Happy New Year! (ps ... I am back!)

First off, I am so sorry for my absence. You will have to give me grace. Becoming a Mom has taken up all of my time. I can't seem to pull myself away from this beautiful bouncing baby boy that God blessed us with! I am not even sure how to begin telling you about him, but here goes: Brody Rayf Chambers was born on 9/12/08 at 6:29 pm and was 7lbs and 10oz and 20 1/2 inches long. So he was about 11 days early :) His name means, "God redeemed from the muddy place." He loves to smile and laugh. We are madly in love with him ... and I could go on and on!

Aaron has falled into his new "daddy" role perfectly. From the beginning he has been so great. He went to every doctor's appt. with me, he let me sleep as much as I needed to, he fixed me about any type of food that I wanted and then in the hospital he was an incredible labor coach. Now that we are home, we have gotten pretty good at becoming a team in this whole parenting thing. I am so excited that we get to share this journey together!

Now, on the eve of this New Year, I am going to attempt to get back to blogging :) We will see how this goes :) Since I have A LOT of less free time now, there may more lists and pictures in the blog rather than me rambling off every detail of my life. I am sure that will make whoever is still reading this blog happy :)

Here are some of the things that happened in 2008 ... (in no particular order by the way and probably lots of exclamation points and smiley faces)

• We found out on January 13th that we were having a baby!
• Aaron turned 30! We had a great surprise party for him!
• Aaron started a new job!
• We learned what it meant to trust God in uncertain circumstances!
• I made the trip to California to spend time with my sister! It was loads of fun!
• We visited my parents & Aunt in Florida in May!
• Aaron bought me my first Mother's Day card :)
• I attended my 10 year class reunion 8 months pregnant :)
• My sweet friends at work threw us a baby shower and gave me one amazing birthday!
• My friends Tristin and Michele threw us the best baby shower in the world!
• We became parents!
• Aaron attended our friend Angela's wedding ... I stayed home with our 3 week old baby :(
• I found out that I am going to be an Aunt in June!!!!!
• Mamaw passed away. We went in to Bluefield for the Memorial Service.
• Brody went to daycare for a day and a half :) Susie jumped in to help us take care of him until we figured out what to do and happend upon the world's most amazing nanny (even if we can only see her on Mondays and Wednesdays:( )!
• I continued fumbling through motherhood and learning how to be me and a mom at the same time.
• We sold the Mustang and purchased a more "family" type car :)
• My dad retired from AEP after 32 years and finally moved to Florida!!!
• All of our family came in for Brody's 1st Christmas!

Here are the things that I am hopeful for in 2009:

• Watching Brody grow and explore the world around him and learn to talk, crawl, and walk.
• Meeting my little niece or nephew in June!
• Walking, talking, and growing closer my Savior!
• Reading more (this is my wish) ...
• Sleeping through the night ... or more than 5 hours straight :)
• Getting back to my role at EMI and working on some amazing projects this year.
• Getting healthy! Well, I don't really care about health, it's more about getting myself back into my jeans again :)
• Watching my sweet friends bring life into the world! Tristin, Laura (what an answer to prayer!), Sosha and the list goes on and on!
• Learning to bake cakes and making one for Brody's 1st birthday party!
• Growing more and more in love with my sweet husband! Celebrating 7 years together in June (actually 11 in October if you could the almost 4 years of dating)!
• Dressing Brody up and taking him out for Halloween!
• Celebrating next Christmas with two "weaver" kids that aren't my sister and I :)

So to sum up, 2008 was probably one of the best years of my life. I felt more loved by my friends and family than I ever have! My hope for 2009 is that I am able to return some of that love, and become an stronger wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. As I write this, I am curled up in my bed, Aaron and Brody are both napping beside me. I feel overwhelming blessed by all that this year has blessed me with and I hope that in 2009 maybe I can focus on being a blessing to those in my life. Happy New Year!

He's Coming ...

