Baby Boom!!!

We are having a baby boom among my family and friends!! 2007 brought many babies into the world and the announcement of many more to come in 2008. I can't believe that I will be a great-aunt to 4 nieces and nephews by next Fall. Crazy!! Most people my age are not even close to being a great-aunt, but then again I was an aunt by the time I was 6 years old!! Congratulations to everyone!! We are so happy for you!! I hope ya'll enjoy these pics as much as I do!!

Hunter was born on Jan. 19th to our friends Shannon and Brandon

Hunter in an old school pram that was his mother's when she was a baby
Hunter on the beach this summer during our annual trip to Pawley's Island
Our Godson Cole was born on May 6th to Mike's sister Alicia, her husband Brian and Big Sis Riley
Cole playing on the floor with his Daddy
Cole's baptism (Big sis Riley stood at the alter with us during her baby brother's baptism)
Cole and Uncle Mike shopping the night before Christmas Eve
Addison was born on Aug. 31st to our friends Stephanie, Andrew and Big Brother Connor
Addison catching a nap
Addison is still so tired
Ryan was born on Dec. 21st to our friends Michelle, Jeff and Big Brother Alex
Ryan enjoying a nap
TaylorAnne was born on Dec. 24th to our friends Chevis, Marc and Bis Sis Ryanne
TaylorAnne is going to need a haircut before she is a month old:)
Big Sis Ryanne with her favorite stocking stuffer- her new little sis!!
Anderson was born on Dec. 28th to our friends Nicole, Brady and Bis Sis Ava
Anderson telling his Momma to be quiet:)
Our friends Megan, Chris and Big Brother Eli are expecting any day now
Our friends Dottie and David will soon have their first baby (Sorry David that I didn't have a pic of you on my computer)
My nephew Andrew, his wife Emelita and Big Sis Emmarie are expecting another baby girl this Spring. Unfortunately, Andrew is leaving in a few days for Afghanistan for 15 months. Please keep them in your prayers!!
Andrew's younger brother (my nephew) and Megan are expecting a baby next Summer
My BFF from Illinois, Nancy and her husband Brad, who got married on Sept. 15th just found out that they are expecting.
Another friend from Illinois, Rachel and her husband John (Sorry John I didn't have a pic of you) who got married on March 1st are expecting a baby this Summer.
My cousin Paula, her husband Paul and Big Sis Mady are expecting a baby this Spring. Sorry Paula and Paul that I didn't have a pic of the two of you. I was happy to show off Mady, though!!
My niece Lisa and Keith are expecting a baby boy this Spring.

House Update

The finishing touches are coming together. They have installed the kitchen countertops, some of the cabinet hardware and some of the lighting. It's a work in progress, but progress is being made!! Our builder is thinking he should be done by Jan. 19th. We'll see...we're only a few days behind our move in date of Thanksgiving:) Hehe!!!

Our refrigerator

Our dishwasher
Our microwave
Our kitchen countertops
A close-up of our kitchen countertops
Our kitchen cabinet drawer pulls
Our dining room chandelier that will have red dupioni silk lamp shades to match the red walls in the dining room- they accidentally installed it in the breakfast nook
Our guest bath countertop
Our guest bath light- they installed this one upside down
The light in the hallway

The black fan in the green guest room- the furniture is black, the bedding is black & white toile
The cabinet pulls in the master bath
The cabinet pulls for the master bedroom built-ins

The master bath (toilet closet) light

Happy New Year!!!

We celebrated our New Year's Eve at the country club where Mike works. We had a fabulous dinner, and watched everyone shag to a night of beach music by Second Nature. For those who don't know what shagging is, in South Carolina it's not what Austin Powers does but just happens to be the state dance. Mike and I tried to take lessons before our wedding, but my athletic husband found out that he was dance class challenged. I picked up on it pretty easily from all of my years of dance class, but it becomes harder when you try to come together with your partner. We hope to give lessons a second chance when we are not stressed out from trying to plan a wedding. We just know that 2008 is going to be our year since Mike swears that his lucky number is 8!! We have so much to be grateful for, and so much to look forward to!! Happy New Year to our families and all of our friends!!

We stopped for a pic as we entered the party.

Our tablemates (he's also our builder)
Our tablemates (he hooked us up with our brick for our home)
Our tablemates (he's our dentist)
Our tablemates (he hooked us up with our garage door)
Here we are in the last few minutes of the countdown to 2008.
I love the hat and the noisemaker. It's a good look for him:)
Make a joyful noise!!
The 1,000 balloon drop at midnight.
Balloons, balloons everywhere!! You should see grown adults trying to step on as many balloons as they can to pop them. Too funny!!

Dinner for friends

Tonight we took dinner to some dear friends of ours. They are an amazing family that is going through a tough time right now. This father of five girls, and husband of an amazing woman was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer on our 2nd anniversary (December 10th). Please keep them in your prayers, and check out their blog to read their complete story at www.caringbridge.org/visit/stevecaswell. You will find that he is such an inspiration!!

House Update

Hello everyone!! I'm FINALLY back!! Once again, I was having computer issues so I wasn't able to blog. Very frustrating!! I thought I should give you a house update before I start blogging all of the fun stuff that has been happening. They have been working hard on the house, and we hope to move in sometime in January. They still have to lay the hardwood floors, put in kitchen countertops, install kitchen appliances, hang all of the lights, tile the master shower, put the hardware on all of the cabinets, install the closets, mirrors, plumbing fixtures, put in the landscaping and install the picket fence in the backyard. After all of that, we will have to go through a punchlist with the builder. That should be fun!! The cabinet maker wasn't happy that I wanted a bigger lazy susan, so I'm sure he will be really disgusted when I tell him a couple of other things that I don't like and want him to change!! The joys of building a custom home:) Make sure you are really in love with your spouse before you tackle this kind of project:)

The shutters look so good with the front door and the brick!!

I am so happy with the color of the stain on the front door.

These are the steps off the back deck, but they still have to put the finishing touches on them.
They have been working on getting the doors on the cabinets.
I am so in love with the old school kitchen farmhouse sink!!
Here's our double oven- we love you Pickens!!
The tile looks really good against the blue paint. It brings out the blue in the slate looking tile.

My bathroom counter
Our jacuzzi tub- they still have to do the tile tub surround.
I adore the subway tile in our guest bath.
This is the tile that we used in the guest bath and the laundry room.

House Update

I'm so sorry that I have been MIA for a few days. My computer has been down AGAIN!! Life has been hectic with trying to wrap up all decisions with the house. They have been painting, the drywallers have been fixing the nicks in the walls, they put the stone fireplace in and the cabinet guy has been trying to put all the final touches on the cabinet doors, trim, etc. The painters will be back in again next week to put the final coats of paint on and the tile man will be laying the tile in the master bath, guest bath and laundry room. We are getting so close I can almost taste it!! On another happy note, my parents are coming for a visit:) They are bringing me boxes of my stuff from their attic. Yuck!! More boxes, just what I need. I can't wait to see what I might find in there, though. Old cheerleading uniforms, Judy Blume books and love letters from my husband from elementary school days (we met at church camp and he used to write me letters) are some of the things that I suspect I will find. It should be fun going through all of the old memories!!

Our fireplace- I LOVE IT!!

The tile for our master bath floor, tub surround and shower
The lighting must have been bad in the kitchen because the walls are actually a softer terra cotta color than what this looks like.
The pantry/laundry room
My upstairs office- funny lighting again
The shutters
Our bedroom-lots of drywall touch ups