Christmas Decor 2009

It was sooooo much easier decorating this year with it being our 2nd year in our house. The only thing I added was these 2 little trees on our front entry table. The train is from my childhood. Starting the year I was born my mom and dad got me a new piece every year until it was complete! I'm so glad I have it today! The only picture missing is my Willow Tree nativity scene. I need to take a picture and add that!

When the cats are not busy climbing the tree and knocking the ornaments off, they like to lay all precious like underneath the tree. Don't be fooled though! It's an act!

Body Pillow Fight

We recently purchased a glorious body pillow for me. I'll admit I am sleeping so much better now with it.....except when someone beats me to it at night! ;)

Mommy Mobile and Texas Snow

This month is was time to finally trade the ol' 4 Runner in. My 3 year lease was finally up. I seriously felt like I just got this car! We decided to buy a used Sequoia to have long term! I was very reminiscent the day I gave it back though. This is the car my daddy helped me lease as my nursing school graduation present. I drove this car during the 3 year time span I got engaged, built a house, got married, and found out I was pregnant. It's amazing the memories that come back just b/c of a car you had during that time. But alas, it was time to move on. I did take some pictures of her last day in front of our house!

The morning after we bought the Sequoia, it snowed!!!! In Texas!!! Every year it never ceases to amaze me when it's in the 70's and then a few days later it's snowing! I am one of those horrible Texas Snow drivers. It was real fun driving the new car to my OB appointment later that morning...j/k. But we made it in one piece! Andrew was able to meet me at the appointment and we had a fun lunch date after that consisted of touring Reese's potential daycare at my work and Jason's Deli.

^^The new ride^^

The best part about my new ride??? THE SEAT WARMERS!!!!!! I'm so glad I got this car in December so I could use them!!!! We all know I will only be able to use these about 2 months out of the year!

25 weeks already???

Wow! 25 weeks have come and will be gone before we know it!!! It is really starting to fly by! Some highlights from the past few weeks...

• I really started to notice much more regular movement from baby girl around 24 weeks. I can tell how she is laying most times when she kicks! She likes to alternate between cephalic and breech. She'll spend a few days head down and then flip to breech. It's so precious to feel those little feet kicking away in there!

• I can now SEE her movements much more too! It's so cool to see her go to town in there!

• My belly button is getting veeeery shallow. I am one of the many who thought it was cool to have a belly button ring back in the day. You can now see the bottom part of where the piercing was if that makes sense. I have never seen that before!

• We registered at around 24 weeks. Aside from a minor breakdown in the bouncer aisle(I didn't know which one she would want the most!), we did pretty good!

• Reese received her first package to our house! It was so fun seeing it addressed to Reese Elizabeth Herrell. My mom's precious friend who I call Aunt Kelly sent her a sweet pink and brown SOFT kitty with a little matching kitty lovey to go with it for Christmas. I think she will love them!

• My 1 hr GTT is at my next appointment on the 28th. Which means I get to carb load over Christmas! I could not have timed that better!

22 weeks

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

21 weeks

Well here we are at 21 weeks. Time is really starting to fly by, especially with the holidays quickly approaching! Here are some highlights from 21 weeks...

* I am really starting to FEEL big. I know in the grand scheme of things this is nothing, but boy am I starting to FEEL it!

* It is so hard to stay on my side! I have never been a back sleeper, but suddenly that is how I want to sleep! My hips are starting to go numb if I stay on one side for too long, crazy!

* I am waking up STARVING at 5 am the last several days and have had to get up and make a full blown breakfast or I can't go back to sleep b/c my stomach is growling so much!

* I have been calling the baby cupcake after I found some cute cupcake onesies. My mom and her friends have christened her "Princess Cupcake!"

* My mom gave me the little cream smocked gown last night that I wore home from the hospital. Princess Cupcake will be wearing it home from the hospital too! It is so sweet and precious!

*My patients have started asking me questions about my pregnancy and the baby which is fun!

*I wish they made maternity scrubs. I am pretty close to being in t-shirts once and for all. I can still fit into the scrub tops, but they ride up and look like crop tops!

*I wish I had an endless supply of funds for maternity clothes. And baby bedding.

*I saw New Moon Friday night with all the work girls. We had been waiting so long for this day!!! I absolutely loved it, especially since it pretty much followed the book to a T. Good job Chris Weitz! Reese was moving around constantly throughout the 2nd half! I think she is Team Edward like her mom!

