Hi, friends! Well, I made it back tired and hungover safe and sound from the beach for Bekah’s bachelorette party! :) I kept saying it all weekend long, but I am too old for those kinds of activities…I’m a mom now! Seriously though, we had an absolute blast celebrating with Bekah. The 10 of us rented a cute little house in Wrightsville Beach, right across from The Oceanic…only steps from the beach! The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed a great night out Friday night, perfect day on the beach on Saturday, and another fun afternoon/night on Saturday before heading out Sunday morning. Bekah has some pretty awesome friends…she is a lucky girl. I will share SOME of the photos from the weekend, but some are not quite blog appropriate (use your imagination, or better yet, don’t…ha!). 

Future Mrs. Williams!

Me and the beautiful bride!

All the girls

Rooftop bar!

Sisters!

Friends

On the beach… GOSH I NEED A TAN ;)

Thanks so much to all the girls for such a fabulous weekend. I know Bekah had a blast, and of course that is what we wanted for her! :) I am sure that all of the girls now know WAY more about pumping/breastfeeding than they probably ever wanted to know… and I also know that they probably saw my b00bs way more than they wanted to, HA, but such is life for a breastfeeding mom. ;) Love you girls and can’t wait for the wedding!

Back at the homestead, Jon and his parents had a great weekend with Hadley. They said she was super happy all weekend (of course she was, pretty sure she probably wasn’t put down the whole time!), and I know that Jon’s parents LOVED being here and having so much QT with her. Jon and his parents worked hard around the house this weekend and it showed! They worked on re-potting some of our vegetable plants that had outgrown their pots, they organized the garage, moved some bushes, planted some flowers and other plants, mowed the yard, cleaned off the front porch and rocking chairs…to name only a few things. It looks great outside…thanks so much to them for all their hard work! :) I have to share a quick pic of our “garden”. It’s just in pots on our back porch because we don’t have a great place that gets enough sun anywhere else in our yard to build a raised bed. Anyway, I grew all those babies from seeds!

We are gong to have cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes growing out of our ears soon (so neighbors…Morgan/Lee, Zack/Kelley, etc… we will have plenty to share with y’all)!

Jon said that H ate well, slept well…and other than one unfortunate incident involving her spitting up, peeing and pooping all over him while he carried her from the nursery to the bath tub (I still can’t stop laughing about it), they had a perfect weekend. It was like she didn’t even know I was gone! That makes me both happy and sad at the same time—happy that she was able to adapt to bottle feeding all weekend and someone else doing her whole routine with her, but a little sad that I feel like she didn’t even miss me! ;) I sure did miss her, though. All weekend, I felt like I was forgetting something… forgetting to pack the diaper bag before we headed out, forgetting to feed her, or something. Either way, I know it was good for both of us to have a couple of days apart, but I’m not in any rush to do it again! I felt like I could not drive fast enough to get home to her (and Jon and Ralph too, ha!). I mean, who would not want to come home to this face?!

Sweet girl is waking up from her nap… so I’m going to love on her! Hope everyone has a great week!

-S

I know I’m a little late on writing this…I meant to write it yesterday but wanted to go ahead and write H’s 5 month post. This past weekend was one of the best ones I can remember. In fact, it was one of those just like I had dreamed we would have when I was pregnant. We didn’t do anything outstanding, but it was great nonetheless.

Friday night was low key. We grilled out some delicious BBQ chicken—the grill is still “new” to Jon so he loves to grill on it any time he has the chance. After dinner, there was lots of play time and giggles from Miss H—she sure loves her Daddy.

We ended up watching some Jennifer Aniston movie and going to bed semi-early. It is important to note that Friday night was the first night I took the plunge and (finally) let H sleep without being swaddled. I was SO nervous and I was sure that we’d be up every 2 hours, but our girl surprised me yet again. She slept from 10 until 6! Don’t get me wrong, I was less than thrilled to be woken up at 6 on a Saturday, but she ate and went right back to sleep until 10:45…so I definitely consider it a major success. Just when I think she is gonna make things difficult for me, she does the opposite. I keep waiting for someone to bring me my “real baby” any day now…if she didn’t look so much like her Daddy, I’d be sure she couldn’t be mine! Like my Daddy says, I definitely do not deserve this good of a baby considering the type of baby I was! ;)

