Our Best Christmas Present Ever

Yes, I know that this is LONG overdue...well, at least a week anyway. I've sat down several times this week to write this post, but was always interrupted by something. So, most of you already know what our best Christmas present ever is...but for those of you who don't...last Friday night, December 5, at 8:13 Kayden Grace Elliott made her entrance into the world and deeper into the hearts of her mom, dad, grandparents and rest of her family.

It was a pretty eventful day for me. I had to be induced because I had gestational diabetes and the doctors didn't want me to go past my due date. So, we went to the hospital on Thursday night to begin my induction. Friday morning I had begun to progress a bit with labor so they started pitocin at 7:30 that morning. The contractions started coming and although they were uncomfortable, they weren't unbareable. I was able to breathe through them. They were coming about every 3-5 minutes at first. Every now and then the nurse would come in and up the dosage of pitocin and then contractions would come closer together. I was able to go through them still without the use of an epidural. That was my plan to labor without an epidural. Everyone thought I was trying to be brave or be a martyr, but it didn't have anything to do with that. I just didn't want to have to get another shot. I had also heard some horror stories about epidurals from other people I knew who now have back problems that they blame on the epidural. Not knowing how it would effect me, I was afraid of the epidural.

I was doing well until about 4:00. The contractions were getting worse. Kevin was doing well trying to help me relax, but I had gotten to the point where I couldn't relax anymore because the contractions were coming closer together and were more intense. I also didn't know how much longer I was going to have to go through all this. I finally asked for the epidural. After I got the epidural, the doctor came in and checked me and I had not progressed one bit since 7:30 that morning. I wanted to cry. I had gone through all that, and for nothing. I didn't understand what was going on. She said that she was going to let me relax under the epidural and see if relaxing my body would give my uterus the energy that it needed to do what it needed to do.

Well, no luck. An hour and a half later, I was still not progressed, so it was decided that I would have to have a c-section. So, at 6:30 we decided to do the c-section and an hour later I was in the OR. 45 minutes later, my sweet baby girl was born and I got to hear her cry for the first time. I had given birth to a 9 lb 9 oz 21 3/4" long baby girl! After the doctor finished my c-section, the doctor came around and looked at me and said, "There is no way you would have given birth to her without a c-section."

This week my mom has stayed with us. She was a big help and taught us a lot about the practical side of being parents. She has also spoiled Kayden already. AND...we have been teasing her about being Kayden's personal poparrazi. If you're on facebook, check out ALL the pictures of her. :)

Now, a week later, I am so totally in love with this little girl. Kevin and I are praying daily that the 2 of us can raise her to love and fear the Lord. We pray that the Lord will work in her heart and that she will come to know him at an early age. We pray for our family and friends who surround her and who love on her that they will be the influences on her that she will learn from them about the love of the Lord and how to treat others.

And yes, I will be one of those moms who will constantly be blogging about the cute things that she does and post all kinds of pictures. :)

Enjoy! Here are a some of pictures of her.

30 minutes after she was born, she found her fingers right away.

She loves sleeping on Daddy or Mommy's chest.

Going home day! This is the same outfit that I wore home when I was born.

Frozen Pumpkin Pie

Kevin and I invited my boss and her husband over for lunch today. She has an allergy to wheat products so I was trying to find some things she could eat. While doing some research, I found this recipe for frozen pumpkin pie. It sounded so yummy that I had to try it. After making it, I can attest to the fact that it IS yummy. I wanted to pass along the recipe to the rest of you. Hope you will make it and enjoy it too.

FROZEN PUMPKIN PIE
1 quart ice cream (good flavors to use: Praline, Butter Pecan, Cinnamon, Cheesecake, Vanilla, etc) slightly softened
1 16 oz. can cooked pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup pecan halves for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Put an 8 inch springform pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Spoon the softened ice cream into the chilled pan, pressing the ice cream into the sides of a pan with a spoon or spreader. Place plastic wrap over the ice cream and press down to form 1/2 inch shell. Freeze for about 2 hours.
In med. saucepan, combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt over med. high heat. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
In a separate bowl, whip the whipping cream to soft peaks. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Remove the springform pan from the freezer and remove the plastic wrap. Spread pumpkin mixture even over the ice cream crust. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours or up to overnight.
When ready to serve, sprinkle pecans over the top.
This may be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
Serves 12

