A Whole New World...

Trey and I have been thrown into a Whole New World with the news of Baby G. Oh yes, we even discovered a new section in Walmart - Baby World. Oh my - it was overwhelming! We ventured over to find diapers - yes diapers - because we figured we would try to start this pregnancy off on the right foot and buy diapers each time we go to the store to stock up and save them so we are not rushing out to buy them every week once the baby arrives. Plus, we will probably be strapped for cash during those first few months (okay who are we kidding - the next 18 +years!) but we wanted to buy as much as possible and have it here and ready. Great idea huh? Well it was until we discovered that the tiny newborn diapers are a whooping $18.99! I mean, don't get me wrong, I totally understand the need for diapers, but WOW. Maybe we will just buy them every other time we shop at Walmart. ;)


It was a surreal experience buying them in the checkout lane - I felt like we were buying them for a friend or something - very strange - it didn't feel real. I guess it will soon enough!

So, we had a Wonderful Christmas!! Very low key and we hosted it at our house for my parents and Trey's mom. It was perfect - everyone helped out and brought food items and Trey cooked the tenderloin - yum!


Trey searing away....


The meat before it hit the oven...



I tried a new recipe - a broccoli and rice casserole which turned out pretty good!

Trey helped me chop the broccoli and Sophie was underfoot - as always - and she caught a piece that fell to the floor. Hilarious, she ate the entire piece! Bella always sniffs and licks the strange veggie pieces that fall to the floor, but if it isn't cheese or meat she sticks her nose up and refuses to eat it. Not Sophie, she will eat ANYTHING. So here she is munching away!

At least its a healthy snack!

I didn't get any pics of the family over Christmas - how awful! That definitely won't happen next year with Baby G in the mix - there will be plenty of photos!

We have been staying low and resting - or I have been - because I am exhausted all the time. And sick - so that hasn't been too fun. But I know the first trimester is full of exhaustion and morning sickness so I understand.

Back to work for me and gearing up for New Years Eve!!

A Little Christmas Cheer...

Trey and I have Date Night every Monday which has been the best idea ever! Last night, we went to a really good dinner at Fantastic China in the heights. We love this place, but never think about going because it is not close to our house. But, they have some of the best Chinese food! We were walking out to our car after dinner and looked over and saw a Haagen Dazs store! We couldn't pass that up - plus it is calcium for the growing pea pod :) And they had peppermint ice cream - YUMO!

So, we ventured out to go look at Christmas Lights after ice cream - we heard Burns Park and Sherwood Forest had some great lights so we went to check them out. Oh my, we have been missing out for years! Sherwood Forest was AMAZING - and FREE! They accept donations at the end, but they had the best lights and figures - way cool. Very organized and well done - I am SICK I didn't bring my camera to share with you, but I found these two pics online - this is the entrance gate....



And this is an example of what it looks like - the roads are lined with red lights and there are wonderful figures and light displays all along the way - truly beautiful!


Then, we went to Burns Park which was pretty neat - not as great at Sherwood, and you have to pay $5.00, but still worth a drive through.

We had such a great night together - I miss our college days when we had tons of time together through the year - we would often drive to Hot Springs to have lunch and shop, or take a drive and discover a new area, or sleep the day away. There were semesters when both of us had three and four day weekends! And we spent all that time together - all four days! :) I will always treasure those times, and I feel so blessed that we have those memories to cherish forever.

Merry Christmas Everyone - have a safe and happy holiday!!!

It's The MOST Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ahhhhh, I love the Holidays - first we get Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and now Christmas!!!! I know everyone says this is their favorite time of the year - and I am definitely one of those people! I love the cold air, the chance of snow, the holiday lights, the decorations, Christmas Cards, hot chocolate, Christmas music, winter clothes and coats, super cute scarfs, and the magical feeling that sticks with you all through the season - the magical feeling of giving!


Now, this year, there is another reason I love the Holidays so much and we have so much to be thankful for...


And that reason is.....

We are....





Yep! You read that right - I am pregnant and we are expecting our first baby in July!!! We are thrilled to death and are still getting used to the idea that we are going to have a baby - we are going to be parents to this little miracle and that is A LOT to take in! :)

It is still very early on - I am about 8-9 weeks, and I know it is standard practice to wait until the end of the first trimester to share this news, but that is not me. I would rather my dear friends and family (and blog friends) know and start praying for our growing family, and that way we have full support in case something were to happen. If no one knows, we would go through this alone and that does not sound comforting to me at all. So, we wanted to share our glorious news!!