Our little man is on his way. Tomorrow I will wake up a wife, daughter, sister, niece, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and grandaughter and go to bed a MOTHER! WOW. I cannot wait to see his little face! I have gotten to spend the last almost 39 weeks getting to know him from a very different point of view. I can tell you he is amazing. He is stubborn (like his dad), he has some legs (like his dad), and he is impaitent (like his mom). I cannot wait to learn all about his other personality traits. But the hardest part is that starting tomorrow I have to share him with the world ... I am not sure I am ready to do that yet :) This motherhood thing is going to be harder than I ever imagined!

Learning A New Kind Of Love ...

We just got back from a whirlwind trip home this weekend! We left on Friday and came back on Sunday. 7 hours + in the car and baby Chambers was not happy about it. He could not get comfortable, he let us know it and my feet were all swollen up. Yucky! Aaron made it fun though. He stopped both coming and going and got us a blizzard! That made it well worth the trip :)

On Saturday morning we went to my little 10 year class reunion but when there is only 14 people in your graduating class it becomes more like a get together. It was lots of fun. There were 8 of us there and if you ask me that is pretty good considering that is half of the class! It was great to see everyone again and catch up. We were all really close 10 years ago and I felt like we picked up where we left off.

Here are a few photos from that adventure ...

Then we went to Aaron's friend Grat's wedding on Saturday night. It was beautiful and I am so glad we made it in to be a part of that! Baby Chambers was too because he really liked the food ... a lot! They are such a cute couple and we love Grat's family! They have always been like extended family to Aaron. Grat's dad, Steve is just precious and he makes me smile. Steve and Kathy (Grat's mom, who is wonderful and makes me laugh) along with Debbie (who is also a close friend of the family and so sweet to us), and Barbara (maybe my favorite family member :) surprised us and showed up for our baby shower. I was so happy that they came! It was lots of fun having them here for that too.

Speaking of the shower ... wow! It was lots of fun! I am not even sure where to start on the decorations. They were amazing! All of it was like a fairytale. I loved it. Tristin and Michele were so good to us. There are so many people who went out of there way to help us welcome this little boy into the world. I wouldn't even know where to to start to thank them. My sister, my parents, and Aaron's mom came in too and it was fun having a house full of people. Anytime I can spend with my family makes me happy and I loved every minute of it!

Here are some pictures from the shower ...My Mom and Dad surprised us and bought us a glider for the baby's room! It is precious and I love it! My sister and I put it together right away ... well, honestly it was mostly her but it was fun to share that with her. I did not want her to leave. I am still wishing she were here :(

Michele finished painting the baby's room. It isn't completely done yet but it is so cute that I have to share some pictures. She is incredibly gifted and did all of this by hand! I am so thankful she is my friend. She has done so much to help me ease into this whole new world of motherhood!

Well, it's time for the Olympics and I have become, yet again, an Olympic widow. Aaron lives for this time like every 4 years - 2 if you count the summer games. I have never met anyone who can spit out stats from the years past and predict winners like he can. I feel sure that he and Bob Costas were meant to be friends. Aaron could step in and do his job any day. I have enjoyed it so far though because he lets me ask him questions and he teaches me about the games. I am amazed though that he can sit and watch fencing at 3 in the morning or beach volleyball all day long. His most favorite though are the swimming events so I try not to talk too much during that time :) He loves Michael Phelps! So much fun to sit back and watch him get excited about these different games.

Work is going great. I am amazed everyday and so thankful for my job. I honestly love it and I am so lucky to work alongside such incredible people. Aaron and I were talking on the way home from our trip this weekend and I guess I had never realized it but I really work about 6 months head of our releases. Once the CD comes out I am kind of out of the loop (unless I screwed something up in the packaging - which hopefully doesn't happen often :) So normally I can tell you all about what we are working on releasing but not much about how it does after we get it on the shelves.

Lately though, I have been drawn to two projects that I have to share here with you. The first is Steven Curtis Chapman's new version of his song, "Yours." After the tragedy of loosing his daughter he wrote a new verse to add to the end of this song. I can't listen to it without getting all teary eyed. I am going to post the words here for you to read ... If you have the chance to listen to it you should. The new verse is highlighted in blue.

