Our Christmas Card

This year, I cheated and used a picture we took at a friend's wedding as our picture. Maybe having baby boy here next year will encourage me to actually have family pictures done.  I loved our cards this year, mostly because of the simplicity. Okay, let's be honest, my favorite part was adding Remington's name to the cards. I ordered them the day we found out he was a boy. 

Christmas Checklist

Here's how we did for our Fall checklist

Go to Gatlinburg

This breaks my heart, as our annual campsite is a complete loss in the wildfires.  Many, many prayers for our sweet, sweet friends. 

Get two potted Mums to balance out our balcony

Have a Yard Sale

Take Christmas Card Pictures

I cheated. We used a picture from a friend's wedding. But it was a good one!

Go to a pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin

Carve pumpkins

Take baby announcement pictures and announce
Have 3rd Annual Friendsgiving

3 out of 8. That's failing in Metro Nashville Schools, but hey, who's counting?

Even though I say this every season, maybe we will do better on our next checklist.

Christmas Checklist

Get all of our Christmas Shopping done under budget

Make my way to the cemetery to put some poinsettias on Dad's marker

Have our 2nd annual Gingerbread House night

Make an ornament for 2016

(2014)(2015)

Mail out Christmas Cards

Buy stockings

My Christmas Wishlist

Making my wishlist was hard this year.  Almost as hard as the Christmas before we got married; all I wanted was home stuff. This year I'm so focused on Remington coming in March that my mind is filled with ducks and bears. 
I managed to round up six big things for my Christmas list. Jackson and I usually function on hints, so this would be for my family and his family. 

1. Stand by Me DVD - it's my second favorite movie, and I'm working on building our DVD library. Last year I requested Somewhere in Time. ;)

2. Monogrammed Quarter Zip Fleece

3. Monogrammed cross body - This one is bigger than the one I have now, and will probably be much needed to carry around pacifiers and snacks ;)

4. a new Camelbak.  Mine is great but the lid is broke, and it's all banged up where I drop it constantly. 5. Creative ways to Love and Encourage! I'm always looking for a his and hers study! 6. a Wireless phone charger! This one stops charging when it hits 100% so my phone won't overheat and catch fire!

Thankful

I'm thankful. This year has been a bittersweet one in so many ways, but I am thankful nonetheless. It has become an intentional effort, but I have so much to be thankful for that it's not difficult.  I'm thankful for everything my Dad taught me. I am thankful that he loved me with all of his being, and now that he's gone, I'm thankful that his love is enough. I'm thankful for his legacy.  I'm thankful for this kick boxing champ swimming laps in my belly, and for his amazing daddy. There was a period of time, earlier this year, in fact, that I doubted that there would ever be a little human sharing my body. Here we are, though, 22 weeks strong. 

I'm thankful for the faithfulness of our God. I have learned a lot about my faith this year. As wavering as my faith may be at times, we serve a Lord who is steadfast. 

I am thankful for my husband who is, and has been my biggest blessing for the last 13 years. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

It's a....

Meet Remington Jones. 

I knew Little would be a boy. I just knew. 

We are over the moon and can't wait to meet our sweet Remington. Let all of the boy shopping begin!! 

The Funny Thing About Finding out Little's Gender...

For 17 weeks (since we found out at week three!!), we have been dreaming about our baby, who he or she would be, what name we would give him or her, and what a wonderful addition he or she would be to our family.  Will he or she cure cancer? Will he or she travel the world? Who knows. 
We picked out a name for a boy, and a name for a girl, but the baby is still "Little". 
There's something about finding out the gender of our child that makes me giddy. I can't wait to give our baby his or her name, to paint the nursery, to get the furniture, and to get going on all of the things that were pending a name, or gender, or theme. I have duck decoys that can go back to the blind if Little is a girl, and lots of ruffles that will be gifted if Little is a boy. 
Regardless, all the monograms will be had. 
I can't wait to order our Christmas cards with all four of our names on them (Jackson, Me, Little, and Feeny of course), I can't wait to reveal it to all of our friends and family. I can't wait register for gender appropriate gifts (because let's be real, there's only so much grey, yellow, and green one can handle).  

