Boy or girl? We could know soon!

Tomorrow I'll be 11 weeks along!

Yesterday, we had our second appointment with my OBGYN. I scheduled it to be right after work, so all I had to do was walk over the breezeway to her office. Very convenient! Travis met me there, and we didn't have to wait long at all. My blood pressure was good, and I weighed the same as I did at my last appointment, so yay for that! You're really not supposed to gain much weight at all during the 1st trimester, so I guess I'm saving that for the coming weeks :) I feel like I'm hungry all the time, but I'm trying not to be a complete pig. I'm hoping for smaller than a 9 lb baby like I was! :)

The first thing we did when we got in the room was an ultrasound. The nurse told us not to be worried if we couldn't hear the heartbeat because that's not all that unusual for 10-11 weeks since the baby is still so low. But, when she put the goopy stuff and the wand on my belly, we heard the heartbeat right away!! It was so cool! Travis didn't know that a baby's heart rate is so much faster than ours, so he wasn't expecting it to sound like that.

We're going to a different doctor on the 14th for my first trimester screening. That's the test that they do to check for Down syndrome. At that appointment, they'll do another ultrasound and some blood work. My doctor told us yesterday that this other doctor will probably be able to tell us the gender of the baby when they do the ultrasound. I was so excited to hear that! Apparently, he is really good at determining boy or girl this early because he's only missed it one time that my doctor knows of. That means we could know in less than 2 weeks! We go back to my OBGYN on the 27th, and she said they could do an ultrasound then and would probably be able to tell the gender, so I guess if we can't find out on the 14th, hopefully we will on the 27th!!! I was expecting to have to wait until at least sometime in September or early October to know, so if we know sometime this month, I'll be thrilled!!!

Now, we just have to decide about whether or not to have a gender reveal party. Basically, you get the doctor to write down if it's a boy or girl on a piece of paper, and then you put it into an envelope without looking. Then, you give the envelope to a friend or a bakery, and they make a cake with either pink or blue on the inside. For the party, you invite your friends and family, and then you cut into the cake with everyone there, and everyone finds out at the same time. I just think that would be so much fun!!! But, it's going to be really tempting to find out at the doctor's office too. Decisions, decisions! If we do the party, I think we would probably wait until after the 27th just to make sure both doctors think the same thing: boy or girl. So, if we have the party, it'll be near the end of August or early September I guess.

I've felt pretty good this week other than just the usual tiredness. I worked yesterday and Monday, and I'm supposed to work tomorrow and Friday too. I'm enjoying today off! I jogged this morning and watered our plants. I've also been watching some of the Olympics. I may even take a nap this afternoon and not feel guilty about it. I'm good at taking naps these days!

This weekend, we're having a few friends over to watch the Olympics. Travis is going to break out the grill for the 2nd time and grill some hamburgers. We're looking forward to that!

Mom had her annual mammogram a few weeks ago. She noticed recently that she has a lump on her scar from the lumpectomy she had last summer. She thought it was just scar tissue, but her doctor biopsied it just to be sure. She got the results yesterday...it was benign! Thanking God for good news like that! :)  I think Mom is about as anxious as I am to find out whether we are having a boy or girl. I think she's going to go crazy buying cute little outfits for him or her...haha :)

Speaking of moms, Cheryl sold her house last week!!! We are so excited for her! It had been on the market for a while, and finally the right family came along (with 7 kids!!). The closing was on Friday, so it's a done deal. She and Melissa (and Emily, for a week or two) have moved into a rental house not too far away from their old house, and I just love it. It's got a lot of curb appeal!

That's about it for the news around here. Lots of prayers have been answered lately!! :)

Travel Time: Fripp Island

Let's continue on with the details of the rest of our trip...