Retrived from: http://glutenfreemommy.com/frozen-pumpkin-pie/

Thanksgiving Day

I was sitting here checking my email and such before getting started with my cooking for today and was thinking about the fact that today is Thanksgiving. I was thinking about how so often I get caught up in the things that I need to do that I lose sight of the reason we're doing them anyway.
This Thanksgiving Kevin and I are staying in Wake Forest because the baby is due any day now and traveling just wouldn't be a good idea. This is not the first time either of us have been away from our families at Thanksgiving, but it's still hard being way. It would also be easy to get caught up in the pity party of saddness about being away from our families on this special holiday. So, I decided to take a few minutes to think about the things that I'm thankful for before I get busy for the day. Because I have so much to be thankful for, I'm going to limit my list to 10.
In no particular order....
1. I'm thankful to live in a country where I am still free to worship God in public as well as in private without fear of being thrown in jail or killed.
2. I'm thankful that Jesus loved me enough to save me from an eternity in hell.
3. I'm thankful for the amazing gift of a husband who is loving, kind, compassionate, strong, sincere, and flexible.
4. I'm thankful for the little girl who is still growing inside of me and will come out and meet her new family really soon.
5. I'm thankful to have been born into a family who loves me unconditionally and who raised me to love the Lord.
6. I'm thankful to have married into a family who loves my husband and has embraced me with open arms as a daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, cousin...
7. I'm thankful to have a warm and dry place to live.
8. I'm thankful for all my wonderful friends who love me no matter what.
9. I'm thankful to be a member of an amazing church who loves God, loves each other, preaches the Word of God and lives it out daily.
10. I'm thankful for my job. Even though it's hard, it's rewarding.

So, have you thought about the things you're thankful for today and everyday? I'm glad we have a day that we can set aside to remind us that we have so much to be thankful for...but don't forget to be thankful everyday.

OK, I'm off to cook Thanksgiving dinner because our friends will be here in about 4 hours. :) Don't eat too much turkey today!!! :)

2 More Weeks

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I only have 2 more weeks until my sweet baby girl is scheduled to arrive. But just between you and me, I'm hoping it's earlier than that. I'm starting to get that uncomfortable feeling, but no labor pains to speak of yet. I'm still just praying for a healthy baby to arrive in God's timing and without much trauma. :) Everyone keeps saying, "I can't believe it's already time. It seems like you just told us you were pregnant." Well, to that I say, "WHATEVER!" As much fun as pregnancy is, I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER! It's been neat to feel this little one that God has blessed me with moving around inside me though. I am finally ready for her to come out and greet the world and play outside now. So, please continue to pray for us as we transition from being a family of 2 to being a family of 3. Pray for a safe arrival for Kayden Grace. Pray that she will come on time and not late so they won't have to induce me and cause undue stress to either of us. Hopefully soon I will have pictures of our precious little blessing from God to share with you. Until then...

Counting the Days...

Well, today it is 29 days until Kayden Grace's due date. I'm so excited and nervous and scared and happy all at the same time. I was thinking this morning wondering how it could be possible to love being pregnant and wishing she would just come out already all at the same time. I love feeling her move inside of me, but then there are times that I think "when is she going to come OUT and play instead of playing inside." I guess that these mixed feelings will never quite go away, they will just change into new mixed feelings. This morning I went to chapel at Southeastern with Kevin. Dr. Al Mohler--the president at Southern Seminary--spoke and I was excited to be able to go. He preached an important and timely message for us right now. He was preaching on raising children who are not pagans. In a world where so many young people leave home and in turn leave the church we need to be teaching our children from the beginning of their lives to have a proper fear of the Lord. We need to teach them who God is. We need to teach them more than what they are learning in Sunday School on Sunday morning and VBS the 5 days in the summer. He reminded us that even when we don't realize it that we are teaching our children. That when mom and dad are talking where their children can hear them, the children are learning about communication. When the child is standing in the kitchen watching mom cook, he/she is learning about taking care of the family. If we aren't consciously teaching our children, someone else will. So, part of my being scared is that in 29ish days I will have a little girl intrusted into my care. It will be up to Kevin and me to teach her and train her in the ways of the Lord. It will be up to us to protect her from harm and teach her how to handle crises like a believer. It will be up to us to train her in the ways of the Lord. This is an awesome responsibility and one that we cannot and will not take lightly. Please pray for us as we begin this journey.

