BIRTHING CLASS

Wow. That's pretty much all I can say after our weekend birthing class. I went into it thinking it was going to be mostly Lamaze type of breathing exercises... that was not the case. Rather than the once-a-week for 8 weeks course, we opted to cram it all into a Friday night and all day Saturday affair. I won't even bother with the details because those who have done it already know, and those who haven't will have to find out on their own. Probably the most memorable thing that I learned was the practical stuff- where do I park, where do I take Mandy, what should we bring, etc- along with a million other things to expect- the bottom line is to expect the unexpected I think.

Mandy is at 29 weeks! now and the days and weeks are flying by as we keep trying to get ready for Nolan's arrival. It seems like it is going to be impossible to get everything done by March but we are trying. UPS packages keep arriving daily with gifts for Nolan from our registry- thank you everyone! Even though Elli is not happy and would go through the window to kill the guy in the brown truck if given a chance, we get excited everyday to see what is arriving next. One day when he is walking up the driveway with a package I think I am just going to burst open the door and let Elli show him what brown can do for him...

29 weeks

Nolan Michael's room

Upon returning to frigid North Carolina we set about to make Nolan's room a reality. In between watching some bowl games the vision of the nursery came to fruition. Mandy and I spent all weekend taping, painting, and painting some more and the result is... pretty damn good actually. We are very happy with the way it has turned out so far. Now comes the hard part- putting together all of the furniture... On a side note- it is as cold as it ever has been around here and there isn't any relief in sight this week. We are hunkered down in the house with the heat on full blast and our very tough guard dog who is under 4 layers of blankets and hasn't moved for a day or two... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

BABY SHOWER!!!

A highlight of our trip to Florida was the baby shower- held at Nicole's Village Tavern in Wellington. (sight of the infamous Jake Postlewait slapping incident) The ladies all seemed to enjoy themselves in the VIP area while the men held their meeting at the bar, and Nolan Michael got enough presents to more than fill our car! The best part for Mandy was getting to see so many of her friends and family. We are so very thankful for everyone who came out to make it a special and memorable night for all of us!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Spending Christmas in 70 and 80 degree weather never seems normal to me but I was glad to do it this year! On the day we were planning on heading south to Florida- a big winter storm rolled into Asheville- we got out just in time! We were told that the interstates were all shut down a couple of hours after we got down the mountain. We spent 10 days in the Florida heat and got to see a lot people we haven't seen enough of lately. We went out on the boat on Okeechobee and on the ocean too. I got to spend some time in the pool with Callie Beth and did plenty of soaking in the hot tub. Christmas at Nan's house was great with a lot of Mandy's family there along with kids, dogs, and the presents galore!


Mandy and Elli X-MAS EVE


Patrick enjoying the hot tub :)



Mandy with Uncle Walt and Uncle Joe. They cooked a GREAT meal for us!!!