Olivia's first 5K

Saturday morning Brad and I walked in the Race for the Cure 5K in Brentwood. It was a very cold 32 degree morning. Brrrrr!!!

It was super crowded, which was great!! The 3.1 miles went by fairly quickly and it was great to get some good exercise in. Brad and I were both on his company's team and I really loved their outfits! Gotta love a guy who is not afraid to wear a pink tutu for a good cause!! :)

I did fine during the walk, but I was super tired later that night. I'll just say that I had NO problem falling asleep. Ha! We have another 5K coming up this weekend with my office, and I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully I can make this a habit and keep it up after Olivia gets here!

Photo Session

Last weekend Brad and I had a maternity photo shoot with Kathryn Russell. We spent the late afternoon at Centennial park and had a great time! She was awesome. She had super cute ideas and was a lot of fun! Here are some of my favorites...

Thanks to Kathryn for a great time and sweet pictures of such a special time in our lives!! We can't wait to meet our little Olivia!!

I love Pinterest yes I do!!

I don't even remember how I stumbled across this website, but it took no time at all for me to become addicted to Pinterest.com. It's hard to describe how it works, but it basically gives you your own "pin board" to save things as you come across ideas while browsing the Internet. For instance, while looking for nursery decor ideas, instead of having to print off pictures or take notes on cute things that I find, I just "pin" them and it saves to my pinterest page. You can have multiple categories as well. I have a board for nursery ideas, recipes, home decor, funny things, arts and crafts, etc. It is so fun and addicting!!
I've pinned quite a few recipes, and while I've only tried a couple so far, I've been pretty impressed with the results. I found a recipe for ice cream that tastes just like a Wendy's frosty... only three ingredients too!! Chocolate milk, sweetened condensed milk and cool whip!! Yes, it's a sugar OVERLOAD, but it is so tasty and really tastes like a Frosty!! Here is the pic from the website.


Another recipe that I tried is for baked spaghetti with cream cheese. I liked it a lot too! It's a simple way to put a new twist on an oldie but goodie. Super creamy and a little rich, but tasty!! Again, a pic from the website... doesn't this look yummy?!


Needless to say, I am loving this website and am looking forward to finding more ideas and of course trying out some more recipes! If you aren't familiar with pinterest, you should try it out. Just don't say I didn't warn you about how addictive it can be!! Happy pinning!! :)

Baby girl has a name!!

Well, our sweet little girl finally has a name. We have decided on Olivia Claire Jones!!
Who knew it could be so hard to name a baby girl?? Brad and I have talked about SO many different names in the past few months, it's crazy. Olivia was at the top of our original list and we finally came back around to it in the end.
We went through many other names... Sarah Jane, Brooklyn Claire or Kate, Kaylyn Reese, Charlotte Reese, Jenna Kate, Olivia Katherine or Kate... the list goes on and on. It feels so good to have finally made a decision, and I'm so happy to be able to call her Olivia instead of baby girl! Let the monogram craziness begin! :)

Checking off the to-do list

We have reached 26 weeks and our sweet girl is steadily growing... see below! :)

We have marked a lot off of our to-do list at this 26 week milestone. Painting the nursery, putting up the crib, hospital visiting, etc. It feels great to be so productive seeing as how our little sweetie pie will be here in less than 14 weeks now!! Unbelievable!!
We decided to take my craft/scrapbook room and turn it into the nursery. I had been working on a big project for Brad's brother's wedding for months, so the room was a complete mess with my scrapbook stuff scattered EVERYWHERE!!! I can't believe I'm brave enough to share pictures of this craziness, but we have to have a "before" picture. So, here you have it:

 AAAHHHH.. I tried to warn you... complete craziness!! And yes, there is some baby stuff mixed in with the scrapbook madness as well, so that made it even harder to keep straight.
Anyhow, I started to organize, clean up and move this stuff out last week while I was on vacation. After it was completely empty, I started to paint on Friday. Then Saturday morning, Brad and Sam helped me finish the painting by reaching the areas that I couldn't. We painted the ceiling bright white and painted the walls a neutral greyish-brown color called Blowin' In the Wind. Here is our final result:

Of course after the paint dried, we had to put the crib together right away... yay!!! Here is daddy working on the crib, along with the final product:

Love it!!! We don't have the mattress yet, but I put the crib skirt on and just kind of laid the blanket on the rail just to get an idea of what it will look like. We aren't quite ready for an "after" picture, but here is what we have so far:

I am SO excited!! We have a long way to go, but you have to start somewhere!! I can't wait to keep rolling along and get everything ready for our little one's arrival!!
We have also visited both hospitals that my OB delivers at. Now to make a final decision about that, and then we will pre-register and mark one more thing off of the list. It feels good to watch that list grow shorter and shorter. It just means that we are that much closer to meeting our little angel!!

HELLO!!!

My poor blog probably feels abandoned seeing as how I haven't been on here in MONTHS!!! It's crazy how there has been so much to blog about this summer, but I haven't had time to get on here and do it. What an emotional roller coaster it has been!
It started in May with the great news and announcement of our little bun in the oven. We were so excited to learn that we were about to start a new journey and phase of life together with a precious baby!!!
Then in June, my sweet Pepaw suffered a major stroke and was in the hospital for over a month. Brad and I drove down to visit him as much as possible during his hospital stay. Unfortunately, he gradually got worse and eventually passed away in July. I miss him so much, but I find comfort in knowing that he is with my Memaw and they are celebrating together every day!!
August rolled around, and we found out that we are having a baby girl!!! We are both so excited and have been thinking about names and planning for the nursery since then.
And most recently, my baby sister turned 21 and Brad's baby brother got married and is on his honeymoon as I write this.
So, like I said plenty of ups and downs  and happy moments and sad moments this summer!! I hate that I haven't made it on here to blog about each event in more detail, but I'm back again and I'm hoping to stay on top of things from now on!

