see his diaper bag sitting to the right of the table. Is it fully packed and ready as if we already have a child? Why yes it sure is! Remember me, OCD is my middle name. That may change once Parker arrives though, hah.

This was the diaper I made in the "Midnight Messages to John" activity at our baby shower in Odessa. John wanted to keep it propped in the corner for him to see each time he changes Parker's diaper.

The curtains Aunt Carianne made as well has the wooden piece hanging in the corner. The valance was another gift at the Odessa shower. John got all of this hung up and we also have cute red ribbons if we want to tie back the curtain panels on each side.

A shot of the west wall.

After Parker leaves our room, this will be where he lays his head. I painted his name and John got the letters hung a couple of weeks ago. Don't worry, the stuffed Snoopy and Woodstock won't stay in there with him for his safety, they are just for decoration for now. There are a couple of different views...

The south wall...Parker's closet door (with the letters Aunt Carianne made for the baby shower) and his bookcase among other things. More on this to come...

Inside his little bed.

His exersaucer and Bumbo seat down below.

I was fortunate enough to know and develop many wonderful memories with all of my grandparents and I wish the same for Parker. Due to the fact that we live about 5-6 hours in between all of our parents, I know Parker's time with them will be limited to visits to see them or when they come to visit us. In between those times, I hope to stay connected through phone calls, e-mails, pictures and this blog. We will also share stories with Parker about his grandparents.

To help I wanted to put pictures of all of his grandparents in his room so that we could point and call them by name. It will also help him get familar with their faces and be comfortable with them for the times we are together. I made this frame and it hangs on the wall to the left of his closet door.

Again, I sincerely apologize for our lack of good parenting already. Our child will have nothing to wear.

The top left is the stack o' wipes that has begun.

The top right is the stack o' diapers that has begun. Although there are two boxes of bigger sizes of diapers packed up in the garage. These sizes are newborn,1 and 2.

Yes his clothes are divided with cute plastic dividers by size and we (my Mom actually) did label the dresser drawers as to what is in them. The dresser will obviously change it's contents as he grows older, but this is set for now. The top two baskets are holding his socks and shoes.

The sign above his closet door. He's not even here and already has a philosophy on life.

I painted this canvas back in October when we painted his room. The three crosses were gifts and hopefully we can add to this and create a small cross collection for Parker.

His bookcase filled with hours of reading fun...so many wonderful books we can't wait to share with him. We already bought him his first Bible too. There are also several CDs on the second shelf that belonged to his cousins Jacob and Isaac when they were little. They are now 13 and almost 11, oh my.

The top of the bookcase.

One of my favorite things in his room. This was John's baseball glove when he was a little boy and John bought Parker his first baseball, wrote on it and dated it on the back. This will be a treasure for years to come. Precious!

If you are still with me, I applaud you. I know that was a lot to take in with so many details to share. I will tell you that it's much cuter and sweeter in person, so feel free to drop by for a visit. Just call first - haha!

I look his room from time to time and it's hard to imagine him being here. I try to visualize him sleeping in there, changing his diaper in there, reading to him in the chair, playing with him in the floor, getting him dressed..., but it will all happen soon enough believe it or not.

We also have the bathroom closet already to go with his bath, several toys, all sorts of baby bath and body products, medicines, grooming items...you name it.

We are making lots of progress on our list, but still a few more things to do. At least the most important stuff is pretty much done, but I'd like to finish a few more things. I guess it's all up to Mr. Parker and when he's ready to come. We'll just take it one day at a time.

Back to the grandparents for a minute. I wanted to thank Grandma and Grandad again for buying Parker his first car seat and stroller. John's actually working on getting that installed today. Many thanks also to Granny and Grandpa for blessing us with the money to buy a few things for Parker's room. And I failed to mentioned it in my last post, but the pack & play in our room was a gift from Mamaw and Gramps. We greatly appreciate everything you all have done. Parker is a lucky little boy.

Well, this concludes our tour! Please unbuckle your seat belts and exit safely. It's been a pleasure.

Until we meet again...
Riley

35 Weeks & More

2012-01-22T13:53:00.006-06:00

Before I share my 35 Weeks picture and "stats", I wanted to share my 34 Weeks picture from last week. Below that picture is my 22 Weeks picture in which I am wearing the same shirt. It's interesting to see comparisons with the same shirt on.
Moving on to Week 35...

I am: 35 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Honeydew Melon ~ about 5.25 pounds and 18" long
Total Weight Gained: 18 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a non-maternity top in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt ~ have I mentioned how much I love calling his name, hearing his name and seeing his name? Well if I haven't, I just love it!
Movement: I feel lots of movement throughout the day and night ~ he's active, but has his times of rest too. I am starting to be able to look down at my stomach and see it moving and things protruding out from time to time. He's not really doing somersaults anymore since his room his limited, but whatever position he's in, he's definitely moving his limbs around.
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good/okay. I still have my good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over sometimes. I also get up several times in the night to go to the bathroom. I hate to complain because I do get some sleep and I know it could be so much worse.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. I can't wait to have a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, occasional caffeine, fried eggs ... among other things! I'll add hot dogs and soft serve ice cream to that list. These are all things that I either haven't been able to have or chose not to because of certain reasons. I also miss being able to sleep on my back or whatever position feels good. I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. But it hasn't been too bad and has been so worth it!
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling good and have been really blessed these past 35 weeks! I feel bigger each week and less comfortable. I'm not as mobile! I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that. Aside from that though, I'm feeling great. Probably my biggest complaint through my whole pregnancy is heartburn - ugh!! I've had it pretty bad, especially here toward the end and it doesn't really matter what I eat or don't eat. But if heartburn is my biggest complaint then I've had it pretty easy.
Best Moment last Week: Having my Mom here and getting A LOT done! As I mentioned in my previous post below, my Mom came in last Monday morning and flew back home Friday morning. While she was here we had a lot of fun and got several things crossed off "THE LIST"! We ate, visited, shopped, ran errands, went to my Dr. appointment and did all sorts of things around the house to prepare for Mr. Parker. We did take some time for periods of rest, but not much. Thanks again Mom for all of your hard work and help! While there are still several more things to do, we made a lot of progress.

Parker's room is pretty much done and I know everyone is anxious to see pictures and know all of the details. I want to do a post just on his room so my hope is to take lots of pictures (and maybe a video) this week and share all of that very soon...stay tuned!

I had a Dr. appointment last Wednesday for a check-up and routine test. Everything is still looking great and we go back on Tuesday, January 31st. I will meet with the Dr. and have a general check-up plus we will have our last sonogram to check everything out and make sure all is well with Parker. We can't wait to see him and make sure he's fully developed and healthy. After that appointment, I will go back once a week for the following three weeks.

We also have an appointment this Friday with a pediatrician. We are doing some "interviewing" of pediatricians so we can have one in place before Parker comes. Once he arrives, we'll be able to set up his first appointment which will be in the first 2 weeks after we leave the hospital. So we plan to pick a pediatrician beforehand, but know once Parker starts going to them we may feel the need to pick another one or we may really like them, but we have to start somewhere. We want to check out the office itself, staff and of course the Dr. We also have a list of a few questions and things to look for.

Since I am 35 Weeks, I thought I would share my 15 and 25 week pictures. The first is 15 Weeks and the second is 25 Weeks.

Two weeks ago, I made two signs to take to the hospital with us. The first sign will be hung in our room once we've had Parker. It will be a fun way to welcome him plus add a little decor and color to the oh so plain hospital room. This sign is also special because I used two of the pieces from the diaper cake from my baby shower. I don't like to see anything go to waste!

The second sign will be hung on the outside of our hosptial room door. Each door already has a hook on it and patients are welcome to hang anything on it while they are in the room. It will be a "birth announcement" of sorts. I have his name filled in, but will add the date, time, weight and length once we know all of those bits of information. I had a lot of fun making these and they will be a great start to his memories and momentos collection. They are in a pile of a few things I have already set aside to take to the hospital. Oh and remember how I said that I don't like to see anything go to waste? Well, this was made on a round piece of cardboard from a frozen pizza. Thanks for letting me use it Grandma. Just call me Resourceful Riley!

Last week, John got Parker's temporary sleeping quarters set up in our room. When we bring Parker home from the hospital, he will stay in our room for the first few weeks (we still aren't sure how long yet). We will make the decision based on what we feel is best for him and us. We don't want to rush him into his room after just coming into the world, but we don't want him to get too used to being in the room with us either. Nevertheless, this is where he will sleep his first few weeks of life...on Mommy's side of the bed. Once he's in his crib, we will use this pack & play for traveling. When we go visit family, we will take this along for him to sleep in. It has a remote that controls the light, music and vibration - oh technology!

While I was taking pictures, I thought I'd take one of our pillows. They might have caught your eye in the background in the pictures above. John got me these cute pillowcases for Christmas last year. They are perfect because they are on the correct sides of the bed, they kind of resemble us and they are speaking the language of love! Awww....

Parker got a special present in the mail yesterday from Aunt Carianne. She made him a wonderful sports-themed rag quilt. As if she hasn't done enough already (making a trip here and painting his room, a fabulous baby shower, blessing us with several gifts, sharing her experiences and advice from being a Mom for the past 2 years, etc) she made Parker this quilt and we are in love with it. She said it won't be long until he's spitting up and drooling on it - haha! It's such a great size for playing on and snuggling with and one he'll be able to use for many years.

In other news, John and I went on a fun date night last night. We went to eat yummy mexican food at Abuelos, went to see Beauty & the Beast in 3D and got ice cream. I just had to share a picture of John in his 3D glasses. He's so cute and such a good sport to go see that movie with me.

And Mr. Calvin...it's no secret how much he loves his fleece blankets. He had one balled up before we left for our date so John snapped a picture of him. He was very snuggly and relaxed. I guess that's all for now, but more updates and more pictures to share over these next few weeks. It's getting close - so exciting!! I hope he doesn't plan to come early because we have several more things to do, but we are working hard and will be ready!

Until we meet again...
Riley

34 Weeks ~ To Be Continued...

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

My Mom is in town this week (she flys in this morning and will fly back home Friday morning) to help with my "TO DO" list before Parker arrives. We have a list of things to work on while she's here for a few days, but also plan to do a little shopping and have some fun as well. It should be a really nice week and I'm very thankful for her help!

That being said, I will be taking a blogging break until next week, but I will be back with my profile pictures for weeks 34 and 35 and my updated stats...and a few other pictures as well. We now have valance hung over the curtains, have hung his name on the wall over his crib, assembled the mobile and attached it to the crib and made more progress in his room. I also made two signs for the hospital - one for our hospital door and one for inside the room. I will get pictures of everything and share next week.

Until then, since I am 34 weeks this week, I leave you with my Week 14 and Week 24 pictures to see the 10 week difference.
Have a great week and I look forward to sharing all sorts of things next week.

