She has a name!

So the first three months of pregnancy were hard for both Tommy and myself as we aren't secret keeping kind of people. When we first found out we were having a girl we started talking names but one has consistently been the top choice. We wanted to sit on it for a bit to make sure we were certain so after our 20 week appointment last week we were ready to make it official! 

Our sweet baby girl will be named....

Emma Claire Robinson 

How we got the name: Claire is my younger sister's name and my older sister's middle name so it's always been a favorite of mine. My sisters are my best friends so we thought it was only appropriate to name her after the two of them. Emma is a name we both have always liked. It's not a family name. We just liked it! 

We can't wait to meet her in just 19 weeks! Emma you are so loved already. Mom and dad can't wait to have you home with us! 

(We might have a thumb sucker on our hands- just like her momma)

Christmas 2015

This week of Christmas was a hectic one filled with friends and family so it was WONDERFUL! Starting with the weekend before Christmas until now I will do a recap!

On December 19th we had the annual Mitchler Christmas party which is always a good time. "Festive" attire is suggested so everyone takes it as they please. With a bump I went tacky and Tommy went with cousin Eddie. There were a variety of sweaters and cocktail dresses at the party. 

Sunday the 20th was James and Claire's 21st birthday! We went over to my parents for the afternoon to open presents before heading to Tommy's parents for our big Christmas meal. We had quite the spread at the Robinsons. We did the big dinner that night because we were doing Christmas Eve with my family and Beth was leaving Christmas morning. 

Monday night the 21st we met my whole family at Yebo for the twins birthday dinner. It's a South African restaurant at Phipps and it was fantastic! I forgot to take any pictures. Oops! I can't believe James and Claire are 21 now. Makes me feel old! I know my mom is relieved to be past that hump. 

On the 22nd I went to dinner with my high school buddies (Ansley, Christy and Elizabeth). Every Christmas we go out to dinner rather than getting each other gifts. It's always a great time with those three! 

On the 23rd we had secret Santa with all my college girlfriends at Colleen's. It was so great because the majority of the girls from out of town were here and we had a long night of eating, drinking and chatting. It's not very often we get everyone from the West coast to the East coast in the same room without it being a wedding. This was a great night to just catch up! 

Christmas Eve was a busy one! We went to church with Bonnie, Brett and Collier at noon at our church. After church we ran home and scooped up Cooper, food and presents and headed to the Robinsons. We did presents with his family for a few hours. That night we headed to the lawries clubhouse for dinner with our South African "family" we have been doing Christmas Eve with since before I was born. We had 28 total at the table. There were four generations in the room because my Nana was there. It was a great night with people I love dearly but don't get to see often. It gets rowdy with lots of laughter. We left there around 11 to get home for some rest for Christmas Day! 

On Christmas morning we woke up and loaded the car with more food and more presents before driving to my parents house to spend the morning with my family. We had a delicious breakfast, stockings and gifts with the Williams crew. We are all spoiled by each other. It was nice to get some quality time with my immediate family before the Willi's flew up to Ohio to see Brett's family. It was great fun having Collier there this year. It's gonna be a busy house next year with two babies! 

After spending the morning with my family we went to Tommys parents to hang out. We went over to Aunt Marsha's for fish tacos and hangin out. We spent most of the afternoon with the Robinsons before driving back over to my parents. My Aubt, Uncle, and cousin Alastair were over for dinner. We enjoyed a few hours of games and catching up with the Swans. 

To say our Christmas week was busy is an understatement. We enjoyed the hustle because it meant spending time with those we love. This past weekend we spent time with friends from near and far as well. My cup is overflowing with being able to see so many friends and family members. 

We are leaving Wednesday morning for Cape San Blas with a group of 10 friends for the weekend and celebrating the new year. I am looking forward to some relaxation and rest. We went last year with this same group and decided it should be a yearly thing. Sweatpants, bonfires, beach, pups and friends. It doesn't get much better than that!!! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope 2016 brings much joy and blessings to you. 

Show and Tell Tuesday

Well I didn't look ahead to see what the next Show and Tell Tuesday would be so...I blogged about it on Sunday and I've linked up with Andrea to share. Here is the link to my blog post on Christmas (and a little more) around our house! 

One thing to add. Here is our Christmas Card this year! 

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Time!

Christmas time is my favorite part of the year! I look forward to decorating every year and this year was no exception. We got back from the beach Sunday and I started decorating immediately. We bought our tree from Costco (I know not glamorous. Last year as just us so we made it simple. Next year I will insist on pictures of picking out and all the fun things tree shopping can bring) 

Here are some pictures from around the house. 

