Funny Christmas Stories

This year we stayed home for Christmas and we're going to visit family over New Year's. We decided that we were going to see if we had any friends that were going to be in town on Christmas Day night...to see if they wanted to have a dinner. It was awesome!!! Amanda cooked another moist turkey, my dressing wasn't too dry, we had cranberry sauce, broccoli, mac & cheese, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, squash casserole, desserts...and I'm sure I'm missing something. It was a wonderful time with friends and I'm so glad that we did that!

Now onto my funny stories...Well, I'm not saying that I'm a chef or anything, but I do love to cook and for the most part things taste pretty good. I absolutely love Amanda's Mema's Sweet Potato Casserole recipe. It's so simple, but yet so yummy. Now, with that being said...I'm in love with marshmallows too. I decided to put a lot on top because they are so yummy. I placed it on the 2nd rack in the oven because the turkey and the dressing was still cooking. Next thing I know they are beginning to expand. Ha, I totally forgot that they expand when they get hot. So, I placed a piece of foil in the bottom of the oven just in case it were to spill over. Well, a minute or two later we realized that the marshmallows were touching the top rack, so we had to take them out and let them fall down a bit. In the meantime, I decided to put my Mom's Simple Apple Pie in the back of the 2nd rack to begin baking and to put the Sweet Potato Casserole in the toaster oven instead. Our friend Rachel showed up and all of the sudden I noticed in the oven that there was fire on the aluminum foil...and the only words I could get out to Amanda were "Party Foul, Party Foul" and they both were like what...and then I was like "Fire in the oven" so we proceeded to get the door open and try to blow out the fire and hope that the fire alarm didn't go off. Rachel opened the door and we were just laughing so hard. Little while later a few more people had shown up...and I noticed that the toaster oven was smoking. I walked over there and the marshmallows were totally burnt on the top of the Sweet Potato Casserole. I mean, all we could do was laugh at this point, but I do have to say that it still tasted very yummy!!!

Overall our Christmas was wonderful. Starting the day off with Regan kicking me like crazy, opening our presents, eating sausage balls, watching Emily on Video Chat see what Santa brought her, taking a nap, cooking a little bit, Amanda getting home and taking another nap, finishing the cooking, having friends over and just enjoying the day. It was a wonderful day. Now, I cannot wait for Wednesday to get here so I can be in Atlanta enjoying my family, celebrating my sister's birthday, and trying to make it to midnight to bring in the New Year!

Cannot wait to see what 2011 will bring...we have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to be wonderful! ;)

Eve of Christmas Eve 2010

I'm sitting here on the Eve of Christmas Eve 2010 and all I can think about is what next Christmas will be like with our little girl! :) I know she will only be like 8 months old, but still I cannot wait to do many things with her next year. So, here is the start to my list for Regan during the Christmas 2011 season...

1. Looking at Christmas lights with her and seeing the twinkle in her eyes.

2. Santa pictures :)

3. Putting a Christmas bow on her cute little head from a package and laughing

4. Rebound and Regan's picture in front of our tree

5. Regan's first Christmas ornament

6. Cute Christmas pj's

7. Our first family Christmas card

8. Silly Christmas songs

Thinking about these things make me so happy :) But I am going to enjoy our last Christmas together! :)

Merry Christmas

So this is love...

Who knew that you could love someone so much when you haven't even met her yet. It's crazy! I am so in love with all of her movement in my belly. I even love it when she moves at night, ha. Amanda is in love too! Regan Lynn we love you more than you know and we cannot wait to be your mommies :)

Getting ready...

We're getting ready for Christmas around our house. The weather outside doesn't exactly feel like December, but this week it's suppose to be a little cooler, so that's good. We have plenty of things to keep us busy this month. We do have our tree up and some presents wrapped, but to be honest more of our focus is on Regan and getting ready for when she gets here in April. Who would think that it would literally take 9 months to get ready for a baby. But needless to say, we have plenty of things to get done. My mom and Barry came this weekend and helped Amanda paint her room...it looks so great!!! It makes me even more excited to get her furniture and bedding and see how it all comes together. The best Christmas present I can get this year is a good checkup on the 21st.

Here's to the Christmas season and truly celebrating what it means along with spending time with family and friends and not sweating the small things in life!

