Gender Revealing Cookout!

Crystal had suggested a gender revealing cookout towards the very beginning, when we found out we were pregnant. We definitely liked the idea, but wanted to make sure everything was ok with the baby/pregnancy first. The closer it got to finding out, we kept talking about the idea. We even debated on waiting to find out when everybody else found out (i.e. having the ultrasound technician write it out on a notecard and seal it and we would take it straight to a cake baker to make the cake w/ the appropriate color -- blue or pink). Although we thought that would be cool, we wanted to have "our" special time together, finding out. I'm soo glad we did it that way. What an amazing feeling finding out the gender of our baby that God has blessed us w/ - w/ the most important and amazing man in my life - my husband! :) TRULY a blessing!

So we found out Thursday at 11:00 and decided to have the cookout Friday night. It was going to be soooooooo HARD for us to keep that secret -- but 24 hours? -- we could do it (and we did!!) We decorated with pink and blue balloons, tablecloths, flowers, plates, cups, napkins, forks, spoons, knives, candy, etc. We also wore the color that we thought it was - and told some of the others too that they were more than welcome to do the same. The whole time I was thinking it was a girl ... I'm not sure why?? And the whole time Jonathan thought it was a boy ............. HE WAS RIGHT!!!! And I'm sooo glad he was! God knows exactly what we need at the exact time in our lives -- I have never felt more blessed than I do right now!

Soo we ate dinner (hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, baked beans, broccoli salad, etc.) and then for dessert ........... we revealed the gender by Natalie's AWESOME cake!! :) What we did was call her after we found out and she made the cake the color of the baby -- BLUE!!! -- and made the outside of the cake both colors so nobody would know until we cut into the cake! It was DELICIOUS!!





Can't WAIT to meet our baby BOY!! :)

Boy OR Girl?? ............ :)

So ... we were anxiously waiting for our next doctor's appointment, which we scheduled exactly two weeks after our last one (so not TOO long of a wait). Starting Sunday, I was thinking the week was going to go by soo slow - but it actually went by pretty fast. We just prayed and prayed that the baby's heartbeat was still strong and that everything would be ok with the baby (and mommy too)! God is SOO good! He has continued to answer that prayer. So ... now for the exciting part!! As I was laying there, the ultrasound technician was showing us the heartbeat, the hands, the legs, the arms, the stomach, and every little detail .......... she kept asking us "so you do want to see the gender right? you do want to know what you're having right?" She definitely wanted to make sure she didn't tell us if we didn't want to know but ....... we did!! Soo as she scanned over the lower region, she stopped and held the image still, with the babies legs wide open!! She said, "do y'all want to guess what it is??" SIDENOTE - she was being funny because there was NO QUESTION what our baby was!! ... we both looked at each other ... soo excited ... and she said "well ........ ??" and we both said IT'S A BOY! As I saw Jonathan's face ... tears started rolling down my face. It was one of the most bittersweet moments I have had the whole time. We couldn't believe it and were soo excited to finally know what our precious baby would be! This made it soo much more real! As she finished the ultrasound, we took the pictures and just kept looking at every detail while we went and sat back in the waiting area (we had to wait and see the Nurse Practitioner just for my blood pressure and measuring my stomach).

As we left, the radio was on in the car and ... the Brad Paisley song "Anything Like Me" was on. I had never heard it before (or never really payed attention to it) but Jonathan had heard it and recognized it. When it was over, he changed the channel to another country station and ... again ... no lie ... it was on the other station. I don't know who has heard that song or the lyrics but ... the first part is this ...

"I remember saying I don't care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy I'm ok
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said "You see that thing right there well you know what that means"

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me"


It's kind of a funny song to us but also a sweet song.

We then went to TJ Maxx to buy our first little outfit for our baby BOY (one that I had seen the day before). We couldn't WAIT to tell everybody! ... but they would have to wait until TOMORROW (Friday) to find out at our gender revealing cookout :)

Doctor's Appointments ...