(I made this last year with a sign from hobby lobby and glues ribbons for Christmas cards. I love checking the mail each day to see what cards have arrived!)

I needed to decorate early because Ansley and I had our annual Christmas gathering with our friends on Friday at my house this year. We made it a favorite things party rather than a cookie exchange this year and it was a huge hit! Everyone brought three of the same gift that cost less than $10. You go home with three gifts. Everyone writes their name on three sheets of paper and you present your gift then pick three names of people to go home with it. I took ZERO pictures that night. I'm the worst! 

I ended up these three gifts! 

Christy took a video of all the gifts. 

Then Saturday I did a bunch of Christmas shopping, wrapped the presents, and then we spent an hour or so hanging out with Collier and Brett. My sister was away for the weekend and Brett wanted to get out so he boys came and watched the first half of the SEC championship with us (and he helped Tommy move the couch out of baby's room so we can finally start the nursery!) 

At halftime, we headed to the Stellings house for the game and their annual Friendzmas party. Everyone brings a gift under $20 and we do a white elephant exchange. This was the first year I could actually make it. I'm not the most silly gift giver so I bought Copper Mugs. There were some hilarious gifts (chambong, banana flask, braves onesie pajamas, wine glass that holds a whole bottle of wine, and so much more). Tommy landed up with Twister and a bottle of Tequila. I got a tequila kit but at the end I got to steal and since mostly everything was alcohol related I stole my mugs. Oops!! 

We had a great time! I'm starting my Sunday with blueberry muffins baking in the oven and drinking my coffee by the Christmas tree before getting ready for church. 

Merry Christmas to all! There's so much more wonderful events coming in the coming weeks. I love December! 

Updates on us lately

Well last night we bought a car! Yay! It was time to move on from the Jeep and we bought ourselves a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. I am obsessed. We had been searching for probably over a month now and went to test drive a few weeks ago and knew this was what we wanted we just needed to find the right one at the right price. Yesterday during work Tommy was searching and found one that fit what we were looking for (3 rows, leather seats, low mileage) and he called the dealership about it. We headed up to the Mall of Georgia at 7 last night to check it out. We were able to get a decent trade in price and get them down on the price of the car to where we were wanting to be for a monthly payment and boom new car for the Robinsons! As Tommy says "you're just going to be mommy-ing around town in this car now". Anywho this car will be able to serve what our family needs for many years to come. 

It's just so pretty isn't it! 

I am 17 weeks pregnant today. I went to the doctor yesterday and all was good. We go back in three weeks for the big ultra sound to check out all her anatomy. I'm excited/nervous about every appointment but I'm feeling great. I am through the nauseous and over-exhausted part and into the starting to show part. It's amazing how much changes each week. 

We are back at school and going in full force for the next three weeks. I'm busy with my usual items as well as I've taken on being one of the three ladies that organizes the adopt-a-family program we have for students during the holidays. We have received so much support from the Sandy Springs Red Dot group from church this year. There are many families that have asked to sponsor a child with presents for the holidays. This came to be on my plate because we hired a new bookkeeper and our old bookkeeper always did more than what was in her job title so this was something that needed to be delegated to someone new. I'm happy to do it! 

This week we have Christmas going up in our house, taking dinner to a friend who just had a baby a few weeks ago tonight, dinner with my college girlfriends tomorrow, school math event on Thursday, and then mine and Ansley's annual Christmas party is Friday at my house. When I have a spare moment I'll be cleaning/decorating/baking/cooking for Friday! 

Oh how I love the month of December and the time surrounding the Holidays! 

Christmas Decorations to come once we get the ornaments on the tree tonight. 

Thanksgiving Break

We had a wonderful week of beach, relaxation, family and friends. I look forward to Thanksgiving week every year since we started going to Litchfield six years ago. It's the quality time I treasure with my people. With James and Claire off at college we don't get as much family time as we used to so this week every year fills me up so much. I am so thankful for my big, loud, and obnoxious family. Not only do I get to spend it with my family but with family friends that I don't get to see very often. This year was the best weather we have had in probably 5 years at the beach. Sunny and in the 70s in the end of November. You can't beat it! We also were splitting time with Tommy's family this year and with his sister living in Charleston now it was a great addition to this week. 

We left Atlanta on Friday and drove to Charleston for the night to stay with Beth. We didn't get in until late that night because we didn't leave until after work (rush hour traffic on a holiday week=miserable). We got up and took the dogs to the beach in the morning then went to my favorite brunch spot in Charleston with Beth before heading out to Litchfield. We went to Page's Okra Grill. It is a treat because the food is so rich but man they know how to make brunch! 

