Wedding Season

I love wedding season - and sure enough it's in full swing! Weddings are always a good time to catch up with friends, reflect back on your own wedding and vows and of course enjoy a good party!
This past weekend we attended the wedding of our friends Raegan and Ben. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed their pastor. Their reception was then held at The Club, which is one of our favorite venues. It was a perfect evening for a wedding

Congratulations Raegan & Ben!!

Welcome to the 3rd Trimester! - Woot Woot!

Its official - This week I am in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy! I am 28 weeks today - just 12 (maybe less!) more short weeks to go or 84 days!

James Bradford now weighs approximately 2.25 lbs and measures 14.8 inches long! His weight this week is compared to a 'Chinese Cabbage' (oh how I love their vegetable illustrations!) He can now blink his eyes and see the light that is filtering through the womb.

I feel so blessed because I'm still feeling great and am still able to find that comfortable position every night for sleeping. - although Cory does wake me up some to remind me not to sleep on my back (I asked him to do this). At this stage in pregnancy, they suggest you sleep on your side rather then your back - for blood flow to your heart.

On Sunday we had an open house. We spent our weekend cleaning, scrubbing, beautifying and organizing with high hopes of lots of lookers. We did have a short break away from the house Saturday evening - we went to a friends wedding. (more to come on that later in the week), but overall that's all we did this weekend. We were left exhausted. Open House came and went - with only one looker - someone in our neighborhood looking for their sister. Total Frustration for me! Lesson learned though - if we do an open house again I'm not going to spend all weekend getting ready! So many other things we could of done with our time - spent with family and friends, working on some sewing projects, running errands that needed to get done and anything else other then getting ready for an open house . . . Anyways, I guess there is always a bright side - at least our home is now sparkling!

Fabulous Friday Finds - Bumbo Seat

After you read this post, some of you may think I am crazy and most of yall will think I'm cheap and loony! But Fabulous Friday Finds are all about a good deal right?! - Even if it means dumpster diving or digging through someone else's trash -right?!

That's exactly how I got my Bumbo seat! Last fall, Sabrina and I were out on our morning walk (when James Bradford was just a dream of ours) It was early and that time in my life - I was in an exercise prime of walking 4.5 miles every morning. On our route we would go past lots of houses. This particular morning it was recycling day. I was walking by one house, and something caught my eye that was sticking out of their recycling bin. I walked right up to it, and it looked like a Blue Bumbo seat - sure enough it was. I looked around to see if any one was watching - pulled it out of the bin and examined it. Perfect condition - just a little dirt on it. WHAT?! I couldn't imagine why someone would throw this out. Well, they had it in their recycle bin, so that's exactly what I was going to do - Recylce it!

I walked that last mile home as quick as I could - just knowing that the people driving down Overton Road were probably wondering why I was carrying this odd shaped piece of plastic! Finally home. I got out some cleaner and washed it down. Good as new!!

Who would of known that the dream of James Bradford would come true several months later and that the Blue Bumbo was going to be perfect for him?!

Happy Fabulous Friday!! Have a great weekend!

Oh - update on yesterday - just in case you were wondering. Dr. Stradtman told me yesterday, if I didn't receive a phone call that afternoon, it meant that all my blood work was normal. No phone call. Yippee!!

28 Week Appt

This morning I had my 28 week appointment aka the glucose screening test. Cory was unable to attend with me, so my wonderful sister, Ellen, agreed to join me. We had a great morning and it was so fun to be able to spend that time with her. (Thank you Mommy / Grandma for taking care of Davis and Isaac while Ellen was gone)

I swung by and picked up Ellen (she was in Birmingham - not Huntsville) and had a very short visit with the boys and grandma. When I arrived, Davis was reading to Isaac. They were getting ready for a big day at the McWane Science center. Aren't they so cute?!

