St. Paddy's Weekend

What a BEAUTIFUL spring weekend! We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went downtown for the St. Paddy's Parade on Saturday. This was obviously a different kind of year for me this year, but it was still a lot of fun. It really is one of my favorite things about Jackson. Fun times! Here are a few pics from the day.

FYI, this is a Diet Coke (my indulgence these days) in my huggie, in case you're wondering... :)

Then on actual St. Patrick's Day yesterday I made a day trip to Hattiesburg to see my cousins in town visiting from Oklahoma. My cousin Julie is also pregnant with a baby girl and due five days after me, so we knew this would probably be our only chance to get a pic of our bumps for the baby books. How sweet! I can't wait for these baby girls to meet one day!

It was a lovely weekend, but it went by too fast, as always. We're worn out on this cloudy Monday morning. Welcome to spring time, where the pollen is out in full force and the weekends are booked! ;)

 

Lucky #7

Sorry for the delay, but I'm out of the office this week and working mostly from my iPhone.

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary, and unfortunately we had to spend it a thousand miles apart since Derek is in Chicago for a conference this week.

We were able to celebrate early on Saturday with dinner and a movie (we saw Silver Linings Playbook, which I highly recommend, and ate dinner at Anjou, which I wouldn't necessarily highly recommend). BUT we're heading to Biloxi for our official "babymoon" in a few weeks, so the celebration will continue. :)

Needless to say, it's been a wonderful seven years, and I look forward to many, many more. We're in for an exciting year ahead! Love.

Everything Old is New Again

We made major progress on the nursery this weekend by painting the walls and the curtain rods (custom cut and fit by the previous owners of our house) and putting the crib together.

It all got me thinking with amazement at just how many times that room has been transformed into a nursery in its 60+ year history. That's one of the really cool things about living in an old house. I just love knowing that other families brought a sweet baby home to this house, and probably put him or her in this very room. It just makes me smile.

We know that the family who lived there before us had two kids who grew up there, and we know that back in the 1970s a family lived there with FOUR teenagers. If you've been to our house, you're probably just as shocked as I am that there would be room for six people total to live under that one roof.

From the little kiddie feet and hand prints set in the driveway concrete to the curtain rods that you can tell were painstakingly made by somebody's loving dad years ago, I just love the history.

I always wanted to bring a baby home to this house. It just seemed fitting. I couldn't be happier that this year, almost six years to the day from when we moved in back in 2007, I'll get my wish. We'll be happy to add another memory inside these old walls.

Blue Skies

Yesterday we finally had our new windows installed in our master bedroom and bathroom and the room that will be the nursery. We've needed to do this for a LONG time. It just took the motivation of a baby on the way to actually push us forward. SO GLAD WE DID!!

Our old windows were original to our 1950s house, and we were having some major moisture/mildew problems in our room and bathroom. Not anymore! Not only are we expecting the house to be better insulated now, but we know we're sleeping safely without the paper thin glass separating us from the outside world.

While I'm sure you might not be able to tell a difference if you were to walk into these rooms, but we sure can. It's amazing. Blue skies ahead! (Or at least through these five new crystal clear windows!)

Baby Boom

We've helped welcome three babies into this world within the past 8 days. Something is definitely in the water. ;)

In addition to our sweet nephew, our dear friends Drew and Kristin welcomed Ella Grace Gorney into the world on Monday. She's a little angel!

And then my friend Brooke and her husband, Justin, gave birth to petite little Neely Rose Sward yesterday. I can't wait to hug on this sweet little baby!

As far as this baby girl in our immediate future, she's moving all around these days! We're 23 weeks today and had a check-up yesterday. Everything's just great. She's a wiggle worm and takes after her dad in the fact that she can't just sit still! It's really going by so fast. So much still to do, but we're getting it all done one step at a time.

Happy Valentine's Day, blog world! I'm definitely feeling the love. :)

Hugs to Hattiesburg

I just wanted to write a simple post to express my love and longing to be with everyone who has suffered tornado damage in my hometown of Hattiesburg. I just want to throw my arms around you and give you a big hug.

My family is safe, but my parents had some roof damage and are dealing with a hole in the roof leaking into the screened-in porch and two bedrooms. Their damage is minor compared to some of what I'm seeing on Facebook and in the news. It's horrific. That was one huge storm, and it struck with no real rhyme or reason all up and down Hardy Street/Highway 98.

The campuses of both Oak Grove and Hattiesburg High Schools are pretty devastated, and my beloved alma mater, Southern Miss, sustained massive damage. It's just heartbreaking and surreal to see all the damage on national news.

I've just had such a heavy heart for the past 24 hours. For anyone in the 'Burg who reads this, please know my thoughts and prayers have been with you and will continue to be with you as Hattiesburg rebuilds. HTTT, OGTTT and SMTTT! Sending you love from Jackson.

We have a NEPHEW!

Cash Christopher Ferrell, our first nephew, was born Wednesday. He's a big boy weighing in at almost 9 pounds, and he's totally adorable!

We love our two nieces with all our hearts, but it will also be a lot of fun to have a little boy in the family!

Congrats to Katie, Neil and Big Sis Frances! He's a cutie and is so very loved already. :)