We had a fun lunch with the Herrell side of the family yesterday since most of them will be out of town for Thanksgiving. My parents are heading to St Louis on Tuesday to spend the week with Abby since of course I will be working. So Andrew and I are spending Thanksgiving day with Margaret and Houston. I'm so lucky to have in-laws that I consider my surrogate parents. This will be the first Thanksgiving that I haven't had my mom's cooking. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty sad about this! I am bringing sweet potatoes and green bean casserole to the festivities on Thursday in Azle. I have to work Thursday night, but at least I have Wednesday night off!

This is Captain, otherwise known as Cappy. He is sick! My mom took him to the vet last week for his checkup and his blood sugar was over 700!!!!! The prognosis is not good as he has lost alot of weight and is peeing constantly. Poor buddy. We are just going to see how he does in the next few weeks. My mom is pretty torn as to what to do. Cappy's vet does not think BID insulin shots will help at this point. He was the first of many cats that I have brought home to my parents house over the years. I can't help it! We went by my mom and dad's house to see him last night. Get better Cappy! 

Reese's Crib

We purchased Baby Reese's crib this weekend. We got it at BuyBuy Baby and even had a 20% off coupon! We are going to order the dresser once we acquire another one of those handy dandy coupons! The daddy to be did a great job setting it up and only had to take it apart once at the end, haha! He had some helper boys too as you can see!

It's funny b/c we didn't even realize that there was a drawer in the bottom of the crib! Fun suprise! Can't wait to see a sweet baby sleeping in her crib!

1/2 way baby!!!

Here is the 20 week belly shot taken last week! Fridays are my favorite day of the week b/c it means we are 1 week closer to meeting....

REESE ELIZABETH HERRELL!!!!!

Yes that will be her name!!!! We love it and have found that everyone we tell loves it too!!! The name Reese just seemed perfect for her. Elizabeth is my mom's middle name and also Andrew's dad's mom's middle name! We got to tell both sets of parents in person which was fun. My mom and dad wanted to guess her name before I told him. So after a few hints, my dad seriously blurts out Renequa! Renequa??? Really dad??? We had a good laugh over that one. My mom said "Oh I just think she is going to look like a Reese!"

100% GIRL!!!!

We got the confirmation we needed! It is REALLY a girl!!!! I'm so excited! Still working on parts of her name, but I'm thinking that will be finalized pretty soon. The important part is baby girl looked great on her sono and everything was as it should be. We were even able to sweet talk the doctor into giving us a little 4D sneak peak at her face. He said "Now it might look a little scary since she's so tiny still, just in time for Halloween. Now that's a face only a mother could love!" I was like" thanks dude! I think she's precious!!!!" We got some really great pics of her profile and she even threw us the "hook 'em" sign. She weighs 8 oz and is 6 inches long from head to bottom! That's a big baby! ha!

18 week bump watch...

Little Miss has been spoiled already by some special people! I can't believe how many clothes are in her closet! I think they look so cute hanging there!!!





Today we finally finished cleaning out the baby's room which was the old guestroom. All the guestroom stuff went to the old study. All the study stuff went to the upstairs which is now the catch all room. It has been musical rooms around here for the past few weeks!!! Here are the before nursery pictures. We still need to move that dresser out of there, but I sure as heck am not going to be the one to help do it! ha!







Now this just blows my mind. I took this first picture at 7 weeks. Now the one beneath it was taken on the eve of 18 weeks. Same shorts. I look so different!!! It's so surreal that my belly is growing like this!!! I feel like the last few weeks my belly has been growing like crazy!

Happy Halloween!

And Baby Makes 3...

Well I guess it's time to update the ol' blog! 

We are having a baby!!!!!!

God has blessed us beyond measure, and we are so thankful for our exciting news! We found out July 25, and to say we were surprised at how fast it happened is an understatement! I am now 17 weeks and feeling great! Weeks 6-12 were definitely not fun, so it's great to feel good now. All of our appointments have been wonderfully reassuring! It's hard not to think about all the scary things that could happen, especially working where I do! I feel much more relaxed about everything now than in the beginning!

We were told at our 12 week sono, that we are having a GIRL!!! We find out for sure on Friday at our 18 week follow up sono. SO EXCITING!!!! There is definitely a bump coming in too. 

Belly shots so far...

9 weeks

12 weeks

16 weeks

and the latest 17 weeks

Stay tuned for more updates on Baby Herrell! Due April 2, 2010!!!

So behind!!!

