Happy Holidays

My mom came down to Charlotte the weekend after Christmas and helped me decorate my house.  Before Matt and I got married, my friends threw me a Christmas bridal shower.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.

I registered at Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn for all sorts of Christmas decorations and I could not have asked for anything more.  The shower was perfect.

I now have all sorts of NICE Christmas decorations that I probably would have never purchased for myself but would have longed for every time I walked past the store windows.  A Christmas shower is one fabulous reason to get married in February or March; just sayin!

So now our tree is up.  Gifts are wrapped.  Balsam & Cedar Yankee Candles are burning and Elf is always on the TV.  What could be better?!

Happy Holidays from the Atkins!

Put A Brick On Their Head

Last weekend I was supposed to go back to Kernersville to see the family and my girlfriends.  Well the plague of a stomach bug broke out among my parents, sister and brother-in-law so I stayed my distance in Charlotte.

I called Blair Saturday afternoon to check on everyone and see how they were feeling and she told me that earlier in the morning Livi had come into her room to check on Blair and Sam.  As soon as Blair told Livi that she wasn't feeling any better, Livi's response was, "Well don't worry mommy, Aunt Blain is coming today so she can just take care of me and Jack!"  

OMG melt my heart.  After Blair told me this I felt so guilty for choosing not to go and mad at Blair for not telling Livi that I wasn't going to make it.  (Blair then informed me Livi had thrown up in her bed during nap time about an hour before our phone conversation; she had the same stomach bug....guilt dissolved just a little :)  )

Long story short...I love these little doodles with all my heart and they are growing up so darn fast.  Is it acceptable to put bricks on their head and hope they do not get any bigger?!

Breakfast with Santa at Church

Livi before school yesterday

18 Weeks

I had no idea what to expect during pregnancy.  I have watched many friends, including Sister, go through the whole pregnancy process and all of them have been very different.  I have had some girlfriends feel like they were knocking on death's door with morning sickness and fatigue, but on the other hand, Sister and several others breezed through it without a problem.

So far, I do not have one complaint; I have never felt better!

In weeks 1 - 10, I had a little heartburn and was tired but other than that I feel just like myself.  I joke with Matt that this pregnancy thing is such a breeze I could do it ten times :)
Fingers are crossed the trend continues!

Litter Mister at 18 weeks!

It Finally Became Real

We had our anatomy scan yesterday and up until the time we walked into the ultrasound room I was calm as a cucumber.  I have felt amazing the past 18 weeks and it all just seemed to surreal.  I had a hunch of what I thought our little peanut was going to be but didn't want to get my hopes up one way or the other.  Girl or boy, it didn't matter as long as his/her little lungs were working, heart was beating, kidney's were pumping and brain was functioning.  The important stuff.

I will remember yesterday forever because it was the first moment that felt really like we were a family of three :)  As I laid down, Matt sat calmly in the chair beside me.  As the tech started getting our little peanut into focus, she immediately asked if we were ready to see the gender. I don't know about Matt but I was totally caught off guard; she already knew!!!  That quick!!!

At the top of the ultrasound screen she had written:

HI MOM AND DAD !!!  IT'S A 

And now she was just waiting for us to give her the go.

As soon as we both responded, she typed BOY!!!

Of course, tears started flowing out both sides of my eyes as I tried to control myself.  I was already in love.  We were going to have a son.

Matt grabbed my hand in between his and brought them up to his face.  He didn't say anything as he covered his mouth and kissed my hand; I knew he was over the moon.  

The rest of the visit seemed absolutely surreal  We watched as the tech quickly clicked around taking measurements and making notes. Every time she said the word "he" another tear would flow.  I could not hold in the shear excitement that she was referring to our son!!!  Seriously, we are having a little boy!!!  I think I am still walking on water :)

Throughout the ultrasound, our little BOY would not stop moving!  As soon as the tech would get close to the picture or the measurement she would need, HE would throw his little hand up and block her.  She would try and catch a measurement of HIS leg bones and HE would immediately cross HIS legs together.  HE was in no mood to be prodded at :)  (Stubborn like his mother.)  Several times she was trying to get HIM to hold still and HE would flip over on HIS belly.  It blows my mind how active HE is so early on and I don't feel a thing.  

Matt watched the entire time in shear aw.  As she went through each organ and gave it the thumbs up, I could feel myself breathe again.  Everything checked out healthy and normal.  That's all we really wanted to hear. 

I cannot wait to see what kind of adventure our little boy  is going to take us on in this life ahead! I am one happy momma to be !!!

A Little Bit Of News

I am late in posting this to the blog but Matt and I have a little bit of NEWS!!!!
WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!!

We sent this picture out to some of our close family and friends on Halloween morning and to say we had MANY excited reactions would be an understatement!

Two weeks later I had my 12 week doctor's appointment and that's when we decided to make the news a "public" announcement.

For a sushi eating, wine drinking gal like myself, telling my friends and family came at just the right time before the holiday because lets me honest....I could not turn down another glass of malbec without everyone knowing exactly what's up.

Matt and I decided we wanted to tell our parents and siblings before everyone else so we spilled the beans to my parents on October 3rd and Matt's parents the next weekend.  

We were in Kernersville Friday night of the 3rd having dinner at my sister's house along with my parents when we decided to draw names for Christmas.  I volunteered to put the names on little pieces of paper.  I included an extra strip of paper that said "baby A".  When I was finished, Olivia took the bowl of names around the room and my mom was the first to pick.  As she drew her slip and opened it up, it took her a couple seconds to process what she was reading.  She had drawn Baby A.  As soon as she started screaming, Blair immediately knew what was going on and started screaming and crying as well.  Sam and Dad of course looked at us like we were nuts (nothing unusual there!) and Blair had to explain to them that Matt and I were having a baby.  Olivia was the cutest of all....she immediately came over and sat on my lap and told me that she already had names picked out, Rose for a girl and Michael for a boy.  Isn't it crazy how fast a 4 year old process things!

The next weekend Matt's older sister Lorene and her husband Brett were in town for a wedding.  They were landing in Charlotte Friday night so we decided to meet and have dinner at Mellow Mushroom when they got to town along with Matt's parents.  While we were at dinner I lied to everyone and said that I had some leftover cake from work that we could take back to my in-laws house and have for desert.  I didn't have a leftover cake; I had a new cake with "You're going to be a grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle!" written on it.  When we got back to the Atkins' house, we pulled out the cake and set it on the kitchen island.  No one tried to look at it.  Matt finally asked if anyone wanted cake and his mom walked over to cut it. She opened the box and looked at the cake and did not understand what she was looking at.  Matt then had to explain it to her what she was reading :)  While he was explaining it, everyone else overhead and finally our secret was out!  

The worst part of the Atkins family baby news revel was that before we cut the cake, we Facetimed Matt's younger sister Katherine who is in Austin TX.  When she picked up, we kept the camera on the cake so that she could read the message. In the midst of all of the commotion we kind of forgot she was on the phone and Katherine kept yelling over and over again...."WHOSE BABY IS IT?  WHOSE BABY IS IT?  WHOSE BABY IS IT?"  She had no clue if it was mine and Matt's baby or Lorene and Brett's baby. ha ha.  See the confusion??!

Overall we feel so blessed to be adding a new addition to our family.  Kids are something that Matt and I have never wavered on since the day we met; we knew we wanted to start a family soon after marriage and now our dream is coming true!

xoxoxoxo