And the word became flesh and dwelt among us...

Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

i am excited about being home for the next several days and enjoying Christmas at my house.  we managed to decorate for Christmas around here, and attempt to get ready for a baby.

 cozy by the tree

december has been a great month, and has gone by slowly.  it's going slowly because we are waiting on a baby, and i am fine with that.  we are trying to enjoy it before our days of parenting begin.  we have stayed busy, and at the same time, found some great time for relaxing in between.

dining room is ready for Christmas!

during this month of december, i committed to reading through the book of John, and I made it!  I told my friend matt, that issued the challenge, that I was quietly committing in case I was interrupted by having a baby.  But I finished!  Thankful to have the accountability this provided to keep me on track.  I wish it didn't take that, but i'm thankful that i got it done, and i did my reading in the morning, while either walking on the treadmill or after waking up.  it was a great start to the day.

some verses i loved from John...

"And the word became flesh and dwelt among us..." John 1:14
(so thankful for this, and what Christmas is really all about...)

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life..."  John 3:16
(probably one of the most memorized verses in the bible, and i am thankful that God sent His Son to die for my sins, and that salvation is available to all...)

"I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  John 8:12

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. " John 13:34
(so thankful for the reminder to love others, even those that are tougher to love...)

Bryan ordered baby B a stocking, it was a fun surprise, and it's on the mantle, just in case he decides to come before Christmas!

and this little miss is with her momma and God willing will be traveling home around Christmas Day!  Please pray for Abby, Eva Claire and Daniel as they complete all the final things to get on that airplane home!  praying peace and safety over them as they make their journey to arkansas!  eva, your "aunt amy" can not wait to snuggle you, when you're ready! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior, i have so much to be thankful for this Christmas season!  

room for a baby....

we have little b's room done, finally!  when we found out that we were having a boy, i already knew i wanted navy and white in the nursery.  those are pretty conservative color choices and so bryan was on board.  after 8 paint samples, we landed on the right color grey for the walls, i could have done a shade "grey-er" but it's a good neutral.  we pieced the room together from various places.  the frames/mirror/lamp we already had, and just kinda "re-did" them for the sake of saving some dol-lah.  the crib/dresser/changing table came from buy buy baby, and we got a cute cube shelf from ikea.  we had fun getting it all together, and now we're just waiting on the baby. :)

 wreath by lins and changing table

 we got the glider in the mail today, bryan didn't waste any time getting it ready.  we had quite the ordeal with the glider we ordered from target, and it is lost some where between here and hebron, kansas, and after 8 phone calls to customer service in india, it is cancelled, and we ordered this one from amazon.  amazon is the winner.  

and i had a hard time deciding on what to put up behind the crib, i kept imagining something falling, so a painted stripe and vinyl decal make this momma's heart feel better.  and bryan picked out jerry the giraffe during our dallas trip!

in this picture you can see the bottom of the curtains better, bryan got the panels in memphis for me at the pottery barn outlet, and i wanted them hung really high.  they were too short, so the wonderful gran gran added the material and stripes to the bottom to match his bedding.  i LOVE them.  his quilt on his bed was made by my sweet and kindred spirited friend abby, and i love that is is so special.  

 our ikea shelf and some other special stuff.  my dad's baby shoes, and the first baby item i purchased, the stuffed horse from the market in kyiv, ukraine....and lots of books.  i hope little b loves books!

 lamp from my apartment in college that bryan painted and i covered, and a sweet verse!

fall in review...

this fall has been really fun!  here's some random iphone pics!  

our matching halloween shirts!  all we are missing is Kara in hers.  i look like a giant in this picture, so that's always fun! :)

dining room table with some fun halloween decorations!  

we have our stroller and car seat, and i am very glad that bryan knows how to operate things like this...we have a lot to learn about baby gear.  

i ordered this custom print for baby b's room!  it's from the Psalm of David, and I love it!

 might as well toss a giant belly pic in!

 The TEAM ladies getting ready to run the Heroes for Kids, TEAMWorks 5K!  Dima Clark put this on to raise money for adapted bikes and for TEAMWorks projects!  So cool!