First of all, I go to Capital Area OBGYN - i LOVE them. Before I found out I was pregnant, I just went to a regular primary doctor and had NO idea who to go to when I got pregnant. My friend Crystal has had two precious babies and highly recommended this practice -- I'm soo glad she did - they are GREAT. The very first appointment we went to was in their old office (in Cary). This appointment was just to meet with the pre-natal nurse to discuss things like health history, nutrition, overview of my appts going forward, to draw blood, urine sample, etc. etc. When we first got there, the nurse had me go to the bathroom to do a urine sample ... when I came out, I made eye contact with two girls I went to high school with and cheered with - Shanacee Holden & Wanette Williams!! They work there!! It was aweeeeesome and reassuring to see them and know that this really IS a good practice - b/c these girls are awesome. That first visit was July 29th. We scheduled our next visit for August 10th to do the first ultrasound.

The week before August 10th, we had something come up with church where we weren't going to be able to make our appointment that Tuesday ... so we thought ... we've waited this long, we can surely wait another two days. Soo we rescheduled the appt. for Thursday, August 12th. It was the most awesome feeling getting to see/hear our precious baby's heartbeat for the first time. What a miracle!! ........... The ultrasound technician told us that everything measured exactly where it was supposed to be measuring and the baby's heartbeat was 165 beats/minute.

The next doctor's office visit was on August 24th. This was the first time we were actually meeting with the doctor. The one I met with that day - Dr. Christin Richardson - was AWESOME. She sat us down in her office and talked about my blood type, asked us all kinds of questions about how everything was going, and then she did a papsmear/pelvic exam and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat as well. She said "if I had to guess, the baby's heartbeart is about 160 beats/minute" -- so about the same as it was last time.

The next doctor's office visit was on September 2nd. This was our first trimester ultrasound and down's syndrome testing. We met with the nurse practitioner, Kristin Shields, first to discuss down's syndrome, etc. She did the ultrasound and we got to see the baby's heartbeat again -- and, of course, printed out several pictures. During the ultrasound she was measuring the neck and said "everything is measuring well within normal range". (I wouldn't have known this ... except Crystal had told me ... that sometimes they can tell if it's gonna be abnormal or more of a risk by the measurement of the neck -- I would never have known that otherwise). They then took my blood and ... we were on our way back to work. About a week and a half later, I got a notification through e-mail telling me I had a new message on my online account with them -- the message said everything with my first ultrasound screening was within normal range.

The next visit was .......... today. This was supposed to be a routine visit just to take my measurements, weigh me, blood pressure, etc. Of course, with me, nothing is ever routine/normal. Last night I did not sleep very well at all. I woke up at 4:45 and could NOT go back to sleep .. why?? I have no idea. Jonathan had to get up and go to work (but since the dr's office is within his fire district, he was just planning on meeting me there). I finally fell into a deep sleep about 6:00, right before his alarm went off. So he got up and went to work. He reset the alarm for me to wake up at 6:50. I guess I was in such a deep sleep that at 7:06, I jumped up, realizing I HAD to get up right then or I would be late, and turned the shower on. I got in the shower and when I started wetting my hair, I realize 'I'm about to pass out right now ...' I immediately turned the shower off and got out and put my head down between my legs (this has happened to me and my mom on mannnny occasions, so this is nothing TOO unusual). But ... I was still running late so I decided to turn the bath tub on b/c half my hair was wet and I at least needed to wet the rest of it so I could get ready and leave. I remember turning the bath water on and then opening the closet door to get a towel out and then ......................... the next thing I know, I am waking up from being facedown on the floor. The LORD is sooo good to me ... b/c somehow I woke up all of a sudden ... (Jonathan thinks my blood pressue finally leveled out - and we've also tossed around the idea that our dog Romeo started licking me or something) - but I sincerely know that God was just taking care of me. It couldn't have been too long b/c the bath water had only filled the tub about 2-3 inches. I also immediately looked at the clock and it was 7:13 so that's another reason I couldn't have passed out for too long. I got up and went straight to the bed to lay down, thinking I HAVE to cancel this appt - there is NO way I am going to be able to make it - I don't feel good - I can't get myself up out of this bed - I'm wet - I've only had half of a shower ... So I debated for 2 seconds whether to call 911 or Jonathan but, as I was laying there for the first few seconds, I started to feel ok ... like I wasn't going to pass out again. Plus, I was butt naked, didn't have any bumps or bruises (that I could tell) and I was alive soo I decided to call Jonathan. I was balling my eyes out, NOT scared for myself, but scared for this little life inside of me. I didn't know if I had fallen .. I didn't know if I had hurt the baby .. I NEVER lay on my stomach anymore and that's how I woke up on the ground - facedown on my stomach soo I was soo worried. We immediately just started praying. Jonathan kept insisting on him coming to get me and driving me but ... I literally felt OK after all that. I really really think I just jumped up too fast out of bed and had not let myself get stabilized before I tried taking a bath/shower. Jonathan says my blood pressure just dropped and then when I was on the floor it started to level out. We obviously kept our doctor's appointment - we wanted to make sure everything was ok. My heart was relieved when we got to hear our baby's heartbeat again ... just as strong as before! The doctor kept thinking it was my blood sugar or that the water in the shower was too hot ... but ... I've had numerous occasions where I've had issues with my blood sugar and ... that one wasn't it. I have also taken the same shower with the same warm water every day ... so I don't think that was it either. But I sure did learn my lesson ... I won't be jumping up out of bed like that again!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD, for being the HEALER, COMFORTER, PROTECTOR, & for taking care of me & our baby. It could have been a whole lot worse.

