Full of Surprises!

Today has been a day full of surprises.....

It started at about 6:30am. I know what you're thinking....I don't get up that early (unless I'm leaving to go on a vacation). Well, apparently, things are about to change....and I know that the Lord is preparing me for baby Ryder's arrival. My sweet little one started pretty early this morning. At first, I thought it was little kicks, but finally I came to the conclusion that it must have been 'hiccups' of all things....this my friends was a surprise.

Not only was this a surprise, but surprisingly, J. had already hit the snooze button, and was able to share the feeling of Ryder's 'rhythm' with me. It was a sweet moment to share together. I will cherish those sweet short minutes for a lifetime.

Another surprise....on the way to work this morning, power outage throughout Ruston....didn't realize it until I noticed blank stoplights at some of the busiest intersections in Ruston. This was after I sat in the Burger King drive-thru line waiting on someone on the other end to offer me breakfast; frustrated and impatient, I left unhappy. (Ended up getting my BK breakfast after getting back to work and having another 'prego' co-worker find a coupon so that we could get BOGO breakfast sandwiches!)

By the time lunch-time rolled around, 'The Preggies 3' decided to do lunch together! This was a fun surprise to have a chance to all go to Chili's together for a fun lunch. Well, we had fun, but the service, I'm afraid, was pretty bad. It was very disappointing, but what more could we do than to laugh about the situation. It just kept getting worse and worse.

Fast forward to the evening: SURPRISE! I had a package on my front door!!!

YAY!!!! A fun surprise that I had forgotten should arrive this week! I'll leave a secret of what was in the box, but you'll see someday soon!

Surprisingly, I had supper cooked way before J. even had a chance to get home. I was so proud of myself! I love my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker!!!! Dinner was ready in less than 20 minutes.

After dinner, another surprise flew my way:

This was tossed at me with a "Head's Up!" coming from the kitchen! For those of you that don't know, I love Reese's, my hubby loves Reese's, my college roommates love Reese's; shall I say more? There is just something about Reese's not in the shape of a peanut butter cup...they are special. So, needless to day, this was a fun surprise to end my day full of surprises!

Although these were not all monumental surprises, I tend to appreciate the little things in life. It doesn't take much to make me smile! I'd like to think that it's a quality that helps me keep a positive outlook on life.

What are some little surprises that you appreciated recently?

It's all setting in.....

When J. got home today, there were 2 packages on our front porch from Potterybarn Kids....

Woo-Hoo!!!!

When J. called me, I was little upset, not because they were there, but because I was told that I would receive a phone call on April 13th to schedule a delivery date/time.

One thing that I love about Ruston is that I don't really worry that someone would steal it off of my front porch, but it's just the fact of the matter. Anyway, my sweet husband waited until I got home before we opened the LARGE box!!! I was thankful he waited, because it was something that we got to experience together.

The first thing that we did once we took it out of the box, was inspect every piece. If you know my husband very well, you know that he pays very close attention to detail. Especially if the box has a gashing hole in the side of it, like this one did. So, once we found that there was no damage done to the crib, we began putting it together.

As the lady of the house, I took out the instructions and began reading them as I let my sweet hubby begin assembling the crib. It definitely took 2 adults, just as the instruction manual told us. So.... since I stepped away from the instruction manual, we got a little bit ahead of ourselves and put all four sides on before we put the mattress base in.

Oops! I just thought I had it under control.

We each were able to get our hands a little dirty,and put some sweat equity into the assembly of the crib. After a wonderful adventure of working together to put everything where it went, we finally did it!!!

The only problem now, is that it won't fit through the hallway and into the nursery. We assembled the furniture in the living room area, because there are still a couple of things that need to get done in the nursery before the furniture can all go in there. That was our reasoning. Which now means we will have to disassemble part of the crib to get it in the nursery.

That is just another problem for another day!

