2010 in Review by Pictures!

I was looking through a lot of old pictures yesterday and then I thought I would look through all of the pictures from 2010! So, here are a few pictures from each month highlighting the craziness that was 2010 :o)

January

We rang in the New Year at Epcot!! This was the first time I started to suspect that I might be pregnant, but I didn't say anything yet. That's probably why I only made it to like 11:30pm before we left, haha! Took a pregnancy test on January 2nd and sure enough, there was a baby on the way! We were so peaceful and thankful that the Lord provided a baby :o)

I saw this picture and cracked up! Sooo, it got really cold in Orlando in January and all of the news stations were saying there might be flurries. I made John get up around 5am while we waited for the flurries to appear. This was all we have to show for it...the top of our car with a little bit of ice, haha

February

John's first ever, homemade chicken pot pie! This whole month (and most of the one before) can be described in one word: vomit. That's right, vomit. I puked like I never knew possible. Therefore, John had to fend for himself when it came to dinner :o) And, out of nowhere (for the first time in forever) I actually felt hungry and only wanted homemade chicken pot pie. And, if I moved from the couch, I would inevitably puke. So, John made it! He learned to make lots of dinners those 9 months and did great!

John's first trip to Sea World! A friend of ours, Katie Headley, was nice enough to give us free tickets to Sea World! This day was last day to use them. We waited until the very last day hoping that I would feel well enough to go! But, no one knew that yet :o) While we had to take lots of breaks and I almost puked on the sidewalk, I was actually momentarily feeling better that day. So, it was such a fun day and we loved getting to explore a new park!

March

My very first time to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta! For years I had heard about how awesome this aquarium is and I had been dying to go. I must say, the hype is true, I loved it! Once again, I was pretty sick the whole time we were there (including a "oh my word, we have to leave right now" drive away, then have to pull over the car so I can puke in the bushes, haha!). But, despite the pukiness, we had lots of fun!

We announced we were pregnant! We were so grateful to have so many friends and family that were excited with us! It was such an awesome thing to announce our baby was on the way and we were so grateful for all of the prayers. I look back over the pregnancy with Ella and am amazed at how we had friends pray for every single doctor's appointment. There were so many encouraging texts, phone calls, emails, and so much more.The Lord used so many people to calm my spirit and bring a peace that surpasses all understanding! 

Ampd Kids! This was John's last event (other than a Sunday morning or Wednesday night) with the student ministry of First Orlando. I wasn't there because I was puking my guts out, BUT, I am so proud to say we were a part of this constant outreach! It was hard to know we were getting ready to leave Orlando when such great things like this were going on. But, God most definitely had a plan for us!

April

Before moving from Orlando, we tried to go to all of the Disney theme parks as much as we could! This was us on the way, for the last time as Orlando residents, to the Magic Kingdom via the ferry. We decided that each park we went to, we were going to things we had never done before and John had never taken the ferry instead of the monorail. So, we went for it! When we got there, we rode the train around the park, which I had never done before :o)

The biggest event of April was that we moved! Here is our home in Peachtree City, Georgia! I was about 19 weeks pregnant when we moved and starting to feel a little better. I never stopped being sick the whole pregnancy, but right about here I started to have better days! And, it was a good thing, because there were a lot of boxes to unpack!

May

Ikea! the beginning of this month was a lot of running around and trying to get our house in order before it was time to get stuff ready for the baby! I had to take frequent breaks because of my ol' pukey self. I think this picture is a pretty accurate portrayal of how I felt most days, haha!

Cinco De Mayo! We hosted a party at our house for all of the tech and media volunteers at Dogwood so we could meet them all! It was lots of fun (despite me taking a break in the comfy chair, looking like I'm about to puke).

John's parents came to visit us at the end of May! And, of course, we had to go to the Varsity. We may or may not have gone twice...haha! 

June

Baby shower in Orlando!! We had so much fun and so many great memories from this trip! (despite the fact that the night before I puked all over our friend, Chad's bathroom, sorry again about that!) At this shower, everyone voted whether they thought we were having a boy or a girl. All of the results were boy, but folks, we're lookin' at lots of pink in the Phillips' house these days!!