1 Year

Last Wednesday was my 1 year anniversary at work. My administrator gave me my certificate and my evaluation today. It was really neat to reflect on the last year with her. I have done a lot of stuff at work over the past year. I have worked on a few committees and I have helped to impliment a few things into the office. When I started, our office was struggling because staff longevity was an issue. However, all of our core team has been there for at least a year. It's awesome. I was talking to my mom on the way home tonight and was telling her about my evaluation (which was good, by the way). I realized that my job has been the only constant in my life over the past year. I have moved from 1 apartment to another. I have married an amazing man. My body has been invaded by another little person who will soon join our family. The only thing that has remained constant is my job. On the other hand, this is the first job that I have ever stayed at for more than a year. It is quite the accomplishment and I'm loving being there. I love my job and the staff I work with. I love my patients and the work I get to do with them. It's awesome. I just wanted to share with you guys about my 1 year anniversary. :)

Fireproof (Part 2)

This morning, as mentioned in my last blog post, Kevin and I had the amazing opportunity to attend the pre-showing of the movie Fireproof. This is a movie that was made by the same people who did Facing the Giants a few years ago.

Before I give a synopsis of what the movie is about, I want to share a few things that we found out this morning that without doing some research you probably would never know.

1. Kirk Cameron really wanted to do this movie, but had to "jump through some hoops" in order to do it. He is a member of some actors' unions who did not want him to be involved in an independent film. But because he felt so strongly about the message of the movie, he went through the pains of working it out to be able to be in the movie.

2. This movie will be released on September 26th. Opening weekend is VERY important and it is important for everyone to go to this movie opening weekend. We were told this morning that several blockbuster movies will be released the following weekend and many movie theaters have said that they will not show Fireproof more than 1 week. However, if they have an awesome opening weekend, then they will probably hold it at least 2 weeks if not more. So, take everyone you know to see this movie opening weekend.

OK...here's my synopsis of the movie. First, girls...take LOTS of tissues. There are several really funny parts in the movie where the whole theater will be laughing, but I don't think there was a single woman who came out of the theater with dry eyes.

If you know nothing about this movie, it is about a Fire fighter named Caleb (played by Kirk Cameron) who is married to a woman named Katherine. Katherine works at a hospital as a Public Relations Rep and also helps to take care of her mother who had a stroke a year before. Caleb is seen as a hero to everyone except his wife. He saves lives every day, but can he save his marriage?
Katherine and Caleb have a less than desirable marriage and after a fight, Katherine announces that she wants out of the marriage.
Caleb talks to his dad and his dad challenges him to hold off on the divorce for 40 days and take a "Love Dare." He asks him to take it one day at a time but to complete the 40 days of the Love Dare and see what happens at the end.
About halfway through the "Love Dare" Caleb is about ready to give up. However, his dad shares the Gospel with him and Caleb finds love for the first time...but not from his wife.

I won't spoil anymore of the movie for you. However, it is important to take your friends to see this movie. Particularly friends who are not believers or those who are struggling in their own marriages. If necessary, pay for them to go see it (yes, it's that important). Also, my stepdad had a great idea of offering to baby sit for those with young children so they can go see it. (Again, it is THAT important). This is not really a movie sutible for children. There's nothing in it that is questionable, but it's about marriage and children are not going to understand it. There is also a website that offers resources for churches or for couples for study together. www.fireproofmymarriage.com. I went on that website and there is a lot of information on it.

Enjoy the movie when you go see it. I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks.

Fireproof (part 1)

I love them...Weekends. However, I've noticed that the weekends are coming around faster and faster. I LOVE it. But with the weekends coming around faster that means that the weeks are going by faster. I cannot believe that Kayden is due 12 weeks from TODAY! That is crazy.

This weekend Kevin has to do some suicide prevention briefings and will not be home most of Saturday or Sunday. Before he leaves Saturday, however, we are going to go to the movies. Yes, Saturday morning at 10 am we have a movie date. We are getting to see the new movie Fireproof at a sneak preview showing. His Radio (which is a Christian radio station that broadcasts out of Greenville, SC) rented out a whole theater and gave away tickets to see this movie. 2 weeks ago I was on my way to work on Tuesday morning and they asked for caller 5. I knew there was NO WAY I was going to be caller 5, but I tried anyway. On the first try I did not hear a busy signal, but the lady on the other end (before it rang, by the way) saying "Who's this?" I was shocked and excited at the same time! If you haven't heard of the movie, go to the link and watch the trailer. It's by the same people who did the movie Facing the Giants a few years ago. Check back here on Saturday night for a movie review. I'll let you know how it is. But from everything I've heard, every couple should go and see it.

When Kevin leaves for his suicide prevention briefings, I'm going to finish cleaning Kayden's room and get ready for her arrival. We are having some showers soon and I need to get her room ready for all her loot. :) We're really blessed with people who love us and want to shower her before she even gets here.