Then off to the Doctor it was. They brought me right back and of course my number one favorite thing was what we did first - the beloved scale! Oh how I dread it each visit. Then we were brought back to the room where I got to drink this - YUM!!
After the yummy drink - James Bradford started kicking around and Ellen was able to feel him move for the first time. Then we saw Dr. Stradtman. James Bradford is sounding good. We heard his little heartbeat and was measured at 30 weeks! (Wait, I'm only 27 weeks, 3 days!) She said its common for them to measure big at the 28 week checkup. She said he may just be a big boy!! - Which my mom has been guessing he will be the entire pregnancy. (But of course in my mind I'm thinking 30 weeks - that's only 10 weeks away, I'm supposed to have 12.5 more weeks to prepare for him!! haha!)

After seeing the Dr. I had my blood drawn. They should have the results of my glucose screening by this afternoon - so I guess I'm hoping for no phone call!

It was a fun morning with my sister! Thank you Ellen for going with me!! Next appointment is in 2.5 weeks. Woohoo - can't wait to hear James Bradford's little heartbeat again!!

Wedding In Selma

Next Stop: Selma, Alabama: John Dobbin's Wedding

Cory and I loaded up Saturday afternoon and headed down the stormy and dark back roads to Selma, Alabama. The whole time I was thinking, Lord, please let it not be raining in Selma. (That was my biggest fear for our wedding day - rain! and so I know a lot of other brides must fear the same thing.)
When we finally arrived in Selma - the sun was shining and it was beautiful! And the rain had cooled everything off. It was a perfect evening for a summer wedding.

The ceremony and reception was perfect. They had their reception at an old house / museum that was furnished with gorgeous antiques. And it was all amazing.

It was a fun evening of catching up with Cory's fraternity brothers from college. Congratulations John & Mary Coleman!!

Isaac's 2nd Birthday Party!

Saturday was a fun filled day! I basically took a tour of Alabama - Birmingham to Madison to Birmingham to Selma and back to Birmingham.

First Stop: Madison Alabama = Isaac's 2nd Birthday Party

Isaac was having a joint party with a friend at my sister's house. They set up pools and yard toys and planned on a big backyard picnic grill out. The rain held off for a little - enough time for the kids to get wet, but then it started - the rain. So everyone moved inside for an indoor picnic. It was so much fun. They laid out blankets on the family room floor and everyone sat around enjoying the delicious lunch and the kids playing.

After lunch we had sang to the Birthday boys and ate cake. Check out this cake - it is amazing. One of my sister's friends spent all week making this. Her son was the other birthday boy. I am still so impressed with this cake! WOW!! What a an awesome talent and labor of love!

Mom, Dad & I had to scoot from the party a little early, so I could get back to Birmingham and get ready for the rest of my tour of Alabama.

Next Stop: Selma, Alabama - John Dobbin's Wedding - coming up tomorrow!

27 Weeks Closer!

Today marks 27 weeks closer to meeting James Bradford. This is the last official week of my 2nd trimester. Wow - how time has flown! Hard to believe that July is next week! My goodness! People told me that pregnancy would fly and I never thought it would actually go this fast! So much to do in the next 13 weeks of our life to get ready for James Bradford's arrival!

I'm still feeling great and enjoying life. Although sleep has become even more important to me then ever I feel like! My alarm goes off way to early and I find myself hitting snooze far to many times! I have NEVER enjoyed taking naps (always felt like they were a waste of my day), and I am finding myself wanting naps and enjoying them. (Unfortunately though, working full time, there are no naps allowed! haha!)

James Bradford continues to grow and get stronger. His kicking, punching and hiccups are becoming more and more prevalent and powerful. This week James Bradford is weighing in at 2 pounds! (they compare this to a head of cauliflower - ha!) and is approx. 14.5 inches long with his legs extended! This week he is sleeping in regular intervals and is able to open and close his eyes. He also may begin sucking a thumb or finger this week! I wonder if he will?! I sucked my finger for years. Cory did not. Guess we'll just have to wait and see if he chooses to or not.

