The Nursery ~ The Start

I wish now that I'd taken pictures of the nursery before it was a nursery.  It was a guest bedroom.  An office.  And it was decorated with black and white pictures and Georgia pictures.  The walls were khaki.  It was one of my favorite rooms, really!

But now, oh, now, it's no-doubt-about-it my most favorite room of the house!  So, check out Molly's nursery, Phase 1.....

Pink Walls!

The window and the chair ~ this is where we both envision ourselves rocking Molly! 

The bedding!

And so, there you have it.  The first phase of the nursery! 

Tim's watching me post this, and he just said, "What happens if we have a boy?"  uuuuh, we'll have some serious nursery updating to do!!  Ha ha!!!

Titus 2 Tuesday: Daveda, and a Pay It Forward

Welcome to another edition of Titus 2 Tuesdays, where we honor women who've taught us Biblical principles and truths.

So many of you in the blogosphere have touched my heart with your wisdom and knowledge.  Daveda is no exception.  Each post on Daveda's blog is full of wisdom, scripture, and truth.  Even now, as she is in physical pain, Daveda "sets [her] focus on Jesus!"

Love it! 

A few months ago, Daveda did a Pay It Forward giveaway on her blog.  And I won!  My goodie box was full of amazing gifts.  Check it out!  Oooh, that candle smelled so yummy! 

And now ~ better late than never, right?!? ~ I'm paying it forward to one of you!  So, simply leave a comment on this post for your chance to be entered into the drawing.  The only catch?  You agree to Pay it Forward by giving a goodie box to one of your readers. . .  and so on.

Stop by Daveda's blog if you have time!  Show her our love and encouragement during this difficult time in her life.

Who has been a Titus 2 Woman in your life recently?  Link up and tell us about her!

Feeling their presence. . .

Saturday we went to Lowe’s to look at paint colors for the nursery. In a matter of minutes, we both agreed that Princess Pink was the. Color. It’s the perfect shade of soft pink! Stay tuned for pictures of the pink room, thanks to Tim and my brother-in-law Brian!

While there, we decided to check out their carpet. Y’all, Tim is in MAJOR nesting mode. God love him, he’s got a list a mile long of things he wants to do to the house before the baby gets here! I love it! Because it’s exciting, because it means we’re getting things accomplished, because it’s just so fun!

So, we’re looking at carpet, and I’m completely overwhelmed and don’t have a clue what we’re looking at. Tim asks for help, and this nice man comes to our rescue.

He was immediately drawn to my being pregnant. He noticed it, commenting and striking up a conversation about babies and pregnancies in a heartbeat. He was a self-proclaimed Yankee. He told me all about how “in his day, you didn’t know if you were having a boy or a girl. It was just a baby. Everything was yellow and green, gender neutral. You didn’t know what you were having till ole’ doc said, It’s a ___!”

Meanwhile, Tim interrupts every few minutes to ask a question about carpet.

And then the carpet man and I are back in the saddle with our pregnancy conversation! The whole time I kept thinking how funny it was to me that this random man was so interested in our having a baby. Totally nothing like a typical man. Especially a stranger who’s helping us figure out the ins and outs of carpet.

He starts telling us about moving to Georgia from New York. How different things are down here. And he calls himself by his name, and it all hits me like a ton of bricks.

Steve.

His name was Steve.

My Daddy’s name.

We left ole’ Steve and before I could tell Tim what connection I felt with Steve the Carpet man, we noticed a sporty little red Escort with a personalized license plate, “Pe Pop”.

Again, I felt the presence of two of my favorite men in the entire world. My Granddaddy was affectionately known as Pepop (short for Pepoppie) and he drove a sport little red Escort for a few years before he died in August of ’08.

And so it was, on a random, chilly Saturday at Lowe’s that I was reminded of just how much my Daddy and Pepoppie would love to be around for this pregnancy and Molly’s arrival.

And I thank God for that reminder!

This Much I Know Is True

An unintentional break from blogging happens without realizing it.  I've missed you guys! Just because I haven't blogged in a forever doesn't mean I've not kept up with y'all, though! 

Once you've gone this long without blogging, it's hard to even know where to pick back up again.  Thus, this random post of thoughts!

It's getting difficult to lean over already!  I feel like I'm so big so fast, a'nd while I'm absolutely loving being pregnant, I do feel mighty big already!

