Baby Collins is a....

Last night we found out what we are having!!!! For those of you who don't know, we decided not to find out last Tuesday at the doctor's office and instead we had the ultrasound technician write down the sex of the baby on a card. We brought one card for her to write on for us and one card to bring to a bakery. We ended up waiting a whole week to find out because the following Monday Travis' family was flying in from Ohio. We wanted both our families and a few friends to be a part of finding out. So, we took the card to a bakery and ordered a cake. We asked them to bake a chocolate cake with either blue or pink filling depending on what the card said. We had the big party planned for last night and we didn't even try cheating by looking in the card before! We had dinner together and once everyone was there we cut open the cake. We are so excited because baby Collins is a .....

christmas decorations

I promised Amy I would post some pictures of my house decorated for Christmas.  The first year Travis and I were married we were really living on a tight budget.  So, I remember standing in Michael's crying while on the phone with my mom as I used the $30 we had to buy decorations.  The house ended up looking Christmas-y, but not really what I had envisioned.  Over the next couple of years I have made it a priority to shop for a few decorations at the after Christmas sales.  Well, this is the first year I actually LOVE our decorations.  I am so thankful for God's provision in our lives and how these decorations are a reminder to me of the One we celebrate this season.  

Summer came over to help me put everything together and Brandon was there as well just to work on music stuff with Travis.  We had a pot of soup cooking and The Grinch playing in the background.  It was a fun night!

Below Travis and Brandon are posing as if they really helped put the ornaments on the tree. 



Our beautiful mantel. 

This is also the first year we have real stockings.  We threw away the $1 stockings we had for the first few years.  My mother-in-law is a very talented knitter.  She actually made these stockings for us.  I can't wait to add baby Collins stocking to the mantel next year! 


Our first "beautiful" Christmas tree. 

The small trees in the window have all of our homemade ornaments on them from when we were kids. 



This is Travis' favorite spot to sit and drink a cup of coffee while reading or working on the computer. 
Travis likes to do things early....well, the truth is...he just doesn't like waiting sometimes.  So, he gave Gunner his Christmas present early. 



The duck didn't last very long...literally just a few days. 

emily and jeff

Wednesday night we had Emily and Jeff over for dinner and to play a rousing game of Skip-BO.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with them and watching Jeff loose at Skip-BO.  You see...there are 4 "P"s when planning this strategic game and well, Jeff just couldn't keep up. 

 

Catching up...

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we had Brittany's Ladies Shower and it turned out beautifully.  My mom did another amazing job on making her a cake.  I don't have many pictures from the shower, because sadly my camera battery died.  I think from that one shower Brittany and Taylor have all the kitchen supplies they will need.

We had Thanksgiving at my mom's house with about 30 other friends and family.  It was a lot of fun to spend time together and eat really good food. 

You might think Trever accidentally closed his eyes right when we took the picture...but nope...it's on purpose.  

Then we headed to my dad's house for Thanksgiving up in the mountains.  It was really nice to get away and to be able to wear a scarf and a jacket.  We even were able to watch the small town parade welcoming Santa to town. 




My dad thinks it would be fun to have a float one year with all the grandkids on it...He is the kind of grandpa I bet he will do that one day.  

On Saturday we took the traditional weekly belly picture.  I turned 19 weeks and only have a few more days to wait until we find out if we are having a boy or girl.   It would be an understatement to say I am excited!!!

I can't believe that in just 2 more days I will be half way through this pregnancy.  I am really enjoying being pregnant and I can't believe how fast the time is going.  The first few weeks seemed to drag on, but now I can't believe I am almost 20 weeks along.  I absolutely love feeling the baby move all the time.  I am really trying to treasure each moment. 

Christmas Card '08

Before Thanksgiving dinner, my brother-in-law Trever took our traditional Christmas picture.  He just had us go in the front yard and within minutes this is what we had.  He is always so generous with his time and talents.  People always say we are so lucky to have a professional photographer in the family.  We are lucky, but it more than his talent with the camera Trever is just a amazing guy.  Thanks Trever for always being so generous with you talent, but more importantly thanks for being a part of our lives.  We love you and appreciate you!