SO very glad i said "YES!"

We're waiting on you baby girl... and in the mean time I am taking a few minutes to reminisce....

4 years ago today, Jay asked me to marry him. seriously the best. day. ever. Don't get me wrong, I loved our wedding day too {and lots of other random life days} but there is something so fun about being completely surprised and instantly filled with joy. And engagement day is no pressure and no planning just excitement and anticipation and plain joy. loved it.

And I loved it even more because Jay planned the best. ever. proposal. I know I am biased, and it was only the best ever for me because it is our story. I loved looking through some of the pictures this morning and thinking back to such a special day and then fast forwarding back to the reality of today and how we are again waiting in anticipation for another special day ;)

 Several of our college friends and Jay's family setting up the surprise early on a Sunday morning

For several months my sweet and honest, then-boyfriend had carried on and on about how he really wanted to take flying lessons and how he had met and befriended a neat guy who owned a small plane at the tiny, local Clemson Airport. I totally believed the whole gig and so when Jay showed up at my apartment to pick me up for Church that morning and said that his friend had "randomly called with a cancelation" that morning and wanted to see if we wanted to fly around over Clemson it legitimately seemed only like a neat opportunity. 

Our pictures from the plane

We flew over Death Valley and Clemson's campus and went on and on about how neat it was to see all the places that had become "home" over the past 5 years from up above

Then we flew over a local football field and I saw the above and proceeded to have one of the most blonde moments of my life. Its embarrassing really. 

I said {while looking out the window} "Jay, someone is getting married!" Then I turned around and saw jay holding out my ring {It was a small 4 person plane and I was sitting up front with the pilot and Jay was behind me} and then had to look back at the field and back at Jay before it all clicked. Jay always jokes that he probably should have included my name in blue plastic tarps as well. Who knows if it would have made a difference... haha! I was in complete shock and SO excited! 

Oh and I said "Yes" of course ;) 

We flew around several more times and saw all our friends running around on the field below

Our friends got several pictures of our plane...

And had some fun of their own with all the blue plastic

 The pilot took this picture for us when we landed...4 years ago today... and now I am super prego and jay is losing his hair... haha we are falling apart... but I love this man and am so blessed by our journey together. Such fun memories along the way. 

Baby Girl, you have one special Daddy who surprised your Mama big time! Pretty sure he will have some surprises for you over the years too. He's pretty good at them :)

Oh, and since it was Sunday and Chick-fil-A was closed Jay had arranged with the owners and our good friends the Tylers {Jay was working there as a manager at the time} to have a {surprise} party with all our friends and family after we landed back on the ground. It was SO MUCH FUN! We got to share in all our joy with about 50 - 60 of our family and college friends and even several precious friends from out of town. So, so wonderful! 

Another Chick-fil-A stop along this crazy chicken journey we continue to be on! 

Thanks for letting me reminisce a little bit. Such terrific memories of such a special day in our lives

38 Weeks and a few iPhone Photo updates

38 Weeks and 3 Days Baby Girl Hawkins Belly! 

Sorry for the terrible photo quality and the interesting attire... but hey my wardrobe staples these days are yoga pants, long tank tops, and Jay's t-shirts. Yup for about the past 2 - 3 weeks I have to search through Jay's clothes for a comfy shirt to wear. I am too stubborn to buy anymore maternity clothing and since I was pregnant through most of the winter and we have had an unseasonably warm spring, I have about 3 - 4 "outfits" that I rotate through when forced to venture into a setting that requires more than yoga pants... is this pathetic? Please tell me I am halfway normal for this late in the game?

I am crossing more and more things off our "Master Pre-Baby Checklist" and it is so nice for this slightly organizationally and list happy, crazy, hormonal, mama-to-be! 

First of all my Bella girl was forced to endure a "Hawkins Spa Day" last weekend. Now she hates baths with a capital H and so Jay and I fondly tell her she is getting the spa treatment instead. This is her face in response:

Poor baby... but she smells so good, and is nice and fluff now and ready to meet her little sis. Plus this is how I found her later that afternoon:

It must have been more relaxing that she let on ;) 

I also think I mentioned that we finally purchased a new washer and dryer that runs through an entire wash cycle without intervention... It is glorious! After lots and lots of research and waiting and debating I am very happy with our purchase and have loved organizing the laundry room / pantry. I can't help that I really do enjoy organizing clutter... It makes life so much better! Now if I could just get the husband to agree that daily maintaining the organization is highly important we would be set... He really tries but his brain just doesn't work the same as mine (darn it!) Oh well, it means there will always be something to organize I guess! 

We found these shelves and baskets at Costco, and they fit perfectly next to the washer and dryer. Its like they were all destined for us to maximize the amount of space in this little tiny room. Love it! And the best part of all are the neat little labels (I am a sucker for fun fonts) and the ability to hide all the random items away to give the illusion of neat and tidy! We also have ordered a corner shelving unit for "pantry" type items for the other corner of the room across from the baskets. 

This week 38 into 39 has been full of lots of cleaning... I think I have vacuumed every corner of the house and scrubbed every bathroom. Now little miss just needs to arrive before it is time to clean again! 

Maybe this week!?! 

Baby Girl Hawkins' Nursery!!

The Nursery is finished! Whew! Well its as finished as it is going to be... I am still in search of a white, vintage mirror for over the dresser and a fun clock... but hey no decorating project is really ever finished, atleast not for me! I am always on the hunt for something new to add or replace.

BUT anyway... It is finished and I am really happy with how it turned out!

We picked this room for the nursery because it is
1. Very Close to our bedroom
2. Tiny and helped me to remember that Baby Girl really doesn't need much
3. Still gave us 2 extra bigger guest rooms for welcomed family and friends to visit Waynesboro often!