We got to Litchfield around 1:30 just before my parents and Nana. We got settled in and unpacked the car. Bonnie, Brett, and Collier arrived about an hour later and the twins about an hour later than that. It was just our house that had arrived on the Saturday so we watched some football, walked on the beach, and Nana cooked us dinner at the house that night. We played some loud catch phrase to end the night. 

Sunday we enjoyed some more inside time because it was a cloudy/rainy day but that was it for the week so we couldn't really complain about it. Walks on the beach could still happen! The Balfours, Carmen, Harry, and Lorna all arrived on Sunday and we had everyone over for dinner where I cooked roasted garlic red potatoes, dad grilled pork tenderloin, and we sauteed broccoli. It was delish! 

Monday, I went for some shopping at Target with Bonnie and Claire and we popped in Home Depot to visit Brett on his day working in the store. We spent the afternoon on the beach with everyone enjoying the sun and bocce ball. We just ordered pizza in at our house for dinner that night with just my family. It was our last night before heading to Charleston to meet up with TOmmy's family. 

On Tuesday, we got up and ate breakfast before driving to Charleston (Mt. Pleasant is where Beth lives and its about an hour and ten minute drive between Litchfield and Mt. Pleasant). We met up with Beth, Courtney and Tom at Red's on Shem Creek for some brown seafood. It was really yummy and the weather was nice so we sat on the patio. We then headed back to Beth's house for the afternoon with the pups. Cooper stayed at Beth's while we were in Litchfield which was so great of her and so helpful for us. That way he didn't have to be kenneled in Atlanta for 9 days! That night we cooked dinner in at the house (lasagna) and watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's about restaurants in/near Charleston. We decided to make reservations for Husk for the next day for lunch. 

Wednesday, was Danny's birthday and we made some breakfast and Tommy, Beth, and Danny took the dogs to the dog park to wear them out before we headed out for the day. We drove into town to go to Husk for lunch. It's in a historic house in downtown and serves southern food. The menu changes daily and each southern traditional entree has a twist. The shrimp and grits was to die for! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and so glad that Tom wanted to try it. After lunch we drove down by the battery and around downtown before heading back to Beth's house. We just rested and hung around the house the rest of day. Danny and Beth grilled dinner for us and we enjoyed eating out on her back screened porch. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We got up and headed to Isle of Palms to walk the dogs of leash before the 10am cut off. Once back home I cooked us up a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon and biscuits. We just hung out at the house getting ready for the next few hours before meeting up with Tom's brother, Steve, and family at Tom's sister-in-law's sister's house on the other side of Charleston. We had about 40 people we think at Thanksgiving dinner. It was such a beautiful day spent with family and we definitely ate well that's for sure. I was exhausted by the time 7pm rolled around. It was a long day but it was great! I missed my family that day but it was nice to spend the holiday with Tommy's family as well. There were two kinds of turkeys, smoked pork butts, all the traditional casseroles, and quite the array of desserts. It was great seeing Tommy's uncle, aunt, and two girl cousins that we hadn't seen since our wedding. They all live in Florida, Minnesota, and North Carolina so it's not often we get everyone together. A good time was had by all! 

Friday we headed back to North Litchfield for the weekend. Tommy golfed on Friday afternoon wtih all the boys while BOnnie and I did some black friday shopping at the Hammock shops then went to the Outlets to Carter's and Osh Kosh. The weather was so nice but the deal they were having with 60% off and Bonnie with her Carter's discount of an additional 25% off we couldn't resist. We did well I'll just say that. Baby girl is going to be well dressed next Fall/Winter. We ended the afternoon sitting on the beach watching the sunset. It was a great end to the day. We whipped up some leftovers for dinner before the whole he haw gang headed to Murell's inlet to see the final Hunger Games movie. It was really good! We have gone every year the past four years to a Hunger Games movie so it was only necessary to finish that tradition! 

Saturday was filled with lots of football, beach sitting, sun, and dinner out with all the "kiddos." Ben, Emily, Tommy, Claire, James, Carolyn, Bonnie and Brett all went out to Drunken Jack's for a dinner out with yummy seafood before ending our wonderful week away. We all left for home on Sunday. It was quite a shock getting home and realizing I had to work the next day. Time really does go by quickly when you're having fun with the people that you love. 