We actually found out on our trip to Washington, DC a day after my birthday! For some reason I took pregnancy tests with us - I have no idea why - and our luggage was delayed for a day. So, the next day, Nov 14th, before we went out to dinner (and before I indulged in a few glasses of wine) I took a test. And low and behold within a minute it comes back positive. I was so shocked that I flung open the hotel bathroom door and ran over to Trey. He and I both kept repeating "oh my god oh my god". Finally, I took the other test and it read the same results. For some crazy reason, don't' ask me why, I thought the tests had been tampered with or something happened in the cargo bend of the plane so we ran to the CVS pharmacy and bought a few more just to be safe. I took those and positive, positive, positive. WHOA. We didn't know what to think or how to react. You see, October was our first month to, well, "have fun" in hopes over the next year or so we would be blessed with that positive pregnancy test. ;)

So, it was actually very cool because we were on vacation and we had time to take it in and talk about it and our future. We had these amazing days together without work worries and stress - it was the perfect time to find out. Honestly, a blessing! We decided to wait and tell our parents on Thanksgiving since that was coming up very soon and it would be a neat way to tell them on the most Thankful day of the year.

When we got back to LR, I went to Babies R Us and bought my MIL and my mom a turkey day bib (see below) and a photo frame for my MIL, my mom and my Dad.


I typed out a little paragraph of what was going on with the baby at that week and put it in the frame for our parents to read and that is how they found out we were pregnant! I think if you click on the picture, it will blow it up so you can read the wording better...



They were shocked and thrilled too - everyone cried and we spent the holiday in pure excitement! So, I went to my first Doctor appointment December 10th and we did the first sonogram - of course you can't really see anything - but I think she said the little blob on the right is where the baby is - inside of that blob. Haha - it is that tiny! I go back on January 7th and hopefully we can hear the heartbeat this time. It was too little to hear it, we could see it moving, but no sound.



It's amazing isn't it? For a while I didn't feel anything and I begun to wonder if I were actually pregnant - but spending every morning with my face in the toilet is proof it is true. I am really tired and puny, but for the most part I feel okay. I know this first trimester is rough - once I make it through that I will feel much better and more like myself!

We hope everyone has a very merry holiday season!!

Bitter Sweet Weekend....

Talk about a weekend full of emotions from different ends of the spectrum. There was a Funeral and a Wedding all in the same weekend. I am absolutely exhausted! On Friday, I drove to Luke's mother's Visitation in Monticello, AR. which is around 2 hours away. (Trey was at the Rehearsal dinner for Bruce's wedding) I was so sad I couldn't be there for the funeral on Saturday, but Bruce was getting married that day, so I was glad I got to attend on Friday. My heart breaks for Irene and Luke during this sad time. It was good to see them on Friday, and the visitation was beautiful. Irene did a great job on the photo montage of the family and I enjoyed seeing Luke's mom in the years past. We still don't know a reason for her untimely passing, hopefully they will know something soon. Please continue to send prayers their way - uplift their family - especially during this holiday season.

On Saturday, Bruce and Danielle got married!! I drove to Heber Springs/Rose Bud for the wedding/reception. Trey was one of the best men and he was so sweet to help setup that morning and help in any way that he could. I am so proud of the man I married - he is so willing to help and he is such a respectable man. I just feel so lucky and blessed to be his wife. :)

In Bruce Tradition - of course there were some funny/quirky moments to the wedding. For one, Trey wore a Sargent's uniform to match Bruce and his other best man. Bruce got him a name tag that read "Radar" which is a nickname that stemmed from one of those "you had to be there" times. Too funny!



Bruce checking Trey's uniform...


The beautiful Bride Danielle and her Maids of Honor

Mr. and Mrs. Moyer!!

Trey and I (sorry a little blurry, my inside setting was not working)

Trey and his mom

Trey and Bruce sparring during the reception. Bruce and Danielle had this idea - it was very interesting and quite funny. You know me, I tried to tell Bruce it was not appropriate behavior for a wedding reception - but the crowd seemed to love it! They only almost knocked the cake over once... ;)

The Electric Slide - aka "its time to get funky...."

How low can you go?

The poor car - Bruce's extra car that he affectionately calls his "POS" was decorated by his friends - Trey and I had nothing to do with this!