Saturday, we slept in until H woke up the 2nd time, and it was glorious. I woke up not feeling too great (I have not been sleeping well—maybe I’ll write more on that at some point), so after I fed her, Jon took her downstairs and let me rest a little longer. When I got up, Jon went out to do some yard work he had been putting off (by the way, his hard work has paid off—our yard looks beautiful!!). I took this opportunity to head over to Morgan and Lee’s to see them and Jamey, Jamie and Jaxon who were in town for the weekend! We were already planning on heading over there for dinner, but with Jamie and Jamey moving to WA soon, we wanted to get in as much time as possible! This was the first time I have gotten to meet Jaxon, who was born about two months after Hadley. He is a cutie, and such a big boy! H and I hung out until it was time for her nap, and then headed back home so she could get some sleep and be her sweet self later for everyone. ;)

H ended up taking an extremely long nap, and I actually woke her up after about 3 hours so we could head back to Morgan and Lee’s for dinner. Morgan had cooked quite the spread—everything was delicious! We had a great time hanging out with everyone, and I would say that Jaxon and Hadley really hit it off… He wouldn’t take his eyes off her and kept smiling at her! So, so cute!

We headed home around 10 (past H’s normal bed time, but I try not to be TOO strict on times, just the routine) and H was so tired she went right down. She ended up sleeping 11 hours—as if she didn’t even realize she wasn’t swaddled any more. I guess it really showed that it was me who wasn’t ready for her to stop being swaddled—I think that subconsciously, I think that no more swaddling means that she is no longer a “little” baby. Tear!

Sunday, we decided not to go to church because our church, which is part of a “family of faith community” with three other churches, was meeting at Koka Booth Amphitheatre with the other churches. While I’m sure it was a great service, logistically, it would have been hard for us with a 5 month old because we had to bring chairs and a picnic lunch, plus there is the whole nursing thing… Anyway. We ended up spending most of the morning in the bed, loving on H and Ralph. These were the moments I dreamed of before Hadley was born. Just pure love!

It was BEAUTIFUL outside on Sunday, so we knew we wanted to do something outside. First up, we headed to lunch at Chipotle (yum), where we sat outside to eat. After that, we headed to the Raleigh Farmers Market to get some fruit and veggies for this week (love supporting our local farmers!), and also some to make for H’s baby food (I’ll try to write about that at some point!). H loved walking around the Farmers Market and seeing all the colors and people—she was entranced. We got a lot of deliciousness and have been enjoying it all week. :) P.S.—those strawberries?? To die for!

After we left the Farmers Market, it wasn’t quite time for H’s nap yet, so we decided to head over to Pullen Park since we were in that general area. The park has recently been redone/renovated, and we have been wanting to check it out for a while. It was VERY crowded, but it was really nice! There is a train that goes around the whole park, a carousel, a pretty fountain, tons of play equipment for the kiddos, and a beautiful lake. When I just googled, I saw that it is the oldest public park in NC—neato. AND it’s only a hop, skip and a jump away from the greatest place on Earth…NC State, of course! :) Hadley, as always, loved just being outside and taking it all in…and she especially loved watching the train. Our afternoon definitely wore her out—she was asleep in her car seat before we even got out of the parking lot! ;)

H went down and continued her nap when we got home, and Jon got the rest of the yard work finished while I worked on dinner. We grilled out again—filets and some of the yummy veggies from the Farmers Market—delish! It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

I am particularly glad that we had such an amazing weekend at home, because it is our last one here until after the 4th of July! We have three weddings and our beach trip in June, so it is going to be go, go, go for us (as usual) this summer! I only wish the weekends could be a lot little longer! :)

-S

This weekend, Hadley has gotten to have not one, but TWO play dates with her bestie, Lilly. She was thrilled (obviously). Sarah and Lilly came over on Friday to hang out for a little while, and the girls had fun playing on Hadley’s play mat:

Cute, aren’t they? The rest of the afternoon was spent rocking on the front porch, where they both fell asleep; I guess all that playing tired them out! :)

Saturday morning, we woke up and headed over to Sarah and Dan’s neighborhood clubhouse for their neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We were worried that the rain might cancel the festivities, but luckily they just moved them inside! While the girls are obviously way too small for egg hunting, we heard that the Easter Bunny was going to make an appearance, so we thought it would be fun for the girls to see him! Lilly went first, and let’s just say she was soooo sleepy, and as a result, less than impressed by Mr. Easter Bunny:

Hadley went next, and I don’t think she was quite sure WHAT to think about this thing. Mommy doesn’t blame you, Hadley. I will admit that the whole bunny costume thing, in addition to the not talking and just taking my baby from me was a tad bit creepy…but it’s all for the sake of a cute photo, right? Anyway, we handed her to him and I was able to snap a quick photo with her (sort of) looking at the camera:

The rest of the time she would just NOT take her eyes off the bunny. No amount of clapping, saying her name, squealing, etc. would get her to take her eyes off of him. So, I have about 12 photos on my camera that look like this:

Finally, we turned her around the other way and she cooperated long enough for me to grab a couple decent shots of H and her first encounter with the Easter Bunny!

