The Gill Family

Turkey Time

2011-05-08T22:04:00.000-05:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Trenton on Wednesday and stayed the night. I love going to my mommy and daddy's house. Spending the night made things a little easier so we didn't have to drive there Thursday morning and then come back that night. I didn't get a whole lot of pics worth posting, but thought I would post some of the food! We fried 2 turkey's this year and had a little ham. Fried turkey has become a tradition in our family for Thanksgiving. The meat is so juicy and YUMMY!

You would think we were feeding an army!

We went home Thursday night and then Friday we headed out to Debbie and John's for a little Thanksgiving lunch with more family. It was a nice lunch with just us and Keith (Preston's brother) and Alicia (Keith's girlfriend).

Kinley loves to sit with "Aunt Alicia" and sing to Elmo's Song on the computer

It was a great time with some wonderful family. Next year, I hope to take more pictures. ha!

100 YEARS OLD!!!

2011-04-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

Raymond Hunn, my GREAT-Grandpa turned 100 years old in November. We all loaded up and headed to Wichita Falls on Sunday, November 21st to celebrate. We met him at church (yes, he still drives!) and after the service, they served us a lovely lunch, in Papa Hunn's honor. Marcus was even able to come (he coaches in Wichita now) so it was great to have the whole family together.

Here are a few pics from the day...

5 GENERATIONS (You don't see that often)

Podge and Kinley

They made him wear this button that says "IT"S MY 100TH BIRTHDAY!"

Lunchtime

Papa Hunn loves to fish so this was the perfect cake for him

Uncle Marcus was entertaining Kinley

Me and my Bubba

Who are these 2 goofs???

Coach Shavers talking K through some football plays he drew out on the board.

Big GIRL!!!

It was a fast "day" trip for us but I'm SO glad we were able to celebrate in this day with Pops. We are very blessed to still have him around. He lives in Wichita Falls by himself and still does pretty much everything for himself. He doesn't hear very well but nothing a little raise of the voice won't cure. Thank you Lord for his health. We have a little joke in the family that he's going to out live us all....he just may. I pray we are able to celebrate a couple more years with this precious man!

Her Buddy!

2011-04-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

Kinley has a new buddy! She has discovered the boys in the backyard and loves to tap on the window. Bo, our lab, really doesn't have much interest in K, but Shiner is very interested. I'm sure they are going to be great buddies.

EVERYONE IS TALKING EASTER....I'M TALKING CHRISTMAS TREE

2011-04-28T20:55:00.000-05:00

Yes...I said Christmas tree. The weekend before Thanksgiving I put up our Christmas tree. I normally put it up the weekend before and then decorate it the weekend after. I was SO excited for Christmas this year. I think having a child makes the Holidays kind of fun (not like they aren't already, but you get the point). Friday afternoon while Kinley was napping, I took it upon myself to start the process. When K woke from her nap, I grabbed the camera and caught the first moments of her seeing the tree. It melted my heart!!!

Hmmmm....What's this Mom?

She looks like she I concentrating hard.

Precious little hand

I think she's happy!

Wimberley, Tx - 2nd Annual "Girls" Trip

2011-04-27T22:41:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of November (yes, LAST YEAR....I'm SO BEHIND!!!), we had our 2nd Annual "girls getaway" with some close family friends of ours. The year before we met up in Fredricksburg for the weekend and had a great time. This year we decided to go to their "stomping grounds" and just hang. I was SO excited to take Kinley on her first girls trip for the weekend.

Friday morning, mom and I packed up the Tahoe and headed to Wimberley, Tx to spend the weekend with Cathy, Taylor, and Landry. We had such a fun weekend!!! Wimberley is just beautiful. Sweet Landry did such a good job sharing all of her things with Kinley and even sang a couple of songs to keep her entertained.

I'm already looking forward to this year's trip....I think we've decided on a weekend in College Station (no little girls) to visit Taylor during her first year of college at A&M. :0)

Here are a few pics from the weekend....

Saturday Morning - Landry playing with Kinley

We went to the Wimberley "Canton!" I think Taylor had a basketball tournament that morning so she didn't go with us. She met up with us later on in the day. Landry loved pushing Kinley in the stroller. She was such a BIG helper!! Landry wanted to take a picture for Tay by the A&M yard art. I thought a little GUNS UP would be just perfect!!! hehe.

After lunch, we headed back to the house to hang out and rest before dinner. Below is Kinley playing with her new toy they got her.

Tay came home, we all got cleaned up and headed to Greene, Tx to have a little dinner at the Gristmill. It was very yummy and has such a neat atmosphere.

Beautiful Tay Tay and K

The kiddos....Me, Landry, Taylor, and Kinley

Landry wanted to hold Kinley but she was so wiggly.

Precious Landry and Kinley

The beautiful Momma's....They have known each other for a LONG time. Mom actually use to teach Cathy dance. There's been a lot of fun times with these two.

Cathy and her girls are so special to us. I'm lucky that someone (Cathy) "got it together" between the 3 of us and finally organized something. We've been saying that we need to do this for years and it's finally happened. I'm very blessed to have these girls in my life and I can't wait to see what the next few years brings us.

Happy Halloween

2010-12-16T21:32:00.000-06:00

Kinley's first Halloween was a success! Thanks to my good friend, Angi W., we had the perfect costume for our little "Angel." Halloween was on a Sunday this year and so was our church's Fall Festival. We loaded up and headed to meet my mom and dad at the church for a little festival fun. There was SO much to do and it's something that I'm looking forward to taking Kinley to every year. Outside, there was face painting, hair painting, bounce houses, blow up slides, bungee trampolines, and more. Inside, there were more bounce houses set up in the gym and each room had a particular activity/game.

Our sweet Angel with Sassy and Podge

She had so much fun playing with Papa Podge

After we hung out at the church for a couple of hours, we headed home to hand out some candy to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. The past couple of years we have gone down to Miranda and Todd's house to hand out candy, so that's exactly what we did. I think Kinley was more interested in trying to get a little candy of her own. She loved playing in the candy bowl and mainly taking it all out piece by piece and dropping it on the ground. I let her have a few licks on a sucker but that was about all the sugar she got for the day/night.

Our friend Eli "the Pirate" came and "Trick-or-treated" for some candy before he went to a few other houses for the night.

Sweet Rylynn even hung out with us for a little bit.

It was bedtime, but how about one last pic with Ady??? Kinley says, "not so much." ha!

First Halloween down, many more to go!!!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-12-16T20:40:00.009-06:00

We had our Annual Pumpkin Carving with our neighbor friends the friday before Halloween. Preston had a game that night so it was just me and Kinley. It's kind of hard to carve a pumkin with an almost 9 month old but I managed to get baby K's pumpkin carved. This was our 3rd year of carving and it's so much fun to get together with everyone. This was Baylee and Kinley's first year. I hope there are many more to come and more kiddos to add to the bunch. Here are a few pics from the night.....

Getting ready to carve

The kiddos: Brayden, Eli, Baylee, and Kinley

Little Missy and her pumpkin

Her shirt says it all!

A quick break with Todd

What a wonderful night with great friends!!! I can't wait for many more years.

She's Everywhere!

2010-12-16T20:13:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm still playing catch up so here are a few random pictures from October. She definitely has a few favorite places in the house.

When I'm in the kitchen one of her favorite places to play is in the pantry floor. She has learned to open up one of the plastic drawers and pull out her food bowls, cups, etc. I don't really mind because it keeps her busy and lets her explore. Next to the plastic drawers is the dog basket. She loves to pull out all of their bags of snacks. She hasn't figured how to get them open just yet but I know that time is probably coming soon.

She has also recently found "the boys" in the backyard. She loves to stand at the back door and wisper "da da." I think she got that from us when we would hold her at the back door and point to the dogs and say "dogs" in a wispering voice. Another place she likes to spend a lot of her time is at the tv. She loves to mess with all of the boxes underneath the tv which is a big NO NO! She's slowly learning the meaning of NO. She will crawl over to it, turn around and look at us, then turn back around and reach out her hand to touch it. The minute we say no she puts her head down and cries. I think that's an early indication that we are in trouble. She's for the most part a very happy baby, but she can definitely turn on the drama.

Did you say FREE???

2010-11-29T19:30:00.001-06:00

Yep....they said FREE!!! Shutterfly is doing an AWESOME promotion right now. If you post a blog about them, you get 50 FREE Christmas cards. Now, I don't know about you, but that makes me excited!!!

If you've never used Shutterfly, you should definitely check them out. It's a great website to store all of your photos so you can access them at anytime from the internet. I also have the Shutterfly App downloaded on my Iphone...LOVE IT!!!

Pictures always make the perfect gift, no matter what time of the year it is. I have used Shutterfly to make photo books of my wedding for the whole family, calendar's, Kinley's baby announcements, and Christmas cards.  Shutterfly always has deals on shipping and you can most always find savings on items you order.

Here are a few things you might be interested in checking out this Holiday season.....

Christmas Photo Cards - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
    - I will definitely be ordering some this year. I was mad at myself last year because I didn't get on the ball with these like I did the year before (maybe because I was almost 8 months pregnant??).

Wall Calendars - http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars
   - These make the perfect gift!!! With it about to be a new year, why not make a 2011 calendar?? They are so easy to make and Shutterfly even has new layouts this year.

Holiday Invitations - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations
   - Hosting a Christmas or New Years party??? Get your invitations here!! There are so many to choose from and I can guarantee that you will find the perfect invite to go with your theme.

There is SO much more to Shutterfly than just these 3 things. Go to their website and take a look. http://www.shutterfly.com/ You will NOT be disappointed!!

LOOK WHO'S 30???

2010-11-03T21:30:00.000-05:00

NOPE...It's not me!!! Well, not yet at least. Friday, October 22nd, Preston turned the BIG 3-0!!

I really wanted to throw him a surprise party this year and had every intention. We were going to have it out at my parent's house. A few weeks ago my parent's house got struck by lightning and a lot of their appliances were fried, including their flat screen TV. I figured it probably wouldn't be a good idea to do a party at their house on a Saturday night in the middle of football season with NO tv. So I lolly gagged around and never got anything else planned. :-(

The week of his birthday I had a cookie bouquet sent to him at school. I think that was a surprise to him. We had talked earlier and he decided all he wanted this year was money. That way he could put all of his birthday money together and get something he really wanted. So we were under the understanding that he would be getting nothing other than money for his bday. He had a game Thursday night and I actually had bible study so I didn't really get to see him.

My mom brought him a McDonald's birthday breakfast on Friday morning (his real bday), so he got to have his fave breakfast on the way to school. He had a game Friday night and didn't get home until almost 2:00am so I didn't get to really see him on his actual birthday either. We had already planned to celebrate on Saturday knowing we weren't going to see each other much on the other days.

Saturday morning we slept in a little (big thanks to baby K for letting us), and then I fixed him a cream cheese, sausage, and crossiant casserole for breakfast. He LOVED it!! All he wanted to do was sit in his chair and watch Ohio State play at noon, so that's exactly what he did. Adrianne and I had to run some errands for a baby shower we were giving that next day, so I left Kinley with him for a little daddy-daughter time and headed out (Yes, I know football was on but he had it easy...she napped almost the whole game)!!!

After days of bugging Preston about what he wanted to do for his birthday and where he wanted to go, I FINALLY got him to decide. I felt like it was a little too much short notice to start calling everyone to meet us. So, we ended up just going with my family, his mom and stepdad, and our friends Rudy, Katie, and Adrianne. Ryan and Eli were out of town in Bridgeport.

It ended up being a nice and low key night. Well, as "low-key" as you can get with our crazy waitress. We've been going to Desperado's since Preston and I started dating 8 years ago, so we are pretty well-known in there and we have the same waitress everytime we go. We've developed a great relationship and she alwasy takes care of us. The owner has been so good to us and we have really gotten to know everyone.

Our waitress, Shawnna, made P take a Tequila shot....eh. I think he complained about his chest burning all night. (These are the only 2 pics of him I took the whole night....oops)

Kinley got to try her first ice cream....again, Shawnna insisted

She loved it, of course

Getting some time with "Granny Fran" (my Grandma). Kinley doesn't get to see her as often as my mimi so the time she gets with Granny is very special

Well, that was a sorry job of "documenting" the evening. I didn't have my big camera with me and just happened to have my little camera in Kinley's bag, so that's ALL I got.