Today, I just cleaned and did some laundry - nothing major. Cannot believe work is creeping back tomorrow - geez can't we all have the couple of weeks leading up to the most magical time of the year OFF??? Is that too much to ask for? :)

It was a SLAH Weekend!!

Whew! What a busy past couple of weekends - I am ready for a break and rest! Last weekend was our Fall Party and this Saturday I hosted a Southern Living At Home party at my house - it was so much fun! I prepared all day Thursday and Friday and got all my Christmas decorations out and ready for the Christmas themed SLAH party. Lauren is a consultant and she did an amazing job - yay Lauren!

Let me start with pics of the tree - oh and this is my year, again, for Christmas. Not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Trey and I trade years. When we got married we decided we didn't want to compromise for Christmas since he loves a tree with white lights, very classic, and I love colored lights and PINK! So, we decided to be a little different and switch off years - one year we do his decorations and have a pre-lit white tree and white lights outside, and the next year we have a pre-lit colored tree and colored lights and different colored decor that includes pink. :) The only problem is that last year was my year and this year is mine too - we couldn't afford to spend money on a prelit white tree this year, so we are waiting until they go on sale after Christmas - so next year will be Trey's. This honestly worked perfectly since my decor tends to be more girly and I hosted the Southern Living party this year.


Oh, and we don't have a tree skirt yet, they are pricey and we were waiting until a sale at the end of the season - so that we could find a monogrammed one - I love the ones at PB!


I received many of these very pretty ornaments from PB from my Christmas Shower during our engagement - they are gorgeous and are so special to me to pass down...

Love love love my pink and silver glittery ball ornaments!!

Onto the Party! I made the 7 layer dip again for this party which was yummy -

and from my Blondes Can Cook cook book I made this chocolate chip cookie cream cheese bars - they were tasty!

I set out most of the decor, but Lauren came over early and helped place a few items out from SLAH to present and show how they can be used in the home.... soo cute!

SLAH items...

Little "thank you" gift bags that I totally forgot to hand out - how embarrassing!!! I will give them to everyone when I drop off orders! :)

The table - love all those colors coming together!

The super cute door hanger from SLAH that Lauren got me as a bday present - for cards or pics!

We did have a great time, thanks to all the Ladies who showed up - I had a blast with you all!

Now, onto a busy week... Bruce is getting married this next weekend and I am making a dip and maybe oreo balls - and I need to find a dress! Yikes!

On a more serious note, I just found out today that my best friend's husband lost his mother this morning. She was so young and passed away in her sleep last night and they are absolutely devastated. They do not know a cause as of yet. I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through - please send prayers their way. Irene and Luke, my heart goes out to you both during this time of deep sorrow....

Yay for Turkey Day!!!

I am a little late posting for Thanksgiving, but we have been busy around here! I was MOD on Turkey Eve, lovely I know, and Trey spent a majority of his time off cooking. We went over to my parents house for a delish early dinner and had such a great time!

First, I wanna show you the new chandlier we installed in our kitchen - we LOVE IT and it feels more complete!


Here are a few decorations I put up on the tops of the shelving in the kitchen - its a work in progress. :)


And my Gobble Gobble plate for turkey day - firefly studio does a fantastic job!!

And onto the FOOD! We had my personal favorite: Mac and Cheese! Trey's homemade was sooo yummy!

We had squash with sweet potato spread, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, rolls, turkey, gravey, and dressing.

We had cherry and french apple pies for dessert - as you can see Trey was WAY excited about his apple pie! ha!

I am SO thankful for my family - they are amazing!

Then, the rest of Thanksgiving, I cleaned and baked for my 3rd Annual Fall Party that I host every year with Irene. It is always at my house and the preparations were in full swing by Turkey Day.

Here are Irene's famous Oreo Balls - YUMO~!

My famous 7 layer dip

The spread: Pecan Pralines, 7 layer dip, oreo balls, enchilada dip, cake balls, chocolate no bakes and Trey's cheese dip.

We didn't have a huge crowd this year, I think it is sort of an off year for everyone. Most of our friends from High School didn't come into town, and we missed them! But it was still fun and we enjoyed seeing everyone :)

Irene and her sister Caitlin and her girlfriend

Trey sippin on his drink

Bruce and his fiance Danielle - they are getting married on Dec 12!!

Hannah, Lauren, John

Trey and I

Irene and Luck acting silly

The Hostesses with the Mostesses! ;)

Bruce and Trey

More serious Bruce and Trey

We had a great time and we definitely look foward to next year!! Hope your turkey day was wonderful!