Christmas

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas; we certainly did! It actually started the weekend before when we went to Alexander City to do an early Christmas with Brad's family. We then headed to Tuscaloosa on Christmas Eve to visit my grandmother on my mom's side and then over to my grandparent's house for our annual Lee family dinner. We are now up to 19 people who gather for this dinner and I absolutely love the chaos of it all! :) If you can get past the crowdedness, NOISE and this year, the heat of having that many people in such a small space (my grandparent's house is not that big) it is just amazing to have so much family together who love each other so much. After dinner, my dad followed Brad and I back to Birmingham and stayed with us for a few nights. The highlight (at least for me) was the annual watching of my favorite Christmas movie of all time... Christmas Vacation! My poor dad has been subjected to watching this with me at Christmas more than he would probably have liked to. :)
A quick Lillian update... Brad and I went to the Dr. last Tuesday and were told that we have made quite a bit of progress and he predicts we will be about a week early - bring it on!!! We have another appointment on Monday so we are praying that this still seems to be the case and hopefully, we will be meeting our little girl sometime next week.

We had such a good time getting to do our early Christmas with our niece, Carson. My dad, Brad and I on Christmas Eve at my grandparent's house.
One final belly shot before Lillian's arrival.

Ready and Waiting!

It is just under 3 weeks until Lillian's scheduled arrival and we are getting super excited and also a little nervous! I have been so fortunate that between vacation and maternity leave, I have not had to work this past week and won't go back until April. This has allowed me some much needed time to get things ready for Miss Lillian - oh, and that small holiday known as Christmas! We finally have the nursery finished so enjoy the pictures...

Emily is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her sister and strategizing how she can get in the crib :) Lillian's crib and the monogrammed painting that really did turn out so cute.
The piggy bank on the dresser was my mom's when she was little and I feel so honored to be passing it on to Lillian!
The glider is fabulous and so comfy - hopefully that will make middle of the night feedings a little better.
The changing table with the bunny painting that her daddy picked out.
This is wreath that will go on her hospital room door and then on our front door once we come home. Also, Brad's sweet family had a little shower for us in Alexander City a few weeks ago where we got some great gifts for Lillian. We had such a good time and feel so blessed to have people who already care so much about our little girl. Here are a few pictures from the shower...

The cake was so cute (and yummy!) and matched the plates and napkins exactly. One of the precious outfits we got for Lillian - can't wait for her to be able to wear it!

What a difference a year makes!

Brad and I decided that we would tackle Christmas decorating today which means that we had to first go and pick out our tree. I am super excited that Brad gave in and agreed to a live tree as that is what I grew up with and believe it is the only way to go (my dad will be so proud)! Two Christmas tree lots later, we had the perfect tree and it was time to start decorating.
These days (almost 35 weeks!), I do everything I possibly can in my pjs since they are so much more comfortable and I figured this project would be no exception. That is until Brad told me I needed to stay dressed because we had to take pictures since this would be our first real Christmas together. What?!? I couldn't believe it but he was right. It will be our third Christmas together, but first being married and getting OUR house ready for the Holidays. It is crazy to think about that just one year ago, Brad and I had not had our amazing wedding and certainly did not have any idea of the blessing we would have with Lillian! It was a very clear reminder that we can never imagine how quickly our lives can change or the many gifts God has in store for us.

Can you tell I am a little overwhelmed by the task ahead?

Brad trying to keep Emily from taking out the tree - Already!

Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower Sunday in Birmingham and it was so much fun! I was able to spend time with some of my favorite people in the world and got some fabulous gifts for Lillian as well. I cannot say enough about how blessed Brad and I are to have this type of love and support during such an exciting time in our lives!

This is my life-long best friend, Tracy, who came in from NC to help with my shower...
She also MADE this incredible cake - I cannot believe how talented she is!...
My other best friend, April, is due just 10 days after me so we had to do a belly shot...
My precious grandmother also came...
These are all the wonderful hostesses that made this day so special for me (They are all so amazing and I can't thank them enough!!!)...

Happy Halloween!!!

Poor Emily! Since Lillian is not here yet for us to torture with costumes, our dog was forced to be our victim for yet another year. I cannot say enough about how much she hated it OR how much Brad and I loved it! Seriously, we both laughed until we were crying. I believe the look on her face sums up her humiliation and frustration at being dressed in the rooster costume (which I must add is a little too small). Lillian has no idea what she is in for! :)

Pictures!!!

