Don't Blink

It feels like the last post I wrote was just yesterday. But if I believed what I felt, I would be very wrong. Since the last post, we made our trip down to Louisiana, saw a beautiful friend from High School, had our Christmas with my husband's family, came home, had Christmas with my family, and now it is all over.

When I was younger my mawmaw would tell me the older you get, the faster time goes by. It was always just something she said to me until a few years ago. Now it seems by the time I get a grip on whatever season it is, it's over. And I have a sneaky little feeling once our precious Kendall gets here, it will only speed up more!

We had such a great time in Louisiana! There is never a dull moment when we are down there! Jeff has one niece and six nephews. With those boys, there is always something going on. But we enjoy it! Not only do we enjoy the kids, but I love spending time with Jeff's sister and brother and sister-in-law. And is if all of them aren't good enough, we get to stay with his amazing parents! And beyond the good company, there is also soo much good food! I am so lucky to have married into the wonderful family I did! There are no words to describe just how great they all are!

The youngest of all the nephews is Mason, who is four. Just saying he is a funny kid doesn't even begin to describe this precious kid! The first night I saw him, he pointed to my belly and said, "Is the baby in that thing?" It took all I had to keep a straight face just so I could answer him. After he realized the baby was in fact in my belly, he proceeded to tell me how the doctor would get the baby out of me.
"That doctor is gonna get a knife, and cut you open, and pull that baby out!!"
Precious! I so desperately wanted to say "I sure hope not!", but I didn't want his momma to have to explain how else the baby would get out. Then later at dinner, he asked what we were going to name the baby. After someone answered him, I heard him say, "What's a Kendall?" Then a few minutes later, I heard him repeating to someone else, "That doctor is gonna get a knife and cut aunt Jennifer open, pull the baby out and wash it and give it to her!" He was so funny!

I just can't wait to see how all the boys react to having a girl cousin around!!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

I can't believe it is already this time of year again! I know they say the older you get the faster time goes, and I guess they are right. We leave in less than one week for our Christmas week in Louisiana! I can't believe it!

We have already had our church Christmas program. Our tree has been up for close to a month, and now there are presents piled under and around it. And on top of all that, it has been so COLD! The colder it gets, the more it feels like Christmas. There was even a little snow on the ground this morning as I drove to church. The beautiful lights are up everywhere so as soon as the sun goes down, everything looks magical as all the lights twinkle.

I've always loved this time of year. I love everything about it. I love the music. I love the red cups at Starbucks. I love buying gifts. I love wrapping gifts. I love spending time with friends and family. I love everything being decorated. I love the optimisim in everyone this time of year.

Although I love Christmas and all it brings, I find myself less excited about the holiday this year. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for Christmas and time with the family. However, I find myself more excited about the little girl dwelling in my belly. Even though it is Christmas time, my thoughts a less consumed with jingling bells, winter wonderlands, and reindeer and a lot more consumed with Kendall Marie. I long for the day when I finally get to hold my sweet little girl in my arms. I can't wait to see the gleam in her daddy's eyes when he gets to hold the little fingers he is already so tightly wound around.

I'm excited for Christmas, but not matter how much I sound like Scrooge when I say this: I'm even more excited for Christmas to be over. For when Christmas is over, I will be a few days closer to meeting our sweet Kendall Marie Welch!

New Discoveries

Since the beginning of August, when I found out I was pregnant, I have learned a lot of new things. Not only have I learned new things, I have re-learned things I have known for quite some time. Some of them were during the first couple of months of being pregnant and some have come to me just in the past week. If being pregnant changes me this much, I can not imagine how much I will change once I actually have Kendall in my arms.

One thing I learned seems so simple when just saying it, and kind of obvious, but it is a lot to chew on. The minute I looked down at the pregnancy test and saw it was positive I realized my life is never going to be the same. My body is no longer just mine. I share oxygen, food, energy, sleep, everything with my growing child. When my nine months of carrying her are up, my life will not go back to normal. Although I will still have some selfish tendancies, Kendall will always come before me. Some of what I'm saying may leave some of you thinking, "Well, duh..", it is still kind of crazy. To me anyway.