After their time with the bunny was over, we seized the opportunity for a good photo op of the girls, which in turn gathered quite the crowd of the other moms there, oohing and aahing over the cuteness:

Then, Sarah and I had to get in one with our sweet girls! I know I say it all the time, but it’s really pretty awesome that we both had girls and that they are so close in age… best ever, actually!

We had so much fun at our two little play dates… so much fun that when we got home, I went upstairs to work on laundry, and when I came downstairs, I found Jon and Hadley like this:

Here’s to many more fun play dates with the bestie in the future!

-S

Hadley has had a big week this week! She has gotten to meet not one, but two new (and when I say new, I mean really new) friends!  First, she got to meet her new BFF Lilly on Saturday evening. Lilly was not even a week old yet (they are one month and two days apart, Lilly was born January 24th) and was verrrry sleepy, but I’d say the two of them hit it off immediately. ;) 

It was not exactly easy to get this picture, which I know may be hard to believe because they’re little babies—and they usually just sleep, right!? Miss Lilly cooperated just fine but Hadley was not having it…she couldn’t just make it easy on me! ;)

I seriously cannot wait to watch these two grow up together! I was telling Sarah today that right now, a month seems like such a big age difference between the two of them (look how much bigger Hadley is!), but I know before long, it will be hardly any difference at all. I am sure that they will be inseparable! Love love LOVE these two babies so much already!

On Monday evening, Hadley, Jon and I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Patrick Benjamin Thomas, the son of one of Jon’s best friends from high school, Ben, and his wife Kristen! Patrick was born exactly two weeks after Hadley on January 5th. He is such a cutie, and Ben and Jon are already joking about a possible Thomas/Aldridge betrothal; Jon says that way, he won’t have to worry about Hadley dating! ;) We had a great time catching up with Ben and Kristen and comparing our birth, breastfeeding and just daily life experiences…it is SO nice to have friends who are going through the same thing at the same time! 

So I know these two “play dates” didn’t involve much actual playing. In fact, it was more sitting there, being held, eating, fussing and drooling, but there will be many more play dates with both of these little ones in the future! We are so blessed to be going on this parenting journey with some of our closest friends!

-S

Just wanted to write a quick post to welcome into the world Miss Lillian “Lilly” Grace Baum! That’s right, for those of you who follow my bestie Sarah’s blog, the baby is finally here! Sarah went to the doctor this past Monday, and her blood pressure was still on the high side, so they told her that Tuesday was going to be THE day! She was induced on Tuesday morning, and Miss Lilly made her way into the world at 7:35 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs, 6 oz and 19.5 inches long. She is absolutely perfect, and has the CUTEST, chubbiest cheeks I have ever seen! I just want to pinch and kiss them all day long! :)

I am pretty sure I was just as nervous/anxious/excited all day Tuesday waiting for updates as I was the day Hadley was born! My iPhone battery ended up dying around 2:00 because of how many times I checked it to make sure that I hadn’t missed an update. I got an update from Dan late Tuesday afternoon that said that Sarah was 5 cm, so I told him that we would head that way in a couple of hours after Jon got home. It was only maybe an hour later that I got another text from Dan that said “Just jumped to 9 cm”. To say I was freaking out is an understatement! I was running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to make sure I had everything I needed in the diaper bag for Hadley so that we could leave to head to the hospital the minute that Jon got home. Jon, Hadley and I made it to the hospital right around 7:00 and were there with their families to get the big announcement and of course to meet the sweet baby girl as soon as she was cleaned up and moved into a room.

I went up to the room first (Jon stayed behind for a bit because Sarah was trying to breastfeed) and got to meet her. It was love at first sight! I could not have been happier for Sarah and Dan…it brings tears to my eyes still just to think about the love that I knew they were feeling for their little girl already. I have been telling Sarah for the last month that it truly is the best feeling in the world, but it was amazing to see her experiencing it. The only picture I managed to have taken of me holding her that night was with my iPhone, so ignore the quality, but here is the proud “aunt” with sweet Lilly!