Until we meet again...
Riley

33 Weeks

2012-01-10T10:29:00.004-06:00

I am: 33 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Pineapple (mmm!) ~ a tad over 4 pounds and a tad over 17" long
Total Weight Gained: 14 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and maternity top in this picture. The white under shirt is non-maternity, but the blue shirt is.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement daily ~ he's very active, but has his times of rest too. I am starting to be able to look down at my stomach and see it moving and things protruding out from time to time. So funny!
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good. I have occasional struggles ~ good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over sometimes, but not too much to complain about. I know it could be so much worse.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. Oh I can't wait to have a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, occasional caffeine, fried eggs ... among other things! Oh, I also miss being able to sleep on my back or whatever position feels good. I also look forward to being more comfortable and able to bend over...oh the little things. But it hasn't been too bad and has been so worth it!
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have and what I miss.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good and have been very blessed these past 33 weeks! I am starting to feel bigger each week and less comfortable. I'm not as mobile, hah. I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that. Aside from that though, I'm feeling great.
Best Moment last Week: A few things...having a good doctor's appointment check-up (all is well), buying several things off our Target registry with gift cards, working in Parker's room, crossing more things off THE LIST and celebrating the 10th anniversary of the day John and I met in person.

Here is a picture of me at 17 Weeks wearing the same shirt I am in the 33 Week picture above. I've definitely gotten bigger and rounder...

And since I'm 33 Weeks, I thought I would share again my 13 and 23 Week pictures just to see the 10 week difference between 13, 23 and 33 Weeks.

We continue to work on our long "Before Baby Comes List". We may not be able to get it all done depending on when Parker decides to make his arrival, but we are doing our best. Obviously we have our priority tasks we HAVE to get done and then various other things we would LIKE to get done so we'll see how it all works out. It's so hard to believe that we will be parents and have our little boy in about 7 weeks - give or take time depending on when he comes. WOW!

Daddy put Parker's swing together last week. It's adorable! It swings and rocks in 2 different directions (front to back and side to side) and at 6 different speeds. It has 2 seat positions and also plays music, has a tray with a toy and has a mirrored ball and mobile above. Except for one frustrating moment, it was pretty easy to put together. It's sitting in our living room for right now, but once I do some more work in his room, it will go in there...of course until we start putting him in it and then it'll be back in the living room more than likely. This was the "hostess gift" at our baby shower in Odessa. Thanks ladies! Parker will love it (I hope!). The bouncer and playmat we got matches this swing too. It's the Fisher Price "Luv U Zoo" line.
As I mentioned above, John and I celebrated our 10th anniversary of meeting in person on Sunday. You can read about it here. On Saturday I got a sweet surprise. These beauties were delivered to our house on Saturday morning...daisies in a lovely little wicker basket. Thank you so much John ~ you know how much I love them. They made my day!
Have a great week!
Until we meet again...
Riley

10 Years Ago Today ~ The Day We Met

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

It was ten years ago today, January 8, 2002.

I flew to the Little Rock airport to meet John - face to face for the very first time. If you don't know how "Our Story" began, you can catch up and read about it all here. Reading that will help with the rest of the story...

I exited the plane and made my way to the family and friend waiting area and there was John, with daisies in hand (my favorite flower). John had come to the airport to pick me up along with Jason and Angela. After leaving the airport we all went to lunch at El Chico. After lunch, Jason and Angela dropped us off at John's house in Conway and they went back home. John gave me a tour of his cute little house and gave me a few PEZ dispensers (which I collect). Later in the afternoon, we drove out to Mount Vernon to eat dinner and spend time with John's parents and Jason, Angela, Jacob and Isaac. It was a really nice, fun evening. John still says to this day that he was so nervous that day - too cute! As I just mentioned, we shared our first meal together at El Chico and John said he was so nervous he could barely eat. I don't remember being that nervous. I was surprisingly calm for some reason.

I was scheduled to stay for a week in Arkansas (staying with Jason and Angela). My flight back home was the following week. John and I were going to have a full week to get to know each other more in person, spend some quality time together and see where things would go. Well, to make a long story short, I never flew back home! I canceled my flight and decided to stay in Arkansas indefinitely. FYI, I did go back home to get some of my things at one point and I lived with Jason and Angela for a while.

I flew to meet John on January 8, 2002 and we were engaged within 3 months. When you know...you know! And exactly one month from today (February 8th) we will be celebrating our 9th anniversary. God is amazing in how He weaved our lives together in the way that He did in His time, not ours. We were both hoping and praying for that perfect person and not very patient in doing so, but as always, He had a plan for us.

When I think back to the fact that it was 10 years ago today that we met in person, I can't believe it. It seems so long ago, but yet seems like just yesterday. I remember that day so well and I know John does too. What's even more unbelievable is what has occured in our life together over the past 10 years. WOW ~ what an amazing, incredible journey! So many wonderful chapters in the book of our life shared together. I know this sounds so cliche, but our love grows deeper and our life gets better with each passing year. I fell in love with John 10 years ago, but I love him so much more today and I know that love will continue to deepen. And now we are about to be parents and share the experience of parenthood together ~ so exciting and so blessed.

I love that we celebrate all of the meaningful dates in our life together. We ususally go eat at El Chico every January 8th to remember our first meal together! That's where we will be tonight for our Sunday supper. We have a date planned to celebrate the day we met - face to face for the first time!

Until we meet again...
Mrs. John Ussery

32 Weeks, Maternity Pictures & Our Christmas...Oh My!

2012-01-04T09:26:00.029-06:00

Not quite lions, tigers and bears, but I have a lot of pictures to share!

First things first...

I am: 32 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Large jicama ~ 3.75 pounds and about 16.7" long
Total Weight Gained: 12 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a non-maternity top in this picture. I'm also wearing the new hooded jacket Santa brought me for Christmas. (more on that later)
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement daily ~ he's quite the little gymnast. I am starting to be able to look down at my stomach and see it moving and things protruding out from time to time.
Sleep: Overall, I am sleeping fairly good (still love my body pillow). I have occasional struggles ~ good nights and bad. I find it hard to get comfortable and turn over sometimes, but not too much to complain about. I know it could be so much worse.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. Oh I can't wait to have a caesar salad, raw cookie dough samples, feta cheese, lunch meat, occasional caffeine, fried eggs ... among other things! But it's been so worth it and hasn't been that hard.
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good and have been very blessed these past 32 weeks! I never thought I would be one of those women who said they "enjoyed being pregnant", but I have enjoyed being pregnant - hah! I've had a few not so fun moments over the past several months, but I've had a very good pregnancy. I am starting to feel bigger each week. I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that. The other day, I actually had to have John tie my shoes because I just couldn't get in the right position and bend over far enough on that particular day.
Best Moment last Week: Celebrating our Christmas together and having a fun New Year's weekend! We took a picture before dinner on New Year's Eve.
Here I am 10 weeks ago ~ 22 weeks...

As I mentioned last week, our sister-in-law Heidi took some maternity pictures of us while we were in Fredericksburg for Christmas. A CD of pictures arrived in the mail yesterday from Heidi so I was anxious to see them and share with our family and friends. She did a wonderful job capturing this special time in our lives. We had a lot of fun taking them. It was SO cold outside, so we had to pretend we weren't freezing to death.

This sign we are holding hangs in our entry way under our wedding picture.

The next two is of us with an outfit hanging from a tree (one is focused on us and one is focused on the outfit). This is the outfit we plan to bring Parker home from the hospital in. It is a pair of pants and hooded jacket with a white onesie underneath. We thought "Rookie" fit in nicely with our sports them plus a rookie is someone new and just starting out. Also perfectly fitting is the fact that the number on the outfit is 28 -our anniversary 2/8. It was meant to be!

We are doing a Snoopy sports theme in Parker's room so we wanted to include that in a couple of pictures. These items were used at Parker's shower too. You may recognize these letters, they were made by Aunt Carianne and used on the sign-in table at Parker's shower.

This is one of my favorites of them all. We each used one of our hands to form a heart on my belly.

Our wedding rings with a few of Parker's things in the background.

Just a few of Parker's Mommy...

A few of Parker's Mommy and Daddy ~ being silly, playing in the leaves and having fun.

There were two pictures that I never could upload so I will try to share them another time. They are of us sitting on the ground actually posed and looking at the camera. So thankful for these pictures! My beloved husband and I, deeply in love and about to embark on parenthood. Ready or not, here we come.

Over the weekend, we celebrated our Christmas together. From the first year of our marriage, we have always opened our gifts to each other by ourselves. No offense to our families, but we enjoy having a special time alone to celebrate and open gifts together. We've done it at different times over the years, the weekend before Christmas, the weekend after New Year's, New Year's weekend ... it has varied based on all of our travel plans, but the past couple of years, we have celebrated over New Year's and it has worked out well.

Unfortunately, John was sick last week with a cold and sinus infection so he didn't feel his best, but he was a trooper and we had a great time. Luckily it hit him early last week so he was feeling a tad better by the weekend. Saturday night, we went out to dinner and it was YUMMY!! After dinner we made a trip to Target and bought a new vacuum cleaner. We really know how to party on New Year's Eve! After we were back home we had some dessert pizza that I had made earlier on Saturday, played a game and watched some tv. We did make it until midnight to ring in the New Year. Shortly after that we hit the hay to get some rest before opening presents New Year's Day morning.

Santa came and left something for all of us...

I woke up bright and early and was ever so anxious to start opening gifts. I got John's permission the night before to wake him up when I woke up - hee hee. So here we are in all of our morning glory and beauty opening presents from one another.

Mmmm...yummy smelling new perfume.

We are "iCarly" fans in our house. Yes, it is a "tween" show and we are in our 30s, but it's good, clean family fun and FUNNY!! I blame my nephew Isaac, haha (not really Isaac). I watched a couple of episodes with him one time and found myself laughing and enjoying it right along with him. I had John watch an episode and we've been hooked since then. This is a calendar for John's office and a David Crowder band CD.

A Bible cover for my larger Bible ~ Yah! There was also a Nichole Nordeman CD zipped up inside.

"The Resoultion" from the movie "Courageous" - AWESOME MOVIE! John will sign this and it'll hang in his office. It will serve as a reminder as to the man, husband and father he wants to be for our family. He's currently reading "The Resolution for Men" too. I'm so grateful to be married to such a Godly man and Parker is going to have the best example for a father. Also a squirrel frame for his desk. I am nuts about him!

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible ~ we have big plans together! Fried chicken was already on the menu for our New Year's Day meal so I tried her recipe - yummy to our tummies.

I have new recipe cards that I've been writing out a lot of my recipes on and John got me the 3-ring recipe book that matches the cards so now I can put them all in here by category. Now if I can just finish writing them all on the cards. I love it!

One of John's old favorites.

This beautiful frame will go in Parker's room. Until he arrives and we have a good picture of him, we plan to put one of our maternity pictures in here. When I opened it, John had taped one of Parker's sonogram pictures to the glass ~ pure sweetness.

Go Rangers! Funny how we both got each other a Rangers jacket of some sort.

Calvin loved his new blanket from Santa. This dog LOVES his fleece blankets. He won't touch a toy, but loves the fleece. He's wrapped up in a blanket on the couch as I type this.