Three sleeps.  I can't wait to see you and how much you've grown, my sweet wiggle worm. Love, Mommy. 

Weekending

We had such a full fun weekend that was way overdue for my quality tank to refill. 
Friday night, I surprised Jackson, built a fort, and surprised him with a bowling and arcade date. 
Saturday morning, we got up early and went to Nolensville to shop at some of the antique shops. We went in one of my favorites and there was a table set with a 12 piece place setting of China. I have been collecting pieces here and there of my Kate Spade china, but it is so expensive that it'd never be a complete 12 piece set for less than $1,000. Jackson was insistent that I get it, so I bargained that he would use it for both my birthday and part of Christmas. It's absolutely beautiful, and I would have kicked myself for not getting it. 

We also bought my sister an adorable pillow with a cow on it for Christmas. She's obsessed with cows, so she will love it. 

Sunday, we went to church, had lunch at his mama's house, and headed to the park for Family Fun night. We then headed home to watch the Walking Dead. HOLY MESS! I cried. 

Party Planning: Gender Reveal

So, I'm too much of a control freak to let someone else know what Little is before we do.  We will hopefully find out on November 10th, although I would be 100% okay if she tells us tomorrow at our appointment. 
My first step was finding how we were going to reveal Little's gender.  Jackson wanted to incorporate pumpkins, so our theme is "Our Little Pumpkin" We are going to have a large white pumpkin painted with question marks, and a pink or blue pumpkin hidden inside. 
Then I had to pick our color scheme. Baby blue is and has always been my least favorite color, and paired with baby pink, it makes it look like we are throwing a cotton candy party. So I settled on Navy and light pink with baby blue accents. 

We have about 30 people coming, so we have two round tables with Navy tablecloths and two with pink tablecloths. We have a navy tablecloth on our pumpkin table, and the pumpkin will be sitting on a stump surrounded by cupcakes. 
Two centerpieces will be vases filled with pink and blue spray painted mini pumpkins, and two will have pine cones with the edges dipped in blue and pink paint. Each will have it's own white pumpkin, too because I can't think of anything else to take up table space
I have a chalkboard done with all of our wives tales. We have 5 that come out to boy, and 5 for girl. We will have little clothespins for everyone to decide what they think Little is! 

(blue)(pink)

Of course we couldn't not feed people, so we will cater barbecue, chips, beans, and potato salad. 
And our party favors, of course, will be pumpkin themed. Any suggestions would be welcome!! 

Life Lately

The weather is perfect, the house is decorated, and the boots are out of the closet. It's Fall, Y'all. 

I've finally found the balance between getting everything done and getting rest because I'm exhausted allthetimeeee. I don't know how you mamas do it with a kiddo and  being pregnant. 
We've been on an insurance roller coaster. First, they goofed up and when my mom took dad off of her insurance after he died, they took all of us off. My doctor's office was polite enough to embarrass me in front of tons of people about it.  So once that got fixed, we discovered that dependents don't have prenatal or maternity coverage on my mom's insurance. So everything through the end of the year won't be covered.  Good thing Little isn't due until March. 
I've also finally made space in my closet for new stretchy clothes. Also, Target is killing it this fall. This is my new favorite shirt. It's so soft and comfy. 

One of my best friends got a job in my department, and it's so great being reunited!! 

I went and toured daycares last week. Seriously, it costs more than my college tuition did. I don't understand it at all. We have a daycare at work that is $295 a week. Who makes that much money and can still live comfortably!? It is ridiculous. 

We have started planning our Gender Reveal, and I can't believe we will know what Little is in 6 short weeks! It is crawling, but flying at the same time.

We are heading to Gatlinburg next weekend, and I'm so stinkin' excited. We were both able to take off Friday this year, so we can drive up there Friday while there is daylight instead of trying to find it in the dark. 

I have been working through a new bible study called Seamless by Angie Smith. It's amazing, and I'm learning things I thought I knew.  

What's new with you guys? I've been doing my best to keep up! :) 

Our Announcement Photos

Last Sunday, we did our announcement photos to tell the world about Baby Hiney! Enjoy!

