Our son has a name! :)

In just a few months, we'll be welcoming little

Aedan Hugh Speights

in to the world! 

Aedan is the name that Landon and I have liked from the beginning, and just kept coming back to again and again.  It was the name of one of our dinner table friends on our Mediterranean cruise this summer, our last big trip before we started thinking about having kids, which is a fun connection and memory.  And, it is a two syllable name, which was a must for me.  We liked this spelling over the more traditional "Aidan" because of the look of it, and because it was just something a little different.

Hugh is a family name on Landon's dad's side of the family, and since this little boy will be carrying on the Speights name, we thought it was only fitting for him to have a family name.  Plus, we wanted something a little shorter to go with Aedan and as we kept talking about it, Hugh just grew on us.

We love you so much already, sweet Aedan.  We talk about you all the time and have so much fun feeling and watching you move around already.  We can't wait to meet you and see your sweet face and hold you in our arms.  Keep growing healthy and strong and we'll see you in a few months!

Smiles

Is this not one of the cutest little things you've ever seen?

Oh my goodness.  I love it.


One of my good friends from high school sent us a fun package with all kinds of awesome things for our little baby and this one of them.  I can just picture him being so tiny and wearing it and it makes me smile every time I walk past it!

Thanks Kristina!  You rock.  I'll have to bring him over to visit you in it in a few months. :)

28 Weeks

 Sweet baby, welcome to the last 3 months of your life inside the womb!

I can't believe we're already at the last trimester!  This week our little one is about 2 1/4 pounds and about the size of a head of cabbage.  He had eyelashes, he can blink, he can possibly start to recognize our voices and is putting a little fat on his bones. :)  Some days I can't believe that in less than 3 months he'll be here with us!

Lately I've been feeling him move like crazy and some times, as I'm lying in bed before we go to sleep, I can see him moving all around.  It's funny though, because it'll be quiet and I'll see him moving so I'll tell Landon to look and nine times out of ten, as soon as I say anything, he stops moving almost immediately.  He's already got a mind of his own, ha! :)

27 weeks

This week our sweet baby is about the size of a head of cauliflower...which is amazing to me because it seems like just a few days ago I was writing that he was the size of a prune.  And, this week he starts getting measures from his head to his toes, instead of from his head to his bottom.  And, he's over a foot long now, somewhere around 16 inches, which explains why I can sometimes feel him at both sides of my stomach! I'm still feeling good and still loving being pregnant!

Awesome giveaway!

Check out the giveaway at The Vintage Pearl!  Win a $100 gift certificate. :) 

March 20th

March 20, 1999, during my sophomore year in high school, I was baptized at West Houston Church of Christ on a Friday morning.  My youth minister, Brian Mashburn, baptized me and my parents and brothers and one of my good friends, were all there to celebrate.  I still remember how amazing it felt to think that God had made me whole and clean and had saved my life.  I don't think I fully knew what I was doing or deciding back then, and to be honest, I probably won't ever fully understand it until I'm in heaven, but I am SO thankful for a God that loves us and pursues us and wants us to be in a relationship with Him.  That day is still crystal clear in my head, how nervous and excited I was and how good I felt inside after.  I remember being almost giddy as we went to lunch after to celebrate. 

And now, twelve years have passed since that day, which almost seems unreal.  I'm praying that each year I'm growing in a relationship with Him and that He's evident my my life and my thoughts and actions.  Some days I feel successful in that and some days I still feel like the people Paul talks about that are still needing the milk when they should be ready for solid food.  Regardless, looking back on the last 12 years, I am so thankful to God for how He has rescued and redeemed my life (and for how He continues to do so daily), for the patience He has with me when I continue to mess up with the same things over and over again and for how He is the only thing in this life that can bring true joy and peace and comfort.  Even on days like today, days that are just hard for some reason or another, it's amazing to think that God is still working through those hard things, using them to teach us and mold us and draw us more in to a relationship with Him--reminding us how broken we are and how much we need Him, reminding us that this world is not our home.

Thank you God, for drawing me to you 12 years ago today.  And thank you for continuing to walk with me and carry me through this life.  

Spring Break!

 This week, the dogs and I did a lot of hanging around the house and it was lovely.  Well, they did more hanging around and playing with their favorite toys and I did more working around the house, but it's all good.  I had a little time to relax, had lunch with a good friend from high school, hung out with my brothers and got a lot done that I'd been putting off until spring break, which feels so nice.

Our main project for this week was to get the baby's room painted, which, even though it took a lot longer than I was expecting, we did!  I painted the lower parts of the room during the day and then when Landon got home from work he did the higher parts so I wouldn't have to be standing on our ladder to do it.   

 It was by far the most work we've put in to a paint job in either of our houses, but it was so worth it. 

 By Wednesday night, after one of the latest project nights we've had in a long while, we looked around and declared our little baby's room done--or at least the paint job done! :)  And, right before we took this picture, we had decided officially on his name, so we were feeling very excited about everything--and very tired, ha!

 Then, bright and early the next morning I began our last big project for the room (I think!).  This mirror and dresser was given to Landon's dad by his father, and then Landon used it growing up an now we're passing it down to our little boy.  This is what it looked like when we pulled it out of our guest bedroom, where it has lived for the last few years.

Landon sanded it all down and then I spend the vast majority of Thursday sanding the edges and painting.  

It was a long process, but we're loving the finished product!

 

 

Now, we've just got the details and decorations of the room left to figure out--the fun stuff! :)  But for today, we're taking a little break from the room I think.  Landon just left for a crazy long bike ride--which is still so weird to not be on with him-- and I'm working on organizing our spare bedroom/office, which is significantly less fun than getting the nursery ready!  But, it will feel oh so goo when it's finished--that's what I keep having to remind myself of!

husband of the year

For about three years now, I've been really wanting some raised beds to plant our garden in.  At our old house there wasn't really room, so we just planted a few flower and vegetable beds.  Now, at our new house, there is more than enough room.

