Beth's Bday Fun

For my 27th birthday, Gibby took me to a Braves game! It was a lot of fun and we got a great outfit for Josiah too! It was also Stephen Strasburg's first start at Turner Field, which was why we went to that particular game. (For those of you who do not follow baseball...Strasburg is a new phenomenal pitcher that has sent shock waves throughout the baseball world. His fastball tops out at over 100 mph!) It was a great pitcher's duel game! It was great to see Strasburg pitch, but was even better to see the Braves score 5 runs in one inning to win the game! We also got to go with a awesome couple from church that have the same passion for baseball that we do. All four of us had a great time! Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of us while at the game. :-( I did get some good ones of the players though!

It's a BOY!!

We finally got to have the long awaited gender ultrasound on May 5th!! I hardly slept the night before because I was so excited and anxious to find out what we were having and see pictures of the child growing steadily in my tummy! The ultrasound did not disappoint! It was very clear that we had a son on the way!! We were both so excited! Josiah Scott moved us both to tears as we watched him twist and turn. We also got to see his heart beating and got a great picture of his little foot. I think we both just absolutely feel in love at first sight of him!

Beach Trip

In April, we decided to take one last trip to the beach without children. It was a great time for us to get away and have time together before our life takes a drastic turn (in a good direction of course). It was a great time! We were so thankful to get away from every day life and just have fun together. We ate our weight in smoked tuna dip from Cocoons and played the scratch offs to our heart's content. It was a needed weekend of rest and fun! We were so thankful for it too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

St. Patrick's Day was especially important to us this year as it was Gibby's first day as a Manager Trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car!!! We are sooo thankful for this great job for Gibby! The role just fits him perfectly and it looks like it will be a great career for him! He was placed in the Trussville store for right now. It is a long haul to Trussville every day, but it is well worth it for such a great job! We prayed for a good fitting career job for Gibby for well over a year and God definitely provided for us when we needed it most!

Home Ownership

On March 2nd, we took the plunge into home ownership. It was definitely a challenge as it was our first experience in home buying and I was still in the miserable state of my first trimester. However, we have AMAZING friends and parents that helped us a great deal before and during the move. My mom came over a couple of times and helped me pack up everything. She did a great job in packing my entire kitchen! Ms. Faye stayed with us a couple of days after we moved in and helped me unpack since I had to go back to work. She unpacked the kitchen stuff and some of the bathroom stuff too! She also cleaned our carpets!! Mom came over too and unpacked a lot of our clothes and even organized our closet by hanging up all of our clothes. Thanks Moms!! We did run into one big snag during the move...our hot water heater didn't work. Fortunately we were able to replace it within a couple of days of moving in (thanks again Mom!).

Gibby and I were ecstatic to finally have our own space with no barking dogs, bass music, crying babies, or fighting neighbors to listen to late at night or early in the morning!! Our house and neighborhood is wonderfully quiet. Kali also settled in nicely after the first night when she kept us up all night meowing. Kali also suddenly decided that Gibby was ok after we moved. Our best guess is that Gibby had invaded our space in the apartment since he moved in after Kali and I, but we all three moved at the same time to the house. So he was no longer an intruder, but an official part of the family!

We love our first home together and feel blessed to be able to have it!

A New Addition

I will try to tell this as Gibby tells it since he loves the story so much.....About a week after Chloe was born, I had a sneaking suspension that we might be expecting our first child as well. As the week went on, the suspension grew. I mentioned it to Gibby about half way through the week to let him know what I was thinking. He shrugged it off as stress (which was a good argument at that time), but deep down I knew otherwise. Friday rolled around and I couldn't stop thinking about it. When he got home that night, I mentioned it again. He shrugged it off again, but I pressed it. He suggested that we might should buy a pregnancy test just in case. I had actually already bought one that afternoon when I went to the grocery store. This took him by surprise since he knew how serious I was about it at that point. So, I took the test and sure enough there was a little pink plus sign. This was not enough evidence for us. We needed more proof. We needed a "yes" or "no" or even "pregnant" or "not pregnant." So, off we went to the store! We spent the money for a fancy digital test. We got a very convincing "yes" displayed on the screen!! We were both equally shocked, excited, and terrified all in one. We decided that we would wait to tell most people, but planned a weekend of travel in order to tell those closest to us. First, we went to Maegan and Adam's. We shared the news as I fed their precious newborn. We then traveled to Mom and Robert's to let them know they would be grandparents in about 9 months. After lunch, we made a bogus excuse to Ms. Faye and traveled to Montgomery to let her in on the fact that she is going to have a second grandchild. Everyone was so excited and very surprised by our wonderful news. Unfortunately, Dad was in Japan at the time. So, we held our breath and waited until March to unveil his new Grandpa status while he was home on a two week leave. Holding in the news that long to everyone else was so hard (especially with my grandparents!!), but we made it and it was well worth it! By the time we told him, we had our first ultrasound picture which looked like a little turtle with a beating heart!

