Baby Shower #2

On Saturday, December 6th, our friend, Sunny, put together a baby shower for us! It was so much fun to be able to get together with a few of my friends from church and to just have time to talk and hear all about their "baby stories". All I know is that if I was having Emily naturally, I would be pretty nervous by now:) But it was SO MUCH FUN!


My mom and one of my beautiful sisters, Jessie, came too! They were the photographers! I gave Jessie our new camera and I have to say the pictures turned out pretty darn well! Crisp and clear!


Sunny did a great job organizing the baby shower for Emily! There was delicious food (one of my favorites was hot rolls stuffed with meat and spices....turns out my mom got the recipe and we are going to be having them at our family Christmas Eve gathering!). The games were really fun! There were some that were "no brainers," which is nice every once in a while, and others caused you to really think, which we all need every now and again too! And of course the company was GREAT! I love having time to chit-chat, and this was a perfect opportunity - sometimes at church and at other times during our lives there is just not enough time for that, and so this was a good reason to sit back and chat away!


Micah and I feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many family members and friends who care about us and our little family! We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for blessing us with all that we need at this time. Heavenly Father sure has his eye on us and we are so grateful for that!


Less than 3 weeks until we will actually get to meet and hold and hug and kiss our little daughter!! It has been a long coming and we are thrilled! We know parenthood will be challenging, but we also know that it will be worth it!




Here are a few pictures from the shower.....Enjoy!

The Present Table!!

We have been looking all over for "Daddy" outfits and we GOT ONE at our baby shower! Micah was so excited when he saw it. He said that he is going to dress Emily in this one every time he takes her out!!

Some Bibs for Emily, and she will without a doubt live up to the title on the bib!!

Here is a picture of most of my friends who made it to the shower ~ a few left early, my mom was taking the picture and one of my friends was still on her way!

35 Week Pregnancy Update!

Amazingly enough we were able to squeeze in one more set of pictures (that means only one more set before our little Emily arrives!!).

We went to another doctor's appointment yesterday and all seems to be going well with this pregnancy. He said he thinks she is head-down now, and her heartbeat sounds good. So that was nice, I always love hearing that sweet little heartbeat, it's the highlight of my visits! It's also a lot less stressful these days as I have stopped looking at the scales when it is time for them to weigh me. You would be surprised how good you feel when you don't see those scales move up!! LOVE IT!

I absolutely LOVE Dr. Wolanski. He is a great Obstetrician. He is so relaxed and has great "bed side manner". He is always willing to answer anything and give you all the undivided attention that you need. He doesn't even get tired of me asking him the same questions over and over about having a c-section! (Which I tend to do quite often these days).

We are getting more excited about Emily's arrival by the day! Tonight we are going to go home and put together her stroller, which is now laying in the middle of her room on the floor.

35 Weeks and Getting More Excited to Meet My Little Girl who will soon be sleeping in this crib!

Another Belly Shot!!

At last, a new car for Holly!

I'm giving Holly a break since she already did two posts today.

This past summer Holly informed me that she would need a new car before the arrival of our first child. For several months I procrastinated the dreaded research that I would have to do in order to find a suitable, fun, safe, and functional car for Holly.

Finally, I began my search. I literally spent hours on the internet, researching different cars, modifying my search criteria, and writing down VIN numbers to check on Carfax.com. Finally, the day arrived for me to choose a dealer. I narrowed my selection this morning, and at noon we set out in my old Ford Taurus SHO for Manassas, VA. As we drove down the highway, I speculated with Holly that it could be our last ride together in the old SHO. Holly was excited about the prospect of trading in my old junker.

We arrived at the dealer and immediately went to look at the Nissan Maximas. We bypassed sporty silver ones with leather interior and tried out a black one because Holly prefers cloth seats (I somewhat agree).

After taking the car for a test drive, we both knew it was a good car, but we also knew that we couldn't afford the posted sticker price. When I told the sales attendent our concern, he assured us that the actual selling price was different on the internet, and not to worry.

We sat down with a manager to discuss the price, and it turned out that with a little help from my trade-in and a small down-payment with a credit card, we were right on the money. Although we were both relieved to finally be rid of my Ford Taurus SHO, I'm going to miss the old saying "Let's get the SHO on the road!" It was a good car back in the day.

