A Nice and Quiet Christmas

First off, we hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas filled with family, friends and lots of fun! We celebrated Christmas a little bit differently this year since my due date is only 2 1/2 weeks away (can you believe that?). Rhonald, Mason and I spent Christmas home alone this year and although we missed seeing family we had a wonderful day! After we woke up, we opened stockings and gifts and then had a nice breakfast. We lounged around all day and then I made a traditional Christmas dinner which actually turned out pretty well! We had every intention of going to see a movie in the evening but so did everyone else in Northwest Arkansas - every movie we wanted to see was sold out! Who knew that was such a big Christmas tradition for people!!!! Santa even spoiled Mason with several new toys and treats and by 9:00 he was sound asleep. We both agreed it was an amazing day and one we needed....the calm before the storm!

A Weekend Full of Blessings

We were blessed with not one but two baby showers this past weekend. It was so wonderful to have them at a time when our parents could be here to celebrate with us! On Friday night my friends from work gave me a shower and I must say, I was speechless at the amount of love that was shown to us from them! It was so much fun to share stories about having babies and get lots of advice from people that I have grown to love so much. On Saturday night we were blessed with a shower given by Rhonald's work and a few other friends. It was so neat to have him there and be able to share that time with him and his friends. Our parents felt so welcome and had so much fun meeting our friends. It was so much fun to come home from each shower and put baby Nicholas' things away. I think I rearranged our gifts several times before I found "the perfect" place to put everything. We kept saying how lucky Cole is to have so many people who are excited about his birth and meeting him. We have only lived here for 2 1/2 years but have made so many friends - we are so thankful for everyone who shared in this weekend with us. We have never known such love and excitement!

The Long Awaited Nursery

Rhonald and my dad painted the walls a tan color
Then they spent the morning putting the furniture together
The larger glider is new - the smaller rocker was Rhonald's when he was a little boy
Our "theme" is a vintage cars theme

We had a very fun and eventful weekend! The thing I have been most anxious about is getting the nursery ready before Nicholas gets here. With a lot of help from my parents we were able to accomplish this task in only 2 days. It was so much fun watching the room come together-a room I have been dreaming about! Rhonald and my dad did all of the labor and then my mom and I decorated the room. Although there has already been some rearranging of decorations (and I realized I did not think to buy any lamps) the room is basically done and ready for our son. We keep walking in there and talking about how real it all seems now. I spent some of today rocking in the glider and looking at all of the books that Cole has. I cannot wait to read them to him and lay him down for bed in his crib. One gift that was very special was that my mom took Rhonald's old rocker from his childhood and had it redone for Cole. It meant so much to Rhonald to be able to share that with Nicholas. We can't wait to see him rocking in it! Putting this nursery together was an amazing time and I know none of us will ever forget it!

Cole's First Toy

I don't know of many things in life that are more fun than getting ready for a baby! Today when we got home from work there was a package waiting for us - delivered with love from 2 good friends. We were so excited to open it and find Cole's very first toy...and activity gym! We had our first experience at putting something together for our little guy and then admiring our work. Even Mason tried to jump in and help. Actually he tried to eat all of the tags on the gift but he is learning that some things are for him and some are for Nicholas. Once we put the gym together we had so much fun talking about what we think it will be like to see Nicholas playing with it and laughing and learning. I know we cannot even imagine how awesome having him with us will be. He is such an important and amazing part of our lives already. Watching Rhonald put this toy together with so much love and joy made me really see (once again) what a great father he will be to Cole. He is already so in love with our son and I know that love will only grow more and more with each day. We are both so lucky to have Rhonald in our lives. I know Nicholas will learn so much from his daddy - I cannot wait to see them together!

A Day of Thanks

Here we are on Thanksgiving day - 32 weeks pregnant

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving a little bit differently. Normally we head up north to spend the holiday with my extended family but we decided to stay closer to home this year because of Nicholas. We were blessed to have a family that was very open to that. We rented a beautiful home on Table Rock Lake and spent the weekend with my parents, Rhonald's parents and Rhonald's Grandma. We were able to reflect on all of the blessings in our lives and spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying each others' company. Each of "the Grandparents" were able to feel Cole move at some point which they loved and Rhonald and I were able to nap, watch movies and simply hang out which was so much fun! On Friday all of the girls braved shopping at the outlet malls and the guys went fishing (even though it was about 30 degrees outside). We are truly blessed to have one another and such loving friends and family. We hope that you all had an excellent day as well and enjoyed some quiet time to reflect on all that you have been blessed with.

A New Kind of Fun!!!

For the past several months people have been telling us that our lives will change (for the better) once we have a baby. We always smiled but secretly thought that they were crazy. Well, last night we learned that all of those people are right. We spent our Friday night out with friends in a way we never have before. We had an early dinner with 2 other couples who are both expecting babies....conversations were filled with nursery decoration ideas, maternity clothes and information learned at doctor's appointments. After dinner we all met over at the clinic where Rhonald and Jim work and all of the girls had ultrasounds. We also listened to all of the babies heartbeats - all at the same time! It sounded like our own little drum line!!!! We are so blessed to have friends to share this time with. It is going to be so much fun to tell Cole, Audrie and "baby Burrow" about how we saw them all before they were born. Above is a picture of Rhonald and I looking at Nicholas. There is also a picture of Rachel and her baby Audrie (26 weeks), Emily and her baby (10 weeks) and myself with Cole (30 weeks).

A Beautiful Fall Day

Well today is Rhonald's birthday and we decided to spend the day relaxing and enjoying our new truck. We drove to Devil's Den State Park and then to Roaring River State Park to look at the beautiful fall colors and enjoy a day outside. It was a beautiful day!!! As you can see, we were able to see many amazing colors. The best part of the day, however, was being together. So often we get busy with other things and forget to enjoy the simple things. I want to wish Rhonald a very special happy birthday! Rhonald is an amazing husband and friend and I love him dearly. It is such an honor to be his wife and to live this life with him. I am so thankful for the day that we had together and will cherish the memories of today forever. Happy Birthday Rhonald!!!