much needed visit...

My dear friend Nicole happened to be staying about 2ish hours away from STL with her in laws amidst a move across the country. The last time I saw her was about 1 year ago, and she was very pregnant :)  This time I got to meet sweet Brody! He is the cutest, sweetest baby!

We planned to meet half way and have lunch together, which was a much needed visit. I told her she is always a breath of fresh air to be around - during all of the crazy changes that are to come and all of the unknown - it was perfect timing to get to see her. It never feels like we have been apart for long when I see her. We had such a great time catching up on each others lives!!

Our picture is quite blurry, but good effort!

thanks nicole and brody for driving to meet me for lunch!!

dallas

Patrick and I went to Dallas last week for a "second look."  Apparently in this painfully long interview process, a second look is like the - you got offered a job, do you want to come check us out one more time and bring your wifey - event.  So we went. And had a great time. This is us leaving snowy STL...

My sister texted me "How's Dallas?" and I said "flat."  It's very flat, but you get to see beautiful sunsets from everywhere :)  

Don't be jealous of our Nissan Sentra....

Overall it was great, a little overwhelming, but that's to be expected. Everyone was so good to us, making us feel comfortable and they showed us all over the city.  We have a lot to think about!!

Next stop, Savannah!

who needs reindeer?

We went sledding. It may not be Santa's sleigh - and we may not have reindeer - but we have Eloise. She is about 10 reindeer combined. We were pulled down that hill so fast - watch Pat's video - he just shoots off and flies down the hill. Everyone else would get about 1/3 to 1/2 way down the hill and get stuck. Not us!

(ahem...excuse my tone - i sound a bit snotty and mean - he couldn't hear what i was saying......oops)

The Ingram visit 2011!

This means the first visit of 2011, not the only one...right Ingrams?!?!

We were so excited to have everyone here for a visit right after my birthday. What a good way to celebrate :)  Somehow we always end up just piddling around, staying in our pj's all morning, having late starts to the day, but enjoy every minute! We repeated a few of MC and Patrick's favorite St. Louis things and they were able to play in the leftover snow before it all melted away.

Eloise tried to be on her best behavior - she looooved the attention from MC and Paddy.

Mary Clare's request was to go to the zoo and see the penguins. So we did - and even waiting for the 'penguin walk' - which my sister and I secretly wanted to do more than the children...shhhh! ;)

I think we all wanted to go to the City Museum, not just a special request from the kids. We all braved the 10 story shoe shoot slide - no kids in laps - meaning the tiny ones went down alone. I went first, then with about 1/3 of the slide left, I hear screams of terror, and here comes MC, headfirst --- in tears. She recovered nicely after being swooped up by Maymel's and then with Mom right behind her. Next, an upside down, terrified Paddy - caught by his shoulders and handed over to his Mommy. Once again, quick recovery, and we were off to explore the rest of the museum!

Here are some blurry pictures of us climbing all over the place.

Not sure if this video will work - but Stephen is a huge Alabama fan. I came into the den one morning and Patrick, Mary Clare and little Patrick were on the couch. Pat got them to say "war eagle!"...so I took a video - just for their daddy. Much to my disappointment they informed me they are not Auburn fans...

We miss youuuuu!

Baby B

We are so excited that Baby Broderick will be here at the beginning of August! And it's finally time to share the news!!!

On a whim, I took a test the day before Thanksgiving. My Mom and Dad were in town, Patrick was working, and the test was positive.......??!

So I scrambled to figure out how to get to Pat so I could tell him first! I called and asked if I could pick him up from work so he wouldn't have to ride the Metro home. I threw Eloise in the car, a tshirt in my purse that I scribbled 'big sister' on, and off we went!!

Eloise waited patiently in the back seat, oblivious to how her posh little life will be changing in the next year. Patrick gets in the car. He reads the shirt. "Big Sister?" Yes. Big Sister. Just a look of confusion on his face. I stared at him, he stared at me. I waited to see if he would get it. He didn't. I said "Pat, I'm pregnant....."  His eyes lit up, and with big smile on his face and he said "Oh......OH!!!" then he said, "I thought maybe you got another dog!!!" Okay, so maybe not my best idea ever? But I didn't know what else to do!!!!

Here we are afterwards!

Our first doctor visit was supposed to be 8 weeks...but the baby measured 7 weeks. See the peanut??

 So we went back the next week for another ultrasound, to get better measurements and here's the 8 week old pea

And we are now officially 12 weeks! They didn't print a picture on my last ultrasound, but a 12 week old baby actually looks more like a baby, with arms, legs, and it had the hiccups - kinda weird. 

Obviously we are very excited!!

cramming it in...

The past few months flew by - so now I will cram the events into one post!!

The beginning of December was spent celebrating my sweet friend Sarah's birthday at a yummy tapas restaurant

Then a much awaited visit from Courtney...

we stocked up on snacks (I think we actually ate through 90% of this one way on our trip) and hopped on the megabus for a cheap ride to Chicago! We froze our behinds off, shopped a bit, ate some good food and saw Wicked.

And Eloise got to cuddle her Auntie....heaven.

Look at that leg draped across Auntie, just adorable.

Christmas came all the way from Birmingham!  Pat and I opened the gifts on Christmas Eve on Skype with Mom and Dad - before flying out bright and early Christmas day to see everyone in Savannah!

We had a perfect trip to Savannah - and it's always so hard to leave everyone - now I just need to bum some pictures off of everyone who actually had a camera. How do you forget a camera on Christmas day??? geez...

And here we are! Yesterday was my birthday. On Monday at work I had a great day. I am so lucky to have met some great friends here in St. Louis - I got birthday cards, candy, balloons, the cutest little ceramic bird (that has flown away?!? I can't find him!), and delicious cupcakes - they made me feel so special!

I came home to some blue hydrangeas, my favorite. Then we got to watch Auburn win the National Championship game just for me ;)

While at work on Monday, Patrick came down to the ER around 4ish all dressed to go out in the cold, had his bag on ready to go - I asked where he was going, he said "to run some errands." Well, in female translation - "I need to get your birthday present...." So I called him out, he just smiled and I said "better get something good!!!!"

Well. He did beyond that.

You see, all I asked for was a facial...so this was not expected

When I saw the blue bag and tiny blue boxes I almost cried. Seriously. I then asked if this was a joke. He said no - of course. But you know, I just wanted to check. I needed pictures of them before they were opened because they were so pretty - so he took some for me while I was still grinning ear to ear. I opened them and... 

A beau.ti.ful pearl bracelet and pearl earrings. I put them on right away and that was about 15 hours ago....they're still on. I slept in them. Yep.

We went to a nice dinner, celebrated some more, and then came home and passed out.

Thanks Patrick, for a perfect 27th birthday - you are too good to me :) I am the luckiest girl in the world, I Love You

Now we are just trying to stay warm. Miss Mophie got her 'hair did' so we are getting some cuddling in.

Count down ticker - 1 more day until the Ingram's arrive!!!!

different plans...

Well it seems that my body had different plans for New Years.

I got the first part right - I would fall asleep before the ball drop (check!), Pat would wake me up and we would say 'happy new year!' (check!), off to work in the morning.......not so much.

You see, some grimy kid from the ER shared a killer.gi.virus. with me. I mean..killer. I can't remember the last time I felt that bad. Sparing you the details - it was a very long 12 hours, then another 12 of trying to decide if I was alive or dead. 

Now guess what!?!?! I shared it with my sweet sweet husband. I don't think I have been this sick since we've known each other. This was a true test and he passed with flying colors. He took such good care of me :)  I just feel guilty that I gave it to him.

Hope your year started better than ours!!