Happy Birthday, Mama!

Happy Birthday to Mama! Today is her special day.

 Baby Kathy with her mama. We called her Nanny. So beautiful!

 Bathing Beauty!

 Mama and me circa 1985.

Kelly, me and Mama playing putt-putt golf together this summer.

 

Mama, I hope you have had a wonderful day. Love you bunches!!

 

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. James 3:13

Fall Love

I am absolutely thrilled that Fall is officially here! It was pretty chilly today, and it really felt like my favorite season.

 Sigh. I heart October. Anne of Green Gables is also wonderful, too.
Oh, and the word, "where" was spelled correctly..until I accidentally cropped the "e" out! OOPS!

 The other day, my sweet friend, Sarah surprised me with this mix! If y'all have not tried candy corn mixed with peanuts, you are missing out. It is the perfect Fall treat. :)

 Sparkly pumpkins are just too pretty, aren't they?

 I just put this together really quickly. It's just a decorative pumpkin and sparkly acorns.

Russell and I picked out a few pumpkins this afternoon. We always love picking them out together every year.

 Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!

 Russell and the fairy tale pumpkins

 

 Here he is showing off our loot!

Every year, we always make a white pumpkin cheese ball. I found the recipe in a Southern Living magazine a few years ago, and have been making it ever since.

 We will definitely eat this for a while! I just stuck a piece of a pretzel rod in it, plus I curled a couple pieces of floral wire and stuck them in too.

 We had Paula Deen's beef vegetable soup for dinner. It's another go to recipe every year.

What's better than warm apple pie? Dessert, please!

Yes, Fall has been great so far!

 

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Family Time

Hello again! I think I am starting to get used to blogging on a regular basis again. Oh, how I missed it!

So a couple of weeks ago, we went to South Arkansas to visit family. Since we announced it to our sweet family members, we really wanted to see them soon after to celebrate and just spend time together.

 Russell and I wanted to give each of our family members a little momento to commemorate our excitement. :) I made each of them baby blocks!

 They each had their name on them and other little sayings or pictures. Uncle Eric's says, "I Love Reese's!"

 All of the baby blocks together

 I did not get any pictures of my sister, but we had such a good visit that Friday night. They showed us their newest contraption in their house-a soda stream! We made cream soda and Dr. Pete (Dr. Pepper). It was really good and so fun to make!

 Kelly made such a yummy dessert with cookies, ice cream, and chocolate syrup. I just call it...well..heaven! YUM!

 Saturday, we got to visit with Russell's family. Here are Jackie and Ricky with their baby blocks. So proud!

 Jackie and Ricky got Baby Price a little something...Razorback bibs! Soo cute. We love those Hogs!

My mom came for a visit earlier in September and she got the baby their 1st pair of socks with ducks on them. Love that!

 Lauren even got to come with us to South AR!

Lauren, me and Mama outside. I always love coming to my hometown and staying in the house where I grew up.

Can you tell that Lauren and I love our polka dots?

 Lauren and Mama showing off their blocks!

Saturday night, I got to visit with my sweet cousin, Ann Marie. I didn't get a picture but I always love catching up with her. Miss seeing Re Re and her sisters!

September 22nd was Belle's FIFTH birthday! We had to have a mini photo session with her, of course. She always likes to strike a pose!

So, our trip was short and sweet, but full of fun, of course.

 

Can you believe it's Fall? Oh, I love love love Fall! I can't believe I still haven't decorated our house for Fall yet! I better go run and get our Fall wreath!

 