We scheduled our next visit for two weeks from today - Thursday, October 7th. This is when we will find out if it is a BOY OR GIRL!!!!!!! STAY TUNED!! :)

Expecting our first BABY!! :)

Soo my plan last time I logged in (August 11th) was to get on here the next day and post our NEWS. However, I've been very slack at this soo I'm just now doing it (over a month later). Woww ... i think I'm busy NOW (without a child) ... I wonder how in the world I'll update this blog WITH a child?? :)

For those of you that didn't know, we're expecting our first BABY March 6th 2011!! We are soo excited and feel very blessed already. I think it is finally starting to set in that this is "real".

We found out July 2nd and we were FINALLY able to tell people after we saw the heartbeat on August 12th. We just wanted to make sure everything was OK and that there really was a precious little life in there ... there IS and everything's going well so far! :)

So ... the funny part is HOW we found out. Here's the story:

Jonathan and I left on a Wednesday afternoon (June 23rd) to drive down to Marco Island, Florida (which is where we go on our family vacation every summer). Mom and Michael had already arrived because they had flown. Jonathan & I drove b/c I am not a big fan of flying (that's a whole 'nother story in inself). Todd and Laine were scheduled to fly in that Friday (when our time share starts). On the way down, we stopped and stayed at the Red Roof Inn, before making it to Marco Island around lunch-time on Thursday. The first couple of days we were there, I did completely fine out in the sun (like usual). Starting Sunday, however, I got this AWFUL heat rash/sun poison that burned soo bad and was itching me to deathhhhhhh!! I had NEVER experienced that problem with the sun and, in fact, had been laying out here and there (at the beach, at my house, etc.) before we went to Florida just so I wouldn't burn as bad when we got there (and had not had any trouble at all). So ... we went to the pharmacy Sunday night and it was too late ... the pharmacists had gone home for the night. Soo the next day I stayed under the umbrella all day, but it still hurt (b/c it was a heat rash too). Finally, I saw a pharmacist that afternoon (Monday) and they suggested I take benadryl and gave me a cream to use. The cream helped tremendously b/c it helped soothe it and ease the pain for a while and, of course, the benadryl helped a little too. So the rest of the week ... I was ok with the rash ... it would come out during the day when I was out on the beach or by the pool and ... it would go in some at night. By Thursday, it was ok ...

Mom kept telling me that it could be my hormones changing ... b/c she knew I was off birth control ... and they kept laughing about the possibility of me being pregnant. It was ALL just a joke. I mean ... I did keep eating pickles and drinking Mt. Dew and Laine kept giving me a hard time about that ... but it was literally .. a JOKE (or so we thought)! ...

