Some of my favorite Annie faces

First Week

Here are some of my favorite pics from our first week :)

Coming home

We came home on Tuesday after an amazing stay in the hospital with the most incredible nurses. I don't know what I would have done with out all their help and all they taught me. By the time we came home we were doing pretty good with eating, swadling, and well... ok the we are still figuring out as every day goes by.... hahaha. It is an absolute joy though! Here are some pictures of our journey home. When we came home Grandmama (my mom) was there waiting and had cleaned the house, stocked the fridge, and a pot of chili waiting. It was absolutely amazing and I could never say thank you enough!

More friends :)

Miss Popular

Here are some pics of Annie's with her friends :)

She's Here and She's BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Annie is finally here and she is just perfect! I went into labor around 3:30 AM on Saturday and we headed into the hospital at 7:30. The doctor decided to go ahead and admit us and by 3:00 they decided it would be best for me to have a c-section. So... by 4:00 PM our 8 pound 4 ounce bundle of joy was here! Hearing her and seeing her for the first time were the most amazing moments of my life. It's absolutely overwhelming how much you can love someone. We stayed in the hospital until Tuesday and many of our wonderful family and friends were able to come by and meet Annie. Thank you so much to everyone for your calls and visits :)

Maybe a January 22 Birthday

Five days and counting until our due date and definitely a million and one lessons in patience :) I absolutely cannot wait to meet this little girl! I went to the doctor yesterday and I was still at just a cm. We both checked out as healthy though so waiting is not a problem (besides my lack of patience problem). So here we wait to see. Annie is projected to weigh at minimum 8 pounds at this point and so my doctor was comfortable discussing what would happen if I go past my due date. She agreed that we would induce on Thursday, January 22 if she isn't here by then. So we will see what happens now and keep you posted! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue this exciting journey and soon begin a new phase.

Still waiting...

Twelve days to go until due day and still waiting :) I feel like I am about to pop and I'm definitely about to go crazy with excitement to meet her. The sweetest thing is that Nellie must know it's soon because she won't leave my side and is constantly giving me kisses and even kissing my stomach! Animals are amazing aren't they. Jus twanted to give you an update... hope to have more news soon :) Here are some new pictures too with some of the beautiful women I work with :)

A wonderful holiday season...

I am determined to make the last day of vacation last and not think about the fact that we go back to work tomorrow! I am excited to go back and start a new semester but I confess I will greatly miss sleeping in :) So, I thought I would post some pictures and think about what a great holiday season it was. We had the Payne family Christmas on December 21st. Big Mama made an amazing meal as always and it was so fun to just be with family and relax. Then Will and I had a quiet Christmas at home on the 25th. We woke up and gave Nellie her stocking full of stuffed animals. She gets SOOOO excited about it every year and it is one of the highlights of Christmas to me. After she has gotten all her new toys she gathers them up on her bed and just lays on them... so cute. Who knew some stuffed animals from the Dollar Store could lead to absolute bliss? Then my mom came the day after Christmas and stayed for a few days. We had such a good time cooking and shopping and just relaxing. It was a wonderful holiday season and I even managed to stay up to see the ball drop and see 12 o'clock Alabama time or "slow time" as Will calls it. I hope everyone had a great holiday and will embrace all the wonderful things to come in 2009!