4 More Weeks....

So I wasn't expecting to make a post today but I am so filled with emotions that I wanted to write them down....


I got home from work at about 5:30pm today after getting to work at 6am (Yes, I am still working 8-11 hour days at 36 weeks pregnant lol) and of course I had a list of things for Jason and I to do.  We received another package of gifts over the weekend and included in it was the mobile that matches his bedding set (pictures of his nursery soon)!  This little mobile is soo cute and I was on the fence as to whether or not I was going to buy it and was soo excited when Jason brought it upstairs! (Thank you Auntie Barbara ;-) )


Anyway, as Jason put the mobile up, he called me in the room to ask me where I wanted it. And as he placed the mobile on the side of the crib and wound it up to start the lullaby music, tears just started flowing down my face.  I think it is just hitting me that this little boy is going to be here before I know it.  He'll be sleeping, crying, pooping, cooing, screaming and all of the other fun things that babies do...with us, here, in our home, in no time!  And as I thought about the fact that one day, he'll be in his little crib watching the animals in Noah's arc go round and round, I couldn't stop the tears.  Up to now, I haven't shed one tear related to this baby...Not when i found out I was pregnant, not when I first heard his heartbeat, not when I saw his heart flutter on the sonogram, not when I saw his little pee-pee and found out he was a boy...Not once! I'm usually somewhat of a softy but I don't think the reality that I'm carrying a little boy in my womb had hit me yet.


But alas, with only 4 weeks (or less) remaining, my little dumpling will be here soon and I'm finally starting to realize it.  My brown skinned baby boy will be here to take on the world and I couldn't be more excited.  My heart is still filled with so many hopes and wishes for him--that he'll give his life over to Christ, that he'll marry the girl of his dreams (like I did marrying his dad), that he'll do something that makes him feel fulfilled, that he won't have to learn everything the hard way...so many things...


And the sound of Brahms' Lullaby helped to remind me that he'll be gracing us with his presence soon..


"Lullaby, and good night, with pink roses bedight,

With lilies o'er spread, is my baby's sweet head.
Lay you down now, and rest, may your slumber be blessed!
Lay you down now, and rest, may your slumber be blessed!

Lullaby, and good night, you're your mother's delight,
Shining angels beside my darling abide.
Soft and warm is your bed, close your eyes and rest your head.
Soft and warm is your bed, close your eyes and rest your head.

Sleepyhead, close your eyes. Mother's right here beside you.
I'll protect you from harm, you will wake in my arms.
Guardian angels are near, so sleep on, with no fear.
Guardian angels are near, so sleep on, with no fear."

Talk to you soon...

--Lisa

"Showered with Love" pt. 2

Hi Friends!  

So in addition to the shower thrown by our friends in VA, we were also blessed with a shower from our family in Florida.  We had soo much fun!  Jason and I actually made a whole trip out of this visit.  We stayed in Orlando for a full week and although we have friends and family whom we could have stayed with, we spent a few nights at the Universal Orlando Resort so that we could feel like full-on tourists! It was our babymoon :-)  We walked on CityWalk and ate at some of their wonderful restaurants, shopped, went to the movies, and hung out by the pool.  We had a blast!  And while we were in Orlando, we also went to see the Broadway Musical "The Lion King"...It was fabulous!  I highly recommend that if it comes to your area, go and see it!  

Within this same trip, we attended Jason's Masters Graduation as well as his sister's Undergraduate Graduation.  And as if that wasn't enough, we attended our baby shower!  So I hope you enjoy the pics!  I'll provide some commentary and then make some remarks at the end! Enjoy :-)

My mom made the decorations herself with her scrapbooking machine!

Greeting family and friends with hugs :-)

Jason doing some greeting too...He's such a great host :-)

Eating and chatting...The food was sooo good!

The dessert bar!  My cousin Peggy and her daughter, Ashley made these...Yummy!

Listening for instructions for the games....

Game Time!  We played the Price is Right...

Laughing and having fun :-)

My hubby and soon to be brother in law's faces when they found out what game we were playing next...LOL...It was a game where the girls feed the guys baby food and they have to drink juice from a bottle...Whoever finishes first, wins!  The problem is, all of the flavors were disgusting...LOL...no apples and pears here...More like Chicken with Broccoli and Potatoes and Gravy...Gross!

Playing more games..

Me and my mini-me...Apparently she belongs to my cousins, Jerry and Peggy, but I think she could pass for mine ;-)

Well wishes and prayers from friends...