All of the wonderful gifts and stocking stuffers minus the candy. Calvin was sniffing around the candy so we had to put it out of reach.

We spent the rest of New Year's Day being pretty lazy around the house. I made coffee cake for breakfast and we talked to our parents. We watched football and worked on a few things, but took a nap and had a yummy dinner. It was a really nice day and weekend...just wish John would have felt better.

John was off on Monday so we spent the ENTIRE day taking down Christmas decorations, re-organizing and packing them all up and then cleaning house. John started working on the Christmas tree in the living room about 9:30 Monday morning and I started in the hallway and except for lunch, we didn't stop until about 6:00 or so Monday night. I had a dinner plan, but John relieved me of my duties and went and picked up pizza for us after a long day of hard work. We got all of the Christmas stuff packed up and then went to town deep cleaning the house and breaking in our new vacuum cleaner. He didn't just vacuum the carpet, John moved furniture in each room and vacuumed behind it and went along the baseboards with the wand. I'm a lucky lady! It felt so good to do so much cleaning and get the house back to normal after the holidays. Now we can finish up our to dos and projects and await the arrival of sweet Parker.

Have a great rest of the week!
Until we meet again...
Riley

31 Weeks & Showered with Love

2011-12-28T09:46:00.021-06:00

Before I begin, I wanted to post my "30 week" picture that I never got a chance to last week. Now moving on... I am: 31 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Four navel oranges ~ 3.3 pounds and a little over 16" long
Total Weight Gained: 10.5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a maternity shirt in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement daily ~ he's quite the little gymnast.
Sleep: I am sleeping fairly good (still love my body pillow). I have occasional struggles ~ good nights and bad. I think it's gotten a little worse and I don't seem to be sleeping as well, but I do get some and it could be a lot worse. I am having a harder time turning over from side to side in bed and do miss being able to sleep on my back. I usually get up to go to the bathroom a couple of times a night and sometimes it's hard to go back to sleep.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along.
Cravings: No cravings ... just craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall and have been very blessed these past 31 weeks! I am looking forward to meeting our Parker, but I have enjoyed being pregnant and will miss several things about it. I have endured a variety "pregnancy side effects" that haven't been too fun, but it really hasn't been too bad. I know they say the final weeks are the worst though. I am starting to FEEL much bigger. I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that.
Best Moment last Week: Celebrating Christmas and taking maternity pictures! We were able to celebrate Christmas a little early with Mom and Armando while we were in Odessa for the baby shower. Good times! We then spent Christmas with Dad and Kristin in Fredericksburg and returned home on Monday. More good times! We had back to back trips, but both were lots of fun. We had a wonderful time with everyone celebrating Christmas.

Also, while we were in Fredericksburg, our sister-in-law Heidi (Andrew's wife) took lots of maternity pictures in and around Dad's house. We wanted to take more outside, but it was bitter cold and cloudy. We braved the elements and got a few good ones outside, but the rest were taken inside. She is mailing us a CD this week with tons of pictures and I can't wait to get them. However, she did post a few on her website and they are awesome. I love them! If you click here you can get a sneak peek. Once you are at the website, click on the first picture to make it bigger, then you can click on each one to make them bigger. The very first one you will see is of us with an outfit hanging from a tree. That is the outfit we plan to bring Parker home from the hospital in. It is a pair of pants and hooded jacket with a white onesie underneath. We thought "Rookie" fit in nicely with our sports them plus a rookie is someone new and just starting out. Also perfectly fitting is the fact that the number on the outfit is 28 -our anniversary 2/8. It was meant to be!

Thank you so much again Heidi ~ we really appreciate it and will treasure these pictures capturing this chapter in our life.

On to the shower details!

As I mentioned in my last post, I had an AMAZING baby shower in Odessa on Saturday, December 17th. The shower was held at the church I grew up in, had my bridal shower in, we got married in and now had our baby shower in...so very special to have so many memories in one place! The hostesses were Carianne (my best friend of 17 1/2 years), Kitty (Carianne's Mom and my third Mom), Cindy (Carianne's sister-in-law), Bev (Carianne's Aunt), Kim (dear friend of many, many years) and Anita (long time family friend and friend of Kristin's). Sadly, I failed to get a picture of me with all of the hostesses - ARG! I got so wrapped up in all of the fun, it slipped my mind.

The shower was headed up by Carianne and Kitty and there was not a single detail missed. Carianne promised me long ago when it was time that she would throw "One heck of a baby shower" and boy was it. It was perfect and more than I could ever have imagined. It was such a busy time of year so unfortunately the turnout wasn't great, but several women attended and we had a lovely time. I just wish more could have seen this sensational shower! I'm forever grateful for all that was done for John, Parker and me - what a celebration! Our hearts are so full.

Let me take you on a journey through pictures to my baby shower!

This was given to me by my Mom on Saturday morning. It was a precious card and note from Carianne with the shirt I was to wear to the shower wrapped around a Dr. Seuss board book for Mr. Parker. The shower was a Snoopy sports theme - just like Parker's room...only I didn't know it until I arrived at the shower. The guests were asked to wear their favorite sports team shirt/clothing. What a fun idea!

Welcome to Parker's shower ... this was the sign on the door as you entered the Fellowship Hall. It was lovingly made by Kitty - Parker will call her GramMomKitty!

Mommy and Daddy-to-Be ... this was taken after the shower was over and John came to load up all of the gifts we received.

This was the sign-in table as you entered. Carianne made the "PARKER" by covering wooden letters with sports scrapbook paper. Instead of a guestbook, they had a picture of Snoopy framed with a mat for all to sign or "autograph" as the instruction note read - so cool. The women also addressed their own thank you note that had been pre-stamped (postage stamp) so all I have to do is write in the thank you note and mail - what a HUGE help!

This is Parker's piggy bank. Kim made it - she's super talented and owns a pottery shop! I'm so thankful to have a special, personalized bank for Parker to use as he grows up. Guests at the shower were asked to drop their spare change in to help start Parker's college fund ~ never too early! The women were very generous and we ended up with about $42. We plan to deposit into an account already set up for his future.

Carianne made this - talk about super talented. The Lovell women ooze talent in every facet of life! She made it with fishing line and a glue gun (among other supplies)...awesome. This was on the kitchen serving bar behind the food table. Sitting to the left of this sign were the party favors for the women that attended. They were little sheer bags filled with chocolate balls in sports foil paper.

Kim pinning on my corsage...

The next few pictures are of the fabulous food table. Not only was there yummy cake, these ladies made all sorts of delicious snacks and displayed them beautifully. The punch was SO GOOD too! It was a banana punch and I must have had 3 or 8 cups - hah!

This was the gift table with the Diaper Cake as the center piece. For those who don't know, a Diaper Cake is when diapers are used to form a "cake" structure - so it looks like a tiered cake, but it's really only diapers. The diapers can be used for baby once the "cake" is taken apart. Kitty, Carianne's brother Joe and Cindy (Joe's wife ~ mentioned above with the hostesses) made this. More adorableness (is that even a word?). I loved it so much, I still haven't taken it apart. Even better, each layer or tier of the cake contained small gifts from teethers, bath squirties, a rubber duck, bibs - all kinds of goodies.

The next couple of pictures are of the tables, not all of them, but a couple. Each table had a sports ball balloon along with solid colored balloons tied to a bean bag sports ball in the center of the table. Those were surrounded by gifts or an item we had registered for. So each table was a gift in itself! Also on the table were red star confetti, cookies and cream hershey kisses and "New Mommy Advice" cards where the women were asked to write down their words of wisdom and pearls of advice for being a Mom.

This was so neat..."Midnight Messages to John". The women were asked to write John a special message on a white sticky tag and put it on a diaper. (You can read the sign below). These will be put in the diaper stash and John will get to read precious messages when he's changing a few of Parker's diapers.

There were a few fun games at the shower as well complete with a prize bag for each game winner. There was a game to guess how many mints were in the two bottles. There was BINGO where the women were given a blank bingo card and they had to fill in all of the squares with items they thought I might receive. When I opened gifts, if I opened something on their card, they got to cross it off. My step-sister Carla and sister-in-law Amber both had a bingo. The final game involved the size of my stomach. There was a roll of yarn and each women had to cut a piece of yarn the length of my stomach all the way around - or what they thought it was. They measured me and Cindy went to each women to see how close they came. Kristin won! Before I began opening gifts, Kitty delivered a very heartfelt message detailing the journey we have been on to become parents. She also talked of how she thought God needed a gentle nudge to bless us with a child and when Grammy passed away in April, she asked God to give us a child and that was the nudge He needed because we became pregnant not too long after Grammy passed away. My brief description does not do it justice! It was a beautiful, touching message and I'm so glad to have it. Thank you GramMomKitty from the bottom of our hearts. She closed that with a wonderful prayer. There was not a dry eye in the room.

Me and my bestest pal, Carianne! Next summer will be 18 years since we met and became the best of friends. Wow, if I could list all of our memories, all that we have shared and been through together, all that we have done ... well, we'd be here a while! We met as 14 year old sophomores in high school band and here we are now in our early 30s married and Moms! We are about to start the gift opening and Carianne wrote down all of the gifts for me on fun, personalized paper. I told you not a detail was missed. Another special thing about this Fellowship Hall is that Carianne's bridal and baby showers were hosted here as well.

Here are a couple of shots of the women ... I didn't get pictures of everyone at every table, but here are a few. The first is of my Mom, Amber and Estella (my sisters-in-law, wives of my two step-brothers - Armando's sons). Amber is also expecting her first little one in June - exciting! The second is of Carla and my stepmom Kristin. The third is of our newest niece, Helana. She will be 9 months old in a couple of days and is already actve and all over the place. This is Carla's little girl and makes #11 for us for nieces and nephews. The last picture is of a few women from the church. We joined this church when I was in 2nd grade so most of these women I've known most of my life.

Gift opening time! We were blessed and showered with so many wonderful things. We got several things that we registered for, but also received lots of unexpected gifts, so that was fun. There were lots of pictures of me opening gifts, so I just included a few so as not to overwhelm you. We only got two duplicate gifts and we've already exchanged those for a couple of other things on our registry.

The pile o' gifts!

What a wonderful, fantastic day! If you are still with me and reading this, I commend you - haha! I know that was a lot to read, look at and take in. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

In other news, John and I plan to celebrate our Christmas together this weekend over the New Year's holiday. We have plans to go out for dinner on Saturday night, New Year's Eve. We will come home for dessert and board games until midnight (hopefully). Santa will make a very late stop by our house to leave a special gift and fill our stockings. Sunday morning, New Year's Day, we will awake to see what Santa left and open gifts from each other and then have breakfast. Should be a fun weekend!! Other than that, lots more to do on our neverending list so we'll be working on that. I guess all of the Christmas festivities will be over after Sunday morning so we'll start taking down all of our decorations and getting our house back in order and baby ready.

Until we meet again...
Riley

30 Weeks

2011-12-19T22:56:00.002-06:00

I will take a 30 week profile picture this week and share later, but for now I wanted to share one picture, a sneak peak if you will, of the baby shower for my 30 week post.

