photo shoot!

A few weeks ago, our friend Bri took some maternity photos for us.  We took them in Hannibal at Riverview Park during a weekend off between two weeks of Super Summer camp.  Luckily, we were able to take them before it was TOO hot outside and I didn't want to go too much farther in the pregnancy. 


If you'll remember correctly, Bri took our engagement pictures....

and our wedding pictures....

....so we were thrilled when she moved to Missouri and we conveniently had time for a maternity photo shoot! 

Thanks Bri for capturing this special moment for us!

updates from the Barbs

Well, this post is going to be all over the place!  We've been pretty busy, so I'll try and play catch up!

1. Baby Barb
Baby is doing extremely well ... and he has a name!  We decided on Cooper Owen Barb.  We had several options of boy names that we liked, and Cooper made it's way to the top.  We've shared this with anyone who asks and already bought letters to put up a name in the nursery, so it's not a secret and no turning back now :)  It's a pretty big deal to name a child ... I mean, this stays with them forever!  We tried to think through all the ways it could be changed, etc. and we know that it rhymes with Pooper ... but I don't think that's too traumatizing.  I got called Smelly Kelly and my feelings weren't hurt and I think I turned out okay ;)  We had an appointment a couple of weeks ago and everything is still going really well.  He is growing right on track (as am I) and so even though I still look small (relatively), we are on track!  I do feel like there has been a little growth happening this last week.  I feel bigger, look bigger, and my ever-growing basketball size uterus has made itself known as it pushes in and makes room.  I don't think there is any hiding that I'm pregnant.  So one week left and we enter the 3rd trimester!  It has been so fun to feel a living, growing being inside of me.  Maybe I won't feel this way in the heat of the summer as the kicks get harder and I get more uncomfortable, but I really have enjoyed being pregnant.  Another fun thing is that we have our pediatrician lined up!  We just went with Dr. Hoffman, who goes to our church- so lots of friends recommended him (including our OB doctor).  He also happens to be one of the best in town! 

May 20, 2012- 26 weeks

2. Chick-fil-A
This also marks my last week as a full-time manager at Chick-fil-A.  I'm now going to be the part-time Marketing Director!  I know I will miss being with my friends and team members that I enjoy working with and the guests that I enjoy serving, but I will still get to play a role there.  This will allow me to be pretty flexible and able to stay home with Cooper.  We can work with Eric's schedule and that way we aren't hiring out a babysitter or finding daycare options.  Our restaurant is also almost 9 months old now, so we are ready to really get our feet on the ground with stuff in the community too!  I'm also excited that I'll have a flexible summer to be able to spend with Eric, since he has such a flexible summer, and that we will get to be a part of Super Summer and MBC things :) Plus we have weddings, showers, and all kinds of other fun stuff lined up this summer!

My first CfA event -- Leadercast (cookie break)

Lunch at Leadercast

3. Showers
We've already had 2 surprise baby showers!  Our students threw a shower for us back at the end of April and we got so many great goodies....like pacifiers, bathtub, hygiene items, bottle refills, washcloths, towels, onesies, books, blanket, stuffed animal, and giftcards.  We've registered at Target- which was kind of just a shot in the dark.  Everyone has what has worked for their baby, what they never used, preferences, etc...so we registered for all the necessities we could really think of.  I'm sure there will be favorites that we get from people and we didn't bother to register for clothes, because I'm sure that will come too.  I also had a surprise shower on Friday at Chick-fil-A.  They gave us a Target giftcard and our jogging stroller!  We've already been blessed so much!

Some of the goodies from our BSU shower

$7 well spent at a yard sale across the street :)

Coop's first bowtie!

4. Vacation
At the end of April, we took a little trip to Los Angeles.  One of my friends that I met in Ethiopia was getting married!  Reuben (who got married) and Matt made the trip to Missouri for our wedding, so it was fun to be able to do the same!  We spent 4 days in LA and really enjoyed our time.  Eric got to experience Ikea for the first time, we went to Santa Monica pier and beach, went up to the Griffith Observatory, and just shopped and dined!  We got to have dinner with my friend Tracie (from high school) and her husband Ben at a great little Italian place.  Plus, we went to Reuben's wedding and an out-of-towners luncheon.  We love traveling and this was such a great opportunity to get away for a few days.  We'll have quite a bit of travel this summer (close by), but we wanted to get one more flight and travel a little further from home in before Cooper comes.

