Baby toys...

We are making major strides toward getting prepared for our little surprise's arrival! Finally, you say? We know! Better late than never we say! We finally picked up our stroller/car seat and our crib/changing table! Dallas spent the evening putting them all together. He made it all seem too easy. It is so incredible to think that in only 4 weeks our little one will be sleeping, crying and messing in all of its new toys!! Yes, I am painfully aware of the reality that is coming my way! BUT, I also find myself overwhelmed with excitement of all the blessings that are coming too!


DAllas is proud of the stroller! Look, it turns with the push of one hand!!



Dallas and his little helpers, Ben and Abby, begin to set up the crib!



Finished product!



The only thing that can make this picture even more adorable will be the addition of my little bundle of joy!!

Easter

Easter...

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! We got up early Sunday morning and tried out a new church. It was a wonderful service. I really enjoyed the fact that the church was VERY diverse. There were people from EVERY walk of life, young and old, black, white, asian-you name it they were there! I really appreciated that! They had elements of traditional service and contemporary. It was a breath of fresh air!

After the service we went to Sandra and Aaron's to have Easter lunch and to watch Mia and her little friend hunt easter eggs. Shasta and I were allowed to hide the eggs. Little did we know that we would find such joy in hiding the eggs!! The two little ones seemed to really enjoy themselves.

We also moved into our house this weekend. We still don't have our stuff, but it is fun to be in our own space. I tell you what, it is a very different experience moving this far along in the pregnancy. I can only imagine how different it will be when we have little ones! The house is very nice. It is a perfect size for our little family. And, it is very close to the school and hospital. We were very lucky.

35 weeks...

Wow! 35 weeks! We don't have long! I can't believe we are so close to meeting our little gal/guy! Mommy seems to be doing great! The baby is still really active, which I thought would stop by now! Nope, not my baby! We went to our primary care doctor yesterday and he said that my blood pressure was great and that everything looked good as far as he could tell. Honestly we were a little worried just because of all the travel. So, when I meet my OB on Tuesday we will see what he says! Anywho, we will keep you all in touch as these weeks go by and we start(hahaha) and finish all the preps for our little surprise!!

Praise God...

From whom ALL blessings flow!!! AMEN!! We are definitely being taken care of by the Man upstairs! First of all, we made it to Gainesville safe and sound!! The baby is great, but momma seems to be pushing the pregnant body to the limits! Opps! I have entered into pregnancy swelling bliss....as I like to call it!! The weather down here is spectacular, but it is MUCH hotter than I am used to. Between that and the traveling, looking for a house, looking for a car, finding where the hospital is, finding my doctors offices, trying to get used to a new town and much more, this body of mine is screaming....HELP!!!! Pics to follow. It is quit funny.

We are staying with some great friends of ours who we knew from La Madd. They have been wonderful hosts and I couldn't be more comfortable anywhere else! It has been great to reunite with them and to get to see Mia, their little girl, again! She has really grown and is so much fun for us!! We went with them last night to our first every Florida Gator athletic function-baseball. We got to watch them defeat 3rd ranked FSU at home! We had a blast!

In other wonderful news. We arrived here late Saturday night and by Monda afternoon already we had a house, a new car and will be touring the maternity ward, where our little surprise will be born, this evening! Our God is an awesome God! Who could have ever predicted that in 48 hrs we would have accomplished so much. So, now, all we have to do is move in Sat. and wait for the remainder of our things to arrive and we will be settled!! Then we have little more than 4 weeks before we meet our new addition!!

On the road again...

Well we are literally getting ready to get in the car and head to Gainesville! We are ready to get started on the next phase, but have truly enjoyed the time we have had to see everyone! I wish that I wasn't pregnant so it would have been a longer time of visiting, but we had to cut it short to give Baby Gipson a fair shot at being born in Gainesville and not in route! So, please pray that we make it there! We are planning to stop tonight in Birmingham and then head in to Gainesville Sat. morning. We are super excited to see Sandra, Aaron and Mia! As soon as we are settled in Gainesville I will post another blog. However, please be patient because it could take up to two weeks before I post again. Thanks again for all your love and support for us through this time! We couldn't do this crazy life without all of your prayers!! 6 weeks til our lil' surprise is revealed!!

Shower...

Jonesboro shower....

We are now in Jonesboro, Arkansas visiting with Dallas' family and friends. We got in Saturday night and then had a "Welcome Back to the States" party and Baby shower on Sunday. The luncheon/shower was so wonderful! My sister and Katelynn came up for it which was special. We also got to visit with a lot of Dallas' family we haven't seen in a while and were able to catch up with some of his old college friends. Dallas' mom, Aunt Betty, cousin Amanda and other family members did a wonderful job on planning and decorating for the shower. Their efforts on the whole thing really did make us feel special. I am sure Baby Gipson was tickled too!! We got so many wonderful gifts and left overwhelmed with blessings.

We will be here in Jonesboro until Wed. night and then we will head to Cabot to pick up the rest of our stuff. We will then be leaving to head to Gainesville on Friday morning. We are excited about this week with his family, but are also getting a little anxious about yet another long trip and of course all we have to do to get set up before our little surprise comes! Mom and Baby are still doing great! I still feel really good and the baby is still moving a lot!! I am not sure if this is something I want to continue out of the womb or not!!! =) Please pray for us over the next few weeks as we travel and as little Gipson prepares to make her/his way into the world!!

Visit to NW Arkansas...

Dallas and I went to NW Arkansas this week to visit Dusty, my little brother, my grandma and others in my extended family. It was a very quick trip, but a great one. It was good for some of them to see him because for most it had been 3 years or more! I was pretty sure most of them thought my husband was a figment of my imagination. Dusty is doing great! It was so wonderful to get to spend some one on one time with him. I was really looking forward to being closer to him when we move to Florida, however since he moved to Arkansas we now have to make the most of every opportunity!

We headed back to Cabot today and had to do it in the snow. It was beautiful to see all the powder along the road, but man was it cold!! When we got back here to Kaci's we went outside with Katelynn to play in snow. HOwever, I think the adults had more fun. She wasn't too into the snow. She just stood there and watched Kaci, James and I have a snow ball fight.(Dallas was inside on the computer!!!) And, do you think they were at all careful of the pregnant girl.....NO!!! We had a blast! Photos to come!

March Snow....

Dallas is home....

Yeah! Dallas is home!! He came home last night! As soon as he landed in Memphis we took him to dinner at Rendezvous in downtown. It was so wonderful! The only problem was that it was 8:30pm before we got to the restaurant and 10:30pm(5am Italy time) before we started the 2hr trip back to Little Rock. Needless to say Dallas was so tired when we got home. One great thing, however, was his parents and sister met us in Memphis and were able to do dinner with us! They were so happy to see him. He was also happy to see them, of course!! =) I added a picture of all of us that we took at the restaurant. When we left them I said, "See you in a week." and got really excited that we are now close enough to everyone that we can say "see you soon!!" Yeah, we are home!!!

I also added my 32 week photo. I am growing, growing, growing!! This is such a fun and exciting thing. It is incredible what a woman's body can do and goes through to protect a little one while it develops! I am so blessed to get to do this! Even with all the changes!! Baby seems to be doing great! I am really pleased with how tolerant the baby seems to be with me and all my moving about! However, this little one will have to quickly get used to the hustle and bustle of our life!! We don't tend to stay in one place very long! Poor gal/guy!!!