After dinner, Rudy, Katie, and Adrianne came back to our house for a little cake. I made Preston his favorite cake for his bday, yellow cake with chocolate icing. It was my first time to ever make anything other than just a "plain" cake, so I was VERY proud of myself. Yes, it's just a cake mold but still, I've never done it before.

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!! I hope you made a good wish. Kinley and I love you and we can't wait to celebrate many more birthday's with you.

Flowermound Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

I absolutely LOVE this time of year! Now that Kinley is here, there are SO many "first's" that I am looking forward to experiencing with her. One of them being, taking her to a pumpkin patch. Two weeks ago Saturday, after the kids had their morning naps, me, Preston, Ryan, and Adrianne loaded up the cars with the kids, met at Chick-Fil-A for a little lunch and then headed to Flowermound. Preston was NOT excited about going all the way to Flowermound. I've heard a lot of good things about it and Adrianne and Ryan took Eli there last year and really liked it. So, we were going. Preston promised to be a "positive trooper," and although he had a couple moments, he quickly reminded himself to be "positive." Ha!! I laughed inside when I heard him telling himself to be positive. But hey, whatever it takes.

After sitting in construction traffic for a little bit, we finally made it!

We parked and headed towards the fun. They have little wagons to pull around kids and/or pumpkins. It was perfect. We sat the kids in the wagon and off we went.

Here are some pics from our day:

She was so interested in all of the hay

It was so warm out, taking a break for some water

Mommy and Kinley

Her one-arm "TOUCHDOWN!!!"

Our little Family

The Reynold's

While Eli took his mommy and daddy on the hay ride...

Kinley picked her pumpkin and we took a little break. Apparently, I need to feed my child. ha!

After a great time at the patch, we headed home. The kids were exhausted. I think Kinley was asleep before we turned out of the parking lot. It was a good day with great friends and I look forward to many more.

Catching up?? YA RIGHT!!! Let's just start new!

2010-10-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I keep telling myself that I'm going to get this thing caught up, but as you can see it's not happening. I'm almost a year behind!!! AGHHH!!! So I've decided to start new and worry about catching up later (which probably won't ever happen, but still hoping).

Our little Kinley is 8 months old!! Where has the time gone?? She is SO much fun and amazes us each day with her little "personality." And personality she does have. Although she loves to smile and laugh, she can be quite the serious little girl. If she doesn't want you to talk to her she will move her chin forward with her mouth open and yell, "uuugggghhhhhh." If you are trying to be funny with her and she isn't too sure about you, she will give you the stare. It's basically a "go to (you know where)" look. Just lovely!

She says, "Ma Ma," "Da Da," and "Ba Ba." I don't think she has learned who we are or what Ba Ba is yet because she babbles those sounds all the time, but we are working on it.

She crawls EVERYWHERE and pulls to stand up on EVERYTHING!! The funny thing is once she gets up she gets so excited and lets go to throw her arms up. Sometimes she'll fall, other times she will realize what she did and catch herself. She has started cruising the couch just a little bit. It takes her a while to go a short distance. Her legs are still very wiggly.

Kinley is a pretty good eater.  There really isn't much she doesn't like just yet. She has tried acorn squash, butternut squash, peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, peaches, apples, pears, and prunes. I have tried to make the majority of her food but we do buy some jarred stuff as well. I still have broccoli, zuchini, and yellow squash in the freezer that are next on the list to try. She is eating a jar of some type of meat mixture for dinner everynight and seems to like them. We'll see once we start getting to the real textures of things.

She has been sleeping through the night for over a month now. FINALLY!!! I thought we would never get to this stage but we did. She goes to bed around 7:30-8:30 everynight and will normally sleep until 7:45-8:00am every morning. She will occasionally cry out a couple of times throughout the night but I usually don't go in there.

She loves bath time! I'm hoping she will be a fish in the water one day like her momma was. I'm just not sure how she'll be?  She can be pretty unsure about things.

She loves being outside. Mom, Mimi, and Papa have spent a lot of hours sitting on our front porch "count'n the cars" (as they say). Grandma Debbie loves to take her on walks around their neighborhood when she stays with her.  Kinley does really good in the stroller. I'm sure that once she figures out how to walk, things won't exactly be the same with the stroller.

We've been going to Preston's games on Thursdays and we've even made it to a couple Friday night Allen Eagle games. She was very unsure about all the noise the first couple of times and still can be a little scared. By the middle of the game, she has normally loosened up and is a happy camper. She cracks me up with how serious she can be sometimes. I'm not sure who she gets it from but when I think about it, it's probably a little bit of both of us.

I know there is probably so much more I could say about her, but I don't have all day and night. It's my favorite time of the year and I can't wait for these next couple of months with our sweet baby girl!

Here are a few pics of our 8 month old.

One Morning before Church

She loves to play at her table

Yaaayyy Kinley!!! (there she is letting go)

She is the light of our life!!

"Mom, I found my toys!"

WOW.....Have I been busy or what??

2010-07-25T21:26:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been informed that I left this blog "hanging" on a bad note. And oh my goodness...I really did!!! So sorry!!! I have SOOO much catching up to do that I'm not even sure where to start? But I would really like to catch everyone up to today. So please bare with me, I'm going to try my hardest to spend some time getting things all caught up. We shall see how well I do.

There are so many things that I know I wanted to remember (the whole reason for this blog) but I know since I've waited SO darn long that I probably have forgotten a ton. :-( Oh well, guess I can't complain. It's my own fault. Let's start with the rest of December. Here we go....

30 Weeks Preggo (Dec 6th)

HOSPITAL TOUR

Sunday, December 13th, Preston and I took a tour of the hospital. I'm so glad we did the tour and I think it helped us feel a little more at ease going into all this. We were shown exactly where we needed to go once we arrived at the hospital. We got to see where I would deliver Kinley and where we would be staying afterwards. They also showed us where Kinley would be going when she went to the nursery. I'm pretty sure we left there even more excited and anxious to meet our sweet little girl.

31 Weeks Preggo (Dec 13th)

Still getting stuff ready for baby K

Friday, December 18th, we came home from dinner at Desperados and put Kinley's swing together. Big THANK YOU to Dr. Brad Williams and his wife Lisa. I absolutely love this swing!!!

8 Month Checkup

My 8 month checkup with Dr. Bailey was at 10:30am on December 22nd. Kinley's heartrate was 142 bpm. That's really the only thing I have written down from this. I do know that Christmas was close and I was so excited to get together with the family for the Holidays. Here are a few pictures of me 8 months pregnant. I'm definitely swelling more and more each day. I remember still loving being pregnant. I loved feeling little Kinley kick and move in my tummy.

Preston thought it was his turn to show off his tummy! Too bad he has to stick his out. Ha!

Shiner loves this baby

So we are convinced that our sweet baby Shiner (almost 2 years old) knows that he has a baby sister on the way. He loves to crawl up in my lap, almost EVERY night, and rest his head on my tummy. It really is the sweetest thing. He is such a love bug and we can't wait for the boys to meet their sister.

Here's Bo...he's pretty sweet too. He just hasn't shown as much interest in my tummy as Shiner has.

Stay tuned for December Continued....It's CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm back!!!!

2010-07-14T21:55:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I let myself get THIS far behind. We are talking about 8, yes EIGHT, MONTHS behind. Our baby girl is over 5 months old. YIKES!!! Just bare with me. I'm determined to get this thing caught up. I guess I'll have to try and do it a month at a time since it's so much but we will just have to see. A December 2009 post is in progess....STAY TUNED!!!!

Hard Week

2009-12-12T22:22:00.001-06:00

Monday, December 7th I got the call from Dr. Bailey's office with my Glucose test results. It came back showing that I do have gestational diabetes.  Dr. Bailey's nurse told me that I needed to contact the Center for Lifestyle Management and set up an appointment with them. After I got off the phone, I took a deep breath and tried not to cry. I think it was the fear of the unknown. So of course, I broke down in tears. I talked to Preston and called mom at work. I was SO upset. I knew everything was going to be okay, I just didn't know what was going to happen next from here.

I immediately called over to the Center and got an appointment for the following day with them. The lady said she would be emailing me the papers that needed to be filled out for my appointment. I also needed to call my insurance and get a glucose meter ordered. I did just that. The insurance company said that because it was for gestational diabetes that they could overnight it to me. So as of 12:00pm, everything that needed to be done was completed. Now it was a waiting game for the next day.

Around 3:30pm that same day, I got another call from Dr. Bailey's nurse saying that there might be a problem with my labs. She was taking another look and there could have been a possibility that they switched my 2nd and 3rd hour results. If this was the case, then I DO NOT have gest. diabetes. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? After all the emotions I had gone through that morning?  Goodness! Arisele (Dr.'s nurse) said that she wanted me to come in tomorrow morning for another fasting bloodwork and to go ahead and cancel my appt with center until they find out anything further. The lab had agreed to re-run my blood at no charge (gee, thanks!) and that hopefully she would know something when I got there in the morning.  At this point, there was still a little bit of hope that everything was ok and I didn't have gest diabetes. So, home I went for the night. I think knowing this at least allowed me to calm down a little bit and have a good night.

I went in Tuesday morning for bloodwork. It was fast and simple. As I was leaving, I asked the ladies in the front office if Arisele was in yet. They told me that she was probably on her way but had not made it in. Of course! I was doing good until now.  I leave the office and go downstairs. As I'm about to walk out the door, in walks Arisele (Praise the Lord!). I stopped her and asked if she knew anything yet? She said that she was on her way upstairs right now to see what she can find out and that she would call me soon....back to work I go.  About an hour or so later,  Arisele called me to let me know that they re-ran my labs and everything was still the same. I DO have gestational diabetes. Boy, what a roller coaster! She instructed me to call this other doctor and get in with him. I have no clue why not the same place she told me at first, but I did what she said.

When I called this office, they said they could not see me until January 31st. Ha! At this time, I'm just about starting to freak out a little bit. I went ahead and made an appointment just in case, then I called back to Dr. Bailey's office and told Arisele. She said she would call me back once she talked to Dr. Bailey. So once again, I wait. I hear back from Arisele and she says that I cannot wait that long to go ahead and get set up at the Center again. I called them back and was able to get an appointment that friday morning from 8am-10am. They said that we would meet an hour with a nurse and an hour with a dietician. I felt better now that we had something set, but I was still SO upset.

This week was definitely one of the most stressful weeks that I have had in a long time. It was a VERY hard week for Preston and I as well. Again, I think a lot of it was the fear of the unknown from the both of us. Neither of us understood a whole lot about what was going on or what was going to have to happen in order to get it all under control and it made for a VERY emotional week. The hardest part was having to wait until friday to get all of our questions answered. But we did, and we made it alive...it was close though. ha!

Our friday morning appointment at the Center for Lifestyle Enhancement went really well. Preston went with me and was able to ask any questions that he wanted. Which I think helped him a lot and definitely what he needed to do. I learned how to take my blood and was instructed that I needed to do that 4 times a day. I was also given a restricted meal plan of eating 6 times a day. We learned a lot about the "disease" and  I was very thankful we were both there to learn what we needed to.

After that appointment, we headed to Dr. Bailey's office for a regular checkup. Again, we were able to talk to her about any other questions or concerns we had about this. It was a day much needed after the week we had, and we both felt good about things once we were finished.

We are scheduled to go back to both offices in a couple of weeks to check up on everything. Let the meal planning and blood taking begin!  Hopefully I can get everything under control where I won't have to take any insulin. As of right now, it's all diet controlled and I couldn't be more happy.

My 1st Baby Shower - December 5th, 2009

2009-12-12T22:20:00.001-06:00

My first shower was Saturday, December 5th at 10:00 in the morning. It was given by some very good friends of my mom. These women are basically like family to me. They have pretty much known me since I was born and I appreciate all that they did. It was a lovely shower and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

This shower was mostly Preston's family, mom's work friends, a few close friends, family friends, and my family. We got SO much stuff at the shower. I couldn't believe it. I'm so thankful for everyone that could attend. It was great to see everyone. Some of the people I hadn't seen since our wedding, so it was really nice.