Reuben & Matt from our wedding- brought their own props for the photo booth!

Reuben & Nicole's wedding

Griffith Observatory--can barely see the Hollywood sign back there

I know there is so much more that I could write about, but it would be even more random than it is now.  So I'll just stop here :)  We've started work on the nursery--as in we know where it's going and have curtains, baby quilt, and the inspiration leading us, but I'm sure I'll have updates as we really begin to put it all together.  Thanks for reading :)

Love,
E + K

$5 prom during Finals week-- we know we're gross :)

Want to read a sweet post from my husband's blog....grab your tissues!

makeover monday

Here's a post my husband wrote yesterday....and I'm just stealing it for my blog! I'll insert my comments/additions in blue!

So, Kelly and I have been beginning to think about the nursery for Baby Barb (we find out Monday if it’s little boy Barb or little girl Barb), {we want to know your guesses} and once we find out the baby’s gender, I’m sure nursery prep will kick into overdrive.  The room we are going to use as the nursery is on the main level with our bedroom, but has been our guest room up til now.  We have an upstairs bedroom that we had been using for craft room, sewing room, storage, etc.  It needed a little freshening up before we moved the stuff up there to make it the new guest room, so that was part of my weekend project this last weekend. Here is a picture of the space when we moved in:

It was pretty white … and dingy/dirty white at that, but we didn’t do anything to it initially just so we could get things settled in the main living areas.  This is how it was being used since we moved in:

So, Kelly and I are usually land on the pretty conservative side when it comes to picking colors.  For the downstairs in the house we wanted to go with a tan/beige-ish color … and finally landed on a color called “ashen” which actually reads grey on the walls in some lighting, and more tan in others.  We looked at a lot of different color chips, it took us a while to make that decision, and we love it.  For upstairs though, it was kind of a whim.  {We're talking just stopping by Lowe's and picking out a color in less than 5 minutes- with no research or looking online for ideas- this is huge!} We were in Lowe’s, looked at paint, Kelly looked at one of the “inspiration pamphlets” they have there and said, “what about this”:

And this is where we are so far … still not sure what to put on the walls as far as art or anything, and haven’t picked out window coverings, but that will come … I’d say we are ready for guests.

The pine trunk at the end of the bed is from Kelly’s family. It was something that she received from her grandparents old house. {My great-grandpa King built it and it was in my grandparents house as long as I can remember} I’m still working on painting an old dresser I’ve had since I was a kid to eventually put in here. We bought the old fruit crates for $10 each and the chair in the corner for $12 (all of the other similar chairs we found were in such worse shape, like you couldn’t sit on them, and cost $10-20 more) at an antique store in Cape. We turned the crates on their ends to use as side tables with a shelf, and we painted and re-upholstered the chair … I didn’t get any before pictures before I painted in white (it was just finished wood, and looked pretty rough) but it had this seat on it (which I know someone will probably love, and wonder why we covered it, never fear, I didn’t ruin or get rid of the original fabric):

 

We think it has turned out great so far.  Looking forward to hosting any and all guests in the future! I repainted the rest of the upstairs as well, and we’re working on getting it organized to still have a seating area and space for all of the sewing/crafting stuff … so maybe that’s a future post.

-E

Here are some close up pictures of the crates and lamp.  Eric didn't mention that we got the lamp base at Goodwill for $9.  It was brand new from Target (tag still attached) but was missing the switch (Lowe's called it an 'on/off adapter').  So $3.50 later, we have a brand-new working lamp!  It had been a bronze color, and also got spray-painted white to brighten it's life a little.

Eric has also helped update our home for spring summer/whatever it is around here.  He is the real crafter.  I just come up with ideas or show him things I like, and he implements!  It really works out well- because he gets to put his creative juices to work and I always like the end results! 

Here are a couple of pictures of our updated dining room corner shelves:

And here are some pictures of the updated mantle- in much lighter/brighter colors than the past few months!