This week I go for my 28 week checkup. It will be a long appointment - as I have my glucose test this week. Cory is unable to go with me, so I think my sister may go with me. I'm excited - it will be fun for us to go together. Then after this appt - I start going every 2 weeks! HARD TO BELIEVE!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there!

I hope each of you have a very special day. We had a fabulous day at the Hall house. Although James Bradford isn't here yet, I still think of this as Cory's first fathers day. (James Bradford will be here soon enough) This is how Cory started his day off - just a morning surprise from Sabrina & James Bradford. - Breakfast in Bed!

Then tonight we had my parents and David & Laura over to cook out and celebrate Father's Day. It was so much fun. We all had a great time together - We missed the Brooks clan though. (Although, I did get to see them on Saturday for Isaac's Birthday Party. - More to come on that later in the week.

Happy Father's Day Cory! You are going to be a great Daddy. Sabrina, James Bradford & I love you very much!

Happy Father's Day to the man I have admired my entire life! I love you Daddy!!

And Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Father in law! We love you very much!

And to all you other special men out there. Happy Father's Day! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to your families.

Fabulous Friday Finds - Starbucks Ice Cream

I know, I know - this probably shouldn't be considered a fabulous find. But last night - it was a fabulous find! - Especially to the pregnant girl grocery shopping at 6:30pm who hadn't eaten dinner yet! And I know - I didn't need to buy this at all (esp. with my glucose test coming up next week!) But it was calling my name and I couldn't pass it up.

I love Starbucks and I haven't given into any type of coffee drink since I have been pregnant. And to yours and mine amazement - I have only visited a Starbucks one time since January, and it was last week and I got fruit smoothie.

This I just had to give in on! First of all - at Publix this week, they are Buy One Get One Free. And I had a $1 off coupon from the paper or you can get one here. Leaving the final price of the pint of ice cream at $.96! Thats a bargain!! Plus I was craving something sweet and the Caramel Macchiato flavor sounded delicious! So hurry to your local Publix to try this ice cream - its amazing!

Happy Fabulous Friday!!

Bravest 3 Year Old I Know!

My nephew Davis is the bravest 3 year old I know! While playing, he fell and broke his arm and had to have surgery. We are all so proud of how brave he was! And doesn't he look cute driving the jeep power wheel back to the operating room?! For the full story check out my sister's blog.

Meeting Liam Beall!

This past Friday night, Cory and I had a date down to Tuscaloosa. We went to visit our friends, Jeffrey & Anna in the hospital. They welcomed their 3rd son into the world, William Poythress Beall, on Thursday. "Liam" weighed in at 8lbs 13oz and was 20.5 inches long - and is just precious! Mommy, Liam and Daddy are all doing great! We are so excited for them and so excited for the 2 big brothers - Price & Luke!

We had so much fun visiting with them and getting to meet the newest addition to the Beall family. We even joined in on their "celebration dinner" and shared in on the partaking of the sparkling grape juice!! Congratulations Jeffrey & Anna!!

Reuniting Shower & 26 Weeks

This past Saturday I attended a bridal shower for a dear, fun friend of mine from college. It was such a fun time of catching up, reminiscing and celebration. Here is the beautiful and hysterical bride. She is getting married next month in Atlanta. Cory and I are looking forward to attending and dancing the night away with her and sweet friends!(We'll see how much dancing I'm up for at 30 weeks!) Here we are - the AOII girls who were in attendance at the shower. (Photo Credits - Thanks Becky!! I stole these off your facebook!!)

Sara (grey, pink and black dress) is pregnant too - she is due 2 weeks before us. She is also having a boy and his name is James Micheal. (Another double name!) It has been so much fun being pregnant together. She is my water aerobics buddy and its so fun and interesting to hear about her Drs appts before I go for mine. This past week she went for her glucose test - Supposedly orange flavor is better then the fruit punch. Ill take her advice on that for when I go next week!!

