Baby Cone's Room is Coming Along....

The baby nursery is coming along! Our furniture came in and I was so excited to get it here.

For those of you who do not know the story about our furniture. Lance and I went to look at furniture and picked out what we wanted. We decided on the changing table and crib. We decided against the hutch to save a little money. Well, when I went back to look at it with my mom and her friend, I decided that I really did want the hutch. I came home and told Lance that I wanted the hutch. He didn't say no, but he said we would think about it. I guess all those pregnancy hormones got to me because I started BAWLING and I could not control it!! I could not stop even when I tried. I do not think I have ever cried that hard in my life. He finally said, "We can get the hutch." Then I started laughing because that was so stupid of me to throw a fit; but boy did it work. Lance warned me that it would only work once. I have not tried it again!!

Lance and Blake went to pick up our baby furniture last week in our friend's truck. It is always nice to have a friend with a truck (Thanks Casey and Kelley!!). I was so thankful that Blake was able to help Lance get the furniture; he is the best brother in law! Here are a few pictures of the furniture. The color is a dark brown; it looks black in the pictures because of the lighting.

The walls are a khaki color. Anna is going to paint a canvas with Baby Cone's name on it to put over the crib. Our friend Kelley is going to paint something simple on the walls to give it a little color. Below is a little blue distressed table that I could not pass up.

Lance's Aunt Tricia is going to make the curtains. She does such a wonderful job!! I went with her a couple of weeks ago to pick out fabric and we found some really cute fabrics and the precious blue night stand above. I can't wait till the curtains are finished. I will post pictures once they are up. They are blue and brown. We are still waiting on the baby bedding and the glider chair and ottoman. They should be in before Christmas.

No, this is not our nursery below.....it is the baby bedding we ordered! It is very simple; but I love it! I just ordered the bumper, quilt, sheet, and bed skirt.

I love decorating..........more pictures to come! :)

Count Your Many Blessings!

I know this is a little late for a Thanksgiving post, but I am just getting to updating our blog today. I LOVE the holidays! Each year around Thanksgiving I cannot help but think of the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings". This hymn is such a great reminder to me to be thankful for everything that God has provided us with. We are so fortunate and I am ever so thankful for more things than I can list.

• I think I am most thankful for LOVE. Without LOVE what would we have?
• A Wonderful and Supportive Husband
• Our Health
• Great Families
• Great Friends
• Prayer

Lance and I had Thanksgiving dinner with his family the week before Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with his family. We ate, talked, ate, shopped while the guys went to the driving range, and ate. It was so nice to all be together for a great meal and company. We love spending time with both of our families around the holidays, those are the times we look forward to most!

We spent Thanksgiving Day with my family this year. I wish that our extended family was closer so we could see them around the holidays; but we always have fun with the small family here! There is nothing like being at home; such a good feeling. We had a very nice time visiting and spending quality time together, watching movies, and eating. Of course my brother was putting up the Christmas lights as usual. We call him Clark around Christmas because he lights remind us of the lights in the movie Christmas Vacation. He always does a wonderful job with the lights. My mom and dad's house is always very colorful. Now, I need him to come decorate the outside of our house, only with white lights, but he only does color!! :)

I think Thanksgiving is just a good reminder to us all to be thankful and to help others that are in need all year round. I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in helping others around the holidays we forget that people have needs all year long. Sometimes even those that have everything are in need of something. Just keep an open heart to hear and see the needs of others throughout the year. Sometimes just a hug or spending time with someone means more than you will ever know.

20 Weeks......Half Way Point

Baby Cone always is covering his face. I think it is precious! You can even see his little ear. :)

He is definitely a boy. The arrow is pointing to his little "goods".

Ok - This is not like me, but here is a 20 week belly shot! I know I know, it is getting bigger by the second you do not have to tell me. I know you out of towners just have to see it. You could not see it as well with my shirt covering my belly so you actually get to see the real thing.....