So ... Tuesday morning I had woken up and had two spider-looking bites on my left leg. I thought nothing of them ... I was more worried about the heat rash. By Thursday night at dinner (the day before we were leaving), they looked huge - one of them had a red target looking ring around it and ... of course, the worst thing you can do is look it up online and try to find out what kind they are ... well, I did. NOT a good idea - b/c it kept showing pictures of brown recluse (sp?) spiders, etc. ... so this was about 10:30 Thursday night. We were scheduled to get up Friday morning and leave at 4:00 AM to take Todd and Laine to the airport and me, mom & Jonathan were leaving straight from there and driving back to NC (15 hour drive)!!

So ... Jonathan and I looked up an urgent care just to go get some medicine or something for them and to make sure I was ok. Of course, there wasn't a 24 hour urgent care and the closest place we could find was the emergency room in Naples (about 15 minutes away). So ... we drove to the ER ... there were probably 5 people total there ... me, Jonathan, the receptionist, the doctor, and the nurse. Literally, it wasn't like Wake Med or Rex!

So ... after about 2 minutes of waiting in the waiting room, the nurse called us back and started asking all my symptoms. I told her about my heat rash, the spider bites and I even mentioned I was two or three days late. She took all my vital signs and then came the doctor. He was this haitian looking man that kinda reminded me of Burke (you know, Christina's old fiance that is no longer on the show - from Grey's Anatomy). He was straight to the point - he went right to popping my spider bites and I had to hold on soo tight to Jonathan's arm b/c I thought he was killing me. It hurt soooooooooo bad. He then asked me if there was any chance I could be pregnant b/c they were going to prescribe me a certain medicine. I said well ... actually I'm two or three days late, which isn't unusual ... and he jumped in and said we would do a urine test just in case. So ... I did the test around 12:25 AM and ... we sat, and waited, and sat, and waited ........... and by this time, we knew everything was ok with my spider bite and we were just ready to get out of there ... we knew we had to get up at 3:30 and drive all day soo we just felt we were wasting time. Soo finally at 1:05 AM, the doctor comes back in and says ... matter of factly "well, you are pregnant." WHAT?!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) I wish I had a camera to catch Jonathan's facial expression. It was incredddddddible!! We sat there just almost laughing with each other b/c he had JUST said (before the doctor came back in) -- "what if we find out we're pregnant in Marco Island Florida in an emergency room?!" - and we laughed it off because, of course, we thought it was a joke!! .......................... God had BIGGER plans for us!

Soo ... the doctor goes straight back to working on my spider bites and checking them out before we left ........... what spider bites?? I'm not even worried about THOSE anymore!!

So Jonathan and I checked out and left and ... we didn't know what in the world to do about telling any of our family?? We had always talked about waiting until a special occasion or ordering grandma/grandpa bibs or something and having them open them all together ... but how were we going to keep this HUGE secret????????



WE COULDN'T!! ... we ended up telling all of our immediate family and then we waited until August 12th to start telling others (after we got to see and hear that precious baby's heartbeat)!

Jonathan and I are sooo very lucky to have the love and support from all our family and friends. And we can't WAIT for Baby Williams to arrive so we can love it, care for it, and spoil it just like all our family has done to us over the years. :)

Where have we been??

This is wayy overdue! I'm sorry! I have been so bad about updating this thing and .. honestly haven't looked at it in over a year and a half (oops!).

I am going to try and be better about this (keyword = TRY)!

So ... I wanted to start off by giving a little update on what has gone on since I last posted (almost 2 years ago) - wow, time flies.

God has blessed us so much over the past year and a half. I never thought before we got married that I/we would be where we are right now ... but I am sooo abundantly blessed and grateful for God's love & mercy. Soon after we got married, the Lord showed us that we couldn't continue to live out of His will and continue to be disobedient to Him, and glorify Him at the same time ... it's just not possible! The devil was hard at work already trying to break us down (including even our marriage!) ... let me just say ... through GOD, there is NOTHING the devil can do ... nothing! God is so much GREATER and STRONGER and He PROTECTS and PROVIDES and LOVES unconditionally and has been teaching me to do the same. Psalm 46:1 says ... "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Thank YOU, LORD - for being our refuge and strength. There is nothing we can do under our own strength and without God ... NOTHING!!