Hope you all have a super weekend too. What are your plans?

Anti Monkey Butt Powder

Yes, you read correctly. We were driving down the road over the weekend and saw our pharmacy advertising this on their marquee sign. We thought someone had hacked the system or were playing around. We thought for sure by Monday that would be gone. However, today we had to go to the pharmacy and we again saw the advertisement. Well, being the boy that he is...Kevin asked the pharmacy techs what Anti Monkey Butt Powder is. They laughed and said that people have been coming in and calling all week asking about it. They took us to the register counter and showed us this bottle of talcum powder. It is HILARIOUS and we continue to laugh about it. I had to share it with you guys. Enjoy your laugh. :)

Labor Day Weekend Fun--A Little Late I know

Last weekend we went to South Carolina to visit our families for Labor Day Weekend. We had a blast...even though Clemson lost (or rather didn't show up to play). While Kevin was watching the "game" with my family, my mom and I painted letters that Kevin cut out for our little girl's room. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

The sweet hand prints in the first picture are my nephew's. He was making a picture to frame and put in Cousin Kayden's room.

On Sunday we had a lot of adventures. We went to church with my mom and step dad. That was good. 10th Avenue North was there (Kevin, aren't you proud I remembered their names without having to ask?). We had hoped to go to their free concert that night, but we ran out of time. After church we went to dinner with my brother and sister-in-law at Applebees. There are some pictures below...most of them are good, but my stepdad decided to get silly.

After Applebees, we went to my aunt's house to meet my cousin's baby. My cousin and his family live in Mississippi so we don't get to see them very often. Kiernan was born on Father's Day. He is such a good baby. He let everyone hold him and didn't cry at all. Enjoy the pictures of him.

Game of Tag

Wow. I haven't played tag in a while. Thanks to my friend Merritt I am asked to play this game.

So, I have to give 6 quirky things about myself. Here goes:
1. I spent the past 3 months taping Sabrina, the Teenage Witch so that I could watch the entire series.
2. I have only watched 2 episodes of American Idol...and I don't like it.
3. I like to hit the snooze bar at least 3 times in the morning (or now get Kevin to hit it for me).
4. I drive between 300-500 miles a week.
5. I like to melt peanut butter and chocolate in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.
6. I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches.

I have tagged:
Ashley, Jenny, Katie, Nena (mama), Ronnica, & Stephanie. Enjoy!

Work Week

This has been an extremely busy work week for me. I'm always ready for Friday, but this week I'm actually praising God that it's Friday!!! It's been so busy that I'm glad I keep a calender so that I can remember when I do my time sheet on Monday what I've done. I was trying to remember yesterday as I was driving home what I had done on Monday and for a few minutes couldn't remember because Monday seemed so long ago. Here's a run down of what I did this week.
Monday: Drove an hour to the office. Spent 4 hours there. Then I drove 45 minutes to meet a coworker so that we could drive an hour to a patient's house to meet the new patient. Spent an hour with the new patient, drove back an hour to get my coworker's car and drove 45 minutes home.
Tuesday: Drove an hour to work. Spent an hour and a half in the office and then drove an hour to the VA nursing home. Met with a family who decided to sign with Hospice but then found out they aren't eligible at this time. Then visited a few other patients. Drove an hour back to the office. Spent an hour there. Drove an hour home.
Wednesday: Drove an hour to work. Did some paperwork for the first 1 1/2 hours there. Then had a Performance Improvement meeting. This is where our staff gets together and looks at what's been going on with our patients and seeing if there are any trends with one patient or with several and puts together a plan on how to improve their care. Or if there is anything that's not particularly working in the office we can put together a plan on how to make our jobs run smoother. Then we met with one of our VP's at the coporate level for an hour. We then spent the rest of the day reviewing our care plans for our patients to make sure they are current and that they are working for the patient. I was at the office until 5:30. Then drove an hour home.
Thursday: Drove an hour to the office to pick up some paperwork. Drove an hour to meet with a potential new patient in his home. He signed papers for Hospice. Then drove 45 minutes to be with a patient's family because the patient is dying. Spent an hour and half with them. Drove an hour and a half to be with another patient. Spent 30 minutes with her and then drove an hour home.
Friday: Today is Friday. I'm working on trying to get in touch with 2 families to see if I can come visit them. If so, I will drive an hour to visit the one, then 10 minutes to visit the second one and then drive an hour home. If I don't go visit them, I will be staying home to work on paperwork and probably nap. :) Gotta love being on salary!!! :)

Needless to say again, I'm so glad it's Friday. I'm going to take every advantage of this weekend and soak it all up because they go by so incredibly fast. Kevin has a few projects that I've got him working on. :) I've got a baby shower to go to tomorrow and then I'm going to try to finish cleaning up Kayden Grace's room so that when we get her furniture there is room for it.
Hope everyone has a restful weekend this weekend!

