Friday Photo Favorites

We had fun making faces with you Paul Thomas!!

P.S.  Sorry for the late Friday posts this week and last.  I'll try to be more on top of it from now on!  BUT, it IS still Friday when I post :)

Friday Photo Favorites

Mary Colette is such a cutie and we loved getting to know her!  Chris snapped these one morning when they were giggling and playing.

Can't wait until the next time we get to see you, Colette!!

More festivities

As promised, here are some more photos!

 

Uncle Stephen meeting his newest niece.

Three of the Blaxton sibs together for Christmas

All the Leikerts at Brenna's baptism.  Always special to have everyone in one place!

Godparents with Brenna

Cousins!!

Colette and Brenna playing together :)

Papa and Geegee with all the grandkiddies

So sweet.

Southern Company

Last week Grandma and Granddaddy Driver made the trek up from Houston to meet their second Great Granddaughter.  It's always special time when spent with them, and this visit was no exception.  Brenna loved Granddaddy's deep, bass voice, and snuggling up to Grandma.

And for the most cherished photo of the trip...four generations of powerful, confident women!

I have to give a little shout out to my momma and daddy who are now mortgage free as they made the last payment on the house this month.  Paying off a 30-year mortgage in 10 years and 3 months is quite the accomplishment!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

When Mom came to stay with us, she brought a photo album from when I was born...and we settled the debate of who Brenna looks like.

It's unreal looking at myself as an infant and looking at my daughter and seeing such similar features...

 

I just thought this one was cute :)

Nuggetta Has a Name

The decision has been made!  We're naming our little lady Brenna Jean.  Brenna - a small tweak from Brennan, a Blaxton family name and my dad's middle name.  Jean - after Chris' mom.  I'm feeling very at peace with the decision.  We were tossing some other names back and forth for quite some time and nothing seemed exactly right, but then we came back to Brenna and we're convinced that this will be the perfect name for her.

She continues to grow and squirm more and more every day!  While writing this post I'm trying to catch her moving on video to post.  Of course every time I grab the camera she stops moving.

We've moved to doctors appointments every two weeks now instead of four.  At my last visit they did the glucose test and apparently mine is on the "high end of normal".  They say I don't need to come in for further testing for gestational diabetes, but I need to start avoiding carbohydrates and sugary foods.  Every time I want some pretzels or a different salty/carb snack I think about how much I don't want to deliver a 9lb baby and it usually works to diminish my craving.

We also started our baby classes this week.  Last night was the breast feeding class and the next three weeks will be the labor/delivery class.  We learned a lot of really cool things about the benefits and the whole process of breast feeding last night!  Chris was talking about how surprisingly interested he was in all the information and concluded that he wants to become a lactation consultant.  He was obviously joking, but I'm glad he's so interested and supportive :)

The nesting instinct has started to kick in for me and I've taken on a new project to satisfy my urge to get ready for Brenna.  A couple weeks ago I picked out fabric and a pattern to make all the bedding for her crib!  I'm confident that following a pattern consisting of mostly rectangles will be easier to follow than a dress pattern.  My friend Emily came with me to the store to help pick out the fabric (with Chris' permission) and it's a good thing she did because I would have been there for literally HOURS if I had gone alone.  Here is a picture of what we chose...

I'm really excited to get started on it and see how it turns out!

Well, that's all I have for now with Baby Brenna updates!  Now we just have to wait it out until we get to meet her!

Mackinac...or is it Mackinaw?

This past weekend Mom and Dad Blaxton, Tim, Jessica (Tim's wonderful girlfriend), and the two of us went to Mackinac Island for a day trip.  Chris and I were SO excited to go and it couldn't have been a better day!  The weather was perfect, 72 degrees and sunny, there were not too may tourists yet, and of course, great company!

We were a little worried when first pulled into the harbor to board the ferry...Mayflies were EVERYWHRE!  Every single car in the lot looked like this white one so we all made sure to breathe through our noses (at least most of us...Chris usually has some trouble with that).

After lunch on the island, we rented bikes - 4 singles and 1 tandem - and rotated throughout our ride.  Chris and I were the first on the tandem.  It's still up for debate as to the reason I didn't particularly enjoy riding on the back...either Chris really IS that bad a steering a bike, or I just couldn't handle not being in control :)  

We stopped and skipped some stones.  Who do you think has the best form?

Mackinac Island Public School Class of 2011 had six graduates.  Six.

Tim and Jessica were next on the tandem.  I have to say, as much as I didn't like Chris being in control of the steering, at least we didn't crash like Tim and Jessica!  I'm laughing right now just thinking about Tim on the back, "Whoa, whoa!  I'm not doing ANYTHING!"

Eventually they got the hang of it and smoked us all.

Mom and Dad were pros at the tandem.

I couldn't leave a post about Mackinac Island without some chocolate...

It was such a wonderful day!  We are so blessed to be able to spend time like this with our families.  Plus, it was a much more relaxed visit for Jessica compared to last summer during the wedding craziness!

Stay tuned for a baby update :)