Last Days of our Family of 2

Well, we are down to the end. How do I feel? Well, I wanted to document that, so here goes : )

1. I am super uncomfortable, and I understand that there are only a couple of ways that this little boy is going to come out. All of those involve pain : ) It is funny how most of the pregnancy you can allow yourself to be in denial about that!

2. I am constantly feeling pulled in 2 directions...I want him out so badly, but I am nervous about how that happens! I CANNOT wait to see him, hold him, talk to him face to face...all of it! But, there is a lot of work to do beforehand...

3. So, I am beginning to realize that the books are all correct. The last week is filled with anxiety, anticipation and nerves. I also have realized that I am not very good at being comfortable with the unknown. I think that is what I am most worried about. Every labor and delivery story is different, and there is no way to predict how it will go! Which brings me to my next and most important realization...

4. More than anything this entire pregnancy, God has been trying to teach me one VERY important lesson. He is ultimately in control. Any control I think I may have is an illusion. ;) This realization is easier for some to accept than others! I am one of those that has trouble truly understanding this concept....don't worry, though. God is constantly working on me! He has been shaping me and molding me throughout this pregnancy to remember that He is God and I am not! This child that we will be meeting soon is actually His child. Stephen and I have been given this baby boy to love and to raise, but he is ultimately a child of God. Just like the rest of us : ) Anyway, just a little insight into what I have been working through in my heart over the last year.

SO...as we wait for our baby boy to get here, we continue living our normal lives, and we pray! We pray that the delivery goes smoothly and that mom, dad and baby are all healthy afterward. I am honest with myself about my nerves, but I constantly find peace in God's promises. Millions of women do this, right?? : )

Anyway, I apologize if this post does not seem like my normal cheery self. I am exposing my anxiety for situations when I can't be in control (or at least when I can't even pretend that I am!). We went to our doctor appointment yesterday and she said that everything looks great. We love hearing his little heartbeat, and I LOVE feeling him move all the time! I think Stephen is jealous that he doesn't know what it feels like to be kicked from the inside : ) It is truly something that can't be fully described...but, it is amazing. My next posts could be from the hospital...who knows! Send up some prayers for us when you think about it!

Blessings to anyone who made it through this entire post : )

Baby shower and Baby Campbell

So, I know this is way late, but that is alright. I should get a pregnancy excuse : ) So, a few weeks ago, we had a family and close friends baby shower at Stephen's parent's house. We invited boys too, and they watched football while the girls hung out. It was really great to get both of our families together. We are SO blessed on both sides of our family! This baby is lucky...

Here are a few pictures from the shower. There are more on facebook...i didn't want to upload them all here!

This is the crib we got! Stephen's parents gave us this gift and it is perfect! My parents gave us the bedding and they had it all set up at the shower. We don't have an official name picked out yet, so my mom had Baby Patterson monogrammed on this blanket. I loved that too : )

After everyone left, it was just immediate family left so we took a picture. Sean and Jenny and Josh, Kim and Sam were all there too but they had already gone.

This is me, my cousin Ashley, and Jenny (sister in law). We are all pregnant (obviously) and due just weeks apart from each other. Jenny is first. Then 2 weeks later Ashley is due. Then 2 weeks after that I am due!

This is the cake that Stephen's sister Laura made for the party! It matches the bedding...so awesome!

This is the diaper cake mom and sara made...so GREAT! All the little decorations are toys, teethers, nail clippers, etc. They did a great job too.

The shower/baby party was a lot of fun and very relaxed. We were given such sweet gifts from family, extended family, and friends. Andrew, Stephen's brother, was the only family member who couldn't make it. We missed you Drew! I can't thank both of our moms and our sisters enough for putting this together for us. It turned out perfectly. Again more pics on facebook...

AND, THEN!!!
So, 6 days after this shower...Sean and Jenny had their baby! He is so adorable...just perfect. Both entire families (our family and jenny's family) waited at the hospital for their baby boy to be born. You should have seen all of us in the waiting room. Yet another chance for 2 families to come together. Here are a couple of pictures of Baby Campbell. I won't put his name on here for their privacy (not sure if they would want it on here or not).

Here is Sean and Jenny and all of their siblings. One night it was just us left at the hospital, so we had some good sibling time!

Me and Baby Campbell (who is resting on Baby Patterson!)

And here he is just hours after he was born. How precious is he?!!!

Well, I have come to the end of this post : ) I am nearing the end of this pregnancy journey! I will be 37 weeks pregnant this weekend. That is officially full term. That means that if I have the baby at any point after that, he will not be considered premature. I am definitely more tired and having a much harder time getting up and down, but overall I can't complain. I still feel pretty good. I can't wait to meet this little boy inside of me. He moves all the time, and Stephen and I love to just sit at night and watch my stomach roll around. Please be praying for us as these next couple of weeks unfold. I will definitely try to update this a little more often so that I have a record of the last few weeks of our family of 2.

Lectureship, Maternity Pics, and What Is Next...

Amidst hearing all of the speakers, Stephen and I also got a chance to hang out with friends. Daniel was there so we got to hang out. We also got to see Melody who was in from New York, and I got to spend a lot of time with Hannah and her kiddos. It was definitely a fun couple of days. I didn't get any pictures of Daniel and Melody : ( I wish I had had done that...but, here are some pictures of my time with Hannah and Mason and Sawyer (Hannah has a picture of the two of us on her blog!). We had such a good time!


