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!