Fit For A Princess....

With time flying by so quickly and the holidays around the corner, I went ahead and purchased the crib. We are going to try to get the nursery complete before the holidays arrive and we are busy doing other things. I have loved this crib since we first started looking at them (I just had to talk Hays into loving it). I think it is very classy and has a hint of antique flare to it. I think it is just perfect for a little girl (or little boy at some point). I will post pictures of the nursery in a few months when it is complete.

A Growing Belly....

So time is moving a little quicker than we anticipated. I always thought that when I became pregnant time would creep by so slowly and it would feel like the baby was never going to get here. Well, just the opposite is happening. I am 21 weeks pregnant today so we are over half way there. I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. I am going to wake up one day and have a stomach the size of Texas and wonder how it got so big so fast.

Time slipped away from us so this is actually a 21 week picture instead of the midway mark at 20 weeks (oops). Not a huge belly but for sure has a growing little girl inside. Hopefully, I will just gain the recommended 1 pound a week (it's a little frightening to see these numbers when I get on the scale to be very honest). Baby Collins is growing fast, weighing in at about 10 ounces. She seems to have energy like her Daddy and never stops moving and kicking. She is the length of a carrot and can now taste foods that I eat. Life is so fascinating. God is soo good to us and has blessed us abundantly.

A BIG Weekend With An Even BIGGER Surprise

Hays and I have had a very exciting last couple of days to say the least. Last Thursday we went to the doctor to have our sonogram and were very surprised to find out that we are having a GIRL!! I thought it was a girl from the very beginning but Hays thought just the opposite. He was so strong with his belief that it started making me wonder about my motherly instinct (ha!). A couple of weeks ago we took a test that you can purchase at the local drug store that also said a boy. When the picture popped up on the monitor the technician asked what we thought it was and without thinking I just said boy. She said nope, that is a girl and she is very proud of it today (thank goodness).

So to surprise our parents (because this is the first little girl on both sides) we had two bakery's make two different cakes that were decorated with green and yellow on the outside but was pink on the inside. Both grandmothers (GiGi and Nano) had to cut the cake to reveal the sex of the baby. Everyone is sooo excited to say the very least. We took a video of my mom cutting the cake but unfortunatley cannot get it to play. She started jumping up and down and screaming. You can tell how shocked they are by the pictures below.

This is the cake for Hays' parents. We had dinner on Thursday night, the day we found out.

Amberly, GiGi and PaPa as the sex of the baby is revealed. GiGi is so excited to have a little girl to buy dresses for.

This is the cake we got for my parents. I went to Memphis on Saturday to tell them.

My mom thought it was a girl the whole time. Probably because she wanted a girl. She was just a little excited (ha!).

This weekend we also went to Cleveland, MS to our alma mater. Delta State has an annual event called Pig Pickin that we go back for every year. This is our time to see old friends and reminisce about our fun times while in college. I would never go back but cherish the times we had going to class and not worrying about a job or bills to pay (nothing else is like the good ole college days).

Hays and two of his friends, Jay and Chris, did the team triathalon that the swim team sponsors every year. They did awesome and are going to hang their aprons up with the cooking contest and move on to the triathalon (they did the BBQ cooking contest last year and got last). Good decision boys!

Hays getting ready to go fight the wind. He did awesome.

The last thing that was planned for the weekend was giving my great friend Holly a baby shower. Sunday I helped host a shower for her and all her friends. We have been friends for such a long time and I cannot beleive that we are about to be mothers. We have known eachother since 7th grade, went through high school, college, weddings and now children together. Cole is due to arrive late October. What an awesome friend! I know she will be as great a mother as she has been a friend.

Girls Getaway to the Beach Plus One

Last weekend my mom, sister, aunt, nephew and I escaped to the beach for a mini vacation. We left on Thursday and came back on Monday for some much needed fun in the sun and white sand. We get together and take this trip annually. Thanks to the Collins Family for providing their condo for us a place to relax and get away.

I always LOVE having my mom around. I think everyone will agree that no one quite treats you as good as your Mom (although Hays does not fall far behind). She always scratches my back, rubs my feet and treats all of her children like gold. Things will be quite different next year with an infant in tow. I just pray that I can live up to being as good of a Mom as she is to me.

We had a blast at the beach and cannot wait to go back. We layed out, burried Kai in the sand, went out for dinner, ordered in pizza and watched a movie, and shopped. We were all very relaxed and didn't want to leave (I guess you always say "if we just had one more day").

Baby Collins 16 Week Update

Hays and I went to the doctor last Thursday. Everything looked perfect so far. The baby's heart rate was in the 140's (some would say that is for sure a little boy in there) and it is measuring just as it should. Our next appointment, which will be on September 17th, we will find out for sure if it is a BOY or GIRL! I will for sure post and let everyone know.

For now, the baby is the size of an avocado and can hear me and everyone around me talking. It is beyond me how God can create something so small yet so developed, special, and unique. Only our God could do something that marvelous and amazing.