Jon came up a little while later, and he couldn’t wait to hold Lilly. Now there was a time (read: a little over a month ago, before Hadley was born) that my husband would have been too nervous to hold a newborn and would have just looked at her from a distance… that was definitely NOT the case. He held her, bounced and rocked her when she got a little fussy— you would have thought he had been doing that for years. SO cute! He will probably be mad at me for telling this, but when we were there, he started to get choked up when he was telling Sarah and Dan how happy he was for them. He feels exactly like I do, SO incredibly thrilled for them and of course excited to get to learn this whole parenting thing alongside them. It could not be more perfect that we both had girls and that they are only 1 month (and 2 days) apart. We know this is going to be an amazing journey, and who better to share it with than your best friends?!

A huge thanks to Jeanne (“Grandmommy JJ” to Hadley!) and Dan’s mom, Susan, for keeping Hadley for us while we went up to visit with Sarah, Dan, and Lilly. We really appreciate it and I know that Hadley loved it!

Yesterday, I just couldn’t stay away from the newborn sweetness, so Hadley and I ventured back out (my first solo trip with her!) to Rex Hospital to hang out again for a little while. Lilly had already changed so much just in less than 24 hours! I got to love on her for a bit and to catch up with Sarah on how things were going, while Grandmommy JJ hung out with Hadley in the waiting room (thanks again, JJ!). Lilly’s eyes were open for quite a while and she was so alert and curious of her surroundings, so cute! I wanted to stay all day (sure Sarah would’ve loved that, haha), but we had to head back home after just a short visit so that I could feed Hadley. Either way, I’m so glad I got to go back and see her again! :)

Welcome to the world, Lilly Grace. (Sidenote, I am so glad that they named you that, as I have been calling you Lilly for approximately the last 7 months!) And a huge congratulations to our best friends, Sarah and Dan. We could not be happier for you, and we love your little girl so much already! We cannot wait for the girls to meet each other (and to become instant BFFs…as if they have any choice!). Love all THREE of you!!!

-S

Last night, I had the pleasure of getting to see my sweet college roommate and one of my besties, Meagan! I lived with Meagan and Brooke during my senior year and grad school year at NC State, and I can honestly say that those were some of the best years of my life, definitely the best years of college. Not that I want to change how things are now, but I would give anything to go back and re-live some of those days on Trexler Court… we had so much fun together and Brooke and Meg became more like sisters than friends (did I mention that we all wore the same size clothes? Hello, TRIPLE the wardrobe…my how I miss that!).

Meagan got married in October of 2009 and very shortly after moved to Seattle where her husband was doing his post-doc. I will just say it, Seattle is a LONG way away and I was so sad for them to move…they had been living in Apex, very close to us! I will also mention that Brooke also moved away when she got married in July of 2008, she and her husband moved to Virginia while her husband was in medical school… so while I was excited for both of them and their new lives, I have to admit that I was really sad for a while about not being close to them anymore. However, we vowed that we would all still keep in touch, and we have done pretty well with it so far…every time I talk to or see one of them, we just pick up where we left off!

I think the last time we saw Meagan was when she and her husband, Michael, were in town back in March.  It is funny now, because when we saw them then, I kind of dropped the bomb on her and told her I had been off the pill for a while but that we were hoping that we would get pregnant before too long… funny enough, it happened less than a month later! Anyway, Meagan came into town this past weekend for a wedding (Brooke’s cousin, Carrie’s wedding actually), and had some free time last night, so Jon and I met up with her at (our fave) Rudino’s in Apex for dinner. We had so much fun catching up on everything going on in each other’s lives. She is so excited about baby Hadley’s arrival, it is so sweet! (Meg, if you’re reading this…your turn, soon. Seriously.) She is going to be a great “aunt” even from afar in Seattle—we promised to send lots of pictures and there is always Skype, too! While at dinner, Meagan gave us the CUTEST gift for the baby…I’m not kidding. How cute is this?!

Front:

Now, wait for it…the back:

I die!!! SO glad she is going to be a winter baby, I cannot WAIT to put her in this! :)

And, last but definitely not least, these!

I am ready for NC State football games with her already! Also, they squeak, how cute is that? 

A BIG thank you to Auntie Meagan for the cute stuff… Hadley is so lucky to have you in her life..and so am I! So glad that we got to hang out for a little while, now I just can’t wait for you guys to get back to the East coast—the sooner the better. Love and miss you already! xoxo

-S

Note: I’m posting this a day early, just because I think tomorrow, his actual birthday, may be a crazy day and I’m not sure if I’ll have time to blog!