Me and John at Vacation Bible School on crazy hat day! My big ol' pregnant behind helped out at VBS with some of the cutest kiddo's around! Little did I know, that somewhere along the way I would sprain one of my ribs. Can you say OUCH?? 

And, now, a baby shower in Texas! Remember that sprained rib I was talking about? Yeah, that pretty much sums up my demeanor at this shower! Haha. I was so sad that I didn't get to scoot around as much as I would have liked to visit with people we don't get to see often enough. I was actually just telling John the other day that I had never experienced any kind of back pain before like I did then! But, regardless of that, we had such a great time and loved celebrating the peanut with Texas family and friends!

July

John and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary!! It was SO much fun! This picture was from our lunch at Red Lobster :o) Then, we had steaks at home and ate the topper to our wedding cake! We had such a good time reflecting on all of the highs and lows of our first year together. I always love looking back on memories and it was so awesome to reflect on such a great first year of marriage!

The first time letting our bunny rabbit run around our new home! She had lots of fun exploring the new digs 

August

My 25th birthday and 34 weeks pregnant! We went to Outback for dinner and had a great evening together! John did so many things this year to make my birthday feel extra special. I sure did marry a thoughtful man!

Baby shower in Georgia! It was so nice to have a baby shower in our new home of Peachtree City. Many ladies were so kind to welcome me and the baby! The shower was at such a perfect time, too. It was about a month before Ella was born and there were a lot of essentials that we still needed that we received!

Our sweet bunny had surgery!! I was full term, had a cold, then our bunny got sick. I was up all night, while she sat on my big belly (and Ella kept trying to kick her off, haha!) and I spoon fed her water. The next morning we took her to the vet and found out she needed surgery. Saying that I was an emotional wreck is an understatement. My sweet bunny had such a good friend to me! So, she had surgery and recovered well! You wouldn't even know anything used to be wrong now! And, the funniest part of the whole thing? I was given paperwork that my bunny was a BOY and after surgery, the vet told us that we in fact had a GIRL bunny rabbit. Haha, so after 2.5 years of saying "he", I think we've finally gotten used to saying "she". Poor bunny...

September

Oh, nothing big from September happened at all...we just met our little GIRL for the first time!! After so much waiting, it was hard to believe that Ella was actually here! And, we found out the gender for the first time that day :o) Which, as hard as the curiousity was sometimes, we were so glad we waited after the awesome experience of the surprise! So many wonderful memories of that day. And, one of them being how little Ella was crying and crying, but when her daddy walked over to see her, she stopped crying! Sweet little girl heard her daddy's voice and all was well with the world. She held his finger and was so much better with her daddy nearby!

First family picture in the hospital! Here are the three Phillips'!

October

Ella's first trip to the pumpkin patch!

Ella's very first Halloween! She was dressed up like the angel that she is :o)

My favorite family picture of us! The Fall Festival wore out little Miss, so we ditched the wings, put on the hairbow and let her sleep some!

November

John's 27th birthday! We got to go on lots of dates that week, thanks to Nana! 

Family picture with Cinderella's Castle at Disney World! Ella's first trip to Disney World was SO much fun! It includes some of our most favorite memories since she's been born :o)

Ella's very first Thanksgiving! Yay!

December

Ella's first time meeting Santa! The coolest part about this day was the fact that it was snowing for the first time of the season! 

Ella's very first Christmas! I can't even tell you how perfect it was to have a precious little girl complete with a beautiful smocked dress and big ol' hairbow this Christmas! She was even more scrumptious than usual on Christmas :o)

It snowed on Christmas day! Ella likes being outside, even if it is freezing!

There's our 2010 in pictures!! More than anything we are so grateful for our big gift of Ella this year. The Lord has taught us so much through the pregnancy and now the life we share with her everyday. We're excited to see what else God has in store for us in the future!

Ella's First Trip to Disney!!

Family Picture in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney!

Anyone that knows John and I can you tell you how much we love Disney World! Pretty much the whole beginning of our marriage was spent at Disney, haha. We had annual passes and looked at it as a whole bunch of prepaid dates for us. A lot of times we would eat lunch or dinner at home, then get in the car and head to one of the parks for some already-paid-for fun! Also, it kind of became a safe haven for us after the miscarriage. I mean, it's tough to be sad at Disney World! And, there was most definitely a stretch of time when we didn't really want to be around many people we knew (well-meaning, but you can only take the "I'm so sorry" looks so many times) and Disney is always packed full of a bunch of people you don't know!

