IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Cousing Joseph pushing Neely around the house






We found out last Wednesday that we are having a GIRL! We are really thrilled. I never had a sister, and I am pleased for Neely that she will have more than a mean old brother. Just kidding, Trav.

It will certainly make life much easier in the coming months since I have all of the girl neccessities!!

I was just looking at my blog and the little baby bouncing around in the corner is starting to freak me out. 143 days...what? It is coming so soon!! I will say I am feeling and looking pregnant (for those of you sweet friends asking me if I am showing, YES, I have been showing since I was like 8 weeks pregnant. The second time around is very different).



I feel like I am in Bible study and I need to tell my praise reports and prayer requests also.

Praise!! The blood clot in my placenta is gone.

Prayer!! In the very next sentence the doctor reported to me that there is a "bright spot" on the baby's heart on the ultrasound (actually, I never know whether to say ultrasound or sonogram...can somebody help me out here? Aren't they the same thing?). My response was a nervous laugh and then "You're joking, right?"

No, not joking. The good part is I get to have another ultrasound on January 9th for another look. The worst case scenario is the spot is a hole in the baby's heart and then we go to a pediatric cardiologist for an echo on the heart of the baby. If it is indeed a hole, it can be "corrected upon the baby's birth" as my doctor so delicately put it. Translation: Open heart surgery on my infant. My doctor does not seem overly concerned. She said that in most cases, the spot is nothing. So, I am hoping for that. I will keep the blog updated on new info regarding the "bright spot."

Seriously, my entire experience in motherhood has been waiting on the Lord, and although I would not wish for a hip dislocation, a blood clot, or a "bright spot," I can honestly say that I have learned and am learning a lot about trusting the Lord with my children. It is a lesson I will have to learn my whole life long and theirs, so the patience and the constant waiting I feel are good training ground for knowing that I am not in charge, as I would so much like to be.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and many reasons to celebrate our blessings.

A few Christmasy pictures

Marcus teaching Neely how to put in Gulf Shores

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

Marcus, Neely, Gary Chiou and Naomi

So, I have been informed by several friends that I need to update my blog. Here it is!

We have had Halloween, Thanksgiving, and a major milestone since our last posting. We bought a MINIVAN!! Hilarious. It is my pre-thirtieth birthday rite of passage. I still am in shock. I have lost what little cool factor I had left, but I must say, I don't care! I LOVE it. If anyone out there is considering it, I highly recommend it!

Next Wednesday we get our ultrasound to hopefully find out if we are having a boy of a girl. Exciting! Also, the blood clot is slightly bigger, so we are praying that it will be gone next week!

Raggedy Ann

Happy Halloween! Neely is Raggedy Ann this year. Although it came with the cutest little red yarn wig, Neely will have no part of it.

No wig required I guess when you have red hair!

Neely is also becoming quite fond of her tennis racquet and ball.

It's a TWO Baby Day!

Neely has a little "lovie", her pink blanket/ bunny she affectionately calls "Baby." At my best friend Alexis' advice, I bought a spare one and I periodically switch Baby out and wash the dirty one. It was a great day when Neely found the backup Baby. She was running around the house with both of them and squealing!

I also am having a TWO baby day, since I still have a baby, Neely, and I am also pregnant with our second baby! I am 11 weeks pregnant today and am starting to turn the corner, I think, on feeling better! We had our ultrasound last week, and the baby looks fine. I do have a blood clot, or a subchorionic hemorrhage in my placenta that could cause a miscarriage, so we are praying that it will be gone when I go back Novermber 14 for my ultrasound! We are excited about the next stage in our family life!

Also, Neely met Parker Glidewell for the first time a few weeks ago. My dear friend Sandi took us to the zoo in Atlanta. Neely and Parker loved the gorillas, and so did we! Thanks, Sandi!

A Bulldog Princess

To the Bulldog Nation out there--- How 'Bout Them Dawgs???? I could not help but be tickled as Tate(my nephew) called Neely a "Bulldog Princess" on gameday. How cute is that??
Let's just say I have been waiting for UGA to come to T-town since 5 years ago when I met Marcus for the first time at the game in Tuscaloosa. It was a doozy of a game this time, was it not?? And don't think my brother Travis and I didn't elbow our way to the front of the brood of drunk Georgia frat boys to get on camera at Gameday after the game. Oh yes we did.
Let's also talk for a moment about the Bachelor. My dad made my mom turn it off tonight because of the somewhat questionable moral content (except the lone "Christian" Solisa, that is). Props to you, dad. Wild horses could not have dragged me away. Is there something wrong with me that I just feel all around in a better mood while there is a new season of the Bachelor on TV? Is anybody with me?

Anyway, GO Dawgs!!!! This goes out with hopes that my little Bulldog Princess will actually join the bulldog nation one day. Pipe dreams.

Aloha!

View outside of our window in Maui, Lanai in the distance

Marcus playing golf at Kapalua, site of the Mercedes Championship
On the beach in front of our hotel in Maui
Right next to out hotel, our favorite restaurant looking out from our table
View from our room
On the beach in Lahaina at the luau

View from our hotel on Oahu with Diamond Head in the distance
View from our hike to the top of Diamond Head
Our favorite snorkeling adventure on Oahu
USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor
Marcus at Kapalua

We made it back in one piece! How did I ever do a flight to China, by the way? The traveling was very long, but very worth it! We had a great time on Oahu and Maui. I wanted to see Pearl Harbor, and the WWII memorial was very moving. I couldn't help having Bachelor flashbacks, though, feeling a little like Tessa looking out over the water. It was all in all a very moving experience for us.

We drove to the North Shore and ate shave ice and shrimp at a shack on the road.

Maui was truly paradise. I used to think nothing could be better than Phi Phi Island. Well, I was wrong! It was so beautiful, literally breathtaking at parts. From our hotel, you could look out and see two islands in the distance. Hawaii is so amazing with mountains and beaches all mixed together. Marcus played a few rounds of golf, we snorkeled with a sea turtle, got massages, ate a ton, tried to exercise, ate some more... went to a luau, on a helicopter ride, and just hung around by the pool. It was exactly what I needed, and now I am glad to be back with sweet Neely!!

Aloha!

Lyons and Alstons and Bears, Oh My!

Our trip to Highlands, NC was a blast! We got to spend time with Travis, Melanie, Tate, and Miller as well as G-ma and Pop! My aunt Jane and uncle Kenny live up there for part of the year, so we got to spend time with them, too!

Neely started walking everywhere, and we even found a dog with the same color hair as Neely! If anyone ever wants to get away for a long weekend, Highlands is the place. The weather is great (in the summer), fun stuff to do, and nice places to eat and stay. We have been up there a lot starting as young kids, and it is always fun to go back!

Amen and Aloha!

We have been in and out of town and all over the place the last few weeks. Marcus stopped working on August 1st but has several weeks of vacation...so he will actually be off until mid-September. Can I get an Amen?

Unfortunately, Marcus' mom has to have triple by-pass surger on her heart. The surgery will be at Piedmont August 13th. It was originally scheduled for August 2nd, but because of an internal infection, they cancelled it literally at the last minute. Here are a few pictures of our time with Marcus' family and Neely in the pool in Hamilton on the non-surgery weekend. We would appreciate your prayers for his mom and her quick healing.

Also, we are headed to Hawaii in September, so we welcome tips from anyone who has been!

Aloha!