the best part of my day

Jamie just had a really cute post on her blog with the same title. So when thinking of what to call this that was the perfect title. Lately getting any kind of sleep at night has been impossible. Between all the trips to the bathroom, the carpal tunnel that plagues my every movement and of course the huge belly that seems to always be in the way...yeah it's been rough.
So everyday I take a much needed nap. I had a hard time for a while doing it because I would think of all the time I was wasting, but without it I am a zombie anyway. I know too that napping in about a month may not even be on my radar when the little man arrives. Those naps really are the best part of my day right now!
And of course napping wouldn't be the same without great company.......

My Baby Shower

On Sunday, Carolyn and her daughter Christie hosted a beautiful baby shower for me. It was a wonderful day full of great family and cherished friends.
We had a lot of fun eating, opening presents and playing games. It was a day full of laughter and memories that I will cherish forever.
Here are some pictures from the day.

for baby William

About a week ago I received a package that I had been waiting for. I knew that it was a box of clothes for William, but I am had no idea how much was being sent. The box is huge! Jamie sent me all of the clothes the her baby Noah has grown out of and several outfits that were even passed down from her older boys as well.

I had so much fun sitting on the floor, going through all of the adorable blue outfits, longing for the moment that I put my own baby in them.

To me this was a box of more than just clothes. They are a blessing to us, a blessing because I know that getting rid of such special items came with both joy and sadness for the mama that placed her own boys in these little outfits. I will cherish every item.

Jamie, I want to thank you again for the hundreds of things that you sent for William. And thank you for the shower gift as well.

I thought about posting photos of the some of my favorites, but I will wait until there is a baby in them.

Christmas at Home

After a long drive back from Georgia, I realized that there really is no place like home. Before we left for Georgia Shea and I went out to eat with his aunts and mom to exchange gifts. There was no big family gathering, which was really nice. We spent Christmas day at Shea's parent's house.

Unfortunately we awoke Christmas morning to pouring down rain. It didn't ruin our day though. We spent the day just relaxing, opening gifts and talking about how great next year will be with a little one here.
Speaking of William, even though he is not currently present he was showered with many, many Christmas presents from Shea's family.
We had a wonderful holiday. I will cherish this first year Christmas together forever, knowing that holidays in the years to come will never be the same. I so look forward to sharing next year with my baby boy.
Here are a few pictures.....

A Very Frady Christmas

This Christmas was really special being our first Christmas together as a married couple. We had to find a way though to fit in both families. I am so happy with the way that it worked out. We left Tuesday the 22nd for Kingston, Georgia the home of my Uncle Joel and Aunt Beth. It was a six hour drive, which is nothing considering that I used to live sixteen hours away, but being nearly 7 months pregnant sure can make a long car ride not so fun. I was so glad that my whole family made the trip. I got to see my sister and brothers, my dad and of course the one I looked forward to seeing more than anything....Asher. I even got see cousins for the first time in maybe 10 years.

We had a great couple of days. There was lots of good food, tag football, jumping of the trampoline and just the pure enjoyment of being together for the holidays.

Here are few pictures.....I must warn you though, someone took a razor to my poor nephew's beautiful blond hair. So dont be shocked by the images of the little bald boy....he is still adorable.

maternity pictures

Regrettably I haven't had any photos taken of me during my pregnancy to show off the growth of my belly. I am really just not thrilled with the way I look pregnant and that is most of the reason I haven't taken any. But I know that I will regret not documenting this special time in my life.
When Jamie was pregnant with Noah, she did this awesome picture of herself in the mirror. While trying to figure out what to do about taking my own her photo came to mind. Jamie, I hope you don't mind me copying you!
Here are a few that I took.

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!