My Valentine!

This was a picture I had been wanting to take so Marlee Anne and I did it this evening when I got back from the appt. Here is the quick layout I came up with. It's always rewarding to get a layout done. I just usually don't share them because I let myself get intimidated by the beautiful layouts online. Any way I thought I would share this one. I was pleased with how it came together.

No words!

Here I am it's 12:30 in the morning. I was about to post pictures on our blog. I check my email real quick and my friend Cyndi has left me a message. It's funny cause it's kinda like a scavenger hunt. I go to one link only to find another link I have to go to. This one http://cyndiakadisneyqueen.blogspot.com/2008/01/congratulations-kelli.html Daily I am amazed by God's love. Disney means so much more to our family than just Mickey Mouse. It's so very hard to put into words. Once you read what these precious precious friends have done for us you will be able to catch a glimpse of it. I am amazed, touch and so very thrilled. Funny thing is they know how incredible hard it's going to be to wait about opening the gifts. I promise to try very hard. Thanks ya'll! You know I love ya'll dearly and couldn't make it without ya'll!

So I am going to post my email that I just sent out to friends and family. Mainly to have it for later when I print our blog and use it to scrapbook. Also so that I don't have to retype everything here.

I am dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. The pain that I am feeling is his elbow which is pushing into my belly button, his bottom and his hip bone pushing at the other spot that is hurting. The specialist said it's just that he has no room and that's the position he seems to be staying in. I am so very thankful it's nothing to do with the umbilical cord or anything wrong with the baby. I told the specialist I can handle the pain as long as I know the baby is safe.

The baby weighs 7lbs 5 oz. The specialist is not concerned about the baby's head getting stuck. He said he will just not drop if it's too big but he is thinking I should not have a problem delivering. WOOHOO!!! A huge blessing. A dear friend of mine that is a retired labor and delivery nurse gave me a peace of mind when she called me early this week and reminded me that God made our bodies for this and that I could do it. Well the specialist told me basically the same thing today.

Seeing him on the ultrasound today made me even more excited and anxious to get to see him. Thanks so very much for your prayers! We are getting closer and closer to seeing our little one.

Oh and we are not keeping his name a secret we have just not fully agreed. Well some of us have not. Dad wants to be the one to name him because he didn't get to name the girls. He has chosen Abraham Thomas and call him Abe. Abraham is because it's a name that Mike really likes. He wants an old, strong name. Thomas is after my daddy and brother. So I guess we will see when he gets here but of course more than likely the girls and I will give in and let daddy have his way. Don't tell him but we really like the name. We are just trying to add more excitement to our lives. LOL!!!

Here are some pictures from today of our precious baby boy. The first is of his profile. The second is one of his sweet little foot.

George

George is even getting ready for the little baby to come. He has been trying out all the baby stuff. He especially loves the pack and play. We catch him in there most days. Marlee Anne even got some pictures of him in there. She even propt up his head to get a better picture. She also wanted to get a picture of him touching my belly. Just had to share them with ya'll.

ANOTHER shower?

Well SURPRISE! Mike called and said I just finished with a shower. I said for who? He said, Abe. That's the name he has picked out in case you haven't heard. Abraham Thomas. So anyway he thought they were having his birthday lunch at work. Turns out they had him a surprise baby shower. WOW! That was awesome! He was so touched and very proud. Kim & I joked about how red his face must have been the whole time. Here you can tell.

All the gifts were great and much appreciated. One of our favorites was a denim jacket from Ann.

Marlee Anne had so much fun going through all the fun stuff he got. Michala LOVED the cake he brought home. She is not to picky when it comes to cake colors. Even though it was blue and in honor of her baby brother she ate it.

Marlee Anne's first snow!

Well actually her first snow that she really remembers. It snowed earlier in the week but not as much as it did today. I just wanted to share some pictures of it.

Our couples shower!

