last pre-baby getaway

a month ago, we made a quick trip to cville...billy had a career counseling meeting up there, so it was a great excuse for one last getaway before the baby arrives.  after his meeting, we had a maternity photo shoot on grounds and then went to michaels bistro (my favorite!) and the uva-duke bball game, which was super exciting!

i had wanted to get some maternity pictures done just to have the memories of this special time preserved, but when i started to research photographers, it is sooo expensive to have these done.  i had hoped to have my sister do some of these, but we hadn't all been in the same place since thanksgiving, at which point i was barely showing.  so, i found a 3rd year student at uva who has a photography business, and it was the perfect fit.  she was so sweet, had a great price, and took wonderful pictures.  i would highly recommend her if you're looking to get some pictures done in cville that are very good quality without forking over a huge chunk of change!  (happy to pass along contact info if needed :) )  it was really special to have these pictures done in cville as well, since we have so many great memories and milestones in our relationship there.  can't wait to print some out for my yearly photo updates around our house (i try to go in and replace some of our photos usually once a year, leaving the older pictures behind the new ones to see how things are changing).  

here are some of my favorites from the shoot!  hard to believe the next time we're in cville, we'll be introducing our baby to one of our favorite places in the world :)

and here's a picture from the bball game, where ironically my belly looks like a basketball :)

baby shower!

two of my dearest friends hosted a wonderful baby shower for me this past weekend.  we had so much fun, they did a great job with yummy food, beautiful decorations, creative activities, and i was so touched by their kindness and loved seeing such a sweet group of friends who came.  i was overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone, and our baby now has so many cute clothes and things for the nursery, so we are all set for his arrival!  

here are some pictures from the shower...

wonderful friends (we have a similar picture from three years ago at leslie's baby shower...we've all aged pretty well :) haha)

gift table with adorable banner!

cake made by leslie's mom (such a great baker!)

 

sweet hostesses (and little marian)

mom & me

grandmothers-to-be

onesie station - such a cute idea!

my mom came up on thursday, and we were able to get the nursery set up for the most part (minus some cushions we're waiting on and whatever artwork we end up doing).  we had lots of fun getting everything set up and going through all of the cute clothes and shower gifts from atlanta, and it was very special to have her here one last time before our little guy arrives.  

this is the progress we've made...

our crib (from craiglist) and bedding that i love! (crib is currently filled with clothes, which we will be putting away tomorrow :))

changing table (another great craigslist find) and glider (waiting on aqua zebra cushions to be ready!) - we'll probably move the bed before long and add a dresser over there

first attempt at a panoramic photo with my iphone :)

looking very pregnant (33.5 weeks)

mr brooks loves having the bed in there

jefferson wanted to help out by sitting in the basket :)

brooks sitting in the rocking chair from billy's mom!

catching up

i have been very negligent of the blog lately - after my last post, things got super hectic at work and have just started to get back under recently.  the time has flown by since then, but we've done lots of fun things and really enjoyed the time spent together.

after our anniversary weekend away, the next big things were my birthday and Christmas.  i always love getting our house decorated for Christmas and also spending time reflecting about God's amazing gift in sending His Son for us.  billy is in charge of the tree, and i usually do the other decorations.  he is super great at getting the lights just right on the tree (very particular about that :)), and i love going through all of our ornaments and thinking back about the fun times we've collected them.  we have lots from a wedding shower, so it's fun to think back about that, and since we got married, we get an ornament at each place we visit (that we deem ornament-worthy :)).  so, over 6+ years, we've accumulated quite a few ornaments from different places.

we were a little late getting Christmas set up in our house this year, but we haven't taken anything down as of yet, so we've been able to enjoy it for an extended period of time.  it probably should be embarrasing that we still have our tree up, but it makes us happy - and some of the neighbors have said they enjoy it as well!  i'm thinking next saturday, that will be my project, since i'll be out of town this weekend.

