Hit that Line, Hit that Line

Yesterday afternoon I was running errands and thinking about what I wanted for dinner and suddenly I knew - I HAD to have poppyseed chicken. So I called Laurie to verify the recipe.

If you are from the south, or have ever had a baby, or had a family member die, or have gone to a church potluck -you have probably had or made poppy seed chicken. But in case you haven't - I thought I would share the recipe. Harper loved it. I am not even going to tell you how many plates full I ate of this last night. Laurie said she craved this the entire time with Sarah Kate.
There are lots of versions - but this is the one I use:

Poppy seed chicken

2 or 3 chicken breasts, boiled and cut in small pieces
1 16 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken
2 tbls of poppyseeds (I don't measure - I just shake a ton in)
Ritz crackers
1 stick of butter

Mix the first 4 ingredients and put in a baking dish. Cover with crushed up ritz crackers. Melt a stick of butter and pour on top. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350.
I serve mine over rice. This is SUCH a good comfort food!!!!

So it's game day!!!!! I've got our flag hung on our house!

I decked our car out in car flags and magnets but I had to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart and when I came out - SOMEONE HAD STOLEN TWO OF MY MAGNETS. I WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FURIOUS!!!! Who does that??????? So now we have just have one on each side.
But on a happy note - they FINALLY put a hog in the center of our field. It looks so good. They just finished it yesterday. We should have done this 30 years ago. The Petrino era starts tonight and I am so excited.
My parents are on their way over to see us and eat a late lunch with us before we all head to the game! Have I mentioned I love this time of year?

Baby Brain

I've been trying to convince Scott that I have a bad case of "pregnancy brain" and he doesn't believe that it something real. It's either that or I am in early stages of alzhiemer's. I'm seriously losing my mind these days. He had some clothes that needed to go to the cleaners and every day for about 3 weeks he would ask me if I could take them and every day I would say "sure" and every day I would forget. Well - I finally got them there and for about the last 10 days - I can NOT remember to pick them up. I write it down at work "Pick up dry cleaning" and in a notepad I keep in my car - and somehow it's not working.

Last night, Jenna and I decided to go out to eat while the boys were at the football party. My baby brain switch was really on fire last night. We went to Chili's for dinner and then decided to go to Starbucks. I get up to pay at Starbucks and realize I have no debit card. BECAUSE I left it at Chili's. So we have to go back and get it. Then Jenna takes me home and I realize I can't get in my house because I left my car keys in my car (in the garage) and didn't grab the garage door opener. So we had to go to Jenna's house and wait for the boys to get done. It was way past these pregnant girls' bed times and we were both tired. Then when Scott and I got home - I realized I left my leftovers at Jenna's house. (Which Jenna if you read this - eat them or throw them out.)

Did ya'll go this crazy when you were pregnant? I heard it never ends from here. This is not good.

I'm been a little crazy for a while. Like the time a few years ago when we had a HUGE game coming up between AR and Tennessee - we were both in the top 10 and College Game Day was coming and we were the feature game on ESPN that Saturday night and I went to pull out our tickets and realized that I had cleaned out my desk the week before and THROWN THE TICKETS OUT. Thank goodness my friend Hillary's dad came to the rescue with a couple of extra tickets because if I had missed that game - I would have been SICK. Probably for the rest of my life.
P.S. We beat the Volunteers!!!!
P.P.S. Scott's in charge of our tickets now.

Have a good THREE day weekend!

GO HOGS - Beat Western Illinois!

Sleep Tight Sweetheart!

Here is what my bedding is going to look like. Only on the bumper - where this has polka dot material - I am going to have a giraffe print (brown and white) and the ties and the trim on the bumper will be lime green.
I can't decide if I want to do Harper's monogram or just put "Harper" in the middle? I'm leaning toward her name.

Tonight all the guys in our Sunday School class are getting together (at 3 different houses) to watch the first college football game of the year and do their fantasy football drafts. I'm glad they are having guy nights! We love to have girls nights but it's good for them to hang out as guys.

I'm going to do one of two things while I'm home tonight: Weed our flower beds (obviously the fun choice) or start working on a baby book for Harper.

I haven't been able to find any baby books I REALLY like so I'm going to make my own. Here's the question for the day:
What info did you like having included in your baby book(s)?
Family trees, how you found out about the baby, Showers, gift list, ........I need ideas. I've been keeping a pregnancy journal so I will try to incorporate some of that in the book. I also want to include all of your comments on my special posts and cards we've recieved. But I need other ideas of what to include. This will be a book I can add and expand so I can keep up with the first few years of her life in here.