Breakfast for dinner is always a big hit!  Tonight was no exception!  I must admit I made the best batch of cheese grits to date!  YUM!

I cannot wait to get my hands on Beth Moore's new book, So Long Insecurity.  I downloaded the first chapter, and I've read it.  The book promises to be incredible!

I'm participating in a Bible Study on Daniel, and while it's like nothing I've ever done before, it's also something I definitely feel I'm supposed to be a part of.

I'm participating in an Emmaus Walk in a couple of weeks, and I'm really looking forward to it!  I know I have a couple of readers who've been on a walk before, so maybe you'll understand when I say I'm a little anxious about it all.  I think just the unknown is kind of intimidating.  But I still am really looking forward to it; it promises to be an amazing time!

Impending parenthood opens the door to so. very. many. decisions!  What type of furniture will we go with?  Which travel system is best?  What color will we paint the walls?  One thing's for certain, though:  shopping for a little girl is so. very. much. FUN!  My sweet sister has already loaned us about a dozen precious dresses that are newborn to 3 month sizes.  All of them are just beautiful!  And my best friend sells Castles & Crowns Children's Clothing, so being the good best bud, I hosted a trunk show last weekend.  CUTE CUTE CUTE!!!! 

Speaking of that trunk show, Molly has 3 great things for summer 2011 when she's one!  Check out this precious bubble Molly's Lovie (my momma) got for her.  It's a cupcake on one side and a seahorse on the other!  Yep, two outfits for one!

And I picked out these two things for Molly.  The bathing suit was the very first thing I fell in love with when I saw the catalog.  Isn't it just P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S!!

Okay, so I promise I'll be more consistent with blogging.  Promise.  I've got a Titus 2 Tuesday post coming next week, and a Pay It Forward that you may win! 

Happy Weekend, y'all!

How Do You Do It?

Dear SAHMs,

How do you do it?  The thought of going to a single salary at our house has us both in a tizzy.  And, mind you, I certainly am not bringing home the dough. But we have realized that losing my salary ~ were I to stay home with Miss Molly ~ is a BIG deal.  A much bigger deal than I've ever felt my salary is around these parts.

So, back to the question at hand.  Seriously, how do you do it?  Now accepting any tips, thoughts, ideas and "this works for us" tidbits.

Sincerely,
A Wannabe

16 Weeks Pregnant

Wow, what a weekend we've had!  Saturday I was 16 weeks pregnant, so we went to this great little place in town called First Glimpse.  They do 2D gender determination sonograms, 3D and 4D sonograms, prenatal massages, and classes.  They've got a great thing going in that place, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and do one of the 2D gender sonograms.

Here we are waiting in the lobby.  I was as giddy as a little school girl.  Tim looks way more nervous than me, doesn't he?

Here is a 16 weeks belly shot.  I wish my shirt wasn't so frumpy looking.  I'm definitely growing, huh?!?

We finally went back to the room, and we were all piled in there for sure!  Tim and I also had our mothers and my sister there with us!  That was so special; I'm so thankful they came and are as excited as we are about this new baby.

This is everyone except my momma who was taking the picture; I sure do wish we'd asked the sonographer to snap a picture of all of us. 

So, the sonographer came in, and as you can tell, I was so stinkin' excited!  Check out my hands, which were obviously in perpetual motion!

The first few seconds the baby's profile was on the screen were amazing.  I was so overcome with emotion that I just about could've sobbed.  I think Tim was the only one in the room not crying, and he and I were holding hands so tightly that I think we both may have lost some circulation for a minute!

The sonographer saw just about immediately what sex the baby is.  It took us a little longer, though.  This baby?  Was moving and shaking, that's for sure!  Someone had recommended I drink some caffeine before the appointment to ensure the baby was active.  Not. Necessary!  Goodness, when I can begin to feel this baby move, it's going to be constant!  That little bit was constantly kicking and stretching!  It was precious!

And. . . . .  then, Baby decided to give in and show us all its glory. And there's no doubt about it, y'all!

 we're having a GIRL!!!  And to say we're tickled pink is an understatement!  Esctatic is what we are! 

We left First Glimpse and stopped in this precious little baby store just up the street called Giggle Moon.  Tim's parents live in Columbia, so I wanted his mom to see this precious little store.  On the way there, she called Tim's dad to tell him it's a girl.  He's an avid hunter, and he's already in the market for a pink shotgun.  Which makes this momma VERY nervous!!! 