Faith Changer

I was in a very bad place with my faith after Dad died. I spent a lot of time angry with God, with His timing, and with His plan.  I didn't understand how His plan could include me losing my dad, but it did, and I had a heard time being okay with that. 
Until Baby. 
We tried to get pregnant for a year, and God was working behind the scenes the whole time to bring His plan to fruition... in His time.  I still wasn't ready to trust. I was beyond thankful for His provisions, but still working  through my anger. 
I was raised to hope for the best, plan for the worst, and pretty much stress until the worst doesn't happen. If it does, then I have at least prepared myself for whatever that is. For example, at our first appointment, I knew I'd lay there and not hear a heartbeat. I was prepared for that, and would deal with it when it got here. But it didn't. Baby had a heartbeat of 185 beats per minute! Not only did it have a heartbeat, but it was a strong, healthy heartbeat. Still, my trust wavered.  
We bought our home heartbeat monitor just to have for fun. We couldn't find the heartbeat, and although I read it was more than normal at 9 or 10 weeks, I was devastated. Until we found it on Jackson's birthday (press play below). It was at that point that I realized His timing was good, and His promise and love was unfailing.  I sobbed. My baby was fine, I was fine, everything was fine. 

Sunday morning, I woke up at about 3 AM to go to the bathroom, and I was bleeding. I panicked, but for some reason, I had a peace. I knew everything with our child was going to be okay, and I trusted that God would bring us through no matter what.  We went for our appointment Monday afternoon and saw baby wiggling and waving and kicking away. There was no explanation other than "sometimes, it happens." I've never been more thankful to hear that answer. 

This has been a faith changer for me. I have never ever been good at releasing control of anything, but not having control of any of this forces me to release control. It's new for me, but it's a welcomed change. 

Fall Checklist

Our Summer was an eventful one, full of quality time and with very little time to do much of our checklist. 

String lights on our balcony

Take the new boat out on the lake

Spend lots of time outside

Plant Summery flowers

Go to the Renaissance Festival

Go to the Wilson County Fair

Swim, swim, swim in our apartment's new pool! 

Go camping

Tie Dye

Pick berries

Better luck in Fall, right? Fall is usually our busiest season, full of birthdays, holidays, and Fall festivities in the in between!

Go to Gatlinburg

Get two potted Mums to balance out our balcony

Have a Yard Sale

Take Christmas Card Pictures

Go to a pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkin

Carve pumpkins

Take baby announcement pictures and announce
Have 3rd Annual Friendsgiving

Oh, Hi!

Well, it has been a while since starting this blog. I figured it may be time for some reintroductions:

I'm Chrissy I do Human Resources, and enjoy it about 90% of the time. I love being outside (unless it's hot), monogramming all kinds of things, and my hot glue gun. I'm terrible at keeping a clean home, and it's because I can't find a good way to organize anything.

This is Jackson He is a Diesel Technician by day, awesome husband by night.  He loves crafting (of the Mine type, not the pinterest type), hunting, and fishing. 
We met in Middle School when we were twelve, got married in 2014, and are adding a little nugget to our family in March 2017! 

This is Feeny He's a 15 pound cat that bounces off of walls because he thinks he weighs two pounds. He is obsessed with Buzz (see above), and anything that looks like a laser or a light that moves.   He is also a sucker for anything resembling cheese.  

Spilling the Baby Beans

The afternoon that we found out, I FaceTimed my sister to ask her how she would mind sharing a birthday with another small human. She squealed in excitement! That night, Jackson had gone to Opryland Hotel with some of the guys to hunt Pokemon (insert eyeroll here) and told his best man, Byron, and he was super excited! 
The Saturday after we found out, we were at the house of our best friends who had a baby in December. Jackson couldn't hold it in any longer and said "Hey, when y'all are done with all of this baby stuff, save it for us." I had already texted Lou to ask her what doctor she used, so she had a hint, but hadn't said anything to Heath. Heath proceeded with a long "Yeah!!!" and high fives for Jackson. 
The Sunday after we found out, we went to Sunday lunch like we always do with Jackson's family. His Mom, Dad, Brother, and his wife, were all hanging around when Jackson said "Dad, when you pray for our lunch today, say a prayer for our family... all 7 of us." It took a second and then it was followed by lots of happy "We're having a baby!"s from his mom. 
The next Thursday would have been my Mom and Dad's 26th anniversary, so I thought telling her would help her day. We bought pacifiers and I gave her one as a gift. She cried and cried. 
About a month after we found out, I had dinner with my best gals for their birthday. This reaction, we got on film, and it's so great. Excuse the almost profanity from one of them. ;) 