Nursery Preview

All I have done so far in the nursery is this little table that is going to be in one of the corners. I thought I would share because it's a preview of what the nursery will looks like. The walls are going to be painted the same chocolate brown that the table cloth is. That pink and brown zebra is going to be the main material in the bedding. It's also going to have a little giraffe print and a little hint of green in it. I think it's going to be soooooooo cute! I got that lamp at T J Maxx last week. I love it. In this picture - it doesn't really look right but it's a great shade of pink and has little crystals hanging down. SO girly!
I have my frame from Leigh Ann on the table and the bow hanger from Jamie (just sitting there for fun right now) and of course "Putting on the Grits - A guide to Southern Entertaining". What I really need is a copy of "A Southern Belle Primer" to go on that table. :-)

This weekend I will start working on a project for one of the walls.

I've got this frame hanging up in my office right now - with vacation pictures of Scott and I.
I'm going to paint the frame silver with pink in it. And then I'm going to paint the mat with giraffe print and put pink scrapbook paper as backgrounds for each picture and I'm going to frame some of Harper's ultrasound pictures (6 wks, 11 wks, 20 wks, and the 3D ones we will have made in a few weeks) and then when she is born we'll put a good picture of her right in the middle. I think it will turn out neat (I hope) and I wanted a neat way to frame her ultrasound pictures. I'll post after pictures next week. Hopefully it won't be too ugly.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooo Pig Sooie!!!!!!!!!!

Four more days until my very favorite time of the year (outside of Christmas) - FOOTBALL!!!!

Anyone out there excited besides me????? I can hardly stand it. I love EVERYTHING about this time of year. I love when the leaves change, I love pumpkin candles, I love pumpkins on porches, fall wreaths, crisp days, fall clothes, caramel apple spice at Starbucks, starting the day with College Game Day and ending it with Sportscenter. :-) I love listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio and getting pumped for each game weekend. I love Sunday afternoons when the college rankings come out. I love cool mornings and nights and warm days. I love new school supplies.

I love going to Razorback games and picking out a cute red outfit and hearing the band play our fight song and seeing the team run out of the A and making that first touchdown and high fiving everyone around me and standing the whole game and yelling at the top of my lungs and eating $100 popcorn and cokes, and people watching and looking at other cute red outfits, and listening to the after game show on the radio on the way home.

My dad turned me into the Razorback football fanatic I am today. He took me to games from the time I was very young until I got married. Most of the time just me and him and I LOVED it. I hope to help Harper love football and game days! I know Scott is looking forward to snuggling with her on the couch in January and watching NFL playoffs. ha!

Speaking of the SEC ( the greatest conference in the world) and the Hogs - our friends who gave us that awesome SEC matching game started a blog. Please go visit them and welcome them to blogging. Oh and they also got Scott this awesome shirt in Starkville (Mike's a Miss St grad).

My apologies to any Ole Miss fans out there. At least you still have the grove. ha!

So - are you ready for some football and who are you cheering for?????

20 weeks

20 weeks
I'm halfway through!!!!!!!
Harper is the length of a banana now.

I feel like I am sooooo big right now. I keep asking Scott how I will get any bigger and then he reminds me I still have another 20 weeks to grow. OH MY!

Today I got to have lunch with a sweet friend, Amanda, and her cutie pie daughter Neely. Neely was so sweet during lunch. She just smiled and cooed the whole time. I hope she and Harper can be future friends. I just LOVE having lunch dates with friends.
I got tickled when I got home tonight because my mom sent me a big envelope and inside was no note.......just a bunch of pages out of pottery barn kids. ha! I guess she is trying to suggest ideas for the nursery. I have it ALL planned out. Later this week - I'll share the beginning stages of it.
I also got this precious onesie from Megan. Isn't this the TRUTH? If you like this onesie - you can find other precious ones like it at www.blessedbabycollection.com.
This onesie just reminds me of this verse:
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1.
That is my prayer for each of you who are waiting for your baby - be SURE of what you hope for!!!

Old and New Friends, Road Trip and Girl-a-palooza

This has been one of the best weekends ever! I'm still on a "girl" high and that alone could keep me happy all weekend but we have had so much fun with friends this weekend.

