We went to Folly Beach this week. From this time until Decmber is probably my favorite time of year at the beach. We have to go so late in order for the dogs to go too.


William was a little of cranky side, so I didnt get a lot of great photos. But I coulnt resist posting his cranky face. He looks like Shea when he makes this face.

He likes sitting in his seat by the water. He loves the view.....of his feet!

Shea checking on him. He is an attentive daddy.

Day 29

I simply adore this man. He is not a man that draws a lot of attention to himself. He is not one that enters a room and everyone shouts his name (though I think they should). He isn't exactly the "life of the party." He doesn't ask a lot of those that he loves. Simply loyalty and respect. He is the last person to ever ask anything of anyone. He is a man that loves Jesus, his wife, son and family. He is a man that wants to wake up the baby when he gets home from work because he missed him all day. Our life together is simple. I like it that way and he does too. He LOVES simplicity. He loves being home on a Saturday night and I love that about him. But what I love even more is that if I wanted a different life, one not so simply he would do everything in his power to make it happen, because he loves me. He is the most selfless person I have ever know. His heart is so pure, so good. In this picture he may look a little shaggy. He is unshaven, and in desperate need of a hair cut. I love it because it captures the man I just described. On a Saturday afternoon, sitting on the floor (that is how he watches t.v.), not drinking beer (not for any moral reason, but because he doenst want to waist the money one it), drink kool aid I am sure, waiting for his highlight of the week...college football game day.

Happy Father's Day!

For such a wonderful daddy. We love you so much!



(This was Shea's card for his first Father's Day)

Catching Up

It seems like every few days I think about something that I need to post. It just seems like the actual appointment to sit down and do it never arrives. There are several events that I needed to post over the last month or so , but I kept putting it off. So, now I am going to cram them all into one post and just try better next time.
First of all.......at the end of last month I had the pleasure of going to Jacksonville, FL to visit my dearest friend, Jamie. It was the first time I have seen her since stopping by on my way home from our honeymoon.
This was especially exciting because I got to meet the newest addition to the Graston family, little Noah Justice.
The time I got to spend just sitting and talking with Jamie was all very refreshing. In a way, when I am with her it feels like going home, to a place that is familiar and comfortable. Her friendship is so precious to me, so necessary almost like oxygen to my soul at times.
Another great pleasure from the visit was that I got to take photos of Jamie and baby Noah together. They are very sweet pictures. I really loved being there with a brand new baby. It only made the yearning for William's arrival next year even stronger. I got some good baby 101 from the best mom in the world too. I wish she could be here to give me a refresher course when he does finally arrive.
It was a wonderful trip and I cant wait for my next one! Here are few pictures of Jamie and Noah.




I enjoyed the visit but was anxious to get home to see Shea and the dogs, what began as only a few days from home though turned into almost 9 days away on the way home.
Shea called me as I was driving back to tell me that he had the dreaded H1N1. That meant that I couldn't go home. Thank God I was gone the days that he was exposed to the swine flu. The Lord shielded me and my son.
Luckily we have a wonderful family here. Aunt Theresa allowed me to stay with her until it was safe for me to return home. As Shea rode out the flu, I was living the high life. Enjoying the magnificent view of the river from her condo, being treated life a queen. Shea said every time he called me we were always doing something. One of this family's favorite pass times is Scrabble....and we played a lot of Scrabble.
Here is a picture of that majestic view of the river.

And here is her cute dog, Willie. He dressed as Batman to pass out candy at Dianne's house.a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UuajMR5K-Rts75l40fWk9yVHpzaXPiQt_qA_9qHz5kOhtD4yCYyx1pnwvRWaYAjpffZtsrYHHIXtMSCb6f4riyDZRqJYNJJNltjQRRPcOnv03-Wo0439v-gyRZ94muITEaeZXxFAhSLf/s1600/HPIM8633.JPG">
Last week, another one of our wonderful aunts, Aunt Cathy asked us to house sit for her and Uncle Tim. We took care of her 3 dalmatians for a couple of days. It was a lot of fun. We got to spend some time with Shea's cousin Mark too. It felt like a little mini vacation for us as well. It's nice to get away even if just for a short time. Even if it's not in a hotel in a land far away!
In case you haven't noticed.....(for the most part anyway) we are all dog people in this family!