Well its official - less then 100 days to go until James Bradfords arrival. 98 days to be exact! Today marks 26 weeks! This week I woke up, and wasn't ready to start the work week - another case of the Mondays! Well then I started thinking about - only about 13 more Monday's until maternity leave! Woohoo! Mondays are always the hardest for me - Can we not skip Mondays, and just start our work week on Tuesday?! Anyways, so sorry there is not picture. I will post one tonight or tomorrow. My photographer was still in the bed when I left for work this morning!

Here are the stats of James Bradford this week- weighing in at 1 2/3 lb and is 14 inches long. And of course - we can't forget our veggie analogy - drum roll please - he is the size of a "English Hothouse Cucumber" - seriously - like I said last week. Who knows what these things are?!

So I had to look it up! Here it is!! Just looks like a cucumber to me!

Fabulous Friday Finds - Iron Crib

I always knew I wanted an iron crib whenever the time would come for us to have a child. When we found out we were expecting in January - I immediately started checking Craigslist daily to see if someone would be listing a used iron crib because I knew they would be much more pricey then I wanted to spend. Days and Days and Weeks and Weeks went by with no luck of finding an Iron Crib. So we went to a baby furniture store and looked around and - Yeah, we were right they were expensive! We didn't order anything, we decided to wait, but had picked one out that we liked.

About a week or so later, I was doing my daily looking and searching on Craigslist and there it was "Bratt Decor Venetian Iron Crib" at half the price of a brand new one. And it had only been used for one baby! (almost new!) I immediately picked up the phone and called Cory and told him to contact the lady. And he did. SOLD! - Sight unseen - exactly what I wanted!

This lady had never listed anything on craigslist before - so she thought we were crazy when we asked to pick it up that night! And she responded that her child needed a few more weeks before he moved to his big boy bed. (What?! - Why would you list it, if your not ready to get rid of it?!) So we had to wait several weeks before picking it up. But we were so excited when we finally had it in our hands.

Right now its being stored at my parents house - along with a lot of other stuff of James Bradford's! With our house on the market, it was just to much to go ahead and move all that stuff to our place. But it was a fabulous find. At less then half the price of a brand new - we were so thrilled with our purchase.

Soon, very soon though - whether we are still in the townhouse or we have moved out - we will have it all set up and ready for James Bradfords arrival in just a few short months!

Happy Fabulous Friday!!

(FYI - obviously, this is a stock photo, Ill be posting pictures of our nursery when we have it all set up)

Early Morning Ball Game

Typically, Sabrina and I have our mother / daughter time early in the morning - at 5:30am before the rest of the world rises. We love our peaceful morning walks - listening to the birds and watching/stalking all the chipmunks and squirrels, saying good morning to all our early morning friends and the aroma of all the fresh baked goods baking at the neighborhood bakery. Then coming home and relaxing over water and breakfast - while the house is still silent. No phone calls, no alarms, just Sabrina and I and the ABC 33/40 news team.

What is better then an early morning walk with your favorite pooch?! An early morning walk AND an early morning ball game!!

This morning on our walk Sabrina found something so fun! She found a brand new, bright yellow tennis ball. Oh boy - she was so excited! With that said - our walk was cut short. We stopped in the RiteAid parking lot to play ball. She chased that ball as fast as she could. (Of course not always bringing it back yet - you would think a 5 year old dog, would have that down pat!) Several times I thought, this is it, she is exhausted - time to go home. So I would put her leash back on, but she would immediately try to grab the ball. So, off would come the leash and there would go the ball - plunging out of my hand. After about 30 minutes of playing she was ready to walk back home.

We had a great morning! We both had so much fun!! She is now sleeping in the foyer - watching out the front door. What a great friend to have!! What a wonderful way to start my Tuesday!

