Sugar and Spice and everything nice

It's official... we are having a girl!! Kyle and I found out last Monday at our 20 week ultrasound that our precious little baby is a girl!

She definately wasn't shy in the ultrasound and was quite active, but we were able to clearly see that it's a girl for sure, though soon-to-be daddy doesn't want me exposing her online - HAHA! Someone is a little protective already :)

We couldn't be more thrilled with a bundle of pink coming our way in less than 4 months. Now to get started on the nursery -- can't wait!

Recent Ramblings

Here is a summary of what's new in our house:

1. Stretchy pants have to be the best invention! I'm not sure why I resisted so long, but once I put on my first pair, I knew I couldn't go back. I finally went shopping right before Thanksgiving with my mom and started my maternity clothing wardrobe. My new best friend (stretchy pants) also became quite handy on Thanksgiving. Think I might have to wear these for years to come - pregnant or not!

2. We are counting down the days until we find out if we are having a boy or girl... any guesses? Two more days to go until we find out!!! Can't wait either way :)

3. I completed nearly my entire Christmas List online this year and think I might have single handily increased Amazon's profits this year.

4. We are now the proud owners of a 12 foot Christmas tree!! My parents traded with us this year - though I think we got the better end of that bargain. This tree is HUGE -- see pictures below

5. Think my belly is just now starting to become noticeable to people who don't know me. Case in point - the sales lady at Haverty's came up and talked our ear off on how to raise the baby. She should know she kept saying... she has SEVEN! Needless to say, she was more excited about telling baby stories than selling furniture and we left with nothing.

 Santa's Elves hard at work

 The finished product

18 weeks -- before Kyle's office Christmas Party

The Cat's out of the bag

So I've been laying sort of low recently... mostly because I'm a bad blogger, but also because I've felt too worn out to do anything but grow this little guy (or gal)

I will be at 15 weeks starting tomorrow and hoping I'm offically out of the throw up danger zone.

While the baby is still pretty tiny it's starting to show...

14 weeks

Kyle and I are beyond thrilled to welcome our first little one into the family come May :) More updates to come. Hopefully my blogging skills will improve as my energy level improves!

Summer Birthdays

With Dad & Gretchen's birthdays only a week a part, we celebrated both together earlier this month! Dad was surprised to get some much needed new golf clubs - though I'm not sure who was more excited - Dad or Kyle!

Even though it wasn't her birthday, I think Ellie thought everyone was there to celebrate with her. As you can see, she was excited to help blow out the candles & open the presents.

What will we do in a few months when she turns THREE!!

I think his Tractor's Sexy

We are discovering home ownership comes with expenses we didn't have to worry about before... like a lawn tractor. A regular mower wouldn't do (though I don't really blame him with the size of the yard). After a few test drives on our friend Brandon's John Deere, Kyle just had to have one for himself.

The fun part of finally having a yard has been planting flowers. Here are a few shots of my recent plantings. Hope I can keep them alive through the summer!

Love my girls

In High School I was blessed to have a fantastic group of girlfriends. Who knew 10 years later we would still be the best of friends! So thankful to have such great friends that remain close - dispite the miles between us.

(Only one missing is Jig! Thank goodness she's moving closer to GA!)

True to form, we finished up our night out at Krispy Kreme! One thing I love about these girls is their love for sugar & sweets -- would hate to be the only one devouring donuts :)

Kerry & I striking a pose!

Long Time no blog

Wow! I've been pretty bad at this blogging this, huh? Somehow the spring flew by and we're now into summer! I'm counting down the days to our week long beach trip to Fernandina, FL... t-minus 7 days!
Since my last post *GASP* FOUR months ago here's what we've been up to:

Celebrating Easter at Gretchen & Justin's

What the pictures don't show is the little adventure we had between church in the morning & Easter lunch. Kyle & I spend the night with Gretchen and Justin the night before Easter and went to church with everyone in the morning.

