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!
