Happy Happy New Year!

  So yes I must admit I was a total slacker on the whole blogging throughout December thing! It just got the best of me and was so busy that I felt like I never had time to catch up and actually blog. Well now its January and a new year so on the 3rd of December I will start it off right!

I thought I would start the new year off by recapping what a year 2011 was by listing 11 of my highlights of 2011 in no particular order...

1- 1st Anniversary... Well we did it :) Chris and I finished out a whole first year of marriage. We beat out Kim Kardashian. No seriously though, you do go through some adjustments that first year and I am more in love now than I was the day I married him. We got to celebrate by spending a long weekend in St. Simons. Perfection!

2- Becoming a family of three... I bet you all thought I was talking about finding out I was pregnant! Haha, actually on January 18th we welcomed in our Havanese Puppy Jacks and yes I count him as a full on family member. I cannot tell you the amount of joy he has brought us over the last year.

3- Finding out we would be a family of four... Okay here is that finding out I was pregnant part! This was quite a surprise as many of you know but we have truly discovered over the last 29 weeks since we found out that God's timing is perfect. We can't wait to welcome sweet Hutton into this world in 7 weeks or less :)

4- Wizarding World of Harry Potter... Yep- I'm one of those. Now I don't want to get into any type of conversation whether Harry Potter is good or bad. All I can say is I grew up for it and take it for what it is, fictional books and movies that just entertain me. In March, Chris took me on a short trip to Orlando and I got to do the whole Harry Potter world and had a BLAST!

5- Bahamas... In early March even before Harry Potter world I went with some sweet friends and spiritual mentors for a long weekend in the Bahamas. I can tell you without a doubt I've never felt God's presence more in a place than I did those few days. I'm not even sure how to explain it but I came back a better wife, worker, friend, daughter and feeling more renewed than ever before. Hmmm... return trip? I'm so thankful for those sweet friends that experienced that with me.

6- Roughing it... Well, it doesn't really count as roughing it but in February we went with our friends Clay and Melissa up to Mt. Cheaha for the weekend. It was just a relaxing weekend of a little hiking (maybe an exaggeration), food, fun, music, and Catch Phrase! Now 2012 will bring their wedding and we can't wait to share in that excitement with them!

7- Highlights for some sweet people in our life... Some of our friends had some really special moments in the last year that we were able to enjoy with them. My precious friend Aletha married her high school love Bo Mann and they are enjoying married life together! Our friends Brad and Rachel brought home their long awaited and prayed for second daughter Amelia home from Uganda in February. What a special blessing it was to have their family of four together! We also had some other friends JW and KC bring home their sweet little second daughter Zoe home from Ethiopia! Two sweet friends Ty and Kimberly got married in October and we were able to celebrate in that occasion with them! On December 21st, our sweet friends Matt and April Damato welcomed their little boy Lucas into this world! There's more... two of my Melissa friends got engaged and will be getting marred in 2012! Congrats to Clay and Melissa and John and Melissa! And in December we also found out some exciting news that is still a secret :) I think that is all... if I missed anything please please forgive me!!

Aletha and Bo in their coffee shop in St. Simons- Wake Up Coffee Co.!

8- Together... In April of this year the women's ministry of our church put on an exciting event to bring the women of our church together. It was called Together... Pray Love Act. I was in on the planning for this event and had a blast helping plan it as well as seeing God's faithfulness as it all came together. They are also planning another special event for this year and I pray that God will give the women of St. James an incredible experience and reveal himself to them in new ways!

9- 25th Birthday... Trips are always fun, trips with friends and your spouse are even better! We spent a long weekend with our friends the Goode's and the Freeman's at the beach for my 25th birthday. It is just extra special because you get to be with both your spouse and some of your besties all at the same time!

10- Paseo... Chris and I spent our actual anniversary weekend at Paseo which is a spiritual retreat. I really can't go into detail about the experience except say that it started out slow but ended up really blowing us away :) If you are interested in learning more or going yourself... let me know!

11- It's a Boy/Baby Shower... I will combine these so that I don't take up so many things with info about Hutton! Well we had two fun parties that involved Hutton this year. Late summer we found out we were having a BOY and threw a gender reveal party at our house to announce the news that Hutton Whatley would be joining our fam. Then in December, a sweet group of friends threw an amazing baby shower for me. I was honored by all the people that came to support us as well as so blessed by the beautiful gifts they gave. A special thank you to my sweet friend Mary for opening up her home!