So, my awesome husband, like he doesn't have enough else going on, took part of his afternoon last weekend and built me two raised beds.  I know it's a silly little thing, but they're something I've been thinking about and wanting for a long time, so it was so fun to see them in our backyard. 

Landon obviously did most of the work and I helped out as I could and we had a nice afternoon just hanging out, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Now, I've just got to figure out what I want to plant!

Thank you Landon, for knowing me so well.  It's the little things.

26 Weeks

This week has flown by!  It's the week before spring break and has just been so busy at work--but it ended with a really sweet work shower one of my friends at school threw for a couple of us that are pregnant, which was an awesome way to end the week!

And, I am so thankful though that I am still feeling good and able to do everything without any real issues.  Bending over is getting a little harder at times and sometimes I find myself out of breath where I never used to be, but other than that I'm just really enjoying being pregnant.  In fact, at one point this week, I got a little sad to think that this pregnancy is almost 2/3 of the way over.  It's just such a fun time in life--I'm sure any subsequent pregnancies will (hopefully!) be just as fun and I'm sure just as exciting, but everything just so new this time.  

We found out this week that our little boy is now able to see light and really hear noises, which is so cool.  He can hear us talking and singing and hear the dogs barking and everything else going on around us.  So cool.  In a way, it's like he's already beginning to experience life with us.  Everything about pregnancy really is just such a miracle and it makes me more and more in awe of God to think that he's growing our little baby inside of me right now.

our first baby shower :)

On the Friday afternoon before Spring Break one of my sweet friends from work threw a baby shower for the four of us at work that are all pregnant and due in the next couple of months.  It was super fun to just hang out with everyone from work and we got a lot of cute things for our little boy.

There haven't been any teachers pregnant at my school since my first year teaching there, and this year there's four of us!

The cake was precious, and so good. :)

We spent a few hours after school eating yummy food and playing games and just visiting and talking about all things baby.

For a couple of reasons, none of us opened the gifts at the shower, so I loaded them up in my car and brought them home and then Landon and I had our own little gift opening party at home.  It was fun and everything was so cute! :)

Thanks for planning such a fun shower, Jennifer! 

Name That Book, year four

Every year since I've been at the middle school I'm teaching at right now, I've sponsored our Name That Book club.  We meet after school a few days a week and then, sometime during the spring semester, we take a little field trip to the competition.  Even though we didn't make it to finals this year, they did really well and I was really proud of them.

Then, after the competition and after they got over being sad about not making it to finals, we headed out for some lunch at CiCi's and over to the Houston Public library to hang out for a bit, since they'd never been there.  I'd never been there either, even though we lived so close to it for four years, and I must say, it was pretty cool.  It was HUGE and really busy, even in the middle of the day on a Wednesday.  And, they had this awesome teen room, where you could only go in if you were between the ages of 13 and 18.  Because it was a random afternoon and no one else was in there though, they made an exception for us and let our 12 year old 7th graders in--and let us come in too. :)


All in all, it was a super fun day.  It's things like this that make me think I might miss teaching sometimes.

25 Weeks

Somehow in all of the busyness of the race last weekend, we forgot to take a week 24 picture.  But, here's our sweet boy this week, still growing (or at least I know my belly is!).  This week he's almost 2 pounds and moving like crazy.  Landon finally got to see him move. :)

Only 15 more weeks! 

weekend fun

This weekend has been a good mix of relaxing and getting stuff done.  

 

Friday night we had a date at home--we cooked some yummy mexican food and then just hung out and talked. 

We had planned on watching a movie, but ended up putting the baby bedding on the crib instead.  We weren't sure how we were going to like it, since we just ordered it online without seeing it in person, but we both love how it turned out.  Our next step is matching a paint color for the walls and painting--I can't wait!

Today, we spent a good chunk of the day hanging out with some friends, David and Cynthia.  Landon was helping David finish up part of his deck and I tagged along to hang out with Cynthia and steal a few minutes of holding their sweet little (almost) 3 month old, Jack.  We just hung out and talked and baked some brownies and biscuits for the meal our church is serving at Impact tomorrow.  It was a nice day--and I got a little sneak peak into life with a little baby.  It makes me excited--and makes me realize how much we still have no idea about, ha!

And now, after a good nap and a few hours at a friend's birthday party tonight, we're at home, watching a movie while Landon finishes up his bike ride.  All in all, it's been a nice weekend so far--though tomorrow going to be a crazy busy day, which are about the exact opposite of how we like our Sunday to be. It's all fun stuff though, so hopefully it'll be ok.

Where I'm really wishing I was though, is up at Oklahoma Christian, watching my little brother in his Spring Sing performance!  I told him he'll have to do it again next year so we can come, but he promises me this is a one time deal.  Maybe his nephew can convince him to do it next year...

Shower for Baby Kahla :)

This past weekend Landon and I got to go up to Fort Worth, in part, for Morgan's baby shower and I'm so glad we did!  We drove in Friday night and got to hang out with them Friday night and Saturday morning before the craziness of the baby shower and the half marathon began.  We talked babies and life and just generally relaxed.  It was wonderful. :)

It's hard to believe that the last time we hung out, about 2 months ago, Morgan and I looked like this

and now we look like this.
It's even harder to believe that the next time we see them they will probably have a little baby girl.

 After a quick lunch Morgan and I headed to her shower and Blake and Landon went and had some guy time.

The shower was at her aunt's house and was so cute!

 She got so much cute stuff---and let me tell you, that is going to be one well dressed little baby! :)

 

 

 

We love you guys and can't wait to meet your daughter next month!!