Here are a few pictures from the morning. (Please excuse my "puffy-ness." I showed Preston a picture from these and asked him if I actually looked like that now? He told me that I don't, so I'm hoping it's true. Ha! This was the weekend right before I found out my results of the 3 hour test)

Mona, Me, Mom, and Malynn (not the best pic but it's one of the only pictures I took with some of the hostess'. Here are 2 out of the 5 total.)

Me and Adrianne (Thanks Ady for being the "picture taker")

Me and Ash (thanks for being the "gift writer")

Just a few of the gifts....

This was from my mother-in-law...I can't wait to get her in this!

A big THANK YOU to Malynn Harris, Karen McDonald, Mona Simpson, Nicole Sivie, and Cathy White for giving me such a wonderful shower. I love you all and can't wait for you to meet Kinley!

My 28th Birthday!

2009-12-12T22:19:00.001-06:00

Things seem to be really crazy this year. I feel like each day is flying right by and before I know it, it's going to be 2010 and Kinley will be here. I turned 28 on Friday, December 4th.

My day started off sitting in Dr. Bailey's office doing the 3 hour glucose test. I had to be there at 7:30am. They took my blood right away and then I had to drink the oh so famous "sugary drink" again. From there, I headed back to the waiting room to sit for an hour. Once that hour was up, it was time to draw blood again. In all, I had 3 hours of waiting and 4 blood draws...just fabulous!!

After my test was over, I had lunch with mom (I WAS SO HUNGRY) and we ran some errands. It was wonderful to spend my last friday off of the year with my momma.

That night, we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a great time with all my family and the Reynolds. I even had banana cream cheesecake for dessert. I only ate half and passed the rest down the table because I was SO full, but it was YUMMY!!!

All in all, I had a great day, even if I had to spend the first 3 hours of my day sitting in a Dr's office. I'm so blessed with everything that I have. 27 was a spectacular year and I'm excited to see what 28 has in store for me.

November 30th - Glucose Results

2009-12-09T18:00:00.001-06:00

Monday, November 30th, I got a call about my 1 hr Glucose test results....I FAILED! :-( They said that my levels were 146 and they like for them to be under 140. So, I had to schedule a 3 hour test now. Ugh! I scheduled my test for Friday, December 4th @ 7:30am. Nothing like starting off your birthday at a Doctor's office for 3 hours. Oh well!

Puttin' up the lights!

2009-12-08T19:35:00.001-06:00

After a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch and a little lounging around at John and Debbie's house, we decided it was time to go home and get out the lights. Kyle was on his way from Midlothian to help Preston and his brother would be there soon enough to help as well. I wasn't loving the idea that he was doing this at night but I felt a lot better with Kyle and Keith being there. I helped a little bit, but I definitely wasn't that much help. Keith brought Alicia with him, so once they got there, her and I headed to Starbucks for a little hot chocolate. When we got back we pulled a couple of our front porch chairs out to the middle of the sidewalk. We sat in the chairs, cuddled up with a blanket and our hot chocolate and watched the boys work away. I did manage to snap a couple of pictures of the boys.....

Preston on the roof, Kyle on the ladder

Getting close....

Preston lounging while the other two are untangling the lights below

Here's our pretty house!!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-08T19:30:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was at Mimi and Papa's house this year.  We woke up early and headed out the door around 9am to Trenton, Tx. I love this time of year because we get to spend a little extra time with family and I love every minute.  It was a little different this year because Dad, Tyler, and Marcus weren't there. Darren McFadden (Marcus' best friend that plays for the Oakland Raiders) got them tickets to the Cowboy game, so they missed out on Thanksgiving this year. We had lots of food and family time.  Of course I was bad and didn't take any pictures. I think I actually took a couple of pictures of the food with my phone and sent them to Dad to show them what they were missing out on.  Ha! I know...mean.

It worked out well this year because Preston's brother, Keith, and his girlfriend, Alicia, wouldn't be in town until Friday so we had Thanksgiving with Debbie and John on Friday.  We normally go to her house after having it with my family and I always feel so bad because we are stuffed by then. It was nice having it the next day so we could enjoy everything again!! ;-)

All in all, Thanksgiving was wonderful!! Preston and I have SO much to be thankful for and we are truly blessed for all that we have. We thank the good Lord for our precious families, wonderful friends, jobs, our house, and everything else that we have. We wouldn't be who we are without Him.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Glucose Test and 7 month check up

2009-12-08T19:15:00.001-06:00

Wednesday, November 25th @ 1:15pm, I had my 7 month checkup appointment with Dr. Bailey. I had my 1 hour glucose test. I had to drink a very "sugary" drink 30 minutes before my appointment and then had my blood drawn exactly 1 hour from the point of starting the drink. This test will look for Gestational Diabetes. I should find out the results in a couple of days.

At this appointment, I addressed my swelling with her and she didn't seem worried because my blood pressure has been really good. She said that some women swell and when they do, they all swell at different points in their pregnancies. She said unless we start seeing other signs and/or symptoms that there are no worries. Her heartrate was 141 and everything looked great!

Now we just wait for the results of the 1 hr glucose test.......

FROM ONE BRITNEY FAN TO ANOTHER....

2009-12-08T19:10:00.001-06:00

During the week of Thanksgiving, I received a package on the front door step. I LOVE getting packages!!! I quickly brought the package in and saw that it was from my sweet friend "Paige." I tore it open and to my surprise I found a note saying, "From one Britney fan to another...." And accompanying the note, I saw "THE" onesie!! I remember seeing a picture of her son in it and I commented on the picture saying, "I NEED that!!!" I was SO excited that she sent it to ME!! I just couldn't believe it. I picked up the phone and immediately called my momma. Now, we are on a mission to find a matching gold bow to go with her Britney onesie! ;-) Thanks SO much Paigey!!! Love you!

I can't get this picture to turn for some reason, so you just have to turn your head sideways to get a good look! Can't wait to get her picture in this one.

Cathy comes to paint...

2009-12-08T19:00:00.001-06:00

Our dear family friend, Cathy White, graciously volunteered to help me out with the nursery. She loves to paint and is very good at what she does. I was so excited when she told me she would love to paint my nursery for me. Cathy lives in Wimberly, Tx, so we had to wait until she could find a weekend to get down here and get started.

Preston and I painted the majority of the room (green) that Sunday night and then she came Monday, November 23rd to start on it. She finished up all the trim work that Preston and I left specifically for her to do and then started taping off the lines. At this point, she was still unsure what she was going to do, but thought she would start something and see what I thought.

Cathy painting the trim while mom looks on

She taped off small stripes and painted them hot pink

There will be 2 walls with stripes...the one she already did and the wall that you see to the right.

Now it's time for the brown stripes! As you can see, one of the sides on the brown stripe has a curvy edge. It was getting pretty late and Cathy wasn't sure that she liked it, so she ended up leaving one brown stripe for me to "live" with for a couple weeks until she could make it back again to finish it up and to give me time to decide if I liked it or not.

I think I'm lovin' it!!! It's something a little different than the normal straight line.

7 MONTHS PREGNANT - 28 Weeks

2009-12-08T18:59:00.029-06:00

Well, here I am at 28 weeks (November 22nd)! I really can't believe I'm only 12 weeks away. Things are definitely changing. I have noticed that my feet and hands have really started to swell. My ankles swell more than my hands do. I'm also having a little more pain in my hips and back. I feel like the "tiredness" has hit me again. Almost to the extent it was during the 1st trimester, but I'm hanging in there. Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is still so much fun. I'm loving every minute of it! I guess you can ask me that in a few more weeks or I'll make sure to answer that question. ha!

Here are few pics of me at 28 weeks.....and a couple of my swollen ankles and feet. :-)

Where did my ankles go? These pictures are actually pretty good compared to a couple I have on my phone.

Looking forward to seeing what this pregnancy brings me and my body during the next 3 months...did I really say looking foward? ha!

Busy Weekend....a lot accomplished!!! (continued from last post)

2009-12-07T21:15:00.001-06:00

This was a VERY busy weekend. Not only did I get both trees decorated, a few other things happened as well.

Friday, I had a wonderful surprise at my front door! It was our TRAVEL SYSTEM!!! I thought to myself, who in the world did that? I opened the packing slip and saw that it was from Crystal and Brent!! I was SO very excited. Sad that Crystal wasn't going to be able to make the shower, but excited because we got our first big gift. That was SO incredibly nice of them to do and we couldn't be more appreciative. Brent and Crys have always been a special part of my life (heck, they babysat me when I was little and I love to hear the story of her always checking on me to make sure I was still breathing when I was alseep).

I also got a call on Friday that our glider and ottoman for the nursery had come in. This was turning out to be a very exciting day! So once we got finished with the trees, mom and I went to go pick it up at BuyBuyBaby.

Saturday was kind of a busy day for me...P had a playoff game and then I had a wedding to go to that night, so not a whole lot got done, but that's okay. Sunday, I got up, went to church to keep my babies and when I returned, Preston had put together the glider and had started on the travel system.

Below is a picture of our new glider and ottoman that Preston put together and also a few of our new stroller, car seat, and base!!!

THANKS BRENT AND CRYS!!!

Later that day, we decided it was time to start taping off and painting the nursery....Cathy would be coming that next day to start on painting the accents. Let me just tell you, taping + Amy + Preston + Painting = not a good thing! We made it through it, but definitely not something the two of us should do together all the time. ha!

Here it is! Like I said, Cathy will be coming tomorrow to finish up all the edging and start the stripes. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Time to Decorate!

2009-12-02T21:00:00.000-06:00

Friday, November 20th - Mom, Mimi, and Papa came over to get the decorating started! Actually Mom came first and we got started on the 6ft tree. I haven't had all of my personal ornaments out on a tree since I lived in my apartment in Richardson so it was a real treat to be able to get them all back out again. Mom and I had lots of fun looking at all the dates on my ornaments and talking about each person that I got them from. Through the years, I have been really good about writing on the box or the ornament who it was from, what year, and the occassion, if any.

If anyone needs a good idea for a "someone special" in their lives, give ornaments! Crystal and Brent Railsback have done that for me and my brother every Christmas growing up and it's been a very special thing for the both of us. Each year, they would give us an ornament that pretty much pertained to something in our lives at that time. I have one for my first car, a few college ones, gymnastics and cheerleading ornaments, "lake" related ornaments, and many more. They wrote on each box the year and that it was from them. I have kept all of the original boxes for the ornaments and like I said, it's so much fun to think back on all the memories over the years. So, a HUGE thanks to Crys and Brent for doing that for me. It's definitely something special that I will get to look back on and "remember" every year. Love you guys!

Nothing special, but here is the small tree that sits in our dining room window with all of our "fun" ornaments.

Excuse the paint on the back wall, I am deciding on paint colors. ;-)

Here's the tree with the lights on.

Now for the BIG tree in the living room and fireplace mantle! This is our 2nd Christmas to be in our house, so we've only had this tree and the decorations for 2 years. I'm so thankful to have my momma help me, especially this year, being almost 7 months pregnant. Mimi and Papa were here by this time so they joined in on all the fun too!

.....and we have a DECORATED TREE!!! YAY!!!

With lights!!! Can't wait to get presents under it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

2009-11-30T20:53:00.000-06:00

Well...at least in the Gill household. Yes, I know...it's not even Thanksgiving yet, it's only November 13th, but I just LOVE this time of year. And I love to be able to enjoy my tree. I think last year I put my tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving, so this year, I'm really just a week earlier. Okay, so don't get too excited. I just wanted to get the tree up this weekend, not really decorate it yet.

And even better, I bought a 6ft tree for the dining room this year to decorate with all of my "fun" ornaments. So I'm super excited to get both of my trees up! This particular friday night, Preston and I went to grab a bite to eat with Ady, Ryan and Eli at Dos Charros, then we came home for a little "family" night with the boys (our doggies).

Preston would put each piece on for me and then I would fix each branch. It took me a while to do all of this because I had to take a few breaks. My back was killing me, but sooner then later, we had a beautiful tree waiting to be decorated!

