Thursday, September 3, 2009

Welcome to the world,

Landon Cole!


August 24, 2009

5:41 p.m.
7 lb. 8 oz.
20"


Congratulations, Chris and Aida!

(Can you believe she just gave birth? Amazing.)

Landon is so lucky to have two such wonderful parents (and not just because he obviously inherited your amazing good looks).
Thank you so much for letting me be there and be a part of Landon's birthday. I am so honored to say I have known him since his first breath of air. I truly love him so much already! I can't wait to raise our children together and grow even closer as friends ~ no, family. Who would've thought five years ago when we were drinking 'three legged ducks', going to 'white trash bashes' and toga parties, and molding the young minds at college orientation that we would be forever friends and raising our children together. (Though I did know you and Chris would be together forever. Recall the bonfire where you two were fighting and I sat in the front yard sobbing because my friends were going to break up. Yeah. I knew it was meant to be.) ..... one day I'll break out photos of these old memories for you all to see. That will be a fun day. :)

All that to say: Landon, your Aunt Ashley loves you very much.


Uncle Lucas
has even become quite attached already.


We can't wait to watch you grow!!


And one last photo of a precious baby...

Isn't he the cutest baby you have ever seen??
You better say yes. At least for another 5 months. ;)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

"Surreal, but Nice"

"Surreal, but nice." A quote from one of my very favorite movies ~ Notting Hill. And it describes that moment perfectly.

We drove with my parents to a prenatal imaging center in Nashville. Lucas and I had been there once before with our friends Chris and Aida for their 30 week 4D ultrasound, so we sort of knew what to expect. What we ~ or at least I ~ didn't expect was the news we would receive a few moments later.

Throughout the entire pregnancy I have felt like this was a boy. I don't know why. Call it a guess. Call it a motherly instinct (though if that is the case, I certainly hope mine gets better). I just knew it would be a boy. You see - I have this nightmare of having three boys. Don't get me wrong - I like boys. It is just that I really would at some point like a girl and have feared ~ irrationally, for quite some time ~ that that may not happen. Lucas is one of three boys. My dad is one of three boys. One of his brothers has three boys. I don't know. Just felt like that may be my destiny. So I felt pretty confident that my little baby was a boy, and I had sold myself on the positives of having a boy. Almost so much so that I woke up that morning and thought - "you know, self. it might really be fun to have a little boy. i think i'll enjoy this. he and landon (chris and aida's baby) will have so much fun together."

All the while, I carried on this tiny little glimmer of hope that perhaps this little being inside of me might be a girl. I tried not to get too caught up in that possibility. But oh what fun I would have with all the lacey outfits and the ruffle butt diaper covers! The sewing and the dresses and the monogramming and the appliqueing!! And the perfect name we already had picked out for her (more on that later). But I didn't dwell on that too much. I knew it was a boy.

Lucas, on the other hand, firmly believed it was a girl. In fact, at our previous doctor's appointment we heard the heartbeat and Lucas said, "Yep! That's a little girl's heartbeat!" Uh, huh. Whatever, Lucas.

Well......
I was laying there on the ultrasound table as Lisa ~ the nice technician lady ~ was performing the ultrasound. We were gazing at the screen and at each other, and ooing and awwing over the cute little baby we saw (who now actually looks somewhat like a baby and not like a little worm as on the initial ultrasound 9 weeks prior).



I was looking over at Lucas and at my parent's reaction to all of the baby excitement when all of the sudden I heard my mom let out a big gasp. I immediately looked at the screen and Lisa had typed "girl!!!" on the screen next to a little arrow that was pointing to her lady parts.

GIRL!!!!!


Oh, my goodness! Let me just tell you ~ I about fell apart. The room was spinning. I was crying. Lucas was crying. My parents were crying. Heck, Lisa and her daughter (who was answering the phone in the lobby and could obviously hear us) were almost crying, too!



The blood rushed from my head quickly and, I promise you, didn't return for quite some time. You will notice this light headedness because I don't think my hand leaves my head in any of the photos for a good hour!
(Sharing the good news with my grandparents who had planned on being there but, due to a health issue with my granddaddy, were unable to come with us. Thankfully, he is much better now.)