Well that's all of the DIY around here for now.  Eric is still working on the dresser- so I'm sure we'll have some updated pictures once it gets added to the room.  He also has ideas for what to do in the landing area at the top of the stairs- especially now that we have lost our storage room!  And don't forget....we want to hear your predictions on Baby Barb!  (And I know....I haven't put any preggo pictures up- so maybe those will come soon too).

My crafty husband

I love having a crafty husband.  I know that I tell you he's good at everything (and he really is)!  I meant to write this post back before Valentine's day to give a little inspiration to those out there trying to think of the perfect gift.  Eric got pretty "crafty" for my birthday and Christmas (and by this I mean that he was sneaky) and he took a little peek at my Pinterest page to see what things I have pinned that he might be able to recreate.  He's really great about looking at something and then making it....which is a money saver!

So here are a few of the things that he made:

This was made out of some old barn wood that Eric found at an antique store.  He then stenciled and painted it.

 This is a canvas with chipboard letters hot-glued on- and then all painted white so that it has a 3-D effect to it.

 This tree is similar to a canvas we saw in a home decor store...(not Pinterest)

This is hard to see (because of the reflection I had to lay it down)- but it's a frame with a tree cut out of paper with the lyrics to our first dance. And then there are hearts tied on a branch of the tree.
Our first dance song was "Amen" by Dave Barnes.  The lyrics read:
We will have love,
We will have pain
There will be days and days and days that feel the same
We will have fear
We will have joy
And maybe little girls and little boys

We will have friends
We will have peace
There will be nights of lights and music 'til you sleep
We will be strong
We will still break
We'll live through so much more than we can take

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

We will have hope
We will have doubt
There will be memories we could never live without
We will have tears
But there will be grace
There will be prayers that we never thought we'd pray

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

In the sun or the storms
The flood or the flames
Let everything come, and I'm the one to blame
In heartache or hope
I swear I'll say, I'll say

Amen
Amen
With the dawn, we all begin again
Amen
Amen
What is done, and yet to come
Amen

So, kind of a random post.  But just want to encourage you to get your craft on (even if it involves some Pinterest stalking)!

what?!? ...baby barb?!?

Well it's a little crazy to think that I'm 12 weeks pregnant.  We went to the doctor yesterday and saw a baby growing inside of me- full of life, moving around everywhere, and full of stretches that showed off fingers and toes.  It has a heart that is beating 158 beats/minute.  It's growing and so far, everything is normal.  So...I guess all that to say, I think I'm pregnant.  Until yesterday, I don't know that I was 100% confident of this fact.  Sure, we had taken a pregnancy test back before Christmas that showed two pink lines.  And yeah, I've added a couple of extra pounds that can't be contributed to Christmas, not to mention I have felt exhausted all the time and other changes that seemed to match straight up with what the books say.  But I guess I'm enough of a pessimist realist to want to see the proof.  Maybe I had this fear that it could be some crazy medical coincidence going on....I don't know!

There it is though!  Baby Barb (in the singular form...unlike my husband thought, who has been joking and claiming for weeks that it is twins).  The top two pictures are profile pictures and then the bottom one is looking straight on at the face...with the little arm up by the face (almost doing a little salute).  We're due August 26th.  So here are the frequently asked questions:

Due date:  August 26, 2012
How far along:  12 weeks, 2 days
How/when did you find out:  I found out on December 21, 2011 by taking a pregnancy test and then
that was confirmed at the doctor on December 27, 2011.
How have you been feeling:  I've actually felt pretty good.  I haven't been sick at all- just times that I feel weird/different (which Eric is quick to tell me that it's because I have something growing inside of me!) I'm pretty tired and take a lot of naps- but I think that is starting to get better too.  While we aren't training for any marathons or plan to have the story of this lady, I am still walking/running at the gym often.  I'd love to be able to do one/couple 5ks this spring/summer.
When did you tell your families:  We told both of our immediate families at our Christmas celebrations just a few days later.  We knew it might be a while before we would all be together and have a good opportunity to tell them in person. (Eric actually has some videos of our parents when we wrapped up some frames and gave them as Christmas presents.  The frames said "Sweet Baby" on them and then instead of putting a picture in it, we just used a little poem that we found that said: "We have no picture for this space, reserve 8 months for Baby Barb's face")
Were you trying:  We had decided that November would be my last month of birth control....but in all reality, I didn't expect to be pregnant a few weeks later.  We knew it could take a while, as we've walked through that with friends and family, and so in my mind, I expected maybe 9 months later (to be finding out that we're pregnant, not to be having a baby).  We had made the decision to just trust the Lord's timing instead of trying to plan it all out ourselves to later maybe find out we would have trouble or whatever...... but I guess in my mind, I still thought I knew what the Lord's plan was.  Silly me!
Are you going to find out the gender:  Probably.  I think it could be fun to be surprised, but it would probably kill me knowing that I could know, and I didn't.  I think I'm probably too much of a planner to be surprised like that!
Will it be the first grandbaby on either side:  No. Eric's  brother has a son that is 11 years old and that is the only grandchild on his side.  My brother has a daughter that is almost 5 and then another baby girl on the way in just 10 or so days.  So it will not be the first grandbaby on either side, but it will be either the first boy on my side or the first girl on his side.
Do you have names picked out:  We have a couple of names that we like for each gender, but we all know that could change several times.  We haven't really decided if we'll put whatever name we pick out to the public or not.
Do you want a boy or a girl:  We're really okay with either one. I think I like the idea of a boy being the oldest- but we'll be grateful and excited for whatever this baby may be!

Well, I think that's all for now.  I'm starting to show a little bit (maybe only Eric and I can tell though).  But my clothes are getting tighter and tighter- especially my nice white button up and black pants all tucked in for CFA.
Let me know if you have any questions that I didn't answer!  I'm new to all this and feel pretty much in the dark about everything- so I'm open for advice and whatever too!  Thanks for celebrating with us!  We are so excited and honored that God has entrusted us with a baby- that we're already trying to care for.  It brings us to a new place of truly understanding Him more as Creator and Author of life.  As Psalm 139:13 says, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb."  He's doing the forming and the knitting....and we are so grateful that we get to be a part of it!

After our church's Valentine's banquet and a scrabble date at Starbucks last Saturday

Love,
E & K

Our first anniversary

Eric and I celebrated our first anniversary on November 27th.  It has been a wonderful first year (over 13 months now...) It's just been a joy to be with my best friend all the time.  God has just blessed us tremendously in our marriage.  I'm so thankful for the man of God, husband, and leader that Eric is.  For our anniversary, we decided to get away for a quick weekend.  It still blows my mind how close we are to 'the South' down here in SE Missouri.  We are closer to Memphis than my parents' house and closer to Nashville than Eric's parents' house.  It's just crazy!  We looked up Bed & Breakfasts near Memphis and decided to go to Olive Branch, Mississippi (only about 20 minutes outside of Memphis) and stay at the Andover Plantation.  It was so beautiful!

We would recommend Andover Plantation for anyone looking for a place to stay!  The innkeeper, Lin, was so accommodating and sweet!  She had our room all ready for us when we checked in.  We stayed in the Plantation Suite.

This would have also been a great place to go with a group of people- like for a family reunion, where you want to reserve all the rooms upstairs or there is a cottage out behind the main house with it's own kitchen and a little more space.  And they also have a pool, so it would be great for kids in the summer!

Closed for the winter!

Extra building behind the main house

If it hadn't been so rainy, cold, and windy, we would have loved to enjoy our private porch!

Lin brought us a wonderful breakfast to our room.  She made apricot-stuffed french toast with a sweet orange syrup, bacon, and some fruit.  It was so good!

We just spent time enjoying Memphis on Sunday.  Neither of us have really spent any time in Memphis before so we didn't know exactly what to see or do.  We just took it pretty easy though....enjoying lunch downtown at The Majestic Grille and doing some basic sightseeing and shopping.  Of course, we took the opportunity to check out Pottery Barn Outlet, where we snagged this great find who now proudly hangs out on our mantle:

Have I told you before that I love my husband?  I'm so thankful for our first year of marriage and just time to get away with him.  Thanks for being a part of our lives!

Love,
The Barbs