Last piece!! Don't worry, I was extra careful on the step stool and Preston made sure I didn't fall.

VOILA!!! We have a Christmas tree! Such a wonderful feeling I get each time I look at it. Preston and I both love Christmas so it makes it a very special time for us. I can't wait to get it decorated next weekend!

26 Weeks

2009-11-30T20:38:00.000-06:00

Sunday, November 8th....I'm 26 weeks along and quickly approaching my 3rd trimester (just 2 more weeks). I really can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I've been feeling good still, but my ankles and hands have been starting to swell. It doesn't happen everyday, but I'm definitely not able to wear my wedding ring or band now. I have turned to my "trusty Target bling." Below are some pictures of me at 26 weeks.

Finally headed West!

2009-11-30T20:22:00.000-06:00

Saturday, November 7th, I headed out west to Decatur to meet up with Ashley. Ash and I have known each other since I was in the 5th grade and she was in 6th. We did gymnastics together, became best of friends, and ended up going to Tech and living together during and after college. Our friendship goes waaaayyyy back and we have certainly been through a lot. For many years we had been attached at the hip. We both ended up getting married last year, within 2 weeks of each other, and had to "grow up." It was a busy but FUN year!!!
Right now, she lives in Paradise, Tx with her wonderful husband, Landon. They will soon be moving to Bridgeport where hey are in the process of building a house of their very own. YAY!!! The hard part has been her not living in Plano or within 5-10 miles of me now. The bad part is that I had not been out to see her since she has been married and living there. So....we FINALLY got our acts together and made time and plans for me to go out there and spend a little time.

I met her in Decatur at Chili's for a little lunch. After that, she took me to a few "cute" spots in Decatur to shop around, then we headed out to Paradise. I got to see where her and Landon have been living for the past year and four months, then we went to Bridgeport so I could see their "lot" where they are building their future home. I'm SO excited for them and I know she is very ready to be in her OWN house!

I didn't get any pictures of us and I'm mad because I should have. It was a great day and definitely much needed for the two of us. I know she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kinley and I can't wait for them to meet!

Adelynn Grace Murry

2009-11-24T21:21:00.000-06:00

One of my best friends from college, Amber, had her baby on October 25th. I wasn't able to make it over to Ft. Worth to see her that weekend but I was able to head over that way on Friday, November 6th. I was SO excited to get to meet her. She's even more precious in person and I'm so happy for Amber and Brandon! They are going to be wonderful parents and I can't wait for our baby girl's to meet each other someday soon.

Me and Adelynn Grace

I also got another treat while I was there. Brandon brought us Rosa's home for lunch!!! For those of you that don't know, Rosa's is in Lubbock and one of my fav's. I never get to eat it anymore because there aren't any in the Dallas area. I was SO very excited for this lunch and it was very sweet of B to do that. This day was a real treat....I got to see my good friend that I don't see that often, meet her precious little angel, and eat Rosa's!!! Couldn't have been any better!

Best Workplace on Earth!!!

2009-11-24T20:18:00.001-06:00

Every year our Bosses at work take us on "an annual shopping trip." Our trip this year happened to be planned for Tuesday, November 3rd. We have to arrive at work before 9:15 and in everyday clothes prepared to shop till we drop..

Our ride arrives at 9:30am.

We all pile in and away we go! This year dad joined us, but Steve stayed behind. Normally it's just the girls that go.

Tanya and Carol are excited and ready to go.

Dad looks like he's ready to go too! He told us we were headed to Cabela's and that we had to all buy a Camo shirt and a gift for him and/or Steve. The funny part is, some of the girls actually believed him. A majority of them had no clue what Cabela's was. What?

So here's the deal, each year we have no clue where we are headed. This year the limo dropped us off at Stonebriar Center. Once we get in the mall, we are handed an envelope with directions and a certain amount of money. We have from 10:00am-4:30pm (with a break for lunch and another break for cheesecake both at The Cheesecake Factory) to spend the money. Now there are just a couple of rules that go along with this "money." We are to spend the money on ourselves only...no kids, dogs, spouses, family members, etc. You get the point. And, we have to turn in all reciepts. Whatever money is NOT spent, we have to give that back as well. This year, we also knew that there was a twist at the end, but none of us had a clue what the twist entailed.

Here's a pic of everyone (minus Dad and Kim) getting ready to eat some lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then head back for some more shopping until it's time for cheesecake.

This year I ended up spending all but .29. I was able to get some new house shoes, a pair of maternity jeans, a maternity shirt, perfume, 2 books, and a small mirror for my purse. Normally, I end up spending all of my money and some in the Coach store. I made it a point this year to not even step foot in the store because once I do, I'm done! I thought I did pretty well.

This twist this year happened once we got back in the limo at 4:30pm to head back to the office. Dad and Kim totaled up everyone's receipts. The person who spent the most (over their alotted money) got to pick an envelope first. The person who spent the least got to pick last, and we played a little white elephant game with envelopes that had different amounts of money in them. I ended up getting to pick 2nd to last and after the game was over I ended up with the "winning" envelope of an extra $100. WHOOO HOO!!!

All in all, it was a great day!! We always have SO much fun getting to do this and we feel very special. It's such a treat for us and it comes at a perfect time of year. I truly do work at a wonderful office (and I'm not just saying that because I work for my dad). We have a wonderful group of girls and a wonderful group of bosses. We all have a love for the Lord and I truly believe that is what makes our office half of what it is. I am very blessed to be able to work with my dad and everyone else. Most of them have pretty much known me all my life so it's been fun getting to work with them each and every day. Thank you DATATAX for loving it's employees!!!!

First Fire

2009-11-24T20:01:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't set the house on fire trying to cook....but, we did have our first fire in our fireplace since we've been in the house. I'm a girl that grew up with my daddy ALWAYS making fires in the fireplace, so this is a real treat for me. I'm hoping we have a few more colder nights this winter so we can have some more fires in our fireplace. Once thing we discovered AFTER the fire was built....we don't have a fire set?? Preston went to the garage to see what he could find for a poker. I think he came across an old golf club? It worked great, but I think maybe we should invest in a fire set, especially if we are going to have more fires.

Halloween Party - White Trash Bash

2009-11-22T18:00:00.001-06:00

Our friends and neighbors, Todd and Miranda, have a Halloween party at their house every year. This year the theme was a "White Trash Bash." I've never seen Preston so excited about a party, but this year, he was pumped about the theme. There was lots of good food, good friends, and good fun! I was bad and didn't take many pictures this year, but I did manage to snap a couple. I will see if I can get some pictures from one of the other girls and post them later. I went as a white trash pregnant lady. I wore sweatpants, one of Preston's "Dub's Liquor" shirts (where he worked in college), house shoes, and ratted my hair. And of course sported my 6-month belly. Preston, well, you can see in the pic below. He went through 3 pairs of jeans that night trying to get them just right. Such a mess!

Here are a couple pics....like I said, I didn't take much and I'm sad that I didn't. There were some great costumes!

Todd, Ryan, and Preston

A few people around the fire pit that night

All in all, we had fun eventhough we had to go home a little earlier. I was tired and P....well, let's just say he had fun! ;-)

Allen wins AGAIN!!!

2009-11-15T19:40:00.001-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I graduated from Allen High School in 2000 and Preston graduated from Plano East High School in 1999. Ever since Preston and I started dating, there's always been a "little" rivalry between us on which team is gonna win each year. If I correctly recall, Allen has pretty much dominated the past 7 years. ;-) Being an Allen Eagle all my life has made it really hard for me to have to cheer on East much less have to wear East clothing. But I have managed over the past couple of years. I'm so proud of Preston and I LOVE what he does and I LOVE being a part. I think I would wear flourescent orange and purple if I had to. A couple of years ago, I broke down and purchased my first East shirt, knowing that I was going to be cutting it in two (this is how I convinced myself it was okay). Mom and I made this Allen/East shirt for me to wear to the game. I have ended up wearing it every season since. I really thought that I wasn't going to be able to wear it this year, but it ended up fitting. I was SO excited!!!

Anyways, this year we were on my home turf and of course, Allen killed'em again. ;-) The score ended up being 58-21. This is also a fun game because my family (mom, dad, mimi, papa, Aunt Renee, Uncle Billy, and cousin Darren) were there also. Everyone is just as proud of Preston as I am and they love to support him as well.

FYI: I am now a proud owner of a few East shirts and I do wear them proudly!!! But....I will ALWAYS be an Allen Eagle at heart! ;-)

Dr. Bailey - 6 month checkup

2009-11-15T18:48:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, October 28th, I had my monthly checkup with Dr. Bailey at 3:00pm. Preston hasn't really been going to these "smaller" appointments but for some reason this time, he really wanted to go. Which didn't bother me any. I absolutely LOVE that he wants to be there! I know it's not always easy for him to get away from school and football so I definitely understand. It just so happened that his football team had a bye week and it was easier for him to get away this time.

Once again, she said everything looked great! Her heartrate was 140bpm and I was measuring where I was suppose to. I ended up getting the swine flu shot too. I really didn't know if I wanted to get this shot and I debated back and forth about it for a while. Dr. Bailey highly recommended it and I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to trust my doctor. So I did!

The plan is to go back in 4 weeks for my glucose test and then I start seeing her every 2 weeks. I can't believe we are almost to that point. This whole thing has really flown right by! I guess that's not a bad thing?

Pumpkin Carving with the Neighbors

2009-11-15T18:40:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, October 27th was our "3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving" with our sweet friends and neighbors. They started this a couple of years ago and then Preston and I were lucky enough to join them last year. It's a lot of fun and I love that we have started this tradition. We all bring our own pumpkins over to Miranda and Todd's house. This year we ordered pizza and carved away on thier front porch.

Eli is helping mom carve her pumpkin!

The Reynolds Family - Eli's first Halloween

New neighbors, Jocelyn and Chris joined us this year!!

Lauren (Steph's cousin) and Stephanie

Preston, Todd, and Miranda working diligently

Miranda and Me working away

Eli's TURN....

He made an "E" for Eli :-)

Not the best pic, but here's Me, Ady, and Eli

Here's our finished products!!! We are missing Jocelyn and Chris' pumpkins, they had already left to go home before we were completely finished. I think they all turned out pretty good.

Here they are with they lights off

This was such a great night! I now look forward to this every year and I wonder what next year will be like with baby Gill? Can't wait!!!

6 Months Preggo

2009-11-15T18:38:00.001-06:00

October 25th, I hit the 6 month mark! These past couple of months I have been feeling great. It seems that my hips and back have kind of started hurting this past week. Nothing that I can't handle just yet, but I'm sure it will only get worse as I grow. I still haven't had any weird cravings. I have been eating a lot of Jason's Deli chicken salad still, but I've always liked that. My indigestion and heart burn comes and goes. I'm still taking the zantac as I need it, but not everyday. I can tell that I have been a little bit more emotional. There are times when I cry at the drop of a hat. I'm sure Preston would have a few words to say about that, but good thing I'm typing this and he isn't, right?

I've been feeling her move around a lot more. No hard or huge kicks just yet, but I'm sure those are coming soon. Some people have asked if she has had the hiccups yet, but I don't believe she has. They say that I would know if she did. So now I'm waiting for the day she gets the hiccups, if she does.

I'm anxious to see what this next month brings. Hopefully I will still feel as great as I've been feeling. I feel like I have been very blessed so far. I've talked to some people who feel that pregnancy just wasn't for them. I hate that for them because as of right now, I have loved every minute. Yes, even the sick part (eventhough it wasn't fun) at first because I knew that the hormones were there and working.

Here are a couple of pictures of me at 24 weeks. Only 16 more to go!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-11-15T18:25:00.001-06:00

October 22nd, 2009, Preston turned 29!!! He actually had a football game on his birthday this year so we couldn't celebrate that night. For his special day this year, he decided that he wanted me to cook him dinner instead of us going out to eat. Because he was busy that night, I ended up cooking his birthday dinner on Wednesday night, the day before his bday. He requested Chicken Spaghetti, Salad, and Texas Toast. So that's just what he got! It was yummy!