We are waiting until our next appointment to send it to extended families and other acquaintances and friends. Side note: who decided 4 weeks between appointments was okay?

Things Losing My Dad Taught Me

I lost my Dad back in May, and in the last three months, I have learned more about myself, my faith, and what I'm capable of being and doing.
1. God's Timing is God's Timing I hate not being in control, and I spent a lot of time being angry with God, angry with my Dad, and angry in general.  I was angry with my Dad who kept telling me his job was done. I didn't understand what that meant. I was angry with God for taking my dad from me, even more so after we found out we were pregnant. My kids will never know the man they would have called Gramps, who would have spoiled them rotten. But God's timing is good, and I trust that He is sovereign. 
2. 24 years is enough My Dad loved my sister and I with all of his being. I was angry because 24 years with my dad was not enough. It was not until I looked back at all of the great things that were crammed into my 24 years with my Dad that I appreciated it and realized it was and will always be enough.  I learned not to let the "could be" outweigh what was. 
3.  I am my father's daughter I am not only the daughter of one of the most renowned educators in Metro Nashville Public Schools, but I'm the daughter of the King of kings.  My dad was one of the greatest men that ever walked this earth, but my Father is the maker of Heaven and Earth.  Now they are together. 
4.  I am so loved I have never felt the community and lover that I have felt since my Dad died.  There were people who were names to me from Dad's stories who have since wrapped their arms around us and became parts of our family.  It's an amazing feeling.
5.  My life will never be the same ... but that is okay. It's not supposed to be the same. We adapt, we grow, and we move forward.  I have learned how to depend differently, I have learned to be confident in my decisions, rather than double checking them with someone, and I've learned to rely on my own conscience, because that is where Dad lives now... in the things he taught me, the values he instilled, and the person he helped mold me to be.  

Week 9

How far along: 9 weeks 4 days

Due Date: March 26, 2017

Baby is the size of: a pecan. 

Symptoms: I'm exhausted. I keep falling asleep during lunch. I have some minor cramping and everything is feeling stretched. Oh and acne like I'm 13. 

Gender: Friends and family are making their guesses. 

Name: We have a strong boy name and girl name. Both have a family name component that we love, and they have their own rare flare, too! 

Movement: I'm counting down the days until I can feel the flutters! 

Nursery: Still has Titans jerseys, a big TV, and an xbox in it. 

Maternity Clothes: Nothing yet; my pants are getting tighter, though.  

Sleep: We stay super busy, so I don't get as much sleep as I'd like. I'm looking so forward to Saturday. Jackson will be out working on the duck blind, and I'll get to sleep in. 

Best moment this week: Starting our weekly pictures. It's mostly just bloat, but it's fun to look at! Also, the co-worker that brought Tums over to my desk and said she new a prego when she saw one. ;)

Missing anything: Having my pants buttoned all day, and big sized Dr. Peppers

Cravings/Aversions: I love salty and spicy foods now. 

Mood: have I mentioned I'm exhausted?

Looking forward to: announcing it to everyone else! 

Husband is: excited, relieved after seeing his bean last week, and still overly helpful. 