Friday night- we went to eat with Jenna, Chris and Brayden to celebrate a week of finding out what our babies are. Jenna and I are both so excited - it's made even sweeter by sharing the frustration of infertility and knowing what a blessing these babies are. Jenna had been baby shopping and she brought me the CUTEST gift - Baby Bling Pacifier and pacifier clip. Will Harper not be precious sporting these two things???? I can't stand it.
I have been looking forward to Saturday for weeks!!! I took a little road trip south to Little Rock to visit three of my oldest friends.
First I met up with two of my best college friends and roommates - Leigh Ann and Kandi for lunch. We stayed at lunch for almost 3 hours just catching up. I love these two girls so much.
I can't believe we are in our mid 30's and married and are all MOTHERS (well almost!) Also - why I am so short? :-)
Kandi and her husband, Lance, are building a house in the neatest, old section of Little Rock. It is going to be so neat - I can't wait to see it! We drove by to look at where it will be and then stopped by their house to see Lance and the girls. Aren't Kandi's girls cute - look at that white hair???? I wish I would have had time to go see Leigh Ann's family. (Hi Derek!) That will have to be saved for another day. I was only in Little Rock for a few short hours and it just wasn't long enough. I could have stayed with them all day and I wish I could have seen other friends like Jill H., Katie, Sarah (if ya'll are reading this!)

Look at this PRECIOUS, GIRLY frame that Leigh Ann gave me for Harper's room? I could just die it's so cute. It will go PERFECT in her room. How much am I loving the pink?? :-)

Kandi gave me this precious sleeper. She said she was trying to be practical - but I think it's so sweet and girly. And Harper can wear it for a long time because it's long with a drawstring. I can't wait to snuggle her up in that this winter. I really went to just visit my friends - I didn't expect them to give me a mini shower but I won't lie and say I didn't love it. I have sat in the nursery today just admiring everything and loving how God has blessed me so much.
When I left K&L - I went to visit one of my oldest friends - Jamie. I could have stayed at her house all day too. Jamie is one of the sweetest friends I have ever had and she has two precious children. Her husband, Lane, is in med school so he was off studying and we had a great time visiting. Her kids, Rhett and Alexee, luckily weren't shy and they talked to me and played with me and I was just eating it up!!! I so wish I lived closer so we could spend more time together.

Couldn't you just squeeze this little thing to death????

Jamie and I have been friends for about 23 years and I just adore her.

She's also one of the most talented people I know and she made me this precious bow holder and I could just dance around with it I love it so much. It's also going to be perfect in the nursery. I'm starting to think when I get the nursery done - you will never get me out of it. I already just go in there and sit and smile and there is nothing in there. ha!
Today we got to have lunch with our friends Mike and Kacy and their 2 month old baby Wells. He is also a top prospect for Harper. They gave us one of the most fun things I have ever seen and a perfect gift for a child of ours - SEC matching game!!!! I told them that we would start Harper off at birth with these as flash cards and that she and Wells could have contests as soon as they can talk. They will be the two children in the 4 year old Sunday School class talking smack during football season and reviewing games while the other kids are drawing puppies. ha!

FRIDAY!

Congratulation to my friend, Jenna. She is due just a few days after me and found out yesterday she is having a BOY! Brayden Paul. He is on the approved list of boyfriends for Harper! She has about 4 boys on that list so far. She is not allowed to date until she is 25 but when that 25th birthday rolls around -she'll have some good pickings!

People keep asking me if I'm having cravings. Just one. Taco Bell. ha ha ha! This isn't really helping one of the main side effects of pregnancy - if anyone knows what I'm talking about - can I get an Amen? Last night I had a hair appointment so I got taco bell on the way about 4:30 and then when I called Scott on the way home to see if he wanted me to pick him up food - he asked me what I had had and said that sounded good. Well , I couldn't pass up a second round. So the next thing I know - I'm eating Taco bell at 8 at night. I feel like I'm back in college. Taco Bell and the OBU cafeteria were responsible for about 20 extra pounds I packed on back then. I have a feeling I'm starting to make up for all the weight I didn't gain at the beginning.

Word in the office is that we are going for a team lunch at 11:30 to P.F. Changs (my other craving) and then having the afternoon off. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! This is turning into a great weekend!

My personal Ark!

Thank you for all of your sweet words and wishes! It has been such a blessing to me to be able to share this with all my blog friends!!! I love you all!!!

Probably one of my very favorite parts of yesterday (beside sharing it with our families) was when I called Laurie to tell her the news and she just cried and cried - which made me cry and cry. I'm just so amazed how God has made all of our dreams come true - of marrying Godly men who have become best friends and to both have daughters who we hope will become best friends for life as well. God's delay has become our delight!