Saturday of that week, we ended up running a full day of errands. I was so happy that he actually went with me. Some of the errands included birthday shopping for him, so I know that made the decision easier for him to go. He got a new pair of Oakley's, some new shoes, and a couple shirts. That night we grabbed a quick bite to eat with some friends. Then, Sunday night, we went to his mom's for another birthday dinner. All in all, I think it was a good birthday for him. ;-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!! (next year is the big one, wink wink)

Preston's Wreck

2009-11-15T18:23:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, October 21st, started out just like any other morning. We woke up, got ready for work, and headed out the door. I actually left before Preston on this particular morning. I was halfway to work when I received a call from him saying that he had been in a wreck. First thing I asked was, "Are you okay?" It scared me half to death. He said he was fine, just a little shaken up, and that it wasn't his fault (THANK GOODNESS)!!! Come to find out, it was a teenager who was driving his dad's friends car, and had lost control on a turn and ended up T-boning Preston while he was at a stop light waiting in the turn lane. I know that poor kid was probably scared half to death when he had to look Preston in the eyes after his car rammed right into the driver door of Preston's truck.

Thank the good Lord that Preston was not hurt and neither was the kid. Yes, it stinks his poor truck was hurt but I'd much rather it be the truck than a person. So a little over a week later, Preston's truck was as good as new. He received a WHOLE new left side and also a new bed liner. They said it was about $5,000 in damage. Once again, I am so thankful that nothing had to come out of our pockets!

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped of his poor truck the next morning.

Fan is in!

2009-11-09T22:30:00.000-06:00

Sunday, October 18th, Preston and I headed to Lowe's to purchase fans for Baby Gill's room and the guest bedroom. This is something we have been wanting to do for a while, but I guess it took having a baby to finally get the job done. After some help from one of our friends/neighbor's, Todd (thanks so much for all your help), we finally got it up and working. It actually turned out that the fan we put in her room was broken. One of the lights would not work. Todd checked it out for us and said it was definitely broken. Thank goodness we had the same fan for the other room. We opened the box and took the light kit from that fan and put it on the fan in the baby's room. We ended up taking the broken fan back and getting a new one to go in the guest bedroom (we have yet to put that one up).

Preston putting the fan together....he was so excited about me taking pictures. Ha! I told him he could just get over it because it it only the beginning. ;-)

He just loves having his picture taken!

VOILA....Baby girl has a fan! Thanks, Daddy!

Waking up to little kicks

2009-11-09T22:12:00.000-06:00

Wednesday morning (October 14th), I was woken up by very faint little kicks. Eventhough the kicks were small, they were obviously enough to wake me up. This happened at exactly 6:30am for the next 3 mornings. I laid there putting my hand on my tummy trying to feel when or where the next one would be. I debated on waking up Preston but I hardly knew myself where the next one would be, so I waited until the 3rd morning to actually wake him. Our little Princess didn't quite cooperate for him but we knew soon he would be able to feel her move. This is such a neat feeling and it left me wanting more. I couldn't wait until the next time she was awake to feel her move. I'm sure a little later on, I will be begging for her to stop kicking but as of right now, I'm enjoying every single "little" movement that she gives me. I can't wait for Preston to feel it and I know he is very anxious as well.

The Big Day - Furniture time!

2009-11-06T19:44:00.001-06:00

Saturday, October 10th was an exciting day for us! Mom and Mimi were at my house around 8:30am with breakfast in hand and ready to get to work. It was time to go get Baby Gill's furniture and I still had her room to finish cleaning out. We decided that it would probably be best that I didn't go with Preston to get the furniture because I would just be in the way, and I'm sure annoying, worrying about how they were loading it, where it needed to be covered, any bumps, etc...you get the point! So, our sweet neighbor, Chris (his wife, Jocelyn, is due 2 days before me), was kind enough to help Preston go pick up the furniture. While they were doing that, it was up to me, Mimi, and Mom to finish getting her room cleaned out. That also included hanging up some stuff around the house. Most of it had accumulated in her room.

It's FINALLY clean!!! I never thought I would actually get it all cleaned out. It seems like everytime I made progress, a week later it would accumulate more junk.

The closet is clean too!

THE FURNITURE HAS ARRIVED!!! I WAS SO VERY EXCITED!

Note to self (and anyone else purchasing a floor model): Be sure to pull the furniture away from any walls to check out ALL places of the furniture. Yes, I did not do that and we found 2 cracks/splits in the wood. They were in places that really didn't matter and nothing that a little wood clue and clamps (thanks Chris) couldn't fix. And I'm sure those won't be the last. We left the furniture like this until after church the next day and then it was good to go!

The crib is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE IT!

Here is the dresser and hutch. I added a few toys at the top but I'm sure they won't be staying there.

.......AND......Here are the fabric swatches for the bedding!!!! Stay tuned for the final pics in a couple of months. ;-)

Decisions, Decisions....Finally made a few!!!

2009-11-01T22:10:00.005-06:00

As you all know, I'm not the best "decision maker" there is, but lately, I've made a few and actually stuck to them.

For a few weeks now, I had the baby furniture picked out and found a bedding that I liked if it was for sure a little girl. While we were in Canton, I found another bedding that caught my eye and I just loved!! I knew that I would either find something that I really liked and buy it, or Adrianne's mom, Debbie, had already offered to make my bedding for me if I wanted her to. So here we are again.....trying to decide what I was going to do for sure about bedding.

The Saturday after we returned from Canton, Me, Mom, Adrianne and Eli set out on a day of errands. I wanted to get the furniture ordered and go look for fabric of the "Canton" bedding and return to the store where I first saw the other bedding I liked to hopefully make a decision. I was also going to look at furniture one more time (I don't know why I do this to myself, ha) and then the last stop would be BuyBuyBaby, where I had already picked out furniture, to get it all ordered.

We ran a couple errands, ate some lunch, then headed to Baby World. This was where the bedding set was that I originally liked. They also have furniture, so I planned on doing another walk-thru there. And guess what??? I FOUND IT!!! I found my furniture!!! A little different from what I had already picked out, but I loved it. THIS WAS IT!!! It was the last model they had so it was on sale. And because it was the floor model, this meant that we could take it home with us. Now we didn't have the correct vehicle to get it home that day, so we planned on coming to pick it up the following Saturday. I was SO excited!

They didn't have the bedding set there that I originally liked but I could still order it from them. By that time, I had pretty much made up my mind. I really liked the "Canton" bedding that I found. However, the lady was charging an arm and a leg for it. After talking it over with Debbie (Ady's mom), we decided to go on a hunt for the fabric and that she would make it for me. I'm SO grateful for her and I can't wait for the finished product!!!

So from there, we headed to the fabric stores. We happened to find all the fabric we needed except for one. This was a very good sign! My next mission was to look online for the final fabric and we would have it made....literally.

Mark this day down in the books as a SUCCESSFUL one for me!! I purchased baby furniture and made decision on the baby bedding. GO ME!!

P.S. Stay tuned for pictures of the furniture and fabric swatches.....

Girl stuff here I come...CANTON

2009-10-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

I've always heard great things about Canton but until the beginning of this year, I had never been. Friday, October 2nd, I was able to head out there for my second time this year. I was SO excited to go because we had just found out we were having a girl and they have TONS of cute stuff!!!

Me, Mom, Mimi, and Adrianne headed out early friday morning and spent the day finding all kinds of goodies. I could have gone waayyyyy overboard but I think I did pretty well. I only ended up buying 2 outfits. Mom also bought a few things for her 1st granddaughter including some diaper covers, a couple of onesies, and some bows.

Here are pictures of what I bought for Baby Gill. I will be getting some of moms gifts at my baby shower so those pictures won't be posted until then.

The onesie says "Imported from Heaven." I love the ruffles on the pants and the matching bow.

Here is a onesie, matching leg warmers and a bow. I can't wait to get these on her!! I absolutely LOVE Canton! There is just SO much there and both times I've been we haven't been able to hit it all. I wish we were able to have more time, but that just means next time, we've gotta make a weekend out of it! hehe!

IT'S A......

2009-10-13T18:30:00.002-05:00

GIRL!!!!

Well, it's official....We had our big "sono" on Wednesday, September 30th @ 3:00pm. Everything looked great and the sonographer said that Dr. Albert was right if he told us we were having a girl!!!

You might be wondering how Preston took the news? I know he was still holding out for a little boy but I think being told it "might" be a girl a few weeks earlier really helped. We are both very excited and can't wait to have a "pretty pretty little princess (as P called her)!" We are so thankful and blessed that everything looked good. Dr. Bailey said that all of her measurements looked great and she seemed to be doing well. I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

We didn't get very good sonogram pics. The sonographer printed the "girl" one but it's so small you can't really see anything. And then we got one of her face but it's really hard to tell. I will try and get them uploaded soon and I'll update this blog once I do.

5 Months Pregnant

2009-10-12T18:45:00.001-05:00

Sunday, Sept 27th.....I'M 5 MONTHS PREGNANT!!! Wow, I can't believe another month has gone by. It's going by SO fast. I'm not sure how much longer I will be saying that, but I do feel that it's flying right by.

Lately, I've been feeling great!! All of my nausea is completely gone and has been for a few weeks and my indigestion has calmed down a bit. I'm wearing maternity clothes now and not really able to wear any of my regular pants, but that's okay because I'm enjoying every minute. I really haven't had any weird food cravings yet, or at least any that I think are too weird. I haven't been working out much which isn't good. I'm hoping to get moving more these next couple of months, so we'll see. I've been trying to take pictures about every 2 weeks. I feel that these were the first pictures where I actually start to "look" pregnant, so I thought I would share.

Here I am at 20 weeks

Another Baby Shower!!

2009-10-11T18:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday, September 26th was Amber's shower in McKinney. It seems that SO many of my friends are pregnant and having babies right now and I LOVE IT!! It's so much fun to be able to go through all of this together. I love having them to call for advice, share stories, and just to talk to.

Amber is another one of my best friends from college. She was my "accounting" buddy and I truly believe she was one of the reasons that I got through it all. She's an amazing friend. Even though she's another friend I don't see often, we talk on the phone as much as we can. Her and her husband, Brandon, live in Ft. Worth and they are expecting their first child, Adelynn Grace, on October 30th. I'm so excited that we are having little girls together!! She is my first friend to have a little girl this year....they've ALL been sweet baby boys!

Both mom and I were able to go. I was excited to be able to see one of our other college buds, Monica. Amber and Monica were roommates and I basically lived with them my senior year. They are both very speical to me!

Here is a picture of me, Amber, and Monica at the shower

Brady Hart Blankenship

2009-10-08T18:00:00.003-05:00

After my doctor's appointment that friday, I headed over to Hurst to see Baby Brady!!! One of my best friends from college (Paige, I blogged about her shower earlier) gave birth to Brady Hart Blankenship (by way of C-section) on 9/9/09. The neat thing about this date was that her and her husband were married on 7/7/07...this was SO Paige!! ;-) Anyways, Brady came into this world weighing a whopping 10lbs 12oz and 21 inches long....just a healthy baby boy.

I figured the hospital would be crazy with family, friends, etc., so I decided to wait until they got home and settled before I went to see them. This day was the perfect opportunity and I'm so glad that I was able to go. Paige looked absolutely wonderful, maybe just a little tired, as expected from any new mother. And Brady was absolutely adorable!!!

Paige and Justin are going to be wonderful parents and I love that we are getting to share in this experience together. I just wish we lived a little closer so we could spend more time together. Oh well, it just makes every moment I do spend with her very special. Paige and I share a VERY special bond and we have from the moment we met in our sorority. We are very different people, but I have always believed that's what makes us who we are in our friendship. We bring out the best in each other! I love you PAIGEY and I'm SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

WELCOME TO THIS WORLD BRADY HART!!! YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY SO MANY PEOPLE THAT LOVE YOU....INCLUDING ME!!!

Another Check-up

2009-10-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Friday, September 18th @ 9:30am, I had my monthly check-up. Dr. Bailey used the doppler to listen to the heartbeat. She kind of had to chase it around a little bit because the baby was moving like crazy. What a sweet sound to hear though once she tracked it down! I never knew how "in love" you could be with a heartbeat? But I love hearing it!!