I guess life just gets in the way sometimes!!! Hopefully at some point I can blog about what we've been up to...Andrew's 33rd b-day, hanging out with our constantly growing nephew (he is 8 mos old now and just finished his first round of swim lessons!), re-doing backyard, dealing with our house getting broken into (crazy!!!), trip to San Diego, and our 1 year anniversary this coming Sunday!!!! We are going to San Antonio for the weekend. Wow...a year sure does go by fast! 

Back to work tonight for 3 nights. Oh night shift....I am so done with you and will not miss you one bit!!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND!!!!!

Happy 33rd birthday to you Husband!!!! You are the funniest person I know and I am so blessed to be your wifey! I love you a million times over and can't wait to see what this crazy life has in store for us together. You are my other half, knight in shining armor and all that gushy stuff. Love you honey!!!!!

Oh and happy birthday to your silly twin brother too! I made sopapilla cheese cake and we are going to go eat some yummy take out with the other Herrells, demolish the cake, and play with the Mackster!

Easter Basket Excitement

Easter/Birthday weekend!!!

This year my 26th birthday fell on Good Friday! What a priviledge! It was so humbling to think all day what the true meaning of Good Friday is. Jesus died on this day for me so that I could be born to live eternally with Him! WOW!!!

I had worked Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night that week so I was more than ready to get back to a day schedule on Friday after sleeping all day Thursday. Thursday night husband and I went to Firewheel and ate at San Francisco Oven and checked out the Carter's outlet store to get some fun outfits for the Macker. We had fun making an Easter Basket (well, bucket actually) for Mack for his first Easter!!! I also just absolutely HAD to make the cats Easter baskets. Yes I know this probably sounds reeeeally weird, but I grew up with my mom making Easter baskets for the dogs so I don't really know any different! I had specific instructions from husband though that I was alloted 5 dollars per cat. I think they turned out pretty cute though. And yes I stayed right at my 10 dollar total limit!

Jack trying to sneak a peak at the finished products!

Mack's in the middle!

Andrew works 1/2 day Fridays, so I got to spend the whole afternoon with my Honey! He came and picked me up and we drove up to Plano to have a birthday lunch at Cafe Express! Mmmm California turkey burgers and sweet potato fries...so good! After that we shopped around for a few hours and then headed back to the house. That night we met mom, dad, Abby, and Will at Fogo de Chao in Addison. I have always been wanting to try this place after hearing such wonderful things! We celebrated all the April birthdays in our family (mom, Andrew, and me!) It was such a fun and long dinner. We ate for over 3 hours! At one point, there was skewers of meat coming at us from all different directions! So delicious! I received some very sweet gifts including an awesome chip and dip from crate and barrel, an "E" coffee mug, a yummy smelling 

candle, and money! Husband and I are putting our birthday money together to purchase a new entertainment center for the new tv! Mom made this awesome red velvet cupcake cake for dessert! All in all, it was a wonderful 26th birthday spent with the most important people in my life!

Saturday, we drove with the "other Herrells" to Azle to celebrate Easter early and all the March/April birthdays. I got to ride in the back with this little cutie who entertained us most of the way!

After a delicious lunch of brisket, pasta salad, chips, and fruit made by Mama Herrell we packed up all the adults and all the kids and headed to the new park nearby!

Jonathan and Josh

Sweet Emmy and her PawPaw

Mack took it all in from his stroller!

After we got back that night, husband and I rented some movies and enjoyed them on the new tv! We gave the cats their Easter Baskets and enjoyed watching them play with the contents for hours! It's funny, b/c they both seemed to know which one was theirs. I specifically picked things for each of their baskets that I knew what they would like. Jack took off running with his feathered mouse toy and Lilly went to town with his chirping bird! Then they had an Easter supper of wet(gross, but they love it!) cat food. Man, I really need to have some kids. This is borderline obsessive!

Easter morning was cold and rainy! We got up and went to church and arrived 40 minutes late!!! I was so embarrassed! Turns out, the Easter service started at 9 instead of 9:30 like usual! I don't know what happened that we didn't know about it...we went last week and didn't hear anything about it! I tried not to get upset that we missed pretty much the whole service, but the important part was that we were there and felt the joy of the fact that HE IS RISIN!!!!! Great music at the end too! I love our church! I had to work Easter night (boo!) so we came home and cooked a spaghetti lunch and then I went back to sleep!

I gave up cokes for lent(no I'm not Catholic. Just wanted to participate) and finally had my first one yesterday in over 40 days! It was actually not that great! I am going to keep sticking to water and the occasional sprite if I can!