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11

Emotions

Hello again! I know I just posted yesterday, in which I shared with you that we did have a long road to get pregnant. I shared mostly our excitement, but I now feel I need to share more about emotions I was really feeling as a woman and Russell got emotional at times too. I know many of you who have gone through infertility totally understand how hard it is to go through the journey of conceiving a child. Let me say to those who do not know. It can be SO SO hard! I realize that so many couples struggle much more that Russell and I ever did. I am still praying hard for those who have that genuine longing. After I was diagnosed with PCOS, I was so scared, and knew in my heart it would not by any means, be "easy" to have a baby. However, we kept praying and kept trusting. I went through depression from all the other life situations that happened (not just infertility) and gained so much weight because I did not even care about being healthy at the time. With PCOS, your system is out of whack and your cycles are definitely not regular. However, after we moved back to NWA in 2011, I was definitely ready for a change, because I was happy to be "home." Russell and I truly feel that NWA is our home, where we want to raise our children til they grow up. We love our church family, we love the atmosphere here, and we also love the cows that graze in the field just two blocks away from our house! HA! It's just home. Since I really felt so much better emotionally, spiritually, etc, I was then ready to take that step in Weight Watchers. I love that program and plan to get back on it as soon as possible after the baby is born. Throughout everything, even though we were so happy to be back, there were SO many couples we knew who announced they were expecting. There were also many gender reveal parties, baby showers, and more events going on. Let me be honest, I could not bring myself to go to them many times. Let me just say, if that is you right now, do not feel guilty. Go to the showers if you can, but if you cannot bring yourself to go, don't be hard on yourself. It's okay to stay home. Don't be a hermit and lock yourself in your house, but as long as you are dealing with this the healthy way, it's okay to stay home at times. There were many times when I just cried and cried. It was so hard waiting. Patience is not my strong suit, but I am working on it! :) Throughout the struggle, I just clung to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I really did. I read my Bible as much as I could and I also found as many inspirational quotes and verses that helped  get me through. I even resorted to Pinterest and made a secret board to collect sayings and verses that inspired me to keep going, keep the faith and never give up. There were many family members and close friends who prayed for us during this journey and still are praying for us. If you have a friend who is going through infertility, let me say praying is the best thing to do for them! God hears all prayers! Thanks to those who were always there for us and will always be there. We love y'all so much!
So sorry this post is so long. If you want me to pray for you, just let me know and I certainly will! Love ya'll bunches!
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Baby Details

Thank y'all SO much for all the sweet comments! Russell and I are more and more thrilled each day!

I wanted to share our story with y'all that I never shared before, simply because I was not ready to share our hard journey, but definitely well worth the wait.

Russell and I wanted to have kids together since we dated and wanted to wait one or two years to try for a baby after we married in 2007. In September 2008, my Daddy was diagnosed with brain cancer, and passed away in February 2009, plus Russell lost his job due to a layoff. Obviously, that put our baby plans on hold. I was not aware that I had any problems at that time. Early in 2010, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). After the diagnosis, I knew it would be harder than we planned to have a child. We really began trying for Baby Price about three years ago. After we moved back to NWA in September 2011, I soon saw my doctor to discuss fertility issues and everything. She said after I lost some weight, then we could talk more about taking fertility medicine. I really began praying more and more about the right time to take anything. I did want to lose a significant amount of weight because I wanted to be as healthy as possible, in order to have a healthy pregnancy. I lost about 50 pounds on Weight Watchers, and in April of this year, I took the first round of Clomid. Unfortunately, my body did not respond to 50mg of Clomid, so we couldn't move on with trying in April. A couple of months later, we did 100mg of Clomid, plus hcg shot. Late in July, I found a wonderful Bible verse that really spoke volumes to me. I began praying Psalm 5:3 over and over.

 August 1st, I changed my cute little kitchen calendar with verses for each month. Guess what verse it was??! In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3.

The Lord gave me such a peace, right then that everything was going to be okay. So we did another round of Clomid, plus hcg shot for this month. August 31st, a day after my birthday, I took a test.

 OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Yes, this picture really shows our true excitement. Honestly, I was very calm and expected a negative, but truly believe that God has HIS perfect timing. We trusted, we prayed. God answered!

With the shot, the hcg hormone can give you a false positive if you take the test too early. So I was SO nervous that it was a false positive. But we were still ecstatic and did not tell anyone the news for a few days.

 Yes, I took FOUR tests. Mostly because I wanted to make SURE that the hormone from the shot was out of my system, plus I had to wait four days to get a confirmed blood test from my doctor.

Nonetheless, they ALL FOUR say PREGNANT! Can y'all hear my excitement? Yes, I know you can!

Tuesday, September 3rd, I got the blood test from the clinic and I was just itching for a call back. I saw my doctor in the hallway and walked up to her and said, "I am here for a blood test to confirm, but I took four tests, and they all said positive!" She said, "Oh my gosh! How exciting! You took four tests?" HA! That right there gave me even more peace it would be for real.

Finally I got the call that said for SURE!