After that, she felt around on my tummy for a little bit and said everything felt and looks great! She also informed me that I was getting my flu shot that day, which I had never had before. It was a piece of cake though, I didn't even feel it. Dr. Bailey wanted to see me in 2 weeks for the big "sono." I had been waiting for those words! We can't wait to find out if this baby is "for sure" a Girl or a Boy! Most of all, we pray that I'm carrying a healthy baby. I guess we will know for sure very soon.....stay tuned!

September - It's time to make room for the baby!!!

2009-10-05T18:00:00.001-05:00

I'm not working friday's right now and that is soon going to come to an end. I decided that I should probably take full advantage of these last couple of months with friday's off and get started on making room for the baby.

Right now, the baby's room is filled with many things. First of all, it has been our "boys" room for the past year or so. Their kennels are in there and that's where they sleep everynight. There's not many more places they can go in our house because their kennels take up so much room, but we decided that the study would be the best place. The closet is full of Preston's hunting clothes, some of my clothes, tubs of picture albums, decorations, and more. The Christmas tree and all of my Christmas decorations are also in the room. There are a ton of things that still need to be hung up around the house just sitting in one of the corners. Also, when mom and dad moved out of "our old house," we moved EVERYTHING that was mine to this room. This included all my old high school and gymnastics stuff. Needless to say, this room was full!!!!

In order to start on this room, we needed to get the dog kennel's out and moved into the study. Well, the study was a complete disaster too. There were papers everywhere!!! Mostly because I hadn't been filing them and they were collecting everywhere possible. So, the study is where we started. I was able to get rid of a lot of stuff....old bills, receipts, papers, etc. I wish I would have taken a pic of the study before, but I didn't. It was horrible!!

Here is the finished product!!

Mom and Mimi - proud of all their hard work!! Thanks so much for your help....I couldn't have done it without ya'll! Love you!

We took the boys' kennels outside and washed them out with the water hoses and got them all nice and clean.

Here are the kennels in their "new room."

This pretty much took up most of the day. We decided to give it a rest for the day and pick up again the next friday. So a week went by, and this is what we started with.....

A work in progress!!!

As you can see, there was trash and Goodwill piles everywhere!!! But it felt so good to FINALLY get rid of stuff.

No picture of the finish product yet! The closet is cleaned out but there is still stuff in the room. The gun safe still needs to be moved out and there is a lot that needs to go in the garage. Like I said, it's a work in progress and we have definitely made some! Hopefully there will be another post soon, showing a CLEAN room that's ready for Baby Gill!

Fredericksburg, Tx

2009-09-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

The last weekend of August, Mom and I headed to Fredericksburg, Tx for the weekend to meet up with one of our family friends and her daughter for a little girls weekend. They live in Wimberly and we have been saying for years that we need to do this and we FINALLY did! Taylor plays volleyball for Wimberly and they had a tournament in Fredericksburg that weekend so we thought it would be the perfect place to get together.

Cathy and Tay are like family to us and we go waayyyyy back!! I was so excited to finally have a weekend with them and spend some time with the both of them. We had so much fun....eating, shopping, and going to Tay's volleyball games.

Here are a couple pics of Tay in action!

Saturdday night, we decided to head out to Luckenbach, Tx to check things out. Below is a picture of the four of us.

Cathy, Taylor, Me, and Mom

Was that it??

2009-09-27T18:15:00.000-05:00

I think I felt the baby move Thursday night, August 27th, but I'm not exactly sure. Preston was at his first football game and it was away so I stayed home. I was curled up in the recliner watching TV and all of a sudden I felt this crazy feeling way down low. It was very subtle, but I really think that was it!!! I put the tv on mute and stayed really still. I felt it a couple more times and then it was gone. I can't wait to feel the baby move more and figure out if what I felt was this precious little miracle that God has blessed me with.

2nd Scare - 15 weeks

2009-09-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, you're reading that right...we had another scare. Sunday, August 23rd at about 11:30pm, I had another round of bleeding. This time it was a little more than the first. I was a little worried but tried to keep calm. Remembering what Dr. Bailey told me last time, I put on a pad and tried to get some sleep. Of course that was a little easier said than done. When I got up the next morning, the bleeding had pretty much stopped. It did make me feel better but I was still worried.

I called Dr. Bailey's office that morning when I got to work and let them know what went on. Dr. Bailey said that she was pretty sure everything was fine but I could come in that afternoon and they would use the doppler to check the heartbeat just to make sure. I feel like I'm becoming a regular at the Dr.'s office, but that's exactly what I did. At 3:45pm, that Monday, I headed to her office to make sure everything was okay.

This was Preston's first day of school so he was unable to go with me. I think I was fine until I was sitting in the waiting room. My stomach felt like it was going to come out of my throat and I was SO nervous. They took me back to the room and there I waited some more for Dr. Bailey to come in. She finally came in and grabbed the doppler. The minute she found the heartbeat, I burst into tears. I think I had been trying to hold back my emotion all day long and finally released it when I knew everything was okay. Dr. Bailey said that sometimes your body just does that for no reason at all. I'm hoping this is the last "scare." Please no more of these!!

I called mom on the way home and told her "this thing must be a girl if it's already causing me this much trouble, ha!" I guess we will soon find out for sure! Stay tuned.....

Divine Consign Sale in Plano

2009-09-26T22:55:00.001-05:00

Every year, Divine Consign has 4 HUGE consignment sales. Two of them are in Plano and the other 2 in Grapevine. I went to the Grapevine Spring sale with Adrianne and her mom last year to look for baby Eli, so I was super excited to go again this year. Plano's fall sale was the weekend of August 20th-23rd.

Friday morning, me, Ady, and Eli loaded up and headed to the Plano Center to meet Ady's mom, Debbie. We jumped in line, which wasn't too bad, and waited patiently for the doors to open. There was SO much stuff.....pack n' plays, high chairs, exersaucers, bouncy seats, toilets, car seats, strollers, bath tubs, toys, books, bottles, bags, carriers, the list could go on and on and on, but most of all...there were CLOTHES!!! So many clothes!! The great part was that Adrianne had already been the night before (her friend gave her a guest pass), and she had already got what she wanted for Eli. So, Ady and I headed straight for the girl clothes (this doctor better be right), while GiGi (Debbie) tooked Eli to shop around. You should have seen Eli's stroller. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. We had clothes EVERYWHERE and stacked taller than the stroller, don't worry Eli wasn't in it :-). I just kept thinking and saying, "What if this is a boy?" Adrianne kept reassuring me that it wasn't and if it was then we'll just re-consign all this stuff.....sounded good to me! So once we had just about overloaded the stroller, we headed to the tables to sort through all the stuff and decide which ones were "keepers." I thought I did pretty good. I narrowed it down a LOT, but still came home with a LOT! Below are some pictures of the "goodies" from that morning.

After we left the consignment sale, Adrianne and I decided it was time for some lunch and that maybe we weren't finished shopping. We headed to one of our favorites, Taco Bueno!! We ate some lunch and decided to go to Grapevine Mills (note: this was tax free weekend as well). To Grapevine we went! We found a few more things while there and she even talked me into trying on some maternity clothes. I was a little reluctant at first, but I finally gave in. I'm glad I did because I ended up buying a pair of jeans, 3 shirts, and some lounge pants with a zip up jacket. Granted, I wasn't big enough to wear any of this yet, but I knew that I would be soon.

Here are some of the cute finds I bought at Grapevine Mills.

Dr. Bailey appt - 14w1d

2009-09-23T18:00:00.000-05:00

Monday, August 17th, I had a regular check-up with Dr. Bailey. This was the first appointment that Preston had to miss. The school year was fast approaching and it was time for all Plano teachers to head back to school. It was okay with me that he couldn't go because nothing major was happening....it was just a check-up. A very short one too. She basically just asked me a few questions, found the heartbeat, and I was out of there.

The heartbeat was 158bpm this time, so it's definitely slowing down a little. She said that was normal and it will eventually even out once I get a little further along. Such a neat neat sound everytime I hear it. Who would have thought that I would live for the next time I got to hear the heartbeat? Such a little miracle! Thank you God!!

Our Boys!

2009-09-19T22:10:00.006-05:00

For those of you who don't know....Preston and I have two boys already....our doggies!!! We love them more than anything and we can't wait to bring a little one into the house with them. Our lab, Bo, will be 6 years in January. We got him when he was just a baby, probably around 9 weeks or so. He has always lived with Preston, until after we got married, when "mom" (that's me) got to move into our new house with the boys. "Bozer" (as we sometimes call him) has been so much fun to have in our lives. He's a very active lab and LOVES the water. A little over a year and a half ago we decided that Bo boy needed a friend to keep him company while we were gone all day. That's when we decided to get "Baby Shiner." Shiner is a white boxer and will be 2 years old in January. We actually got him from someone that I've known for a while (Thanks Lauren and Robert), so it was a perfect situation both ways. She knew he would be going to a good home and we knew where he was coming from.

Both of our families have always had labs or golden retrievers, so a boxer was a new breed for us. It's definitely a breed that we would get all over again. He is such a mess and we laugh often. All I can say is that Shiner keeps us on our toes. Bo and Shiner absolutely love each other and they play all the time. He has been the BEST thing for Bo and we are so glad that we have both of our "boys."

Here are a couple of pictures I have taken lately. Be prepared to smile....they are just too darn cute! (Well, at least we think so!)

Someone turned 30!!!!

2009-09-19T15:33:00.010-05:00

NOPE not me!! ha!! I still have a couple years to go, but Adrianne did!! (If I can only look 1/2 as good as her at 30, I'll be happy.) Eight of us headed to Chaucer's for some great sushi (I only ate the cooked stuff) and fun! We had a great time and ended up coming back to the house for hot fudge sundae's and a little hanging out.

Here's the birthday girl with her hubby - Ryan and Ady

Brett and Anna - Adrianne and Anna work together. I'm so glad they were able to make it and even made the drive back to Wylie to hang out for a bit.
Our neighbors and friends - Todd and Miranda
Me and my sweet hubby. I finally got him eating some sushi...YAY!!!! Life's always interesting with these two. Definitely a party! ha!
The Girls - Amy, Miranda, Ady, and Anna

Me and the Birthday Girl!!! I'm so blessed to have her in my life!

Early Screening

2009-09-19T15:01:00.004-05:00

On August 7th, Preston and I got up very early and headed to Plano Presby to meet with Dr. Albert for our early screening appointment. The appt was at 8:30am. Dr. Albert is a perinatologist. My doctor sends all of her patients to him for this test.

The early screening sonogram checks for 3 different trisomy's, one of them being Down's Syndrome. I thought this was pretty interesting but they actually measure the back of the neck to see if there is a chance of your baby having DS. I had heard many great things about Dr. Albert. One being he is supposedly very good at being able to determine the sex of the baby this early. This was one of the reason's why we were so excited about going to see him. I've heard that he has only been wrong twice on the sex in the past 6 years??? Now that's pretty good!

At this appointment, I was 12 weeks and 5 days pregnant, so again, still really early. The greatest thing about this appointment was we got to see our little one again and this time it actually looked like a little baby. Such an amazing little miracle. It was sucking its thumb the whole time....uh oh...another little Amy on our hands, yikes!!! We not only got a couple of pictures from the sonogram, but we got a DVD with the whole sono on it. I thought that was a very neat thing for us to keep. Here are a couple sonogram pictures from the appointment.

This is one of my favorite pictures that we have so far. Up close and personal side profile and it's sucking its thumb. So sweet! We love you Baby Gill and we can't wait to meet you!!

Everything looked great at the sono. The measurements were right where they needed to be and there were no concerns. Praise the Lord!!! Now onto the fun part....Dr. Albert said, "Okay, so you know it's still too early to tell, but do you want to know what I think it is?" Of course we said, "YES!!!" He told us that he thinks it's a GIRL!!! So I guess we will find out for sure when I'm 20 weeks and we'll get to confirm just how good this Dr. Albert is. ;-) I'm very anxious to find out.

Circus! Circus!! Circus!!!