Our 20 week appointment went great! My mom, dad, and Blake came with us to the ultra sound. Needless to say, it was interesting with all of us there. I was glad they all came. We did get off to a rough" start. Dr. Bills had to lay down the law with my Dad, Blake, and Lance. Before we started the ultrasound, the guys were goofing around and making a few jokes, and immediately the doctor said they would have to carry their conversation outside or be quite so he could concentrate and talk to us. Who ever thought you would get in trouble at the doctor's office.......well, they did (HAHA). Anyway we were all quite after that. It was quite interesting. The doctor must have been having a bad day......or at least I hope. Dr. Bills examined and measured all the major organs today to check for any deformities. Everything looked perfect. Baby Cone weights 11 ounces. We couldn't ask to hear anything better than that. The due date is still up in the air, but sometime around the beginning of April. We can't wait! Continue to keep Baby Cone in your prayers. We love you all!

Our Fifth Anniversary

Lance and I were married five years ago on November 15th at the Berry College Chapel. Berry College is where we met so it was and still is a very special place to both of us. I know God had a purpose in us both going to college there. It is funny how things always work out. Lance and I have always been the best of friends even before we began dating in college. There is nothing better then spending the rest of your life with your best friend.

We just did a very simple anniversary and I think those are sometimes the best. We began the day by watching the Geogia game at my brother in law Blake's house with Blake and Blake's fiance, Brittany, my sister in law Anna and her boyfriend (I am hoping it is ok to call him this......) Brad. It was the first time we had met Brad; Lance and I really liked him. We always have a fun time hanging out with family. Those are always special times that Lance and I treasure! Later that night, Lance and I went to eat at our favorite restaurant in Cumming, Tam's Backstage. I LOVE this food, but I especially love the dessert!!

As I sit here and think, I cannot believe we have been married for five years. Time goes by so quickly. It really makes you want to slow down and take time to enjoy the simple things in life more often. I know once we have the baby the time will go by even quicker. This has been the best five years of our lives and we are looking forward to many more to come.

I have learned so much in these five years and I know I have many more things to learn as the years progress. But a few of these things are:

-Put all your faith in God's hands not your own.

-Have fun and laugh often. (Thanks for reminding me of this Lance!)

-Take time to enjoy friends and family as much as possible.

-Make time for each other and yourself.

-Make sure your actions and words always let your spouse know how much you love and appreciate them.

-Always compromise with a smile. :)

-Never go to bed angry (I know this is cheesy, but this is one thing Lance and I live by and I feel it has made the biggest difference. Lance is so good at this; he will make sure we are both laughing before we go to sleep angry.)

I just wanted to let Lance know how much I appreciate his continuous support and love. He is the best husband I could ask for. I thank God daily that we were able to meet. I could not imagine my life without him!

Wicked the Musical

I know these next posts are a little behind because I have not posted in a while. My mom and I had a girl's night on October 29th. We went with some ladies from church to see the musical Wicked at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. We had a really good time. I loved the music and the acting was wonderful. My mom and I had a mother daughter dinner before the play; that was so nice! My mom and dad just got back from a two week trip to Germany so I was able to get all the details on that. They had a wonderful time and their pictures were amazing. We have family members from Germany, so my parents were able to travel to towns where some of our ancestors lived. I hope to take a trip to Germany one day!

I love spending quality time with my mom. My mom is like the sister I never had. I am so glad we are close and can have fun spending time together. I look up to my mom so much and I hope that I can be even half the mother she was to my brother and me. She is so special. I LOVE you mom! Thanks for all you do for me!

It's A Boy!!

So I guess we have a "Randy" not a "Randi"!! That is not going to be the oficial name, although Lance did say it was growing on him. We have narrowed the names down to a few, but we have not officially decided yet. I thought for sure we were having a girl, so I have had to switch to boy gear, but it didn't take long. We are both so excited about having a boy. Now Lance will have a little golfing buddy!

I am very patient with many things, but I am have been very impatient when it comes to finding out if we were having a boy or a girl. A few weeks ago, I asked Lance if we could go to the 4D ultrasound place to find out early. I guess you all guessed what that answer was...... "no". He is way more patient with this than I am. He thought we should just wait until the 20 week appointment. I just couldn't wait any longer! Then I thought, what am I thinking.......I switched my approach. I asked him to join me on Saturday, October 25th at 11:00 to find out if it was a boy or a girl. He said........"yes"!! I guess he didn't want me finding out without him.