25 Weeks!

Busy Busy Day! Unfortunately not much time to blog. But I can't go without a 25 week belly bump picture! (note to self - cardigans with a ruffle on the bottom are not very flattering)
James Bradford is growing, growing, growing! At 25 weeks he now measures 13.5 inches long and weighs approx 1.5 lbs! And my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball!!! My weekly email reads that he is the size of a rutabaga. (Why do they relate everything to vegtables?? I'm no vegetable connoisseur so I'm not sure exactly what that is!) Anyways, he is also starting to grow hair. Which really makes me curious of what type of hair is going to have. When I was a baby I was really lacking in the hair department, then when I finally got hair, it was like bleach blond, now I've got more hair then I can just about handle! Also starting this week, he is starting to show preference to either his right or left hand. I'm right handed and Cory's a lefty - so something else for us to ponder about!

James Bradford likes to remind me that he is still there and wants attention. He has been kicking around so much - which I love! I love to feel him moving around - and Cory does too! He has felt him move numerous times now. Its so incredible and miraculous!


Pregnancy has been great! I have been loving it - although I have been very lucky compared to some friends who were sick and not feeling great. Right now I'm trying to do as much as I can, because I hear when the 3rd trimester hits, all the sudden you become really tired - and everyone knows how I love my sleep!! But till then - its still 9pm late nighters for me!

Fabulous Friday Finds - Vintage Alabama Seat Cushions

So some of y'all may not think think this is a fabulous find - especially all you Auburn fans. But to us (esp. Cory) we just couldn't live without making this purchase. Several weekends ago, we found this Fabulous Friday Find at the Children's Harbor Thrift Store on Lake Martin.

2 Vintage Alabama Seat Cushions. Ok to be honest - we will most likely never carry these to a game - it would be just one more thing to carry, keep up with and carry! They are just added to the rest of our "Alabama Stuff" - but we thought they were a great addition to our collection, especially for only a buck! Happy Fabulous Friday!! Hope y'all all have a great weekend!!

Another Diploma?!

No, not really - just a certificate of completion. Tuesday night was my final night of my photography class - Introduction to Digital Photography at the Birmingham School of Photography. It was so much fun and I feel like I learned a lot - although there is still so much more to learn and to understand. But now I have a better understanding of how to use my camera in manual mode and how to use the light meter to get pictures correctly exposed. Here are a couple pictures from our final assignment.

To finish up the class - we are having a field trip to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens this weekend. Should be fun and a great learning experience to put what I have learned over the past several weeks to use.

Next step - teach Cory how to use manual mode - Scary!! I hope I will be a good teacher!!

Happy 80th!

Happy Birthday Grandma!
Today is my grandmother's 80th birthday. You would never know she's 80! She is so hip and energetic. Still at 80 exercising daily, driving, traveling - she is amazing. We had so much fun with her this past weekend. We hated to send her back to Fort Myers, Florida - but after a long weekend with this bunch, Im sure she was ready to get back to some peace and quiet! Can't wait to see her again and for James Bradford to meet his Great Grandma!

Memorial Day Weekend & 24 Weeks!

So I have fallen down on my job as a 5 day a week blogger! Life has just been so much fun and work was crazy busy on Friday with only working a partial day - then off to the lake we went for extra special long holiday weekend with family - so sorry, there was just no time for blogging. Our weekend was extra special at the Lake - What made it so extra special was that my grandmother was here and she turns 80 tomorrow! We celebrated her big day early, with a low country boil with about 3o family friends - although it rained, we all had a blast!

Cory was our cook - and it was so yummy!!

We spent the rest of the weekend at the pool, in the lake, and just enjoying lots of family fun time.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day! We sure did! Thank you for all of the men and women and out there who have served our country!

On a different note - We are 24 weeks closer to meeting James Bradford - Only 16 more weeks to go!! He has gained 4 ounces since last week and now weighs over a pound and is the length of an ear of corn! The best part about this mile marker, is that yesterday, Cory saw and felt him move. I was so glad he could finally feel this miraculous life! It's all so real - he is going to be here soon. Time to get the nursery ready! Yippee!!