Christmas with the Faunces

Jason was on-call on December 24th and December 26th, making travel for Christmas nearly impossible. So, we were so excited for Jason's parents to be able to come to us! Our brother and sister also live right down the street, so we all spent Christmas at our house. I love having people in my home - I guess it's the Southerner in me....the more the merrier! I'm very tired from all of the excitement, but it was such a blessing to celebrate Jesus' birthday with family! Here are some pictures from our day (which, of course, started out with Melinda's famous Christmas morning cinnamon rolls and ended with an amazing dinner, which included my mom's famous ham!)

Week 4 - Poppyseed

Jason and I have started calling our baby our little Poppyseed, because, according to my daily updates from babycenter.com, that's how big the little Baby Faunce is at this time. It's amazing to imagine that it will grow into a baby!

I'm feeling pretty good so far. I'm extremely exhausted and have a constant backache. This is definitely a change for me. I've never been a morning person, but typically by 9:00 a.m. or so, I'm good to go (with the assistance of Dunkin Donuts coffee, of course). Not so much these days. I wake up exhausted, work through the day barely able to hold my eyes open, and crash immediately when I get home. (I'm not sure caffiene would help even if I could have it!) But, I can't complain - I feel so blessed!

Yesterday at work (December 30), I thought I had my first was of neasuea. I did, but it actually turned out to be a stomach virus! I couldn't believe it! What are the chances?!?! So, the last 18 hours have been terrible - as it is anytime you have a stomach virus, pregnant or not. (I would rather have anything besides a stomach virus!) And my poor little Poppyseed hasn't eaten anything as a result. Jason says the Poppyseed will be just fine and not to worry.

Being pregnant, even only knowing for the past few days, has completely changed my world. I double and triple check everything I eat and do to make sure its okay. There are so many things you can't have! I'm sure I will get the hang of it. When I was a teenager and my now sweet husband would take me out on a date, my in-laws used to tell him, "Be careful! You have precious cargo." I feel exactly the same way about my little Poppyseed....he/she is already precious to me.

I am amazed by how much I feel like I have physically changed already. Most of you probably can't tell, but I can definitely tell. Not to mention, my sweet husband informed me that I now have love handles ("You've never had love handles! Even when you gain weight!"). Thank you, Honey...love your honesty. (Bless his heart!). Here is a picture of me at 4 weeks, 3 days after finding out the big news!

We're Having a Baby!!!

Yes, we are having a baby!!! I am writing this blog on December 30, 2010, two days after getting 3 (yes, I said 3 - I didn't believe the first 2!) positive pregnancy tests. (Side note - I took another one the next morning - just in case.) Wow, it seems that in two days, my entire world has changed. I don't feel much different, but the fact that everything I do from here on out affects another human life is really sinking in. It's absolutely amazing, and I feel so incredibly greatful. God is so good!

The thought that I might be preggers started on Monday afternoon when I literally couldn't get enough of the pickled okra that we had left over from Christmas. I polished off the rest of the jar by myself. I didn't think too much of this because I do love pickled okra. But, when I was sitting at my desk at work craving pickles the next day, I thought there might be more to my odd cravings. Not to mention, I was literally exhausted. At first, I thought this might be attributable to having the family in town for Christmas (which is another post below). But, the extreme fatigue along with the craving for pickles (which is funny since it's so steriotypical!) gave me just enough reason to take a pregnancy test.

Jason wasn't home when I took the test, and I couldn't wait to tell him when he got home from work!!! He was so excited, and (althought he might not admit it) got a little teary-eyed. We've been married 5 and half years, so we are both ready to start our family.

So, Baby Faunce is on the way!! We can't wait to meet him/her!! Please pray for us as we begin this journey!

Christmas with my parents

We had so much fun last weekend celebrating Christmas with my family! The week before we traveled to PTC, I was doing some Christmas shopping and saw a hand towel that says, "Home is where your Mom is". I love it! There's not place like where Mom is. :) Here are a few pictures from our trip to my parent's last weekend. They spoiled us with great gifts, great food, and a great time!

This scarf was one of the gifts we gave my mom. She loved it! Here she is posing for us:

Every time I go home, Don Don spoils me with coffee from Starbucks (it's so funny to hear him try to remember what I like, but he always seems to get it right!) He loves Starbucks, also, so we thought it appropriate to get him a giftcard as one of his gifts:

Last time my parents came to visit, Jason and Donny played golf, and Jason had good luck with a yellow ball that he played with. So, Donny thought it would be a good idea to get him an entire box! Don't think he'll be losing those any time soon...