Here is photo of my SHO earlier in the month, before it got towed and fitted with a new fuel pump. I really am going to miss it despite all the inconvenience it caused.

*sigh* goodbye old friend.

Anyway, here we are outside with the manager and our new Nissan Maxima!

Here are Holly and I in front of our new 2000 Maxima - no, we didn't buy the Porsche.

Emily's Room!!!

I can't believe that we only have 1 more month until our little Emily arrives! In honor of our 1 month countdown we decided that we would post the final pictures of her nursery! My parents and my Aunt Sweetie came over yesterday after a fun-filled morning of Black Friday shopping to help Micah and I finish up by doing the border in her room! At first I thought that we would be more involved in the projecct, but my mom is a PRO at wallpapering, so lucky for us she came in and had the project rolling and finished in no time with little help from us! Micah and I pretty much stood back and watched the action unfold, occassionally helping by dipping the wallpaper in the bucket of water as instructed:) What would we do without parents who LOVE to help us out?

On the last wall we ran out of wall paper, so we decided to cut up the remaining squares and make a pattern! We are really pleased with her room and the way it looks and feels! We love going in there in the evenings and sitting in the rocking chair. It is so amazing to think about our little girl being in there with us on January 1st (when we bring her home from the hospital)! We are so excited to be parents and are looking forward to meeting our little Emily and learning and growing together with her! Heavenly Father is blessing us so much and we are so thankful!

Here are a few pictures taken with our new camera (a Nikon CoolPix) that I bought earlier on Black Friday!! We hope you enjoy them!

Dooders Sponging Down the Border!

Mommers and Dooders Sponging and Wiping Away the Excess Water!!


Dooders, Sweetie, and Mommers working together to tackle to main wall ~ The longest piece of border!! While I stand behind the scenes taking pictures.

One Wall ~ Border and the Shelves that Micah put up a couple of weeks ago! And the book case that we assembled 2 weeks ago for Family Home Evening!

Emily's Crib with the Bedding Set that Mommers and Dooders got for us at our Baby Shower! And beautiful border on the wall!

Here's Micah relaxing in the Rocking Chair after a tiring hour-long project of us decorating the last wall (in the background)!

A picture of the last wall ~ where we ran out of border, so we made a pattern with the leftover squares ~ Looks Easy? No, Not so Much!

Here I am by the Changing Table and another beautiful wall adorned with our curtain and more lovely border! So Girly.....I LOVE it!

I think that that about covers all of the sides of Emily's new room! We are excited to introduce Emily to her new room!

Thanksgiving 2008!

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year! Low key, and Low Stress! Perfect for Someone who is 8 months pregnant:)
We spent the night with Mommers and Dooders on Wednesday night, so that we could help with some pre-Thanksgiving preparations! It was nice to get to spend some extra time together and do a little relaxing!
On Thursday we woke up and had breakfast and then worked on a pre-Thanksgiving picture project! Then at 12 Noon (or thereabout) we all gathered in the kitchen and living room area for a blessing on the food and a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner! It was so nice to see everyone - even Josh and his family made it down from Northern VA! Each of us kids were in charge of bringing a dessert, so there was no shortage of the sweet stuff! Everything was wonderful ~ and the best part is that next year there will be at least 2 more little girls to share in the fun (as we have our baby next Month and Jessie and Tanner have their little girl in March). And with a family as big as ours you never know what else can happen!
Family is so important and we were so grateful to get to spend Thanksgiving together with my family this year! For those who may remember, last year Micah and I spent Thanksgiving in India...a very different experience indeed! We had a good time reminiscing about our India experience on Thanksgiving Day too. Another thing we are ever-so-grateful-for is to be citizens of the United States of America.....home!

Jessie and I and our Baby Bellies (Jessie at approx. 26 weeks & Me at 34)

Micah and I Ready for some Food and Family Time!
Family Photo Out by the Weeping Willow Tree!

A Historical Day for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Charlottesville!!

Today was a day that many members of the Church in the Charlottesville area have been praying for and looking forward to with great anticipation for a long time. Today we held our first meeting in our new Stake Center in Charlottesville! My mom and I joined the church in 1990, and even then there was talk about a Stake Center to be built in Charlottesville!

It was wonderful and amazing to be able to pull into the new church parking lot and walk through the doors of that beautiful building this morning with my husband by my side! So much has changed in the last 18 years! I am so grateful for this beautiful new building that we have to meet in and that we will get to start meeting here on a regular basis in just 2 weeks!