Update

We had our monthly appointment yesterday with the doctor. Everything seems to be still going well. My blood pressure is perfect. I am most excited about that. High blood pressure runs on both sides of my family and so I get nervous every time someone has to check my blood pressure. My sugars are still doing well. The doctor said that I am measuring right on schedule and Kayden's little heart is beating perfectly. He also commended me on my weight gain. I haven't gained much weight since getting pregnant.
The most exciting part of the doctor's appointment happened before the doctor came in the room. I was sitting on the table and Kayden was kicking around so I decided to lay back so that I could be more comfortable. Kevin was laughing at me because I was talking about her kicking. He turned around and looked at me kind of funny. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he thought he SAW her kick. He watched for another minute and she kicked me hard. I told him that he had to have seen that kick because I thought she was coming through my belly. :) It's the neatest feeling, but it sometimes gets on my nerves. However, I can't be satisfied because when I don't feel her I get nervous. Now if I could only move her off my bladder...but I guess that's just something I'm going to have to deal with. :)

Dead Sea Scrolls

Kevin and I have been talking about going to the NC Museum of Natural Science to see the Dead Sea Scrolls for about a month. Thursday afternoon we decided that we were going to go this weekend. We have also been talking for a while about getting together with our friends Bob and Mary. So, Thursday evening we called them to see if they were interested in coming down here to go with us. They joyfully accepted the invitation.
So, this morning about 11 Bob and Mary arrived at our apartment. We had lunch and then left to go to the Museum. After a slight detour (Kevin put the wrong address into Mary's GPS), we arrived at the Museum.
This was such an interesting exhibit. We learned a lot about the Dead Sea Scrolls and when they were written and how they were found. The best part was that we actually got to see 6 fragments of 6 scrolls that were found. Some of them were biblical writings in our canon, some of them were apocryphil and some of them were other writings that were found.
If you live in NC, or are planning to visit this area soon, or want to see history go to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science and see the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are well worth the trip and the money it costs to see them. ENJOY!

Hancock

Tonight Kevin and I went to the movies. We were going to see The Dark Knight--the new Batman movie. When we got to the theater I would have sworn that everyone in Raleigh decided to go to the movie at the exact same time. We had 10 minutes to buy tickets and get into the movie. Well, after standing in line for more than 10 minutes, we found out that they were not able to accept plastic tonight because their system was down. So, we had to go to the bank to get money out. Obviously by the time we got back it would have been too late to get into The Dark Knight so we decided to see Hancock instead.

The movie was really good. It is about a man who is a super hero, but is also a real jerk. Will Smith does an excellent job--as usual. Jason Bateman plays a guy (Ray) who is a Public Relations guy and wants to help Hancock improve his image. Ray's wife (Mary) looks at Hancock like she doesn't like him from the beginning. I was extremely confused as to what was going on with her, but as with most good movies, it was explained about mid-way through.

My only problem with the movie was that there is a little too much bad language and there is one scene that was hard to watch because of the gun shots and blood. However, most of the movie was rather tame. I laughed through the movie and even almost cried. I would recommend this to audiences over the age of 13.

Let me know if you watch(ed) it and what you think about it.

What do you do?

This seems to be a common question when getting to know someone. There seem to be standard questions that we ask when meeting someone new.
1. Where are you from?
2. Who is your family?
3. Where do you go to church/school?
4. What do you do?

My answer to the last question always gets several different responses.
1. Oh, so you're like a priest or something?
2. Oh, that must be hard working around death all the time.
3. I could never do your job.

No, I am not a priest or a preacher. I have never felt called to preach, and maybe one day I'll blog about my reasons for that. But for now, know that that is not my calling. That is my husband's calling. :) However, I do feel like my ministry calling is to sit with patients and families as they ponder what it means to move from this life to the afterlife. This is a sacred journey--one that I do not take lightly.

Which leads me to the second statement. Yes, my job is hard...but if you can show me an absolutely easy job, then let me know. I love what I do. Yes, I do work with people who are dying, but not everyday. In fact, it's been a while since someone has died on my patient list. However, I have come to realize that death is as much a part of life as birth is. The Bible even tells us that "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" Hebrews 9:27. Now, the hard part of what I do does come in that last part of this verse. I do meet people who when I hear their story (either through them or their family) and hear that they "were a good person" or they "grew up in church but haven't been in many many years" and I know that they are not going to be going to heaven, but unless they ask me I cannot say that to them. But for the most part, I get to have amazing conversations with people.