I am: 30 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Head of Cabbage ~ 3 pounds and 15.7" long
Total Weight Gained: 9 pounds (I haven't weighed this week, so this is as of last week - I'm sure I've gained a pound or two)
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a maternity shirt in this picture. This adorable t-shirt was purchased for me to wear to the baby shower. It was a surprise sent by Carianne to my Mom. I opened it Saturday morning with a very sweet and wonderful card from Carianne. It was really nice not to have to stress over what to wear to the baby shower ~ my outfit was chosen for me!
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement daily. John is getting to feel him more as well. The other night, as we were going to sleep, Parker was super active so John got to feel a lot of action. We were just smiling and laughing ~ so special.
Sleep: I am sleeping fairly good (still love my body pillow). I have occasional struggles ~ good nights and bad. I think it's gotten a little worse and I don't seem to be sleeping as well, but I do get some and it could be a lot worse. I am having a harder time turning over from side to side in bed and do miss being able to sleep on my back.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along.
Cravings: No cravings ... Still just craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall and have been very blessed these past 30 weeks! I am looking forward to meeting our Parker, but I have enjoyed being pregnant and will miss several things about it. I have endured a variety "pregnancy side effects" that haven't been too fun, but it really hasn't been too bad. I know they say the final weeks are the worst though. I am starting to FEEL much bigger. I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to, putting my shoes on...things like that.
Best Moment last Week: My FANTASTIC, AMAZING baby shower!! WOW...it was SPECTACULAR!! Carianne told me that she would plan and throw "one heck of a baby shower" and it certainly was. I have so many great pictures, details and stories to share about it. Unfortunately, we are between trips right now and time is very limited. We returned home from Odessa this afternoon and are leaving again Thursday morning to spend Christmas with Dad and Kristin in Fredericksburg. We have lots to do before we leave town again in a couple of days. Once we return home from Christmas, I plan to do a post dedicated to the baby shower. I want to share about it all!

With the fact that I am 30 weeks, I thought I would revisit weeks 10 and 20 to see the changes.

10 Weeks...

20 Weeks...
We have a Dr. appointment Tuesday afternoon ~ just a general visit and check-up, nothing special this visit. I am looking forward to it though to make sure all is well and hear the pitter patter of Parker's heart.

Have a great week and be sure to come back next week (or so) for all of the baby shower pictures and details ~ such a fun time!

Until we meet again...
Riley

29 Weeks

2011-12-13T07:49:00.007-06:00

I am: 29 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Butternut Squash ~ 2.5 pounds and a tad over 15" long
Total Weight Gained: 9 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans, but a non-maternity shirt in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement daily! John finally got to feel him kick last week. He (Parker) tends to be a little stubborn. I will feel him and call John to come or grab John's hand to put on my stomach, but then Parker stops moving. So funny! Nevertheless, John did get to feel him kick, but is anxious to feel more.
Sleep: I am sleeping pretty good as long as I have my body pillow. I still have occasional struggles. I have my good nights and bad, but overall, not too much to complain about. I am having a harder time turning over from side to side in bed and do miss being able to sleep on my back.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along.
Cravings: No cravings ... Still just craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall and have been very blessed these past 29 weeks! I am looking forward to meeting our little guy, but I have enjoyed being pregnant and will miss things about it. I have endured several "pregnancy side effects" that haven't been too fun, but it really hasn't been too bad. I know they say the final weeks are the worst though. I am starting to FEEL much bigger. I'm having more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up, moving as quick as I used to...things like that.
Best Moment last Week: FINALLY getting Parker's crib and changing table put together...Thanks to Parker's Daddy! John said the crib and changing table were two of the easiest things he's ever put together. The instructions were clear, parts were labeled and organized well and everything fit together just as they were supposed to. I put a couple of things on the changing table just to get a better visual, but I need to do the "real" set-up of it. We need a changing mat, plan to put all of our diapering and changing supplies on the middle shelf and blankets and other miscellaneous items on the bottom shelf . I also have a bigger basket to match the smaller one you will see on the shelf. We also went ahead and made the bed to see what it would look like. Later on, we will need to add a waterproof mattress pad/protector under the sheet and part of our baby monitor under the mattress. Getting this furniture put together and in his room made it feel so much more real and made his room really look like a baby's room. Exciting times!! Now that the furniture is in place, we can start hanging a few things and getting more stuff in place. I still have a long list of "to dos" for his room.

We are heading to Odessa on Friday for a baby shower on Saturday - can't wait! There has been a LOT of time, hard work, energy and money spent on this baby shower and I'm so very grateful. I'm looking forward to this party for Parker ~ hee hee. We will be staying with my Mom and Armando (Mamaw and Gramps). Aside from the shower, it will be really nice to see them, visit, play games, watch football, eat yummy stuff and celebrate an early Christmas. We will head home Monday morning, be home a couple of days and then head to Fredericksburg for Christmas. After that trip, our travel plans will be non-existent until probably mid-late April. We'll have a few things going on around here to keep us busy!

Until we meet again...
Riley

Parker's Christmas Stocking

2011-12-08T07:21:00.003-06:00

I have a special story to share about Parker's Christmas stocking. When I was growing up as a child, my siblings and I along with my Dad and Kristin all had Christmas stockings made by Grandma Stone (my stepmom Kristin's Mom). Andrew and Neil had cowboy boots, Carla and I had traditional stockings with teddy bears, Dad had an argyle sock and Kristin had a high-heeled boot. I used that stocking at my Dad's house for over 15 years - until John and I got married. That stocking remained with my Dad, but Grandma Stone made new stockings for John and I when we got married.

She made John an argyle sock, I graduated up to a high-heeled boot and Calvin also got a stocking...a bone. These stockings were so special and meaningful, not to mention one of a kind. Fast forward to now, when we found out we were pregnant and thoughts and future memories were flooding my mind, I couldn't help but be a little sad that Parker wouldn't have a stocking to match ours. Grandma Stone passed away a couple of years ago ~ we miss her dearly!

In my sadness and disappointment, a light bulb came on. What if I could alter my stocking from when I was a young girl - take my name off and put Parker's name on it? Luckily my childhood stocking wasn't too girly, so I knew the design would work for a boy too. So, I asked my Dad and Kristin to dig out my old stocking to see if I could fashion some lettering and make my stocking Parker's. I was a tad bummed because I knew his name wouldn't look exactly like ours because I'd be using different material and cutting the letters myself, but I was thankful just to have the stocking. Well, Kristin told me that my Aunt Karin had all of the materials and templates that Grandma Stone used to make the stockings all those years and that she would be willing to alter it for us so it would match exactly. My heart jumped for joy and tears filled my eyes.

I'm so grateful that Dad and Kristin dug out my stocking and passed it onto Aunt Karin and I'm very thankful to Aunt Karin for all she did on this stocking for us. She removed my name, added Parker's and also fixed a lot of the little sunburts that were broken on it. I cannot tell you how much I will treasure this sweet Christmas stocking. And I will have a story to share with our son -his stocking was Mommy's stocking.

Until we meet again...
Riley

28 Weeks & Christmas Tour of our Home

2011-12-06T07:52:00.024-06:00

I am: 28 weeks pregnant ~ start of the third trimester
Size of Baby: Cabbage ~ 2.25 pounds and 14.8" long
Total Weight Gained: 9 pounds (Women gain an average of 11 pounds in their third trimester, so hopefully I'll total about 20 pounds or so gained. In our childbirth class, the nurse said women leave the hospital about 12 pounds lighter on average so it would be nice to only have about 10 pounds or so to lose once I'm back home)
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans, but a non-maternity shirt in this picture. It was a cold and rainy day.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement ~ such a special feeling!
Sleep: I am sleeping good with my body pillow. I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much. I have my good nights and bad, but overall, not too much to complain about. I slept good last night, but woke up about 5am yesterday morning so it just depends.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along.
Cravings: No cravings ... Still just craving what I can't have. I guess I won't have any "pregnancy craving" stories or any "smell aversions" stories either. I'm not complaining at all.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall. I've been very blessed these past 28 weeks and have enjoyed this pregnancy! I am starting to feel bigger though. I'm having a bit more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up...things like that.
Best Moment last Week: FINALLY getting Parker's bed and changing table in! So many frustruating stories I could share, but we have them now and will get started on putting them together this week. Also, we had our childbirth class on Saturday which went really well and we also got to tour the labor and delivery floor of the hospital.

Here I am at 18 weeks just for you to see a comparison from 18 to 28 weeks. I've grown a lot in 10 weeks!

I mentioned last week about getting a precious picture of John while we were in Arkansas over Thanksgiving. Well, I have it framed now and on my desk. Does he not look incredibly sweet and cute? He still is! I love having this in my office.

I guess you could say these are the "Before" pictures of the bed and changing table. I cannot wait to get them all together and continue with more work in Parker's room.

Because of all of the "issues" we had with the furniture, we got some in-store credit so we used it to buy the mobile gym/playmat from our registry.

Now to our Christmas decorations. I wish I had time to give captions on each picture and explain craft projects, where decorations came from, family treasures, meanings behind some of our things and more, but there's just so much. Nevertheless, grab a cup of coffee or mug of hot cocoa and come on in. Welcome!

I bought this plate and cup at the Dollar Tree years ago and we've used it only as decoration. However next year, we'll be able to make cookies with our baby boy and leave them out for Santa. (not sure why there is a spacing problem here)

This is us on our first Christmas shared together - oh the memories we've created since then. (or why here also?)

There are a few pictures missing and those are of our stockings. I have a special story to share about those, but it may have to be in another post because I had some problems with the pictures. Hopefully in the next day or so, I can show you our Christmas stockings and Parker's too - I love it!

Thanks for stopping by ~ Until we meet again...

Riley

10 Year E-Mailiversary

2011-12-03T06:00:00.005-06:00

10 years ago today, December 3, 2001, John and I made contact for the first time via e-mail. We are calling it our "10 Year E-Mailiversary".

Here's the story...

For Thanksgiving in 2001, I went with my Mom, Armando (my step-dad) and Andrew (my brother) to spend it with Armando's family in Pearsall, Texas and also celebrate Grandma's (Armando's Mom) 70th Birthday over the weekend. During the evening of Thanksgiving, a few of us were sitting around visiting and John's sister-in-law, Angela (who is also Armando's niece), asked me if I was dating anyone. At that time, I was a few weeks away from my college graduation. I was not dating anyone at the time, but was focused on finishing school and looking for a post-college job. So I proceeded to tell Angela that I was currently single. Well, she got all excited and said that I should meet Jason's brother (Jason is her husband - John's brother). Are you confused?

Angela went on to tell me a little bit about John and what I heard sounded really good. I obviously had specific things in mind regarding guys I wanted to date and from the little that she told me, John sounded great. Keep in mind at this time John was living in central Arkansas and I was living in Odessa (west Texas)...so we were about 12-13 hours apart. Angela asked me to give her my e-mail address (that she would give to John) and she gave me John's e-mail address and suggested that maybe we could e-mail each other and see what happened.