I’m not quite sure where to start with this post, so I’ll start from the very beginning. In the Fall of 2005, I moved into a townhouse near NC State’s campus with my two roommates, Brooke and Meagan. If I’m not mistaken, it was just the very next weekend that we met our next door neighbors, Jeff & Elliott. Meagan and I had just gotten home from a Rascal Flatts concert, and Jeff, Elliott, and all of their friends had just gotten home from a NC State football game. We introduced ourselves and ended up hanging out in the parking lot in front of our houses for the rest of the night. They were so much fun, and I was so excited that we had cool neighbors! I became great friends with Jeff, Elliott, and the rest of the “boys” (as I still call them today), and that fall, I spent most every Tuesday night with them at Woody’s (ahh the good ol’ days) and most weekends hanging out together.

It’s crazy to me how different we all look now, lol!

It wasn’t until a few months later, in December, that Jeff, the rest of the crew, and I were at Woody’s, when a new boy came in (that was clearly friends with all of them) that I had never seen before. I asked Jeff, “who’s your hot friend?!”… Jeff then introduced me to Jon, and the rest, as they say, is history. We still credit Jeff for introducing us and for talking each of us up to the other after we first met. Jon and I hung out several times together with Jeff before we “officially” started dating, and Jeff was there to listen to me say how much I liked Jon and that I was pretty sure I was going to marry him. ;)

Fast forward a couple years later, and Jeff was standing up there with us as a groomsman in our wedding. He has been, and still is, one of the best friends that either of us could ever ask for. He and I are a great team when it comes to tailgating…he handles all the meat (that’s what she said!) and I do the apps and sides. He is always there when we need him (a certain time after I had a little too much wine at Porter’s comes to mind, haha) and if anyone needs help—he’s great at moving furniture. ;) In all seriousness, he is one of our favorite people in the whole world and we are lucky to have him as a friend.

It’s hard for me to believe that Jeff is 30… 30! I used to feel like 30 was so far away (still 4 years for me though haha) and that 30 was the time for people to “grow up” and start acting like “real adults”. Now, I say “pssssshhh” to that! ;) I will say that Jeff is the youngest 30 year old I know…it is, after all, the new 20!

Jeff is one of the first (and only) people that we told when we started thinking about having babies. He checked in with me pretty much every month to ask if I had any news! We told him literally two days after we found out that I was pregnant when we met up downtown for my 26th birthday…and he was so happy for us, and so excited! I know he was hoping for a boy, but I have no doubt that he will love this little girl and he will be a great “uncle”— he already is a great uncle to Ralph… I always joke that Ralph loves him so much more than us, because every time Jeff stays over at our house, Ralph chooses to sleep with him on the couch rather than in the bed with us! ;)

Jeff- we hope you have the most amazing 30th birthday ever (and of course you will, since the celebration starts tonight and lasts through Sunday)! Of course, thanks for introducing Jon and me… if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be together and there would be no baby on the way! And thank you for being such a great friend all these years—we are looking forward to many many more fun years!

And one more just because it made me laugh when I was looking for pics…

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!!!! xoxoxo

-S

I stumbled across this little gem today and had to share:

Hilarious, right? And some of it is just a little too true. I will admit that I have definitely done my share of partying (remember, I am a preacher’s daughter), though it has definitely calmed down over the last few years. However, it’s hard to believe that my staying-out-til-all-hours-of-the-morning days are over for good. Now I am not saying that I won’t be up until all hours of the morning, but it won’t be because I’m hanging out at a bar with friends! I have had my fun, though, and now comes a whole new type of fun—motherhood. I could not be more excited for this stage of my life to begin (or, to continue, I guess, because it really began as soon as I saw the positive pregnancy test!).

And for the record…I have not yet peed my pants from sneezing. I have heard that it does happen to some people, but I REALLY hope that does not happen to me. Gross.

We are off to have dinner with my sweet friend Brooke (my college roomie for those that don’t know) who is in town from San Antonio for a wedding. I am so excited to see her and to catch up! Happy friday eve everyone! :)

-S

Before I start in on what this blog post is REALLY about (something very exciting), how crazy was the earthquake today?! I was at work at a client in north Raleigh when my team and I started to feel the room shake—we were all wondering what in the world was going on! Then, we heard the people in the hall saying they felt it too… then I found out that the people working in our BDO office near the RBC center felt it too…and even Sarah who was in Charlotte felt it! Shortly thereafter, we learned that there had been a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Virginia and tremors were felt all along the east cost. Craziness! 