On the way home, unfortunately Bonnie, Brett, and Collier got into an accident on I-26 in bumper to bumper traffic but fortunately they are all fine and the majority of the blow was on the two cars behind them. It was a scary moment for them and I hate that they had to go through that but they are all safe and fine. 

As a side, I am so thankful for my family, my growing family, friends, job, Tommy's job, the health of my family, and so much more. We are so blessed! 

Now it's time for CHRISTMAS! Pictures of decorations to come. December is bringing many fun and exciting things our way! 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was great! Friday night we met Bonnie, Brett, and Collier for dinner at Verde. It's always a crowd favorite. Collier really enjoys sitting in the big high chair these days. He had himself in stitches over nothing. It was too funny!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_gvpSenhm7Yc0Q5SEpxWWlMMEk

Saturday morning we woke up super early to get ready for game day. We met at the Reynolds at 7am to drive to Auburn for the Uga vs Auburn game. We had a breakfast food tailgate at Ansley and Matt's parents tailgate. We only had a few hours because the game started at eleven central time. 

We met up with Tyler and Lindsay Maxey for the game. They were gracious enough to offer us tickets. We had great seats below the massive jumbo tron. Georgia played great so I had a very sour husband by the end. My dear friend Jessica who lives in Alabama now has season tickets just one section over so after the third quarter we met out by the concessions for a quick catch up session. Was so great to see her and sweet Hylan! 

Go dawgs! We needed that win! Sorry Auburn. 

It was a great day with friends. James stopped by our tailgate to say hi for a bit. Always a good time having my "little" brother around. 

Cooper was happy to see us when we got home! 

Today we had a late sleep in to make up for not being able to sleep in yesterday. I then did a big grocery run for the ingredients for what I was making for dinner for some of my girlfriends tomorrow. I made orzo tomato soup from the Barefoot Contessa Foolproof cookbook and I'll make Gouda grilled cheeses tomorrow to go with. I also made her salted caramel brownies for dessert. They look so good it was hard not to try! 

Then I posted up in baby girls empty room with a pallet on the wall to watch a Gossip Girl marathon. It was exactly the relaxing Sunday I needed. 

And lastly I made us some potato and chicken chowder for dinner. It was delicious! A recipe to keep around for the cold days of winter to still come. 

We had a great weekend. Only five days of work separate me and the beach for a week with my family for Thanksgiving. We are all in need of a vacation and break from work. So much to be thankful for this year! 

Our Story

So you know when you haven't been blogging for awhile there is always a reason. Sometimes it's just hard to know what to say when what you really want to talk about isn't all that easy. Over the past 5 months myself and Tommy have been on a roller-coaster ride of emotions. As I wrote about yesterday we are so excited to be welcoming a little girl in May. We knew when we got married that having a family was something very important to both of us. We decided that this summer was the right timing for us. We celebrated our first anniversary on May 31st and we managed to get pregnant on month one of trying. I didn't know I was pregnant until the week before I was leaving on a bachelorette party for a friend followed by a week vacation to the beach with my family. I felt off but the week before the test was negative but I decided "you know what I should just check again before I'm away for ten days on vacation." Well on that night the test came back positive to my disbelief. I had what I thought was my period the week before. 

I called my doctor before leaving town to tell her about my positive test and the bleeding situation and she said it could have been what they call implantation bleeding. I thought to myself if that's what it was I need to be super careful. I went on the bachelorette party to Charleston and pretended to be drinking the whole weekend (not so easy to do). I then left for the beach with my family. I was antsy for Tommy to get there because I knew my family would catch on to me not wanting a glass of wine with dinner or a beer on the beach. He managed to get there just in time before my Nana's birthday dinner on the Tuesday and we announced we were pregnant. I was hesitant in doing this because my gut was still telling me that something was wrong but then again it's my family and either way I needed them to know. I went the whole week anxious to get back to town.

I wasn't scheduled to go into the doctor for another week after getting home but as I was praying about it I was lead to change that appointment. On that Tuesday after we arrived home, I went in for an ultrasound and confirmation of pregnancy. I will never forget the first sentence that came out of the ultrasound tech's mouth which was "I don't see anything. Are you sure you are pregnant?" I was in complete shock and thankfully Tommy was with me. We then had to wait for what felt like an eternity in the waiting room before getting our own room to speak to the doctor. The instant we got into our own room I burst into tears. The doctor came in and instantly said "don't jump to any conclusions just yet. We might just be too early to detect anything on an ultrasound." She tried to make me feel at ease but down in my heart I knew what had happened. I got a significant amount of blood drawn that day and then I returned two days later to see how my HCG levels were. I got the call when I was at the pool with my friends that indeed I had had a spontaneous miscarriage because my levels were dropping. I had to go again to make sure they went back down to zero. It's hard to explain your immense sense of loss and grief for someone you never got to meet or hear was alive. This child of mine will never be forgotten but I also am not one who can dwell on the loss. I needed to move forward and know that there was a reason this baby did not survive. 