Yours

I walk the streets of London
And notice in the faces passing by
Something that makes me stop and listen
My heart grows heavy with the cry
Where is the hope for London?
You whisper and my heart begins to soar
As I’m reminded every street in London is Yours

I walk the dirt roads of Uganda
I see the scars that war has left behind
Hope like the sun is fading
And they’re waiting for a cure no one can find
And I hear children’s voices singing
Of a God who heals and rescues and restores
And I’m reminded that every child in Africa is Yours

And it’s all Yours God, Yours God, everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky to the depths of the ocean floor
And it’s all Yours God, Yours God, everything is Yours
You’re the maker and keeper, Father and ruler of everything

And I walk the sidewalks of Nashville
Like Singapore, Manila, and Shanghai
I’m brushed by the beggar’s hand and the wealthy man
And everywhere I look I realize
That just like the streets of London
For every man and woman, boy and girl
All of creation, this is our Father’s world

And I’ve walked the valley, of death’s shadow
So deep and dark that I could barely breathe
I’ve had to let go of more than I could bare
And I’ve questioned everything that I believe
And still even here in this great darkness
A comfort and hope come breaking through
As I can say in life or death, God we belong to You

Since I can't remember when, I have been drawn towards music. I honestly feel God speaks to me through lyrics sometimes. Right now, He is teaching me a whole different type of love. I am learning that this little man growing in my belly is not mine, but His. I just get to be a small part of his life. And if this is true then the same must be of me as well ... I am HIS! What an incredible truth to sit in for today. I know that this will be a struggle for me once our little one is here. Aaron will be able to tell you all about it I am sure ... but He is already preparing my heart to know that this child is a blessing to us but is ultimately His and not ours.

Our gospel division is working with an artist named Heather Headley. If you don't know her ... you should! She won a Tony Award for her work in Aida and has also been on Broadway doing Ragtime and The Lion King. She is an incredibly gifted singer and also seems very genuine in her faith. She came today and sang a song for us that left me in tears. As soon as I can get those lyrics I will post them. The song she sang (and wrote with Keith Thomas by the way) was about wishing just enough for someone ... wishing that they had just enough gray skies to appreciate the blue ones, and wishing they had just enough need to understand what wealth really is. I sat there with my hand on my belly feeling our little guy move. I am filled with so many emotions these days but what I felt the most was hope. Hope for his little life and a passion that he will make God the center of it. That is going to be the song that I write in his baby book.

I pray so many things for him but more than anything I pray he fully understands his need for his Creator and that he finds Him early in his life, and I know, from living my own life, that to understand your need for Him sometimes He lets us get to a place where all we can do is reach out for Him. These are lessons I wish he didn't have to learn on his own but all Aaron and I can do is help him build his foundation so that if and when he falls his foundation is solid and once there he realizes that all he has to do is reach up his hand and God will be there waiting for him.

Our pastor preached one Sunday along time ago about the Prodigal Son. What I remember most from that message is that he said all that the son had to do was start walking towards his father and the father ran to meet him. I try to remember that on the days that I feel like my head doesn't coincide with my faith. In my heart, all I have to do is reach up - even a tiny bit - and He will reach out and grab me and hold on tight. This is what we have to teach our son and then we have to remember that he is God's and not ours and ultimately God will protect him better than we could anyway. This love is what I am learning and I believe it has only just begun.

It has been way too long since my last post! Life has been crazy the last few weeks and it's about to get even crazier. We have something planned every night of the week this week. Last night my friend Katie and I had a shower for our friend Samantha who is getting married in August. We had lots of fun. I am a little bummed though because I managed to break a pitcher that someone gave to me when we got married. It was one of my favorite gifts ... gone :( Oh well. It landed on my foot and then shattered on the ground. I was just glad that Aaron didn't get glass in his foot because it shattered all around his feet and he didn't have any shoes on. I hobbled inside and he put some shoes on and cleaned it all up. Now I have one foot that I cut at the pool (because I am clumsy) and the other foot is all bruised up from the pitcher landing on my foot before it hit the ground. It could be a lot worse. I kept imagining myself 8 months pregnant on crutches ... so I am just glad I didn't break a bone.