Kim and Keith hosted a couples shower for Baby Hopkins. It was so very special because it included Mike. We had a blast celebrating with some very special friends of ours. Keith cooked a wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed. The night was filled with laughs and reminiscing over so many different memories.

Marlee Anne wished that the kids had come so they could have a kids table. She asked could we have another baby so we could have another shower. Aunt Kim quickly said oh no but we can have a celebration party when the baby gets here. That was plenty good for Marlee Anne. Even more reason for her to be excited for him to get here. I don't have pictures of this night yet but will post them soon.

Here is a picture of our beautiful invitation Kim made.

What a day!

Today we had another baby shower for Prince Hopkins. What an amazing day! I was so touched by the people that came. The gifts were just so incredible. The decorations and food were perfect. All of it was so perfect. It was held at my adopted sister's house, Amber. Mimi was telling someone how long she had known me. Yes it made me feel quite old. Those are such special memories. Mimi, Amber & Brooke hosted the shower. Like they do everything it was perfect. I was so proud to show off Amber's castle as everyone was calling it. What a perfect place for Prince Hopkins' shower to be held.

Too many gifts to tell you all about them but I have to share a few of my very special ones and favorites. All of them were wonderful, greatly appreciated and much needed. Each of the girls have very special blankets made by our dear family friend Miss Emmy. Well of course our prince is no exception. I keep repeating prince trying to convince myself that we are actually about to have a baby boy in our home. Well Miss Emmy and Martha made a beautiful quilt along with a very special blanket for him. We love it! Our dear neighbor Sally made a beautiful frog quilt for him. So much detail and love in it. Our Lighthouse family partner Peggy knited him an incredibly soft and lovely blue blanket. All of these will be cherished forever! The one gift that made me cry was a soft blue blanket that had been embroidered with Future Prince Charming. I was crying so hard I couldn't tell the story. Most of you know about our special Prince Charming that works for Disney. It took all of 5 minutes for him to steal our hearts. Well minutes before I opened the beautiful blanket that his mom and sister gave us he called me at the shower. Such a special gift!

You know when you are planning a shower list you sometimes are not sure who to invite. Well each and every person that came was so very excited to be there. They were there to celebrate this very special life that God has blessed us with. I am so very over joyed.

Uncle Papa called and asked Mike what he wanted for his birthday meal. How very perfect! My chose fried Tilapia. As soon as I got home from the shower, got the gifts unloaded we were headed over there to eat. It was a wonderful birthday celebration!

OK I will try to post shower pictures tomorrow. Off to get some rest now.

Mike's 46th birthday

I told several people that he was going to be 45 but after thinking it through - NOPE he is 46. He has done good! Would never know he was 46. Well he 12 month plus pregnant wife just couldn't pull off anything special this year. I didn't even feel up to cooking. Thankfully Marlee Anne stepped in. She made wonderful decorations and even cooked him chicken nuggets. She eats frozen chicken nuggets way too much cause she can fix them herself. She is so very proud. She put them on his plate and even gave him so ketchup. She then fixed him so bacon and cheese sandwiches. It was a fun night and he was happy. All that matters! Granny made him a cake and she and Papa brought it by to add to the festivities.

Prince Hopkins' first baby shower!

Today was my family baby shower. My niece Staci hosted it and did an amazing job. It was held at Party on Main in Porterdale. That's a really nice place if anyone needs a place to have something. Staci did a beautiful job with everything. I was so very proud!

It was so wonderful to have our families together. We got so many wonderful and special gifts. It was such a special day! Marlee Anne was so excited about the first shower for her baby brother. She had not been feeling good but she said she just had to go. She loved opening the presents and seeing what fun stuff we got.

White Christmas!

Not snow white and not really at Christmas. This year our get together with the White’s and Zittrouer’s was postponed because of Brooke’s surgery. It was so good to get together when we did though. We had hot dogs, chili, salad and baked potatoes. Yummy! Do you see a pattern here? Yes usually around here it’s about the food. They pulled out guitar hero and it was so much fun to watch. Once the baby comes I will be ready to play it.