While we were in Abilene, Hannah was so sweet to take some maternity pictures for us. Here are just some of my favorites. There are so many more, and I am so glad that we could document this pregnancy and how big I am getting! : ) She did a great job, of course...here is her website http://hannahvickersphotography.com/


MAN! I had several other pictures i wanted to upload, but it isn't letting me. I will try again later :)

Mother/Daughter Shower

The shower was wonderful and I was given so many sweet gifts. Here are a few pictures from the day...

We don't get to all get together very often, so we enjoyed just hanging out and catching up

We played a fun game and each answer we got right, we got to pick one of the onesies hanging on the wall. Here are Michelle and I writing our answers down...

Look at all of these fun baby things!

Both of my mom's came since it was a mother/daughter shower! Mom got us our stroller and Tammy (Stephen's mom got us some adorable bibs and outfits (above).

Kristi made me this blanket - it has monkeys on it : ) And, it is SO soft!

Thanks girls and moms! I had a great time, and it meant a lot to me and Michelle to have you all there!

Where have I been???

WOW...September must have been crazy, because it has been way too long since I posted what we have been up to.

September started with Stephen's birthday! He turned 27 on the 1st! I love him SO much...I could not imagine my life without him and don't think there is anyone out there more perfect for me. We had a small celebration at his parent's house, and his mom and sister made him this awesome cake! Stephen loves Sonic and loves getting Sonic gift cards, so they made this for him and it was perfect...


I also forgot to mention that we moved into my parent's house at the end of August. Things were crazy. The title was never cleared on the house we had a contract on...and our lease was up at the end of August! So...we moved our stuff into storage, moved in with my parents and tried to decide what to do next. It worked out great and we had a good time staying with them for a whole month! We actually went out of town twice while we were staying there...The first trip was for our 9/9/09 Reunion trip with college friends. We spent a couple of days at a lakehouse in East Texas (thanks to Curtis' aunt and uncle) and played games, relaxed, cooked lots of good food and enjoyed the company. Here is a picture of breakfast Saturday morning. I made Stephen's mom's famous banana nut pancakes (Stephen's favorite meal). There wasn't a single pancake left afterward! The picture below that was our group shot in front of the lake.



The next thing we did was go to Lectureship at ACU. We went to hear a lot of speakers during the day, and then spent time with a few of our friends still left in Abilene. There aren't many left! I am going to put up a different post about that next. When we got back, my group of friends from high school threw me and michelle (she is pregnant too and we are 2 weeks apart) a baby shower. We have such a fun group of friends. We have been close for a long time now, we get together every Christmas, and we all know we will be friends forever. It is so cool to have a group of girls who have been with you through a lot and practically watched you grow up. It was a small mother/daughter shower and I will just post some pictures from it...

All of us (minus Laura - we missed you!)

Wow, it is hard to believe we are 26...the four of us became friends before we even turned 16!

Okay, this isn't allowing me to add more pictures...so let me start a different post :)

Mamma Mia!

So, I am well aware that there aren't many guys out there who like Mamma Mia...but, I love it! For my birthday (back in May) Kristen got me tickets to see Mamma Mia on stage. We got all dressed up and went out to see it last week. It was so much fun. They did a great job, and they even sang extra songs at the end with the entire audience standing up singing and dancing. So fun...

Here are a couple of pictures of us out that night:

On our way!

Right before it started

Afterward...we had a blast! Thanks Kristen! For her birthday back in February, I got her tickets to see Grease...so, we will be going to that in 2 weeks.

As far as life in general...Stephen and I are going through a lot of change at the moment. I am obviously changing. I posted some pictures of that below...But, we are also in the process of trying to buy a house. We never dreamed it would be so complicated. We found one that we really like, and we have had a signed contract on it for almost a month and a half now just waiting to close. They keep telling us it will be soon...and then they find something else that they need or something they have to work out. So, the big deal right now is that our lease is up in a week and we still haven't closed on the house. We are hoping and praying that this will work out within the next day or two. If not, we will be moving in with my parents until it does. We are so lucky to have both sets of parents in the area and willing to take us in! My parents are closer to work and church, though....so if we have to, that is what we will do. We would rather not move twice, though. I will update as we know more!

The first picture below is at 25 1/2 weeks. The second is at 26 weeks. I will be starting my 3rd trimester soon! Baby Patterson is due in exactly 3 months and 4 days : )

Who Will Baby Patterson Look Like?

So, just for fun...I pulled up a couple of baby pictures of me and Stephen. I have been wondering so much lately about what this little guy is going to look like : ) I only have two baby pictures of Stephen and I on my computer, and I laughed so hard when I pulled them up. Here they are for your viewing pleasure!


The look on Stephen's face and the size of my ears are enough to make anyone laugh. I am sure hoping that this little boy gets Stephen's ears! I got a little cuter as I got older (when my hair could cover up those ears)...see below picture of me and my papaw.



Stephen just stayed adorable! Look at these cute pictures...



So, what do you think? Who is he going to look like? I can't wait to find out!