Since we only had Sadie for a few weeks and she was adjusting (ie - sometimes had accidents inside) we left Sadie and Buddy outside in the fenced in yard together.

When we got home Buddy was there to greet us, but Sadie was no where to be found. No holes, no open gates, no sign of her anywhere. Little did we know what an escape artist we had! Kyle and Justin went out and searched the neighborhood for Sadie with no luck.

We were getting a bit nervous when we couldn't find her after an hour of searching. Just when the boys came in to take a break and change out of their church outfits, who comes walking up the driveway... That's right - Miss Sadie!

We still don't know exactly how she got out or where her adventures took her, but we were so relieved she decided to come back!

Our little escape artist

More to come...

Welcome Home Sadie Girl

We brought the newest member of our family home a few weeks ago. Sadie was rescued from a kill shelter by two sweet ladies who run a doggie daycare & are foster parents for a local shelter.

Once we bought our house we knew we wanted a doggie, but just recently started looking online for dogs we could adopt and visiting the Adoption Days at PetSmart. We found a picture of Sadie (then called Autumn) and just fell in love with her cute little face. We were sad to find out she wasn't at PetSmart that Saturday and thought she had already been adopted, but decided to call anyway.

Thankfully we discovered they just hadn't brought her out that weekend and set up time to see her after work. We fell in love and had to have her after that visit!

My two year old niece was excited to meet Sadie and kept asking if she would have a bow in her hair when we brought her home since she is a girl. We all thought this was pretty funny, but when we went to pick her up the ladies had given her a bath and gave her a "bow" attached to her collar!

When we brought Sadie home she was very nervous and shy, but after about two weeks with us she has really relaxed and is playful and friendly. The first week was a bit of an adjustment as she got use to going outside her new home and we got use to finding surprises the new responsibility, but we've all gotten use to each other and love having a little doggie of our own. :)

Happy 1st Birthday Noah

One year ago today our little nephew Noah Madison Hammack was born. I can't believe it was just 12 months ago that we got to meet this guy little guy.

When we first met Noah he was so tiny...

Now he's such a big boy -- walking (or rather running), giggling and playing!

Can't wait to celebrate your first birthday soon! Noah, we love you! XOXO, Aunt Annie and Uncle Kyle

New Pet

Ever since Kyle and I got married we have talked about getting a pet. Since we lived in apartments & were so busy with work/school, the time never seemed right to get a little pet of our own. Once we moved to GA we were both ready for a pet, but the place we rented didn't allow for any.

Now that we have a place of our own we have the best pets ever. They take care of themselves,  don't shed, don't require walks and come to visit us daily at 5:30pm. Any guesses on our new pets??

Is it a dog.....


NO

Is it a cat....


NO

Is it a turtle.....


NO

Is it a deer....



YES!!!

Meet our new pet Deer!!

This little family of 3 doe's come and visit us nearly every day at 5:30pm like clockwork and munch on our grass. We are enjoying our new wildlife...hmm... I mean pets. They are so cute. Even though there are others in my family - Dad & Justin (who shall remain nameless) who go out hunting these cute creatures nearly every day, we get to enjoy them from our den. Jealous yet Dad?

Maybe one day we'll get a real pet, but until then, we are content with our pet deer!

Our 4 Christmases - Part 2

Christmas morning we opened presents at Kim and Gary's house and only snapped one shot of us in our morning glory... thank goodness!

Afterwards we headed over to Jack and Keily's for Christmas lunch. Even though there were probably 20 people there, we only ended up with pictures of Noah -- I guess that's what happens when a kid is present!

Here are a few shots from the mini photo shoot we had in the backyard & Noah surrounded by all his Christmas loot.

After Christmas weekend we headed back up to Georgia and celebrated our last and final Christmas with Gretchen and Justin at  my parents house. Again... with a child present, nearly all my pictures are centered around Ellie!

Ellie LOVES Tutti from Yo Gabba Gabba!

Oh look at me - I did take pictures of other people

Gretchen with her new Vera bag

Think Justin loved his Snuggie