Family photo time!  Me and my in-laws :-)

Daddy and me!

Me and my 3 best friends (From left to right--My little sister, Rena; My mommy, Carol; Me; and my big sister, Tasha)..Yes, I am a middle child ;-)

Jason and I and our grandparents!  (From left to right--Jason's paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, Jason, Me, my maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather)

Me and my favorite uncles!  They always do so much work anytime my family has functions like these.  I am soo grateful for them! They are the best!

And last, but certainly not least, our mommies :-)

We are so blessed to have the most amazing families and friends...Our families provide us a tremendous amount of support and have been such a critical and instrumental part of our lives.  Thank you to all of you and for everyone who attended the shower, sent gifts, prayed for us, and wished us well...We are forever grateful!  

In addition to the crazy amount of fun we had, we also received an exorbitant amount of gifts!  We have literally had to purchase almost nothing for little Peanut due to the generosity and support from all of our shower family and friends (both here and in "Showered with Love" pt. 1)..Thank you all soo very much! We are more grateful than we could ever express in words...

Romans 1:8

"...I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you..."

-Lisa

"Showered with Love" pt. 1

Hi Friends!

So Jason and I have been blessed all of our lives with the presence and friendship of soo many people over the years.  It always seems that God finds a way to place people in our path that will genuinely love us, welcome us into their lives, and go out of their way to help and support us no matter where we go.  In addition to us both having strong and supportive families, we have also been blessed with having such wonderful friends all over the US (some of you happen to be reading this blog, love you!) So God has always taken care of us and this post just illuminates the way that He uses His followers to shower love on some of His other children ;-)

Background on us:

Jason moved to Maryland right after graduation (from undergrad) to accept a job as an engineer with a major government defense contractor. And while he was living there, I accepted a position as an engineer with a major international commercial contractor in a rotational leadership development program. So our careers led us to two very disparate locations: Him to Maryland and Me to Texas (Dallas, to be exact). Now while the distance was hard for both of us, I particularly struggled being in Dallas where I had no family, no friends, and no feeling of contact with the outside world…lol…So after my first rotation ended, I decided to pack up my stuff and accept a different job (that I had also been offered prior to graduation) in Virginia (about 1 hour from where Jason was living in Maryland).  So after I moved to VA and Jason proposed (3 days later :-) ), our whirlwind of a life began!  We got married almost a year later (11-06-09), and 2 months later we bought a house (1-15-10).  Our house was finished being built in April, so we closed at the end of April (4-30-10) and our official life in VA began!

Along the way, we have met and befriended some incredible people--both from our involvement in our local church and a few from our different positions at work along the way.  And as if their friendship was not enough, these lovely people decided to throw Me, Jason, and Peanut a BABY SHOWER!  So here are some of the pictures from the party along with a few notes to provide you with some context.  I hope you enjoy, we surely did! 

When we pulled up, we were greeted by this lovely sign (Noble Baby Shower):

The view when you walked in...It was a jungle theme :-)

Yummy food...

Me mingling with some of the guests (my niece pretending to be shy...)

GAMES!  We played "The Price Is Right" and the kids helped model the items...so cute! (My other niece)...

This was a "Guess What Chocolate is in the Diaper?" Game...Seemed like the guys enjoyed it! ;-)

Time to open gifts...This is a gift from my niece that she picked out herself for her new baby cousin...She was soo excited for us to open it...She is soo looking forward to meeting little Peanut :-)

More presents....

Jason mingling with some of his friends and guests....

Me and the beautiful and talented Shower Planning Committee...All members of my past/present small groups :-) ...Thanks Girls! I'm so blessed you know you all :-)

And that's it!  Thanks again to the lovely people who planned, hosted attended, sent gifts, and to you for reading!  See ya!

--Lisa

Hi Friends! :-)

Hi Friends!  So I know it’s been a while since my last blog post.  It’s not that I haven’t wanted to get on here and write, it’s just that I haven’t had a lot of time!  Even when you guys don’t see it (or read it :-) ), the Prep for Peanut’s arrival is alive and well and I have taken plenty of pictures to help share this journey with you all, I just haven’t found the time to post them.  Well, now is the time! :-)  So lemme fill you in on a few things you've missed in these last 2 months (and the topics of my next few posts)

