Well, things have been pretty uneventful around here except for Josh's beer finally being ready (he was so excited!) and Addison peeing all over our bed yesterday morning while I was in the shower.  It was so strange.  She has not gotten on our bed in a very, very long time and has not peed in the house since she was a little puppy about 2 years ago.  Josh thinks she's upset because she knows the baby is coming and I think there might be a little truth to that thought.  It's funny how dogs seem to know whats up even though they are animals.  I hope she doesn't start doing this kind of stuff after the baby comes, that would be rather stressful!

This week the big deal at our house is that I am going to be trying very hard to make a small budget work (like the one we will be going on when the baby comes and my graduate assistantship salary runs out- oh yes GAs make the big bucks!).  I have had so much fun looking at people's blogs, grocery ads, and clipping coupons.  I have a friend, Beth, who is a big money saver when it comes to groceries and posts it on her blog.  It helps that she has a Publix (the best grocery store that will never come to Memphis) but I am pretty sure that by making multiple stops at various grocery stores around town as I come upon them in my daily travels I will be able to do as well as she does.  So far this week I have saved $3 on dog food, $.75 of two boxes of Betty Crocker Muffin Mix and $3 on a pound of deli meat (I got it for $2.99/lb at SuperLo).  Also I am looking at grocery stores that I would not normally go to like Piggly Wiggly (Josh passes one everyday on the way to work), Schnucks, Aldi and SuperLo.  I am going to have to give up my one stop shopping at Kroger, convenience is just not my priority anymore. I have also noticed that the High Point Grocery in our neighborhood has some really good deals on meat (I have seen $1.19/lb on their cute hand-lettered signs for boneless skinless chicken breasts and theirs look like they came from normal sized chickens), so I'll be watching that as well.    
 
I am also realizing how little we are actually home at night to eat dinner, but I'm sure that will change when Gardner gets here.  Sundays we eat at Sr. High Small Groups, Mondays- we usually do the buy one get one thing at Chickfila (by Mendenhall on Poplar- $5.83 for 2 #1 Combos) sometimes I cook, Tuesdays- LOST night at the Butlers (Thanks Hil!), Wednesday-Church dinner or I cook, Thursdays- Office Night, I cook, Fridays-This week, leader's dinner at the Johns usually I cook or we go out and Saturdays- This week Sally will be home so we are having flanksteak and yummy stuff at Mom and Dad's house, whoo hoo, but normally I cook.    

This morning I felt like Gardner was doing his morning exercises.  I was lying on my side and he seemed to be standing on the bed and doing "up downs" to the other side of his little nest.  It was such a strange feeling to know that he's here but not here. Does that make sense?  We are already parents but I am so excited to actually get to meet little Gardner.  I hope that doesn't happen for another 11ish weeks. (11 weeks sounds really short!)
    

Signs of Spring, More Snow, a Bed and a Name!

Well, I was walking out of my front door and I spied the tiniest fleck of yellow out by the lamp post.  Oh what a joy it is a little bunch of flowers!! It was so exciting to see that this winter wonderland thing might soon be over...and then it snowed a good bit again last night and today.  But it was exciting anyway.

In other news, my sweet parents bought us a crib! My mom and I went to the Kidstown Consignment Sale at the Agri-Center on Thursday of last week and found this awesome iron baby bed. We called dad and had him look it up at work to make sure it was safe and not recalled and it was not.  So we got a great deal on it and it is really neat.  I have not ever seen one exactly like it...I bet little Gardner will like it.  Oh yeah, thats the other big news WE HAVE A NAME:
Michael (Josh's middle name and dad's first name) Bumgardner (my great grandparent's last name) Hughes!

We will be calling him Gardner.  I should get out my sewing machine and do some monogramming!! Hadn't thought about that yet! Fun!

Springier Blog

So I feel like if I change the blog background to something cheery and springy looking, then spring will come. PLEASE come spring, I'm tired of the cold!!

February So Far

It has been so cold and dreary! This is all Addison has been doing!

Well we have about 3 more months of just the two of us. (I guess there are already technically three of us, but you know what I mean) This is very crazy to me! I can't believe it's already been six months since we found out we would be three!  Josh is almost finished getting that pesky border down, but has had a minor setback in the fact that he sprained his ankle badly on Sunday afternoon playing basketball with some of the youth.  We spent much of yesterday's snow day in the Baptist Minor Med. getting an x-ray and learning that it was a third degree sprain (which the dr. said can be worse than a break) and he needed to stay off of it.  Through this experience I realized how much Josh does for me.  Since he has been immobile I have been taking the dog out in the snow/rain/nasty stuff, getting my own drinks and snacks, washing all the dishes and driving us everywhere.  It has helped me realize what a helpful husband I have and how willing his helpfulness is. So thank you again Josh, for always being so willing to do little things for me.

Here are some pictures from the last snow/ice day that we had (not the one yesterday, that on was icky, so I didn't go outside to take pictures since I already had these)

 

Also two weekends ago, Lala got to bring little Latosha home on Sunday afternoon.  I think she was excited to try out being a mom at home rather than in the NICU.  I think she will do a great job.  Please pray for her if you think about it.

 

Also last week we had a dinner with Lala's family, the Jones' and Corina's family, The Browns.  We had a few friends from the neighborhood and Sunday school come and it was a fabulous time.  Adam brought over his PS3 and his Rockband  (sadly, our Rockband is broken) and it was a major hit! I think the kids sang Michael Jackson's "ABC" about 100 times, it was hilarious!  Josh did a great job grilling Hawaiian chicken sandwiches, everyone else brought sides and Lisa brought a fabulous Mississippi Mud dessert, we had so much food, it was great! Also, the kids were very entertained by Addison running around in the sun porch.  I think Addison was a little freaked out and kept trying to hide under the island table in the kitchen!  All in all, it was a huge success, I could not have asked for a better experience in mixing two worlds that are so different.  I guess it helped me to further realize that the worlds may be different but people enjoy the same things and can glorify God through their fellowship where ever and in whatever they do. Such a blessing!      

 Another big hit of the night was Corina's science experiment for her science project.  She did the experiment where you drop a lit match into a narrow necked bottle and put a hardboiled, peeled egg on top and it sucks the egg down into the bottle because of the vacuum that was formed. Everyone gathered around to see the magic! It was so cute, didn't quite work right, but very cute! 

Corina finished her science project this past Sunday afternoon and was so proud of it.  I am so proud of her for getting it done.  It was so hard to let her do it on her own though.  I love making things like science fair projects "pretty", while not even really worrying about the science part.  She is the total opposite, but it gave me a small flash forward of more science projects which will be done in our kitchen in the years to come. Hopefully I will be able to let them do it like I was able to force myself to do with Corina.  I can't believe we're having one of our own!