Christmas 2009

We hope that everyone had a merry and blessed Christmas. We can hardly believe it's already come and gone. Where does the time go? We had a really nice Christmas. Christmas eve we spent with family at Todd's sister's house and Christmas Day we spent with family at Stef's cousin Blythe's house. Thank you to you both! We also got to spend time with friends Wendy and Brian and her parents on Christmas Day. Todd had to work at the station Christmas Day. We feel very fortunate to have been surrounded by family and friends this holiday. We even got to spend a little time with a very special Santa :) You will see pictures below.

Parker, Stef's little cousin, riding his new big wheel we gave him

Very curious about the big box, here he was opening his present

Santa Shackelford made a very special visit to Parker's house. Thank you Santa for making this such a memorable experience for us all :)

Parker and Santa

Santa with the "belly." This was Katelyn's first visit with Santa Claus.

Santa with Stef's mom

Our very special Santa

Rose and Ron with their new bikes

Drew opening his gifts

Todd got a Rubix cube from Drew... we took this picture because it may be the only time we see it this way... I remember these being very difficult to figure out once they are turned.

Steph and Dan... our lovely hosts for christmas eve

Here is Dylan with his new golf clubs.

Meg opening her Christmas gifts... she LOVES gift bags!

Everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Katelyn's Nursery... Finally finished

After what seemed like months of work, Katelyn's nursery is finally finished and ready for her arrival. Everything has been re-done. New floors, paint, moldings, light fixture, furniture, window coverings and accessories. All now ready for our precious little girl. Below are a few pictures taken of the final product... it's made for a little princess!

Tomorrow is our 38 week appt. and we hope to hear that the baby has turned into position. If she hasn't we will most likely be having a c-section next Tuesday, 12/29. We will post an update as soon as we find out more definitive news.

Stef's cousin Blythe painted the little birds on the letters for Katelyn's name to match the bedding.

Todd did a ton of work on this room, including putting together all the baby necessities. Here he is finishing putting together her swing... it was the last item that needed assembly (well... at least for now :)

37 week Baby Update

Well, we are finally on the home stretch of what has been an amazing journey towards parenthood. We had our 37 week appt. on Monday and because our little one is STILL in the breech position, we underwent another sonogram to check positioning, heartrate, breathing, fluid levels, etc. Everything checked out great except that she is still breech. The doctor said it is still possible she will turn but in the event she doesn't we are most likely looking at a c-section before the end of the year. Although a c-section is not ideal, as long as Katelyn gets here healthy and safe that is all we care about. So, mom and baby are doing good. Mom is getting very tired and having the usually expected back pain, swollen feet and restless nights, but we know it will all be worth it in the long run :) Below is the only picture we got of Katelyn on Monday, which is a pretty good image of her little face. Her cheeks look nice and chubby :)

We will keep you all posted on progress and will post pictures after the big day! We hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Christmas next week.

Katelyn at 37 weeks

35 Week Baby Update

We are offically into the swing of the holidays which means we are also officially less than 5 weeks away from meeting our new little girl. We are now on weekly scheduled doctor visits until she decides it's time to make her entry into the world. At the appt. this week all checked out very well. Strong heartbeat in the high 140's and mom checked out good too. They informed me that because of my "advanced maternal age" (did I really admit that???) that we will undergo weekly non-stress tests. Apparently this is standard and very routine for us "older" mothers. This coming week however the doctor ordered a biophysicial profile test which is similar to the NST but also includes an ultrasound... so we can check her position as they weren't entirely sure she has moved into position yet. So, we excitedly get to see our little peanut again before she is born :) If they give us pictures we will be sure to post them after our appt. on Monday afternoon.

Otherwise we are putting the final touches on Katelyn's nursery, packing hospital bag, installing car seat, etc. The doctor said that at this point if she decides to come early they wouldn't stop her. We'll see...

Will post more information after our appt. Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In this time of thanksgiving we would like to reflect on all that we are thankful for including our family, friends, good health, our sweet puppy and for the blessing of our little girl who we will get to meet in just a few short weeks. There are many more reasons for us to be thankful and we continue to give thanks every day for all of them. We want to wish all of you a blessed thanksgiving and hope you all feel as blessed everyday as we do! Happy Thanksgiving!

Beautiful Baby Shower for Mommy and Katelyn

Yesterday Katelyn and Mommy were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL baby shower brunch! It was hosted by Wendy, Blythe, Christy, Stephanie and Leah. We had the most beautiful day and everything was top notch! We were blessed with the company of many family and friends, some of who came from out of state to join in the celebration of our little blessing, Katelyn. I can't even begin to thank the girls for all they did in organizing such a beautiful party for us. We are so truly blessed and love all of you so, so much! Thank you to everyone for all the lovely gifts and for coming to share in our special day.

Opening gifts... we received so many beautiful things. Our little girl will be the best dressed baby in Tampa :)

My dear friend and college roommate, Monique drove all the way from South Florida the morning of the shower to share my special day.

Wendy and Stef... Wendy was one of the hostesses of the party and said a beautiful blessing before we ate. It was so special and sweet... it made me cry.

Steph, Wendy, Stef, Blythe and Christy... thank you so much for everything!

Here is Leah, another one of the hostesses. She was reading answers to one of the games.

The tables we all set up on Steph's beautiful lanai area. The weather was just gorgeous.

Katelyn's diaper cake made by her Aunt Wendy... It's too pretty to take apart so I'll wait until I'm desparate for diapers :)

Here was the cake table... everything was just so beautiful!

Getting the Nursery Ready...

With only 7 short weeks to go we are finishing up getting Katelyn's nursery ready for her arrival. We are very excited to meet her and as you will see below her daddy has been putting in a lot of work. Below are some pictures of him putting her new crib together. Now we just have to get the dresser/changing table and we will be all set :)

The final product!