Pregnancy

So I guess we have known for almost 2 months now that we will have a little bundle of joy here in June. It's kind of scary to think about, but exciting at the same time. It has also been a little harder than I thought it would be. Now that I am finally over being sick ALL the time I have started to get tired throughout the day for no apparent reason. I worried about what it would be like when the baby got here and how life would change, but the truth is life has already changed. This baby already dictated everything I do. I have only been to the grocery store twice in the last two months, cooked about 3 meals (which is low even for me), and skipped out on a lot of events. I don't mind at all, but I am ready to get back to my normal self. My question is what do mom's do that already have one or two kids when they get pregnant? If we had a child already poor Matt would have been doing it all. Thank goodness we don't, because he has been studying like a mad man for the last 2 weeks, but we takes his last test today and I get my husband back!! WAHOOO!!! Then I will be ready for Christmas and some breakfast casserole.

A Griswold Christmas

I had to move the RV from in front of the house to take these pictures and they really do not do it justice. We still have some lights we want to line the walk way with, but it has rained every night. We usually do simple white lights around the garland, but this year we finally stock piled enough lights to do it up right!! Who would have ever thought I would want to do a tacky Christmas? I am slowly turning into my mother. If you could see our lights real time you would see that they colored lights in the garland blink, it just makes it all that more special. We thought we had a ton of lights, but they really don't go that far. We plan to add lights every year as they go on sale and will continue to take donations of old lights you don't want! HA! I hope everyone that drives by enjoys our lights as much as I do. Merry Christmas.

Catch-up

So I have been a slacker when it comes to posting. As many of you now know that is because I have been the victim of morning sickness due to a baby currently the size of a lima bean. And if you didn't know, surprise, Matt and I are having a baby in June!! We told our families on Thanksgiving Day and needless to say they are super excited. Especially Buster, which I was shocked by.

Now for all the pics. This picture is a moment frozen in time of Buster and all his fun loving friends. It was right before we spanked LSU and it was their last home game as students. What a way to go out.





This is Kevin and Kayla's wedding, which was just beautiful. Sorry I didn't cut a rug and entertain anyone with my white girl moves, but again, I was sick. By the way, we have a wedding to go to on January 2 and I will be 14 weeks by that point, for all the moms out there will I still be able to fit into the dress I'm wearing here? Be honest. It's my staple black dress.

This picture is all too familiar. These 4 were always together and took all of their pictures like this! It was good to see everyone.

Kevin deserves to be taller than me on his wedding day......

but, he's not.

Yet another pic just like all the others we have.

And another.

And another.

Destry paused just long enough from flirting with the ladies to take this picture with Matt.

It was really good to hang out with Chase and Teri.

Russell and Joey, what more can you say. Joey was a famous guest since just a week earlier he caught a 77 pound catfish. He was on the front of the paper and everything and in Russell's words "that fish was bigger than Kevin."

No, we did not mean to coordinate Matt's bow tie with my dress. It just happened.

That wraps up our November except for the TN game where all of my friends from college got together in Oxford. I forgot my camera that weekend, but you can see all the pics on the Lupher's blog!

Elle's TV Debut

Lee and Lisha had a story done about them and Lee's brother's son Witt on Houston's News Channel 2. Little Elle looked SO cute, as usual! I am so proud of y'all!! Go here to see it!

http://www.click2houston.com/video/21600132/index.html

And I get to see them in person this afternoon when I pick them up from the airport! I can't wait!! Love you guys.

Why I Will Think Long and Hard Before I Hired a Recent Ole Miss Grad

Yes, you read that title correctly. I may not have agreed with how Dr. Dan Jones handled the fight song debacle, but he was right and the students should have listened. Thanks for them we will no longer be hearing "To Dixie with Love" at any football games. So here is what I have to say to that:

Way to go Ole Miss Students! Could you not keep your mouth shut? Not to mention it was a stupid chant!! We will no longer be hearing “To Dixie with Love” and we have your drunken antics to thank. So thank you students, good luck finding a job when you graduate!http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYZchGNpfehQCPms8szK9zLkgZHQD9BT1ACG0

And to Buster and his friends if I hear you said it during this last football game you can forget coming to our tent! Period. No idiots allowed!

October Catch-up

October was a busy month so I will play a little catch-up. October 8 was Little B-Bear's 23 birthday (how old does that make everyone feel?) and the much anticipated Alabama weekend. The Friday night before the game was fun and even Saturday before the game since so many people were in town. Too bad the Ole Miss Rebels didn't play up to their potential. This was Buster's house Friday night. I am not sure why, but all of his friends hang out over at his nasty house even though it should be condemned. Maybe it's because they can walk to the square from his house? Either way it is nasty.

Flash forward to the Arkansas game! We went out to City Grocery BEFORE we ate dinner. Maybe it was good luck because the Rebels won the next day!

You can't have too many grove pictures.

