Baby Shower Time!

Almost 8 months along and even though I've been extremely blessed to have had such an amazing pregnancy thus far, I'm ready for Miss Brianna to be here! Of course, she needs to bake as long as possible, but I'm ready to see her sweet face. It's definitely going to be a whole different ballgame with her here!

I had my first baby shower on November 3 in Knoxville with my dad's side of the family and had a blast! My cousin, Sarah, hosted at her apartment with the awesome help from her mom, Sharon, and sister, Elaine. I felt like the shower itself would never come because I was over anticipating! I was so excited that it seemed forever away! My mom, sister, Mimi, and Grandmother came as well and we had a good turnout! We enjoyed yummy food and homemade cupcakes made by the hostess herself! We also played a few games like "Guess her Girth" where you look at my belly and cut off ribbon according to your judgement. Then, Sarah would take your ribbon and wrap it around my belly and whoever got the closest without a lot of excess ribbon won! I wasn't as big as I thought! ;-) We received a lot of neat things for Brianna and definitely got a good start on everything!

Playing "Guess her Girth" and somebody went WAY over! But that's ok. It made me feel better about myself! Haha

Sarah's yummy homemade cupcakes!

Our next baby shower was November 10 at White Oak Baptist in Red Bank, TN. We had a bigger crowd this go around since it was my mom's side of the family and friends! My mom did a great deal of planning, cooking, and decorating with the help of my brother, myself, Paige, Mimi, and my sister. We had a fall themed shower with fall colors, leaves and pumpkins and of course, pink! 

This was one of the centerpieces for the tables!

We received a lot of great stuff and are very blessed with the family and friends we have. Lauren was in charge of the games and since we had a lot of people, we didn't do anything individually. We guessed how many jelly beans were in a great big baby bottle and guess who won? Michael. Out of all the people there...Mom did an amazing job on the food and almost everything was homemade! I love my momma's cooking! We had homemade chicken salad on croissants, breakfast casserole, bbq weenies, rotel and chips and more! I could eat shower food everyday for the rest of my life!

 My mom, me, Paige, and Lauren.

My 91 year old Grandmother "hiding" from everyone. She is too funny!

My dad, me, Michael, and my mom.

Now that the baby showers have come and gone, we have Thanksgiving to get through, then Christmas, and then Miss Brianna's arrival! Everything as gone so smoothly and I love my family and friends very dearly for helping me through this process and being there for me when I've needed them!

The Beginning of the Rest of My Life!

I'm sitting here with my big 'ol pregnant belly eating a PB&J sandwich listening to Seether's "Careless Whisper" on Pandora while Michael is scrubbing the floor in the kitchen...and I couldn't be happier. Not to mention, Shadow, is chilling on her kitty tower with Puss in Boots eyes wanting to play. Let me back up a bit and fill you in a little on my current situation.

I met Michael in January 2012 on a dating website...yes i know...judge me. I was more or less being nosey and wanting to see how bad the whole dating site thing was. I made it very clear in my profile that I wasn't looking for anything or anyone and was just checking the place out. Of course, hardly anyone respected that and were being very..."colorful" if you will. I wasn't surprised but I was disgusted and decided to delete my account but before I could, I received a message from someone. His screen name was "retiredmarine" and his profile picture was one I saw a few days ago and thought hmm....he's pretty fine, yo! hahaha but I ignored it and went on about my business. He wasn't forward, perved-out, or creepy looking, so I checked out his profile and was pleasantly surprised that he seemed somewhat normal :p I replied and we started exchanging messages and within a few days we swapped phone numbers.

The first time we talked on the phone, we chatted for, yes,  5 1/2 hours without skipping a beat(besides the occasional potty break). He shared so much about his time in the Marine Corps, cars he's owned, friendships, family, etc....I knew then I wanted to pursue this, not in a crazy stalker way, and see where things would lead. We talked a few more times on the phone and decided to meet up. We got along so well that it was like talking to the male version of myself.... We met at the Chick-Fil-A in Dalton, ate a chicken sandwich and then went and saw "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol". I failed to mention that I had never seen the other "Mission Impossible" movies until we were paying for the tickets...he said, "WHAT? We could've seen something else if you wanted!" I was just happy to be with him :) but it did turn out to be a really good movie! When I got home, we talked on the phone for a couple of hours, even though we had just spent the entire evening together. After that night, i was hooked.

Over the next few months, I would make my way down to Chatsworth after work and spent as long as I could with him, TRYING to keep in mind that 4 out 5 times, I would have to be at work at 6am that next morning. I would make it to work on time just fine, a little sleep deprived, but in my mind, it was totally worth it.

SURPRISE! We're pregnant! ........ Mother's Day 2012

We met Mimi and Grandmother at Cracker Barrel for lunch to celebrate Mother's Day and Michael had already expressed his concern about me possibly concealing a bun a few days later. I reassured him that I wasn't and for me to be late or not have a "monthly" at all was not unusual. In the back of my mind, I started remembering a few episodes I'd had at work a few weeks prior and to that day of feeling slightly nauseous and having these hot flashes out of nowhere. But I dismissed it, contributing these feelings to lack of sleep and my what I thought was my monthly coming. I was 100 percent sure. I finally decided to take a test to ease his mind that he wouldn't be stuck with me for 18 years.........I about fell in the floor. Those two pink lines. The certainty gone. The curiosity of his reaction. Yep, I had a mini freak out moment in his bathroom. He was outside tinkering with his car, knowing what I was doing inside. I guess it's a guy thing. His reaction was calm, quiet, and comforting. He hugged me and said, "Everything will be okay."

I'm almost 7 1/2 months along now with a precious little girl named, Brianna Rae; named after her daddy. The Rae part, of course. :p We can't wait to hold and love her and give her everything she deserves in life. She is already loved so much by her daddy and I, family and friends and I can't imagine how it's going to be when she is actually here! Michael and Brianna are the best things that have ever happened to me. He is my best friend, the father of my child, a provider, a goofball, and everything I've ever wanted and needed. I can't wait to start this chapter in my life and be the best mommy, friend, and provider I can be.
*READY, SET, GO!