Carmen and Bryan before the race!  Carmen completed her first 5K, so awesome!  Bryan finished in 22 minutes, because he's a crazy runner like that!  I can't even think that fast, let alone run!

 i have LOVED the view outside our window at work!  makes me so happy!

and we had a fun thanksgiving celebration in branson and then with my family at my mom's!

riley and LB having fun at the tanger! :)

 lena loved wearing my purse and jacket around the condo...

and she LOVES her uncle b!  if we heard "by-an, by-an, by-an" once, we heard it a million times!

uncle b and had

my favorite cake made by my mom...she's making me another for Christmas...

 all the little cousins, except for little peyton

 my sweet girl

 Ma with had and addison

 we are all expecting babies...mine in december/january and liz and krystal in march!  so fun!

Baby Shower for Kati & Baby Sadler!

This afternoon we had a baby shower for my life-long bestie Kati and her sweet little man Sadler.  Kati is due about 2 week after myself, so being pregnant at the same time has been really special.  Kati, Lindsey, and I have all been best friends since we were little girls, and have literally known each other for almost 25 years.  Whoa, that number will make you feel old.  But, we have known each other since kindergarten (if not even a bit before).  Lindsey has a little boy, Lucas who is 18 months old, so now all three of us will have boys!  oh dear!

old friends! :)

Kati's little fella has a very special name, Sadler is the maiden name of her sweet and wonderful Gran Gran, and here they are!  

lindsey and i had so much fun decorating for this shower!  lindsey is so great at this stuff!

 cupcake tower!

 mini peanut butter pie's in a jar!  yay!  

 so fun!

 kati and her momma!  

 little Sadler has some razorback gear!

 kati with her aunt, mom and gran-gran!

 kati and sweet whitney!

lindsey made this awesome wreath!  she's so talented!

I can't wait to meet and hold you Baby Sadler!  You are so loved already!!!!  

Oh, happy day!

My dear friends have a TRAVEL DATE to go get their little Miss.  Abby blogs here, and I would love for them to be covered in prayer as they journey to eastern Europe and bring their daughter home.  They will start their adventure of thousands of miles this Sunday, please pray for smooth/uneventful travels, good weather and safety for them.  Also, please pray for peace and guidance as they begin to really learn the sweet little blessing, that is their daughter.  She has spent 3-ish years in an orphanage, and adjusting to a mom and dad and life outside those walls will be a big change for her.  Praying that God will knit their hearts together as a family, and give Eva Claire understanding and peace as her world begins to change.  Their story is such a great story and such an amazing example of how God's plans are so good.  I am so excited I can barely sit still.

I just had to add this picture of myself and Eva Claire from one of our trips to her orphanage.  I remember thinking as I held her, that one day she would be held in the arms of her parents and carried out of that room of the orphanage to begin her trip home.  Home.  Such a wonderful word.

Thank you God for this little blessing and for the beautiful and obedient hearts of her parents, Daniel and Abby.  They have fought the good fight, that is called the process of international adoption!  It's been a long road of "hurry up and wait" and now it's finally time to go!!  Praise God, His blessings are many.

baby shower'in! :)

we had our first baby shower this weekend for our little fella.  i was completely overwhelmed by all the sweet things from family and friends.  three of my dear friends threw the shower, and they thought of every single detail, down to little flags on the straws for people's names.  SO cute.  they served yummy brunch foods that i love and had the cutest cake from shelby lynn's!

these are three sweet friends who put a lot of love into the shower!

who doesn't love a monogrammed cake here in the south! :)  

one of my dear sweet best friends i made during my freshman year in college made the trip in for the shower!  

they did so many cute details, i just can't get over it!

they asked me what i wanted (or maybe i just told them this one small request....) chocolate milk!  

my pregnancy favorite!

everyone wrote words of wisdom and played game to guess his birthday!  we'll see who wins! :)

kati made this diaper cake!  

cupcakes!

the cutest little onesie's and burp clothes handmade by lins!  

punch was so fun!  

little fella got some razorback gear!  hadleigh was my assistant with the gifts, and stayed right there the entire time, i am sure she was tuckered out, but she was a big helper! :)  love that little girl

cake!

this was mine when i was little, i got several very special gifts from my mom!

the aunts except for lorie, who had to work!

these are two great looking soon to be great-grandmas!  

these two are excited to say the least...."Susu" and "Mamaw"

two of the sweetest and dear friends!  

my belly is obviously quite larger, but little B will have a baby cousin in March!

kay and i after the shower, love her! :)

this quilt is so special as well, made with love by my dear friend Abby!  I LOVE it.

we are so thankful for the blessing of baby b and being surrounded with so much love and support.  i know there are so many who go with out, and so many sweet little ones in the world with out so much love.  praying we raise our little guy to be compassionate and giving towards those with less.  Thanking God for all of these blessings, every single one of them.