Chloe Belle Keel

On January 17th, 2010 Maegan and Adam were blessed with their first child (and my first niece ;-), Chloe Belle! I will never forget seeing Maegan and Chloe being rolled into the hospital room! Maegan's face was just glowing with love and Chloe was so beautiful!!!

January 7th

This day started with a call from Mom letting me know Robert had been in a wreck and was on his way to UAB hospital b/c he hurt his hip pretty bad. I went to the hospital around lunch and brought Mom something to eat. Robert had fractured his knee cap, fractured the top ball of his femur, and dislocated his hip. Fortunately, they were able to repair his injuries enough that he was able to go home that afternoon. Unfortunately, he is just now able to go back to work full time (yes, that is 6 months off work b/c of a car wreck!). Moral of the story...wear your seatbelt!!

I got a call from my supervisor while at the hospital saying that the office had been closed for the rest of the day due to snow! This was a blessing because I was able to stay and help Mom get Robert back home without having to take off work.

That night we settled in with Mom and Robert and watched the University of Alabama claim its 13th National Championship Title in football!! ROLL TIDE!!

Happy Anniversary Chicago Style

Last September we decided to go all out on our 1st anniversary and took a four day trip to Chicago. We had a GREAT time!! We saw all of the major sites of Chicago including Navy Pier, Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), and the aquarium. We also went to some of the famous eateries in Chicago like Ed Debevic's, Al's Italian, and Gino's East. Gino's East was definitely our favorite restaurant! The cheese sticks were the best we have ever had and, of course, you can not beat Chicago style deep dish pizza! On our last night, we got to see the best firework show either one of us has ever seen. We took a cruise on the lake to watch the firework show. Luckily, we picked the best seats possible! We were on the top deck and on the side of the boat that faced the firework show. We also stopped in a museum that had the traveling Harry Potter exhibit. It was a ton of fun to see all of the costumes and props from the movies! And, of course, we went to a baseball in both Chicago ballparks while we were in town! We went to a day game to watch the Cubs play at Wrigley and sat in the bleachers (Gibby's idea). It was an uncharacteristically hot day in Chicago that day, but I got a good hat out of the deal! It was my second trip to Wrigley and Gibby's first. We had a great time except for the heat! Later, we went to a night game to watch the White Sox play at U.S. Cellular field. We had great seats right on the second row just a little ways down from the 3rd base dugout.
Overall, it was a great first anniversary!! During the trip, a couple asked us how we were going to top our 1st anniversary with the 2nd. At the time, we thought we might take another trip to a big city like New York or maybe DC. Little did we know...

GO RANGERS!!

As a state worker, I enjoy a holidays that most people do not even know exist. One such holiday is Jefferson Davis' Birthday. Yes, we still celebrate the birthday of our fallen Confederate leader in this great state! ;-) Gibby and I decided to take advantage of this day in June 2009 and took a road trip to Dallas, TX. Why Dallas?? The Rangers of course! It is a goal of our lifetime together to attend a baseball game in all the Major League Baseball parks in the country (and Canada). So, we decided we would knock one off of the list. We drove to half way on Friday night and camped out (thanks for the tent, Dad!) in a state park in Louisiana. Then got up Saturday morning, drove to Dallas, set up camp again, and attended our first Rangers game in the Ballpark in Arlington. We sat in the outfield and saw a good number of homeruns by the Rangers. It was a great game! Can you tell it might be hot in Dallas during the summer?? The next day we got up, packed up camp, and headed out to another Rangers game. This time we sat behind the 1st base dugout, which gave us a better view of the game. After the game, we headed back to our campsite in Louisiana. It was a VERY long day and we were both exhausted!! Thank goodness I am a good late night driver! On Monday, we packed up camp for the last time and headed home! It was an exhausting weekend, so very fun and worth the trouble!