I don't anticipate too many people reading this ... but those that do, I hope you know that God desires to have an intimate relationship with YOU - yes, YOU! ... that's something I never even thought twice about ... even though I grew up in church ... I "thought" I was a true Christian only because I was there every time the doors opened ... for youth stuff, for praise band practice, for Sunday School & Church on Sunday mornings ... events on the weekends ... World Changers, Ski trips, etc etc etc. I had been baptized and saved BUT ... I was completely living out of God's will ... being disobedient ... doing things that brought shame to God's name ... all the while, still claiming to be a "Christian". James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder." .......... Truth be told, I "believed" that God was the one true God. I believed all the things I had learned (or heard) growing up ... but was I living like I believed? Had I really put my faith and trust in Him?? Did the desires of my heart change when I was baptized early on?? Did I really have a true relationship with Him?? NO ............ I DIDN'T!! ...

But PRAISE GOD for opening my eyes and breaking me to the point where I would FINALLY realize life is NOT all about me .......... it is ALL ABOUT HIM!!! Having a true relationship with Him ... REPENTing of my sins (meaning - completely turning away from the things that are/were disobedient to Him and out of His will) and starting to live in obedience to Him and His call for my life. Leading others towards Him ........ Matthew 28: 19-20 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

This is God's desire for us all.

Now ... let me just go back saying ... I am in NO way, shape, or form and by NO means completely where I need to be. I KNOW that God has a LOT of work left to do IN me and through me ... b/c I still stumble ... I still sin ... and even still fall ... and my husband & family sometimes gets to see that first hand! ... but they are also the ones that encourage me! We all need encouragement ... and I hope that this is encouragement to YOU.

I know that there is a reason that all this is being typed into my computer right now ... because I haven't touched this in a longg time and opened it up just to update with a paragraph or so of what's been going on since we got married ... and here I am 45 minutes later, still typing.


Anywayyy ... I do want to catch you up on some other things that are going on with US - both of US - me and my wonderful husband, Jonathan! And I especially want to add to all this (with all the other that has been typed so far) .. that I have the most amazing, loving, giving, most supportive and encouraging husband I could have ever asked for. He is such a Godly leader and makes me feel so safe and secure. Again ... God had bigger plans than we ever had for ourselves.

I want to update you on US but I think I'll start another post. When I titled this, it was "Where have we been?" ... and then God lead me to type all this. I think the real question is "Where are we going from here?"

<3

Our 1st Wedding Shower/Hawaiian Luau!! :)

A HUGE thank you to my bridesmaids! These girls put so much time & effort into making this the PERFECT kickoff shower for me & Jonathan - and it was just that ... PERFECT!! We couldn't have asked for better weather, people, food, place, decorations, FUN, & gifts!! It was AMAZING!! Thanks to EVERYbody who contributed and everybody who came!! ... We can't WAIT for all the other festivities between now & December. Here are a few pics from the party :)

Our beauuuuuuuutiful cake!! Thanks to Laine & her mom!

The setup for the night! LOVE it!

Me w/ my soon-to-be husband!! :) CRAZY about him ;)

The hosts of the party!! THANK YOU ALL!! :)

The wedding party! (Minus Ally!) We missed you!

My beautiful bridesmaids!! LOVE you girls sooo much!! :)

Me w/ my mom & J's mom! :)

Me & J w/ my dad & Tammy!

Us in the middle of opening all our gifts! :)
Love you girls!

Summer Fun ... wayyy past due!! SORRY!!

Ok sooo it's been a while since I've gotten on this to give an update of what's going on in my life. Jonathan and I have had a WONDERFUL summer - the countdown to our wedding is in FULL force now - only 132 days (about 4 months) before the BIG DAY!! It has flown already! It's been great to have some free time to spend with the family this summer because it's so easy to get wrapped up into all the "wedding stuff". I'm sure closer to December it may get a little more hectic, but for now, we're just enjoying the ride.

Sooo our get-away for the summer was going to Marco Island, Florida, which is where we have gone every summer for the past 18 years. We have the best time and it is good to get away from 'reality' for a little bit. We always meet my dad's college roommate & his family down their and their daughter is actually one of my bridesmaids :)

Me & J ... after eating at the Guy Harvey restaurant! :)

We always enjoy being with the Hovance's and the week goes by wayy too fast. Can't wait to do it again next year :)