Pictures of Christmas Past.

Christmas is just 7 days away!!

This year Brandon and I will be spending Christmas at home. Over the last five years we have spent Christmas several holidays apart.. I'm very excited that we get to wake up on Christmas morning together. So this morning I was looking through our Christmas pictures from the last five years and thought I would share a few. It's funny to see how much we have changed.

2006 At a work Christmas Party.  We spent this year apart.

2007 At home before he left for Tennessee.

2008

2009  I spent part of the holiday break in Kingsport and then drove home on Christmas Eve.

2010 We spent 7 days in Kingsport, 3 of which we were snowed in with no electricity!

14 Days until Christmas!

I'm so excited Christmas is almost here.  We are "grounded" this year and can't travel too far so we will be home for Christmas.  I love getting to see family around the holidays.  Last night we received a visit from Nonnie, Aunt Sharon, and Johanna all the way from Birmingham.  It was great to get to have dinner with them and visit a little while afterwards.  Here are a few pictures. 

Catching up

I haven't blogged in a while so let me catch you up on what we have been up to.  For Thanksgiving we traveled to South Carolina.  In the past Brandon's family has celebrated Thanksgiving at his Mom's house in Kingsport, TN.  This year we celebrated in North Augusta/Aiken, SC.  We stayed with Brandon's brother and enjoyed 4 days with the family.  We ate good food and did a little bit of shopping.  In no way did I intend to do my usual Black Friday shopping, but we did get a few good deals over the weekend and online too.
While we were there we had a little surprise baby shower given by Brandon's family.  It was very sweet and we are so grateful for all the wonderful things we received.  Here are a few pictures.

Baby Shower Time!

We had an awesome time at our shower last week.  We were so excited that we got to celebrate with our friends and family.   Thanks to everyone for making this such a special night! I know some of you drove a long way! Baby girl Jennings is going to be a very blessed little girl. She got some great gifts and some very cute clothes!

4D Pictures!!

Today we got to experience the 4D ultrasound and got to see our sweet little girl.  She was just a little shy and very sleepy.  She was stretched across my belly with her head up under my right ribs.  She liked to keep her arm up next to her face but every now and then she would move it for us to get a peek.  She definitely has hair.  We were wondering if she was going to be bald since both of us were little bald babies. She looks like she might have my little turned up nose and some big cheeks.  So here are a few of her best moments today.  We surely can't wait to meet her!

Sticking her tongue out.

Being shy.

Yawning.

Knoxville

We spent this weekend in Knoxville with our friends Chip & Haley.  We were very excited to get to see them for the first time since we found out they are expecting their first baby!  We had a great time at the UT/SC game even though we didn't pull a victory.  Thanks to Haley and Chip for the tickets!  Here are a few pictures!

While we were out Chip snapped a few pictures of Brandon and I.  Here are a few of our favorites. Thanks Chip! 

Baby Girl Jennings Update



26 Weeks

We are at the 26 week mark.  Our little baby girl is growing fast and the time is flying by. She is much more active now kicking and bouncing around in there all the time.  Brandon has been lucky enough to get to feel all her activity lately. It's so sweet to see him smiling feeling her moving around.  I think she is doing cartwheels sometimes.  A few days ago I went for a checkup at the cardiologist.  I have had an irregular heart beat a few times a day for the past few years.  So they did an echo cardiogram to check things out.  Since I'm fresh out of ultrasounds until our 3D next month I asked the lady if she could see babies with "that wand."  She said "Why, do you think there is a baby in there?"  Hello? I'm 26 weeks pregnant, why cant you tell?  Okay, so I thought that, I didn't exactly say those words. :)  Anyway, after the echo she checked out the baby girl and sure enough there she was bouncing around on the screen.  I have a fetal Doppler at home, so I can hear her heartbeat anytime I want.  But, it's always reassuring to see her on the screen.  The cardiologist appointment checked out okay, and as long as I take care of myself my irregular heart beat should cause no problems right now.