So, it only took ALL weekend, but Brad was able to figure out how to get the pictures from the 4D ultrasound where we could post them. Here are just a few - Enjoy!

She looked so peaceful with her little hands up by her face...
Was I kidding about how much she looks like Brad?...
Towards the end, we even got this little grin...
We love her so much and can't wait for January to meet her!

Lillian in 4D

Brad and I went for our 4D ultrasound today and it was truly amazing! I had debated whether I even wanted to do it since it is fairly expensive and many that I have seen either didn't produce good pictures or just looked really strange (sometimes even creepy). Now, I can't say enough about how happy we are that we chose to do it!
There is some good news and some bad news however, from the experience. The good news is that we got some fabulous pictures of our beautiful little girl, but the bad news is that we only have them in hard copies and on DVD so there is no way for me to post any of the actual images. You will just have to take my word for it when I say that she already looks EXACTLY like her daddy! From the first glimpse I had of her, I was blown away by being able to see Brad's nose, mouth and chin on Lillian. This is not just something I see... the ultrasound tech, our doctor and both of my friends that have seen the pictures, all said that she looks just like Brad. As I find him to be super cute, I couldn't be more thrilled for this to be the case. :) Maybe she will be as precious as our niece, Carson, who also got the strong "Carter genes"!
The one slightly interesting (and possibly a little disturbing) thing that came out of our ultrasound visit is that the tech said that Lillian is weighing in at 3 pounds and 8 ounces. Although that amount seemed extremely large to both Brad and I, she assured us that was average and we let it go. I have since done some research however, that says the average baby at 29 weeks only weighs about 2 1/2 pounds! Obviously, we are now praying that she either doesn't know what she is talking about or meant to say 2 pounds and 8 ounces! I am comforting myself by focusing on the fact that Brad and I are both small people and it seems highly unlikely we would produce an abnormally large baby - right???

Nursery Update

Finally... Progress is being made on the nursery! Lillian's bedding has come in and it looks fantastic! We have also ordered the pictures to hang in her room and let me say, that is a relief. Anyone who has read the blog of my friend, April Reed, will find this story especially funny... When Brad and I were looking at prints for the nursery he really liked this one of a bunny (I have included a picture of it). I told him that if he liked it, we should get it. He kept hesitating and eventually told me that he was afraid if we got the one bunny picture, I was going to get stuck on that and have the whole nursery covered in bunny items. He was afraid we would end up with a "bunny theme"... HA! I guess men really do have a fear of a theme getting out of control. :) I was able to assure him that we were not going to have a nursery theme and that I was capable of having just the one "bunny item".

This is the infamous bunny picture and it will hang over Lillian's dresser/changing area. I think Brad did a great job picking it out! We ordered this picture with Lillian's initials to hang over her crib. I LOVE IT!!!
This is the main fabric that Lillian's bedding and curtains are made from... Is it not so sweet?!
We chose this as the accent fabric... I really wanted to have more green (my favorite color) than pink for the bedding.
I can't wait to get everything set up in the nursery so that I can post some pictures of the final product!

A New Job and Growing Belly!

We got some very exciting news on Friday... Brad got a new job offer! As some of you may know, the job he had with United Rentals was not a very good situation and we had been praying for some time now for something better to come along. The answer to that prayer started about a month ago when a friend of Brad's told him that his company, Medrad, was looking for a new rep for the state of Alabama and that he would be more than happy to refer him for the position. Brad researched the company, felt that it would be the perfect opportunity and three interviews later, got the job! He will be selling medical equipment in radiology labs within hospitals (that is the simplified version that I understand enough to explain :) ). There will be some traveling, but it is a small sacrifice for us to make for all of the benefits this job offers. Thanks to those who have prayed with us for this opportunity to work out!


Also, we are now just over 24 weeks (I prefer to say 6 months because it just sounds further along) and the belly is definitely growing! These pictures are from Tuscaloosa this weekend for my cousin's wedding and you can really see the change from just under 3 weeks ago.

Election Enthusiasm

Brad and I are officially getting excited (and a little anxious) about the upcoming election!
We decided that we each wanted a McCain/Palin bumper sticker for our cars which led us to the McCain store online (the website is http://www.mccainstore.com/), where I believe we may have gotten a little wrapped up in the "campaign spirit"! Anyone that knows me is aware that I can get more than a little carried away while shopping, but this is definitely the only time that Brad was on board with me. What started as bumper stickers quickly turned into a yards sign, t-shirts and baseball caps. I would like to point out that we were able to talk ourselves out of needing the coffee mugs so we did use some control. It is a good thing however, that we didn't see any items for dogs (yes, I looked) or Emily would be showing lots of support for the Republican party also. :) Oh well, at least our possible over doing it is in support of a cause that we are extremely passionate about!