2009-09-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

The same Sunday, we had a full day planned. After church, Preston and Ryan headed out to Trenton to help my parents with the house. They were going to have a "boys" afternoon, while we got to have a little "girl and family" time. Adrianne, Eli, and I headed to Uncle Julio's for lunch to meet up with her mom, dad, sister, and her roommate.

Ady's precious parents - Debbie and Alan

Ady's sister, Kelly (right) and her roommate, Susan.

Me, Ady, and Eli

After lunch, we did a little shopping and then off to the CIRCUS we went!!!! I LOVE the circus and I haven't been in a very long time. I was SO excited to go.

My how the circus has changed over the years. It was fun to see and I'm so glad we went. I think Eli enjoyed his first circus. He did great!!! Here's me, E, and Kelly.

12 WEEKS PREGNANT

2009-09-18T17:50:00.000-05:00

Sunday, August 2nd - I'm 3 months pregnant!!! I had been waiting for this milestone so we could start telling people. Because it was Sunday, we were able to tell our Sunday school class that day. I was so excited to finally spread the news. I can't remember what was said when we told everyone but there was something pretty funny that came out of Preston's mouth. I'll have to ask him and try to remember then update this post.

Canon turns 2!!!

2009-09-18T17:45:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned Amy Pratt and her boys before....on August 1st, Canon, turned 2 years old. I can't believe he's already 2!! Seems like it was just the other day we were waiting for Mason (her 1st) to get here, and now she just had #3. Time really flies.

Here's the birthday boy and dad!

He really enjoyed his cake this year....more than last year!

Paige's Baby Shower

2009-09-18T17:24:00.001-05:00

One of my best friend's from college, Paige Elder-Blankenship, had a baby shower on July 26th. I picked up Trisha, another best college bud, from her sister's house in Wylie (Trish lives in Abilene and was one of the hostess'), early that morning to head over to Paige's moms house to set up. I don't get to see these girls very often so any chance I get to spend with them, I definitely take advantage of. The shower wasn't until 2pm and I loved every extra minute I got to be with them.

Hostess' and Grammy with the Mom-to-be (Kim, Trisha, Paige, Jaclyn, and Becky a.k.a. Grammy)

Paige looked great! Trish and the rest of the hostess' (Jaclyn and Kim) did a great job putting the shower together. The food was great, decorations were fabulous, and it was a fun time had by all.

Me and the girls!! I love this picture....even though we aren't all smiling this totally describes us.
The beautiful table that Trish worked so hard on along with all the food from Jac and Kim.

The "book" table along with some of the gifts. We were asked to bring a book for baby Brady (such a great idea).
One of Paige's maternity pics taken by the OH-SO-CREATIVE and TALENTED Jennifer Zindler (Trisha's sister), owner of Haute Shot Photography. Check out her website and blog!!!

P.S. I was 11 weeks on this day!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Moore

2009-09-18T16:30:00.000-05:00

July 25th, 2009 - Katie Barber and Brian Moore tied the knot!! WHOOO HOOO!! Katie and Brian are very good friends of ours. Preston went to college with Brian and then they lived together for a little while after college. I met Katie when her and Brian started dating a couple of years ago. Preston and I were both in the wedding and it meant alot to be a part of their special day!! Because we were both in the wedding, I wasn't able to get a whole lot of pictures, but here's what I did get.

Her cake was just like the back of her dress.

Here is the groom's cake. Brian is a football and soccer coach at Allen.

My dad always seems to find the camera's. So...he gets his picture on the BLOG! :-)

Heard the heartbeat for the 1st Time!!!

2009-09-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

Monday, July 2oth, (10w1d) I had a Dr.'s appt for a check up. Dr. Bailey was out of town so we saw another Doctor in the Frisco OB/GYN practice, Dr. McIntire. She was such a sweetheart. Preston and I enjoyed getting to meet her and we also found out that she went to Texas Tech! GUNS UP!!!

Anyways, it was a short but very exciting appointment. We got to hear our little one's heartbeat. What a sweet, sweet sound that was! The heartbeat was 176bpm so pretty close to the appointment from a week before. It was so good to finally hear the heartbeat instead of seeing it beat on a black and white screen, eventhough we are thankful for that as well.

Katie's Bachelorette Party

2009-09-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

Our good friends, Katie and Brian, are getting hitched!!! Here is the soon-to-be Mrs. Moore with all of her bridesmaids. Katie's bachelorette party was Saturday, July 18th. I was just about 10 weeks pregnant here. Of course I hadn't been feeling the best and I was honestly worried about not being able to make it if I felt bad. But everything turned out great! We started out at the hotel in Dallas with a little lingerie party. After that, we headed to Dick's last resort for dinner. From there we went back to the hotel room for a few minutes and then headed out to Ghost Bar for some fun and dancing. It seemed like there were close to 20 girls. I lasted until about midnight that night. I was getting really tired, so I decided to head home. It was a fun time had by all and I enjoyed meeting everyone.

My first scare!

2009-09-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

We were still in Arkansas (previous post) when I had my first "pregnancy scare." I was exactly 9 weeks pregnant.

Around 12:30am, we left the wedding and headed back to the hotel. My brother and I were staying in a room together. When we got back in the room, we were laughing and joking about the evening. I started getting ready for bed because I was super tired. I went to the bathroom and to my surprise wiped fresh blood. I was immediately scared half to death. I went straight to the phone and called my mom. She said that I had been up on my feet all day, it had been a long night, and I probably just needed to go to bed and get some rest. So as hard as it was not to freak out, that's exactly what I did. I woke up 2-3 more times that night to check and I was still wiping blood. Finally, when I got up that morning I went to the bathroom and sure enough....blood again and even a little in the toilet this time (sorry, I know you want to know that, but the details are for me)! This time I started crying, I was a little freaked out. So again, I went to the phone and called my mom's room. I wanted her to come down to see what she thinks I needed to do. She advised me to call my doctor and let her know what was happening and tell her that we were about to head home for a 5 1/2 hr drive.

After I called the "on-call service," it didn't even take 10 minutes for Dr. Bailey to call me back. She asked me to explain everything that was going on and asked a few questions. From there she said that I had two options. 1. I could go to the emergency room or 2. I could wait until tomorrow and come in for a sono. After talking it all over with her for a couple of minutes, I decided to go ahead and wait it out and see her tomorrow. I figured that if I was "miscarrying" there wasn't much the emergency room could do. She told me that since I wasn't soaking pads then I would be okay to wait. And that if I was, she would tell me to go ahead and go to the e-room.

So, we all loaded up in the trucks and headed home. It was a LOOOONNNGGGG ride home!! Everytime I thought about it I teared up. Let's just say that this was a VERY emotionally draining day. I think one of the hardest parts was having to be away from Preston through all of this. I was completely exhausted when we got home and all I wanted to do was curl up in his arms, sit on the couch, and not move.

Sleeping that night was hard for me. I was restless and anxious to hurry up to Monday morning so I could get all this over with and see what was the next step.

I called Dr. Bailey's office Monday morning on the way to work. They were able to get me in at 10:45am that morning. I was told that the sonographer was out that day but Dr. Bailey would do the sonogram herself if she had to. Preston came and picked me up from the office and we headed to Centennial.

Walking into the Dr.'s office that day was not easy. My heart felt like it was about to pound out of my chest. Poor Preston, I know he had to be nervous too, but he was so good at staying calm for me. He kept reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. I really felt like it was but part of me was scared that it wasn't. I knew that the good Lord had a plan for us, but it's such a hard thing to be okay with at that point in time.

Dr. Bailey was absolutely wonderful! She has a way of comforting and making me feel like she cares. She ended up doing the sonogram and I remember when she grabbed "the wand" and said, "Bare with me, I can work this thing but I'm no way near as good as the sonographers. It might take me a minute! But let's see what this little baby is doing." And what do you know....WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT!!! It was 175bpm. I remember my stomach doing a flip. I didn't even cry, which was a shocker to me. I think I had already prepared myself for the worst, but prayed for the best. Dr. Bailey didn't see anything in there that would have made me bleed. She said that wasn't a bad thing, but sometimes our bodies just do that. There was really no explanation this time.

Here is a picture of our "little blob." The big part at the bottom left is the head and the smaller end is the bottom half of the body. The little circle in the right hand corner is the yolk sac that it is feeding off of. Pretty interesting if you ask me! What a wonderful day this was! Although very nerveracking, we were so thankful that God allowed this day to have a happy ending.

Casey Dick's Wedding - 7/11/09

2009-09-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

Friday, July 10th, we headed to Fayetteville Arkansas for Casey Dick and Felicia Davis' wedding. For those of you who don't know, Casey's family and my family go WAAAAYYY back. Casey's dad, Steve, and my dad grew up together, I'm talking grade school. Steve is also my dad's business partner. Casey and my brother have also grown up together playing t-ball, football, and baseball with "the dad's" as their coaches, and played football in middle/high school together as well with the dad's "wishing" they were the coaches...wink wink. After high school, Casey and Marcus (my other brother) headed to the University of Arkansas to play football in college. Casey was the quarterback andwhile at college, he met Felicia. She is such a beautiful girl and I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the past couple of years. I couldn't be more excited for the two of them. I use to babysit all these kids. It was really crazy for me to see the first "little one" get married!

Preston stayed home for a Bachelor Party, so I went with my parents, grandparents, and brother in my tahoe and dad's truck. Tyler was in the wedding so we left early on Friday in order for him to be there in time friday afternoon for rehearsal/dinner.

The wedding was Saturday evening. We did a little running around that morning, then headed back to the hotel to get ready. Once we were all ready, we headed to one of the most beautiful weddings I have EVER been to! My pictures definitely do NOT do it any justice but here are a few from the evening.

This isn't a very good picture but here is 1/2 of the room. When it was time for their 1st dance, the curtains along the left side of the room were slowly drawn back to reveal the bride and groom standing on the dance floor. It was very dramatic and beautiful!!!

Here is one of the centerpieces.

The Head Table

Me and my brother Marcus!!!

My beautiful Momma and brother, Tyler

Me and Bubba

Dancin' the night away!

Mr. & Mrs. Dick - Last Dance

Braydon Jacob Pratt - 7/6/2009

2009-08-31T22:24:00.009-05:00

One of my very best friends, Amy Pratt, had her THIRD boy on Monday, July 6th, 2009 by C-section. It all worked out perfect. She was scheduled at 12:30pm so I was able to head to the hospital on my lunch hour and I was able to see Braydon be born before I had to go back.

Here is me and my two precious BIG BROTHERS in the waiting room awaiting the arrival of baby brother. Mason and Canon are so very special to me and sometimes I have felt as if they were my own. I have been there from day 1 with all of them and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was so excited to be gaining a 3rd little nephew. ;-)

He's HERE!!! Braydon Jacob Pratt - 6 lbs, 18 3/4"

The proud momma and her little baby boy!

A proud AUNT AMY!!!

Mason and Canon loving on their baby brother. This was such a sweet moment. They were so proud and all Mason wanted to do was kiss, touch, and tickle baby Braydon.

4th of July

2009-08-16T21:45:00.001-05:00

This year for the 4th of July we headed out to Bridgeport to celebrate with some of our best friends, Adrianne and Ryan. We loaded up the boat and headed to his parents house for some family fun. Ryan's dad cooked up a wonderful meal, then we all headed out to the lake for a few hours. Later that night we parked out by the lake, loaded up in the back of the trucks, and watched some great fireworks. All in all, it was a wonderful holiday and we had lots of fun!!!

Ryan and Preston had Ryan's nephews and friend in our boat and the rest of us were in Ryan's dads boat takin' the little ones tubin.

Me and Ady getting ready to watch fireworks!!!

This was baby Eli's first 4th of July. He was dressed for the occasion and ready for his first fireworks show.

Here's Adrianne, Eli, me, and Landry (Ryan and Ady's neice) sitting in the back of the truck and eating popcorn. It was so yummy!