We left Savannah to head to Fripp Island around 2:45 PM. I would've loved to stay in Savannah longer (and maybe revisit Paula's restaurant for supper...haha), but we had a surprise party to decorate for! Savannah to Fripp is such an easy drive...only about 1 1/2 hours. Mom had no idea what we were up to, but Aunt Gale had the idea that we should surprise Mom with a party to celebrate her beating breast cancer. I'd already bought the decorations, Aunt Gale got a cake, and everyone brought presents. We were planning to get everyone else there before Mom, Dad, and Jenn arrived. Luckily, that wasn't too hard because they were running late! When Mom walked in, she was definitely surprised!! I'm glad we pulled it off!

Cake and gifts table

Rachel...An "Over-achieva Diva"

Rachel's Wave Rider....a gag gift from Aunt Gale! :)

Totally surprised!

Opening gifts after supper

The party was a great start to the week! The rest of the week was a lot of fun too. Even though it rained most of the week, it was just great to spend time with the family. It was actually fairly cool outside for it being June at the beach...nowhere near 90 degrees like it sometimes is! We played games, watched a lot of basketball and softball, and of course, we fed the deer. I spent a lot of the week reading the Hunger Games books plus one other book. 4 books in one week! :)

We definitely had to eat at Dockside one night...I look forward to that every year. It was awesome just like it always is! They make really good she-crab soup and hushpuppies :)

The whole clan...minus Kathleen! :(

Don't you just love Mom's new 'do?? I love it!

We also celebrated Travis's birthday while we were at Fripp. He's 26 years old now!! Can't believe it! I still feel like we should be college age...

Socks and undershirts...I guess he IS getting old! :)

We had a such a great time at Fripp this year!! It's always a bummer to have to get back to "real life" after having so much fun. Next year, we should just stay for a whole month instead of a week! :)

Our Busy Season!

We had a great Mother's Day celebrating with our moms!

Friday after work, we headed to Trussville for a couple of days. It was a nice change to see my family two weekends in a row! That night, Jenn and I made a pie for Mom as a Mother's Day dessert. We ended up running out to Publix twice because we forgot all of the ingredients the first time...oops! It was worth it though...that pie was yummy. If you're looking for a rich, creamy chocolate pie, you need to try this Rich Chocolate Truffle Pie. Another allrecipes.com winner!

Mom threw a small graduation party for Jenn on Saturday for lunch. It was a lot of fun! We ate hamburgers, several sides, and the best strawberry cake I've ever had from Edgar's Bakery.

That night, after eating pizza and a tiny sliver of pie (because we were so stuffed from all that food), Travis and I headed back home. We are both teaching Bible classes at church right now, so we had to be back in town by Sunday morning.

We ate lunch with Cheryl, Emily, and Melissa on Sunday. Travis is getting to be a pretty good grill master because the steaks were awesome! He's had his eye on a nice grill for a while (because we still haven't bought one), but he's waiting on it to go on sale. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sometime soon though!

Last night, with Alisha and Tyler back in town, we all ate supper at Phil Sandoval's. It was our first time to eat there, and it was really good.

Now after eating all that food this weekend, no wonder I felt like I needed to go running this morning! :)

I guess I'm unofficially a mom to the kitties, so of course they wanted to celebrate. In honor of Mother's Day, they left me a nice present to find when we got back home Saturday night. One of them had thrown up all over the carpet and rug in our living room...yuck! Luckily, we got it all cleaned up pretty easily. I think it must have been a combination of eating too much at one time + a hairball. Gross. They must have felt bad about it, though, because when we got home last night from supper and running a few errands, they'd left me a nice present on the bathmat in the guest bathroom. Yesterday afternoon, I "deadheaded" a few flowers in our flower beds, and I'd brought them inside and thrown them away in the trashcan in the study. Well, someone (probably Miss Gabby) decided to go digging in the trash, and she carried one of the flowers all the way from the study into the bathroom. Ha! What a silly cat. I guess I'd rather find dead flowers than the alternative though... :)

Speaking of our flower beds, flowers are blooming, and shrubs are growing...so I guess we're doing something right! It's really cool to go outside every day and see how all of the plants are growing and changing. Here are a few pictures so you can see for yourself!

