ramblings.

my. mind. won't. stop. tonight.

train of thought...go: 

1. Some of our dearest friends just had their first baby girl!! I cannot WAIT to meet her and to talk to Christina about how everything was and how she's doing as a first time Mama. Ryan and Christina, we are so excited for you two and can't wait to share this next phase of life together, we love Carson already! Check out these 2 babes on their wedding day...those are some good genes right there. 

2. Ben's two best friends - Tyler and Stewart - really more like our best friends. Tyler lives in Raleigh and is going to grad school at NC State, but we rarely get to see him since our lives are so busy and on different schedules. SO our solution is what is keeping me up all night. We are starting a new tradition - 

Monday night Dinner and Downton. Tyler, our little Brit at heart, knows me too well and introduced me to this show last year and my life stopped for a good few weeks while I became obsessed. Can't wait until January and Maggie Smith, my girl! Until then, we'll just have to rewatch every episode :) 

Favorite pic of us 3 - engaged to the wrong man ;) 

Stewart, Stewpac, Stewbic...we're just missing you. Living in D.C. is not as cool as living in the same town as your best friends, ok? Stewart has an ok job in an ok city following his ok dreams....National Geographic and Washington D.C. or Raleigh?? Just kidding we're just sad, this past weekend was a tease because Stew was supposed to come visit but ended up not being able to so this is a shout out to you Pac! We love you! 

3. We got to spend the whole weekend with these two: 

Graham helped a pregnant sister and tired brother out by painting the nursery with Ben while Laney and I got to spend some good BFF quality time together which included pedicures, latte's, and catching up on our favorite TV shows. We also went on a double date to the early premiere of: 

Do yourself a favor and go. LOL's from all 4 of us...and that's not common for Ben at a movie at 10:30pm. 

4. I am 26 weeks pregnant. Everything is going great right now and I am so thankful for second trimester. Baby boy is extremely active...kicking, dancing, flipping, punching etc. all the time. I have my glucose test at the doctor tomorrow so we're praying for a healthy report! 

5. I finished this book about a month ago and I still can't stop thinking about it: 

Thank you Kate and Sally for knowing me and loving me so well and encouraging me to read this. I am still challenged by Jen's words and her heart every day (also still laughing at her sarcasm and feeling like we should be best friends with her). Not sure what it's all leading to, but I'm praying that the Lord would use the desires of my heart and the stirrings in my spirit for his glory. We shall see! 

Well, as I was sitting here finishing my thoughts, a cockroach just crawled literally up my entire body all the way to my face. I screamed bloody murder, jumped out of bed and threw the computer on the floor. It's still working, Ben is still sleeping, and the cockroach lives. I, however, will now be up all night...great. 

DIY:: Daybed

I have been meaning to post about/brag about how handy and crafty my husband is for a while now, so here we go! When we moved into our house last year, we had so many ideas about how to make it our own without breaking the bank...and guess what?? We've actually started making some progress, yes its a year and a half later, but we're taking it project by project :) I hope I can get Ben to sit down with me long enough to explain how we (ok, he) made some of our favorites. I'll start with a project I actually have pictures of...the daybed!

We have a really awkward room off the side of our kitchen that could be a really cool nook or it could be a junk collecting room for our drying laundry. Thankfully, I found some inspiration for a room just like this:

The Lettered Cottage has some awesome design tips and DIY ideas and this was so cool to me that I showed Ben and began begging.

Ben, being the sweet husband that he is, looked up a few tutorials for a day bed design and while I was in the process of writing down every detail and every step, Ben was done reading and knew how to do it after skimming the directions for literally 5 minutes. Thank the Lord for the way Ben's brain works because it would have taken me a full week to even go to the store with a list a mile long to start this thing. So, after a quick trip to Lowe's, Ben started cutting away until he had built what would be the base:

P.S. - please excuse my iphone pics and their blurriness

We decided to paint it white...duh. 

Being pregnant and all...this was all I could help with, and even that was a struggle because I'm pretty sure that's not allowed either. At least I tried...

After letting the 2 coats of paint dry, we pushed the three parts of the base together, added our extra twin mattress and it's bedding, and there she was! 

Since this picture was taken, we have added baskets that my Mom found for us that fit perfectly and really make it look complete. Unfortunately, around the same time that this was built, we adopted this terror: 

She has managed to chew all of the pillows to shreds and even started on the wood of the daybed AND the mattress. It's a good thing she's cute and Ben is more patient than me. We'll probably have to start over on all bedding, but until then...we have a daybed! More to come on this awkward little room and how we decide to decorate! 

August?