CABO TIME

2009-08-13T18:00:00.000-05:00

The day after we heard our little ones heartbeat for the first time, we left for CABO with my family to celebrate our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

6 weeks 1 day

2009-08-12T19:30:00.000-05:00

Since there was nothing to see on my first visit to Dr. Bailey, she wanted to see me back in two weeks for another sonogram. Two weeks would make it the 23rd of June. We were leaving that day for Cabo so they got me in the day before at 2:15pm. Preston went to this appointment with me. They did another vaginal sonogram and we actually saw a "little" something!!! We got to see the heartbeat! It was so amazing. Eventhough it looked like a little blob, we could still see it. The heartbeat was 120bpm. The sonographer said that was a good heartbeat and that I was actually measuring a week earlier (that's why the sonogram says 7w1d at the top). When we met with Dr. Bailey, she moved my due date to Valentine's Day!!! Preston really liked Dr. Bailey too. She's so personable and easy to talk to. I'm really glad that I made the switch...thanks for making me do it Ady (j/k, she just made me make the appointment for my annual....finally)!!

Below is our FIRST picture of our precious gift from God: Baby Gill!!! There isn't much to see. It's the little faint blob between the two +'s. It was such an amazing moment for me and Preston.

4 Weeks Pregnant

2009-08-10T19:46:00.005-05:00

As of May 29th, I actually decided to change doctor's to Adrianne's, Dr. Jennifer Bailey. I liked my doctor, but I really didn't feel that much of a connection with her and I didn't know how sure I was about having to go to Presby Dallas all the time. So, when I found out we were expecting, I already had an appointment with Dr. Bailey at the end of July for my annual. Little did I know, I would be seeing her a little sooner than July. :-)

It turns out that I was actually 4 weeks pregnant that next day (Sunday). I had no clue how far along I was at the time, but I did know that we were going to Austin for a wedding that next weekend with my parents, to Cabo in a couple of weeks with my whole family, and I for sure needed to get into the doctor!

Sunday was one of the hardest days for me to not say anything to my parents. If you know me, I pretty much tell my parents EVERYTHING!!! And normally, my mom can tell when I have something to tell her. I had to sit through the WHOLE church service right next to her and not say a word. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a while. I just wanted to come out and tell her. I think my heart pounded the whole service, but I made it through the day without saying a word. I guess Preston and I were still having a hard time believing this whole situation, believe it or not, I went to Target that afternoon and bought a 3 pack of pregnancy tests (I had already taken 2 the night before). I ended up taking it that night. Here is a picture of the 3rd test that I took!
YEP, STILL PREGNANT! HA!

Monday I went into work and called Dr. Bailey's office. I wasn't sure how soon they would want to see me. I told her that I thought I was pregnant. She asked, "Well, have you taken a pregnancy test?" I told her, "Yes, 3, and they've all been positive." She said, "Well, yep, then you're pregnant!!" I told them I was going out of the country in about 2 weeks and she said that they normally like to get people in within two weeks of the phone call. The only availability was TOMORROW at 12:45pm. My first thought was, "YIKES, so soon!" I knew this was important and that I needed to get in, so Tuesday, June 9th @ 12:45pm it was! I then called Terry, a lady that I work with (she's kind of like my mom at work), into my office. I told her the news. She was so excited!! I needed advice on what I should do. I was kind of freaking out about what to tell my dad and Kim. Terry advised me to tell them I have a Dr's appt and if they ask, it's for my annual. No one normally wants to ask any more questions once they hear the word, "annual." So that's exactly what I told them.

When I got home from work that night, I was still a little weary about this whole thing....so another pg test I took! It was positive again! This makes number 4!!! I honestly don't know what I was thinking but I think I was a little paranoid about telling our parents so early. I just wanted to make sure it was legit. I don't think I would have told them this early if we weren't going to be in such close quarters over the next few weeks but I know my mom would figure it out soon if I didn't say anything. And besides, I really didn't want to go through any of this without them by my side.

TUESDAY JUNE 9th - Off to the doctor I went! I was SO nervous! Preston did not go to this appointment. I told him not to worry about it because it was so early, they would probably just take my blood and send me on my way. Well, I was wrong! They ended up doing a vaginal sonogram. It was way too early to tell anything. There wasn't even a sac? Kind of scared me, but they reassured me that it was still early. At this point I still wasn't sure how early I was. I met with Dr. Bailey, who I absolutely LOVE! She told me my due date was February 10th. She wanted me to do bloodwork and then come back 2 days later for more bloodwork so they could check my levels and make sure everything was doubling like it should be.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 10th - Preston's brother was coming into town from Lubbock and we were already planning on going over to his mom's house for dinner that night. Preston and I talked on Monday and decided that we should tell them on Wednesday and then we were going to tell my parents this weekend when we were going to Austin. From Sunday to Wednesday, I had been gathering up things to put a little something together to tell them. I'm really sad that I didn't get a picture but I really didn't think about it. I ended up getting a small lime green pail from Target. I found "I love my Grandma" and "I love my Grandpa" bibs. I bought a small picture album and used my cricut machine to make the first page when you open up the album say: "New Arrival 2/10/10. " Then when you turned the page, I put the picture of the pregnancy test that's earlier in this post. I filled the pail with the album, bibs, and then I bought blue and pink hershey kisses. We told Preston's mom, stepdad, brother, and girlfriend that night. Everyone was so excited!!! His mom even cried a little! ;0)

THURSDAY JUNE 11th - Off to the doctor I went again! This time for blood work only. They informed me that I should get a call the next day for my results.

That night, my parents actually came to drop off a car at our house before heading to the Gaylord for a birthday celebration with their friends. I was so excited because this would be a perfect opportunity to tell them instead of having to wait until friday! They both got to the house, we talked a little bit, then I brought out the pail. First thing out of mom's mouth...."You're Pregnant!!" She hadn't even looked at the contents of the pail....mom's just know I guess. Dad screamed! It was awesome and I'm so glad we got to tell them that night.

FRIDAY, JUNE 12th - We were in the car on our way to Austin with mom and dad and I got the call from Dr. Bailey's office. They said my bloodworked looked great. The only thing was that my progesterone had dropped. Because of this they wanted me to start progesterone suppositories. One word...YUCK!!! They called in the prescription for me and I needed to go pick it up on Monday. I was a little scared and worried throughout the weekend hoping that these levels didn't drop too low and make me miscarry. I even called the doctor's office back to ask them if I would be okay through the weekend. The assured me that everything would be okay.

The weekend was a great one! We had fun in Austin at Hollister's reception. The boys also got to play a little golf while mom and I shopped. It was a great little getaway and much needed.

The DAY we found out!

2009-08-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Let's go back a little....2 months ago to be exact. June 6th, 2009 was the night we found out the GOOD news!!

Now some of this you may not want to hear, but I'm mostly writing this blog so I have record of everything that happened. It's kind of like "my little journal."

I stopped taking my BC pills after I finished my last pack in May. My last pill was taken on May 7th, 2009, which would make my first day of my last period May 3rd, 2009 (again sorry for the information, but it's mainly for me). Preston and I figured we would start trying to get pregnant sometime near the end of the year, end of August sounded like a good place to start. This would make the baby due sometime after tax season and baseball season....PERFECT!!!

Well, little did we know that God had a plan of his own. June 4th rolled around and it should have been about that time of the month, or maybe even 2 days earlier than that. I really wasn't worried because I knew I had just got off the pill and I figured it would take a couple of months for my body to regulate itself. I actually thought I had started one of those days, but then had nothing else the rest of the days after.

So...Saturday, June 6th, 2009, we all went to eat Indian food for Tyler's birthday. It was me, Preston, Ryan, Adrianne, Eli, Mimi, Papa, Granny, Mom, Dad, and Tyler. The boys (Preston and Ryan) had been at the deer lease that day and Ady and I had been running around so we decided that we would meet the boys at dinner instead of them coming all the way home first. Dinner was wonderful! I even had a glass of wine! Yum!!! On the way home, Ady and I were being silly and joking around, we might have been feeling our 1 (yes, ONE) glass of wine a little. She said, "I know what we're gonna do, let's stop and get you a test!" At first, I thought she was crazy. But I agreed and figured I should probably get one so I know for sure and I'm not doing anything stupid (like drinking a glass of wine, I honestly did not even THINK I could be pregnant). We stopped at the local Walmart and picked up a test. We were having so much fun being silly. I think we giggled all the way home to their house. The boys weren't there yet when we pulled up. We had called the boys earlier to let them know what we were doing and Ryan specifically told Adrianne that she didn't need to be the first one to know, meaning do not take the test without Preston being there.

I walked in the house and went straight to the bathroom. I just wanted to take it and be done, seriously thinking it would be negative and we could go on with our night laughing some more. I opened the test, briefly looked at the directions to see how long to wait...3 minutes. I "peed on the stick," put the cap on and started walking to the kitchen. Adrianne was doing dishes or something in the kitchen. As I turned the corner, I looked down and "PREGNANT" popped up (we got the digital Clear Blue Test). I was speechless. I didn't even stop, I just kept walking to the kitchen holding the test out in front of me. I'm sure with my eyes big and mouth wide open. Ady turned around and looked at me and said "no way!" I'm sure she knew something by the way I was walking towards her. She looked at the test and screamed. Literally screamed...Eli was on the table in his carseat sleeping and he jumped. At this point, I was shaking. She asked me if I was okay and all I could say was, "I don't know?" We both started crying and hugged each other.

After a few minutes of freaking out, Ryan walked through the front door....without Preston. He walked in the kitchen and I immediately asked, "Where's Preston?" He said, "The neighbors are outstide so he stopped over there." I said, "No, you go get him right now and don't say anything." I'm sure at this point he knew too by the look of my face. He went and got Preston. P walked in the door and I showed him the test. The first thing he asked was, "When did you take that?" Then he asked, "Do you have another one?" I said, "yes." And he said, "take it again!!" I grabbed a glass of water and we all went to the couches. Adrianne got the computer and immediately started to look up the due date. At that point....it was FEBRUARY 10th! All I could think about was TAX SEASON and my Dad! I just knew he was going to kill me.

About 20 minutes or so went by and I went to take the other test. Sure enough....PREGNANT again! This time we were just in shock. We sat around with the Reynolds for a little while longer and talked about everything. We could not believe it! I remember going home that night and all Preston and I kept saying to each other was, "Can you believe it?", "We're gonna be parents!!!"

So CRAZY!! But looking back, I don't think we would have wanted it to happen any other way!! GOD IS SO WONDERFUL!!!

YES, it's true....WE'RE EXPECTING!!!

2009-08-02T09:00:00.001-05:00

I am 12 weeks pregnant TODAY!!! Preston and I are SO excited and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us. My due date is Valentine's Day, 2/14/10. I can't believe that I'm already starting my 2nd trimester. Stay tuned for the story of how it all happened....well, we know how it happened, but of when we found out and what has gone on up to this 12 week mark.

1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

2009-07-30T22:35:00.000-05:00

We spent our 1st year anniversary in one of our favorite places....CABO SAN LUCAS!! We actually went with my family (a group of 8 to be exact), so it made it that much more special. My parents have a timeshare there so we have been a couple times before. It was a MUCH needed vacation to get away from the real world for a bit.

Below are some pictures from our week.

Here is a view of one of the pools at the hotel

Here's Preston enjoying the pool My brother, Tyler, and his girlfriend, Mika, enjoying a little Mexican Fiesta!!!
Here is our van that we rented for a couple of days....YES....we felt as weird as it looks!!!
Here's a view of the marina in Cabo right outside the mall.
Me, Mom, Tyler, Mika, Mimi, and Papa spent the day at Medano Beach while Preston and Dad spent the day golfing.

To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we went to eat at one of my favorite places in Cabo. It's definitely a little pricey but it's SOOOOO good!!

Mom and Dad - Don't they look GREAT???

HERE WE GO!!!

2009-07-30T17:30:00.001-05:00

Well, I guess it's time for us to start a blog!!! We have LOTS of news to share. We celebrated our 1st year of marriage on June 28th! Married life has been a blast. God has truly blessed us with everything we have in our lives - church, family, wonderful friends, jobs, etc. We're going to try our hardest to keep this thing going but forgive us if we get behind. It's definitely going to be a "learn-as-we-go" kind of thing.

Our main goal is to keep it updated for our out of town family. They don't always get to see what goes on in our lives daily so hopefully this blog will help with that. We hope you enjoy the life of the GILL FAMILY!!!