• Peanut’s had 2 more sonograms and 4 more doctor’s appointments since we last met, all of which he continued his pattern of shy/stubborn behavior so we have yet to see his little face!  But he’s in great health, which is all we can ask for…:-)
• We've had 2 baby showers: one in our home state of FL and one in our current state of VA.  Both were fabulous, and I have plenty of pics!
• I've finished organizing the basement, living room, dining room, guest rooms, bathrooms and most of little Peanut’s room. Haven’t done my own room yet but I’m not so sure that that will ever happen LOL
•  My hubby and I (and a few friends) have totally revamped Peanut’s room into a full-on nursery featuring crown molding, chair rail, paint on the walls and ceiling, baby furniture and decorations (which are still in the works but should be done by the weekend—my Memorial Day Weekend project)…Peanut even has a new custom closet! Thanks to the brainpower of his Nana, Daddy and Auntie Rena :-)
• Me and hubby have taken our last pre-baby trip that we called our “Babymoon”
• I attended my hubby's graduation from grad school! (Those last few weeks, before school was over, were time consuming for both of us!) And his sister’s undergrad graduation!  He's sooo happy to be done with grad school right before Peanut's arrival and I'm so proud of him for finishing :-)
• And all of the other regular everyday life things like working, going to church, hosting small groups 2 nights a week (which we are now done with :-( ), hanging out with friends, hosting family, assembling strollers, car seats, and bassinets, doing laundry and household things…regular everyday stuff!

So as you can somewhat see, life has been busy at the Noble Residence but this blog is back on track! We have about 6 weeks until little Peanut’s arrival and so much to discuss! :-)  And although I haven’t been posting, I have continued to take pictures to document everything so now it’s just a matter of putting them up!  So expect posts a little more frequently than once a week but I probably won’t stick to a rigid timeline since I’ll basically be posting whenever I can!

Thanks for reading and see ya soon (next post may be later tonight or tomorrow...) Please comment! It makes me more motivated to write when I know there are people actually reading :-)…Even if you just write Hi! Thanks again!

--Lisa

Project PFP Continues!

Hello Friends!  Yes, I know...I took another 2-week hiatus, BUT in my defense, I have been ULTRA busy these past 2 weeks and soon you guys will know (and see) why!  We, and by we I mean my husband Jason :-), have been working diligently to get little Peanut's nursery in order and while he's been painting and doing all of the other DIY projects I have dreamt up in my head, I have been planning and hosting!  My friend Eni came to visit me last weekend and I was so busy having fun, that my blog post went out the window!


But, I digress...


Project "Prep for Peanut" (PFP) continues!  This week we're gonna take a look at the new and improved office.  Now, this is the room that I use in my house THE LEAST!  But hubby uses the MOST. So, it was absolutely necessary for us to get this room in order, especially since all our important papers and stuff are in it (papers and stuff, they sound really important, don't they? ;-) ) Anywho, Jason has been utilizing this office almost daily for the past 1.5 years (1 year and 7 months) as he has been enrolled at UF getting his Masters in Engineering.  He will be done in May, praise the Lord! So he has spent, and will continue to spend (until May), a fairly large amount of time in this office, so I wanted it to be a place where he could study and focus, but also not make it so "office-y" so that when he's done, we can all still enjoy the room!  I hate unused areas of the home so I try to make each room and user friendly as possible.  So this office serves as Jason's place to study and a place for me & Meelo to go when we're ready to bother and harass him :-)


How can anyone resist this face?

(This is Meelo, our 3 year old Lab Mix)

Ok, so here we go.  I'll show a few before pics first, and then we'll transition to after....Enjoy!  Oh!  Keep in mind that the office design was a kinda spur of the moment decision.  We literally came home one day and said, hey, do you wanna re-do the office?  And just like that, we were off to Home Depot to pick and purchase paint!  Then we took the trek (1 hour drive) to Ikea and got lost in the showroom and this is what we ended up with! :-)  This somehow became a mess over these past few months and needed some re-vamping and organization!  And for that, we had to call in the reinforcements!  Ok, well we didn't exactly call them in.  My mommy came to town for a routine visit and graciously helped us a few of the days that she was here (thank God!).  Ok, now enjoy!

BEFORE (Don't judge us, a lot of brilliance takes place in this room! And blame Jason! Lol):

And AFTER:

And that's all!  Thanks again to my wonderful Mother for all of your hard work, we could not have finished this mess without you!

And please, please, please leave a comment below.  I love hearing from you guys, even if it's just a "Hey, I read your blog!"  I know you have to sign-in to Google to do so (I don't know how to change that) but make the sacrifice for me!  Pretty please?  See you next week! Or next, next week! Ok...just kidding :-)

--Lisa