Could someone please tell me where the month of August went? I have started this post 27 different times and I always give up because I feel like I've missed too much to catch up on. But here we go, a quick recap of our lives for the past month!

1. Lake with the Wrights

Almost the whole Wright fam (we missed you Austin and Macky) was able to get together for a weekend at Lake Norman. I have to make it clear that I grew up in a beach family and Ben grew up in a lake family- so I was a little skeptical at first as my in laws noticed...mainly Pops. I've been to the lake multiple times before, but Robert is determined to convert me. I have to say, he put up a good fight :) We had perfect weather, kayaks, a boat, a jet ski, wake boarding, Ann's cooking, and family...needless to say, it was a great weekend! Below are my only pictures, I really need to get a new battery for my camera...

2. Lake Lure

For a beach girl, I'm getting pretty exposed to the lake vacation this summer. So, nothing against Lake Norman, but Lake Lure might be one of the most beautiful places I've ever been...

I am so in love with this place after spending one long weekend there. Julia and Braxton invited us on the couples weekend of my dreams. Julia's family owns the house we stayed in and were the most gracious hosts ever - and they weren't even there. They sent us with enough food to feed us the entire weekend and when I say food, I'm talking Tenderloin and her uncle's famous Ribs. One of the best parts about the food, for me at least, was picking it up. On the way, Julia and I rode together and stopped in Shelby, NC. to pick up the food and visit with her Grandma. I don't even know what to say about it, I was fascinated the whole time. She was so sweet, had the best southern accent, and carried on the most hilarious conversation. It was all too much for me when Julia told me one of her favorite TV shows is Desperate Housewives...killed me. I love her. 

Anyway, Lake Lure provided the perfect setting for a lot of relaxing, reading, eating, and laughing. 

3. Atlanta 

We had been talking about making this trip happen ever since we found out NC State was going to play Tennessee at the Georgia Dome. The Wright's are split down the middle with State and Tennessee fans, so obviously this trip was a must. We all met in Atlanta on Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel and followed our leader, "Bulls Eye" (Ben's dad), into the madness. 

The plan was to take the Marta one stop past the Georgia Dome, walk to a well reviewed Mexican restaurant for dinner, then walk a few blocks to the game. Well, the Marta was a nightmare for some claustrophobic members of the family...

But at the stop for the Georgia Dome, everyone, I mean everyone got off. We thought we were being really smart by waiting for the next stop, until we got off and there was literally no one in sight except a man who pulled Robert aside and asked, "Sir, do you know where you are? No, do you really know where you are?" The look on this man's face and the warning in his voice was enough to send Bulls Eye into full on safety/papa bear mode like I've never seen before. It didn't help matters that the next human being we saw said the exact same thing and added a "Y'all need to be careful." Dressed in our tourist, game day clothes, we did stick out pretty bad but we made it to dinner. The game was really exciting and fun for maybe the first quarter. Things started going downhill fast when NC State started playing like wimps and the Stifler's Mom situation with the group behind us took a turn from funny to gross. 

NC State lost, but we still had a full weekend in Atlanta ahead of us. Well, not much was planned besides the game, so where did we end up? Target! Megan gets the best sister in law ever award for helping me register for the baby. She is the best person for the job too because she will tell you exactly what you do and don't need, her straight up honest opinion, and doesn't get her feelings hurt when I say I'm ready to be done :). I'm still working on my shopping stamina, but between Megan and Ann, I think I'll get plenty of practice! After lunch, frozen yogurt, and a short visit with Ben's aunt and uncle, everyone went their separate ways. 

I think if we ever doubted it before, this trip solidified the fact that Ben and I are NOT city people. We went to the best place you could imagine after a stressful, busy, fast paced few days in a big city - Eagle Ranch to visit my friend Sally. When we pulled up to the ranch, it was like my body and my spirit could breathe again. The ranch is such a beautiful place. I don't know that I could do it justice, so if you haven't heard of it, you should read about what an awesome difference it is making in the lives of broken kids and families (http://www.eagleranch.org/). 

Hearing Sally talk about her experience as a counselor, walking the grounds, and meeting some of the staff was so refreshing and encouraging. Later that afternoon we got to take Sally on a little dinner date to keep catching up. Sally is one of the friends in my life that no matter how far away we are from each other, or how different our daily lives look, we will always know each other to the core. I think I forget sometimes how thankful I am for her and how well she knows me. We have truly grown up together. We have witnessed each other's most embarrassing phases, we have fought with each other and for each other, we have eaten raw cookie dough by the gallon, and she is one of the few people in my life that I allow to snuggle with me :). I was reminded of all of this during dinner and both Ben and I were truly thankful for the blessing of her friendship, the encouragement we found in the way she is living her life, and the way she challenges us to live. We love you, Sags!! 