Finally one of the last big events of this month........we celebrated Aunt Cathy's birthday with her on Tuesday. A hand full of us went to Outback for dinner and then headed over to her house for some.............you guessed it SCRABBLE. Another note on that little game of Scrabble...... I won! Just thought I would throw that in.



Now, November is almost over and the last event of this month will be Thanksgiving. Let's hope that I post photos and memories from that day before Christmas gets here.

Life is hectic right now, but it's starting to fizzle down. I have finals coming up in the the 2 weeks and a couple of research papers due. I am looking forward to this semester's end. At 25 weeks pregnant, I am noticing that my brain does not function at it's highest levels. I am praying for clear handedness the week of finals.


Pregnancy is beginning to get pretty cool! Finally, at 21 weeks I felt the baby move for the first time. I was at Jamie's house laying on the floor when felt him for the first time.
I called Shea to tell him about it and he said....." I am not sure you should be doing that, you could crush him." Once I figured out that it was easier to feel his movements whe I lay on my stomach, I did it all the time.
At 22 1/2 I began to feel him more throughout the day. It is one of the coolest experiences. Last night for the first time Shea put his hand on my stomach and felt kicks. That was also really special. I love experiencing him in new ways everyday. I think almost daily about how blessed I am to be giving the gift of fertility and motherhood.

I thought these were cute pictures of the dogs.........






This is one of my favorites!! This is how I feel 90% of the day!

Gender Revealed.........

October 15th has been the most anticipated day of the pregnancy thus far. We we got to find out the sex! It was a really special day. Shea and I shared it with his mom, Angela and Shea's aunt, Theresa.
We arrived for the appointment and we were taken back for the ultrasound. It was all so exciting, that finally we were going to know. The ultrasound tech didn't look at gender first though, it wasn't until after 5-10 minutes that she got an image of the baby and said "it's a girl." Shea and I were really happy but had felt all along that we were having a boy (of course we will take what ever God chooses).
I had even bought 2 boy outfits with airplanes on them. Shea said, "looks like you have some things to take back."
The ultrasound lasted for about an hour, and about 20 minutes after she told us the it was a girl we heard her say, "uh, ohhhh?" I, of course, thought what is wrong with my baby. She said everything was fine, but she had big news about 5 minutes later. She said "it looks like your baby is a mischievous little boy!" She told us that what she thought originally were girl parts, were actually fingers. He had his hand covering himself.
So that was the official verdict...WE ARE HAVING A LITTLE BOY!
Shea of course is to excited, he has thought of nothing but having a son one day. I am thrilled as well. I was the oldest, and being a girl I always thought it would be really cool to have a big brother. Shea and I still cant get over how we found out. It is a really funny story.
To celebrate the occasion our sweet Aunt Theresa took us the the Irish cafe, Blue Rose ("blue" to celebrate having a boy of course).
Here are a few picture from this precious day in our lives.
............ and of course a scrapbook page for my precious son, William Shea.

Gamecocks vs. UGA

This past weekend finally got to use one of the coolest wedding gifts that we received. My wonderful brother Ricky bought us tickets to the always exciting USC vs. UGA game. Shea and I are South Carolina fans of course while my family members are staunch Georgia supporters.
We drove to Macon on Friday to check into our room. I got to spend some time with my family which I enjoyed. I especially enjoyed seeing Asher. He turned 2 on Thursday and is as cute as ever. His animated personality keeps us in stitches.
We drove to Athens for the game Saturday. It was an exciting game to see in person. Shea and I were way out numbered. Our team played a great game but unfortunately did not win.
I am hoping this will become a new family tradition every year. Playing against each other was cool to see all together. It was terrific weekend full of fun, excitement and more importantly family time.