This is a terrible picture, but this was me opening one of the most special gifts I have ever gotten. My Mama June, who is an AMAZING cook and baker, gave me a Southern Living at Home cookbook that was hers from 1985, which is the year I was born. This is so special! She wrote the sweetest message in the front, and I know I will cherish this gift forever (obviously, I was crying!)

Mama June and Daddy Jack gave Jason a nice polo shirt. Perfect for playing golf with his yellow golf balls!

Me and Mom and our matching scarves.

I love my Mom!

That Hubba - love him!

We are looking forward to Christmas Eve tomorrow and our Christmas Eve service at Quest UMC (service is at 6:30 if anyone wants to join us!). I always love the Christmas Eve service - it always give me a chance to slow down and remember what this season is really about. We are also looking forward to Jason's family coming for Christmas! Santa Claus is coming to town....

Headed to PTC

We are headed to PTC this weekend to spend time with my parents for Christmas. I can't wait to be home for the holidays!! We don't get to go home for Christmas this year (Jason's family is coming to us!) because Jason is on-call on December 24th and December 26th. So, this is our trip home. Looking forward to spending some time with my parents! We are also looking forward to spending time with Jason's family next weekend. I love Christmas!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas....

I LOVE Christmas! It's definitely my favorite time of the year. I love the smells, the songs, the special people I get to spend it with....I love it all! (Well, except maybe the lines in the stores.) I especially love the Christmas story and knowing the real meaning of Christmas...to celebrate God's ultimate gift to us.

This weekend, my in-laws came to visit, and we had a great time visiting and Melinda, Jasmin, and I had a great time decorating our home for Christmas.

Notice the girls are the ones that did all the decorating! The boys sat around watching football. :)

One of the things I love most at Christmas is getting to put my ornaments on my Christmas tree. It reminds me every year of two of my favorite women. My Nanny, who passed away in October 2007, started a tradition of giving me a Christmas ornament every year from the time I was born. She thought that this would help me to be able to decorate my own tree one day when I was married and out on my own. My Mom continued this tradition as we got older, and still gives me an ornament every year (which I absolutely love...if I never got anything except my special ornament from my Mom, I would be happy). These ornaments are so special to me, and as they go on the tree each year, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have (and to have had) these special women in my life.

Friends and Family

There are few things in life that I love more than spending time with my friends and family. Being around the people I love makes me so incredibly happy! Last weekend, we had a wonderful weekend spending time with April and Ryan and other friends celebrating April and Ryan's wedding - and we are so happy for them! We also enjoyed dinner with our brother and sister on Sunday. Wanted to share some pictures from Ryan and April's wedding - it was definitely a great time!

I am really looking forward to the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, especially getting to spend time with the amazing people that I love! We are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing friends and family! Can't wait to see you all soon!!

Yellowstone in Pictures

Trip to Yellowstone

For as long as I have known the Faunce family (which is over 10 years now), they have talked about this amazing trip that they took out to Yellowstone National Park when the boys were kids. So, for quite awhile, I have wanted to know what all this hype was about. So, Jason and I decided to plan a trip out West to visit Yellowstone National Park and Teton National Park in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. And this trip did NOT disappoint! We both love the outdoors, so we were both very excited about this trip. Most of the trips we've taken since we got married have been to beautiful beaches, so we were excited for a little bit of a change.

We arrived in Idaho last Sunday and spent the last 10 days exploring...some sights we saw are touristy sites that are a must-see when visiting the National Parks; others were more obscure and, to be honest, even more breathtaking than those on the beaten path.

The time that we spent together taking in the scenery, enjoying the perfect fall weather (until the snow 2 days before we left!), and seeing some amazing animals was priceless. I can't wait to take our kids out there one day! We were contantly in awe of the beauty of God's creation, and I know it is a trip we will remember forever.

These two moose were practically in our backyard, which was amazing to me. I consider myself Southern, but this was pretty much "country". I loved it! The female just starred straight at us. The bull moose was a little more leery.

Old Faithful - erupts pretty much every 90 minutes. Touristy attraction, but very cool. It's amazing that this piece of land goes basically from nothing to this in a matter of seconds.

Bison in the road - this was one of my favorite things about this trip. The animals could not have cared less about us. This is where they live, and they don't care what type of inconvenience it may cause. Not to mention - look how huge! Amazing!

The views were literally breathtaking at times. Our camera does not do these scenes justice. God is so good!