Okay, I said I would only do 11 things because it was 2011 but I had to add 1 more. I also started an awesome new job in August that I love! I am now the Director of the Montgomery Area Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy which is a project of the Gift of Life Foundation.

2011 surely did bring us many blessings and I have a feeling 2012 has some awesome things in store. On Thursday, I'll tell you about my excitement and ideas for 2012!

Worship Wednesdays

  Well it is officially Christmas! With only 11 days to go I felt that I just had to share a Christmas song with you this Worship Wednesday. Over the last few years this has become one of my favorite Christmas songs and I'm sure if you haven't heard it yet once you listen you will find it as beautiful as I do.

Could've come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could've come like a forest fire
With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could've swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we've scarred

But You came like a winter snow
(Yes, You did)
You were quiet
You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Oh, no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind
It was still
It was small
It was hidden

You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Falling
(Oh, yeah)
To the earth below
You came falling
From the sky in the night
To the earth below

Wait

Wait- According to Webster one of the definitions of to wait is

 to stay in place in expectation of

That perfectly describes what one of my friends is currently going through and honestly, has gone through for many years.

Meet April.

This picture was taken in February of 2009.

This was when she was struggling with fertility.

This was when they were in the process of stopping the fertility drugs and had decided to wait to do IVF.

Fast forward to 2010

This is me playing with my friend April's little girl Amy Kate when she was only about 4-5 months old. Remember that February I was talking about, she ended up getting pregnant that April/May with no drugs, no ivf after a long battle with fertility issues.

Fast forward to 2011

Her sweet precious daughter Amy Kate turned 1 in January of 2011. A few months after that she and her husband Matt decided to start trying for #2. Mentally, she was prepared that it wouldn't come easy and wouldn't happen immediately. But, she prayed away hoping that it didn't take long. While God prevails, she got pregnant the first month they tried!!!!!

Fast forward to today...

My friend April sits in triage for the 4th or 5th time in 2 weeks waiting on lab work. She had preeclampsia when she was pregnant with Amy Kate and her body is leaning towards that direction again as she is struggling with high blood pressure or in the medical world they are diagnosing her with gestational hypertension. Her due date is January 10th. Praise God, she's measuring 37 1/2 weeks when she is only "supposed" to be 36 weeks. So she is waiting.

Last week she was put on bed rest and told to

WAIT.

She has been told to

wait

a lot, and she has. So now we all sit here

waiting

and praying for Lucas' arrival. Praying for the Doctor's wisdom in deciding whether to go on and induce her and bring little baby Lucas into this world as a Christmas miracle. They are trying to find the right balance in keeping her healthy and him healthy. I know that God will give her doctor wisdom and we will see Lucas when it is the best time for both mom and baby! Keep your prayers coming for this sweet family as they

WAIT.

 

Heartbeats

I saw this quote last week on Pinterest and haven't been able to get it out of my head since. It just amazes me the way every other thing I learn about pregnancy and motherhood has amazed me since finding out I was pregnant 26 both short and long weeks ago.

I go in Hutton's nursery everyday. Sometimes I go sit in the rocker and just feel at peace. Sometime I attempt to put something else together. Other times I go look through his clothes and imagine him wearing them. Yesterday, I put sheets on the crib and felt how soft they were and imagined him sleeping in his crib. The other night I turned all the lights off and turned on the sound machine just to imagine him in his crib sleeping to those sounds. On the sound machine one of the options is heartbeat. It brought me back to this quote. I don't even know what my heartbeat sounds like; yet, that is the most familiar and constant sound he hears. Even when he doesn't hear the Christmas music I listen to at work, or me talking to him, or Chris telling him good morning and good night and how much he loves him already- he hears my heartbeat. I pray he can tell from my heartbeat how much I already love and adore him!

I can't wait to meet our sweet little boy 10 weeks from today!  

Ten things on Thursdays

I'm going to be completely honest. This has been a VERY hard week! No, it shouldn't be. I had an amazing weekend with one of my best friends spending the night with me two nights and a baby shower on Sunday and capped it off with Small Group Christmas party Sunday night. But, Monday came and the weather got a little crazy and I got SiCk! I've come down with some sinus/cold ick and it has worn me down. I'm so exhausted as if I wasn't already tired enough! Enough with that though, even though I don't feel well there are too many things to be joyful about and thankful for.