This was such a special treat for us today. The facility was very nice and relaxing. I felt like I was in a spa at a resort. Lance got to relax on a comfy leather couch and watch the ultrasound footage on a big projector screen. She had soft music playing and the lights were dimmed. It was really special. She said she was over 100 percent sure that it was a BOY!! She also said that all the organs and bones looked like they were developing perfectly, and she thought I was about a week further along than the doctor thought. Maybe this is why my belly is SO BIG! The baby is measuring to be due on April 8th now instead of April 15th. This is going to make getting to Blake (Lance's brother) and Brittany's wedding even trickier!!

This is the first grandbaby on both sides of our families, so our parents are very excited! I wanted to surprise our parents in a special way, I had it all planned out, but for some reason Lance's family always finds out about surprises so their surprise didn't work out like I had originally planned. :) Lance's parents were out of town, so we text them a picture of us with the Baby Boy sign. We went to my mom and dad's to surprise them when my mom got home from work. I had a little gift for them to open with a little something they could use with the baby. I will post pictures after I give Lance's parents their surprise. They were VERY surpised!! I could not believe I kept this secret from my mom, but I did.

Now I can't wait to get going on the nursery decorating. My mom, dad, and I went shopping today to look for baby bedding while Lance watched the Georgia game with Blake. My dad found a bedding set that I fell in love with so I went ahead and purchased that one today. My dad always finds the good stuff and that is why I love shopping with him. My mom and dad purchased a glider chair for me to rock the baby in which I am so excited about. My mom helped pick out the fabric for the glider chair which I LOVE!! We are going to do baby blues and browns for the room. It is going to look so cute.

This was a perfect day! We feel very blessed to have a baby boy coming in April, and we can't wait to meet him in person. Please continue to pray for this little baby boy's healthy development. Here are a few sneak peeks below. I know some of them look like aliens, but we still think he is precious!!

Foot Picture

Ribs and Hand

Feet

Spine Picture

Seattle Trip

Beautiful View from Cathy and Will's Back Porch

Lance, Me, Cathy, and Will

All of us with Grace and Claire

Lance and I went to visit our friends, Cathy and Will Wiley, last weekend in Seattle, Washington. We had a WONDERFUL time! Neither of us had been to Seattle before, so this was fun for both of us. It was beautiful there and we had great weather. Lance was convinced he brought it from Georgia, but I don't know about that...... We also got so spend time with their precious little girls Grace and Claire.
We were there from Thursday to Sunday. It was a very short trip, but we were able to PACK in about everything that we possible could. On Thursday Cathy and Will took us around their town to look at some sights around town. We went out to eat that night and they got a baby sitter for the girls. It was nice to be able to visit with them. Of course Lance and I were asking their advice on raising children, since they have been through this venture twice. We got some good advice!

On Friday, we got up early and Lance and I headed to Seattle to tour around. As usual, I was running just a LITTLE late. We had to catch a ferry from a nearby town at 9:00 and it was about a 30 minute ride to downtown Seattle. Well the ferry leaves right on time, so Cathy warned us that we may miss it and have to wait for the next one. We got there just in time and we had to RUN and I mean RUN to the ferrry. Apparently, that is part of the real Seattle experience, so I guess it was a good thing that we were running a little late.

Ferry Ride To Seattle

We went to the famous Pike's Market which was a treat! Their produce and fish looked so good. You had to be careful, they might try to throw a fish on you!!

Then we toured the city and walked for MILES!! The city was very neat and we enjoyed looking around. We went to some shops, yes I actually got Lance to do a little shopping....well looking......we didn't make any purchases. He made it into 3 stores and he thought that was great (he is making progress, but he still has a long ways to go).

We took a short ride across the city to the Space Needle. From here you could see all of Seattle. It was very neat. The view was beautiful. It is best on a clear day, so we timed it just about right with the good weather adn clear skies.