On our Thanksgiving trip to Orlando, we knew from the beginning that we would just have to stop off at Disney. We were both really excited and couldn't wait to take our sweet baby there! Well, for anyone that's been to the Magic Kingdom before, you know all about the precious little girls that dress up like their favorite princess (or even get a princess makeover at the park!) and spend the day at Disney walking around all cutesy as can be. I have always told John how if we ever have a little girl, she will most definitely dress up like a princess whenever we go to Disney...and folks, that wish came true! And, the most beautiful part of the whole thing is I thought I would have to wait for Ella to turn 2 years old or so before she'd be big enough to fit in a princess costume. We had never, I mean never, seen a baby dressed up in a princess costume on a regular day at Disney before.

I was searching for a newborn costume for Ella's Halloween get-up one day and lo and behold, there it was....an infant princess costume! I could hardly believe it and went searching for more. And, guess what? It's the only one I could find anywhere! I present to you, the cutest, most adorable baby Snow White...

We had so much fun that day! I really don't believe that there are words to describe all of the most amazing memories we made that day. It may seem silly, but soon after we entered the park I got a little teary eyed. There was something redemptive to me about taking my most beautiful baby to the place that her daddy and mommy escaped many a days to try to get through losing their first baby. And, there we were with the most perfect baby that we get to hold! And, there she was, as beautiful as can be with people constantly stopping to comment on her cuteness factor. People were asking to take pictures with her, workers were going around to get other employees to show them Ella, and on and on. Our whole day people did not stop coming up to us or commenting on our little princess. We were not expecting a reaction like that at all! There were a few moments we really thought we were VIP's or something! Haha! I kept joking with John that we needed to set out a tip jar! Ella did so amazing all day. She barely fussed all day and even got to sneak in a nap here and there. We really couldn't have asked for a better baby to take to Disney (even when it felt like a million degrees out!).

But, one of the most fun parts of the whole entire day was this... the money shot...

Our baby Snow White with the real princess Snow White! I don't ever believe I've waited to meet a character before at any of the parks, but we were so glad to get this picture. I have the feeling this will be the first of many times waiting to get a picture of Ella with a character :o)

And, little Miss went on her very first ride! Since the Phillips family knows how to stick with a theme, can you guess what it was?

That's right! Snow White's Scary Adventures! Have I mentioned that while I am not really a big Snow White fan (although, I'm a little partial now because of our sweet baby Snow White), I became a big fan of this ride before we moved from Orlando? It might be my favorite in the whole FantasyLand area and Ella loved it! Here she is waiting in line soon before getting on the ride...

Right before we left the park in the evening, we changed little Miss Snow White out of her costume. We think she looks awfully cute with or without a costume!

Well, I think I will leave it here for now! Just wanted all of you to have a little glimpse into our super fun day at the Magic Kingdom! I can hardly wait for the trips in the future where Ella can enjoy the parks even more...dressed as a princess, of course ;o)

Christmas Decorations

Ella's Pink Christmas Tree in Her Room!

Our Christmas Tree This Year!

John and I set up all of our Christmas decorations the Saturday before Thanksgiving! For all you folks out there that don't believe in decorating early, then, you are more than welcome to unpack all of the bags from our Thanksgiving trip, do our laundry, and take care of Ella while finding the time to decorate for Christmas post-vacation next year :o)

We spent the day pulling out of all of the Christmas boxes to see the tons of cute stuff we got on super clearance last year. So fun! There were several things we had forgotten about since we bought it after Christmas last year and it got shoved straight to storage. We listened to some good ol' Christmas music and had lots of fun! We also watched the classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and Ella sat in her bouncy seat mesmerized by the Grinch on the television! She has also just loved staring at the Christmas tree in the living room and her super cute pink tree in her room. She absolutely loves lights, so you can just imagine how much she is diggin' all of the Christmas lights!