Astra Double Blue Balloon Flower

I love the color! These are in our left flower bed...

Our hydrangeas are blooming too!

Lots of daisies popping up now...

Very pretty!

Everything is really growing!

As usual, our summer is starting to get really busy. We don't have a free weekend until mid-June! This weekend, we've got 3 parties/showers to go to between the two of us. Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and I'm hoping we can go to the lake for a couple of days with my family. Then the next weekend, we leave for Fripp Island! Can't wait for that! Not sure if I've mentioned this already, but we are going to stop in Savannah for the day before heading to Fripp. Neither of us has ever been, so we're looking forward to it. Any suggestions on things to do/places to eat? I'm thinking we'll definitely have to try Paula Deen's restaurant!

Well, that's about it for this update. We're just staying busy as usual! :)

Graduation Weekend!

This weekend was a special one! Two of our sisters, Jenn and Alisha, graduated from college!!

Alisha's graduation was on Friday night in Tuscaloosa, so we headed there first after leaving home. It was exciting to see how happy she was because I was feeling that same way about 2 1/2 years ago...no more nursing school!! :) Go Alisha!! She is still looking for a job, but I'm sure one will come up soon.

Alisha's graduation!

Walking across the stage

I wish this was closer up...I love her excited face :)

Siblings!

Tyler's fam

Love you!

After graduation (and a few pictures), we all headed to Midtown Village for supper/frozen yogurt. It was great to be back in Tuscaloosa again, especially for such an exciting occasion!

After leaving t-town, Travis and I headed to Trussville for Saturday/Sunday until it was time to go to Jenn's graduation in Auburn on Monday. We had to leave the house at 6:30 AM to get down there in time! Jenn graduated with her degree in chemical engineering and is planning to work at UAB for a year before going to med school. She definitely got the brains of the two of us! :)

Jenn's graduation!

Summa cum laude

Mom and Dad with Jenn

Sisters!

The whole fam :)

After eating lunch back at Jenn's dorm, she took us on a tour around campus before we went to a reception for all of the graduating Chem Es. We made sure to get some lemonade at Toomer's, of course! After the reception, we walked over to the stadium to see their new Heisman winner statues before heading back home. It was a great day!

Congratulations Jenn and Alisha!! :)

Life Outside of Landscaping

Just a quick update on our non-working-out-in-the-yard lives...

Us: Friday marked 6 years since our first date at Depalma's in Tuscaloosa. Wow!! Doesn't seem like that long at all. But, then again, it's been almost 2 years since Travis graduated and we moved to Madison. That's pretty crazy too!

House: We've now lived in our house for a year officially. I think we moved in on April 9th, 2011. A lot has changed around here in the last year. New paint colors, pictures on the walls, blinds up on the windows, etc. We're blessed to be living here...we love it!

Cats: Gabby and Felix are as lazy as ever. Right now, they are sleeping in separate chairs at the kitchen table next to me. I wish I could sleep as much as they do! 

It's a hard life!

Running: The half marathon is just over 2 weeks away. I guess if we're not ready by this point, we'll never be. Yesterday, I felt the best I've felt while running in a long time. Travis, on the other hand, has been having a lot of pain in his right hip lately. He went to the chiropractor yesterday and is going back this afternoon, so maybe that will help. We're supposed to run 14 miles on Saturday, so we'll see how that goes! My foot still hurts a little bit when I'm running, but not all the time and not as bad as it did. I just have to make it through the 28th, and then I'm not running for a while after that! :)

Birthdays: This weekend, we're celebrating Emily's and Tyler's birthdays. I'm looking forward to Alisha, Tyler, and Emily all being here at the same time. Pretty soon, Alisha and Tyler will be up here for good! Can't wait for that! :)

 Taxes: We are major slackers this year. We still aren't done with our taxes! Talk about waiting until the last minute. We've literally been outside every weekend for the past several weeks and haven't had time to get them done. That's on the to-do list for tonight! 