Labor Day Weekend

I hope that everyone has enjoyed a nice, long Labor Day weekend! Brad and I have had the opportunity to spend time with our families and that is always lots of fun.

We went to Alexander City on Saturday where we got to play with our niece, Carson, and relax by Aunt Pat and Uncle Fletch's pool most of the day. As I am pretty certain that will be my last "pool day" of the year, I really embraced the opportunity and probably enjoyed it even more than Carson did - She's Four! :)

On Sunday, we headed to Tuscaloosa for a great but busy day. I went to a wedding shower for my cousin Scott's fiance, Lesha, and we had a cookout to celebrate my dad's 61st birthday. I can't say enough about how nice it was to have this time with family! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

The pictures are from this weekend and are our first "belly shots". Yes, I am almost 22 weeks and this is the first pictures we have taken of the growing belly. Hopefully we will be much better at taking pictures of Lillian once she is here than we have been as she is developing!

Our First Big Purchase!

We made our fist of many decisions and purchases involving Lillian this week and let me say, it was a little overwhelming! For those who have been through it, I am sure this comes as no surprise, but I was unprepared for how daunting the task of choosing baby bedding and furniture would be.
It started at Storkland where I decided that picking the fabrics I like and having the bedding custom made would be a good decision. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that I found the pre-made options just a little too "busy" for my taste and thought I could come up with something more simple and classic. I believe that I did FINALLY accomplish that after 4 trips to Storkland, 1 panic attack, and over 500 fabric swatches! I still don't think that Brad appreciates at all how stressful it was since he was able to just look at the fabrics I had it narrowed down to and simply point to the ones he liked best. Oh well, at least one of us still has our sanity :) I will post a picture of the end result once we get it in about 6 - 8 weeks.
On to furniture... Actually, that proved far less difficult. My friend, Brandi, with the help of the Baby Bargains book (I love it!), had done the research on all the baby furniture lines so I was able to have it narrowed down to two brands before we even started. The picture is of the brand and style that we selected. The only difference is that ours will be in white and I couldn't find a picture of it in that color. Maybe we are suckers, but we decided to get the convertible crib (it will convert from crib, to toddler bed, to full bed), dresser, chest of drawers and night stand because we figure this is the furniture Lillian can keep until she is quite a bit older. Hey, anything not to be making these decisions again in a year or two :)
All that is left for us to choose is the rocker/glider chair that will go in the nursery and I am in no rush to get that done! We will certainly post pictures as we get everything in and the nursery starts to come together!

A Baby and a Blog

Brad and I are officially joining the world of blogging! Apparently it is a necessity once you find out that you are expecting, to immediately start a blog to keep everyone up to date :) So now I find myself doing one thing that I wasn't sure I would ever do (having a baby) and another that I swore I would never do (starting a blog).
I am 19 weeks along today and we found out on Monday that we are having a little girl! Considering ALL of the old wives tales pointed to us having a boy, we were actually a little surprised when we heard the news. What is the take away from this? ... Don't get caught up in theories with absolutely no scientific basis :) That being said, we could not be more excited about having a beautiful little girl and so thankful that she seems to be developing perfectly!
We did not even have a girl's name picked out at the time of our appointment on Monday, but we immediately started thinking about it and within 24 hours, we had no doubt what our baby girl's name would be... Lillian Elise Carter!
Those who know me well know that there are a few things I felt strongly about when choosing a name. One is that I really love "old" names, second is that the name have a family connection, and finally that the name has a good meaning. I got all of these with the name we have chosen! Lillian is a great aunt on my dad's side and means delicate like a flower and Elise comes from the name, Ellis, which is my granddaddy's first name and dad's middle name. The name Elise also mean Vow of God and I just absolutely love that!
My goal is to be good at keeping the blog updated with news about us and the pregnancy and hopefully (with the help of my friend April) even include pictures to show Lillian's development and my ever expanding belly. Again, this is a goal and as I have had a severe case of writer's block before I even got started with the process, I can't guarantee that I won't need some reminders here and there!