We started birthing classes and they are a great source of entertainment for us! The lady teaching the class has never given birth :) great, right! But she is a very qualified nurse ... who would rather not use the diagrams and has no problem being all fours in front of the whole class. I really question whether or not we are adult enough to be parents because we spend most of this class trying not to look at each other or else we will bust out laughing! I feel sure she has seen me red faced and holding my breath on more than one occasion. Also, I am pretty pumped about the fact that one of my favorite members of the group Little Texas is in our class. He has had a solo career and been in other bands since but back in the day he was in Little Texas and I adored him. So that has made the class even better. We have three more to go ... so hang on for more stories from that :)

Work is going great! We found an amazing girl named Jamie to fill in for me while I am out. She is wonderful and has really seemed to catch on quick to all of the little details! Michele has drawn some of the circles in the baby's room. She has one more wall to go and then she can start painting. I am so excited to get all of that set up! I will post pictures as soon as I can. We only have less than 9 weeks until he is here!!! The nesting has begun. Is it too early for that?

And great news!!! We now have a name for the baby! Although, we aren't telling just yet :) We are going to wait until he gets here to share. But it is great and I love it! The best part is that we took our time choosing - only went with the what we both liked and when you put the first and middle names together it has a sweet meaning that we love. We really prayed over what God would have us name this blessing and I honestly believe he gave it to us. I won't say anymore because I may give it all away :)

I have one other shout out to give to my sweet husband! His new job was mentioned in the Nashville Business Journal recently. I am so proud to be his wife! You can go here to view the article (scroll down to the middle of the page) http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/potm/2008-05-26/ or you can read it here ...

Our families are coming in next week for our shower on Saturday. I can hardly wait to have everyone here!!! That is all for now. Here are some pictures from Samantha's shower that we did last night!

July Is Off To A Great Start!

What happened to June? I feel like it must have just flown by! I won't complain, even though it is really hot in Nashville (95 yesterday, 93 today - Jenny and Tristin now I totally understand what it must have been like for you to be pregnant in the summer!!!) July is off to a great start!

My friends at work had a shower for us last Tuesday. It was so much fun! I have some wonderful memories to write in the baby book for sure. Here are some pictures ...

We celebrated the fourth of July at Crockett Park with some friends from our Sunday School class. I had to share pictures of Ethan & Jacob eating their push-up pops :) and Michele and I with our glow necklaces! We had lots of fun.

On Saturday Michele and I painted the baby's room green (or willow wind :) and this week she is going to come over and start painting the circles around the room. She is so talented! I am so glad they decided to leave San Diego for Tennessee! They have been helping us paint and next weekend I think we are going to help them. I say we, but what I should say is Aaron is going to help them :) I get to watch the boys for the day :)

Tristin and Michele are having shower for us in August. It is going to be a barbecue at Tristin and Jacob's house where we can just hang out with our friends and their families. Something really laid back but lots of fun. My parents & sister are coming! Aaron's mom is coming too! It should be lots of fun. Michele hand drew the invitations! They are just like the bedding for our the baby's room! I love them! They have put lots of work into it and I feel so blessed to have friends who are so good to us.

As I am writing this I am reminded how thankful I am that God led us to Nashville 4 years ago. We were so scared - we had no idea what we were doing but we knew we wanted to live here. My job transferred me and Aaron had decided to go back to school. The thought of being even further away from my family broke my heart. But God has given us friends here who are as close as family and such a wonderful life. I know that life has ups and downs and that you can't always be on the moutaintop, but right now I am just feeling the love and support of our family and friends as we are about to start on the next journey in our lives and I am so grateful for all that God has blessed us with and that He placed these incredible people in our lives!

On Sunday Aaron and I celebrated our 6th anniversary! We went to the pool but it was closed because someone had an accident in the pool :( so we went to the indoor pool instead and then went home and watched The Bucket List (because my dad loved it and wouldn't quit talking about it :) and Untraceable (yuck). I spent the day just being so grateful that God put us together and that he has held us together throughout the last 6 years!

