Birthdays, Babies & Brad

As of last Friday, January 23, I am officially 29 years old.... I have entered my last year of my 20s and I am actually excited about it! My 20s were full of struggles, trials, and other growing experiences. I did find my husband and get pregnant, but I still feel that the best is yet to come! I am in a much better place than I have ever been in before and I look forward to this year and the next!

I had a great birthday! I got flowers and had lunch with my Stone family, went to dinner with my husband and got to see my family and some friends in Lubbock over the weekend! What more could I have asked for?!? Valerie, also a birthday girl, and I had a joint birthday lunch on Saturday at Bless Your Heart. Hayly (Dillard) Hext and her little girl Grace, Sarah Purtell, Marci Gutheil (Val's sister) and her little boy William, Monica (Tilley) Curry and her little boy Braidy and last, but not least Rachel Tilley all came to celebrate with us! It was so much fun getting to chat and catch up a little bit and watch the babies interact. Both of the boys had a crush on Grace and were vying for her attention (which she didn't mind :)! They were all pretty cute and entertaining! And, all very well behaved, especially considering we messed up all of their nap times! I can't wait until we all do this again and I can bring my little one!

On Sunday night, we (Mom, Monica, Rachel and me) went to see Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley! It was our Christmas gift from Rach, and one of my favorite gifts at that! WOW, what a show! I am now a fan of Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish)! Dierks Bentley was really good and had 2 really, really excited male fans! I have never seen 2 guys so excited to see a male performer. They knew every song, and stood up for his whole set, which really irritated the people behind him! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen and I really had tears running down my face! We were shocked when the guys actually showed up to watch Brad Paisley! Brad Paisley. He was fantastic! If you are a fan of his and didn't go to his concert, I would highly recommend it the next time you have an opportunity! Every single one of his songs was great and he is just so cute :) It was not a big theatrical show, just pretty simple... lots of songs, guitars and Brad! We had a great time and all stayed up past our bedtime! I forgot to mention that Crockett really enjoyed the music as well! He tossed and turned and rolled around... I think he really liked it! I just hope he can still hear :) Thanks for the tickets, Rach! We loved every minute of it!

Dierks Bentley

Brad Paisley

Darius Rucker

And last but not least, I am now 31 weeks pregnant! Crockett is growing everyday, which is obvious by the size of my belly :) He probably weighs about 3 - 3.5lbs now! We have registered for all of his stuff now, which was a lot of fun! It just kind of makes me a little more excited/anxious about his arrival! His nursery is still not completely ready, but will be very soon! I will post pictures when it is done. And we just found out yesterday, that Crockett is going to have ANOTHER cousin in September! Chad (Chris' cousin) and Sara Stone are pregnant! I am so excited for them to experience what Chris and I have been experiencing! It is nothing short of a miracle.

What a Weekend!

This is a little late, but still worth writing about!

What a busy and productive weekend we had! First, I am so lucky to be a central meeting point between Lubbock and Weatherford, OK. So at least once a year, my mom's side of the family meets at our house and we all get to catch up and eat lunch together. My Uncle Tim, Aunt Darla, Kathryn and Meredith arrived. Monica, Rachel, Les, Ryan, John and Braidy came. It was such a wonderful time with lots of my favorite people! Mom and I cooked the BBQ and Darla and the girls brought their wonderful pies... needless to say, we all ate WAY too much! John got to feed the horse with me, the guys all played MarioKart, Monica and I worked on Crockett's nursery and we all celebrated Braidy's 6 month birthday!! He got some ice cream with a candle in it! Lulu was not going to let the day get away without celebrating his 1/2 birthday!!! I think he may have a sweet tooth like his mommy! Before my Papo died, he filled out his legacy book, which we found after he passed. Kathryn typed a copy up for all of us girls and gave it to us. This is one of the most precious gifts I have received... not only from Kathryn, but from my Papo!

Once all the company left, mom and I got down to business. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have/had a severe obssession with shopping. My closet was a mess. I haven't seen the bottom of it since we had it tiled. I guess I am "nesting" because it began to drive me crazy. So I begged my mom for help. We went through my closet, threw away TONS of clothes, shoes, purses and gave about 5 bags to Goodwill. It made me want to cry, throwing away so many memories, but I knew I would go crazy if it weren't clean by the time Crockett gets here. It was hard to part with so many things that were part of who I was. I guess I am just not that same person, and those "things" are just not that important!

The last thing we had to do was get decor for Crockett's room! Monica was kind enough to lend her artistic abilities to me on Saturday. She painted his initials on the wall, with the S in the middle being a Rockin' S, which is Chris' family brand. It turned out SO cute! Mom and I got several decorations that will make it fit for a little cowboy! I don't have any of it hung up yet, but I will post pictures as soon as I do! It is starting to feel so real! (I guess it should since I am 29.5 weeks pregnant :)

A New Year, A New Blog

I had decided a long time ago, since we are expecting, a blog would be a great way to share all of our news with everyone. Well, now that we are 28 weeks pregnant, only 12 weeks away from Crockett Christopher's arrival I have finally managed to get it together. We went to our 3rd sonogram on January 5, and everything looks great! Crockett has turned and is now head down. He is constantly kicking and punching me, and I am loving every minute of it (for now)! Crockett weighs 2.7 lbs and by the looks of me, he is growing daily :) His furniture and bedding has come in and we are in the process of getting the nursery ready for his arrival. Aunt Monica is helping us with a few things we will do this weekend. So maybe I will have new pics next week!

Our holidays were full of family, food, fun and driving :) I have to say, Christmas is quite different with a little one around. My nephew, Braidy, was the highlight of the evening. He enjoyed all of his gifts, but was not quite sure what was going on. I have a feeling that next year will be a lot more exciting! By then we will have Braidy who will be almost 18 months and Crockett who will be 9 months! Nothing will be safe! I can't wait... so much to look forward to! We were so blessed to be able to spend the holidays with each of our families. They are so important to us and such a big part of our lives.

Our first Christmas was in Holliday, where we celebrated with the Stone Family. Not everyone was able to be there (Brendan & Kelly), so it was not quite the same. We all had a wonderful time, though. I think the highlight was watching our neices, Kayleigh, Emily and Nathalie open their gifts. They were so excited about EVERYTHING! Next we went to Lubbock to have Christmas with Mom and Les. It was the weekend before Christmas and Santa still mangaed to find us there :) We also went to Bulverde to be with Dad and Jan. Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan were there as well, which was such a treat! We went to Ringling, OK, where Chris' mother's family lives and spent Christmas Eve with them. We had no idea when we were there what a special Christmas Eve that would be. Chris' great uncle, Cecil, passed away on Dec. 29 and his grandmother, Carolyn, passed away on Dec. 31. I am so glad that we were able to be with them and make some wonderful memories. They were such a special part of Chris' life, and I am so lucky that they became part of mine. It was a long couple of weeks, but it I isn't that part of what Christmas is about?

Chris and I are excited about all that 2009 holds for us! We know that there will be many long nights, poopy diapers and probably tears (for me)! But it will all be worth it because we have prayed for this baby boy for a long time! He will be such a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't feel more blessed!