After the Thanksgiving weekend was over and we all went back home, I waited a couple of days to hopefully hear from John, but several days passed and I never did. Therefore, I decided to go ahead an e-mail him myself. I had his e-mail address afterall. So, on December 3, 2001 I e-mailed John and then he e-mailed me back later that day. Come to find out, John HAD actually e-mailed me before I decided to e-mail him, but he was sending it to the wrong e-mail address. He was probably wondering why I wasn't e-mailing him back, but it's a good thing I decided to reach out to him. So we made our first connection on December 3rd - hooray!

We continued to e-mail each other back and forth through the month of December just getting to know each other, asking questions and sharing about various topics. We then eventually made the step to call one another and talk over the phone.

In January of 2002, I flew to Arkansas to meet John face to face (January 8th to be exact)...and the rest, as the say, is history!

We still have those first two e-mails we exchanged. Only God could bring two people that lived miles apart together in the way He did. We are so grateful and those two e-mails exchanged 10 years ago today were the start of something amazing and beautiful.

We have a childbirth class to attend all day today, but we have plans for a fun date night afterwards to celebrate this special day.

I love you so very much, John! Thank you for what this day means to us.

Until we meet again...
Riley

27 Weeks & Thanksgiving Snapshots

2011-11-30T13:02:00.012-06:00

I am: 27 weeks pregnant ~ last week in my second trimester
Size of Baby: Head of cauliflower ~ 2 pounds and 14.5" long. He's now taking his first breaths in utero.
Total Weight Gained: 8 pounds (thank you Thanksgiving!)
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans, but a non-maternity sweater in this picture
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement ~ such a special feeling! Parker must have really been excited about Thanksgiving Day because he decided to do a gymnastics routine about 6am Thanksgiving morning. I was laying there laughing - it was awesome. A little early, but wonderful nonetheless.
Sleep: I am sleeping good with my body pillow. I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much. I have my good nights and bad, but overall, not too much to complain about. I took my body pillow to Arkansas and slept really good. I guess taking a break from all of my "to dos" at home helped me get some good rest.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of the things I will indulge in after Parker arrives - not all at the same time though!
Cravings: No cravings ... Still just craving what I can't have. I guess I won't have any "pregnancy craving" stories or any "smell aversions" stories either. I'm not complaining at all.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall. I've been very blessed these past 27 weeks! I am starting to feel bigger though. I'm having a bit more difficulty bending over, turning over in bed, squating down and getting back up...things like that.
Best Moment last Week: Enjoying a nice trip to Arkansas and getting to talk more about Parker and his approaching arrival. We hadn't been there since mid-August so I've grown bigger and we've done a lot since then so it was nice to have Parker as the topic of several conversations. We also got a cute outfit and some socks from John's parent's pastor and his wife (Jake and Amanda). They themselves just had a little girl in May ~ Andrea.

Fingers crossed - the furniture is in so we will be picking that up in the next few days. We've had several issues with it so I hope that it's in and they are the color and design we chose. I'm VERY anxious to get the crib and changing table put together and in place. After that I can go to town on several more projects in there - believe me, the list is long! We have an appointment on Monday (December 5th) so we are looking forward to that to see how things are progressing. We have our childbirth class all day on Saturday and then we get to tour the maternity wing of the hospital.

As I mentioned above, we had a great trip to Arkansas to celebrate Thanksgiving with John's family. It was very relaxing and lots of fun. Except for lunch and a grocery run on Sunday after church, we stayed at John's Mom and Dad's the whole time. We arrived about lunch time on Wednesday and came back home on Monday morning.

We did lots of visiting, looking at old pictures, board game playing, football and basketball playing outside, football game watching, cooking, baking and of course EATING! Wow, we did not starve while we were there. It was all delicious! While we were there we also put up and decorated their Christmas tree. John LOVES to decorate for Christmas so I was glad he got to help with that while we were there. I did some decoration repair with the good ol' hot glue gun. John and his Mom also had their annual tradition of making Bon Bons. They are made every year at Christmas and have been for years. They actually ended up making a second batch because the first went so fast.

You'll notice a couple of pictures of John and I on Thanksgiving Day sporting our Cowboys wear on the front porch. Next year, this picture will have a certain little boy with us in his Cowboys duds - can't wait! As of right now, we plan on having Parker's first Thanksgiving here at home with just the three of us and Calvin of course. I already have visions of cooking while the Macy's Parade is on and Parker and John are playing waiting for lunch...then naps and the Cowboys' game. Let the memories begin!

While we were looking through old family pictures, I found the most adorable one of John when he was a little boy. It melted my heart. Karen graciously let me bring it home so I could get a copy made of it. I actually did that at Target yesterday so now I have it in a frame on my desk. I'll have to take a picture of it to share with you. It is beyond precious, in my unbiased opinion. If Parker is half as cute as this, he'll be the sweetest thing!

These are not all of them, but enjoy a few snapshots from Thanksgiving 2011.I still have plans to post all of our Christmas decoration as well. I know you are on pins and needles waiting to see those - haha! It feels so festive in our home - I just love it!

Until we meet again...
Riley

26 Weeks

2011-11-21T08:56:00.004-06:00

Due to the fact that we are leaving for Arkansas Wednesday morning, we started our Christmas decorating last night and will finish it up tonight. This way, when we return from our Thanksgiving festivities, the house will be fully decorated for Christmas and ready to enjoy. We put our two Christmas trees up last night - one in the living room and one in the dining room and today we will finish with all of our other decorations. I will have all of those pictures to share next week.

After we finished our snacks and tree decorating, we decided to watch a couple of short Christmas specials we have on DVD. I put on some comfy pjs and had John take a couple of pictures in front of the tree for my 26 week picture. Can you spot the "P" ornament in the first picture? I bought that on sale at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. (There's a closer shot of it down below). I am sure it will be the first of many ornaments for Parker, but we wanted something to symbolize this year ~ the Christmas we were expecting him.
We took one without the flash so you could see the tree lit up...you can't really see me, but the silhouette of my belly.

So now to the update...
I am: 26 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: English cucumber ~ 1.7 pounds and 14" long
Total Weight Gained: 6.5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing non-maternity pjs in this picture and they are perfectly comfy.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel lots of movement ~ such a neat feeling! I can't wait until John can feel him kick.
Sleep: I am sleeping good with my body pillow. I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much. I have my good nights and bad, but overall, not too much to complain about. When I get up to go to the bathroom (which I do a lot), sometimes I do have problems going back to sleep because my mind starts going in all sorts of directions. However, that's not pregnancy related, I've always been like that!
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of the things I will indulge in after Parker arrives - not all at the same time though!
Cravings: No cravings ... Still just craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall. I've been blessed these past 26 weeks!
Best Moment last Week: Having a successful garage sale and adding another package of wipes and diapers to the stash. We had a small garage sale on Saturday and did pretty good. That money is being divided into the "Christmas" and "Parker" funds. It was also good to get rid of a lot of stuff. We still have a garage full of stuff left over, but that will all be donated in the next couple of weeks. I also took advantage of a Target sale and some good coupons I had and bought another package of diapers and wipes for $6 total - what a deal. We are up to about 14 packages of diapers and a few loose ones in a basket and we have about 12-13 packages of wipes. It's a start!

Our next appointment is Monday, December 5th. I believe after that appointment I will start going every other week instead of once a month. Thanksgiving Day is exactly 3 months until our due date. Where is the time going?! And to think that this time next year, we will have 9 month old to share this time with - wow. I am so excited and anxious, but I truly want to treasure and enjoy each day over these next 12 or so weeks. We have LOTS going on and TONS to do over these next three months, but I want to have fun and take pleasure in it all and not rush time. Not too get too deep and serious, but our lives will change drastically (but wonderfully) come late February/early March so I want to live in the now and cherish this time.

Moving on...here's our little Calvin reindeer. We put his antlers on last night during our tree trimming. He didn't leave them on for long, but looks so cute!

Well I have a long list o' to dos before we leave town on Wednesday so I'd better get to them. We would like to wish you and your loved ones the happiest of Thanksgivings. Safe travels and happy eating! I'll be back next week with my "27 Weeks" post, our Christmas decorations and I'm sure a few pictures of our Thanksgiving.

Until we meet again...
Riley

Under Construction

2011-11-18T15:52:00.002-06:00

There's a Christmas makeover going on - it'll be finished soon!

25 Weeks

2011-11-15T08:38:00.001-06:00

Yesterday the weather was cloudy, windy and humid so I opted for pigtails due to the fact that I had errands to run and grocery shopping to do. As Frank Sinatra sang, "Nice 'n' easy does it every time".

I am: 25 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Rutabaga (which I discovered yesterday is a root vegetable that's a cross between a cabbage and a turnip -how's that for Vegetable Education 101) ~ 1.5 pounds and 13.5" long
Total Weight Gained: 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I am wearing maternity jeans and a non-maternity shirt in this picture. I actually have a picture down below of me in this same shirt at 14 weeks. I bought another pair of dress pants yesterday at Target. I already have pair of gray dress pants, but wanted some black ones to wear to church or other dressier activities.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt ... Side note: The other night we were watching a one-hour biography special on Josh Hamilton (outfielder for the Texas Rangers for any non-baseball fans) and we were surprised to find out that Josh's middle name is HOLT - how cool is that?! His grandmother's name was Mary Holt, so he was named after her. Josh Hamilton is John's favorite Texas Ranger so that was super neat to find out. In my "20 Week" post, we have pictures of the Josh Hamilton shirt John already bought for Parker.
Movement: I feel movement here and there ~ such a neat feeling! I can't wait until John can feel him kick.
Sleep: I am sleeping better now with my body pillow. I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much. I have my good nights and bad, but overall, not too much to complain about.
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of the things I will indulge in after Parker arrives - not all at the same time though!
Cravings: No cravings ... I guess I'm craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall. I guess my biggest complaint is heartburn. I usually have it everyday or every couple of days and it doesn't really matter what I eat or don't eat or what time of day I eat it. It doesn't last all day, but pops up here and there. It's not fun or comfortable, but if that's all I have to whine about thus far, I've had it pretty good.
Best Moment last Week: A couple of things...attending two classes at the hospital, getting Parker's lamp in, hanging Parker's curtains and passing my second glucose test.

