Just A Reminder...

This is just a friendly reminder to make sure you always stir your paint before painting.......shaking the can doesn't work!

As I grabbed extra stirring sticks at the Lowe's paint counter, Shawn proceeds to tell me that you don't need those, shaking the can works better. I guess he'll have to put on 3 coats instead of 2!

OLYMPIC GYMNAST

HERE'S OUR LITTLE GYMNAST AT 12 WEEKS!

He/she wouldn't sit still while they were performing the ultrasound

Just Another Weekend

We had a great weekend last weekend! I talked Shawn into watching a chick flick on Friday night as we fended for ourselves for dinner - my favorite kind of dinner because there's no thinking involved - just open the pantry and frig and eat whatever looks good. Yummy, yummy!

I read the book P.S. I Love You when we went on our cruise and it was a great book. I am not a love story type of book reader typically, but I decided on it anyway. I love a book where you just can't put it down because you can't possibly wait to find out what happens next. Anyway, the movie finally came out and that's what we rented. It definitely deviated from the book, as most movies made from books do, but it was still a very good movie. If you're looking for a good cry, this would be the movie to get. A critic of the book gave it "4 1/2 hankies out of 5" and I agree!

Saturday morning we set out to see if we were brave enough to let Wrigley be off leash.....we weren't. So, we just took him on a couple of different walks around the area to wear him out. We then took him to Flanner's Beach for a quick dip in the water. We had to drag him into it. Our dog is afraid of water. So, what did we do? We drug him in....literally. I have a couple of videos, but for some reason they won't upload to the website.....so here's some pictures.

After Wrigley's forced swimming lesson we took him home and set out for quick trip in the kayak. The weather was perfect and it felt good to get some sun on our faces. After kayaking, and a brief freak-out by some giant jumping fish which I swear were sharks, we came home to relax on the couch and watch Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. We ended the night out by going to a Kinston Indians baseball game. It's always fun to go to outdoor sporting events on a cool summer night, where not only can you get some great baseball food...but also heartburn!

We ended the weekend out with a rainy Mother's Day, relaxing and watching a movie after church. The storms that rolled in where pretty severe, but beautiful to watch.

Yeah, I got the video to work!!!!

P.S. More baby pictures to come soon....

Derby Party

Shawn and I had the privilege of attending a Kentucky Derby party this past weekend. My boss and his wife got 10 tickets and invited us, so we thought....Do we have anything better to do in New Bern on a Saturday night? And the answer was no. There was no getting out of it. It was a very mixed crowd and kind of a weird dynamic, but how many people can say they've been to a Derby party at a couple of New Bern's finest historic homes? I was going to buy my own hat, but really, when would I ever wear it again. The hostess provided hats and this is the best one I could find. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Everyone drinking their Mint Juleps

Getting ready to watch the race (and then the horse getting euthanized!)

Shawn with the very cool historic homes behind him

Me in my hat!

Happy Birthday, Brady!

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Yesterday I was giving myself a hard time for not feeling as sad this year at Brady's birthday, as I did last year. I was almost to the point of making myself conjure of memories of the day he was born so I would feel sad and could wallow in self-pity. How could I not be sad that my son had died and this would have been his second birthday? All day at work, anytime I would laugh at something or get busy with something, I would ask myself, "Do you not remember what tomorrow is?"...as if my life should stop for these few days surrounding his birthday. As everyone at work went home, I was left in the office by myself. I decided to look up some verses on God's promise of faithfulness to us. As I was taking them in (there are too many to recite), these were the two that really grasped ahold of me. The ironic (or not so ironic) thing about Hebrews 10:23 was that it was also my KLOVE Encouraging Word of the day this morning (daily verses I get through e-mail). And I realized, would I want to stay in a rut of despair? Do I want to feel hopeless, angy and upset that Brady died? Somedays, yes. That's just human nature. But in all actuality, no! I didn't want God to leave us in that place of despair. And He is faithful! He has not left us there.

Driving home after work I was thinking about how I would feel today taking the toys to the hospital. I was singing along to a song I've heard plenty of times, but I stopped and listened the chorus once I realized it was speaking to me. It's Building 429's "You Carried Me" (you can watch the video on You Tube).

You carried me

You carried me

You carried me through it all

And I believe

Yes I believe

You’ll carry me all the way home

Cause mercy covers all

He has carried us through, probably the most difficult time in our lives and we stand only because He's given us faith to walk.

So this morning as Shawn and I set out for the children's hospital in Greenville, we were not sad. We know that as time goes on our wounds heal. We also know that we will always know the true feelings of losing a child. We will always have that emptiness in our heart; that something is missing. God will not leave us there in that hard place. If we allow Him, He will renew us every morning. Great is your faithfulness!

So, Happy Birthday Brady! We will always love you and miss you and take comfort in the fact that you live in our eternal home and we will hold you again!

Here's the new baby!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made".

Psalm 139:13-14

Creative Touch

A creative touch...that is one thing I do not have. I'd like to think I do, but I know deep down I don't. And that's totally ok. I'll just keep taking my ideas from Pottery Barn and pretending their mine. Most people would think that as a kitchen designer you would have to be creative, and don't get me wrong, there is alot of creativity to it. But when the walls are already set in stone, there's only so much you can do with your creativity. I wish I had more of that crafty, creative side to me because then this blog would have probably been up weeks ago and it would have a little more style to it. For those of you who really know me, you know that black is right up my alley, so that's where I started. We, or I really, decided to make this blog so that our family and friends could follow us along in our pregnancy. But as I thought about it more, it's really a way for everyone to follow us along in our daily lives. We don't get to talk to everyone that often and I forget who I told what to, so maybe this way everyone will feel like we're right there with them. I hope to update it often and that it gets way less cheesy as time goes on. And just like that...there's our very first post!