Ok, so this post comes long overdue. As you can see, it's been almost a month since my last post and while I could sit here and try to come up with a bunch of really good sounding excuses, I'm going to just write about what has been going on the past weeks instead! This could turn in to a long post, so if it does, I apologize in advance! Where to start....Thanksgiving was wonderful! This year, we did not travel anywhere and all of our family stayed home as well, so it was a very quiet and relaxing four days in our home! We were very blessed by a sweet friend of ours, Melissa, who invited us to join her and about 25 of her family members for Thansgiving lunch and to watch the Cowboys game. What a blast it was! Everyone was so friendly and the food was absolutely A-MAZ-ING! Because I know that each family has it's own traditions I was a little apprehensive to attend at first. I wasn't sure what types of food there would be, and I have to say I was a little nervous that the "staple" Thanksgiving foods might not have been available. I mean we're talking turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and dessert. Needless to say, my expectations were met and exceeded by the array of different options available, including all of my favorite comfort foods!! Probably my favorite part though, was the dessert that was set at each table stting, neatly wrapped in a little box with a bow. It was some kind of chocolate peanut butter crunch ball (I would die for this recipe!!). I think I actually ate 3 of them (don't worry, I didn't steal form anyone else, I waited until the end and took what was leftover!). After watching the first three quarters of the Cowboys game, Aaron and I headed home for some relaxing time (and time to let our VERY full bellies settle). We lounged all night, well, all weekend for that matter, and I was just so thankful that we were able to have that time at home by ourselves. It was the last holiday without baby and/or family, and it truly was such a blessing to not have to host, and to be able to just lay around and enjoy each other's company!
The next big thing was my final baby shower at work last Friday. WOW!! I truly am so blessed with my job, and especially the amazing, wonderful people I get to work with everyday! A couple girlfriends of mine at the office put on an outstanding shower for me, more than I could have ever expected or hoped for, and to top it all off, even some of the guys in the office attended! I am still overwhelmed at the giving hearts that fill this office, especially during such difficult financial times, and the company layoffs that have been happening here. The gifts, giftcards and cash we received was and still is overwhelming! Thank you to any of my co-workers who follow my blog and were a part of making Caleb and I feel so very special! While I do have some pics from the shower, I don't have them with me so I'll upload them later.
Express Yourself! Creations is officially temporarily closed, and boy do I fell great about it!! Thanks to some very sound advice from my sweet hubby and three couples who love me more than I can fathom (Eubanks, Selfs and Woods!), I temporarily closed my business as of December 7th and will not re-open until at least June 1, 2009. At first I was apprehensive to close it down, only because I was still receiving so many orders and was excited that it was so successful. But it didn't take long for me to realize and remember that I am only one person and to try to do my business, be a new mommy, a home manager, and a wife was too overwhelming for me to comprehend. The business was the obvious answer to let go of, at least for the first six months of Caleb's life, while we attmept to get into some sort of schedule. Now that it is closed, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and while I am so excited to open back up with new and exciting products, I am even more thrilled about being able to focus my attention 100% on my family.
Caleb's nursery is coming along great! My AWESOME, AMAZING and EXTREMELY TALENTED sister agreed to make my bedding for me and WOW, I mean I'm still speechless at how it turned out!! Julie, you are such a gifted seamstress! I praise the Lord for this gift he gave you, and that you utilize it! Of course, it blesses me greatly, being your sister and all! I posted a few pics of the crib below. There truly are not words to express my gratitude and absolute awe of how amazing everything came out! It is more than I could have ever wished for. Thank you!!! I can't wait to get the diaper bag and matching burp cloths whenever you get the chacen to send them! For those of you who are loving the end product as much as I am, I'm sorry to say that I don't have a website to give you for my sister's stuff. While I've tried to get her to go into business, being a mom of 2, going to school, and having a husband in residency, there is no way she has the time! Thanks for fitting me in though, I'm so blessed!! As I continue to "nest", I will update the blog with more pics and hopefully a completed nursery within the next couple weeks!
Caleb & Pregnancy. Where do I start! This pregnancy overall has been just a joy to my heart. Knowing that Caleb is only 3 weeks away from being here is just mind boggling to me! I am anxious, excited, overwhelmed, joyful, and extremely emotional, none of which I'm surprised by! The thought that really at any moment he could come, while I would like to make it to at least the day after Christmas, still is just so fun to think about!!! I'm still nesting big time, and have a million things that I want to complete before he gets here, but I do realize that it won't all get done and that my to do list gets longer every day. I can't wait for Chrsitmas to get here because it means I'll be done with work and will be able to be at home resting, and just enjoying the last couple weeks of being pregnant and preparing mentally emotionally and physically for this next life phase. As far as how I'm feeling, well, I feel VERY pregnant! I've been having Braxton Hicks now for quite some time, but they are definately getting more andmore painful as the days go on. I also woke up yesterday for the 1st time with "Cankles". I will not be posting a picture however, because they were so very very ugly and I already feel so large in other areas that I didn't want to add visualizations to my feelings of being a whale! SLeeping is very hard and uncomfortable, and I'm averaging about 3-5 hours a night, even though I'm in bed for at least 7-8. I'm definately waking up more often to potty as well that's about 3-4 times a night on average as well. Even though I'm in pain most everyday, I'm still able to walk (most of the time) which is definately a huge blessing as I know some women can't even do that at 37 weeks pregnant! Praise the Lord, though, I soon will be able to be at home and relax for the last couple weeks of pregnancy, since our company will be shut down form the 24th - Jan. 5th. I'm really truly hoping for a late 2008 baby, or very early 2009 baby so that I won't have to go back to work for that week in January, but most of all, I just want to deliver a healthy baby boy!
