Christmas is over... now it's OWEN TIME!

WOW! We had so much fun this Christmas visting with family, opening presents, and eating lots and lots of yummy food! It all started on Christmas Eve, I fixed my sweet potato and green bean casseroles while Brent ventured out and made a new recipe this year... a delicious broccoli casserole. Lots of casseroles.... I think we are both casseroled out for a while!!! We were heading over the Carrolls and I had a slight.. oh my gosh is this a real contraction.... any of those who have had braxton hicks know what I mean... is this real or another braxton hicks.,. anyway, I had several that were perfectly timed.... Brent and I were starting to wonder if we were going to have a Christmas baby after all.... I finally got them to stop and we enjoyed our evening with the Carrolls! We had lots of yummy food...my favorite, honey baked ham yum yum yum.,.. I could not see my ankes the next morning... !!!! We then opened presents for Owen, he got a silver cup which will have his name and birthdate engraved in it and his first piggy bank! From there we went home.
Christmas morning we woke up bright and early and Brent and I exchanged Christmas presents and then headed over to my parents for a delicious brunch! We had a great time seeing Mark, Elizabeth, Sally, and Johnny... family that we do not get to see that often. From there we came home, I took a quick nap, had to rejuvinate my self for the last event of the evening. The Carrolls came over for a pasta dinner! We had such a great time, we all wore sweats, opened presents, and again pigged out and polished off the remainder of the Christmas goodies! Having these goodies around is not a good thing for a pregnant woman!
This morning Brent and I took our tree down and cleaned the house up! Now it's OWEN TIME!!!! I will keep you posted....

Mimi and Papa show off their new bibs from Owen! Owen cannot wait to visit them where I am sure he will get great use out of the bibs!!!

Papa... anxiously awaking for Owen's arrival!

Brent showing off his new briefcase for work that he got for Christmas

SUPERMAN!! That he will be!!! I love this and Brent saw me looking at it over and over at Baby Gap, he could not resisit either, he went back and got it for me!

Grandma Anderson.. taking it all in!

Edmund's daughter, Makalya helps Dad open his presents

Christmas...what a wonderful time of the year!

I LOVE Christmas, it is my favorite holiday! I love spending time with family, cooking up goodies, going to Christmas plays,opening and sending cards, the music, driving around looking at lights, and most importantly celebrating the birthday of Christ. I hope that each and everyone of you have a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy the holidays and relax! It's a great time of year to reflect back and see how much you have to be thankful and blessed for. I know this year, God has blessed us in so many ways...I thank him everyday for the people in my life, my health, opportunities that he has given me, and especially the little one that will be arriving soon! It's so easy in this busy world to overlook the things in our lives that we take advantage of everyday. We are all so blessed!

Our stockings... Owen's is in the middle

The Carroll Christmas Tree

Getting ready for Baby Owen

Can this be... we are 37 weeks... it seems like we have been preparing for years now for Owen's arrival.. hard to believe that it is a mere 3 weeks away.... maybe earlier... who knows, only Owen and God! As you can see, we have been really busy getting his nursery together and trying to do any last preparations for this little one's arrival! This past week, I finally decided that it was that time... yes to pack the suitcase, so off to Target I went! I did just as my book said and got my wonderful coach some "nutritional snacks" (his favorite trail mix), a new set of bigger PJ's, socks, candy, and all sorts of toiletries! Owen's bag is packed as well... his cute "let it snow"(wait until we get home please!) warm outfit, diapers, blankets, etc... We will keep you updated as our precious angel will be here soon!!! How exciting :-)

The suitcase is packed!

Nursery pictures minus the mirror and framed picture that are waiting to receive

Brent putting the glider together!

Fun shower with Friends!

Saturday, Deana, Melody, and Ester hosted a fabulous fun shower for baby Owen and I. Super woman D, just had an adorable son 5 weeks ago and was able to seamlessly throw everything together!! Thanks D :-)! Melody's house was festively decorated for the holidays and looked wonderful! It was so much fun seeing friends that I haven't seen in a while and catching up with everyone. Owen got a lot of really nice things! Owen got the baby soother (for those nights that he will need extra comfort music to go back into baby dreamland haha), cute clothes, crib and breast feeding necessities, baby Mozart DVD, diapers (need plenty of them!), and lots of other cute things.

Mary & Deana (doesn't she look fabulous after having a baby only 5 short weeks ago!)

Precious Ella Kate was checking out the magazines!

Childhood friends!

Me at 35 weeks! 5 weeks to go... you've got to be kidding me!

Me with the hostess, Ester, D, and Mel

The punch and cake, and the ADORABLE picture frame, everyone there signed it and a pic of Owen will go in the middle when he arrives....it's already in his nursery.

Nursery Update!