We painted the walls an olympic paint color called Cold Steel last summer before we knew about little miss hawkins. I loved the color and decided that it would be the perfect neutral nursery color. It is a light gray color and goes perfect with lots and lots of pink and white! Let us know what you think...

 Our verse for our Daughter - Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you, 

and will quiet you with His love.

He will rejoice over you with singing."

 Pictures of Baby Katherine, Baby Bella, and Baby Jay for our sweet Baby Girl. 

Remember my changing table? It is still a favorite find and I love these polka dot baskets from Hobby Lobby. Already stocked full of diapers, burp clothes, wipes and a few special "lovies" too ;)

 Our crib is from Babies' r us and the bedding is a black friday find at the pottery barn outlet. I am in love with the simple pink and white dots and stripes

 Okay... so the "C" - We think we have a name... Caroline Bennett Hawkins... We are about 90% sure {and as sure as we are going to be until we meet our little princess and find out if she really looks like a Caroline}. And the elephant below had her due date... I will obviously reprint that picture and switch it out with the right birthdate when we know it, but for now it couldn't just stay blank on the wall...

 A somewhat organized closet... This girl has some clothes and she isn't even here yet! She is going to be one well dressed little thing :)

Mom and I made the curtains too! Simple pink and white stripe fabric that I found at Fabric.com 

 Sweet Big Sister! Y'all she is too funny... She knows there is lots going on in this room and so she has decided to keep her pile of bones here. I guess she is laying claim to part of the room already or at least making sure her presence is still recognized. 

I love her little doggie personality - My Bella girl is going to be such a protective big sis! 

Alright so there it is! Leave us some love and let us know what you think! 

the promises of spring

I Love daffodils. They are so simple and beautiful and they always mean spring has arrived and that winter is finally fading away.

 This year these daffodils in our yard have a whole new meaning. 

 Last fall when my sweet Mama was in Waynesboro helping me survive the first few months of pregnancy she planted daffodil bulbs so that they would be blooming when Baby Girl arrived. 

They represent the promise of new life that is right around the corner. They represent the excitement and anticipation of my sweet daughter, and they represent the love of my sweet mama {whose birthday is this week!} for her first grand-baby. When I see daffodils each spring I will always think of my dear Mama and my precious Daughter, and the blessing of both. 

37 Week Baby Belly!

 

We are ready for the arrival of this sweet girl anytime now! I am feeling great still... not sleeping the best, but I have given up on that idea from now until Little Miss Hawkins turns 30ish. Along with not sleeping the best I am just overall more and more tired everyday it seems {as evidence by the above picture... yikes!} I am pretty convinced this is my body's way of making me slow down with all these pre-baby plans I want to accomplish. I'm trying to listen... its just so tempting to check something else off the list - but I did take an hour nap this afternoon and it was wonderful!

We had a doctor appointment today and found out I'm dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced... yay! Except for the fact that I could be that way for another month.. ha! The best knews is that she is definitely head down, so now on to continuing to stay that way....

We'll see when she decides to join us.... Daddy and I are on your time schedule sweet girl :)

Our Wonderful Waynesboro Baby Shower

I am so blessed to have an amazing group of women in my life here in Waynesboro. Something I had been praying for ever since Jay and I embarked on this Chick-fil-A journey and knew that we would end up in a community where we knew no one. Well God has blessed me with several many ladies who are simply a blessing. Thats the only way to describe them. A blessing because they are God ordained friendships. Love these waynesboro women!

A week and a half ago these three beautiful girls have me and Little Miss Hawkins a Baby Shower. It was SO much fun and there were lots and lots of thoughtful details.

Bethany, Shannon, and Susie

There was tons of yummy girly shower food. I love shower food. All the fruit and sweets! Call me crazy, but I could totally live on a shower / wedding reception food diet! haha

There was peanut-butter in the middle! Oh my! Anna knew the way to this Mama-to-Be's heart!

SO ADORABLE! Baby Girl Hawkins Cake Pops! 

These were so good. Oh my! Sinful really... 

Two of the shower "activities" were so, so, neat! These ladies had two "stations" set up. One was to decorate a numbered Bib for Baby Girl to wear each month of her life to document her growth. Just fun! I knew I wanted to take some sort of creative month by month pictures but I love this idea way more than any I have been because each month I have a unique baby bib made by a dear friend who loves my little princess! love it!

My Kate made a pearl necklace on her bib! so perfect :)

How fun is this! 

The second super special "craft" / "station" was a birthday letter table. All of the ladies wrote a Happy Birthday Letter to Baby Girl Hawkins for her to open on her birthday each year. Shannon had someone do this for one of her son's at one of her baby showers and shared the idea with me! It is going to be such a special treat to get to read these letters over the years.

How cute are these little girls...

They were having their own tea party! 

And Miss J.J. was such a good helper with the presents!

And one other really fun idea that was such a neat blessing was that on the invitation they asked everyone to bring a signed book for Baby Girl instead of a card. Love books and we have quite a library now. I think reading and bath time are two of the things I am most looking forward to with my little girl :)

My sweet Mama and my Best Friend from forever came up for the day! Baby Girl and I are both very lucky to have them

My first Waynesboro friend Alison!

Here is a fairly decent 35 and 3 Days Baby Belly photo too:

Miss Joyce who is our neighbor and friend and blesses Jay and I tremendously at Chick-fil-A!

It was a perfect day! Now we are ready for little miss thing to make her debut!

{and all these wonderful pictures are courtesy of Miss Bethany! She was kind to take my camera and capture lots of details from the shower}