Our Baby Journey

If you had told me when I was twelve that the boy I hated would be my husband and father of my children, I may have punched you in the face. But hey, here we are living the dream. I'd let you punch me back, if that's any consolation. ;) I'll go ahead and apologize for the little bits of TMI.   Our journey started in July of 2015 when I came off of birth control in hopes to regulate my body after five long years of daily 9:00 appointments with Betty Conrad (that was our code for birth control, as we didn't want the whole world knowing we were responsible? haha). I had started becoming depressed and having really bad mood swings on my birth control, and we were shooting for October anyway, so we thought why the heck not?   August had no visit from Aunt Flo and a quick remedy of Provera. September was missed, and she finally made her return with a vengeance in October. All the while, I was testing using Clear Blue's Ovulation Test every day following my expected period with no smiley face every single day (which I read is pretty normal...)(side note: those things are ridiculously expensive. Why no refills, Clear Blue?). After a weekend of friends and fun and not thinking about it, the smiley face still had not appeared. But we tried anyway. And we waited.  While waiting, I had to go try on and be fitted for a bridesmaids dress. So I told Hamlin about waiting to test and the girls at the bridal shop thought it'd be fun to measure using the belly... which may be the weirdest thing ever. 

    Tuesday came and no Aunt Flo. So I took a test; I wasn't too surprised to see a negative, as I'd read it's better to wait and more accurate the later in the week you test. So I waited.  Thursday, there was something faint on the test other than the control line... so I had Jackson look at it. He compared it to the negative from Tuesday and said they looked the same. I blamed it on my hopeful eyes and threw it away... and I waited. Friday brought another negative... but no Aunt Flo... so I waited. Sunday brought another, so I let it go.    Then came the discussions (that probably should have come back in July) about what we wanted. Did we want to actively try (track it and test every month) or did we want to simply stop trying not to get pregnant and let it happen? Was it too much pressure? Was it stressing us out?  We agreed to not put too much pressure on it and that was that.    I had my annual appointment in November and doc agreed that it was stress and to chill out.   She also hinted at the possibility of a thyroid issue. So I had blood drawn and we waited. Thyroid was A-OK, and I wasn't pregnant. So her only advice - stop stressing about it and have fun. December brought another round of Provera and Aunt Flo. New Years brought lots of trying and a new job.... So then not so much trying... but still not trying not to.  February came and went. March came and went.  April came and I just knew this was it. I was feeling extra awful, cramping, spotting (tmi?) and Jackson was out of town for a week for work. I had the perfect plan: I'd find out, surprise him that weekend with a spontaneous pinspired photo shoot to tell him, and we'd live happily ever after.  Well.  All tests were negative.  I still wasn't feeling quite right the next week, so I tested again. Negative. 
I  broke down and called my doctor. I told her how down I was about the whole process and that we were almost at the year mark. She gave me lots of instructions, numbers, dates, etc. to write down, along with a prescription for Clomid. "When Provera works it's magic and you hit day 3, call me, and I'll call in Clomid. Take that for 5 days. Come back on day 21 and we will draw some blood to see where we stand."  I did just as I was instructed. It did nothing for me. I didn't ovulate; all it gave me was acne like a 13 year old, 5 pounds to work off, and mood swings like I've never had before. But we went for round two at a higher dosage, and then on the 4th of July, we got the smiley face we had been waiting months for.  

We followed our instructions to make our own fireworks for the next 48 hours, making time for actual fourth of July fireworks somewhere in there. The next 10 days that followed were full of cramps, headaches, mood swings, hot flashes, a whole bunch of awfulness. I read that Clomid could cause these side effects, so I dismissed it... until I had a feeling I should test. Just a feeling... and bam:

It was faint, so it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. But there it was, our faint, second pink line we had been praying for for almost a year. I texted the above picture to Jackson and asked him if that was clearer than the test I forced him to squint at at 5:30 that morning. He said yes, and then went into hyper panic mode. I never imagined I'd tell my husband I was pregnant in a picture sent by text, but hey.... it is what it is. There was no way I was going to hold that secret for the rest of the day without losing my mind.  

Then came the long FIVE WEEK WAIT because WHO finds out at THREE WEEKS and some change?! 8 weeks came, with all of the anxiety and nervousness that it brings before you see your peanut for the first time.... and there it was. With a healthy heart beat, measuring exactly as it should be, perfectly healthy and happy. 

It has been a LONG journey, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world. This was so worth the wait.