Our Little Lime

After weeks of impatient blog silence, Ryan and I have some very exciting news to share....a little Baby Fitz is on the way! Our bundle of joy should be arriving on April 3, 2010, and we're thrilled! According to the weekly baby emails I get, Baby Fitz is about the size of a lime right now (which might explain the title to this post to those of you who were wondering).

I have to admit, we've been hoping for a baby for a few months, but we're still having a hard time believing this is really happening...maybe that's why God gives you nine months to get ready :)

It's such a surreal feeling to know the Lord is stitching together a little person inside me right now. I had my 12 week check-up today and got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time - wow! What an amazing Creator we love and serve. I feel so blessed to be a part of His plan for this new life.

I'm sure I'll have lots of exciting baby posts in the future...but for now, enjoy our little one's first picture (from the 8 week sonogram):

Cooking with Fire and Wild New Decor

Last weekend we had a great time officially "christening" Ryan's new grill. Every August, we celebrate another healthy year for Ryan, and this year's celebration included the purchase of a new, manly grill. I have to admit, this purchase may have been partially motivated by the fact that Ryan's little sister has been taunting him for weeks about his inadequate outdoor cooking devise. Blair bought her first house a few months ago and somehow ended up with a grill much bigger than ours :) Naturally, we could not let this go on....in fact, as we were shopping for the new grill, Ryan made a point of calling Blair to ask how big hers was....just so we could be sure ours was bigger :)

So after buying this enormous man-oven, we had to invite a few friends over to "bless" it with a multitude of meats. We had six couples from church over, who each brought their own main dish. The ladies stayed inside...content to be relegated to salad duty, while the guys broke in the grill. It was a great evening!

As if all that manly grilling action wasn't enough, we also added some new macho decorations to the house. After two years of anxious waiting, Ryan finally got the call that the animals he shot in Africa were ready to be brought home. So, we are officially a "hunter's household" with animal heads hanging in our living room (I did put my foot down and kept them out of the bedroom!).

Lucky for Ryan, I grew up in a family where the hunting theme always dominated a least one room in the house. My dad is a serious hunter, and he's the one who invited us to join him on that amazing trip to Africa. Here are a few pics, and I have to say, I think these animals actually look beautiful in our home. They are certainly conversation pieces!

That's right people...since I'm the official decorator of the house, I naturally had to jump in and make sure the placement of Mr. Impala was juuuuust right.

The gemsbok was quite a bit heavier, so I reluctantly let Ryan handle this guy :)

This is Ziggy, our zebra rug...we've had him for quite a bit longer than the others....I have to admit, it looks really cool in our living room.

Ahh memories....this is where our journey into Hunter Chic began...rockin' the khaki!

Anniversary & Cherished Friends

The weekend before last, Ryan and I had a blast celebrating my parents' anniversary with an intimate dinner party. A few months ago my sister Heather suggested that it would be nice to plan a special dinner for them this year. So we reserved a private room at Silver Fox - a great steak and seafood place - and surprised Mom and Dad with a little dinner party. My friend Mary made beautiful flower arrangements, Heather brought a cake from the same bakery we both used for our wedding cakes, and I made a fun slideshow - thank you Mac computer! All in all it was a fabulous evening, full of laughter, great food, and the sharing of sweet memories. Congratulations Mom and Dad! We love you!

As if the anniversary celebration wasn't enough excitement for one weekend, we also had the pleasure of welcoming some dear friends from Florida for a brief visit. My old college roommate Paige was in town with her sweet, albeit demanding, hubby Jordan (what's the big deal about wormy apples and not being served breakfast until 10:30 a.m.?) and their ADORABLE little girl Finley. I just LOVE you guys and I'm so glad we got to spend a little time with you this summer!

We miss you Codes - counting down the days until we share our "family" bed at Homecoming!

We'll Miss You Poppa

Last week, Ryan and I got the sad news that Ryan's grandfather (Poppa to us) had gone home to heaven. We've known his health was declining for the last few months, so it wasn't a surprise, but his sweet presence will still be missed in our lives.

Poppa was a great man, husband, father and grandfather, a truth that was evident in all the stories we heard over the weekend and during the sweet memorial service. Ryan's mom delivered a beautiful, touching eulogy, and we continue to keep her in our prayers as she mourns the loss of her Daddy.

Poppa had a great sense of humor and loved to welcome new members of the family (including me) by offering them a piece of "candy." Thankfully, I had been warned before hand that Poppa's "candy" was actually chewing tobacco! An accessory he never left home without :) My favorite memory, though, is how every time I saw Poppa, he would ask me if I had a rolling pin and if I knew how to use it to keep Ryan in line :)

Poppa was very special in Ryan's life too. He cheered Ryan on at all of his baseball games when he was growing up, gave him his first taste of tobacco, and loved to take him fishing. We can only hope that our own kids have such special relationships with their grandparents.

What a comfort to know that Poppa was a man of God and is finally home with his savior now. We'll miss you, Poppa and look forward to rejoicing with you again one day!

"For I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Independence Day

I'm a little late posting this, but our family motto is "better late than never" so here goes.  For the 4th of July this year, we continued our new tradition of gathering with family at Legado.  

Legado (Spanish for Legacy) is my parents' house on Lake Lewisville.  Ryan and I love heading out there and are quickly becoming "lake people."  In fact, Ryan's got the itch to buy a jet ski now, and it's all I can do to pry the SeaDoo catalog out of his hands these days.

Anyway, this year we met up with my folks, my sisters, my aunt and uncle, and their crazy kids at the lake house to celebrate together.  We spent all day Friday out on the lake, cooked out Saturday and watched the local fireworks displays by the lake that night.  Lake Lewisville is a great spot to watch fireworks because you can see shows by Lewisville, Flower Mound, The Colony, Frisco, and probably a few others I couldn't pinpoint.  We even had our own fireworks extravaganza as the boys (including the "big" boys) set off a truck load of pyrotechnics purchased from our local fireworks stand - they put on quite a show!

Ahhh.....a great way to celebrate the 4th!  I forgot to bring my camera, so I'm at the mercy of my mom and sister to send pictures of the weekend.  I'll post some as soon as they come through!

Wouldn't it be Loverly?

Hello all! Last month I posted about the beautiful flower arrangements my friend Mary created for our Mother's Day Luncheon. Since then, Mary has started a business preparing floral arrangements called Posy's.

I've seen some of her recent work, and it's truly top-notch. Mary is creative, thoughtful, professional and a pleasure to work with. She really made my vision come to life...keeping in mind my small budget. I'll definitely be using Mary's services again soon, and I highly recommend her to anyone else in the DFW area.

Here's a picture from a recent bridal shower she worked on - fabulous!

Patient Update

Thanks to everyone for the sweet thoughts about Dixie.  I wanted to let you all know that she's home and doing well.  She spent one night at the surgery center, which was not fun for anyone, but they said she was a real trooper.  The staff really seemed to like her and they even gave her a cute pink bandage.  She's getting lots of rest and attention now that she's home, so hopefully we'll have a quick recovery!