We had an awesome time! Thank you Ricky!!!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Well today has been one of the best days I have had in quite a while. When I say best, I only mean that luckily I have kept some food down, my brain hasn't been all that foggy and I didn't want to go to bed today at 6 in the evening because of pure exhaustion.

This first trimester has been quite a ride. I am 13 1/2 weeks now and hoping that these awful symptoms will begin to taper off. I am feeling pretty good now .....and hoping that it lasts.

I started school back last week. My schedule is really hectic and exhausting, but I am trying to remember that getting all these classes done now will be far easier than after our baby is here.

I am so blessed that this semester my wonderful husband has given me the gift of not working. For the first time since I was 16, I don't have a job! It is hard for me to sit back and allow someone to take care of me. It is really a gift right now to focus on school and preparing for the little one.

Shea has been the best husband the last 2 months. He gets up with me durring night if I am suffering a migraine, or sick. All throughout the day he by my side taking care of me and baby. I couldnt ask for a better nurse than Shea.

The dogs are both doing good. Their lives have changed a lot in the last 2 months. Not as many walks, or trips to the dog park or beach. They are hanging in there though. They are such a comfort to me on my worst days. If I just need to lay down for a while and swim in my own head, they are right there. There is one on each side of me, loving on me, caring about me and the most important thing of all..........feeling sorry for me.

They are such sweet boys.

As for our little bun in the oven, everything is coming along. The doctor says that he/she is a strong healthy baby. Only about 6 more weeks until we get to find out the sex! I cant wait. I am defiantly too impatient to wait until the birth. A lot of people keep telling me that we should, I know I would not last. Shea even suggested it once. I kindly replied " have you met me"?

So that is the update in the Drolet household. Not a lot of excitement going on. Just ordinary life.

I will try to do better at putting my thoughts on here more often. I am not a good cyber friend. I am not good at this or facebook. But I really would like to try to keep up with this more, even if just for the sake of a little journal of this time in my life.

A Magical Day

On Thursday Shea and I didn't have any plans. In my mind I had thought I would stay home all day and study.
That morning Shea told me that he needed to go downtown to pick up something for work and he wanted to take the dogs to the beach afterwards. I really had no interest in going, but reluctanly decided to go with him.
We ran the errands and Shea mentioned going to the King Courtyard.
It is this really pretty little courtyard on King Street downtown that I have shown Shea before. It is one of the things I love the most about this city, the courtyards to me are like hidden pockets of serenity. This one in particular is really cute. There are a couple of fountains and I love the sound of the water in the background.
I told Shea before that I thought it would be the perfect place for a our future wedding.
We go there and he was asking how it could be set up for a wedding and where people would sit.....I showed him where the pastor would stand....him......me. He was very causally asking me all details of how it would play out. As I was standing in my spot, Shea got down on one knee and proposed!
It was the most beautiful moment of my life. He said a lot .......I cant remember most it though...I just know that it was magical.
I am not shocked that he proposed, of course I knew already that he would be my husband, but what shocks me the most is that he actually surprise me. I love to be surprised but I am extremely observant and attentive, my wheels are constantly turning. It is hard to pull anything over on me.
He did such a great job. I am so proud of him. I cant wait to marry him!







oh yeah.....the ring is beautiful too.......cant forget that !

Happiness Worth Gushing Over

I realized today that there is a great deal of blogging to be done! Especially when there is so much happiness in my life today.
I am one that holds my inner thoughts very close to me. Even now when I feel so much happiness and love within me, I still tend to push down the desire to shout it from the roof tops.
Not wanting to be overly cheesy and bore others with my swooning over this man. But I feel that I must shout it today! I have found wonderful love in this wonderful man. He has been my best friend, confidant, my family,a part of my everyday life for almost seven years. The last 8 months my heart has grown even more for him as our friendship has blossomed into even more.
Shea brings so much happiness to my life.
All of our lives on this earth is truly a love story for the books of eternity. That story stretches beyond just within the relationships that we find among ourselves, but also in the one with our Lord. Loving someone this way has made that revelation even more real to me. Because of HIS love, I am realizing that our own love story is truly beautiful!