On Saturday, we attended two education classes at the hospital where we will be delivering ~ Lake Pointe Medical Center. From 10-12 we went to the "Baby Bootie Camp" and from 1-3 we went to the "Breastfeeding Class". Both classes were very informative and I took a few pages of good notes - we had fun. The "Baby Bootie Camp" covered all sorts of topics from changing a diaper, swaddling, taking temperature, using a bulb syringe, characteristics of newborns, tips for the first few weeks at home and so on. We also learned a lot about hospital procedures, what will happen the day of delivery and during our time at the hospital...basically how they do things in the Labor & Delivery wing of the hospital. That was very helpful and answered several questions. The breastfeeding class talked about the benefits for Mom and baby, getting off to a good start, making it through the first couple of weeks and lots of other tips. We also watched a video and were able to take home some good reading material. Breastfeeding is a decision we have made to do and I hope and pray it works for us. I'm very anxious and excited to do it and very determined. I had a lot of questions and concerns about all of the facets of breastfeeding, but after Saturday I feel a lot more confident. I know it won't be easy, but I feel a little more assured after all we learned. On Saturday December 3rd, we will take an actual "Childbirth Class" which will cover stages of labor, the delivery itself, pain management, breathing, relaxing, post partum care to name a few things. At the conclusion of the class we will get to tour the Labor & Delivery wing of the hospital so we are looking forward to that. It was a good day and made all of this feel all the more real. I can't believe in a little over three months our baby boy will be here - EXCITING!

We got Parker's Snoopy lamp in last week and got it set up on the table beside the rocking chair. It's so adorable. I do plan to share pictures, but the room is kind of out of sorts right now. It's a long, frustrating story, but we are actually still waiting on the furniture. We were supposed to pick up the crib and changing table on the day we went to register (November 5th) and even though we got an e-mail and phone call saying the furniture was in and ready to pick up, it wasn't. Sparing you from all of the irritating details, we had to re-order everything and are still waiting on it. That being said, we are kind of at a standstill in his room. We can't really start anymore projects until his bed and changing table are in place. We have the mattress ready, but it's laying in the middle of the floor. Once things start shaping up in his room, I will share more pictures. It's going to be such a sweet room for our Parker. We also got the cute curtains hung that Carianne generously made for us. They look great. There's also a valance that matches the bedding we will hang over the curtains.

As I mentioned last week, I did not pass my glucose screening test, so I had to do a 3-hour glucose tolerance test last Thursday. I went in about 8:30 and they took a fasting blood sample and then I had to drink another dose of the orange sugary drink only this time it had a lot more sugar (the equivalent of four soft drinks). She warned me that it might make me sick since it was so much sugar and I had nothing else in my system. Thankfully, it never made me sick. She also said I would get sleepy and might even have a sugar crash later in the day, which I did! I came home, ate and slept for two hours. Back to the test, after I drank the drink I had to hang out at the Dr.'s office for three hours and they took my blood each hour. They wanted to determine what my blood sugar was with nothing in my system and then knew it would go up after I consumed all of the sugar, but that over three hours it would go back down. Praise the Lord - I passed this time! The Dr.'s office called Friday afternoon and all my blood work was within normal limits. And the three hours at the Dr. weren't all for nothing. I got a few things done while I waited. I took a bag o' activities so I was able to work on a few things and it made the time go a lot faster.

In other news, we are looking forward to Thanksgiving. We will leave next Wednesday morning Arkansas bound to spend the holiday with John's family. I perused all of my recipes, picked a few out and bought all of my ingredients yesterday for what I will make while we are there. We also plan to decorate for Christmas this weekend. We want to get it all done so that when we return from Arkansas, it will all be done and ready to enjoy. I am having a garage sale on Saturday so John plans to work on putting lights on the house while I do that and bringing all of our decorations down from the attic. Sunday and Monday nights we will work on decking our halls for Christmas. Snacks, music and decorations galore - oh the merriment! I guess we are on the seasonal fence - anticipating and preparing for our Thanksgiving trip, but getting ready for Christmas as well.

As I mentioned above, here's a picture of me at 14 weeks in the same shirt as above. Mommy and Parker have definitely done some growing over the past 11 weeks.

Have a great week!

Until we meet again...
Riley

24 Weeks

2011-11-07T13:41:00.002-06:00

I am: 24 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Large ear of corn ~ 1 1/4 pounds and a tad over 12" long
Total Weight Gained: 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I am wearing maternity jeans and maternity shirt in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel movement here and there ~ such a neat feeling! The other night I felt like I had swallowed popcorn and it was popping in my stomach.
Sleep: I am sleeping better now with my Boppy Body Pillow. I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much. I had a couple of restless nights last week, but a few really good nights of sleep as well. John's also been making me, make that encouraging me (that sounds sweeter), to try an take a nap everyday. I tend to not like to stop progress on my to dos - hah!
What I Miss: I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of these things I will induldge in after Parker arrives - not all at the same time though!
Cravings: No cravings ... I guess I'm craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling really good overall.
Best Moment last Week: Registering for baby gifts! We registered for gifts on Saturday at Target and Babies R Us. It wasn't without a few headaches and frustrations to start the day, but we survived and had lots of fun. We also had a yummy lunch and a did a little shopping. It was a long day, but really enjoyable. I worked on two registry checklists, one for each store, ahead of time. I took two generic checklists I found online, an e-mail Carianne sent me of her advice and experience and some notes that I had started and consolidated them all into an Excel spreadsheet (Nerd Alert - I love me some Excel). The whole registering process was overwhelming, but these checklists made it go so much easier and saved a lot of time - now that exciting task is done!

I had a doctor's appointment today for a monthly check-up and glucose screening test (GST). All checked out well with Dr. Potter. Parker's heartbeat still sounds great and I'm measuring perfectly. It was a pretty routine and good visit. I will go back on December 5th for my next check-up and after that visit, I will start going every two weeks.

Unfortunately, I didn't "pass" my glucose screening test. I came up 4 points short - rats, so close! That doesn't necessarily mean that I have gestational diabetes (a common pregnancy-related high blood sugar condition), but I now have to do the glucose tollerance test (GTT) to find out for sure ...or if it's nothing to worry about. I go back to the doctor this Thursday and do the GTT from 8:30-11:30. I have to drink the yummy (insert sarcasm here) super sugary drink again, only this time in a higher quantity. Then I have to hang out at the doctor's office for 3 hours and have my blood checked 4 times. Fingers crossed this test goes well!

Until we meet again...
Riley

23 Weeks, Thanksgiving Decor & More

2011-11-01T16:02:00.005-05:00

I am: 23 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Large Mango ~ just over 1 pound and a tad over 11" long
Total Weight Gained: 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. This past weekend, I got a few more things when my Mom and I went shopping. I bought a couple of items and my Mom bought me a few as well. I am wearing maternity jeans and a regular shirt in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel flutters and movement here and there ~ such a neat, but different feeling!
Sleep: I am sleeping A LOT better with my Boppy Body Pillow. I love it!! I still have a few struggles occasionally, but it's improved so much.
What I Miss: Hmmm...I still miss the same things that I have all along. I'm keeping a mental list of all of these things I will induldge in after Parker arrives.
Cravings: No cravings ... I actually got to thinking this week and I guess I'm craving what I can't have.
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling great!
Best Moment last Week: Going back home (Odessa) for the weekend to spend time with my Mom and Armando. Mom and I had a lot of fun shopping, visiting, baking and of course eating several yummy meals - my hometown favorites. I'm sure that's why I'm up to 5 pounds gained, hee hee. I hadn't been home since we found out we were having a boy so it was really fun to shop for "boy" stuff. The adorable stuff is endless. We got some great things for our sweet Parker. Thanks Mom for a great weekend!

In other exciting news, our crib and changing table have arrived at Babies R Us - hooray! We will be picking them up this weekend and hopefully getting them both put together next week. Get your tools ready Dad - here's hoping they go together smoothly. Putting furniture together is always a fun experience. We got his mattress delivered last week. Once we get the crib together, we can hang his name that I painted on the wall. There are still many more projects and things to do in his room.

A registering for gifts we will go on Saturday as well - how exciting. I've been working on a registry checklist for a week or so. I've heard and seen how overwhelming it can be so I wanted to be as prepared as we can. We are registering at Target and Babies R Us. Hopefully these checklists will help us not be as stressed, but have fun and enjoy the day registering for gifts. We are going to have a lunch date in between stores so it should be a wonderful day.

For something fun, I scanned a portion of a scrapbook page I made a few years back. It's a baby picture of John and I with our "stats". I wonder who Parker will look like and how much he will weigh? We figure that his hair will be pretty fine and of the strawberry blonde variety, but time will tell. We were both born in the morning so maybe he will be too!

Last week, I got my grandmother's (My Dad's Mom) rocking chair dusted, vacuumed and touched up some scratches. I washed Parker's comforter and folded over the back of the chair since it won't be going in the crib. Ignore the areas and stuff around the chair...it's still a work in progress. This is where the chair will sit and the table beside it. We should get it his lamp in this week. We can't wait to rock and read books to Parker in this chair.

In Halloween news, we had a nice evening. John went and picked up pizza for us and I decided not to make cupcakes and we just had a few pieces of candy for dessert...we had plenty. We had 120 trick or treaters, which I know is a lot, but it was about 50 or so less than last year. It didn't seem as busy, but maybe it was because it was on a Monday night? After the crowd died down, we turned off the light and watched a few recorded TV shows.

Today I started packing up the Halloween decorations and put out a few "turkey" items. We don't have a lot of Thanksgiving decor, but always fun to put it out and anticipate my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving because it doesn't have the stress of Christmas. You can just enjoy food, family and football. Plus I love it because it kicks off the Christmas season - you know once it's over Christmastime begins. I LOVE Christmas too, just love Thanksgiving a tad more. We will be spending Thanksgiving in Arkansas this year. Next Thanksgiving, we'll have a 9 month old - wow!! We will be putting our tree up and decorating for Christmas the week of Thanksgiving, before we go to Arkansas, so that when we get back it's already done and ready to enjoy.

I guess that's all of the news for now - have a great week!

Until we meet again...
Riley

22 Weeks & Family Baby Shower

2011-10-24T15:45:00.011-05:00

**NOTE: THE SPACING IS REALLY MESSED UP IN THIS POST - NOT SURE WHY! I WORKED WITH IT A WHILE AND NEVER COULD GET IT FIXED - OH WELL**

I am: 22 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Spaghetti Squash ~ almost 1 pound and 11" long
Total Weight Gained: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I can wear a lot of my regular tops too. I am wearing maternity jeans and a maternity top in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel flutters and movement here and there ~ so neat. It feels like I swallowed a butterfly or fish and he seems more active in the evenings so that's when I feel him most.
Sleep: Thanks to my sweet mother-in-law, the past couple of nights have been much better! Last night, I slept the best that I have in several weeks. While John's parents were here this weekend, they bought me a Boppy Body Pillow. It took a little getting used to at first, but it's so nice and has helped a lot. Thanks again!
What I Miss: Hmmm...I still miss the same things that I have all along. I made chocolate chip cookies last week - no dough for me. I also really want to make Shrimp Scampi, but the recipe I use takes white wine and clam juice...boo!
Cravings: No cravings
How I'm Feeling: I'm feeling great!
Best Moment last Week: Having our first baby shower and working more in Parker's room.

John's Mom and Dad (Mark and Karen) came to visit us this weekend. We had a really nice weekend of eating, visiting, shopping and World Series watching. They also came to go to a little family baby shower that John's Aunt Wanda (Mark's sister) put together for us on Saturday. Thanks again Wanda for ALL you did on Saturday!! She prepared a HUGE feast for all of us - it was so delicious. I think I counted 14 adults and 2 kids. We all ate lunch and then John and I opened our gifts and the rest of the day was spent talking and catching up. Everyone at the shower is spread out geographically in Texas and Arkansas so it was really great to get together for several hours - a celebration and time to reconnect.