 I could not wait to tell Russell the OFFICIAL news. I decorated the table with kids books, a family picture, pink and blue candles, and of course, a cake!

When Russell walked in the door, I RAN to him and screamed, "We're PREGNANT!!!"

 Russell decorating the cake with sprinkles

 Pink and blue!

 We told our families on the phone and facetime and they were SOOO thrilled!!!!

Amy and Tony sent us these beautiful flowers to congratulate us. So sweet.

 Our anniversary is September 8th, so here we are celebrating our blessings.

We had dinner at River Grille. It was fabulous!

 We had dinner one night with Amy, Tony, and family, and this was a sign Amy decorated for us!

September 16th, we went to the very first ultrasound! Here we are with pictures of our baby. He or she was the size of a sweet pea then. Now the baby is the size of a raspberry and growing every day! I am 8 weeks 3 days today and honestly have loved being pregnant so far. It is amazing to know everything about how baby is growing and developing, and even at six weeks, the first ultrasound showed us the heartbeat. It was fluttering like a butterfly. Amazing!

I know this post was LONG, but I wanted to share with you our journey. Praying for those our there who are praying for their miracle. Love y'all!

 

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in 1985, there lived a cute baby girl named Meredith.

 

There was also an adorable baby boy named Russell.

 

Meredith lived in Camden with her Mama and Daddy. Russell lived in Magnolia with his Mom and Dad.

Nineteen years later, Meredith and Russell met on a blind date, had dinner and went to see the movie, Sahara.

 

They fell in love very quickly, went on a few adventures that Summer of 2005. Meredith and  Russell went to college together at Southern Arkansas University. The couple knew that they would get married someday.

 

A few years later, in September of 2007, Russell and Meredith married. They had a beautiful, romantic, and traditional wedding at the church where Meredith grew up.

 

The couple traveled to Walt Disney World for their honeymoon. They even met Mickey and Minnie Mouse! It was such fun!

 

They moved to Northwest Arkansas and lived in an adorable apartment, perfect for two.

A few months later, they went on a fabulous and memorable family vacation to the beach. It was amazing to spend much needed time together.

 

In October 2008, the couple bought the perfect house to have a cute little puppy, but most of all, to raise a family in. They loved living there and it didn’t take Russell and Meredith very long to start new traditions and share memories there.

 

In November 2008, the couple got a new member of the family, a dog! They named her Belle Diana Price. Belle was instantly loved from the moment they met her.

Throughout Russell and Meredith’s marriage, they prayed so much that the Lord would bless them with a baby. They yearned to be parents someday and trusted in the Lord’s timing. They both had strong faith that God would answer their prayer.

On August 31, 2013, Meredith and Russell realized their dream had come true!

 

We are going to have a baby!

 

We are absolutely thrilled and thankful to God for blessing us! More details to come!

 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

Commenting Challenge Day 5: Best Meal Ever

It's Day 5 of the challenge! Cannot believe it's almost to an end.

Today's topic: Best meal ever!

Now, honestly, this girl loves food. I frankly had to think a little more on this one because it took more time to narrow it down. :)

Today, if I were to choose any single full meal it would be my Daddy's grilled steak, baked potato, salad with homemade croutons, French bread, sautéed mushrooms, and iced tea. Any fruit cobbler or chocolate cake for dessert, please!

No one grilled steak like Daddy did, so I cannot have that exact thing. Maybe Kelly and I can recreate it soon! :) YUM!

As y'all know-I am Southern as can be. Although, I love carbs. There, I said it. Whew. I got that off my chest! HA!

 

 The Pioneer Woman is one of my favorite people ever, and I use her recipes often. Last year, we had lots of family over for dinner and I made beef brisket with gravy, PW's mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls.

 But you could also pair the beef with homemade macaroni and cheese-which is my most favorite food.

 Johnita's yeast rolls are the best. My Nanny, Mama, sister and I make these during Easter and/or Christmas-heavenly.

 Chocolate Cake=divine. That's all!

I also adore my sister's Christmas cookies. She has made these so many times that she could mix the ingredients together, cut the cookies out with cookie cutters, bake them, and ice them with her eyes closed. She's a pro. We devour these at Christmas. Yep. No shame here!

 

So as y'all can see, we LOVE food. Most anything my family cooks is the best meal ever in my book. So good!

 

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27