And this is what happens when Arkansas comes to town........... She maybe sitting in an Ole Miss chair, but she was NOT an Ole Miss fan

We had a baby shower for a couple in our small group, Jonathan and Andrea. They are having a little girl in December. We decided to do a couples shower at 11:00 and since they scheduled the Ole Miss Auburn game at 11:30 the TV was on the entire time! Yet again the rebels were head cases and couldn't make it happen.

How cute is this cake?



Finally Halloween night! Matt and I went to Jimbo and Birtney's for their annual bash. Halloween is Britney's favorite holiday! We went as a plug and socket. We were the most creative costume even if I do say so myself. Matt made it out of card board boxes (did you think he would buy a costume?). We thought it was cute and did not realize the more adult flavor it could have.

Jimbo and Brtiney dressed up like a sleezy coach and cheerleader he knocked up! The irony is she is knocked up, but in a good way.

One More Help CARA Request

Ok peeps I need your help on one more thing. Please go to this site http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/an-extreme-makeover-for-CARA and sign a petition for CARA to get an extreme makeover! They REALLY need it.

Help CARA

CARA is a no kill animal shelter in Jackson where we got Elle and Know and they need our help. Please go to the site listed below once a day to vote. It is free and will help CARA receive a $20,000 grant (that's a lot of dog food). http://www.carams.org/

Here is the story from their website:
The Animal Shelter Challenge is Back and CARA needs your Daily votes to win a $20,000 Grant to help the animals at our shelter! The Animal Rescue Site is hosting a special challenge for eligible Petfinder.com member shelter and rescue groups. The grand prize is a $20,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes — a total of $100,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations.Think how many animals we could help for $20,000!Help us win! All you have to do is click to help rescued animals, and then vote in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge. Both of these actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day, from September 14th through December 20th, 2009. Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge difference for CARA.Vote today! Just click on the Vote Button above!

Skype

I am not going to blog about the Rebels today because there is nothing left to say and the fact that this rainy day does not need to get any more depressing. So instead I am going to talk about the coolest thing EVER, Skype. Katie introduced it to me last night and it was awesome. It's free to sign up and free to web chat with other Skype members. I got to talk to and see little Nash last night. It was almost bedtime and he was sporting some awesome undies and he also got to see Elle and Knox. It was so cute. Since we all live in different towns and cities we need to start chatting that way. All you need is a PC with a built in camera.

On another note Matt is and has been studying like a mad man. He has 5 test next week which I don't think is humanly possible, but apparently the med school does. So needless to say I am ready for this test block to be over. Then he only has one test left this semester. How crazy is that? So while he is studying this week feel free to Skype me!! I use my iamlaurad@yahoo email address.

Elle Update

You can go to Lisha's blog for a more in-depth update, but I wanted to hit the high spots for anyone that may have missed it.

Yesterday they:
removed Elle's chest tube and breathing tube
continue to give her antibiotics for pneumonia
ran test for RSV and the flu
continue to ween her off of morphine by giving her methadone and adavan
are hoping she will poop soon
and Lisha got to hold her!!!

She is such a strong little girl and our prayers are still needed!

Little Elle Belle

Elle made it through the surgery wonderfully! The doctor was surprised to see how bad her little heart was blocked off. Here is what Lisha said last night at 5:00 "Dr m just met with us. it went well- he was shocked at how tiny her pulmonary valve was- that it was even allowing any blood to flow through it. He fixed that and the holes and now we are waiting to see her. "
She will probably wake up from sedation today and be in a lot of pain. Please continue to pray for her and Lee and Lisha. They have an uncertain road of recovery ahead of them and still need our prayers. God is SO great and answered our prayers for her surgery. Glory to God!!

Baby Elle

Please be in prayer today for baby Elle! She went into surgery this morning at 8:00 and it should last 6 to 8 hours. They are repairing her little heart. Pray for her strength, that the doctor will have steady hands and a quick mind, pray for all the nurses and anyone else that will be in her OR today. Please also pray for Lee and Lisha, I cannot even imagine what they will go through over the next 6 to 8 hours. Elle is a strong little girl and I am sure she will do great. God is watching over her but our prayers cannot hurt! I will try and keep our blog updated about her, but you can also go to the Lupher's blog below.

Back in Heaven

It's that time again...... Time for table cloths, center pieces, and tents. No, not wedding season, football season! I LOVE IT! We went to Oxford for the Southeastern Louisiana game this last Saturday and had a great time as usual. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Since it was not a big game there were not a ton of people there, but just wait. The Alabama game in 3 weeks (if we are still good) will be NUTS! Even bigger than the LSU game my senior year. Matt and I bought season tickets for the first time this year and since we don't donate money our seats are not all that great, but at least we have seats. We WILL be giving money next year especially since Matt is in the M Club and we get an awesome rate on donations. Anyway, as you can tell Knox was pretty pumped to get into Oxford too. He just sat there looking out the front window just waiting on the Oxford signs to appear!

