A Year in Review

December 2007- Dan and I found out we were pregnant!!! We were so excited and of course with my lack of patience, I hastily called the doctor and scheduled and appointment in 2 days. The baby was only 6 weeks old at this time but we got to see an ultrasound and even heard the heartbeat. Wow, isn't God amazing! We told my parents at Christmas. They had just moved into a new house so we got them a "house warming" present that they could open before Christmas. It was a pack and play crib with a note on it that read "For use in your new house and your upcoming grandbaby." They both were so excited and got teary eyed. This will be the first grandbaby on the Mack side. For the Matteos we sent them a framed picture of the ultrasound with an inscription that read "Made by Dan and Ashley." We received many excited phone calls after their package had arrived, because they of course immediately told Dan's sister, aunt, and grandparents.

January- We spent a lovely New Year's Eve Dinner with our friends Adam and Karen Blair at a nice resteraunt downtown called the Veranda. The most exciting part was sharing ultrasound pictures because Karen is about 10 weeks ahead of me and had just had her big ultrasound that showed all the baby's parts. My ultrsound only showed a small dot, but a very precious dot I might add. (Psalm 139:13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb").

In mid-January we started getting our house ready to put on the market. The main order of business was a total renovation of one of our bathrooms. After watching numerous hours of HGTV we figured we could tackle this project in a week. Boy were we wrong! Dan and his mighty muscles did all the demolition of the tile and vanity which was the most difficult project. We then got a friend who is a contractor to come help put the beadboard up, the tile down, and the toilet and vanity in. The project took 3 weeks but the transformation was definitley dramatic.

During all of our rennovations there was a little snow. If you have lived in the South for all of your life like I have, then you know how rare snow is and how picture worthy any amount of snow can be. Everyone will be talking about it for years to come.

February- In February we finished "staging" our house and met with our realtor, Graham Holmes from Remax Over the Mountain (if anyone needs a realtor we HIGHLY recommend him). We put our house on the market with much prayer for its sale and also for us to guard our hearts to be patient during the slow real estate market. (Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life.")

March- After only two weeks of our house being on the market we got an offer on our house which we accepted, and then we put an offer on another house that we had found and liked. We were so excited that everything worked out so quickly and give all the glory to God's good grace (Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.")

On March 12 we went back for another ultrasound and found out that God was going to bless us with a baby BOY! We were so excited and of course Dan was on cloud nine and already so proud to be having a son on the way. (Proverbs 15:20 "A wise son brings joy to his father...") Mrs. Matteo had predicted a boy the whole time and was excited to know that she was right. Of course we were mainly thankful to see all of his parts and to learn that he was developing well.

March 14- The big day had arrived. I was turning 30! Dan told me that now that I was in my 30's that I had to be responsible. I guess he is right, but that doesn't sound like much fun. You can talk to him about how I am doing with this new role.

I did have a great birthday and felt very celebrated for over 4 days (which is how every girl's birthday should be). The night before my birthday my friends Shireen and Heidi put together a fun dinner party for me with some of my friends. If you know me at all that was the best gift I could have ever received, because I love to socialize and I never turn down free food!
The next day at work my friend Lisa decorated my desk and brought in a yummy cookie cake.

Then to top it all off, Dan took me on a weekend trip up to the mountains and we stayed in a really nice cabin in Mentone, AL. The cabin was gorgeous and had a hot tub inside and outside, great rustic furnishings, a big screen TV, and a spectacular view. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get in the hot tubs since I was pregnant but the water never got that hot so it worked out perfectly. The first night we were there it rained all night which was fine because it made all the waterfalls even more full for the next day when we went hiking. We saw Desoto Falls and then several other falls in Desoto State Park and Noccolula Falls on our way back home.

April- During most of April we packed up our house and prayed fervently for everything to continue to work out. On April 25th we closed on both homes and started packing up the rental truck that night. Dan and my parents and brother finished packing everything the next day, and then later that afternoon we had several good friends come over to help unload and carry all the heavy things into our new home. I want to recommend to other ladies out there that moving during pregnancy may be stressful at times but it sure saves you from a lot of sore muscles because no one will let you lift a finger. We do really appreciate all the help we received and I have to give a special shout out to my great husband and brother who had to lift all the heavy things into the truck from our old house and then out of the truck into our new home, all in one day. We are now settling into our new home and look forward to getting the baby's room ready and preparing for the next stage of life.