The last statement is my absolutely favorite response. I love it when people tell me that they could never do my job. The RN's at the hospital used to tell me that when I was doing my residency. My response was always, "well, I can't do your job either." Isn't it great that we don't all have the same gifts, talents and callings? If everyone could do my job then why would I be needed? I'm glad that I am called to do what I do for this season in life. I say that because I hope that once Kevin graduates and gets into active duty that I can then do my ultimate calling and raise my children at home. :)

So, what do you do?

Weekend

Kevin and I just got home from our weekend in South Carolina. These whirlwind trips are starting to wear on me, but still had a great time. I had intended to take our camera home with me and take pictures of the weekend to post here, but I forgot the camera, so you're just going to have to read. Enjoy.

Friday, we both got off work early and left about 4 to go to SC. We arrived at my parents house (almost exhausted) at 8:30. My mom had cooked Sloppy Joes for dinner and so we ate some when we arrived. We watched some television and talked to my mom and stepdad for a while before going to bed.

Saturday: We woke up early and ate breakfast with my mom and stepdad and then got ready and left for a lot of driving! We went to Anderson to see my grandmother. It had been a few trips since we'd seen her. We spent a couple of hours with her just talking and laughing. Kayden kicked me a couple of times and my grandmother laughed at me because I kept jumping. It was fun.
After we left my grandmother's we met my daddy for lunch. That was good too. It was nice to see him and have a great lunch too. It was also nice to have free lunch, right?
After lunch we drove 2 hours to Union to see Kevin's family and some friends. On the way to Union we stopped at Starbucks. I was so excited. My sugar was good and I was going to be able to get my favorite drink. Well, we found out when we got there that they no longer make frappaccinos in decaf because "it's not popular." Well, I had my first breakdown in almost a month. I had to leave the store and go to the car before I made a complete idiot out of myself. Well, my sweet husband told them that I am pregnant and so they made it for me special and didn't charge him. It was a good thing they didn't charge him because in making it, they forgot the sugar and the mocha. It tasted like cold coffee with milk in it. I had to put some of Kevin's drink in mine and stir it up to make it bareable. But it was still sweet that he did that for me. So, after that, we went on to Union and met his mom at a pool party. It was funny because we were around all these crazy couples who were our parents age. :) It was nice to be in the pool and just chilling for a while.
After a couple of hours at the pool party we went to a church in Union to be with some of Kevin's friends. We had dinner with them. We laughed at some stories that they told about their days in college together and told some stories about how we got together. It was fun to meet some of Kevin's friends and see him interact with them.
After we left there, we went to see Kevin's daddy and stepmom. It was nice to sit and talk with them, but it made for a really long night. We got back to my mom's at 11 and we were both exhausted. We went to bed right after we got there.

Sunday: We went to church with my parents at the church I was a member of when I lived in SC. It was nice to be there and see some familiar faces and get some hugs from some people. They are also in their new sanctuary. It was huge and beautiful. It was nice to see it.
Kevin and I didn't stay for Sunday School so we picked my nephew up from the nursery right after service so we could spend some time with him before we had to come back. He has soooo much energy and he's so incredibly funny to be 2 1/2 years old. When we got back to "G'ama Nena's" I asked him what he wanted to play and he said "I wanna play...um...doggy." This meant that he would get on the floor and crawl around and pant like a dog. He chased my mom's dog around and when she started growling at him he got mad. Then he started eating. That boy ate so much. It didn't hurt that he didn't eat breakfast before church, but I couldn't believe how much he ate. He played hard. We watched a couple of his favorite cartoons and tried to get him to lay down (to no avail). But it was fun to be around him. He is so loving and sweet.
At 1:30 we went to City Range with my college roommate (Erica) and her husband and daughter and also her mama and daddy. My mom and stepdad and my stepsister and nephew went with us as well. It was so good to see Erica and catch up with her. She lives in Texas and since college I haven't gotten to see her that often. She is awesome and I wish I could see her more.
After lunch, Kevin and I left to come back to Wake Forest. So, now we're back home and I'm exhausted (and even more after having typed all of that). :) We're now watching Army Wives which is my favorite show. And pretty soon going to bed to start the work week.

Have a great week everyone!

