Wow!! What A Big Belly! (28 week update)

Olivia Sue Collins is due to arrive on February 10, 2010. So we are in the third and last trimester of the pregnancy. We are shocked at how time has flown by so quickly. Soon after the holidays, our precious little girl will be here. Everyday I wake up I feel like my belly has grown a ton over night and cannot imagine it becoming any bigger. Although, I do know that she is just over 2 pounds right now and has a lot of growing to do and so does her mommy's belly. We are busy getting things done around the house along with the nursery. I will post pictures as soon as it is ready.

We have a doctors appointment this Friday. I will be doing the sugar test to test for gestational diabetes and we will have another sonogram. I will post pictures of the sonogram soon after. Please pray that everything will go smoothly and she is growing as she should. This little girl is such a blessing from our Lord and we will be so excited when we finally get to meet her.

Viva Las Vegas....

Last weekend was the trip that Hays and I look forward to year after year. We take this trip annually with Hays' parents and Amberly and Matt along with whoever else wants to come along for the fun. We go every year for an annual golf tournament that Wendy's sponsors to raise money for adoption. It is a great way to raise money for a really good cause that Dave Thomas had such a heart for.

The boys participate in the golf tournament everyday while we go shopping, to the spa and tour around Vegas. We always go to really great restaurants and shows at night. It's a great time for us to getaway and get some "R" and "R" before the holidays arrive.

Amberly and Matt after dinner one night (they left Wil Franklin for the first time on this trip, they needed a break but missed him sooo much)

Me and Amberly (sorry it's so close up)

Me, Mrs.Gail, and Amberly (at The Wynn Hotel)

The fountain show at The Bellagio (very very neat)

It's Been A Loonnggg Time....Due For A Small Update

So I am not real sure why I haven't updated the blog lately. I have no good excuses but from now on I am going to do much better.

Since my last post not much has been going on. Below are some snap shots from Halloween. One of our very good friends, Memrie, got married on Halloween Eve and Hays did the photographs for her. After the ceremony all of the guests got dressed up in their Halloween costumes to celebrate the festvities. We had a blast and it was a beautiful wedding. Congrats to Memrie and Zach!

Baby update and pictures from our Vegas trip coming soon!

Hays was a farmer (kinda lame) and I was Cleopatra (koodos to Rebecca for the costume)

Pocahontas and The Mexican (A.K.A. Rebecca and Jay)

Me, Emilee, and Rebecca
Some people may have had too much fun! :)

Our Little Getaway To New Orleans

Hays and I planned a fun little get away for the two of us just to have some time away before the baby comes. It was a very nice weekend and we had a blast in New Orleans. We left on Saturday morning and got there mid afternoon. We went to the aquarium (which is nothing to write home about) and to the IMAX. Then we ventured on to Emeril's restaurant for dinner called Nola. It was fantastic. We also took a ghost walking tour around the French Quarter where they told us how the mansions were haunted, kind of corky if you ask me (Hays rather enjoyed himself after having the 2 for 1 Hurricane special they were offering). On Sunday we went to Cafe Du Monde for some very appetizing breakfast and then went to the Saints game. Sorry we don't have more pictures, we took a camera that had no memory card in it (oops). Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to watch some Rebels play this Saturday.

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.