It was surreal, to say the least.

(Phone Call to Colombia!)
(And, of course, you know my mom can't do anything small. She had leis and carriage signs in pink and blue to celebrate whatever news we would hear. She also had presents for the baby ~ boy or girl.)
After some pictures and more celebration, we headed to Opry Mills to do some serious shopping. Can't wait to show you all what we bought her! Stay tuned.

And now, I leave you with beautiful photos of my baby girl.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

It's A Girl!!!


... and we couldn't be happier! More details to come!

Friday, August 21, 2009

In case you forgot...

I have had an extremely busy week between work, tennis, and some sudden health issues with my Grandfather. We were really scared, but it turned out to be only a minor surgery and he is feeling much better now. I am so unbelievably relieved to know he still has his health!

Just wanted to remind you that I'll be back on Tuesday with some

BIG NEWS!!!!

Follow my tweets. I'll probably update it tomorrow with the news!

Also - unless he decides to come sooner - my friend, Aida, will be delivering baby Landon on Monday!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I'm on...

... pins and needles

... the edge of my seat

...... the verge of welcoming
Baby Landon

into the world!



Aida - my very best friend - is over 9 and a half months pregnant now! Wow ~ I can't nor do I want to even imagine this wait. I guess I will experience it soon enough.

Anyway, we are expecting Landon any day now!! I can't wait to meet him!!

(Pic stolen from her FB page. Thanks, Aida. I'm sure she won't mind. And it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. She is now over 38 weeks pregnant and still looking as gorgeous as ever. So take a look at her cute little self and be jealous. I certainly am! I know there is no hope for me to look this good at 37 weeks. It's just not in the genes ~ or my willpower, but I prefer blaming it on genes. As my grandmother just reminded me: I am a 'big-boned girl' and it is 'easy for me to gain weight'. Thanks, grandmother. Love you, too. Hehe!)


In the meantime, the waiting is killing me! I am not know for my patience. Aida is handling this waiting game much better than me I'm afraid. Sad, isn't it? Not only are we waiting on his arrival, we are now less than 3 days away from finding out if our little bundle of joy is a girl or boy! I think I grow more and more excited by the minute!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Just a few things to look forward to...

Did you know that we only have 4 more days until we find out if we are having a boy or girl? How exciting is that?!? I can barely stand it. We are leaving the imaging center and heading directly to the mall to hopefully do a little bit of damage! I haven't really bought anything for the baby and I am ready to go crazy (modestly crazy if the husband is reading this)!!



Then two days later we'll be heading back to Nashville for mom's surgery. She visited with a specialist at Vanderbilt and he thinks he has figured out her mysterious illness. She is having a nasal/sinus surgery along with some reconstructive nose surgery. Who knew the secret to her health depended upon a nose job? Hehe!


After a successful straight-A first semester, I'm ready to continue progress on my MBA ~ especially now that there is a little one on the way.


Are you ready for some football? We sure are! Football is HUGE down South and we are ready for some big parties to celebrate!


Did I mention football? Did I mention - ROLL TIDE?!? On September 12th we are heading to Tuscaloosa for my very first college football game! So excited to see my team stomp all over our opponent (even if it is just FIU)! Rammer Jammer, Yellowhammer!


Oh, and one more little thing. It is a little bit further down the road but no countdown could be complete without it:

Monday, August 17, 2009

Now I'm the Tennis Mama ;)


Tennis is picking up hot and heavy. I am currently in the middle of a series of matches that lasts from this past Saturday until Thursday this week. That is a lot of tennis! In HOT weather!!

Teams are beginning to form for the Fall season, and I am contemplating how this pregnancy is going to affect my tennis game. I believe the Fall Season will last somewhere between my fifth and seventh month. I’ll go as long as I can ~ hopefully the entire season! I do think I might have to step down from my singles matches and play only doubles. Bummer.

Spring season usually starts mid-to-late February. With a due date of February 11th, I might miss the first few matches but it will actually be quite good timing to get me back on the courts and back into shape post-baby!

I’m excited at the possibility of carrying a child without missing a tennis season!