Attack of the Cicadas

They are noisy and creepy and they are taking over this city!! They are here again....the cicadas!!!

Thirteen years have gone by and it's time for the cicadas to show themselves again. They crawl out of the 67 degree ground close to older, more mature trees. They mate for about a month and a half, and then drop their eggs into mature trees or on the ground close to them. Then in thirteen years, those cicadas will emerge and the process will start all over again.
This is the first cicada experience that Brad and I have had since they only emerge every 13 years, and we have only been here for four. I know that they don't bite or sting and therefore really aren't harmful, but they still gross me out.
Since our neighborhood is fairly new with new trees, we really don't have that many close to our house. Today, we were at the Cheesecake Factory at the Green Hills mall with some friends and they were all over the place....SWARMING!!! One flew into my hair and then two minutes later one landed on my arm. Call me a baby if you want, but I was not happy!! Ewww!!! I literally ran to the car when we left.
I think they are only here for a few more weeks, and it won't be too soon!! I am definitely not a fan of cicadas....as harmless as they may be!! :(

A stork is on the way!!!

The big news has finally been released... we're going to have a sweet precious baby!!!! Ahhhhh!! We are so excited!! Brad and I, along with our immediate family, have known for a little over three weeks, but we wanted to wait to tell everyone else until after our first OB visit. That took place on Monday and the doc says so far so good!! Today I'm 8 weeks and 4 days along and due on Dec 31!!! What a crazy New Year's Eve it will be. Ha! We also had our first ultrasound done on Monday and seeing our little bean for the first time was absolutely AMAZING!! His/her heartbeat was at 171bpm, in which the nurse informed us was normal and good. We weren't able to hear the heartbeat yet, but that's on the adgenda for our next visit in 4 weeks. Can't wait!!

Lucky for me, I've really been feeling okay. (Yes, I am knocking on wood as I type this.) Really, just a little queasiness every now and then and a little headache and fatigue when that happens, but I've learned quickly to keep my stomach full and the nauseas feeling rarely happens. It's so hard to make myself eat even when I'm not hungry or nothing sounds good, but if it will keep the nausea away I'm totally for it!

We are so excited about becoming parents and we are just praying for a safe and successful pregnancy. Our families, friends and co-workers are just as excited as we are, which makes it that much more fun and exciting for us! We are so grateful for this little blessing in my belly and we are looking forward to all of the new adventures that lie ahead!!

FLOWERS!!!

Today marks the last day of my vacation, and these last 10 days have been great!! Originally Brad was going to take off last week as well, but he started a new job about a month ago, so asking for a week off right away probably wasn't the greatest idea ever. Therefore, I was home alone all week... well, for some of the week. Mom wound up driving up late Tuesday night and stayed until Friday afternoon. We had a great time just hanging out, doing a little shopping, eating out and working in our flowerbeds.
I had been itching to get out there and brighten up our flowerbeds with a little color for a while, but since this is the first spring that we have been in our house, it's the first time I've ever had to work on flowerbeds and I had no idea where to start!! I'm a girl who has to have a plan, so on Wednesday we started searching through the garden centers at Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's. It was a pretty nasty, rainy day, so we knew we weren't going to be able to plant anything just yet. Mom helped me figure out if I wanted annuals, perennials, etc. I also had three dead bushes that I had to replace, so I found some ideas for that as well. I took notes as I noticed things that I liked, then we went home and mapped out a plan as we looked over the flowerbeds. I figured out which flowers I wanted to put in which spot. Like I said, I HAVE to have a plan. I can't just put random things here and there... that's just not how my brain works. OCD? Maybe!! :)
Thursday morning we went back to Lowe's and Walmart, picked up the items on my list and went home and got our hands dirty. A few hours later ....... TA DA.... we have COLOR!!! I love it!!
This is the front flowerbed. The two new bushes are on each end. I decided not to add any color to this bed just yet. I want to wait and see what it looks like after we get those two geraniums in the background hanging on the porch above these bushes.

I LOVE these geraniums!! SO pretty! I have two hanging pots that are going to hang on the front porch. We don't have the hooks up there quite yet though.

We potted these two dahlias. They are sitting on either side of the front door, so they bring color to the front porch area as well. I LOVE the vibrant colors of these flowers!!





This is an overview of our larger flowerbed in front of the office window. I've added a little color throughout with knockout roses and azaleas.

Here are some close-ups of the roses and azaleas.

Here's hoping I can keep everything alive!! Only time will tell. I'm so excited about watching everything grow!! Now we have to mulch both beds to kind of pull everything together and make it look a little nicer. I'm loving everything so far, and I'm so thankful to my mom for helping me figure out what I wanted or didn't want because I definitely would have been lost otherwise!!

Kari's Bridal Shower

The future Mr. and Mrs. Clark!!

I guess wedding season has officially started with the first bridal shower of the year!! Kari Smothers and Matt Clark are getting married in just a little over a month on June 11. I went to UTM with both Kari and Matt. Kari was also in my hygiene class at UTHSC and Matt is almost finished with dental school in Memphis. They are such a cute and sweet couple and I'm so excited for them.
Earlier this month the other bridesmaids and I gave Kari a bridal shower in Dyersburg. Abigail, who also lives in Nashville and who is also a bridesmaid, and I rode together and stayed with Kari the night before the shower. We had a great time working on wedding details and planning. The shower went really well!! The food was yummy, the decor was cute, and she had a really great turnout with great guests and great gifts!!

The cupcake tower! Delicious!!

The Hostesses

Some the food layout

Kari and me

Table full of gifts. They got some great stuff!!