And finally, we start our birthing classes on Thursday! So many fun things going on this month! I am sure I will have lots of stories to tell :)

Picture Post!!!

We have had an exciting weekend! We spent all day yesterday (12 hours to be exact) painting the living room, kitchen, dining room, entry & hallway! I say we spent 12 hours but the only one of us who actually made it the whole 12 hours was our friend Michele! She was our project manager and there is no way that we could have done it without her! I had a baby shower for our friend Kristen and Aaron went to pick Michele's husband Mike up from work. Then Aaron and I each made trips out for a Sonic run for all of us and then to get dinner. So Michele was the only one who spent the whole day painting! She is incredibly talented! I am so thankful she is my friend! Here are some pictures!

Aaron wrote our names on the wall :)

And he wrote Mike and Michele's too! You can see Michele is hard at work!

Here we go! Here are some after photos! This is the entry way!

The kitchen!

More kitchen ...

The dining room!

And the living room!

Finally, I have to post a couple pictures from last weekend too! We went to Michele's Mom's house to celebrate her birthday (which by the way was also my precious sister's 25th birthday!) Ethan and Jacob were so cute playing in the yard. I had to take a picture of Ethan. He is adorable!

On Sunday we went to the pool and I snapped a picture of Michele and Jacob playing in the pool with Jacob's new floaty!

I am exhausted but so happy that the painting is done. This weekend we may paint the baby's room!!! Then the painting will be done! I can't wait. I will post some pictures of that too!

There Goes My Squeeky Clean Image ...

One of my most favorite people at work happens to be one of the top executives. His name is David. He likes Disney as much as me and always has fun stories to tell about the places he has been and the things he has seen. Today he stopped by my office to talk about a report he asked me for (which by the way is next to impossible to complete and if I didn't adore him so much I would probably complain about having to do it.) Anyway, my work-best-friend (this is what we call each other) Katie was sitting on the couch in my office (we will pretend we were discussing work). David was being so nice and asked me if I am always so positive - even at home (I am putting up a real good front, right? This is what I thought too) But my WBF, Katie totally blew my cover. She told him that I was not in fact always so chipper and then proceeded to tell him about the time I told her I wanted to light someone (who will remain nameless) on fire!!!! Granted, I was really early in my pregnancy when this happened so I will use this as my excuse. But I can't recover my image from that one :) Thanks Kates! I guess God is really pulling me into that transparency thing, huh :)

Transparency

I have been trying for days to get a few minutes to post about Father's Day weekend at the Chambers house. I have been so busy at work and then at night I am just too tired of being on a computer all day to even think about taking the time out to sit down and write from my heart.

But this morning this little blog of mine might serve as therapy for me. Aaron and I are so incredibly blessed by the friends that we have in our life. These types of relationships mean so much to me. I love that I can share what is on my heart with any of them and walk away feeling loved but more importantly challenged if my heart is not in the right place. Our Sunday School teachers (and I feel honored to call them our friends) Jack and Mandy often challenge me this way; and yesterday after reading Jack's blog I feel led to try and be as transparent as I can when sharing my heart on this blog. I warned you that I would be writing a lot about the little one growing in my tummy that we can't wait to meet in September so I feel that is ok for me to talk about him a lot. Just wait until I have pictures to share too :) You might stop dropping in then :) And while this is one the most exciting times in our lives and we couldn't be happier about this life that God has blessed us with, there are also struggles. This morning I hit one of those walls head on!