It is...all setting in that we will have a sweet little baby laying in this crib in a few short months. This crib will hold my child, not as dearly as I will, but certainly with care. As he grows from an infant all of the way to his toddler years. May this bed represent growth for my child in more than one way. I pray for baby Ryder that he may grow into a young man after God's own heart.

Roommate Time

This.....is what I woke up to this morning!!! Sweet baby Hayes! We made it to Dallas last night for Roommate Time!!!! We are having a great time catching up, which we hardly ever get to do. It's actually all 5 of us this weekend....all 5 of us that live along I-20 within 450 miles. That includes Jackson, Monroe, Ruston, Dallas and Fort Worth. Wow! That's a mouthful!

We just found out last night that Mrs. 'Jackson' will soon be moving to Ruston....so there will be 2 of us in Ruston now.....I couldn't be more ecstatic!!! We also found out some fabulous news about Mrs. 'Fort Worth' last night.....she got a J-O-B!!!! She will be teaching 4th grade at the same school as her husband. It is an answered prayer.

This group of girls has my heart...after all of us (all except Mrs. 'Monroe', of whom is an 'honorary roommate') lived together for 3 and a half years, we have shared so many things....tears of joy and tears of pain, weddings, babies (one on the way).....true friends is what I have found. These girls, I know, will be friends for a lifetime.

Every time that we get together, we try to figure out when the next time we will get together is...which it's looking like it will be sooner than this past time-lapse. We are thinking that everyone will be able to come to Ruston for a baby shower before baby Ryder arrives.

I can't express how wonderful it is to have such an amazing group of girl-friends!!!!!

Drumroll please.......

We have a name....

Ryder Brooks Walpole

We are so excited to announce our son's name. It's funny to think about the names that we considered before we got pregnant. This name was not one that was on 'our list'. I thought it would be great to use a family name, but there weren't many family names that we fell in love with.....except for Brooks. I knew that I wanted to use it, but couldn't decide how.....first name, middle name, save it for a girl......I wasn't sure. Once we found the name 'Ryder', we had to find the perfect middle name to go with it. 'Brooks' was it!

We are so excited to have decided on a name! We now have a name to pray for specifically. I am so anxious to meet Ryder and to pour my life into him. It gives me so much joy to anticipate his arrival and to dream about the upcoming years of our lives as a family.

What are some of your favorite family names? Some of the strangest?

Can't stop....

Dear little one in my belly,

I can't stop thinking about you. My daily thoughts are consumed with what you will look like, who you will become, what your sweet little voice will sound like, and so many more wonders that keep crossing my mind. I can't stop thinking about you.

You're not helping me concentrate on work by your sweet little flutters that I feel

as I sit and type at my computer. I cannot wait to hold you, rock you, and love on you. I pray that you will grow to be a Godly young man. As we decide on a name to give you, I pray that the name we give you will one day become a legacy. My prayer for you is that you will arrive into this world safely and granted provision and guidance that you need to become the boy, teenager, young man that God intends for you to be.

With everything I have, I love you and I look forward to meeting you someday in August. You already have my heart and I cannot express how much I am anticipating your arrival. Your father and I talk about you everyday and think about you all of the time. You already consume our lives and you aren't even born yet. Just know that you are deeply loved.

With all of my heart.

Mommy

Girl or Boy?????

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails,

that’s what boys are made of.

Well, there you have it!!! The wait is over! We have found out that the we will have the first grandbaby that will carry on the Walpole last name! We are ecstatic!!!!

I know, the next question is.....”Have you picked out a name?” We are working on it.....nothing has been decided yet. It will be announced on the blog once we make a final decision.

Tomorrow

It has been WAY too long since I have posted, and there have been a lot of exciting events that have taken place since then. Although I do need to update you on all of that, I wanted to make a short post telling you how excited I am about TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the day that we find out the gender of our sweet little baby that I am carrying.

What do you think??? Boy? or Girl?

You shall get an update TOMORROW.......

Oh, and by the way, HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!