Y'all, my emotions were out of control yesterday!  We walked into Giggle Moon, and it was really like all of the girl stuff took on a new life!  I stood in the middle of that precious store and just cried tears of joy!  It was awesome!  And it really hasn't stopped!  I get teary eyed now, just writing about it!  We did get a sweet sign at the store, which I'll try to snap a picture of an post next time.  I want to do a post on the sweet gifts we've already gotten for Molly.

That's right, I need to tell you all:  Molly Miller Slocum will be her name!  And she's the most beautiful little thing I think I've ever seen! 

"For this child, I have prayed" ~ 1 Samual 1:27

Working Out and Worshiping

Well hello there, long lost bloggy-buds! So very sorry I’ve been MIA. The holidays were just crazy-busy for us, and I let blogging duties slip. Errr, for weeks. And I’m sorry!


And now, I feel like there’s so much to catch up on and blog about that I don’t even know where to start. And while I definitely want to share some Christmas pictures with all of you, today is Tuesday. Which typically means Titus 2 Tuesdays around here.

But today, I don’t have a Titus 2 post. Instead, I want to blog a little about my workout from this morning. It was just really cool, so listen up!

We hit the gym around 6:30 this morning. It’s freezing (for us, at least) here with the temperature this morning around 21 degrees. That’s brrrrrrr. . . .cooollllddd to southern bells like myself! And in true B-fashion when we parked, I said, “1-2-3! GO!” and raced to the front door of the gym. Tim walked in like a normal adult. He just shook his head and said, “I love playing games with you I never signed up for!” We laughed about that because I do that often (which is another reason my sister calls us the gayest couple ever.)

Anywho. . . . we went on and started our own workouts. I need to say here that while Tim is definitely God’s Best for me in sooo many ways, our taste in music is a little very different when it comes to working out. I love me some jammin’ praise music. I have a Run n Worship CD that I’ve loaded into iTunes and my ipod. I love listening to Third Day’s Revelation CD while I exercise. I’ll even listen to a sermon sometimes. I don’t know; it just helps me get my mind off of running, stairmastering, ellipticalling, weight lifting. You get the drift. Right? Tim isn’t a big praise music fan; I mean he loves God, don’t get me wrong. But praise music just isn’t his thing! He is over there listening to the latest rap and gangsta tunes.  It’s quite funny how different our workout playlists are, really!

Ahh, I digress. . .

So, I’m on the elliptical, listening to my Jesus music, and I started what ended up being a really amazing time of prayer, worship, and reflection. In. the. Gym... On. The. Elliptical. It was great! Have you ever prayed to God, thanking him for someone who you can see right then but who has no idea you’re praying for them? Thanking God for them? Tim is still clueless about all this, but while he was doing his own working out, I was over there lifting him in prayer, thanking God for the AMAZING man he’s given to me as my husband. I’m astounded every single day at the incredible marriage God’s blessed us with. It was really fun watching him work out while I was praying for him. And he had no clue.

And then, I ended my workout session on the stairmaster, listening to Mandisa’s Broken Hallelujah. Ah, how I love that song. See, just a few weeks ago*, while on the stairmaster, I heard that song. And I totally felt like God was prompting me to pray for someone who was heartbroken and had their own broken hallelujah. I thought of some dear friends of ours who’d experienced miscarriages and unsuccessful infertility treatments. But something kept telling me, “No, they’re okay. It’s not them.” Later that day, I read a very heart-wrenching blog by Holly, and I knew immediately she was who I’d prayed for on the stairmaster that morning. And if you read her blog, you know she sings a wonderful, beautiful broken hallelujah to our King every day of her life.

So, today, I again spent that time asking God to always fill me with hallelujahs, with true thankfulness and honor to Him, regardless of my situation. All while exercising. It was just such a great way to start what’s been a great day!

Of course, hearing the pitter-patter of Baby S’s heartbeat helped the day, too!

Tell me; what random, out-of-the-ordinary times do you find yourself having the best conversations with God? I’d love to hear about it!

*Another interesting piece of that morning on the stairmaster: that evening, I got a phone call from our friends telling us they’re pregnant! And everything so far was looking good. Still is! Praising God for that every single day!