Petunia has a name...

After much deliberation, looking at every girl name in every baby name book (thank you Julie for the books), more than a few heated discussions and lots of back & forth, Petunia finally has a name! Ryan initially had the idea for the name back in August but we weren't ready to pull the trigger. I came home one day in early December and said I was ready to make it official, but he then changed his mind and wasn't so sure.

Ryan painted the nursery last weekend and while spending the time in the nursery, had a sense of peace about the name and it just "felt right". We've been calling her by the name this week to make sure it fit her & she liked it and tonight we made it official. Petunia is now officially

Madison Claire McSwain

Love to you all,
Lauren & Ryan

Is vacation really over?!?

This is going to be a LONG blog entry because the past few weeks have been so eventful, so don't say I didn't warn you!! Ryan had a doctors appointment on the Friday before we left and everything went well - he got a great report from Dr. Roth. I went so we could show Dr. Roth that we were pregnant...he was so excited! We *LOVE* Dr. Roth - can he be an expert in everything we need a doctor for??

We celebrated Christmas with Ryan's parents in Nashville on Friday night. We had a great meal at Maggiano's and exchanged gifts at our place. It was fun to have the "baby gifts" this year! We then left for Atlanta for the holidays. We had a great visit with the Morgan family on our first Sunday...it was *so* great to see them. Ryan and Missy are both doing well - please continue to keep their sweet family in your prayers!

My mom & dad planned a trip to the King Tut museum for all of us on Monday so that was a fun adventure. I went registering with mom, Sarah & Meredith for baby girl at Babies R Us - it was overwhelming and a long day, but fun nonetheless! The entire week when I was gone shopping with the girls, Ryan was on the computer doing research on cars - I seriously think he could run a car dealership after all of the time he put into looking at various cars! We are still on the hunt...but leaning towards a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander...maybe?

Christmas Eve we went to church & our traditional family dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse. We started a new tradition this year where we divided up and did the "Secret Santa" so we didn't have to buy 7 gifts! We opened up gifts that night and just had a great time together! Baby girl, a.k.a. "Petunia" got more gifts than anyone! Check out the stockings...yes, one says Petunia:

Sarah & Ryan spent the night at my parents house for most of the week and Meredith & Patrick were also there all week, so it was great being able to spend so much time with my family! I MISS THEM ALREADY!!! Meredith & I stayed up all night the night before we left to sew the baby bumper! I can't believe we really did it...THANK YOU, Meredith!

I got to see my extended family and had fun comparing pregnancy stories with Shelley who is 4 weeks ahead of me. I also got to see Heidi & Lauren which was such a treat!

Now on to the BABYMOON!!!! The irony of the entire trip was that we were surrounded by inconsolable children! Our flight to Orlando had a poor little guy that cried the ENTIRE time and then we had one particular ride at Hollywood Studios where we had another little guy scream bloody murder for at least an hour! We kept saying...okay, okay...we get the picture!!! Taking that aside, we had a FANTASTIC time in Orlando. The weather was great - somewhere between 75 & 80 degrees every day we were there. We took it easy, I read Twilight, Ryan did Sudoku and continued to look at cars online, spent time out by the pool - I even got sunburned, went to Hollywood studios, watched Vandy win the Music City Bowl in leather recliners at the ESPN Zone - GO DORES!, marked an item off Ryan's bucket list by attending the Capitol One bowl, had breakfast every morning on the boardwalk, ate entirely too much thanks to some great dinners and fantastic sundaes from Ghirardelli & the Fountain! It was so much fun to just spend time together before our life turns upside down in a few short months! A few of the highlights are pictured below:

We were so sad to leave, but had to come home sometime. We got back on Saturday afternoon and Julie & Rebecca were waiting in Nashville! We had a fun weekend celebrating Julie's 30th birthday! Big THANKS to Don & Scout for keeping the kids for the weekend and to sweet Ryan for letting us girls rule the house right when we got back from vacation.

It's back to reality this week...and reality is certainly setting in! It is hard to believe that in less than 3 months, we will have a baby in our house! It feels like the time is flying by so fast...sometimes it takes my breath away. I was in Chicago this week for work - my last official trip for work until after the baby comes. I hope I don't go crazy being at home for the next 6 months!!

As we reflect on 2008 & embark on 2009, we are reminded of how truly blessed we are and how much we have to be thankful for. God has blessed us more than we could have ever imagined or deserved - we pray that His blessings pour out for you as well in 2009!

Almost 26 weeks

Well...everyone has been asking for new belly pics, so here they are! Ryan took these this morning:

I'm feeling good & really looking forward to going home for the holidays! We'll be in Atlanta for one week with my family and then Ryan & I are off to Orlando for our official "Babymoon" a.k.a. last vacation together before baby. We're planning to go to the theme parks and also got tickets to the Capitol One Bowl on January 1st! It will be a fun 2 weeks!!

In other news - Ryan is sick again so pray for him that he feels better. I also found out yesterday that I have been promoted to Recruiting Manager at work so we're planning to celebrate once Ryan starts feeling better! Hopefully soon....