Here are Grandma and Grandad...
From left to right ~ Lillie, Wanda, Janet (all Mark's sisters) and Karen (John's Mom).

As a small thank you party favor, I made up bags of chocolate covered pretzels for each guest. I colored the white chocolate blue and added blue sprinkles. I tied up the pretzels in a small sandwich bag with blue ribbon and a hand-written tag.

Mommy and Daddy-to-Be dressed in blue for our sweet boy.

Rachelle (John's cousin Rob's wife) made these cupcakes. Not only were they adorable, they tasted so good. I had two - one for me and one for Parker. YUM!!

Lunch time ~ lots of eating, talking and laughing.

Wanda had a fun game for us all to play. We were divided into two teams and each given a sippy cup of water. One at a time we had to drink our cup of water and when we finished the next person started. The team to finish all their sippy cups won a small prize. John's team won! We also got to keep all of the sippy cups after the game.

It's only fitting that the Razorback football game was on in the background. The game wasn't pretty, but they pulled it out in the end. Woo Pig Sooie!

A few pictures of us opening gifts - we got some really great stuff. This was so exciting!

Once we got back home, I spread everything out to take a picture of it all togther. I took a wide pictures and a couple of close-ups.
We had a great day with family and appreciate everyone coming to share the day with us and shower us with wonderful gifts.

We added a couple of things to Parker's room this week. My friend Sylvia (and her husband Brian) gave us this beautiful frame when we found out we were pregnant. I decided to use it for a scripture so with Microsoft Word and some scrapbook paper - voila! This will sit on the side table with his lamp by the rocking chair.

This is the canvas I painted while Carianne was here. I knew I wanted to paint a gingham pattern, but not quite sure how to pull it off. Carianne had the brilliant idea of using scotch tape to make the pattern. She taped it each way and I painted it the same blue I painted his name. This is hanging above the light switch and on the wall between the door to his room and the closet door. I wrote "Painted by Mommy - October 15, 2011 - I Love You Parker" on the back.

This sign came from Hobby Lobby and John hung it above his closet door.

It's starting to come together and we are over halfway there - wow! We also ordered Parker's crib, changing table and mattress this weekend so we'll be getting those over the next couple of weeks. I've also been working on a baby registry checklist to take with us when we register in about 2 weeks. That will be so overwhelming, but lots of fun!

Until we meet again...
Riley

21 Weeks & Room Update

2011-10-18T15:09:00.010-05:00

I am: 21 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Carrot ~ about 12 ounces and 10.5" long
Total Weight Gained: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I am wearing maternity jeans in this picture, but a regular top. Carianne let me borrow a few of her tops too.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel a few flutters here and there ~ really neat.
Sleep: It's fairly good - not great, but not awful either. I appreciate all the sleep I get. I took an awesome nap on the couch Sunday for about an hour.
What I Miss: This week I was really wanting fried eggs, not super runny, but somewhat - no can do right now.
Cravings: No cravings
How I'm Feeling: Except for the sleep struggles and occassional heartburn, I'm feeling really good! I've had a really easy pregnancy thus far so I hope the rest goes as smoothly as possible too.
Best Moment last Week: Painting on Parker's room!!

As I mentioned last week, my best friend Carianne came in late Thursday night to paint Parker's room for us. What a great weekend!

Before I go on, please cue the standing ovation and continuous applause for all she did on Parker's room. The words "Thank You" are not near enough to express our gratitude. Carianne, we very much appreciate you taking the time and a weekend to come and do this for us. It looks amazing and we are forever grateful! We love it!!

Luckily, like me, Carianne has attention to detail so she wanted the room to be perfect. I told her the two colors I wanted (cream and red) and that I wanted horizontal stripes on two of the walls and she took it and ran with it. She made very sure it was professional looking from the taping, painting and touch-ups and everything in between. She spent a lot of time touching up the drips and imperfections so it looked flawless. She also brought her laser level for taping the stripes so there wouldn't be lines to draw on the walls and try to hide with paint.

I must also say a big thank you to John! He did a lot of the painting as well (with Carianne's direction of course - hee hee) and held the laser level while she taped the stripes. He also went with me to buy all of the supplies and fetched several things from the garage over the course of the weekend. I walked in and out of the room at times, but tried to stay out of the way and away from the fumes. It was hard not to be able to help more. I worked on a few other projects and washed Parker's clothes that we've gotten recently. I also sat in the hallway, talked to them and watched them work.

The room was a flat paint before - we thought it was white, but once they started painting it looked more gray. The colors we got were from Lowes - Natural Sheepskin and Radiant Red in a satin finish.
John had to dig some dried up paint out of the tray - or at least that's what he said. Perhaps he just wanted to be a big kid and play in the paint.
One of the projects I worked on while Carianne worked on touch ups was painting the letters of Parker's name to hang on the wall above his crib.Carianne bought some really cute star stickers at Hobby Lobby and suggested I put some of them on the light switch and outlet covers. They really go with the theme and colors of the room. While we waited for the cream to dry we went shopping for a couple of hours. Fun times!! We bought several things for the room and some craft supplies. And if she hasn't done enough already, Carianne volunteered to make curtains for Parker's room. There's a valance that goes with the bedding, but she's going to make blue gingham curtains to go behind the valance. We bought the fabric for those while we were out.
Carianne also had a wonderful idea of painting red stars on one wall to match the red stars on the bedding (I never would have thought of or attempted this on my own). She ran the idea by us and we loved it, but she wanted it to be a surprise so we didn't see this wall until she was done. WOW! This wall will have a rocking chair (that was my Grandmother's), a side table and the changing table.
While we were at Hobby Lobby, we bought the supplies and materials to make a sports mobile/dangle to hang from the ceiling. I already had this hook in the ceiling from when it was the guest room and we decided to leave it there. The stars at the top were unfinished wood and Carianne painted them red. The rest she assembled with fishing line and hot glue. It is precious! It's two sided so when it spins you see this on the other side as well.
I also painted this while I was painting his full name. I painted it the same blue and used the same stickers from the outlet covers. We attached it to the door with good ol' velcro. Here is his name leaning against the wall. We are going to hang it inside one of the red stripes above and his crib will be underneath.
The rest of these pictures are what the room looks like as of yesterday. We cleared out all of the supplies and junk - hah! Everything in here will stay in here, but not necessarily where it is. The painting was the biggest job so now we can arrange things, bring furniture in and hang a few items. It's not near done by any means, but we'll get there. I still have a long to do list in here. We also got Parker's car seat and stroller delivered last week. It was a generous gift from Grandma and Grandad - thank you! Daddy still needs to put a few parts on the stroller.
Here is his bedding - sheets, comforter and bumper pads. The way the sun is hitting it, it looks so light, but it's really bright. There's also a little blue Snoopy from Mamaw. On top of the bookcase you can see a sneak peak of a canvas I painted, but I am waiting to take a picture until it's hung on the wall. There's a collection of supplies for things I'm working on in the corner.
While these pictures are pretty good, the room is much better in person. The colors are very rich and bright. I can't wait to keep working on it. I will keep taking pictures and posting them as we get more done. Thanks for letting us share - much more to do, but we are making progress.

Again, thank you a million times Carianne! Thanks to you too sweet husband - I love you so very much!

Until we meet again...
Riley

20 Weeks ~ HALFWAY!

2011-10-11T07:22:00.007-05:00

I am: 20 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Banana ~ about 10.5 ounces and 6.5" long (at this point, the baby is measured in length)
Total Weight Gained: 3 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I am wearing maternity jeans in this picture, but a regular top.
Gender: It's a BOY!
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: I feel a few flutters here and there ~ really neat.
Sleep: I have done some pillow adjusting this past week and it has helped. I'm still not sleeping great, but a little better so I'll take what I can get.
What I Miss: A solid night's sleep, caffeine and a few foods I have to avoid. It's really not that bad though - just have moments here and there where I'd really like something particular.
Cravings: No cravings ~ I wonder if I'll ever have any?
How I'm Feeling: Except for the sleep struggles and occassional rough heartburn, I'm feeling really good! I've had a really easy pregnancy thus far so I hope the second half goes as smoothly as possible too.
Best Moment last Week: We have gotten several more things for little Parker and his room this past week. It's been really fun going to a few stores to pick some things up or hearing the doorbell ring and a delivery being made. (More on this below)

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is looking and measuring great. Parker's heartbeat is still loud and strong. We will go back the first part of November.

I did a little comparison of me at 10 weeks and 20 weeks. My hair is a little longer and I'm a little rounder - hee hee!
This is the book I'm going to read Parker this week. My Mom (Mamaw) got it for us not too long after we found out we were pregnant.

I also don't want to forget about our first baby boy and Parker's big brother, Calvin. We aren't sure how Calvin will react to having a little one around, but we are hoping and praying he adjusts well. I'm sure he'll be fine after the initial transition. Thankfully, Calvin is such a sweet, loving and easy going dog so he'll be so good with Parker. It'll be fun in a couple of years when Parker is old enough to really play and interact with Calvin - a boy and his dog. How sweet!

When we found out we were having a boy, my dear friend Sylvia gave us a bottle of sparkling grape juice - mmm! With a suggestion from my pregnancy calendar, we decided to toast last night (after a long day) to being at the halfway point. Hooray!!

Here are a few things that we have gotten this week.

We had a Babies R Us coupon so we went looking around on Saturday (we were also looking at cribs), but John spotted this cute little shirt of his favorite Rangers player.

I had a Dallas Cowboys store gift card so I ordered a set of pajamas. With all of these pictures, the cuteness factor is just not done justice - you have to see them in person, hee hee! We also ordered Daddy a new Cowboys baseball cap.

We also had several Kohl's coupons and discounts so we combined them all and got a few things. Here are two of them...

These I got from Target (online) when I ordered Parker's bedding.

I got this with another gift card/coupon I had. We ordered something for our nephew Isaac a few years ago from Personal Creations and they sent me a $20 "we want you back" card...well okay then! All I had to pay was shipping - I love it!! We will us this for trips out of town to the grandparent's houses or for extra things to pack along with his diaper bag. Then maybe when he's older and bigger, he can carry it himself.

And finally, we got his bedding - YIPPEE!! We are doing a Snoopy sports theme in his room. The colors are cream, red and light blue. We plan to incorporate the blue gingham pattern a few places as well. The colors are more vibrant than this picture shows, but here's the comforter. There will be more pictures to come of the bumper pads, sheets and other accessories. It's so cute!