Ok, now for the good stuff. I have another very exciting announcement. ANOTHER ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS PREGNANT! That’s right, and this time it is Jamie (Reitzel) Norton! :) For those who don’t know, Jamie is my best friend from high school. I have been dying to blog about it for the last few weeks, and I told her to let me know as soon as the news was out so that I could write about it ASAP!

Just to give some background on my friendship with Jamie, we met shortly after we started high school at good ol’ North Iredell. We became close very quickly—pretty much inseparable from that point on all throughout high school. Her house was my second home, her parents were my second parents, and her brother was like my brother! We really grew up together…we went through first loves, first kisses (that’s right, mine wasn’t until high school), first dates, first heartbreaks, first parties (oh the stories I could tell), getting our driver’s licenses, choosing colleges…seriously EVERYTHING together. And amazingly enough, I can’t remember a single “falling out” that we ever had, like most girlfriends at that age have. We were always there for each other, and I still consider her to be a family member. We even have matching tattoos… bet a lot of you didn’t know that! :) (Sidenote: I have LOTS of embarrassing pictures of us from high school but I am refraining from posting…you’re welcome Jamie!)

We went to different colleges, but visited each other often throughout our four years of school. Some of my favorite memories from college are weekends spent in Boone…oh the trouble we found, but the fun we had. :) Shortly after college, Jamie moved to Virginia, and just a little while later she told me that she had met a boy, and invited me to come up for the weekend to meet him. When she told me his name, I didn’t believe her. “His name is Jamey.” Ummm, what? She said she knew it was crazy, but that she really liked him… so I couldn’t wait to meet him. I drove up to visit and spent the weekend with Jamie and Jamey—and I knew just after that little bit of time that she would marry this guy. They were (and are) perfect for each other; their personalities complemented each other so well and it was obvious that they were crazy about each other. Also, we had so much FUN that weekend, I felt like I had known Jamey forever and he bought me lots of jager bombs so I knew he was a keeper.

Fast forward to August 2008, when Jamie and Jamey got married! :) It was a great day, and everyone had to chuckle when the preacher made them repeat, “I Jamie, take you Jamey”. We talked shortly after her wedding about when we would have babies…and though neither of us were ready then, we agreed that we hoped that we would have them around the same time! 

Back in November, Jamie and Jamey came to visit her brother and his then-fiancee, now-wife, Morgan, who moved to Raleigh last fall (hooray!). Jon and I went to hang out, and soon after we got there, the talk turned to babies. We discovered that we had both been off the pill for quite a while and that we were also both “ready” any time. Jamie told me that they had been trying for a while and that if it didn’t happen before too long, they were going to consider doing IVF. Jon and I left that night and we wished each other good luck on the baby making…and I prayed for her every night after that, that she would be able to get pregnant on her own and that it would happen sooner rather than later!

Jamie was one of the first few people that I told I was pregnant, in May. Actually, to be honest, she figured it out via a very vague comment I made about wishing I had a margarita on facebook before I could tell her first! She was so excited for us, and I told her then that it was her turn, and it need to happen SOON! She told me that they had not had any luck on their own, and that they were going to do IVF just a little over a month later…which, if it was successful, would mean our babies would only be a couple of months apart! She kept me posted over the next few weeks and filled me in on the process, so then I waited. And waited! I was trying so hard to wait for her to tell me the news, but was a little afraid to ask her, just in case it might have been unsuccessful and hard for her to talk about. Finally, one day at work, I finally got up the courage to just ask her if she had any news yet (I couldn’t stand it anymore!). Just a few seconds later I got the text—she was PREGNANT! I was SO excited!! She told me she was just over 7 weeks then, due March 12, 2012, and that things were going great so far. 

I could not be happier for the Nortons. I know this is going to be one VERY loved baby they are going to be excellent parents (with the best Poppy and Gigi ever, too!). And I am so glad that our wish came true…our babies will be only 2.5 months apart! I am already looking forward to family vacays together (gotta continue the Myrtle Beach tradition), and since Lee and Morgan are moving to the neighborhood across from ours in just a few weeks, I figure she and Jamey might as well go ahead and move to Holly Springs too! ;) Seriously, though, I am glad that this means we will get to see more of each other, and we will be making more frequent trips to Virginia, too, so that our babies can grow up together! And I know the joke is old…but this baby is going to be named Jayme, right? Jamee? Jami? No?? Shoot. ;)

To Jamie & Jamey-congratulations y’all. I am so excited that we get to go through this journey together and we are praying for you guys and Baby J every day. Love you both very much!

-S