On the way to work Aaron and I were talking about daycare and what to do in November when I have to come back to work. We haven't decided. We haven't really even tried to visit anywhere yet. I think both of us were thinking if we just ignored the issue an answer would fall from the sky. Then I walked into work shut my door and just fell apart. I really haven't even stopped crying yet. I just want to do what is right. And how do you know the answer to that question? Staying home with him is almost next to impossible - the insurance alone would be over $600 a month! But if I work, who will take care of him? I want him to be close to where I work so I can just drop in anytime and check on him, feed him, be with him if he is sick, love him when he needs to be loved ... all of those things are endless. However, it would be about $240.00 a WEEK! That is almost a extra thousand dollars a month! I know God cares about these details in my life because He loves me. I keep telling myself this. Already I feel like the things I do here at EMI don't matter even one bit compared to the things that I do for him. And who will love him and take care of him like we would? NO ONE. That is the truth. But if I have to work, this is the place for me. I absolutely LOVE my job, the people, everything. I have always believed that this position was a gift from the Lord to me. It combines my love for writing with my love for music. Anyway, it may seem very simple to you - reading out there as someone out of the circumstance, but for me, right here in the thick of it today I am really praying, asking God to speak to me, crack open a door, show me an answer, or even just be close to me while I deal with this my first ever heartbreak as a Mother! And as I read back over that line, maybe just the being close to me today would be enough. (and this is where I hear Mandy in my head say, HE IS ENOUGH, that is all you need to know).

Since I have taken time that I don't have at work to cry out all my tears while I am spilling out all of this to you I am going to go ahead and share that Father's Day post I have been trying so hard to get around to writing. So yes, this is going to get even longer. Sorry if I am totally boring you.

If you know me, you know I adore both of my parents. I was so blessed being born into the Weaver family! Nick and Agnes had two girls (who have grown to be the bestest of friends). And from the beginning both of us had a special relationship with each of my parents and as far as dad went we were always daddy's little girls - no matter how old or obnoxious we were. My dad coached my basketball teams, put together my toys, fixed everything I broke, moved me from dorm to dorm, and even drove the uhaul that moved us to Nashville 4 years ago. All of this was going through my head this weekend as I watched him help my husband put together the crib that Aaron's parent's bought us for the baby. It felt appropriate to me as I watched them (for 2 long hours) figuring out how to put it all together. They probably wouldn't know it, but there was a moment when I was standing in the doorway where I felt it all coming full circle.

I just know I will keep having those moments. watching my dad hold his grandson, playing with him in the yard, and teaching him to do things that drive me crazy :) I will have those with all the special people in my life - whether I am watching Aaron hold him, discipline him, bathe him. Seeing my parents, sister, aunt, and Aaron's parents , sister, and grandmother with him. Those will all be things I hold on to and cherish. This was one of the firsts. For father's day we gave dad a Disney mug that said Grandad. He is officially going to go by Pop Pop but he was still excited to receive his first ever Grandad merchandise.

It was also Aaron's first Father's Day! That meant something really special to me. I have been walking around with this little man kicking me and using my kidneys as a trampoline for the last few months so I am fully aware that there is a living being that is a part of our lives living safe inside of me. Sure, Aaron has seen me changing, growing, and put up with all of my issues recently but I wanted to focus Sunday totally on him, how this little boy is changing his life and how he will make a difference in his life as well. So we celebrated all day. Whatever Aaron wanted to do we did. He likes practical things - I am sure you know that :) So I had his watch fixed (it hasn't worked since November) and we grilled out and ate steaks (he is the master griller!) and then we watched a boy movie - I am not much for those but we did it anyway. Lots of shooting and killing :) Then we watched Seinfeld's (my sister and Kyle bought him the entire collection for Christmas - something he will forever cherish :) And we went on a walk around the neighborhood too. It was lots of fun. He is already an amazing Father! I am constantly talking to this little guy letting him know how lucky we both are that he is our husband and dad! Aaron has such a tenderheart and a gift for loving people. I am so grateful to be his wife.

Now to move away from all of my hormones and drama (sorry you had to read about it all here) Here are a few other pictures from this weekend. We pressure washed the house and I now have a new hobby :) It was so much fun. Guess what I am asking for at Christmas :) Finally, I will close with a preggo pic from Monday.

If you made it to the end of this post, thanks for reading through my hormones and drama and for letting me use this space as therapy. I think my eyes are dried enough to go and start my day now :) I am going to keep reminding myself that HE IS ENOUGH (see Mandy, even when you aren't around to tell me I will remember).