1~ I was truly ShOwErEd with love and adorable gifts for Hutton last Saturday! I am so blessed with such loving, supportive, and generous friends and family.

2~ Tomorrow is Friday and Friday equals the weekend which is going to equal rest for me this weekend.

3~ This Sunday continues the Advent season. I have found this special this year as we celebrate the anticipation and coming of Christ and I anticipate the coming of our sweet boy.

4~ I have almost finished my Christmas shopping. We thought very differently this year for Christmas and I'm excited about what we're giving everyone.

5~ My sweet amazing husband is cooking me dinner tonight since I don't feel well.

6~ We have had an event every night of the week for over a week so tonight is the first night in a week we will just be at home relaxing together. Can you say food, fire, tv, and our sweet pup!

7~ I'm 29 weeks pregnant. Wow! I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks. Hard to believe that hot summer day when I found out we were expecting a surprise blessing was 25 weeks ago!

8~ We're spending NYE in Atlanta with Chris' family to go to Auburn's bowl game! I haven't been to an Auburn game yet this year so I'm pretty pumped about it!

9~ This Sunday I'm spending the day with two of the best friends a girl could have to celebrate Christmas so we're going to be shopping, baking, listening to Christmas tunes and just enjoying being together!

10~ Through the sickness, I was fairly productive at work today!

That's all for today folks! Say a prayer that I'll feel better and have a little more energy tomorrow!

Time for a Christmas game?

  I wanted to share a fun game with you that I created for our Small Group Christmas Party on Sunday and they seemed to enjoy it! Let me know if you need the answers!

Christmas Music Trivia

1. What do the treetops do in a white Christmas?

2. What is Rudolph going to go down in?

3. What kind of fire do chestnuts roast on?

4. What did your true love send you on the fifth day of Christmas?

5. What can we build in the meadow?

6. What two things are all you want for Christmas?

7. Where will our troubles be if we have a Merry Little Christmas?

8. What do bells on bob tails do?

9. Even though the weather outside is frightful, what is the fire? 10. What type of gifts do we bring to lay before the King?

11. Where did Mommy tickle Santa Claus?

12. Outside when the snow is falling what are friends calling? 13. What kind of nose did Frosty the Snowman have?

14. What do shepherds quake at?

15. What color Christmas will I have without you?

16. What do the angels sing?

17. What does the weary world do on this Holy night?

18. What type of joy do we repeat?

19. Jesus was born on Christmas Day to save us from whose power?

20. What are the three kings bearing gifts following?

21. The angel brought glad tidings of what?

22. What did they go tell it on the mountain?

23. Good King Wencelas looked out on the feast of who?

24. What was the little Lord Jesus asleep on?

25. What will you hear on every street corner?

26. How many times is Santa checking his list?

Relaxation then SLAM!

  Hello world! I haven't been ignoring blogging, we've just been swamped ever since we got back from our relaxing long weekend in St. Simons. Obviously we really needed that relaxing weekend to prepare us for the time ahead. Well I obviously couldn't move on without filling you in on how wonderful that weekend was so here goes my report on St. Simons Island, GA.

First, I've been to St. Simons before... twice! Lucky me! But Chris had never been and I wanted him to see how wonderful it is. One of my best friends from college lives there with her husband and so it made sense to go visit!

This is our AWESOME room at the Village Inn. Many places to stay in St. Simons can be a little pricey but this is reasonable and so relaxing and wonderful. You're in the perfect location here too!

Speaking of that sweet friend who lives here, this is her- Aletha! This is in the coffee shop that her and her husband Bo own which has some awesome coffee but is also making a huge impact on our world through their fair trade business practice as well as items they sell. Go to their website to learn more! www.wakeupcoffeeco.com

And that would be her in action with Bo!!

This is Chris on the patio of our room putting music to a song I WROTE! Wow, a song I wrote really has music to it now. Such a crazy reality but I'm super excited about it!

The beach... in November! And it wasn't cold! People were swimming, laying out, etc. We weren't prepared for it to be as warm as it was but we weren't complaining ONE BIT!

Sadly this was on our last day there in the courtyard area of where we stayed. It was so nice and exactly what we needed to prepare for the business that has since hit us since we returned! We've been working on the nursery like crazy and doing other stuff around the house to go along with our busy jobs! It has been a whirlwind but super fun. We have a whirlwind of a weekend ahead of us but I can't wait to fill you in on that on Monday! Time to celebrate Baby Hutton!