Petunia

Well we still haven't decided on a baby name yet so my dad decided that he was going to call the baby "Petunia" until we told them the real name...I think it is all a ploy to get us to announce the name sooner rather than later! The trouble is that we really haven't decided yet!!

SO....the name has stuck and now everyone in my family & some of my friends are starting to call the baby girl Petunia. So for now, Petunia it is! I promise we will share the name just as soon as we have decided.

I turned 29 on November 25th...I had planned to sleep in that morning but woke up wide awake at 8:00am. I had an appointment with Dr. Macey and had to wait 2 hours to see the doctor. Note to self - never make an appointment on a holiday week again! The appointment was good - the baby had a strong heartbeat and things are progressing as normal. After the doctor, I went shopping at Opry Mills...Anne joined me and it was so much more fun with a friend - THANK YOU, Anne! That night, Ryan and I went to the Melting Pot for dinner - it was fantastic & we left completely stuffed. Ryan got me a sweet card - one from him & one from the baby! The card from the baby was really sweet and at the end it said, "please think of a name for me soon Mommy so that my grandfather will stop calling me Patoonia". So cute :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Ryan's parents on Thursday. We had great food, watched football and just enjoyed hanging out. We are reminded this Thanksgiving just how much we have to be thankful for - we truly are so blessed! We pray that you all had a wonderful day of Thanksgiving as well. Thanks for checking in on us...

Lauren & Ryan

A Tough Weekend

We left Nashville at 5:45am on Saturday morning headed to Middlesboro, KY for my Mama Lambdin's funeral. The funeral was at 11am Central and we gave ourselves a one hour buffer to get there on time. Wouldn't you know, we weren't 45 minutes outside of Nashville when our tire completely exploded on the interstate! I'm not talking about a flat tire, I'm talking about - there was almost NO tire left!! See evidence below:

I was driving and did a good job of getting the car to the side of the road if I do say so myself! I was going about 75-80 mph and there was actually an exit right there, so we were able to pull off. Neither Ryan or I had ever changed a flat tire before but he got down on the road and I stood out in the middle of the exit ramp so that cars would see us when they were getting off the road. I was so afraid they were going to hit Ryan when he was laying down there trying to get the car jacked up! It was a random exit so there wasn't much traffic. It took us about an hour but we did it and were very proud of ourselves!! Did I mention it was FREEZING cold?? Not a lot of fun! This is the final product:

We got back on the road around 7:30am but wanted to stop and have the tire looked at to make sure it was on tight enough. When we were finally back on the road for good, we knew there was no way we were going to make the funeral on time. I knew that Jaime was singing a song at the funeral and Meredith was reading the eulogy so I talked with Sarah on our way there and asked her to stall if at all possible. We got there as quickly as we could and ended up arriving in Middlesboro around 11:35am. We ran in and were able to make it in time for the end of the preachers sermon and to see my grandmother before they closed the casket....she looked BEAUTIFUL! We intended to change before the funeral but didn't want to miss anymore than we had to so we ran in - I was in my comfy car outfit and running shoes and Ryan was in his nice pants and a fleece. I decided that my grandmother wouldn't have minded.

After the funeral ended we went to the graveyard for the burial and then went to a dinner that was hosted by my grandmothers sisters church. I've never seen so much food! After that all the boys went to my cousins house to hang out and all of the girls went to my grandmothers house to watch her favorite movie - O' Brother Where Art Thou.

My uncle Herman (pictured below) runs a Goodyear store up in Middlesboro and he saved the day for the Jag! He gave us 4 new tires so we could get home safely - THANK YOU UNCLE HERMAN!

It was great to get to see all of my siblings, aunts, uncles & cousins - even though the occasion was a sad one. Please continue to pray for my mom & her siblings.

In Loving Memory...

My grandmother, Edith Lambdin, passed away on Tuesday morning, November 17th. We are all heartbroken, but we have so much to be thankful for! First and foremost, she died peacefully in her sleep and the writings she left behind showed that she was ready to go - to be with Jesus, my grandfather Clarence who died in 1996, and her 2 little babies that died. We're also thankful that each of her 3 daughters got to spend a full week or more with her in the 4 weeks leading up to her death - her 3 sons all live close by, but the 3 daughters (including my mom) moved away.

I got to talk with her on the Saturday before she died and we had a great conversation. She was so excited that I was pregnant and wanted to know all about how I was feeling and if I was feeling the baby move. She *loved* kids and couldn't wait to meet this baby! I am not sad for my grandmother because I know she is in a better place and finally with her husband who she has missed *so* much. Reading her writings she wrote after his death were truly amazing...they had both Ryan and I in tears. She was such a great example - I pray that I can have the love for faith, family, and friends that she had! I am most sad for my mom & really for all of us, that we won't be able to interact with her here on earth anymore but we know she is watching over us. I'm sad that our new little girl won't get to meet her sweet Mama Lambdin, but know that she will always be with her!

A Tough Loss

CPA had a tough loss on Friday night in the 3rd round of the Class 2A football playoffs. CPA lost 35-21 on a freezing night in Nashville. The temperature was 22 degrees at kickoff. It was a tough loss for the team & coaches but they had a great season!