Baby!

We are so excited to finally announce that we are expecting!! I'm almost 14 weeks and feeling great! Here is how it all went down:

*We had been trying for several months with no luck and I began to think that my prolactin levels were elevated again (like they were when I first got pregnant with Madison Claire). I went to the doctor and they tested my hormones and sure enough, my prolactin was high. They put me on some medicine to regulate my prolactin - which I only had to take for 1 week before I found out I was pregnant!

*The night of the Goodpasture game, I just had a feeling I was pregnant. I had been at Vanderbilt interviewing that day and just didn't feel very good. I was headed straight from Vanderbilt to the game, so I stopped at the Rite-Aid and bought a pregnancy test. I went to dinner at Calypso by myself and took that test in the Calypso bathroom. I thought that it showed a line that said I was pregnant, but it was VERY faint and I couldn't tell if my eyes were playing tricks on me. So, I went to Publix and bought another test - a digital one this time! I took it in the Publix bathroom and it came back "Not Pregnant". I still really felt like I was pregnant, but was too scared to get my hopes up.

*I went to the game and didn't say anything to Ryan, but I did tell Anne about it at the game and told her I really thought that I was. The next morning, I woke up early and took the second digital pregnancy test that morning. It came back "Pregnant"! I was so excited! Ryan was feeding Madison Claire breakfast so I came out with the test behind my back and said "Do you want some news that will cheer you up?" (they had lost the game the night before in a heartbreaker). I then showed him the test and he was so excited too! We were really just a little bit in shock!

*We sent the picture to our families and then started the waiting game to get through the first trimester.

*I have been blessed again with an easy pregnancy so far. I felt great through most of the first trimester - I felt a little tired, a little sick, and had some breaking out on my face, but each symptom didn't last very long.

*I remember how hard it was to lose the 40 pounds that I gained with Madison Claire so I am trying really hard to make better choices this pregnancy. Somedays it is easier than others. I am making a conscious effort to work out more consistently and make healthy choices. We'll see what happens - I may still gain 40 pounds, but it will be a different kind of 40 pounds this time!

*So far, I've craved baked potatoes, barbeque potato chips and mexican food.

*I went to the doctor at 8 weeks and they did an ultrasound and found out that I was only 7 weeks pregnant - which means I found out super early (explaining the inconsistencies in the pregnancy tests). They also saw during that ultrasound that my uterus is inverted. Basically, that means that instead of facing up and forwards, mine is facing down & backwards. So, when it started growing, it grew down into my pelvis instead of up into my abdomen. Eventually it will have to go up into my abs, but because of that it is difficult to hear the babies heartbeat and I'm not showing as much as some of my friends who are pregnant around the same stage.

*Speaking of showing, I have just started to show in the past week or so. I can definitely tell, Ryan is still a little skeptical that I'm showing - but trust me, I am!

*We've been talking to Madison Claire about the new baby on the way and she knows that it is in my tummy. Sometimes she'll give it a kiss. She is going to be a great big sister and I am so excited for her! I would say I have been excited 99.9% of this pregnancy, but I did have a moment a few nights ago where I got sad thinking about it not just being Madison Claire. I am so excited for her to have a sibling though!

*People keep asking us what we are hoping for, and I'm 100% honest when I say we will be thrilled either way. It would be so fun to have a little boy and experience the difference between girls and boys but I'm super close with my 2 sisters and the thought of Madison Claire not having a sister is so sad to me, so I'll be so excited if it's a girl for that reason. So - stay tuned! We'll definitely find out...we're thinking it will be early January.

Please pray for an uneventful, healthy pregnancy & baby! We'll keep you updated!!

Thank You, Nanny Annie!

Annie got Madison Claire an early Christmas gift and let's just say, Madison Claire LOVES it! Check it out:

Football Season 2010

CPA lost in the first round of the playoffs to their rivals, Goodpasture. It was a fun season - a lot of close games, a lot of creative thinking by the coaching staff, one of the warmest seasons thus far with great weather for all of the games, and the season that Coach Mathews became convinced that God is Church of Christ! (Kidding, of course).

Ryan had fun with the defense and they really played great all season. I am a very proud coaches wife!! The last game of the season, Ryan made signs to call in their plays and hopefully cause a little distraction. He mirrored them after the Oregon Ducks when they were on ESPN. Each sign had pictures of the other team, funny pictures that referenced the other teams plays, and the actual calls. I think there were 15-20 in all, but here are a few:

Big Girl Potty!!

I mean...if that isn't the cutest picture I've ever seen!! 2 weeks ago on Friday night, I left to go to Ryan's football game vs. Goodpasture. While I was at Calypso having dinner by myself, my phone rang and it was Annie. When I answered the phone she said "You aren't going to believe it...Madison Claire just went Pee-Pee in the potty!!!" You can imagine the scene as the conversation transpired with me asking questions about what happened and cheering for Madison Claire over the phone while at Calypso!