I'm going to have to finish this post later because my eyes are closing and my pregnancy brain is taking over, there is no telling how many typo's and run on sentences are in this post...sorry! Week 25 of pregnancy here we come! More on our weekend travels and maybe some details about the baby/pregnancy...kind of an important detail about our lives right now...will be coming soon! 

Half Way...not quite, yet already

20 weeks along and 20 weeks to go, we are officially half way.  With every day that passes of this pregnancy, my eyes are opened more and more to the truths God is working out in my heart.  Although I have more truth than I know what to do with, God graciously continues to teach and convict my heart.  Two things I’ve been learning and thinking through over the past few weeks are these:  1. The weight of the responsibilities God has entrusted to us, and 2. How the graces of God are so intricately woven into and so immensely tied up in these responsibilities.

The most recent and relevant example is our baby on the way.  The responsibility of this needs no explanation.  The grace of God in this responsibility is this:  I deserve death, instead we conceive and will soon birth a child.  Wow.  As my eyes are opened to these glimpses of grace, my heart longs all the more to extend this grace to my child.  I believe this is the way the Gospel is designed to work itself out in our lives.  When I clearly see and hold fast to the Gospel, that is, the grace given me in Christ, I am full of gratitude and in this have a greater love for Jesus and those around me.  I don’t have to be anxious or weighed down by this responsibility because it is the grace of God.  Our baby is still being formed in the womb.  I have not seen him, nor held him, nor heard him cry, but even still, his conception is enough for me to taste the unconditional love and grace I have in Christ.  I will soon be responsible to father a child, to raise him, to love him, and to teach him how to live.  Praise God I can rest in the grace already governing my inability to so.  I deserve death, God gives me a child.

Another example is the responsibility I have as a husband.  The grace of God in this is: I am, by my sinful nature, unloveable... yet God gives me the love of Christ.  He didn’t stop there, He then calls me to love my wife with all the fullness of love given me in Christ.  To love her faithfully, passionately, and self-sacrificially with all humility and tenderness.  What?  I can feel the weight of this call even as I type these words.  When the world looks at my love for Elkie, they should see the love of Christ for His church.  I am not quite there but already sit in the grace and love of Christ.  

The more I can see and understand these glimpses of grace, the more I can see and understand the complete joy that will be mine in eternity with Him.  This is why I say, “not quite, yet already”. 

We are halfway through the pregnancy, 20 weeks and counting.  Not quite there, yet already resting in the fact that God is fearfully and wonderfully forming his inmost parts.  The responsibility is ours, our lives are His.

-Ben

it's a...

BOY! 

Haleluuuujiah! Seriously. 

It has been a crazy week since Monday, when we found out we were going to be parents to a baby boy. I have lots of excuses for neglecting to blog about this huge news, including craziness at work and both the hubs and I being bed ridden with sickness BUT here we go, better late than never. 

Monday morning Ben and I both had to work, but I think I got the better deal with being able to work from home. I was able to get lunch and hang out with 2 of my closest friends for an hour or so leading up to the appointment. I don't know if we were just chatting away about other things and having too much fun to focus on what was about to happen, but I was so thankful to have something to focus on besides watching the minutes pass by on the clock. Before I knew it, it was 1:45pm and I was late, speeding to the doctors office - sorry Ben. 

At the appointment, they got us in right away and took us straight back to get the ultrasound. I think I was expecting a really emotional, sweet gender reveal from the ultrasound tech...but here's about how it went: 

tech: "So are you two going to want to find out the gender today?" 

B&E: "Yes ma'am, we are!" (Ben grabbing my hand and smiling from ear to ear) 

tech: "Ok, well here's the perfect shot"

B&E- no idea what we're looking at. 

tech: "Aaaand, there's his little scrotum" 

pause

Ben: "So it's a boy!" 

tech: "Yep" 

And that's how we found out we were having a boy - not even a little bit how I thought it would go, but WE'RE HAVING A BOY! :) Homegirl needs some coaching on bedside manner/excitement - especially with first time parents! After the rest of the routine check up's for me, we were out of there and ready to start gearing up for the celebration! 

Ben's family is spread all over the state so they weren't able to make it, but we made sure they were the first to know our news. After a few fun phone calls with the Wright's, I headed to pick up the pinata for the big reveal. 

I really have to give all the credit and a BIG thank you to my mom and my sister for the best gender reveal party EVER. They put so much thought and time into all the little details: 

Baby Bump!

Who will be the winner??

I have the best BFF in the world - Auntie Kate drove all the way from Charlotte just to be with us for the news!

Grandma takes the first hit...

Big Jim was next...