And now that I know it's a girl - I have to share with you my other treasures from my secret baby closet. I showed these to my mom last night and I know she thought I was crazy but I have just known for a long time that God was going to give me a daughter. Kind of like Noah building the ark - I had faith that I could buy these sweet things and that I would have a little precious girl to fill them one day.

Little onesies she will wear soon!

I think this is the first thing I ever bought

I can't wait for her to wear these dresses

I picture her wearing this on a beach or maybe just our backyard!

And my very, very favorite!!!!!!

I had it all planned out to do our nursery neutral - no matter what. I wanted it to be chocolate brown and green. But I woke up this morning and thought - "I must have pink". So I've started developing a new plan and I'm ready to get going!!!!
I was driving to work this morning and heard "Butterfly Kisses" on the radio this morning. Now - I really hate that song - but this morning I started just sobbing. I was picturing Harper and Scott and taking her to school and her getting married. I'm losing it. :-)

P.S. Ya'll I have been buying these outfits over the last couple of years. I know I got them ALL on either e-bay or etsy by people who just make this stuff. I don't have direct links anymore because I didn't keep that but there is so much cute stuff out there - just start searching!

It's A......................................................

I prayed for this child and the Lord has given me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Today has been just one of the best days ever. I can't quit smiling. Scott and I met my parents at my doctor's office this afternoon. Mom greeted us with two bags - one for either sex.
Luckily (because I had a very full bladder) - we got in quickly and the ultrasound tech was so great! I was so nervous to know if the baby was okay - and it is PERFECT! We all cried as we watched the precious baby on the screen and saw the heart and the spine and the brain and the feet and hands.
This is a picture of me and my WONDERFUL doctor - I ADORE her! I look terrible because at this point I had cried all of my make-up off.

This is our beautiful, beautiful baby! Although in the top picture - we think it looks like a one eyed pirate. ha!

After our appointment - we went to eat at P.F. Changs with my parents to celebrate.

Oh - are you wondering what this precious baby is????

It's a .....................




GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I screamed and bawled when she told us. I have wanted a girl so badly. I would have been THRILLED with a boy but my heart just longed for a daughter. And deep down - I have known it was a girl all along.

Harper Brown will join our family in 5 short months and I could not be more excited about anything in the entire world!

Praise the Lord - Great things HE has done!!!!!

19 weeks and a BIG day!

19 weeks - the baby is the size of a mango

What a difference a week makes - I am REALLY showing now.

Tomorrow is our BIG day. I don't know if I'll sleep tonight I'm so excited. The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is finding out our baby is okay and healthy. I have a HUGE peace that everything is okay. I know we have had a lot of prayers for us and I thank you.

It's also a big day - because it is going to tell us just what direction our family is about to take.
Will we have a future cheerleader and have our house filled with barbies and big bows and dresses and baby dolls and will her daddy hate all the boys who try to date her and how will we survive when she cries all the time and starts the hormonal teenage angst years and how will we pay for her wedding? Will she be my best friend as she grows into an adult? Will she have a lot of sweet friends who will walk through life with her? Will we give her the self esteem she needs to not worry about how she looks or her weight and to wait for the right boy to marry? Will she go to OBU and follow my legacy as a tri chi? Will we teach her to not be a "mean girl" but to love the unloved and to put others before herself? Will we teach her to count her blessings every day and to see how fortunate she is compared to most of the world? Will we help her to love Jesus more than anything else in the world?

Or will we have a future football player? And will our house be filled with cars and trucks and balls and loud noises and rowdy friends and wrestling and video games? And how will I keep up with all of his dirty clothes? And how on earth will I afford to feed both him and Scott when he becomes a teenager? ha! Will we teach him how to treat girls with respect? Will we teach him to choose his friends wisely? Will we show him how to be a spiritual leader? Can we show him that you can be macho and kind at the same time? Will he be the first Razorback to win the Heisman trophy? (ha!) Will we show him how to be tenderhearted and nice to the kids who don't have friends or come from less fortunate homes? Will he be able to stand up for what's right and not give in to peer pressure? Will he choose ministry over money because his first love has been God all of his life?

We honestly will be THRILLED either way. I think Amanda put it best when she said that even if she COULD choose - she would want God to choose for her. God has supremely planned out our family for us and I can't wait until tomorrow to see what the beginning of that is.

Our appointment is in the afternoon and then we are going to eat with my family to celebrate whatever it is! So when I get home tomorrow night - I'll post right away and let you know.

How can a weekend when we didn't do anything have such a long post?