Brandon is home from traveling today.  He was only gone 4 days and while that is nothing I was so sad to see him go on Monday.  I'm sure it's the hormones but it was much worse than when he traveled before I was pregnant.  I was sitting at home that night wondering how I had endured the 6 week trips before.  Brandon is my best friend and truly my soul mate and I can't stand days without him.  I don't know what I have done in this life to deserve such an amazing man, but I thank God for him everyday.  He is so selfless and always puts me first. Beyond opening doors and paying for my meals, when I first met him I was amazed that he thanked me for simply spending a day with him.  He still does it now, 5 years later..He thanks me for the simplest of things, the things I consider so small. 
      Jackie Kennedy's love letters have recently been made public, letters she had written to an old flame in the 40's.  I was reading about them the other day and she described what she thought it should feel like to be in love.  She said "I've always thought of being in love as being willing to do anything for the other person — starve to buy them bread and not mind living in Siberia with them — and I've always thought that every minute away from them would be hell."  She was right.  

Beach Time!

Zero gravity chair, touchpad with fantasy football, and FL/UA game on tv. :)

Sunrise.

Out for a stroll.

A little sunburn.

We absolutely love Pensacola Beach, FL.  The beaches are beautiful and it's so quite this time of year.  We needed a little get away so off we went.  We packed up our favorite zero gravity chairs, umbrella, a few changes of clothes and headed down. The weather was beautiful.  The highs were in the high 70's and a little chilly at night.  Here are a few pictures.  

It's A Girl!

It's a girl! We are so excited to announce that in January we will bring our daughter into the world!  We had our doctor's visit on 9/27 and are blessed to know that our little baby girl is happy and healthy! She was quite active during the ultrasound.  Dr. Fiore went through as many pictures as he could assuring us that all 10 fingers and all 10 toes were there..and that what I was sure was going to be there, was NOT! I guess a Mother's intuition isn't always right after all.  Brandon and I are very happy and already shopping for everything pink. 

 Also on the 27th we had a little get together to celebrate my 30th birthday as well. I made cupcakes to celebrate our little baby girl and handed them out after dinner with our little announcement.  

Family Visit!

Last Wednesday we got a visit from my Nonnie, Aunt Sharon, & cousin Johanna.  It's been a long time since we've seen each other, maybe 8 years.  We enjoyed visiting and catching up over dinner at Carraba's.  Here are a few pictures.



Atlanta/South Carolina Trip

This weekend we traveled to South Carolina for Brandon's mother's 60th birthday party.  One the way we stopped in Atlanta to visit with my brother Jamie.  I'm so glad he lives so much closer now so I can visit!  While in Atlanta we stopped by Ikea to get a few things for the house.  We love IKEA..it's modern, inexpensive furniture and home accents.   The building is about as big a 3 super Walmarts and takes a while to go through it all.  If you plan on making the trip I'd set aside 3 hours.  After picking up a few items at Ikea we headed to Woodstock to visit Jamie.


I just love the little town of Woodstock.  It's nestled around the railroad tracks with the old railroad station converted into a Mexican restaurant.  We had a delish dinner on the rooftop with a 360 degree view of the town.




The next day we were off to South Carolina.  Doris and her two cousins were turning 60 and there was a surprise birthday party planned for them. I think the ladies were surprised and had a great time!

Football!!

We love Football in this house!  Brandon was so excited to have Sunday at home to watch football.  We were up at 730 for the early church service. He did yard work for an hour and was in the house by 1150 for his 12pm game!  Here's a picture of what the rest of the day looks like! Kobe enjoys football season as much as Brandon I think.

Kobe and Brandon watching the Falcons game.

Checking scores on the phone while watching the game. 

 I love this fuzzy Redskins blanket. It must be 15 years old.  It was my Grandmother's and always laid on the back of her couch.  Why did she have a Redskin's blanket?  She wasn't a Redskins fan, although she was a lover of football, especially Alabama football.  As a kid I never thought to ask her why she had this blanket.  Most likely she bought it at a yard sale or someone gave it to her.  Anyway, after she died I kept it and used it occasionally.  After meeting Brandon and discovering his love for the Washington Redskins I pulled this blanket out of the closet and placed it on the back of the couch. That's where it has stayed for 5 years since we bought the house.  It's in the man room surrounded by other football decor so it matches perfectly. Thanks for the blanket Grandma.

The most amazing dip ever!!! Check out the recipe.

I made Frank's Buffalo Chicken dip today for the game.  Oh my...so good. We had to put it in the fridge just to stop eating it. Here is the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (12.5 oz. each) SWANSON� White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained 

(Notes:  You can use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store instead of canned chicken.  Also, you can substitute blue cheese dressing instead of Ranch if you'd like.

HEAT oven to 350F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.
MIX in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken.
BAKE 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir.
Enjoy!