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll be updating the blog more often as we get closer to Caleb's arrival, hopefully with many more pictures as well, but once we are admitted to the hospital for delivery, Aaron will be updating our joint blog, http://aaronandjill.blogspot.com, as the labor and delivery progress, so be sure to check there for updates!!
As I said, I warned you that this was going to be a long post, but I feel so accomplished knowing that I've "caught up" on the major things that have happened over the past few weeks! I pray for a wonderful Christmas for each of you and know that we send our love!!
The next big thing was my final baby shower at work last Friday. WOW!! I truly am so blessed with my job, and especially the amazing, wonderful people I get to work with everyday! A couple girlfriends of mine at the office put on an outstanding shower for me, more than I could have ever expected or hoped for, and to top it all off, even some of the guys in the office attended! I am still overwhelmed at the giving hearts that fill this office, especially during such difficult financial times, and the company layoffs that have been happening here. The gifts, giftcards and cash we received was and still is overwhelming! Thank you to any of my co-workers who follow my blog and were a part of making Caleb and I feel so very special! While I do have some pics from the shower, I don't have them with me so I'll upload them later.
Express Yourself! Creations is officially temporarily closed, and boy do I fell great about it!! Thanks to some very sound advice from my sweet hubby and three couples who love me more than I can fathom (Eubanks, Selfs and Woods!), I temporarily closed my business as of December 7th and will not re-open until at least June 1, 2009. At first I was apprehensive to close it down, only because I was still receiving so many orders and was excited that it was so successful. But it didn't take long for me to realize and remember that I am only one person and to try to do my business, be a new mommy, a home manager, and a wife was too overwhelming for me to comprehend. The business was the obvious answer to let go of, at least for the first six months of Caleb's life, while we attmept to get into some sort of schedule. Now that it is closed, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and while I am so excited to open back up with new and exciting products, I am even more thrilled about being able to focus my attention 100% on my family.
Caleb's nursery is coming along great! My AWESOME, AMAZING and EXTREMELY TALENTED sister agreed to make my bedding for me and WOW, I mean I'm still speechless at how it turned out!! Julie, you are such a gifted seamstress! I praise the Lord for this gift he gave you, and that you utilize it! Of course, it blesses me greatly, being your sister and all! I posted a few pics of the crib below. There truly are not words to express my gratitude and absolute awe of how amazing everything came out! It is more than I could have ever wished for. Thank you!!! I can't wait to get the diaper bag and matching burp cloths whenever you get the chacen to send them! For those of you who are loving the end product as much as I am, I'm sorry to say that I don't have a website to give you for my sister's stuff. While I've tried to get her to go into business, being a mom of 2, going to school, and having a husband in residency, there is no way she has the time! Thanks for fitting me in though, I'm so blessed!! As I continue to "nest", I will update the blog with more pics and hopefully a completed nursery within the next couple weeks!
Caleb & Pregnancy. Where do I start! This pregnancy overall has been just a joy to my heart. Knowing that Caleb is only 3 weeks away from being here is just mind boggling to me! I am anxious, excited, overwhelmed, joyful, and extremely emotional, none of which I'm surprised by! The thought that really at any moment he could come, while I would like to make it to at least the day after Christmas, still is just so fun to think about!!! I'm still nesting big time, and have a million things that I want to complete before he gets here, but I do realize that it won't all get done and that my to do list gets longer every day. I can't wait for Chrsitmas to get here because it means I'll be done with work and will be able to be at home resting, and just enjoying the last couple weeks of being pregnant and preparing mentally emotionally and physically for this next life phase. As far as how I'm feeling, well, I feel VERY pregnant! I've been having Braxton Hicks now for quite some time, but they are definately getting more andmore painful as the days go on. I also woke up yesterday for the 1st time with "Cankles". I will not be posting a picture however, because they were so very very ugly and I already feel so large in other areas that I didn't want to add visualizations to my feelings of being a whale! SLeeping is very hard and uncomfortable, and I'm averaging about 3-5 hours a night, even though I'm in bed for at least 7-8. I'm definately waking up more often to potty as well that's about 3-4 times a night on average as well. Even though I'm in pain most everyday, I'm still able to walk (most of the time) which is definately a huge blessing as I know some women can't even do that at 37 weeks pregnant! Praise the Lord, though, I soon will be able to be at home and relax for the last couple weeks of pregnancy, since our company will be shut down form the 24th - Jan. 5th. I'm really truly hoping for a late 2008 baby, or very early 2009 baby so that I won't have to go back to work for that week in January, but most of all, I just want to deliver a healthy baby boy!
Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll be updating the blog more often as we get closer to Caleb's arrival, hopefully with many more pictures as well, but once we are admitted to the hospital for delivery, Aaron will be updating our joint blog, http://aaronandjill.blogspot.com, as the labor and delivery progress, so be sure to check there for updates!!
As I said, I warned you that this was going to be a long post, but I feel so accomplished knowing that I've "caught up" on the major things that have happened over the past few weeks! I pray for a wonderful Christmas for each of you and know that we send our love!!
Be Blessed and Encouraged!
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