Space Needle (you go all the way to the top for a good view of Seattle)

View from top of Space Needle

After that we went to the acquarium. It was nothing like Atlanta, but we had a good time, and there were some neat things to see. At this point, being 15 weeks pregnant, I had about had it. My feet were so swollen, my ankles were about to be rolling over my shoes. We went back to the ferry, but as we sat there waiting, I really wanted to get a tour of the underground city, which was an hour and a half walking tour. I knew we would not be back anytime soon, so Lance and I switched plans and went back into the city for this one last tour. We are so glad that we did this. This was one of our favorite things we did in the city. The tour told us all about the history of Seattle. When Seattle was first developed, it was very poorly planned out. The city had many problems with their plumbing etc. Then there was a fire in the city that burned the whole city down. when the store owners came to rebuild they built on the same level they were at before. The government came in and built up the land so they would not have as many problems with the sewage etc. So there were basically two different cities on two levels. The towns people would go down ladders to get to the shops and stores that the store owners had built back. This "underground city" is still there for tours, but it is not in use today. You were able to walk on the real streets of the underground city, which was pretty neat. Lance should have probably typed this because he got more of the details about all of this history. I am sure I got some of this incorrect, but I atleast got the basics down.

On Saturday, we all went to Olympic National Park together. This was a beautiful drive. We walked all around the national park, went to see a waterfall, and went to see Crescent Lake. This was a long day, but the scenery was beautiful. I have to say that Claire and Grace were such troopers. They were excellent in the car, barely made a peep all day and it was a LONG day. After seeing the way they behaved in the car with the DVD players, that is one of the first things on my baby list! I just pray our children behave this well!! :)

Claire, Will, Cathy, Me, and Grace







This lake was the clearest lake we have EVER seen!! It looked like clear blue ocean water.

Lookout from the top of the mountain ridge.

Lance's goal the entire trip was to see Mount Ranier. It has to be a pretty clear day in order to see Mount Ranier, but we saw it every day we were there. We had a WONDERFUL time in Seattle! A big thank you goes to Cathy and Will for letting us stay with them. We hope to visit the Wiley's again at their next station.

13 Weeks Along

Ok, here it is.....a picture of my BELLY! I did not think I would have a belly like this at 13 weeks, but I do. Several of you have asked for a picture so here it is, I knew I would have to post it some time for you out of towners who can't see my belly in person.

Burt's Pumpkin Farm Tradition

I LOVE traditions and Lance and I have slowly started a few of our own. A few years ago, Lance and I started a family tradition of going to Burt's Pumpkin Farm each year to get our pumpkins and pumpkin pie. They have the best pumpkin pie in the world!! Sometimes we have to make another trip back just to get a pumpkin pie, they are to DIE for!

We quickly noticed that almost everyone at Burt's had children, but we still go every year and have a BLAST! Our good friends Casey and Kelley Warnock have started to join us on our October Tradition; except Casey could not join us this year. Kelley was a trooper and came with us anyway; Casey missed out on all the FUN! Last year Lance's brother Blake went with us and we all went on the hayride. We will not be going on that hayride again until we have children, which I guess will be next October. It is weird to think that next October we will have a 7 month old to bring to Burt's. We can't wait!!

Pumpkin Farm
Lance, Me, and Baby Cone "Randy" (In Utero) Kelley and Me

Mountain Day

Lance and I had a VERY busy weekend! It was our college alumni weekend, Mountain Day. Lance went to Rome on Thursday to play in the annual Berry alumni golf scramble. He always enjoys this golf outing because he is able to catch up with all his old friends from college. Then he came home on Friday and we left on Saturday morning to go back to Rome to go to Mountain Day. I usually have more fun at this outing than Lance, he has made fun of Mountain Day since college, but I LOVE it!! He was a trooper and took me. :) I admit it is a little cheesy, but it is still fun. There were not as many of our old friends there this year, but we still had a great time catching up with some of our old friends. We were able to talk to Rob and Julie Craft and we only see them once a year at Mountain Day, so that was a real treat. They have two beautiful girls that are getting so big. We also got to spend time with Derek and Jenn Anderson. Lance and I enjoy spending time with Derek and Jenn and we have not seen them in quite a while, so it was nice to catch up with both of them. Lance and I loved going to Berry and it is always special to us because that is where we met and it is also where we met so many of our closest friends that we still keep in touch with. And of course we got married here, so it is VERY dear to our hearts!! After Mountain Day we headed back home to get showers and then meet some of our couple friends for dinner at Season's 52. We ate with Kim and Justin Eades and Judith and Allen Lumpkin. We set both of these couples up and now they are both married. We had a busy, but wonderful weekend!

Mountain Campus

Jenn Anderson and Me

Lance, Rob Craft, and Derek Anderson