This will be a BIG WEEKEND in our house! My best friend Carianne is flying in late Thursday night and staying until Sunday morning to paint Parker's room! We will reveal colors and pictures later once it's done...then on to decorating, hanging items and placing furniture - so much to do, but oh the fun. I'm looking forward to having Carianne here just to visit and catch up ~ we don't get to talk or see each other as much as we would like. We've known each other and been best friends for 17 years. Never did we think we'd ever get married or have children and look at us now. I got married first, she had a baby first and we both will have boys - so neat! It will be a fun weekend of painting, talking, eating and maybe a little bit of shopping - we know time will go so fast!

One more thing to share. The last time we were in Arkansas visiting John's parents, his Mom let him have his baseball glove from when he was a little boy. She did such a good job of keeping lots of special things from John's childhood, so I asured her we would take good care of it. We are very sentimental people! We planned to put it in John's office which is where it has been since she gave it to him. Well, when we found out we were having a boy, we decided to put it in Parker's room. Right now we are envisioning a shelf on the wall with this on top and a baseball inside. John's going to write a message on the baseball. How special will this be in his room? His Dad's glove from when he was a little boy - I just love it. We are also on the lookout for a little football too to go beside it.

We are doing our best to thank them personally along the way, but I just want to say a quick THANK YOU to all of the grandparents - Grandma & Grandad, Grandpa & Mamaw and Granny & Grandpa. They have all done SO MUCH to help us - more than we can say. They've all given us money to buy some things or bought things for us, but more importantly been supportive and shared in our joy. We are so grateful!!

Lots more to do and many, many more pictures to come. We are so excited to share this with you all!

Until we meet again...

Riley

What a Difference a Year Makes

2011-10-07T08:39:00.009-05:00

A year ago today (on a Thursday), I was being wheeled into surgery to have an endometrial polyp and endometriosis removed. Luckily, everything went very smoothly and I recovered nicely. Nice months later, almost to the day, John and I were sitting in my doctor's office (awesome Dr. Potter) discussing our options due to the fact that I still wasn't pregnant since having the surgery. Bascially, our next step was some type of fertility drug or treatment. We had a lot of questions and concerns about that and needed time to think and pray. She put no pressure on us, but just said to call when we've decided what we want to do and how we want to move forward. We decided that we just weren't sure that we wanted to go that route and decided to leave it in the Lord's hands and let His will be done. Exactly 20 days later, I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Praise be to God!

So here we are, one year since my surgery - 19 weeks pregnant and expecting a precious baby boy, Parker Holt. What a difference a year makes!
On another note, our Texas Rangers are headed back to the ALCS (American League Championship Series)!! Only this year, the stinky Yankees are out and we will face the Detriot Tigers. Games 1 is here at Rangers Ballpark tomorrow - hooray!! Let's beat those Tigers and make another trip to the WORLD SERIES!!

Another look back at this time last year...John and I were fortunate enough to get to go to Game 1 of the ALCS last year thanks to some amazing tickets behind home plate that I received from a client. Sadly, the Rangers lost in heartbreaking fashion, but it was such a fun, memorable night.

We also have to mention that our Cardinals are playing Game 5 of the NLDS (National League Divisional Series) tonight against the Phillies - DO or DIE! If they win, they will move on to the NLCS. Could you imagine a Rangers vs Cardinals World Series?! It would be fantastic and we would be happy with either winner.

We took a wonderful trip to St. Louis a few years back. Here's a picture of us at the game.

Here's to a great baseball and football watching weekend and celebrating where we have come since this time last year.

Until we meet again...
Riley

Halloween Decor

2011-10-05T16:16:00.008-05:00

Now that October has begun, I put out a few Halloween decorations around the house. We are not Halloween freaks! There are people out there that are a little insane and go above and beyond when it comes to decorating and celebrating Halloween. We aren't into the scary stuff like skulls, skeletons, witches and ghosts (only friendly ones). We love to put out a few decorations, watch "The Great Pumpkin" with the Peanuts gang and pass out Halloween candy (which we are already stocking up on). I do have a few pairs of Halloween socks I like to sport throughout October too. So we keep it pretty low key for Halloween, but it's fun to celebrate a little bit. On Halloween we usually order pizza and eat while we pass out candy. This year it's on a Monday so we'll also have Monday Night Football on in the background too.

The first two pictures were two that I forgot to include in our fall decorations. The first is a little pumpkin I made out of cardstock for John's desk and the second are some cute scarecrows hanging on my china cabinet. The picture of Snoopy toward the bottom hanging in our front window lights up so we plugged him in at night. Once Halloween is over, I'll pack all of this up and put out a couple of Thanksgiving decorations.
Thanks for stopping by!

Until we meet again...
Riley

19 Weeks

2011-10-03T14:52:00.008-05:00

I am: 19 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Size of an heirloom tomato ~ about 8 1/2 ounces
Total Weight Gained: 2 pounds
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. I am wearing maternity jeans and top in this picture.
Gender: It's a BOY! You can read more here.
Name: Parker Holt
Movement: No real movement yet, but I feel very slight twinges here and there. Movement can happen as early as the 16th week and as late as the 21st week.
Sleep: I haven't slept the best this week. It's not that I'm NOT sleeping at all, I'm just really restless and having trouble getting comfortable - lots of tossing and turning. Plus I tend to sleep the majority of the time on my back and I am now sleeping on my side which is an adjustment. But I do get some sleep and I hate to complain with how easy I've had it so far.
What I Miss: How about sleep? Haha! And I can't wait to have a caesar salad - oh yum!
Cravings: No cravings yet
How I'm Feeling: Except for the sleep struggles, I'm feeling really good!
Best Moment last Week: Finding out we were having a boy! It was an exciting day and has been so much fun since. It seems much more real now knowing what we are having. We can now call him by name and our minds have shifted to all boy thoughts and preparations and dreaming about memories to make with our little boy. We also celebrated this week by buying him a few cute outfits to hang in his closet and put in his dresser. I know there are many more to come so we tried to not to go too crazy, but it's so hard!! Some of these outfits will be for the first few months of his life and some will come later next year.
As I mentioned last week, I'm going to start reading Parker a book every week. This will be a good way to connect and around this time in the pregnancy, the baby can start to hear your voice from the womb - amazing. Here's the book I'm going to read him this week. This is actually a Golden Book I had given John as a gift in August 2006 so now I'm going to share it with our sweet boy!Have a great week!
Until we meet again...
Riley

Drumroll Please...

2011-09-27T14:15:00.005-05:00

IT'S A BOY! We are extremely excited and thrilled...on cloud nine! It has been quite an afternoon and evening. We went to our sonogram and found out we are expecting a little boy. Even better, they said everything is developing perfectly and our little boy weighs about 8 ounces at this point. We are still on target to deliver at the end of February. We have so many emotions and more things to share now that we know "it's" a "he". Our minds are spinning and overwhelmed with wonderful thoughts about decorating his room, things to buy, crafts for Mommy to make for his room and memories to make once he's here with us and in the years to come. After our appointment, we contacted lots of family and friends to share the news. We then celebrated with buying a few boy outfits (pictures to come later) and dinner. What a day!

A little bit about his name...PARKER HOLT! We love it. Parker is a name that we have both loved for years. It's a name we always knew we would use if we ever had a boy - even before we started trying to get pregnant years ago. It's not uncommon, but not overly common and it's super cute. Holt popped in my mind as we were watching the movie "Fireproof" one night several months ago. We've seen that movie numerous times and the couple's last name in the movie is "Holt" and as I heard it throughout the movie, I told John that I really liked it and thought it would be a neat middle name. Then the name "Holt" wouldn't leave us alone. Haha! One day on my way home from work, I look over and there's a truck that says "Holt Construction"...I found a flower shop business card and the shop was called "Holt Florist"...we drove by a law office one day that said "Law Offices of Charles Holt"...I read an article in my Southern Living magazine about Holt, Alabama...I was watching another movie one afternoon and the main character's last name was "Holt"...there's an adoption agency I've heard about called "Holt Adoption Agency". You get the idea...for a name so rare it kept appearing to us so we knew it was a sign!

There is SO much more to come, but we are blessed, happy and thankful to share this with you all! Thank you for all of your love and for sharing in our joy. Praise God from whom blessings flow for this precious gift.

Parker Holt, your Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet you!

Until we meet again...
Riley

18 Weeks

2011-09-25T16:58:00.011-05:00

I am: 18 weeks pregnant
Size of Baby: Baby Ussery is the size of a bell pepper
Total Weight Gained: No weight gained yet ~ I still weigh about the same as I did pre-pregnancy, but I think it's redistributed a little bit.
Maternity Clothes: I have a nice little maternity clothes section in my closet. This week I ordered a Dallas Cowboys maternity t-shirt. I am looking forward to getting that. My Mom (Mamaw) also sent me a couple of new things last week that are super cute for fall/winter. Thanks Mom! The top I am wearing in this picture isn't maternity, but it fits me a little loose. I am wearing this same top in my 13 week post (click here to see that picture and how I've changed in the same outfit).
Gender: We will found out TUESDAY!!! If he/she cooperates during the sonogram that is...fingers crossed and prayers lifted! It's really going to get more FUN once we know if we are having a boy or girl.
Name: We have our names picked out, but waiting to reveal his or her name once we find out. Everyone will know this little one's name this week!
Movement: No movement yet, but should be happening any day now. It can happen as early as the 16th week and as late as the 21st week.
Sleep: Overall, I'm sleeping pretty good right now - a little bit of restlessness here and there, but not too bad.
What I Miss: I can't really think of anything I missed too bad this week.
Cravings: No cravings yet
How I'm Feeling: I am feeling really good! I've had a little more back pain and pressure and a little discomfort over the past week, but not too bad. It doesn't hang around too long and it could be so much worse!!
Best Moment last Week: We went to a Christian based parenting conference called "Raising Truly Great Kids" on Saturday and it was wonderful. We learned SO much and it really opened our eyes in a lot of different areas. It wasn't a class on how to change diapers, feed a baby, rock them to sleep, speed up their development, educate them, etc...it was a class on how to love them, encourage them, support them, care for them and grow their heart. It was about loving and dealing with your children like God deals with us. How to raise your child for true greatness - which means he or she having a passionate love for the Lord that shows itself in our child's love and concern for others. We also signed up for a few classes at the hospital in November and December about all sorts of topics. We will also take a tour of the maternity wing in the hospital during one of the classes.

John's Mom (Grandma) bought me a pregnancy planner right after we found out we were pregnant and I love it! It is set up like a calendar so you can record all of your appointments, important dates, milestones in the pregnancy and so on. There are also places to record your weight, thoughts, ideas and questions. Also throughout are some recipes, ways to care for yourself, tips and tricks.

At this point in the pregnancy it suggested to find a way once a week or once a day to connect with your baby. We obviously already do a lot of praying for our sweet one, but I decided that this week I would start reading a book to Baby Ussery once a week. These will be books they will hear over and over again once they are in our home, but until then I will enjoy sharing these stories with them.

The book for this week is called "The Pumpkin Patch Parable". It's a cute story and perfect for fall...plus there's a cute beagle puppy in it that looks a lot like Calvin.
We will be upating the blog Tuesday night, if all goes well with our appointment, so you will know BOY OR GIRL and what their name will be.

Until we meet again...
Riley