Now we have Thursday to look forward to when our Rebels take on The South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia! Hotty Toddy!

It Smell Like Heaven

My Labor Day weekend started out in Oxford! I miss living there and can only hope Matt will practice some type of medicine there. Matt had to stay home and study (boo!), but my parents kept me well entertained. I hit the town Friday night with Corey and CJ after a wonderful dinner with the Schove's. On Sunday my parents and I rode with the Richardson's to Memphis and I don't think I have ever laughed that hard in my life! QD was with them and it was great to see her!

So we all know my head is tiny! Whatever.

CJ looks like some guy that just jumped into the picture

I guess I have never stayed out late enough to see this, but apparently Elvis closes the Library down every night by singing Dixie!

And this was the second best part of the weekend (the first being Ole Miss beating Memphis. Duh!)! There is a new business in Oxford called Zingo. There are these tiny scooters that fold up into a bag. Once in the bag they place the scooters in your car, drive you home in your car from the square (or where ever), and drive the scooter back to their base station just outside the Library! Why did I not think about this? Oh and it only cost $20! How cool is that? This was our driver in his reflective gear. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the scooter before he bagged it up.

QD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the best picture from the weekend. While at the pep rally on Beale Jarrod spotted Jevon Sneed's dad so we just HAD to take a picture with him! He was so nice! And I also love how Jarrod looks like a kid on Christmas morning!

10 Days Until Rebel Football

The count down has been going on for a while, but I am so excited I cannot contain myself! Poor Matt has a test week starting on Tuesday so he will not be going to the game, but I am! I will be riding with the Richardson's and my parents! What a group. I am also trying to talk CJ and Corey to go too (they are back together, praise God!!).

Now that Matt and I are officially season ticket holders we will probably be at ALL the home games. When we calculated the fact that we might pay $50 a ticket from a scalper, season tickets seemed like the best option. Not to mention the way Matt's test schedule works out he can go to ALL the home games!

Go checkout my friends website. Next to the blog it is the best website on the world wide web!!
www.gotohellLSU.com

Auntie Eldy's Trip To Houston (Again)

First of all Elle would like to think Nash for naming her aunt Aunite Eldy. She thinks it fits and she will use it too if he does not mind!

I went to Houston for a second time this summer to see little Elle AND see the girls too, except for QD and we missed her (she had to work and if her job was not so noble I would insert a "boo!!" here, but I am going to refrain). We had a great weekend catching up and playing dress up with Elle! She is so sweet and now that she has her new pink and sparkly hearing aids, it's a new world to her! She loved all the attention we gave her and let us know when she was not receiving enough attention. I left Houston reminded of how truly blessed I am to have such great friends. Even with a baby in the mix it does not really change anything about our friendship. We still act just as goofy as ever, but just stop occasionally for feedings and dirty diapers. Lisha's blog is more eloquent than mine about our blessings, but I never have been mushy... Any way here are some of the pictures from the weekend! Enjoy!

How cute is she? Auntie Meghan got her this outfit, because the poor child had nothing else to wear. She is just like a doll we all get to dress up. When she grows up and spends all her parents money on clothes we'll all claim is was not our fault! She loves it when her aunts come to town!

This is after we dropped Meghan off at the airport on Sunday. Notice that none of us are wearing make-up. Was it b/c we had a wild night of partying the night before? Uh, no. We had a wild night of eating key lime pie at 2:00 a.m. So when Meghan woke us up at 8:00 to go to the airport we were not feeling too sporty! Our late nights have changed a little bit and I would not change it for the world.

Saturday after our shopping adventures. We were all wearing such muted clothing?
This Elle's feed me face. She was anticipating her mama feeding her some more rice cereal! She loves it!
And this would be the sleeping face!

Are You Kidding Me Smalls?

This article is about Glenn Beck of whom is one of my least favorite Fox News anchors, but he is being singled out for making an Obama comment. Advertisers such as Wal-Mart, CVS, Clorox and Sprint are asking that their advertising not be run during his show, but I don’t hear that same thing being asked of The View. They are so slanted and make unfounded comments about the right so why have these companies not asked the same thing of ABC? I may not like Glenn Beck (he’s too liberal), but this is crazy! I can live without all of those advertisers. Kroger and Walgreens here I come! Get real people, it is an opinion show.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090824/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_beck_s_advertisers

More Summer Fun

Both of my parents, and two of my cousins have birthdays in December. That sounds lilke a great reason to throw a party and if you know anything about my family it's not a party unless my Uncle Doug sings Rocky Top. As you can tell by the pictures a good time was had by all and we danced the night away. I tried to take many more pictures, but my camera battery was dead.

Even the pups had a blast!

The very next weekend we went to Pickwick, again my camera battery was dead so this was the only picture I got. I am hoping someone can send me there pics