After our Stake Conference was finished today, we got the opportunity to walk around the building and learn where different rooms are. My mom got called to serve as the Secretary in the Stake Relief Society Presidency today, and we were able to be there as she received a blessing and was set apart for her new calling. It was a very wonderful Sunday - very spiritually uplifting!

I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that we have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves each one of us, personally. I was reminded again today at Stake Conference of how much we have to be grateful for, and then I began to ponder how much I have to be grateful for. I felt the spirit so strongly. I am so grateful for my testimony and to know that God lives! I am thankful for temples and the sacred ordinances that are performed in those buildings. I am thankful to know that Families truly can be Together Forever. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father allowed me to find such a wonderful husband who loves and honors his family so much. I am overwhelmed with the love that he has for us at times, and so grateful that now is the time that we get to add to our sweet little family a beautiful baby girl who will be sent straight from Heaven! I am grateful that I get to be a mom to this special little girl and raise her and teach her the things that will help her be able to return back to her Heavenly home one day too! Life is good and I am so thankful to know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and He will be there to help us, as long as we are willing to ask. I KNOW this is true, without a doubt.

Now for a pregnancy update......things seem to be progressing well. We are still set for our c-section on Monday December 29th. Micah just reminded me that Christmas Eve is one month from tomorrow, and that also means that 5 weeks from tomorrow will be the day that Emily will finally enter our family (unless she decides to come a little early). That is a little overwhelming to me at this point, but I know that when she does come (no matter how nervous I am right now) I will rise to the call and do what needs to be done! That's what Moms do, right?

Micah and I have been able to feel her moving a lot more lately. It seems like her patterns right now are that she sleeps for a while and then when she wakes up she will kick, sort of like in a pattern, for several minutes and then she will settle back into a comfortable position and be still for a while. She is so fun already, we are excited for the day she arrives and adds her special light to our family!

The nursery is almost done, we have picked out pictures to order, and soon my mom is going to come over to help us put up the border in her room (we looked at the directions today, and it seemed more complicated then we had thought, so we had the great idea to call on Mommers' expertise since she has done this before!). Stay tuned, pictures will be forthcoming!!

For now you can enjoy these pictures of our new Church Building and us posing in the front of it (On the South Side....impressed Dooders?). You know us, we LOVE pictures, and we can't pass up a Kodak moment on a day as special and momentous as this!

The New Stake Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Charlottesville, VA!

Here we are posing in front of the New Building, making a memory that we can share with our little Emily in the years to come!
Mommers and Dooders had to get a picture too! They know when to follow in their children's footsteps!

Our Last Trip to Northern VA before Emily's Arrival!

This weekend we made our last trip up to Northern Virginia before Emily's arrival! We wanted to make it to the temple one more time, and also allow Nathan and Sarah the opportunity to do the same while we spent time with their kids. We had a great day. The weather was a little questionable at times, but we all survived it. And Micah even got to head outside with Joseph for a little while to help him run off some of his extra energy while I was having nap time with the girls!

We were also excited that our friends, the Murchisons, were able to stop by and visit with us on Saturday! It is always fun to catch up with them and we are looking forward to introducing them to Emily too, on our next trip!

Nathan and Sarah were nice enough to let us spend most of the day at their house on Saturday, we even got to sneak in a little nap ~ which was super nice since we didn't make it to bed until about 1:30am the night before!! We got back late from the temple and then we were hungry so we had to have some food and then still get ready for bed!! When our alarm went off at 8AM neither one of us could move ~ but I know that was a night that was meant to get us ready for parenthood:)

Saturday evening Sarah made a yummy dinner and everyone gathered together there (except Rachel who is living in California right now) to celebrate birthdays for Jacob, Hannah and Abigail! It was a fun evening.....lots of yummy food, good conversations and some fun pictures!

Uncle Micah is THE BEST at giving Piggy Back Rides!

Abigail Had a BLAST in her Princess Dress on Saturday ~ The only way I could get her to take it off for her nap was to tell her she could wear her pajamas!!

Hannah got to dress up in her princess dress too! She was getting ready to go to her friend's Princess Party, so she was pretty excited!


Me with two of my cute nieces!!


A photo with Jacob, Hannah and Abigail ~ the 3 birthday Celebrants!