3 Baby Showers in 5 Days!!

Over the top doesn't even begin to describe our family and friends.....they have done so much for us and are so excited for Mackenzie to enter the world!! (Not to mention she is the first girl on both sides!) The moms in my neighborhood, my sister, and my sister in laws all threw a shower for me in the past week! I have pretty much been doing laundry ever since!!! There is not one thing we need for this little girl, everyone has seriously blessed us so much and we cannot thank them enough!
Being pregnant/having a baby around the holidays has been so exciting/crazy!!! As if there is not enough going on with making meals for the holidays and shopping, its been a little crazy trying to prepare for a new family member! With the nursury done and having everything we need, the only things left to do are finish Christmas shopping (3 people left to buy for!), decorate for Christmas this weekend, and finish packing our hospital bags and get the carseat in!! Whew!!! This little turkey might pop out early because of all the running around thats going on!! Here are a few pics from the past week...

Mackenzie's Nursury

I am happy to post that the nursury is finally done!!! It has truly taken me the full 9 months to paint, sew, recover a chair, and learn to wall stencil!!! It has been so fun making a pink room in the house.... and an adjustment....I have been so used to blue and sailboats! I now feel a little more at ease knowing her room is ready for her when we come home from the hospital!

Sweet Tim

My friend Ashley had this picture on her blog and it makes me laugh all the time! This is pretty much how I currently look and feel.... I emailed the picture to tim and then he emailed me back with the picture on the right. He made it in photoshop and told me he loves it when I'm pregnant....geez. Isn't it funny that every girl can't wait until her stomach is huge....and then when it is you feel like you are going to die?!! I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't mind the roller coaster ride of pregnancy! ;)
Cheers to the last few weeks of pregnancy, 35 weeks and counting...

My Addiction

I know several of my blogging buds are obsessed with this......but, I am addicted to coupon grocery shopping also!!!! (Shout out to Jamie and Amber....I know yall are all over this!)
My sister and I tag team sale ads, coupons in the paper, and buy one get one frees. We have been doing it for so long....its come down to a science for us! It's also a problem because I refuse to buy any grocery at full price. The goal is at least half off.... the most fun challenge is to actually make money off an item....
For example...
Betty Crocker Frosting....normally $1.79
however, this week at Publix, Buy one get one Free.....if you buy one...its half off.
So, that brings it to $0.90. Then, I had a $0.50 coupon that Publix will double so I made $0.10 off the frosting, so fun huh?
Well, it really is fun and today was one of my better shopping days..... I spent $79.70 this week and saved $59.27 in deals and coupons.....
I know this may all sound lame and Tim thinks I'm crazy, but its really fun and fast to get a system. Best of all, I've saved our family thousands of dollars every year...which he likes!!
It's hard to see, but here are a few of the items : pampers diapers, soup, salad, vegetables, cheese, ice cream, fruit, bagels, olive oil, milk, apple juice, rolls, ham, crackers, pizza, yogurt, and a cake!
Pick up a weekly sale ad and sunday paper and get started!!

Joy

It's Tim's birthday today and it's going to be a pretty fun weekend! I'm taking him out tonight, thanks mom for babysitting, he's also going to a poker night, golfing with his brothers, and we're having a family party for him...... geez. His birthday is as big of a deal as Davids! He deserves it, he is such a great husband and father...I love you tim!
I just came home from my doctors appt. This was the first time I've taken David in a while. 2 suckers, 3 rolos, and 1 pack of sweet tarts and he was an angel!!! I am all about bribing. He watched intensely as they just measured and listened to the baby! I was very proud and feel like I'll be able to take him to the rest of these appts. They begin weekly next Wed so everyone will know him by name :) Mackenzie is great.... 5lbs and 18 inches. I've now gained 21 lbs.
Leaving the doctors today, I had an overwhelming sense of joy! Last Sept, a week after David turned 1, we miscarried identical twins. I found out at 12 weeks that the babies just didn't separate and grow correctly...just wasn't meant to be. We had to wait 6 months before trying again so my health could be monitored. We amazingly got pregnant again in March with Mackenzie! However, there was a fraternal twin this time that was lost at 6 weeks. The baby just didn't develop. Luckily, Mackenzie made it! So, our journey for our second child has been overwhelming to say the least. We have lost 3 babies essentially in the past year. Twins run in my family so that is why its happened twice. Our faith has been stretched and strengthened, but God continues to remind us he is more than enough for us. I say all this to because there is not a day that goes by that I don't realize how precious this baby is, and life in general. A verse that has kept me going is Psalm 126:5, Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. There has been many tears this past year. My heart goes out to those who have suffered miscarriage, infertility, or the loss of a child. Raising a family is a hard road, but one I am so blessed to be traveling.

Chattanooga and a little over a month to go!

We went with my family this weekend to take the boys to the Chattanooga Choo Choo!! It was also the peak of fall leaves this weekend and we didn't even know!! It was gorgeous and not to mention the boys had the time of their life being around all the trains! It was literally a breath of fresh air and it was so hard to leave. Here are a few pics of the train, our drive through the mountains, david and jonathan, and oh yeah....me about to pop!!!