Mom: I haven't updated about Mom lately. She's still feeling pretty good after finishing up radiation treatments last month. She had appointments with two of her doctors on Tuesday, and they both said she looked great. She's going to be starting an oral medication soon that she'll have to take for 5 years. Her hair is slowly growing back. I haven't seen it in person yet, but she's going headcover-less now apparently! Yay Mom!

David Hartsell: He preaches at Northwood, where we went to church when we were in college. He recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor and hasn't been doing very well since then. Here is the latest update that I've seen on Facebook (from Tuesday night):

"Good evening. Thank you for your continued prayers on David's and on our family's behalf. I hope you will excuse the fact that this is the second update sent today. This is simply the best method for us to disperse information and answer the many questions we have received.

After hooking David up to the EEG this morning, the doctors believe there is some increase in brain activity from last week. It is unclear at this time what that means as far as his chance at recovery. He is still not awake, and the best doctors in the country in this field continue to be perplexed as to what is going on and what will happen in the days ahead. The plan in to redo the EEG on Friday morning to see if there are further improvements. The steps following that are unclear at this time. Also, David has had a fever for the past couple of days, and a lumbar puncture was performed this afternoon to rule out meningitis. It seems that the doctors do not believe meningitis to be a likely finding, but they must rule it out before proceeding. The results from that, I assume, will be available tomorrow.

While the doctors on this case are perplexed, there is one thing that we know: God has the power to heal David if He chooses to do so. That is what we are praying for, and request that you do as well. Thank you again for your love and, most of all, your prayers."

Please pray for his full recovery! And, pray for his family during this difficult time. Mr. Hartsell is a very special person and has been a great influence on Travis and me just in the few years we've known him. Please pray that he can continue to preach and touch other's lives in the future just like he's already done.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Green thumb?

So, I'm really getting into this landscaping stuff!

For the last 4 or 5 months, our flower beds have just been plain dirt. Really, plain red clay. Back in October, we pulled up the pitiful little shrubs that were already there. I don't know how long they'd been there, but they definitely weren't very big or healthy looking. So, we decided to just start over and plant what we wanted.

"Before" picture.....empty flower beds!

Well, we've finally got some stuff planted!

Friday was our "planning" day. First, we measured the beds, and Travis drew them on graph paper with labeled dimensions. We also took some pictures of our house and printed them out on paper. Then, with a few shrubs in mind that we liked, we headed to Reseda Nursery. A guy there showed us around, took a look at our pictures and drawing, and gave us some suggestions for what to plant where. It was pretty overwhelming at first...just because we didn't know what we were doing! We spent a couple of hours there, and then we headed to the other side of town to check out Bennett's Nursery. We did basically the same thing; someone showed us around and gave us their ideas for what we should plant. Overall, we spent about 4 hours looking at everything! After a quick supper at Sun Cafe, we looked over all of the different shrubs online one more time and made some final decisions about what we wanted to plant.

Travis's artwork!

Some of the house pictures we took to the nurseries

We were hoping to be able to get everything from either Reseda or Bennett's (to save us some driving), but, of course, we ended up picking stuff that either one or the other place didn't have. So, first thing Saturday morning, we headed back to both nurseries to pick out and buy our shrubs! It ended up taking all morning to do that...just because we wanted to look at everything one more time and get some last-minute opinions on a few things from the people there. We ended up buying 12 things between the two places! We got home a little after 12 PM, ate lunch, and headed outside to get started planting.

I don't think either of us had any idea how long it would take to dig those holes! The instructions say to dig your hole 1.5 times as deep and 2 times as wide as the container, which turned out to be pretty big holes for some of the stuff. Travis did practically all of the digging, and I was the assistant "measurer". Because it took so long to dig the holes, we only got 7 of the 12 shrubs planted. The others are sitting in their containers on the back patio ready to be planted this weekend (hopefully!).