Let me take a step back - we aren't really trying to potty train Madison Claire. She has always liked going into the bathroom with us so we bought this little potty at Toys R Us back 4 or 5 months ago and it's just been sitting in our bathroom downstairs. She hasn't really shown a lot of interest in it, but she will sit on it sometimes.

This particular night, she was eating in her high chair and she just looked at Annie and said "pee-pee" so Annie took her in there and sure enough, she went! Annie said that she made such a big deal out of it that Madison Claire just sat there with a huge smile and she wouldn't get off. Before she knew it, she had gone #2 in the potty! We couldn't believe it! Annie took that picture during that time...so cute!

Well - that weekend, I would ask her occasionally if she needed to go "pee-pee" and she would always say "no". So I didn't think much of it. Well, wouldn't you know - Annie got here on Monday morning and I am not joking when I say that within 10 minutes, she was peeing on that potty for Annie. I just couldn't believe it! She went 2 or 3 times on Monday and twice on Tuesday so we thought we were on a roll, but she hasn't shown any interest since then, so we'll see!

At any rate, I'm proud of our punkie!!

Park Cafe

Ryan and I had a date night out to our special place, Park Cafe, the other weekend. It was so nice to get away just the 2 of us and we had a great meal at Park Cafe topped off with a piece of Pumpkin Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory for dessert! YUM! I love my handsome hubby!!!

Toddler bed

We moved Madison Claire into a toddler bed about a month ago because we caught her trying to climb out. Her crib converts to a toddler bed so we basically just took the front of the crib off and put up a small rail. The first 2 nights were a disaster - she was up at 6am standing at the top of the stairs pulling on the gate and would not go back to sleep. I posted on Facebook asking for advice and our family friend, Vicki Bachman, suggested that we turn her doorknob around so we could lock the door from the outside. We did that and it's been smooth sailing ever since! She will get out of the bed and go to the door but when she can't open it, she'll just go crawl right back into bed and go back to sleep. Thankfully, she is still sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00am! Praise the Lord!

She has been pretty cute though in terms of what she wants in her bed. She puts everything in there - blankets, baby dolls, books, etc. One morning, I woke up and she had her "popper" in the bed with her. The other morning, she woke up at 3:30am and went and got a book and was sitting up reading in her bed. You never know what you are going to find these days - one day, I looked over and found Annie in there with her!

We are proud of Madison Claire for making the transition easily and still can't believe that she is old enough to be out of her crib!

Happy Halloween!!

We drove back to Nashville on Halloween day and after a stop at Whole Foods & Calypso Cafe, we carved a pumpkin and got dressed up for Halloween. It was a beautiful night and Madison Claire had fun watching for the trick-or-treaters. We took her to a few houses on our culdesac and she loved it! Her favorite thing right now is a dum-dum sucker and I'm not kidding when I say she probably had 7 that night! She wasn't too thrilled about having to wear the Raggedy Anne wig tonight. She was still precious! Hope everyone had a good halloween!

Trick-or-treating at Kroger

While I was at Heidi's wedding, mom and dad took Madison Claire trick-or-treating at Kroger. My siblings and I have such fond memories of trick-or-treating at Kroger when we were little. They used to have a cake walk, and all of these fun games that we'd get to play. Madison Claire had a great time and looked precious! She was Raggedy Anne for Halloween this year - a costume that my Mama Howard made 21 years ago for Meredith & Patrick (there is a matching Raggedy Andy costume). It was so special to me for Madison Claire to be able to wear it - Mama Howard you are super talented!!!

Congratulations Heidi & Matt

Heidi & Matt got married on Friday night, October 29th. They had a very intimate ceremony on Friday night at a winery in Dahlonega, GA and then had a huge party in downtown Atlanta on Saturday night. Both events were perfect!!! The winery was gorgeous and the location downtown (Ventanas) was quite possibly the most fabulous wedding reception location I've ever seen! Ryan wasn't able to make it to the wedding on Friday night because that Friday was the last football game of the season for CPA. So I went by myself and definitely missed him! Heidi looked stunning (as you can see below) and the whole evening was just perfect minus the one mishap when our "Wish Lanterns" got caught in the trees and caught them on fire!

Ryan made it in on Saturday and we took Madison Claire and my parents to the party with us on Saturday night. We had a great time! CONGRATULATIONS HEIDI & MATT! WE LOVE YOU!!!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius!

My besties from high school - so thankful we are still close friends!

Madison Claire was fascinated by Heidi!

Wish this picture had turned out!

She's asking "Where's Daddy?"

Madison Claire loves her Papa Steve

I love my handsome hubby!!!

Week in Atlanta

I had a great week working from Atlanta. I went to the Falcons game with Patrick, shopping with mom, Sarah, and the babies, spent time with Jacob, and of course had some great meals with mom & dad....all of this when I wasn't working!

Madison Claire LOVES Nutmeg!