You can tell by that face that Uncle Joe smashed it...

Celebrating! 

Aunt Jamie got to see the whole thing from Mississippi! 

Thankful for these girls

Team Boy - Winners! 

Team Girl - still cuties :)

This really was a night that Ben and I will remember forever. We got to celebrate some of the biggest news we will ever receive with family and best friends. We are so thankful for every single one of you and cannot wait for our little boy to grow up knowing you and learning from each of you! Please continue to pray with us that he will grow healthy and strong, that Ben and I would seek the Lord through this pregnancy and as we become parents, and that our little one would know and love Jesus! 

We love y'all! 

Daddy Steps...

If you know anything about who I am, you know that I am (what my mom calls), an extreme “feeler”.  A few years ago when I took the Myers Briggs personality test, my results on the portion of Thinking vs Feeling was as far on the Feeling side as one can be.  I don’t know how much I trust MBTI testing, but I do know from experience, I am an extreme feeler.  In every situation, every experience, and every season of my life, my feelings have dictated every decision and action... but, in my current situation, my feelings have me stumped.

Elkie and I are now in our 2nd trimester, 17 weeks to be exact, and I still have no idea what I am feeling.  Of course, there have been feelings of excitement, and joy, and worry, and fear, and love, more emotions than I can name, but I still can’t put a finger on exactly how I feel.  I guess, the best way to describe my overall feeling of becoming a daddy is that it is still very surreal.

Elkie doesn't yet have a basketball for a belly, we have not set up a nursery or had any baby showers, so the whole idea of being a dad has not set in.  I was reminded today, how little I talk about the baby, how little I pray for the baby, and how insensitive I am to the fact that Elkie is working extremely hard 24/7 growing a human inside of her.  Reminders like these give me a real sense of urgency to take action and to prepare.  The problem is, I have no idea how to prepare to become a daddy.

Thankfully I am married to an incredible woman who was created to be a mom.  I know she will teach me “baby things”, how to change a diaper, how and when to feed, how to hold and nurture, and how to care for it’s every need.  I guess the best way to prepare, is to learn how to love and care for my wife, my partner, my teacher, my best friend, more and more each day.  My dad has been a great example of this for me.  As I’ve grown older, I have noticed his incredible ability to be a great father stems from the depth of love he has for my mom.  

So, I ask you to pray with me and for me as I prepare to be a dad, that I will be a great husband, and will continue to grow in love for Elkie and in my ability to express my love to her.  

A baby will be reality very soon.  Until then, I will continue taking small little daddy steps.

-Ben

The 4th

It has been a crazy week of revealing our big news to the world! We have been so blessed by the way our friends and family have shared in our excitement over this little baby. We recently had another doctor's appointment and were able to hear the heartbeat for the second time and receive a healthy report! 

That night after the appointment, I was a really healthy pregnant person and ate dinner with Ben, Graham and Laney at Five Guys, duh. We had so much fun catching up with them and hearing all about Graham's experience as a leader at Young Life camp. Young Life is such a special ministry and Ben and I loved getting to revisit our memories as leaders as we listened to Graham's passion for his high school guys to know Jesus. After dinner, Graham, Laney and I hit the road to meet my family at Atlantic Beach - Ben had to stay behind and continue running the show at work until the weekend. 

Our week was full of family, old friends, traditions, food, fireworks and SUN. 

14 Weeks and rocking the Mommy one piece

Happiest man in the world, also the most stylish. 

Riley is a beach girl all the way

Her first bath was pretty traumatic 

Watching the parade with the Wallace's and the Gant's this year was bittersweet...my dad wasn't leading the band with his trumpet in his usual ridiculous get up, BUT baby Kate marched her cute little booty down Ocean Ridge and I loved every second of it! 

Laney and Graham working it at the Parade

Team USA

Brian...

BFF's and In-laws 

I don't know what it is about 4th of July, but it has always been one of my favorites. I was especially excited this year because it felt like a real vacation for the first time in a long time. It might be because of my long days inside wasting away in front of a desk at work or this child using all of my energy, but I needed this week of rest! 

Mom and Dad - Thank you for always hosting anyone and everyone! It was so fun to see your excitement telling your friends and our family about becoming Grandparents. 

Caroline - Thank you for putting up with my cravings for cheese fries and Dairy Queen. 

Jamie - I loved getting to spend some good time with you before you head back to Mississippi! One thing I can always count on with you is laughter and a few good eye rolls at the same things. 

Joe - It wasn't the same without you! You're never allowed to skip this trip ever again! 

Stella, Graham and Laney - You are all family and I loved spending this Holiday with y'all...thanks for being just as crazy and weird as the Branches :)