One thing I re-learned, is I love to cook! I think this one came from all the different cravings I have had and my new kitchen! The kitchen in the house we bought is beautiful! I love it! And the cabinets aren't too close to the counter, which makes me happy cause I can finally leave my KitchenAid stand mixer out! Previously, I had to drag it out of the pantry everytime I wanted to use it. But now it's always out! So exciting to me! So pretty soon some of my posts may be sharing new recipes I love!

Another thing I've learned, well I guess I knew this, but I have gained a deeper understanding about God's love and His plans. I can NOT understand how any woman could ever go through pregnancy and not believe in a God who has sovereign control over everything and everyone. Over the past six months, I have done nothing extraordinary, yet there is a new life, a new human being growing inside me! The day we had our ultrasound to find out if we were having a girl or boy, I was laying on the table watching the tv above me showing our child. The very second I saw the spine of our unborn child, my eyes began to well with tears. All I could think in my head was the lyrics to the song, "How great is Our God!" Seeing those tiny vertebra just made me realize how beautiful life is. How beautiful Our God is! How wonderful and deep is His love that He allows a sinner like me to experience a glimpse of his power and love!! I know throughout my life I have made too many mistakes, but thankfully God's grace is sufficient for me! I'm so grateful He has allowed me to experience pregnancy within the walls of marriage just as he intended.

Another thing I have learned is I'm not just excited to be a mother to Kendall. There are no words to describe how excited I am to see my Jeffy be a daddy to Kendall. I love that man more than words can describe. And just through this pregnancy I have learned I am going to love that man even more once I get to see him hold his baby girl in his arms!

One thing I re-learned is I love me a cherry ICEE and candy!!!! I have given up my starbucks addiction for an addiction to Candy Craze and cherry icees!!
Speaking of candy, that reminds me! I have some very cherry Jelly Belly beans waiting on me!

(Sorry if this post is long, random, or just plain weird. I'm trying to get back to blogging mode! (: )

Oh the tears...

So for the past year and a half, because of my many health problems I have had an IUD. Although most doctors don't recommend it for women who haven't had children yet, my doctor felt it would benefit me. And it did! However, Jeffy and I have decided we want to start our family. So a few weeks ago, I had it removed. This was the first time in over 5 years I have been off of birth control... I had no idea what this really meant.

I think I had forgotten supersonic speed mood swings, back pains, cramps and all the other wonderful things that accompany mother nature's monthly gift to women. I think I have cried more in the past month than I have in the past two years combined. During the season finale of Grey's, my husband had to pause the show to remind me these people weren't real. (Although, I heard this particular episode had the same effect on people who were not experiencing the same things I am.) I think I may have cried so much for no reason, it may have rubbed off on my four year old niece. After spending the morning around me on Saturday, she had a bad afternoon where she cried for a good thirty minutes. After a while, my older sister asked her why she was crying. To which she responded, "I don't know, mom. I just need a hug." Oopsie.
Today the tears got to be so much, my precious husband (who tends to be extremely patient with me) actually threatened to take me back to the doctor to get the IUD put back in.

All of this to say, pray for those around me. It may be a long nine months (plus however long it takes to get to those nine months!) for all the loving people who so graciously surround me!

Learning Something New

It never ceases to amaze me how true the following statement is, "You learn something new everyday." I have known this for a long time now, but sometimes I think I get suprised by the things I'm learning. Let me give you an example.

Today, I kept a very close eye on my husband. Things have been kind of crazy in our house lately, and as a worrying wife, I felt it was my duty to make sure he was okay. The more I watched him, the more I learned.

I have known for just a few weeks shy of two years, my husband is an amazing man. But today as I watched and analyzed, it blew my mind. The man is so incredibly loving, forgiving, concerned, protective, gentle, genuine, and I could go on and on and on. I have loved that man for a good while now, but I am stunned at how I continue to fall deeper in love with him on a daily basis.