Appointments, Tests, and Bad TV

Well we had another dr. appt. today! Everything went well. This was the diabetes test one. We haven't gotten the results back yet but I learned when I married into the Chambers family that failing a test is not really acceptable so I hope this little one and I pass with flying colors :)

On our way there our boy was kicking like crazy! It was so funny. Aaron and I were laughing because the last time we were at the dr. she couldn't get him to hold still long enough to check his heartbeat and I just knew he was going to show off again for her. Aaron could actually see him kicking me without even feeling it. The dr. said his heartbeat was 158 today!

I love this time in our lives! I may feel & look portly these days but I am on cloud nine dreaming about this amazing little gift that God has given us.

My dad is coming this weekend to share Father's Day with us! I think we will celebrate by putting him to work :) Since they sold their house in WV he misses yard work and around the house stuff and I love doing those things with him so I am working on coming up with some chores for us to do. Don't think I am a terrible daughter - he loves it too :) Maybe I can take some pictures to post of our weekend together!

Also, did anyone else besides us watched the Nashville Star show lost night? It was terrible. I was really disappointed in how bad it was actually. I don't think I need to tape it anymore. Now that Lost and all of my tv shows are off for the summer I am going to go through some tv withdrawal I just know it.

Some Preggo Pics

At first I avoided it but I finally caved and took some preggo pics to share.

Home Again ...

Hey all! Sorry I was a slacker and didn't blog while we were on vacation or even very soon after we returned. We had fun! It was nice and relaxing. We didn't plan too much (that's right folks ... my husband just let us fly by the seat of our pants most days which is very unlike him and just goes to show how sacrificial he can be :) We saw Prince Caspian and Dad and I saw the new Indiana Jones movie. We went to the pool one day (because Dad and Aaron had a little too much fun in the sun) and we did a lot of shopping! On the 12 hour ride home Aaron and I decided that since I needed to stop and walk some we would stop at outlets on the way. That was so much fun and a highlight of the vacation for me! We also went to The Varsity on our way through Atlanta. It is a great place for chili dogs, burgers, and shakes!

Real life has since set back in and I am back at work setting goals and meeting deadlines. God has answered a big prayer of mine this week! My amazing intern (by intern I mean grad-student intern who is really gifted and way more mature than me :) may possibly be able to stay through her internship time and fill in for me while I am on maternity leave. This was something that I had been really concerned about just because I love my job and I feel the responsibility of not being able to do it while I am away and knowing that someone will be able to train essentially for 3 months before going it alone for a couple months while I am out is a huge answer to prayer. Now I am just praying that I don't scare her off with all of the stuff she has to learn :)

We are going to register tomorrow and I am really excited about that. Then we are going to spend the rest of the weekend working on the baby's room and taping up the walls so we can paint next weekend! I am pretty excited to get started on that too!

This baby boy has started kicking a lot more often and even stronger than before. I love it! It is the coolest thing in the world. We have been really working hard to find him a name! Most likely we will decide at the last minute but it is something we have been thinking and praying about a lot.

Here are a few pictures from Florida. Since we just hung out there wasn't much to share.

Mom, Dad, Aaron & I at Sebastian's Inlet

Making Aunt Pat's birthday cake!

Florida ... Here We Come!

Just a quick post to say that we are about to leave for a week in Florida! I am super pumped to have a whole week with my adorable husband. He makes for a fun travel partner and since we will be in the car for at least 12 hours (having to stop at least every 2 so I can go to the bathroom) it should be fun trip. It is amazing to me that after 10 years of being together (4 dating and almost 6 married) that we still have so much to talk about! We realized this morning that this will be the last trip we take where we only have to pack for two and not three :) I will try to post some pictures while we are there! Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

What I Do Know ...

Today I am clinging to a few things that I do know rather than asking the "why's" and "how comes."

