A Visit Home...

Last weekend, I was able to steal away several days to go visit my family in Tennessee. Damein didn't get to go this time, so although I missed him, I had a wonderful time!! There's nothing like visiting the people you love and don't see very often! I miss all of you:)
Here are some fun pics from the weekend filled with my parents bday parties, my 6-year old nephew Lucas' shinanigans, and visits with good friends and family.



1.) My wonderful parents...Happy Birthday!!

2.) Good looking ladies...and Lucas:)

3.) Lucas in my dad's church coat.

She has a NAME!!

I must say I really thought I wouldn't decide on a name until really late in my pregnancy and maybe even until she was born....but providentially God blessed us with a sweet name that has great meaning to us.

We've decided to name her Olivia Anastasis. She will probably be 'Livy' most of the time and for some reason that name just seemed like it 'fit' her, even though we haven't met her technically! :)

So, I am listing our explanation behind the name below, but I will preface it by saying that we totally appreciate people who name their kids just because they like the name as well as those that select names b/c of a special meaning.
However, this is the special meaning behind her name that makes us excited about it!

Explanation: Olivia (besides being beautiful to our ears) is Italian for olive, which reminds us of Paul's olive branch imagery in Romans 11 where we, the gentiles, are grafted in to Israel (God's people) like an olive branch and nourished by the root. Anastasis is Greek for resurrection. What a great hope we have been given through Jesus' resurrection. We love it.

Our First Family Photo:)

The verdict is in....we are going to have a cute little girl with a button nose and quite proficient in gymnastics! She literally impressed us with her headstand abilities during the ultrasound, it was hilarious!!
We got some great ultrasound pics, which I will post soon, and we also got a video of the ultrasound, which I must say I have worn out already! It was truly amazing to see God's handiwork in action when we first saw her profile on the ultrasound!! Seeing her move her sweet little arms, fingers, and legs, was the cutest thing ever! It looked like she was sucking her thumb part of the time (so sweet).
Although I know that having children adds an entirely new dynamic to family life and married life, Damein and I are so excited for this next stage and I can see how loving your children serves to increase your love for each other...and especially for God!

Here is our first family photo...isn't she a cutie! :)

More Pics from IN

More pics at the lake and Damein doing his deejay thang:)
Yes, that is also me eating a bite of wedding cake...it was a craving:)
Oh, and that is my granola bar...before I took a bite!! Since when do they sell 3/4 of a granola bar?? Especially to a pregnant lady!

A Weekend with the Schitters

This past weekend, Damein and I had the chance to make a quick visit to Indiana and packed in a lot of fun in about a 24 hour period! We celebrated his brother Kody's bday by going to the lake and Damein also deejayed his cousins wedding reception...with my assistance of course:)
Here we are at the lake...

Spontaneous and Fun

We finally got a new card reader, so I am back with full picture posting capabilities!! I will try to catch everyone up on the last couple weeks! Check out the pictures I just posted on my previous posts as well!

We decided to squeeze in as many spontaneous dates as possible before the big day when we have the opportunity to enjoy limitation in life and schedule:)
A couple of Saturdays ago, we enjoyed breakfast together at our FAV breakfast place, City Coffeehouse! Their breakfast (and lunch) crepes are AWESOME! Then we enjoyed a matinee movie...here we are after the movie:)

Week 18

Drum roll please.......here is my week 18 pic! We have less than 2 weeks until we find out the gender and get to see the little one moving around on the ultrasound!
I had a lovely craving for pancakes tonight...and of course wanted scrambled eggs with that, so my wonderful hubby went to the store to get the eggs and it was SO yum!! Sorry no pics to express its awesome-ness!