It was such a fun day and I love having our house set up as a little winter wonderland! We couldn't help but think about how last year's Christmas was not an easy one. I pulled out our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree from last year and thought about how far God has brought us. And, little did I know at last year's Christmas that I was pregnant with our second baby but too early to know it! This Christmas is all wrapped up in pink with hairbows and we couldn't feel more blessed! So let the Christmas season begin!

Ella Gisela Phillips

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to Him. Therefore I have lent her to the Lord. As long as she lives, she is lent to the Lord." -1 Samuel 1:27, 28a

Ella Gisela Phillips born on September 11, 2010
at 11:13pm
Weighing 7lbs 7oz and 20 inches long!

Moments after she was born!

Getting all checked out!

Daddy and his little girl in the hospital

First family picture of the THREE of us!

My little burrito baby!

Our second day home!

Ella dressed up as an angel at her first Fall Festival!

Sweet, sleeping baby

So, my child has been born over 2 months ago and I have yet to write a blog. BUT, we can go ahead and chalk that up to just having a child 2 months ago, hehe.

There is a little girl sleeping quietly in her crib upstairs while I type this blog. To her parents, she is absolutely perfect and is completely surrounded in all things pink. There is a precious baby girl snoozing away and has no idea how much her parents petitioned the Lord in prayer for her. She's sleeping all cozy and tucked in her swaddle, while her mommy fights back tears in writing a blog to declare God's goodness and faithfulness in the blessing that is her.

We have so loved getting to know this little girl and how easily she can confuse John and I, haha. We do have a bit of a crier on our hands, which just shows me that she is probably going to be a non-stop talker when she reaches that stage of life! Her poor daddy, two non-stop talking females under the same roof.

Speaking of her daddy, she has really does have the best one in the whole world. Since she was born, she has just loved to be held by her daddy. Can I just say it has been the most amazing thing in the world to watch?? I am completely in love with the fact that my daughter has a daddy as amazing as John. She really hit the jackpot. He has been so great in taking care of her and me. And, he is so smitten with her, that I have the feeling she will always have him wrapped around her little finger! A friend once told me that not every man is good at naturally being a daddy to a little girl, but that John is such a good daddy to a little girl. And, I completely agree :o)

We are so thankful for this baby! The last year was a season in life of uncertainty as to whether we would ever get to hold a baby. And, we are very grateful to the Lord that He has given us a precious baby in heaven and a beautiful baby girl to hold this side of heaven. The verse at the top of this post was one I prayed and prayed before getting pregnant with Ella and all through the pregnancy. It is now hanging over her crib as reminder to us that she is forever lent to the Lord and that He answered our cries for a healthy, beautiful baby.

I do plan to actually keep up with the blog now! So, look for more tidbits about our precious baby in the coming days and weeks!!

Wait, Wait, and Wait A Little More!

Well, here I am, officially in the mere days countdown of the due date. No more weeks left, just days. It was so weird to look at my little countdown today and only see 6 days. Whoa. Back in January-April, I thought September would never get here. Of course, those days were a huge blur anyways with all of the crazy, crazy amounts of sickness. While the morning sickness never fully went away, those four months were the most brutal for sure. And. believe me, September felt like an eternity away. But, here we are!

Other than dealing with false labor, and just the sheer inability to know when D-day is gonna hit, I am doing pretty good. Sure, I have any physical complaints that a pregnant woman of this stage in the game would have, but nothing extraordinary. I feel a bit like a ticking time bomb...with a broken ticker, hehe.

But, I have been meaning to share something I read in a guided journal I've been keeping for the little one. There are several different sections that correspond to the different stages of pregnancy and through the first year or two of life for baby. At the beginning of each section, it shares a Bible verse or two and then gives a little food for thought.

The current section I just finished writing in is the Waiting section. Then, it talks about the very first woman that had to sit around wait...Eve. And, it got me thinking to ideas that had never crossed my mind before. She was the first woman ever to be pregnant. She had just been told how painful and terrible childbirth would be. She didn't have the medical information we have now. She didn't know, "You won't be pregnant forever" or she didn't know how to naturally or synthetically induce her labor.