So today, I learned, not only is he an amazing person, he loves and lives with the most amazing heart I have ever seen. Which basically makes me the luckiest girl in the world! :)

Memaw

There are so many people in my life I adore. There are so many people in my life I strive to be like. There are so many people in my life I respect. There are so many people in my life considered to be 'my favorite'. But there are three women sitting at the top of every good list I have. No matter what is going on in my life or theirs, they constantly shape my daily life. Whether they know it or not, my momma, my mawmaw, and my memaw made me the Jenn Jenn I am today.

I am more like these three women than I could ever tell you. I could write a million blogs, and never come close to describing the relationship I have with each of these beautiful women. They are thoughtful, kind, loving, gentle, talented, smart, beautiful, funny, and the list could continue for days. Each of them hold a very special place in my heart. Hopefully, at some point, I will be able to write about each of them on separately to explain the amazing qualities each of these women contain, as well as, the impact they have had on my life.

Today, I spent some time with my favorite group of old ladies. You may remember a story I told you about Julia and Claire from the last time I met with them. Each month when we meet, I walk away with a huge grin on my face and plenty of stories to tell. This group of women consists of eighteen-twenty ladies. The ages of our group range from 90 something to 23. I, of course, am the 23 year-old. The next youngest after me is in her late 50's. This is one of my most favorite crowds, because they tell the best stories and spend as much time at the doctor as I do.

At our meeting today, as we stood to open our meeting in prayer, every time we recited a word, I heard a little poot. It took every ounce of self control I have to keep from letting my giggles escape. Not only because I'm still immature and laugh at 'natural body noises', but because there was a poot to accompany the first syllable of every word of The Lord's Prayer.

After the prayer, we sat down, and I tried to remain composed. Right when I was about to reach the composed mark, I remembered a story from my memaw.....

She told it like this:

"Oh Jenn! I was in North Carolina visiting your uncle, and oh I embarrassed your cousin. While your uncle was at work, your cousin and I went shopping downtown. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I tripped over a piece of broken concrete. And when I hit that dern piece of concrete, every step I took pushed me a little further to the ground until your cousin grabbed a hold of my arm. And as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, with every step I took, I pooted. I had those dern walking farts as I tripped down the sidewalk! I thought your cousin was just gonna die!"

I hope, after reading this, you understand why I had a hard time containing my giggles.

And just in case you are wondering, my memaw probably won't kill me for writing this where other people can read it, simply because she is where my momma and I obtained our audacity.

Easter

I can't believe it has been almost a week, and I haven't written about my Easter!It was so busy, but so wonderful!

It was such a beautiful day! As I look back on the whole day now, I'm overwhelmed by the presence of God in my life. Not only do I attend a wonderful church, but I have a wonderful church family who I love to worship with. Not only was I able to worship with my family in one service, but I was lucky enough to worship with my family in all three services. It was such a wonderful day, with a wonderful family, worshipping a wonderful God!

And after church, I hosted my very first holiday family meal! It was so good! There were eleven people at our house. Everyone from my side of the family was here. My sisters (and my older sister's boyfriend), my niece, my parents, and my grandparents joined me, my husband, and our nephew for lunch! I was so excited to get to cook for everyone. Recently, I have discovered I love to cook, and I felt Easter would be a wonderful time for me to share all my new favorite recipes! We had grilled chicken, some plain ( and by plain I mean Jeffy mixed seasonings to marinate them in) and some bbq ( I make my own bbq sauce, and I must say it is very good!). We also had sausage grilled in bbq sauce, ranch roasted potatoes, creamy brocolli and cheese, macaroni and cheese for KayKay, and rolls. For dessert, I made blueberry cheesecake bars, lemonade pie, and my mom brought a pineapple upside down cake. If success from a dinner is measured by how many people left the table groaning because they ate too much, my first holiday meal was a definite success!

It was such a wonderful day! I hope all of you had a wonderful easter as well!