A letter to Baby Grace...

My sweet husband made the most delicious crawfish etouffee for dinner tonight! I am so lucky to have such a loving husband who takes care of me. He is going to make such a great Daddy!

. . . . .

Dear Baby Grace,

Even though you aren't hear yet, you are loved already. No words can describe the excitement and joy that fills my heart knowing that you are growing inside my belly. Although you are not big enough for me to notice your movements yet, I think about you all the time. I enjoy reading about how you are developing each week and I'm doing my best to eat nutritiously and take my vitamins.

You received your first Valentine in the mail from Roni and PaPierre and it is the cutest, sweetest little card. PaPierre even added his own artwork to the card to show that you are in my belly. Lots of love is pouring into thoughts of the adventures you will take us on when you arrive.

Last night, my Mom (who is waiting for you to create her new name) left a little surprise on our doorstep while we were running errands. When I was little, we always went to Toy Fair to buy new shoes and we got to play with the toys while we waited for "our turn" to try on shoes. When I saw a gift in a Toy Fair bag...it brought back sweet memories. The softest little bunny rabbit and The Tale of Peter Rabbit were in the bag. We cannot wait to read this book to you over and over again as you snuggle with your own little bunny.

Lots of love,

Your mommy

Happy Valentines Day! 9 Weeks and Counting...

Happy Valentines Day! On Thursday night and Friday morning, we had a beautiful snow in Shreveport. Yes....it ACTUALLY snowed here! Very exciting! Although, I don't think Tim shared my excitement when I woke him up bright and early like a kid on Christmas morning! It looked like a Winter Wonderland in our backyard! The snow melted pretty quickly by Friday afternoon, but there are still remnants of little snow people around the city.

Tim and I had a fantastic weekend with lots of great friends. We had our 4th annual Mardi Gras Celebration. We had a yummy crawfish boil on our new crawfish table and Michelle made 2 delicious king cakes (strawberry cream cheese and praline pecan - YUM!). Then, we headed to the parade and caught lots of colorful beads. I love this time of year! We also announced our exciting news to our friends, since we had many of them here in person! They all seemed very excited and we are glad to be able to share the beginning of our new adventure with them.

Today we are 9 weeks and 1 day pregnant. So far I have been lucky and have only had slight nausea. To prevent that, I just eat small snacks between meals or every 2 hours. That seems to keep Baby Grace happy. I have to admit that it still doesn't seem completely real that Tim and I are going to be parents in 7 months, but the more people we share it with...the more real it seems! Our family has been very supportive. They call and check up on us and we can tell they are so proud and happy for us. We are so extremely lucky to be blessed with such great family and friends!

Well, here goes the tough part...my side view profile pic. Taken in our office and nursery-to-be...my 9 week belly pic to compare to my growing belly-to-come...