Friday - I got to leave work early so I hit the mall. I'm 34 and pregnant and I bought things at two stores - Forever 21 and Motherhood Maternity. Does anyone think that's weird? ha! I got a good pair of black maternity pants that should help me get through the next few months but I have to say I'm just not crazy about maternity tops so I went to forever 21 and got a long shirt that will fit me and still look somewhat trendy.

Saturday was one of those great days where I didn't even shower until that night. I slept late, worked in the yard and cleaned the house. I finally feel good and I got caught up on things I've been neglecting. Mean while - Scott and Steve hit the gym and then went to eat at a new Fried Chicken place in town. They took Emily with them and Scott sent me these pictures from his i-phone.

Good thing they hit the gym first, huh?

For the last 3 years- I have taught 4 year old early Sunday School. This year the 3 year old teachers moved at the first of the year - so I ended up with both classes. It's been crazy to say the least. Today - we had SEVENTEEN 3 and 4 year olds - with just Scott and I to manage them. There were several times over the year when we looked at each other and said "Are we SURE we want to have children?" ha! Today was my last day. I won't be able to teach this year with the baby coming so I'm taking some time off. I may go back some time or maybe I'll teach youth girls one day. I'll miss the kids - they have been fun but I'm a little excited for a break!
I had the MOST fun afternoon today. For the last few years - I have heard stories about our pastor's niece, Catherine. She has one of those amazing stories of someone who suffered with infertility so they decided finally to adopt and before that adopted daughter was born - she found out she was pregnant! So now they have a BEAUTIFUL daughter who is 15 months old and a precious son that is 10 months old. They have a double blessing. She has been such a HUGE encouragement to me in the last year - she has e-mailed me so many times and has just lifted my spirits. And today we got to meet in person because she was in town visiting her family. This is her son with her cousin Hannah.

And this is beautiful Anna with her cousin (and my good friend) Elizabeth

I told Scott when I left to go over there that I was only going to stay for an hour - maybe less and I ended up staying for 4 hours. I just had the best time. Catherine's mom and our pastor's wife (they are sisters) and Elizabeth and Hannah just kept me entertained with their stories. We sat on their beautiful deck and just talked and talked. I felt like I had know Catherine forever - she is just as friendly and sweet in person as she is in her e-mails. This is the two of us and her kids in this picture.

I hope ya'll had a good weekend too!!!!

P.S. I'd like to welcome my DAD to the world of blogging!!!! Now if we can get Scott and my brother and his new wife blogging - the whole family will be in on the action! You'll have to check my dad out! :-)

Here comes the Bride

Tonight after work - I headed over to Laurie's so we could drive to Fayetteville and try on our bridesmaid dresses for alterations.

Emily was sitting in the back in her pink sunglasses chewing gum and she reminded me of Elle Woods in "Legally Blond" - I could not quit laughing at her. I made the mistake of giving her a piece of gum out of my purse a few weeks ago and now I am her dealer. Every time she sees me she wants gum and if I don't get it out fast enough she dives for my purse.
We told Emily we were going to a "princess store" and she had the time of her life. We dressed her up like a bride. I told Laurie I would send her this picture and she could use it in Emily's wedding slideshow and I thought Laurie was going to have a breakdown right there in front of me - her eyes started welling up. If she is anything like her momma or her Aunt Kelly - Laurie doesn't have to worry about the wedding for about 27 more years. ha!

Laurie and the bride. I had a good time looking at wedding dresses. There are just so many beautiful ones out there. I wish I could buy a new one every few years to wear.

Shannon was a good babysitter while Laurie and I talked to the owner. She was so nice and she thought I looked like her daughter-in-law so she was telling me all about her and then she told me she went to OBU too and she went over to the computer to pull up her blog to show me what she looked like. I wanted to tell her I blog - but I refrained.

When we left there - Laurie and I and the girls went to Chili's for dinner. We ate a thousand meals at this particular Chili's when we were single and living in F'ville. When we were leaving Emily was acting bad so Laurie had to whip her and we were both in the parking lot trying not to laugh (well - I was standing behind the car dying laughing and Laurie was trying to be serious). I told Laurie it was just funny to think about how much our lives have changed since the days when we used to eat there and talk about how we wished we could find our husbands and now we were wrestling two little girls and trying to eat and talk about feeding schedules and pregnancy issues. Life goes by too fast! Next thing I know - Laurie and I will be eating at Chili's when we have empty nests and wondering what we are going to do with all of our time. :-)