Children's Church

This morning Kevin and I were approached by our Children's Minister's wife to see if we would sub for her in Children's Church. Her little guy was sick and she needed to take him home (I hope he feels better soon). So, Kevin and I agreed to go down for her. It's sweet to see Kevin work with children and it was neat to see what Jordan goes through every Sunday.

So, we walked in and there were about 15-20 kids in there. They were ages from about 4-7. And let me tell you...VERY rambunctious. The boys outnumbered the girls, about 2-1. Jordan started by talking to them about the "5 Do's of Children's Church." He drew a hand on the board (this is so that later he can hold his hand up to remind them) and talked about the 5 "rules" or "Do's."
1. Look at Mr. Jordan
2. Be Quiet
3. Be Still
4. Keep Your Hands and Feet to Yourself
5. Listen

Now, let me ask you. How many of these things do you think any of the children did? The first thing I did, was walked in and sat behind one of the children who was touching another one of the boys. Kevin went in and sat with another child. I then pulled another little boy from across the room to sit beside me. His friend started yelling for him to come back over with him. They seemed to be out of control. Not bad, but not being familiar with the ways of these kids, that's what it appeared.

We sang, we took the kids to the restroom, Kevin got to play "guess what's in my head" with the kids to see which group went back to the room first. It was funny to hear the questions they would come up with and then the fact that they weren't listening to each other (or even their own questions).
child:"Does it have fur?"
Kevin: "Yes"
child: Is it a lizard?

child: Does it have stripes?
Kevin: No
child: Is it a zebra?

Even telling them that it was close to a sheep and that it has to do with Jesus got the response of "Is it John?" Needless to say, the answer was a lamb. This had to do with their lesson. Jordan talked to them about sacrifices.

Going home Kevin and I talked about this experience. It was interesting. My first response was that I don't envy Jordan doing this every week. And then we talked about how the lesson seemed to be a little mature for these little ones, but that Jordan did a good job bringing it to their level (and also taking it back to their parents). He said, "If you have questions about this subject, ask your parents. It'll be a good conversation to have with them."

All in all, it was a great time with these kids. I only wish I had pictures to share. :)

Dinner tonight

Kevin and I cooked dinner together tonight. He grilled the chicken and corn and I made the potatoes, veggies and fried green tomatoes.

This was my first attempt at making fried green tomatoes. I found out today at the veggie stand that Kevin loves fried green tomatoes. When I mentioned (half joking) that I could make some he got really excited. So, I bought some, called my mama to find out how to make them, and started at it. Here is a picture of the tomatoes for your viewing pleasure.

Don't they look yummy?

I also took a picture of my hubby finishing the grilling. Here it is also for your viewing pleasure.

I enjoy cooking for Kevin, but I also enjoy it when we cook together. :)

Moving Baby

Wednesday evening I had choir practice for a little while. I got home fairly early and brought Subway home. While we were eating we decided to watch the new movie we got from Netflix. The Pursuit of Happyness had just come in the mail that day.
After we ate we decided to lay on the couch and cuddle. I had my hand on my belly and thought I felt something moving. I had Kevin put his hand there and asked if he felt anything. He said, "what am I feeling? It feels like your stomach." Typical man response, right? When I clarified that I meant movement he sat there for a minute feeling. He then got really excited and said that he could feel her move. It was such a sweet moment. It was awesome. We've seen her on the screen several times, but the first time we felt her move was the most amazing feeling.

Registering

Yesterday afternoon we went to our monthly doctor's appointment to check on the progress of our little girl. She still has a very strong heartbeat. Yes, I'm still experiencing some nausea and the doctor says that's fine. Yea, easy for him to say, right? Everyone keeps saying, "Good, that means your baby is healthy." Again, good? Easy for them to say.

While we were waiting to go back and see the doctor, Kevin found a brochure for Babies R Us and decided that we were going to go register. We left the doctor, grab dinner at Chick-Fil-A and then went to Babies R Us.

After the brief orientation by the lady at Babies R Us, we got started. Kevin took the gun and I picked things out. Yes, I did give him choices too. The one thing that I kept saying was, "There's so much to choose from." There were so many different types of bottles, a ton of passifiers, and oh goodness the toys. We chose a car seat, a swing, bedding, a hamper for her clothes, teething rings, toys, passies, bottles, thermometers. Oh so many things. And we never got to the clothes. I will probably go back this weekend and pick out clothes and maybe some books.

We did buy our little girl her first stuffed animal. There was this beautiful and soft pink bunny that prays the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" prayer. Kevin started to register for it. I told him that this was not the type of thing you register for. That this is the type of gift mommy and daddy buy for her ourselves. So, he let me go ahead and buy it for her now.