Could you imagine the thoughts that ran through her head?? When there were little baby feet kicking her tummy, did she wonder if the baby really was going to bust right through her abdomen? Was that the pain God was talking about? How about the heartburn? Did she wonder what in the world was going on that each time she had a bite of food her throat felt like lava? And, she didn't have a due date. She just kept getting bigger and bigger and more and more uncomfortable with no foreseeable end in sight. I mean, talk about miserable! Oh, to read her mind during that waiting time. And, I don't even wanna know what she thought when labor and delivery actually hit! Ouch!

So, whenever I start to think, "Am I ever gonna get to hold this baby??", I just remember Eve's story. And, I am ever so grateful for modern medicine and the ability to know what is actually going on in this body of mine!

Okay, that's enough on the spiritual stuff...COME OUT ALREADY, BABY!! :o)

My Baby...Bunny

John with Mega bunny this past Saturday. When the rabbit is super happy, his little ears lay flat as can be!

Megatron the rabbit on the very first day I got him!

For anyone that follows John and I on Twitter or Facebook, you are pretty accustomed to seeing us post pictures of our crazy rabbit. Well, I think it's high time you officially meet Megatron the rabbit. Yes, his name is Megatron. Yes, we call him Mega, Mega Bunny, Baby Bunny, or just Rabbit for short. I adopted him before John and I ever started dating. And, while it took John a good little bit at first to welcome this little furry creature in, he has since loved the bunny just as much as me! I mean, it doesn't take long until this little guy makes you think rabbits are cool.

I first adopted Mega in March of 2008, when he was 3 months old. I had just moved into my own apartment all by myself that January and really wanted some company. I always thought it would be fun to have a rabbit, so off I went to find a rabbit. No lie, totally fell in love with Mega. Don't tell him, but in person, he's like the fattest rabbit I've ever seen and that just sounded so cuddly to me! So, I got everything I needed to take care of the little guy and went to the pet store before they opened on the first day I was allowed to get him (around Easter time they wouldn't sell the rabbits for a while because of too many people having buyer's regret). So, there I was, like a freak, waiting in the parking lot to be the first one in the store in case some small child in pigtails wanted the same rabbit. I was prepared to push any small children over, because that was my rabbit. Creeper? Yeah, I know. Whatever.

Since then, as silly as it sounds, little Megatron has been quite the buddy to me. My life was quite the interesting tailspin when I first moved into that apartment and he was my little buddy that kept me company when everything was so crazy. The day we lost our first baby, I came home from surgery, took a nap and when I woke up, John was still sleeping. So, I went over, and just kept petting little Mega. He just laid down and was so sweet, it was like he knew I needed a little buddy again. Now, having just moved and still adjusting to being outside of my hometown and trying to meet new people, my little bunny has kept me so much company during the day when John is at work. It may sound totally crazy and maybe I am, but this precious little rabbit has been a good friend the last 2.5 years!

After John and I got married, I joked that he was now Mega's dad. John went from constantly making jokes of wanting to make some "rabbit stew" to looking at crib bedding for this baby in my belly that had bunny rabbits on it. Including pointing out a little girl outfit that we just had to get in case we have a girl, because it says "Some Bunny Loves Me". That's right, I'm selling John out :o)

But, all of that to say, our precious little Megatron has become a part of the Phillips family. Honestly, I never really thought I would ever be so attached to any animal, especially a rabbit. But, he's a pretty cool rabbit, hehe.

The other day, Mega was obviously not feeling well. He wasn't eating or drinking, along with other symptoms I'll spare you, and I was up most of the night giving him water with a medicine dropper, getting him to eat as much as I could, and researching the internet like crazy to try and figure out the problem. We took him to the vet first thing the next day and found out he has a stone in his bladder and a bladder infection because of it. We've got him on antibiotics now for the infection and he must have surgery for the stone. The stone is the largest the vet has ever seen in a rabbit. Without the surgery, Mega will be in a lot of pain until he eventually passes away. The surgery is not exactly the cheapest thing in the world, but John and I both just couldn't let a possibility to fix everything go right on by.