Christmas was pretty relaxing and low-key, which was nice for our last Christmas with just the two of us, although i'm sure next year will be much more fun and that it just keeps getting better :)  we went to church and had dinner with billy's family on Christmas eve and then had them over for brunch and to watch Christmas Vacation on Christmas day, so there was good family time as well as plenty of time with a long weekend for us to just hang out (we did work some earlier in the weekend but didn't do anything for work on sunday or monday, which was nice!).

for Christmas, billy's sister had gotten us a generous gift certificate to use towards a concert (or concerts in our case), so we took a spur of the moment overnight trip to greensboro to see the avett brothers for new years eve.  we don't usually do much for nye, but this was a fun getaway and was a perfect way to ring in the new year.  plus, greensboro is really affordable, so it was a very cheap trip - probably cheaper than if we'd gone out somewhere around us or to an organized new years eve event :)  we've enjoyed taking a few overnight trips here and there while we can, and i think we'll really appreciate these fun times together once it gets tougher to get away.

since then, january has been flying by - continuing to work a lot, staying busy working out and trying to keep things in order on the homefront (although at this point, parts of our house look like a disaster zone due to some baby preparations - aka lots of hand-me-downs, unassembled crib, gifts, etc), and just enjoying spending time together.

celebrating my 31st bday at cazadores

biggest tree we've ever gotten :)  

(all of the brooks boxes were empty, so no, we did not get tons of shoes for Christmas...billy was just doing a little decor)

billy & jefferson decorating

brooks watching :)

 dogs wanted to destroy the santa billy sr left at our house

our Christmas card picture

last Christmas with just us :)

 beautiful tree at busch gardens Christmastown

can you spot the terriers??

 sharing the giant bone from kendall

 worn out from all the festivities 

we got jefferson a new bed, and he knew just what to do (before unwrapping it)

 mr brooks' first snow!

avett brothers in greensboro

 g-love concert at the norva

billy's first indoor track meet - set a big 5k pr!!

6 years

at the beginning of the month, billy and i celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  we had a nice little getaway to wintergreen for a few nights and did some fun activities, including hiking, going to a concert and basketball game in cville, me getting a massage, eating some good meals, and enjoying time by the fire in our condo.  the dogs were able to come as well, which was lots of fun!  they were tired for several days after the hiking we did!  we are very thankful to have a strong (and growing), committed marriage and that we really enjoy each other's company, and the past 6 years have flown by so quickly.  it was such a nice, relaxing time, and we were glad to have a getaway before things get crazier in our house this spring :) 

beautiful view from our porch - we were surprised that there was no snow, so they better start making it soon if they're going to open for ski season!  i don't look too great - no makeup, wet hair, and we were trying to get a picture in before our camera died - but that's ok :)

exciting news

this coming april, billy and i are expecting a baby boy!  we are very excited (a little scared, seeing as we have basically no baby experience :)) and feel blessed that God has given us this child after some ups and downs over the past couple of years.  in this, God has really taught me to just trust in Him and His perfect timing and also to enjoy where He's placed you now - i sometimes get so caught up in what's ahead that i fail to enjoy the moment, so over the past year, i've tried to focus more on just enjoying where billy and i are in the moment.  he's much better at that in me (with my planning nature especially), but it's been a good learning experience.  

it's been great to be able to share with our immediate families in person - both the news of our pregnancy and also the "gender reveal".  in august, right after we found out i was pregnant (and before knowing how everything was going), we told our parents since my parents happened to be in town for a few days and we wanted to share with everyone in person.  i was able to tell my siblings in person as well, which was fun.  then, at thanksgiving, both of our families were in atlanta, so we all gathered at my parents' house and shared the news there.  billy and i baked blue cupcakes for the surprise, so it was a fun little gathering, even though pretty much everyone thought we were having a boy.  

fall catchup

i have been very bad about posting on the blog lately...we've been staying busy with lots of fun activities when we're not working!  

i've been out of town some, going to a wedding in florida, a weekend trip to atl, and celebrating a friend's 30th bday in pennsylvania.  on the weekends when billy hasn't worked, we've made it to a couple of uva games.  and, we were in atlanta for thanksgiving with my family.  

here are some pictures from our past few busy months...

uva homecoming game

tailgating

wicked 10k - very windy!

jen's 30th bday - fun girls weekend with manicures and yummy tapas lunch

billy on the homestretch of the atl half marathon

awesome half marathon finishers!!