Here are a few pics of the latest... his name is FINALLY up!!! We are in the process of getting the lamp bases as well as waiting for the nightstand and glider that should be in later this week... hopefully :-) Stay tuned for more pics and the latest updates...

34 weeks... 6 weeks to go!!!

OKAY... I can do this... only 6 weeks to go....It's so hard to believe that D day is right around the corner...some of Owen's habits that we have already picked up on is that he likes to be most active during the night... (HELP) he is pretty quiet during the day and then 10:00 pm comes around and he decides to host a basketball game in my uterus that lasts well over 4 quarters! Then comes 3:00 am and he finally decides that it is time for a break I suppose.....I think that he is just warning us for what lies ahead.... Brent and I are doing very well, we have been ultra busy trying to get the nursery together. Christmas shopping was supposed to be finished by this point... so I think we are are going to get in the hustle and bustle this afternoon and get some things knocked out. We hope that everyone is doing well and is getting ready for Christmas... my favorite holiday of the year!!!

34 weeks

It's beginning to look a lot like BABY!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like baby around here.... swing, clothes, car seat, stroller, pack and play, etc... you would think that Owen is already here!!! We are getting closer and closer....only 6 1/2 more weeks left. We have been super busy trying to get everything together... Brent has been working so hard hanging letters and putting together everything known to man. He has done a fabulous job! We are looking forward to the holidays and having some time off from work.... speaking of work...I only have 3 more weeks left until I go back in a year and a half!!! YES for those who do not know, I am taking some time off to spend with our new addition and to focus on my new role as a mother. I am blessed in every way to have this opportunity and I am VERY excited about this decision that we have made.

Baby Einstein Activity Center

It's bath time!! He is all ready!

It may be a while before he is ready for this, but nevertheless, it's ready to go!

Owen's closet is filling up these days....

Pack and Play

Swing!!!

Baby Shower at R.J. Reynolds

November the 11th, Brent's work gave us a fabulous shower! The food was great (they had my favorite... strawberries :-) yum) and the decorations were adorable. It was so nice to meet everyone at his work and to see those that I haven't seen in a while. We received so many wonderful gifts... car base seat (from his department).. now Owen can ride in the Honda... as well as cute clothes, sheets, gift cards, cart protector, swing, baby play center, DVD, and lots lots more! Thanks RJRT for a wonderful shower, everything was perfect!

Beautiful flowers that Brent and Owen sent to me at work for my 30th birthday...ouch!.. I am getting OLD! So sweet and thoughtful of him!

Brent is on top of it! As soon as we got home from the shower Brent could not get the swing together fast enough! He is so good at putting things together.

Car base seat

The cart protector

All the wonderful gifts

And of course... the delicious food yum!

The Carroll Baby Shower

This past weekend Kelley, Mama D, Martha Jo, Mylinda, and Nancy gave me a baby shower. It was AWESOME! The food, guests, and all the wonderful presents that Owen received were absolutely fabulous. Owen got his car seat (he can now come home from the hospital), toys, tons of adorable clothes, books, and lots of necessities for both mom and Owen. Now all Brent and I have to do is wash, wash, wash.....and figure out what to do with all this stuff! His room is filling up quickly! Thank you all for all the wonderful gifts, we LOVE them! Owen is so blessed to have so many people that love and care for him already.

A little update on mom....I am currently 31 weeks.... can this be... in 9 weeks we will have a bundle of joy... unless he decides to come a bit earlier.... we wouldn't mind the end of December... great tax deduction... right! We are getting so excited and we have so much to look forward to. I can only imagine what lies ahead... it's got to be one of the most rewarding blessings in this world!

Adorable diaper cake that Mylinda made!!!

Clothesline full of precious clothes! (LOVE IT Kelley)

All the wonderful hostess Mylinda, Kelley, and Mama D (not pictured Martha Jo and Nancy)

One of the many adorable outfits!

Fabulous strawberries that Kelley made! Aren't they adorable?

Off to the mountains we go!!

Brent and I went to the mountains this past weekend. We went to Mabry Mill and Meadows of Dan to pick out a pumpkin, have a picnic, and just to get away!!! We had such a great time... a bit chilly...but we bundled up and survived! We got a pumpkin for us and of course we didn't forget about Owen, we got him a baby pumpkin... absolutely adorable! It looks so cute in front of our house.

Picture at Mabry Mill

Not quite ready for the photo....

Owen's pumpkin

Mommy and Daddy's pumpkin and Owen's pumpkin

My First Shower!!!

On Sunday, October 12 my grandmother, mom, and aunt gave me a fabulous shower!!! Everything turned out so great, the food, decorations, and all the wonderful gifts that Owen received! We got the stroller, play gym, bath tub, mirror, and tons of clothes and other necessities. Thank you everyone! Brent and I are so excited, Owen's room is starting to fill up!

Picture with the hostesses!

One of the many adorable outfits!

All the fabulous gifts Owen received!