Therefore, our sweet bunny is having surgery on Friday morning. We have been doing everything in our power to get Mega stronger. And, guess what? He's doing better! The infection seems to be clearing which has been making him more himself. Today, he was strong enough to refuse to let me squirt the meds in his mouth, haha. Preparing me for this baby in my belly, I suppose?! The vet wants us to continue to give him the antibiotics through tonight and tomorrow so that baby bunny can be as strong as possible for surgery.

Would you mind praying for our little bunny? I know it might sound silly, but I have been a crying trainwreck since he got sick. I really want my little buddy to be okay. Please pray that he makes it through the surgery nice and strong. And, that the vet can remove and repair everything that needs to be done to make Mega good as new. Also, pray that I will able to help the bunny recover well after his operation. We want everything to go as smoothly and healthily as possible! Best case scenario would be that this little bunny can be all healed up for when I bring this baby in my belly home! Just please pray the surgery goes well, I don't think I could be more nervous about it. Y'all are awesome for reading everything about this bunny and for praying! Love y'all so much!

25th Birthday, Georgia Baby Shower and Baby Update!

John and I before heading out to my birthday dinner! 34 weeks pregnant here!

Okay, since I posted last, I am officially 25 years old and I'm 35 weeks pregnant! So, my birthday last year, I had been married for 2 weeks and little did I know, I was a week away from being pregnant with my first baby! It's so hard to believe that I have now had TWO birthdays as a married woman. And, John did an extraordinary job this year at making me feel special on my birthday. He came home from work at lunch time and we went out to lunch (at McDonald's...I know, I know, don't talk to me, tell this baby that a double cheeseburger meal is ridiculous. Droooool). Then, thanks to some birthday money and a coupon I found for a free bloomin' onion, we enjoyed some Outback Steakhouse! We had a great time hanging out! Plus, John got me flowers and a yummy peanut butter chocolate pie. Good man, good man.

Two sweet ladies here in Georgia threw me a baby shower! It was so sweet of them and of so many ladies to bless us with gifts! It was a women's only shindig with church staff ladies, church staff wives, tech team volunteers, and tech team volunteers wives. It was so fun to have a more traditional shower and I loved being able to open so many great gifts! We played baby bingo and everyone had a necklace on where they would lose it if they were caught crossing their legs. I lost my necklace pretty fast! Everyone was so sweet to buy us such awesome gifts, especially since we haven't even been in Georgia very long! After this shower, we are officially set and ready for this baby to get here! I actually crossed off the last item on my essentials list this past Friday. Now, we just need a precious little baby to welcome :o) Thank you to Holli and Becky for throwing such a beautiful, fun shower! And, thank you to all of the ladies for such awesome gifts!! Here are a few pictures from the shower:

The gifts!! We got so many seriously awesome gifts! 

Opening gifts!

I look a little confused here, haha. But, I think this was when everyone was enjoying the yummy food!

This past Friday, we had our 34 week appointment. Everything is looking great and it seems like baby is starting to measure more on the average track! At the 32 week appointment I was measuring 34cm and this one I was measuring 35cm. So, for now, there's no need for another ultrasound. As much as I would LOVE to see the baby again, I'm afraid to see, um, private parts on the screen! Haha! It's a pretty irrational fear because the tech at our office is really good about not exposing what we don't want to see, but I am just afraid somehow the gender would slip! And, it would stink to make it this far and have the surprise ruined. We will know whether there is a lot of pink or blue in our future, in just a few short weeks! This has been such a fun surprise and waiting game! Next appointment is in 2 weeks (Aug. 20th) and after that we will be at the doc's every week until we have our precious baby! Oh, and on the contraction front, I only had 2 rather intense contractions about a week ago. The doctor said at this appointment I am out of the woods as far as he's concerned for pre term labor, so whatever happens happens at this point!

For those out there that want to know how to pray for us and baby, here are some things we'd love for you to lift up if you want to! Most importantly, we are praying for our baby to develop safely and healthily. And, for our baby to arrive safe and sound on delivery day for us to hold and take care of for the rest of our lives! Also, we are praying for baby to stay head down and for an uncomplicated labor and delivery. We have also been praying that I could labor and deliver drug-free, with no need for a c-section. And, that the labor and delivery would go quickly! If you wanna, feel free to pray with us! We can hardly believe that the time is almost here!! So excited for that day!