Our Church

Kevin and I have a wonderful church. I brag about our church all the time. So, I thought I'd blog about it for a minute.

Kevin had already been going to Open Door before I moved up here. When I would come up and visit the people I met were wonderful and always made me feel that I was welcome and even an "honorary" part of the church the weekends I would visit. There are people who I know from my college days who are members of our church. However, when I moved up here I was prepared to talk with Kevin about the need for us to find a church together and not me just go to the church because he was already there.

The thing was, the more I went to the church and heard Pastor Dwayne preaching I liked the church more and more. I got involved in the church and grew to love it more and more.

Now, Kevin and I work in the nursery some. I coordinate nursery one Sunday/Wednesday every other month. We are in an amazing care group that loves hanging out with each other and prays for each other and with each other often.

The pastor isn't afraid to teach the Word of God no matter how offensive it might be.

However, the most amazing thing about our church is this: it is the closest thing to the New Testament church I have ever seen. Since I've been at our church, we experienced a tragedy. The way our church responded was amazing. One of the couples moved out of their home to give the family a place to go. People brought food. Others sat and listened and cried and prayed with the family. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. No one stood around and said, "What can I do?" or "Let me know if you need anything." Everyone just did. Half the time I felt like I was sitting around with my mouth open in awe of what was going on. It was absolutely amazing. I'm still in awe of the church we are privileged to be a part of.

I just wanted to share with you guys the awesome place that we call "home." If you're in the area, we'd love for you to join us. If you're not, come visit. You'll be glad you did. :)

Journey to the Center of the Earth

So, last night Kevin decided that we were going to have date night and go see a movie. He cooked dinner for us and then we left for the movies.
He left the choice of movie completely up to me. So, I started looking at what was playing. There were NO chick flicks playing. So, I decided to start looking at everything that is playing. There are 4 movies that Kevin and I have both said we want to see: Kung Fu Panda, Wall*E, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, and Hancock.
Then after looking at all the movies I started thinking about which ones would be just as fun to rent and see on television. That eliminated Kung Fu Panda and Wall*E from our choices last night.
Hancock has gotten wonderful reviews, but it could be fun to see a 3D movie. You can't really watch a 3D movie at home and get the full effect. So, even though I thought it would be silly, I chose to see Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D.
To my surprise, it wasn't as silly as I thought it was going to be. It is based on the idea that the sci-fi book by Jules Verne is real. There were parts of it that were obviously fake. However, there were lots of parts that kept you on the edge of your seat. Just when you forget it's a 3D movie....BANG something would pop out at you. It was definately neat to see a 3D movie and it was a fun date night.
The only part that I could've done without was the commentary by the 4 year old behind us who talked the ENTIRE movie about how "That scared me" or "Hee hee, he just said..." I kept expecting his parents to tell him to be quiet, but they just kept laughing at him. The only thing that kept me from turning around and looking at them is that I know in 4 years Kayden will probably be doing the same thing. :)
I would definately recommend this movie.

Kayden Grace Elliott

I'm sure over the next 100 years I'll be talking a lot about this little girl who is growing in my belly. However, she is especially on my heart today.
Yesterday Kevin and I along with both of our moms went into the doctor's office to hopefully catch a glimpse of who this baby we will meet in a few months is. Everyone has laughed at me along the way, but I have known in my heart that it was my little girl. We picked out 2 names (one for a boy and one for a girl) several months ago. It was the same name regardless of whether it is a boy or a girl, but the spelling was different and the middle names were different. Kevin was excited because either way his child will share his initials. :)
When we were at the doctor's office yesterday I was nervous that our baby was going to be shy and we weren't going to know. However, Kayden Grace showed herself. She looked like she was sleeping for a few minutes and then all of a sudden she waved at us. Then she started dancing. I think she knew her daddy was watching and she's practicing for all the dancing they will do together. I think about Kevin and his little girl dancing around every time I hear Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella." It brings tears to my eyes everytime.
All that to say, I'm really excited about Kayden Grace coming into our lives. Continue to pray that she grows well and continues to be a healthy baby.

First Blog

OK, so I've succumbed to the peer pressure. I've created a blog on blogspot. Part of the reason I've been dragging my feet on this is because I have been thinking about what I wanted this blog to be. I have decided to blog about goings on in the Elliott household as well the updates on baby Elliott...who we now know is a baby girl named Kayden Grace. Hope you enjoy my rantings about things that I don't understand or make me mad and also my babbling about everyday life. Thanks for reading my thoughts. :)