Mom's Graduation

Monday night we had a little party for my mom celebrating her graduation. She just got her Licensed Practical Nursing degree and I couldn't be more excited for her. Being a nurse is something she has always wanted to do and I am sooooo proud of her for going back and pursuing her degree.

My grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins came up from Gainesville, and my sister came from Charleston.

Me, Mom, And Lindsay

Linds, Mom, and my grandmother

Mom and her proud parents

My aunt Denise and cousin Jacob with Mabel

Graduation Day!!!

Yay Mom!!!! I love you sooo much!!!!

Updates....

I so hoped to start blogging more over the summer, but yet again time has gotten away from me. Oh well, maybe I'll do better in July.

First of all here is a little preview of the growing belly...

17 wks.

20 wks.

24 wks.

26 wks.

I went to the doctor today and everything looks good. Tomorrow I will be 29 wks. I can't believe it!!!! Time is going by too fast.

The nursery is coming along good. I am going to try to start painting next week. I am still having a hard time deciding on what colors to use.

My sweet grandparents are the ones who bought us the bedding. Here they are the day we got it.

Can't wait to meet our baby girl!!

Where to begin....

ALOT has happen over the last couple of months!!! ALOT...So much so that I have had the hardest time sitting down to write this. Every time I think about it I just get overwhelmed and get frustrated that I won't convey my heart and my feelings. But today I have decided to just write and if I don't convey my feelings oh well. So here goes...

1. I am pregnant

2. I am pregnant

3. I am pregnant

4. Oh my goodness I am PREGNANT!!!!!

God has answered our prayers and I am 18 weeks pregnant!!!!!! I still can't believe it. We are beyond excited. We found out in February and I am due at the beginning of September. Over the past few months I had finally come to a place were I knew that we might never get pregnant, but that was ok. I was learning to trust God and his plan for our lives even if that didn't mean biological children. Of course there were still days of anger and questions, but after the anger I began to feel peace and assurance in Him like never before. I could breathe a little and let myself relax in His love and then next thing I knew I was going to have a baby, an actual baby!!! God is so good and would still be good even if I never got pregnant. He will be good and His intentions are good for eternity. My prayer continues to be that I will fall more into that trust and relaxation that has brought me peace in my darkest days. I also pray that I will never forget or take for granted the gift He has given me!!

First positive ever!!!

12 weeks

Snow Days and Taco Soup!!!!

Sunday night it snowed and we got about 6 to 7 inches of snow. It snowed and iced all day Monday, and today it hasn't melted hardly any. School was called off Monday and Tuesday and it looks like I will be staying home tomorrow as well. I have been cleaning and catching up on laundry. I am a little worried about how many days we will miss with this winter weather. We have already been told that we will probably be coming to school on spring break and our upcoming winter break. Especially if we don't go in on Thursday or Friday. I am enjoying the relaxation right now, but come April I will be ready for spring break!!! Oh well... I guess time will tell. Last night I made this wonderful taco soup. It was perfect for a snow day dinner. Here is the recipe.

Taco soup

2 lbs. ground beef

2 cups chopped onions

two 15 1/2 ounce cans pink kidney beans

two 15 1/2 ounce cans pinto beans

one 15 1/2 ounce can niblet corn, drained

one 14 1/2 ounce can Del Monte Mexican tomatoes

one 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes

one 14 1/2 once can Del Monte tomatoes with chilies

two 4 1/2 ounce cans diced green chilies

1 small can black olives, drained and sliced (optional)

1/2 cup green olives, sliced (optional)

One 1 1/4 ounce package taco seasoning mix

One 1 ounce package Hidden Valley Original Ranch salad dressing mix

Corn Chips

Sour Cream

Grated Cheese

Chopped onions

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large crockpot or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, chilies, olives, and seasonings, and cook on low setting all day (6 to 8 hours) if using a crockpot, or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a stockpot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese and onions.

Yummy...I also make corn bread muffins to serve with it.

As you can see the snow is still covering just about everything.

It was so deep that you couldn't even see my boots.

Mable loves the snow. Monday when it was powder she was running around like a puppy.

Today the snow had a thick sheet of ice on top of it. Mable wasn't heavy enough to break it, so she would just slide around on top of it. See how her little feet are still on top of the snow.

Graduation

I have been meaning to post this for a while!!!

December 10, 2010, Kale and I graduated from Piedmont College. Piedmont is a small, private school that is close by to our house. We are very blessed to have a good college so close by. Kale graduated with his Bachelors degree in history and I graduated with my specialist degree in early childhood education. This is the third degree that I have completed and I couldn't be happier!!! Finally, I am finished!!!!!! Yeah!!!

Getting my specialist was a good experience. I have learned a lot and made great friends in the process. All the classes I took are in something called a cohort, which means that I took the same classes with the same group of people through the entire specialist degree program. So, we were together for a year and a half. The cohort program was great because it allowed me to get to know and learn with a group of educators that are in the same position and walk of life that I am. We all had alot in common and it was great sharing ideas and becoming friends along the way. I am going to miss seeing them, but I am not going to miss the projects and papers I had to write!!!

Here are a few pictures from the big day.

Kale drinking his morning coffee on the way.

The last three pictures are my favorite. Kales mom does photography on the side and capture the true essence of us in these pictures!!!

Our Christmas- 2010

My sister and mom came over Christmas eve and spent the night with us.

Christmas morning started out with Kale and Lindsay making a wonderful breakfast. It has always been our tradition that Lindsay make chocolate chip pancakes, but this year she made french toast and it was delish.

Kale whipping up the potatoes with onions and peppers.

After breakfast we opened presents and got ready to head down to my grandparents house for lunch and more presents!!

As you can see it was starting to snow while we were at my grandparents. Since we live about 30 minutes north of them we left early and headed home. Here are a few shots with the grandparents right before we left. Sadly, I didn't get any cousin, aunt and uncle shots.

When we got home Kale and I ventured out on the roads and went to his dad's side of the family to celebrate, eat, and open gifts. The roads weren't bad at all and it was still just sleeting/freezing raining that night with only a little snow on the grass and houses.

But, this is what we woke up to the next morning!!!

It was sooo beautiful!!! Thank you Lord for such a wonderful Christmas surprise!!!

Overall, Christmas was fabulous. We spent it with our family and loved every minute of it.