This was such a low point for me and Tommy. We had only told our families but since I was at the pool with two friends I had to tell them what was wrong and that I had been pregnant and miscarried all in the same sentence. I have never felt the way I did that week. I've never seen my husband so torn up before either. This is something you don't prepare for and you wonder what you could have done differently. The only thing you can do during this time is pray and that I did. 

Tommy and I were going on vacation the following week and it couldn't have come at a better time. We both needed to get away and escape reality for a bit. I needed time to digest, recover, and rejuvenate. We were told we needed to wait one cycle before trying again so we followed doctors orders. 

We found out we were pregnant again on August 29th. I have never been so excited and scared all at the same time except in my heart I knew this was different. I was so at ease this time around. My doctor had told me that when I got another positive test that I should come in that week and they would monitor my HCG levels. When she called with my first results and the numbers were higher than they were at 6 weeks before I felt this weight lifted. Two days later she called with the second results and said I didn't need to come back again and I could go ahead and schedule my 8 week appointment. I had prayed every morning and every night since this summer for a healthy baby and god had answered my prayer. I knew he was the one making me feel so at ease. It was so hard to explain that ease to Tommy (who was worried until 12 weeks) but I just knew this time it was different. 

I have learned a lot about myself, my relationship with my husband and my relationship with the lord over the past 5 months. You think you can plan all you want but God has a bigger plan for you and you have to have faith in that. Every doctors appointment I find myself getting anxious before but I am so relieved after. I am so excited to embark on this journey to motherhood and I can't wait to share every step of this journey with Tommy. He is going to be such a good girls dad (he just doesn't know it yet).

I debated whether or not to write about this but for me I wanted to have my story written. I've read so many blogs lately about miscarriage and how women are afraid to talk about it. I think it's important to know that it does happen and it's OK to talk about it. Just this morning A Cup of Jo had a post written from three of her friends perspectives. Just last week my sister sent me a story from someone who had a story very similar to mine. This is a part of my journey to motherhood and is a part of our story. We are so fortunate to be in the midst of a healthy pregnancy right now but that won't stop me from praying day in and day out for a healthy baby girl in six months. Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope that this brings comfort to someone who has just had a miscarriage that there is hope out there and that it can be something that is just a part of your story but isn't your whole story.

Our Big Secret

Well I've been slower on the blogging lately because what I really wanted to talk about I couldn't just yet! We are so excited to announce that we are expecting a baby girl to our family next May. Tommy and I have been married almost a year and a half and we knew when we got married that kids were something very important to us. We are so excited/nervous/anxious/blessed to be embarking on this journey to parenthood. We waited to announce til we were able to tell the gender. We did the genetic testing at 11 weeks but weren't able to share the news with our families until this past Friday night. We hosted a gender reveal party for our families and a few of our closet couple friends at our house Friday. We made chicken chili and regular chili with a variety of blue/pink desserts. Friends and my mom brought the appetizers and tommy a mom made the cornbread. We had 22 over for the fun! It was a wonderful night getting to finally share that we were having a GIRL! I ordered these adorable scratch off cards from etsy for the reveal. Once everyone was there we announced as to not delay the inevitable. The rest of the night we just enjoyed each other's company. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by so many loved ones. Here are some pictures of the decorations from the night. 

Saturday for lunch I met my college girlfriends to do the same gender reveal with them. We met for lunch at kaleidoscope. They were so excited and most of them were wrong. Everyone but Carly thought it was a boy. We had a nice time catching up! Kier drove in from Columbia to join which was awesome! I mailed the cards to Audrey in KC, Gorman in NYC, and Samantha in Orlando so they could be part of the fun even though they couldn't be at lunch. I am so lucky to have such great friends! 

Then lastly was our official announcement on social media. I ordered the sign from Etsy and then couldn't resist buying the sparkly shoes from Carters. Baby girl already has such a cute mini wardrobe. Girl clothes are so precious. We have so much to look forward to. We are so grateful for the prayers over the past few months for our growing girl and we pray that she continues growing strong and happy until we get to meet her smiling face in May. 

For this child, I have prayed and the lord answered my prayer. 

1 Samuel 1:27