Without further ado, here's what we ended up picking out. These are pictures I found online to give you an idea of what they'll look like in a few years after they grow...

Green tower boxwood

These boxwoods are on the very left and the very right side of our flower beds. They grow to be 8-9 feet tall and not too wide, so we're hoping they'll be a nice "frame" for the house.

Indian hawthorne

We planted two of these in the left flower bed (as you're looking at the house). They don't get very tall, so they're perfect for underneath the windows. They also bloom white flowers in the spring.

Mountain Fire Japanese Pieris

I'm really excited about this one. We planted this in between the windows in the left flower bed. It grows 5-6 feet tall, and it's just really unique looking. We were trying to stay away from reds and pinks because we thought they might not stand out against our red brick house, but I couldn't resist this!

Green velvet boxwood

We bought two of these, and planted one on the very inside of each flower bed. They don't grow to be too wide or tall, and you can shape them however you want to. They will frame the entrance to the house. You can't tell from this picture very well, but the leaves have a golden/yellow tint to them on the edges.

Autumn chiffon azalea

We are going to plant one of these azaleas under each window in the right flower bed. They only get 2.5 to 3 feet tall, so they won't block the windows much. The flowers are white with pink centers...very pretty!

Mikawa yatsubusa Japanese maple

This was our big purchase and Travis's favorite too! This type of Japanese maple only gets 6 feet tall, so it won't be too big. We planted it in between the windows in the right flower bed. We thought the bright green leaves would really pop against the red brick. Right now, ours only has 5 or 6 leaves, but one day it will really be pretty! Bennett's only had one of this type of Japanese maple, so I bet we'll be the only one around with one!

Endless summer hydrangea

We've also got a small semi-circle-shaped flower bed on the side of the house by the driveway. I've always thought hydrangeas were pretty, so we're going to plant two of these in the small bed. I love the blue color!

I think that's everything! Here are some pictures of what we've done so far. You'll have to check back in a few years to see them when they've grown some :)

5 more to plant!

The left side is done!

Our little Japanese maple :)

Yay!

I'd also like to plant some flowers to fill in the gaps between the shrubs. I found a few pictures of flowers that I like, so I'm looking forward to picking some out and planting those too. Hopefully I can even dig those holes myself! :)

Astra white balloon flower

Bavaria Blue Dwarf Bellflower

Color Wheel Stokes Aster

 Yellow Daylilies

Mums

Origami Mix Columbine (LOVE THESE!!!)

Rebecca Viola

Tulip

Variegated Jacob's Ladder

Decisions, decisions. I know I can't plant all of those, so I'll have to narrow it down. Who knew I'd get so excited about flowers!!??

BIG non-planting related news: MOM FINISHES RADIATION TOMORROW!!! Hurrah!!  She's been looking forward to this for several weeks now. So glad her skin will be able to start getting back to normal soon! Mom, you have really been an inspiration to me and a great example of strength and courage. So glad you are my mom!

We are supposed to run 11 miles this weekend...eek. We had an easy run of 4 miles last weekend. I never thought I'd be able to run 8.5, and I did that, so I guess I can do 11 too. We'll see...! The half marathon is only 45 days away!!

I posted this picture on Facebook the other day, but for those who didn't see it, apparently Gabby doesn't appreciate my couponing hobby...

:(

I wish she'd chewed up a coupon that I wasn't planning to use! Oh well. I should have know better than to leave them where she could get to them. The only place to keep anything safe from her is the kitchen counter these days...

I guess that's about all that's going on with us right now. We're just enjoying the warmer weather and being outside on the weekends. Travis is dreaming about getting a grill sometime in the next few months, so we're both looking forward to that. "By the time college football season starts" is his goal for buying one. Of course things have to be measured around football in this house...hah!

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday! :)