Chicco Stroller!

Grammy and Gramps bought Alexander a new Chicco stroller! We love the neutral, green color, and it is a soft and smooth ride. :)

Gramps and I put it together...........

We're ready!

Baby Showers!

Birmingham Shower 11/14
Molly, Whitney, Marion


Ruth made Alexander a beautiful, blue blanket!

Mary Claire and Emory were the official gift-givers :)

Atlanta Shower 11/7

cake Sandy made

Justin's mom gave me Justin's little red baby cap! So sweet!

Aunt KT loves Alexander!

My sister Emily and me

I have felt the love of God for me and baby through the love and generosity of friends and family the last two Saturdays! My first shower was in Atlanta and the second was today here in Birmingham. They were both such fun and great reminders of God's love, provision, and care.

Nursery in Progress

Alexander's organic crib mattress--super huge blessing from Aunt Emmy and Uncle Matt! My grandmother's baby quilt is hanging on the crib. She made one for each of her grandchildren before she passed away, and it's finally time to use it!

Mom bought Alexander 2 Georgia outfits so he'll be ready to watch the games with Daddy next fall. :)

My mom came to help me work on Alexander's room a few weeks ago, and we got a lot accomplished! We put together the crib, washed all of his clothes (in special baby detergent), and spent 3 hours at Babys R Us tweaking my registry and having fun. Here are some pictures of the progress made thus far...

Planting Season

Justin and I FINALLY found a garden center with a worker who could answer our questions and help us learn how to landscape our yard! We've wandered through Lowes, Home Depot, Ace, Helena Landscape Supply, etc. only to become frustrated and give up. On Saturday, we went to "The Garden" on Morgan Rd. and the owner (a sweet older man named David) told us about all of the possible bushes we could plant and went above and beyond to help us out! We will definitely be going back there in the spring! Justin worked so hard on Saturday making our front bed look really good. Here are some pics of him hard at work. We planted some pretty red bushes and three gardenias.

27 Weeks Pregnant

Alexander's kicks are getting a lot stronger! This week I have my doctor's appointment on Friday and I'll be checked for gestational diabetes (I have to fast the night before and drink a "lovely breakfast shake"). I may also be given my RH- shot. I'm taking the whole day off so Justin and I will eat lunch together afterwards. :) My second trimester is quickly coming to a close (only 1 week left!). I've really enjoyed the "golden trimester," but I'm thankful to be getting closer to meeting this little guy.

Belly Pics 24 Weeks

Updates:

-We're leaning towards the name Alexander.

-He kicks like crazy! Justin can feel him moving, too!

-I'm six months pregnant.

Baby Boy 20 Weeks!

It's a BOY!

Sweet, baby Driver is a he! We're so excited, and we're thrilled that he's thriving in my belly! He's healthy and doing well in all areas and is very active! I can't wait to meet him and see his precious face.

18 Weeks

I think I've "popped!"

Visiting Matt and Em

View from the back of house (Mount Vernon)

Em and me in front of Mount Vernan

Em and Matt

Em, George, Martha

We had such a lovely visit with Em and Matt at their house in Falls Church, VA. We went to Mount Vernon, ate Matt's homemade pizza (yum!), went out for Chinese food, visited Em and Matt's Church, and played a bunch of fun games we had never heard of (we've since bought one of them ourselves!). It was a great finish to our trip. We drove along the Blue Ridge Trail for a little bit on our way home and made it to Helena in one day! Overall, we had a wonderful time!

Road Trip Part 3

Ashlawn-Highland garden

Justin with statue of Monroe in background

Grounds of Ashlawn Highland (James Monroe's House)--right down the street from Monticello

Road Trip Part 2

We spent our anniversary at Monticello. It was SO beautiful. It was planned out very well and the three tours included with our tickets were fantastic. The gardens were amazing and the inside of the house (no pics allowed) was really interesting. We had a wonderful day! We ate dinner that night at a French bistro in downtown Charlottesville. The streets are pedestrian only so all the tables are outside. THen we got dessert crepes from a little crepe stand! It was my first bought crepe since Paris 6 years ago! Our bed and breakfast experience put our hotels to shame. It was like staying at a friend's house. I slept so much better and the breakfast was very yummy. B&B's are the way to go! Overall, this was our best anniversary yet! Now we're going on 5 years! Wow! Next year we'll need a babysitter...any takers? ;)

Road Trip: Part 1

inside Johnson's house

J on the balcony

Johnson's backyard

portion of the wall left uncovered with civil war "graffiti" (this is the only section that they said wasn't "too vulgar" to reveal)

Justin and I had such a wonderful time on our anniversary trip. It was a precious time together and with Emily and Matt. We left Tues. July 14 around 9am and drove to Greeneville, TN to see Andrew Johnson's house. We arrived just in time for the last video and tour. We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about the president who followed Lincoln. During the civil war, soldiers stayed in Johnson's house and wrote on the walls (mostly hateful messages as Johnson was a union sympathizer from TN). Here are some pics from the beginning of our trip. (This is the week J thinks I really start to show--so watch for it!)

Kaitie and Ethan's July Trip

Justin was a big hit with Ethan. He loved J's guitar

and case!

What a cute pair!

Ethan's best pose

J babysat twice and both times we came home, this was how they looked. J also got to change his first poopy diaper! They became good buddies. ;)

First Impressions

Justin and I decided to start a family in April, and we got quite the surprise when we found out we were pregnant just one month later! Here's the story of how we found out..

We went to my sister's wedding the weekend of May 16, and my brother's finacee asked, "Are you pregnant? When I looked at you I just thought, 'Lisa's pregnant'"! Of course, we didn't believe her but it did leave me with a small amount of suspicion. So before eating a forbidden-for-pregnant-women ham sandwich the Sunday we got back from the wedding, I decided to take a test, which turned out to be positive! Justin and I nearly fell over, and Justin asked me to take another test "just to be sure." When it, too, proved positive, we skipped the sandwiches and headed out to eat to celebrate. We feel so blessed that God has provided a baby for our family. Here's Justin's face shortly after the test...

"Picnik"ed Wedding Picture

go to picnik.com to try your hand at editing pics!

Anniversary Trip!

Mount Vernon

James Madison's house

Dinsmore B&B

Monticello

Andrew Johnson's house

Justin and I are going on a roadtrip to D.C. in July. I spent part of today planning out where we're going, and I'm getting really excited! We'll go to Greenville, TN and visit the Andrew Johnson house. Then we'll drive to Charlottesville, VA and spend a few days there visiting Monticello, the James Monroe home, and the Michie Tavern. We'll spend the night at the Dinsmore House Inn B&B. From there we'll drive through Orange, VA to see James Madison's house on our way to Fall's Church, VA, where Matt and Emily live. We'll go to Mount Vernon to culminate our "Presidential Tour":). This is our first real vacation since our honeymoon 4 years ago! Yeah!