Have a wonderful Holiday season...and don't forget to eat a few candy canes along the way! :)

Christmas Ornament

Every year we go pick out a Christmas ornament that represents the year. This year of course we chose an ornament that was centered around the fact that we are pregnant and going to have a baby girl. Amanda found this stork ornament and we knew that it was the one for this year. We love it! This year has been consumed with everything Regan and we couldn't be more excited for her to come in April of next year :)

Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what you are thankful for and this year it is totally different than in the past. I guess when you are a soon to be Mom your priorities definitely change.

I am thankful for Regan that is growing inside me. I am thankful that she is healthy and growing at the right speed. I am thankful for how wonderful Amanda has been through this entire process. I am thankful for my Mom who has supported our decision to start a family from the beginning. I am thankful for my sister and how excited she has been for us. I am thankful for all of our family and friends, everyone who has sent their love and support truly means a lot.

This year is totally different and I cannot wait to see how different next Thanksgiving will be with Regan around. My life is amazing and I couldn't ask for anything else!

Hope all is well.

We're pregnant!!!

On July 12, 2010 our life started changing and on July 26, 2010 our lives changed forever. We began a new chapter in our life. April 4, 2011 -- Let the journey begin!

To quote my dad from a conversation we had a couple of weeks ago now…”I always knew you were going to be a mom, I didn’t know when, but I just know you’re going to be great at it.” That has got to be the nicest compliment. I am so emotional these days and that definitely hit the spot. Amanda and I both hope that we can be wonderful mothers like we had growing up. Over this process we have talked about our childhoods and how great they were and the things that we want to bring into our kids lives. It’s just such an amazing honor to be able to be a Mom and neither Amanda nor I are going to take that for granted.

The process before was quite a long one. We had been talking about how we were going to expand our family for such a long time, that it kind of seemed surreal when we finally got down to doing all the medications and treatments. Talking about what was going to happen and it happening is two totally different things. Both of us had to endure different things at different times. Throughout the entire process we leaned on each other and realized what an amazing opportunity it is to be a parent. I cannot believe that it’s actually happening

We are 18 weeks and 4 days, we are getting so close to the half way point that it’s crazy! Gotta be honest and say it’s all finally starting to sink in. For a while, I would just randomly say…I’m pregnant, how crazy is that?! Now, I can feel Regan (if it truly is a girl…we will know more next week) move and it gives me the most amazing feeling. I cannot wait for Amanda to feel her moving around. Of course she likes to move at night, so that should be interesting if that trend continues when she’s born. I have been wearing maternity pants for a while. Amanda will tell you, that the first time I put them on it was the most amazing feeling because I could actually breathe!!! I was jumping up and down in the dressing room and she was laughing, quite amusing. At first I gained more weight than I wanted, but things have leveled out, that is until the past 2 weeks or so, my belly is starting to stick out even further. At least now I don’t look fat anymore, I’m actually looking more pregnant. I’m feeling not as tired as I used to feel, but overall I still feel tired. I have gotten the pregnancy “I forgot” brain, most definitely. I am missing my coffee in the mornings, wine at night, and my sushi dates. But at the end of these 9 months, it is most definitely going to be worth all of the sacrifices that I am making. Amanda is going to bring me sushi in the hospital and it’s going to be wonderful!!!

We have started registering and that is a process within itself as well. There are so many things to look at and so many things to decide on. I do have to tell a funny story. So, we registered for a lime green bottle brush. When we came home and we were looking at the registry, the bottle brush was pink, so Amanda changed it back. The day we look again and it had changed back to pink…and the same thing happened the next day. Needless to say, it changes every day and it frustrates Amanda to a point that all I can do is laugh about it; I finally went on and changed the type of bottle brush to multi colored so that she doesn’t even have to deal with it anymore. But she has been the greatest about researching and finding out what other people use in regards to bottles, pack-n-plays, diapers, carriers, etc. It has been fun looking at all the stuff, as well as overwhelming…I mean seriously how much could one little person need…according to the Babies R Us registry book – A LOT!!!

This is definitely the happiest time in our lives. We are so excited and cannot wait for our new addition to our family. I think Rebound is excited too, he just doesn’t know how to express it yet. Ha…I am excited for Rebound to meet our new addition; he’s going to be great! We are so happy that everyone has been so supportive throughout everything. Our family is very lucky to have people in our lives that are so wonderful!