We joined a church!

Stephen and I have been going to different churches since we moved to Valdosta trying to figure out which place was the best fit for us. As you can see, it has taken us a while to actually decide where we wanted to be. This was a decision we took very seriously and continually prayed for guidance. We found that we truly felt "at home" at Park Avenue Methodist Church. On Sunday we became official members. I will have to say it was a little weird when the pastor said that I was transferring my membership from West Point First United Methodist Church. I almost interrupted and said "Can I be a dual member??!"

Valdosta Baby Shower

We had a very busy weekend this past weekend! My parents came into town on Friday. On Saturday, some of Kathy's sweet friends had a wonderful baby shower for me. We had such a great group of people there and I got some awesome gifts for baby Lincoln. I have included a few pictures that were taken with my camera, but I didn't take very many. Aunt Sharon will have to send me the ones she took!

The Lincoln gals: Julee, me, Kathy

I was so glad that my mom was able to make the trip over for the shower!!! We had such a great weekend with my parents.
Grandmother Rolt made it over from Thomasville! It was so special having her there!

Aunt Carol and Aunt Pat made the trip over to Valdosta also. Stephen and I are so blessed to have such an incredible and supportive family!!!!

Here I am with the amazing hostesses: Aunt Sharon, Pam, Cheryl, and Kay

What Stephen Does When I go to Baby Showers...

Stephen headed to the Suwannee with his dad over the weekend to do a little fishing. He is trying to get in as many trips as possibly before the baby comes. He has realized (with a little help from me) that once July is here, he isn't going anywhere for a while!

Weekend in Birmingham

I went to Birmingham this past weekend for Ashley's baby shower and 30th birthday celebration. I actually didn't have to drive all that way by myself (5 and a half hours each way)because my loving husband bought me a plane ticket! I was able to fly right out of Valdosta (with a very quick connection in Atlanta). I stayed with Anna Cate and Matt. A group of us went to dinner of Friday night and were able to get together with our friends Blake and Marty. Marty is due a few weeks after me. Poor Matt and Blake had to endure dinner with 5 pregnant girls!

The baby shower was great. I couldn't believe the amount of pregnant girls there too! AC and I commented on how we had never been around so many pregnant people at one time. It was crazy!

Anna Cate, me, Ashley

Ashley's mom made this for the baby's nursery. The baby's name is obviously Sydney (named after Ashley's grandmother).

Ashley's mother also painted this owl picture for the nursery too. It is amazing! Miss Laura is so talented. There isn't much this woman can't do!

These cookies came from Anna Cate's new business "Icing on the Cookie"

They were so adorable and matched the invitation.

Emmett in Valdosta!

Thomas, Elizabeth, and Emmett are in Valdosta for a visit. We were so excited to see them and to meet Emmett for the first time! He is absolutely adorable. I just hate that we don't get to see more of them!

Stephen was able to get some practice!

It is hard to believe we will be holding our baby in a few short months!

I am off to Birmigham this weekend for Ashley's baby shower and 30th b-day celebration...

Happy Easter!

We had such a nice Easter weekend. We worked in the yard on Saturday and planted geraniums for our back porch. Stephen got everything cleaned off back there and we were able to really enjoy it. On Sunday, we went with the Lincoln family to early church and had lunch at Steve and Kathy's house. Grandmother and Carol were able to come over from Thomasville. I had taken my camera over to get some family photos after lunch (I even told them I was going to put some of the blog) and of course I forgot! We ended up hanging out by the pool and watching the Master's over there too. It is hard to believe that this time next year we will have a 9 month old!

I did manage to take a picture of my contribution to the Easter lunch. Many thanks to Jennifer for letting me use her adorable bunny egg plate!

Good Report

I went to the doctor today for a routine visit. I am now 27 weeks and 2 days along. Everything was moving along normally...praise God! My doctor said I was doing great (and that was the exact word she used) with my weight gain. I was thrilled considering my recent EXTREME sweet tooth. I was scared I had packed on many, many pounds. Luckily, I was wrong!
I go next week for my glucose screening and 2 weeks after that we will have another ultrasound. I can't wait for that appointment!

Fire truck Art

My Aunt Sue gave me this unbelievable gift at the shower this weekend. This adorable canvas was painted by a close family friend, Bill Gooding. He is an unbelievable artist/interior decorator/sewer/you name it he can pretty much do it...
I don't know if you can tell from the pictures (I tried to get a close up) but the artwork is 3 dimensional. He made the little ladder and fireman ax! We have already put it up in our playroom and it is perfect! We liked it so much that he is doing something special for us for the nursery. I had a slight idea of what I wanted and turned it over to Bill. He is in the process of painting it. I can't wait to see it! Just and FYI for all of you out there... He does take orders. If you have even the slightest idea of something you want, I guarantee he can make it (even better than you could imagine!) If anyone happens to be interested just let me know and I can get you in contact with him!!!

Flooding in Valdosta

The house below is one that Lincoln Realty manages. For all of you Valdosta people - this one is on Meadow Brook

Mrs. Perry's house (below) on Ravenwood.

Brooke and Ken Altman's house on Meadow Brooke

Most of these people did have some time to get furniture and other items moved upstairs or out of the house before the water came in. There was a lot more damage throughout the city. Many of the roads were closed so we weren't able to see some of the damage. I think you can see many more pictures on the Valdosta Daily Times website. My prayers and sympathy go out to all of those who had to go through this!!

April Showers...

This weekend Stephen, Kathy, and I headed over to West Point for a joint baby shower for Katrina and me. The weather on Saturday was beautiful so we were very lucky. The shower was a lot of fun and it was great to see so many friends and family! Many thanks to Jenna, Miss Leslie, and Darenda for such a nice shower!

Here I am with the grandmothers: Nannie and Honey...
This is the first "pregnancy" shot I have had taken so far. I posted it for all of my friends who don't get to see me with my belly!

Katrina and me

Speaking of Apri showers... We have gotten a lot of flooding down here in Valdosta due to all of the recent rain. I hear they haven't had flooding like this in over 50 years. I took some pictures and I am going to get them posted soon. We had friends houses who had over a foot of water in their houses. Awful!

3 Years!

I just had to wish my wonderful husband a happy anniversary today! Some people can't believe that we were married on April fool's day, but it turned out to the best day of my life...NO JOKE! Thanks to everyone who has sent us well wishes today. We are going to celebrate by going out to eat. Hopefully we will not get washed away in all of this rain we are having!