• My King sits on the throne and knows way more than I do!
• All things come together for good for those who serve Him!
• This baby growing in my belly (and making me fat) is being knitted together piece by piece by the most creative of Creators and He has a path in life already marked out for this little one.
• All Aaron and I need to do is make sure he grows up knowing to just hold on to the Lord's hand & everything will be ok. And the same goes for me too - which I often forget :)

Yesterday I had a terrible day at work. I was pretty down on myself. Like those days you have in high school where you feel like you just aren't good enough to run with the cool crowd. Weird analogy I know, but I totally felt that way. And everything I rushed to get done for someone ended up becoming something that wasn't needed after all. Then I started thinking about how hard it will be to be away from my precious boy all day just to come to a place where I don't feel like I am needed or that I make a difference. I know ... can someone say hormones :) That is no excuse though. I wasn't hearing or seeking truth at all, but today is different I am reaching for truth, searching for God because in hearing sad news God reminds me that there is hope beyond this world that I cannot even comprehend (I am hearing Amy Grant's "In A Little While" over and over in my head today).

Last night after watching the finale of American Idol with our friends Mike and Michele we headed home and I received a phone call from a friend at work. The sad news about Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter Maria passing away after a tragic accident had made it's way down the EMI CMG pipeline to me. In the midst of all of this, from the outside looking in, I see hope. Today there is pain and loss for this family beyond anything I can comprehend, but God is in the business of doing amazing things and I cannot wait to see how he uses this tragedy to glorify him.

So what I do know is that this is not my home and I don't need to know the answers to the questions of this world. I have such a peace in knowing that all I have to do is walk by faith.

Because truthfully, those kids in high school who were so popular and cool had struggles too and at reunions aren't they the ones that have been in jail, gotten really overweight, or still live with their parents at 45? And also, God blessed me with this job (there is no doubt about it) and He blessed Aaron and I with our son who we will meet soon. So surely He will help us find a way to mix all of that together. All we have to do is hold His hand and walk close by Him no matter what life brings.

If you care to read them, here are the lyrics to Amy's song that I have played over and over again today. It used to be something my Momma and I sang on the way to school in the mornings. Thanks Mom & Dad for making sure I grew up knowing that this place is temporary and not my home. I promise to pass that along to your grandson too and I am certain that the Chapman's have done that as well - how awesome that they know they have someone waiting to see them when they get home ... for good.

In A Little While

Got a ticket coming home
Wish the officer had known
What a day today has been
Then I stumbled through the door
Dropping junk mail on the floor
When will this day end?
But then your letter caught my eye
Brought the hope in me to life
'Cause you know me very well
And I bet you wrote me
Just to tell me

In a little while
We'll be with the Father
Can't you see Him smile?
In a little while
We'll be home forever
In a while …
We're just here to learn to love Him
We'll be home in just a little while

Boy, that letter hit the spot
Made me think of all I've got
And all that waits for me
Guess I've known it all day long
Wonder where my thoughts went wrong
When will my heart believe?
Waking half way through the night
Reaching toward the lamp for light
Picking up the Word I find
Here's another letter
To remind me

Personified God

I love this song! Switchfoot is genius!

If you haven't read The Shack - get it ... NOW! Lately, God is showing me all of these personified views of Himself. The lion in this video gives me chills and the way He is portrayed in The Shack is amazing. I can't wait to see this movie. I think we will have to go see it next weekend when we visit Mom and Dad in Florida!

The Right Stuff

I totally don't have time to be blogging about this right now but I feel it is my duty to let all of my friends and family know that the New Kids On The Block will be performing tomorrow on the Today's show. I was totally obsessed with this group growing up :) I will admit publicly (although I am sure I will regret it) that sometimes at Christmas I still break out the NKOTB Christmas tape and it brings me great joy :)

LA Musings ...

Well tomorrow I jump back on the plane and go home to my precious husband! I have missed him so much! I have had so much fun with my sister. We ate a lot :), shopped some, and visited Disneyland. I happened to visit when they had her company award ceremony on the Queen Mary! So I got to tag along for the night. Carrie won the Employee of the Year award! It was so much fun and I was thankful that I was able to be there to celebrate! Here are some pictures from this week.

Carrie and Kyle took this photo of an iPod vending machine at Macy's. I thought it was so crazy that I had to share it with you guys too!